The impromptu press conference in the Spokane locker room comes to an abrupt end, leaving the journalists with a universes-worth of stories to speculate over. Her back turned toward the lockers, and facing the room’s exit, Dolly limps toward the half-dozen of journalists and their respective boom and camera operators. She pushes through the crowd, their murmuring splitting down the room:

“Paul Heyman?”

“Heyman, what a great choice”

“I thought he was dead”

“Heyman and Waters, again?”

“Yeah, that changes things”

“I think it’s bad hire”

“Dolly can’t trust him”

But Dolly moves through them without a blink. Not a single sign showing on her face that she’d heard their whisperings. The door opens from the hallway, almost on a trigger as Dolly walks into the threshold. She steps into the long white corridor where more media personnel have formed, immediately looking down at her phone to answer a text message as she’s met with a:

“Hello, Miss Waters” the broad shouldered, rather homely and intimidating looking woman wearing a pantsuit greets. “I’m Rheldi. I’m Mr. Heyman’s…”

Bodyguard? Dolly breaks her eyes from her cell phone screen long enough to make the sinde, rather unfriendly remark

“His confidant.” She corrects Dolly with a cold tone as the two begin marching in stride up the hallway as the rambling media members trail behind them Oh really? Sounds serious. How come I don’t remember you?

“I met Paul through my former employer. He was the talent agent of Heyman’s husband.”

Wait…

WAIT they stop moving,

Heyman’s… husband?

As quickly as her mind sunsets into speculation, the answer dawns on her. She snaps her fingers, LUCA! Azergotti she means. Dolly’s first tag partner, and one of her first friends in the business. Luca and Heyman were eloped several years ago, and despite the vast resources between the two of them, they never could quite figure out how to anolle their mistake.

Rheldi smirks, her lips folding up as she nods at Dolly, “Yes, Luca” she scoffs lightly, Man I ain’t seen him in years either… ever since that her reminiscing is interrupted and lost, “I worked for Luca’s talent manager, Zane Kingsley.” As a bodyguard? she asks more playfully this time, but noting a peculiar itch nagging at Rheldi’s thumb near her waistline. Her posture is strong. Militant almost. Rheldi bends only her head at an angle to look down on the much smaller Dolly. “Something like a bodyguard.”

Zane Kingsley, huh? It’s been even longer since I’ve seen him. Something like seven years ago. He’s flying me around in his Delorian- Rheldi grunts a laugh with her lips sealed, Dolly feels awkward and lets out a whistling chuckle through her closed teeth in response-yeah, he’s a hoot. Anyway, he was helping me get ready for a match… against Bobby Bourbon… hey eyebrows bend a bit, ...in a fatal four way… they bend even harder now, her face twisting while she rolled back the years in her mind, ...on Wednesday Warfare…

There’s a silence between Dolly and Rheldi as they march a few more feet up the hallway. Dolly clearly looking to be in deep thought, Rheldi looking cold and attentive. The frenzied media members still following behind,

...That’s back when Heyman managed me. I remember now, he and Zane were pretty tight.

“That makes sense.” Why does that make- “-anyway, Paul is very excited to manage you again. He’s set up a conference room just at the end of the hall here for the two of you to discuss the details of your agreement, and of course begin strategizing for your upcoming contests.”
Damn! she shouts, impressed,

Rheldi smiles “Yes, he’s even got your dinner prepared. Medium rare beef filet.”

Wow. Just like old times she smiles That’s what I always loved about Paul, he stayed on top of everything. Always ten steps ahead…

XWF Wildcard Weekend: 2016

The Atlantic City crowd is hot, and stuffy, stir crazy, packed with middle aged bankrollers begging for blood to go along with their cocaine cocktail highs. Cigar smoke partially clouds feverish action swelling down below in the ring.

13 yearold XWF Hart Champion, Dolly Waters, has manhandled the much older, stronger and more experienced Alexis Riot. The woman was perceived as the favorite heading into the contest having just defeated former Universal Champion Doctor Louis D’Ville, and here she was… being decimated by the bite sized Dolly. It was unnatural, as well as uncomfortable to watch.

The bell has barely sounded and Riot is down on her knees, her brain so scrambled by Dolly’s strikes that she’s unable to even gather the thought to surrender.

Near the curtains at the entrance way, an uneasy, and anxious Paul Heyman watches the action. His suit collar pressed tight into the sweaty rolls of his neck. The action in the ring has turned gruesome. This was a more unhinged era in XWF wrestling. Officials were granted more autonomy and instructed not to interrupt matches if the crowd were reacting well.

A running knee from Dolly blasts up into Riot’s nose from underneath, pressing the bone up towards her skull. Her head whips back viciously like a boxer’s speed bag. The crowd screams out in a drunken blood lusting approval.

But a crowd can react “well” to something, they may not necessarily be “well” for everyone.

...that was the last night you managed me. Dolly reminds a smiling Heyman, the two reminiscing in the Spokane Arena conference room while Dolly carves into her tender beef filet. Oh I remember… adjusting his tie overtop of Dolly’s new contract papers on the table, and clearing his throat I remember it well

The match was already over. Dolly jerked Riots head up from the mat to break the pinfall and continue her merciless assault. Heyman watched on in horror, unable to shake his feeling of being responsible for Dolly had become in her few months wrestling. Heyman was familiar with the Waters brand, having built up years of experience in the wrestling business working for Dolly’s Grandfather, Pop Waters in his independent Kentucky wrestling territory. Paul thought if he could unleash that trademark Waters firebrand form of wrestling in young Dolly, the way he’d seen it in her family, her uncles, her father, her… grandmother, if he could unlock that in Dolly at a young age that she could potentially dominate professional wrestling in the XWF.

…A third consecutive running knee from Dolly bashes Riot in the mouth and flings her head into the steel turnbuckle post. The sound emanating from Riot is hard to describe, in fact I won't even try, for if it were described properly, you might be in danger of weeping…

But something was off with this one. Maybe something Paul was warned about with Dolly Waters. And now through all the professional training, the resources, the psychological work, the yanking and pulling of that warrior beneath Dolly’s surface, it had resulted in unleashing something that Paul couldn’t deal with, or better yet, something he didn’t want to deal with

God, Dolly! NOOOOO! she’s already lept from the turnbuckle, laughing in midair before stomping down on the metal folding chair covering Alexis Riot’s skull. There’s a crack, and splat, Alexis’ body jolts once and then stops moving.

Yeah! Because you were supposed to be in Indonesia at the next show. The night I got-

-got arrested. Yeah I know he nods along remember, you went home back to Kentucky and my flight got delayed.

That was all so screwed up…

Dolly…

He leans forward over the table, making himself appear humble and sincere, I’ve told people time and again how much I regret the way things went down. Ask Thad-

I know. He’s told me.

I promise you. I’ll never leave you hanging like that again.

Dolly chews down a chunk of steak, and twists her lips around, looking blankly at Heyman.

So… the contract. Everything sorted.

Uh, yeah. He sits up becoming business like, pulling a document up to his face and reading aloud some of the details

I’ve got you through the end of your contract in December-

-money, Heyman.

Oh- she startles his eyes over the paperwork -uh, everything is setup how it was, I’m getting a quarter, and the rest is being deposited into a… Corey?

oh, the BFF Utopia Coreytopia Community Trust Funds account

Right- he pauses oh, and there is this quarterly-occuring payment. Five million every three months to a- Heyman’s eyes bulge while reading the words and he stops himself -oh, its a-[/lime he stammers while Dolly lifts an eyebrow, [lime]You have a charity setup, don’t you?

Oh yeah! Bunches! I think… maybe? I’m sure their fer’ a good cause.

Heyman laughs nervously, sitting in front of him is a grown version of the little girl he managed all those years ago. Their reminiscing on the past dredged up some old instinctual feelings toward Dolly, feelings of fear, the type of fear you need to kill. For a moment he watched her carve into the steak, the same way she would as a little girl, the image of young Dolly almost haunting Heyman. He sees her flashing between the years as she sits across from him, a dribble of beef blood running down her smiling chin. For that moment he wonders why he’s offered his services to her again, he wonders it in a way that one questions their masters intentions.

So.. still chewing the steak in her mouth, ...my schedule-

Heyman lifts out of the trance, his demeanor icing back over with professionalism,

Right, so obviously we’ve got the big dance… at.

A… ummm,

a strip. Club.

Classy, right?

Heyman chuckles and clears his throat,

That’s just a little over two weeks away, which again, Dolly… I really wish you would reconsider-

-look, I understand yer’ concerns. But I ain’t walking away from this opportunity. Sooo, do I need to reconsider our agreement?

No. No, of course not. I’ll do everything in my power to have you ready for that match, and see to it that you become the new Universal Champion.

That’s all I need to hear.

Well, before that we’ve got a quick turn around. You’ve got that fatal four way on Wednesday, in Columbus.

Ick, I hate Ohio.

Hmm… funny, he ponders while looking at Dolly’s work schedule on his cellphone’s calendar, it lists out all of her upcoming matches, -it seems like one of the last matches I remember managing you was-

A fatal four way, against Bourbon and others- right? she excitedly proclaims, rising up and snapping her fingers that's what I was just telling her out in the hallway[/dolly she points over to Heyman’s “confidant”, Rheldi who’s been standing in the conference room, arms folded, the entire time.

funny how the cycle seems to repeat

[dolly]Yeah, even back then the match was for some contender shot at a championship

Funny.

Aint it?



—-----

Wednesday Night Warfare…

Bourbon
Calypso
JB
Waters… FATAL FOUR WAY! Talk about nostalgia. It feels like ALIAS has blinked us all back to twenty-sixteen. Don’t take that as me casting shade on this contest, for starters, the opportunity to move on from this match and beat Peter Vaughn for the Super Continental Championship is the type of thing you dream of as a wrestler. Coincidentally, a Super Continental is also the type of breakfast that Bobby Bourbon gorges himself with every morning. But enough fat shaming for now. Because this match is a classic, a throwback, the type of contest that will really get the juices flowing for some of the old-heads in the audience.

And…

I’d like to think of it as a practice round for the fatal four way I’ll be facing down in two weeks at the Cannabis Cup… ya know?

The BIG one.

The most talked about match in the professional wrestling circles, and the Twitters and such. The one that …everything… has been leading to.

That’s right, Calypso.

You bet yer’ bottom dollar, JB.

You can count on it, the way you need to count that cholesterol, Bobby.

You boys are about to serve as a preview for what I intend to accomplish at the Cannabis Cup, and it’ll be just fine and dandy with me to walk into the Universal Championship Fatal Four Way as the XWF Super Continental Champion. I’m showing up in Columbus with a purpose, and that’s to rise to new heights in my career.

Just look at my opponents in this match. What are their capabilities, their strengths, their desires? What’s motivating JB besides back alley strange, and perpetual apathy towards in-ring success?

What’s Calypso’s motives? To seek revenge on Vaughn for letting him eat that pinfall on the last Warfare? That sure would be spicy, but of course not! Calypso is like the nicest guy ever. The it-talker extraordinaire who doesn’t talk-it! What would the prospects of Calypso versus Vaughn even be? The two most awkward looking wrestlers of all time? That’ll sure put butts in the seats.

And what about Bobby? Again, besides his relation with being as big as a supercontinent, what on earth is going to get the fans excited about that match? Bobby Bourbon weighs 7000 pounds. Peter Vaughn is a janitor who’s barely taller than me, with a Universal Championship reign as suspect as Peter Gilmours. Like I swear, let's watch King Kong bludgeon some poor sap to death. It’s not that I don’t think Peter Vaughn can deliver against Bobby… I KNOW he can’t, and I can at least help make his loss of the SuperContinental Championship mean a helluva’ lot more when I carry it into the Cannabis Cup.

But I know who can beat Bobby Bourbon, I know who HAS beaten Bobby Bourbon. The only person in this matchup who can say that. And that person ain’t sniffing feet or sharing amazing quiche recipes…

Dolly raises her hand with a smirk,

... this will be the fifth time I’ve had the pleasure of facing the Grand High Poo-Pile. You look at the record between us, and it’s split. Two wins for Dolly, two wins Poo. That alone tells you that he and I have had some nice competition over the years. We both know how to beat the other. But not all wins are the same, are they? Bobby picked up the first victory in our series during an episode of Warfare in twenty-sixteen. I had just clobbered some Chris Page look-a-like named Kitt Kennedy with a Running Waters. I covered him…

1…

2…

Can you guess what happens next? Bobby tears me a new one while I’m distracted and wins the match? Kinda… sorta… not really…

The man literally picks me up off of Kitt, throws me out of the ring, and lies down on Kitt for the win. So Bobby Bourbon pinned Kitt Kennedy with a Dolly Waters assist, and won a spot in the Universal Championship match at Wildcard Weekend. Where he’d go on to allow Chris Chaos to become the Universal Champion. Nice.

Anyway couple of years later, Bobby and I finally meet up one on one. And while I’ll admit it didn’t seem like Bobby brought his A game that night, I picked up the deceive win. Then of course we’ve got the most recent contests. XWF WarGames and OCW Under The Lights, and I think it’s safe to say that me pinning Bobby, square to the mat in the WarGames finals, and TK pinning Hector Malvado while I’m being held back in the corner are two different types of wins.

At least if we’re talking about head-to-head.

So if we’re having an honest discussion here, about the most important factors of this match:

1.Who’s most likely to win
2.Who’s most likely to make more of the opportunity of beating Peter Vaughn

The answer is pretty clear. And yes.. I know I skipped past JB, but I’ve beaten that guy too many times for an expose on our history to matter. The last time we were booked together, just WEEKS ago, he and Tommy Wish were so scared they hired stand-ins to wrestle against me and Thad. No wonder that match sucked so bad.

And Calypso, again… jeez, the man is a legend, or.. something.

I mean for christ sakes guys, the Federweight Title ain’t falling out of the sky anytime soon, what’s Calypso even doing here? He’s a beautiful dancer, and has a charming smile, but if he wants to try stepping in the way of me earning a shot to make the BIG one at the Cannabis Cup even BIGGER, then he best prepare to be throttled. Lets face it, even if the guy brings his A-game, like he has a time or..
Two? No. Like, once, yeah this one time. He brought his A game this one time-

but even if he shows up ready to actually fight, we’ll not forget how motivated he was last Warfare, only to team with Peter Vaughn and lose. I mean let the record state- I am in no real position of talking about wins and losses recently. At least not for what my standard might be considered. I’ve been up and down, sitting at a .500 record since my return back in March. In terms of actual achievement, this has by far been the worst stretch of my entire career.

But you know what I haven’t done?

I haven’t literally lost every match I’ve been in for over a year.

That’s Calypso.

A man who would certainly be in NO type of position to critique even the worst among us in this match- yes, I’m talking about JB- because even JB has beaten you Calypso. Multiple times! I swear you’d be better off finding the Freestyle Championship and trying to make it as entertaining as the Federweight Title used to be. I think it’s lying in the trash somewhere. You could hold match losing contests, where the person who knows how to lose a wrestling match the best wins.

You’d be un-ing-stoppable.

Calypso, you can be the one that proves once and for all that you CAN win for losing. You’ve made a career out of it… since twenty-fourteen, dude.

Really?

Almost a decade of being one of the worst professional wrestlers on the planet and yer’ still plugging away. Out doing yer’self one Big Preesh loss after the next. This is just another short lived Calypso skit where he runs around being booked up in matches he has no chance of winning.

I’m going to win this fatal four way in Columbus, and I’m going to take Peter Vaughn’s Supercontinental Championship and give it a proper highlight, give it the first rub it’s gotten since Corey was the champion by carrying it into the Universal Championship match at the Cannabis Cup. And then just imagine what happens when I’m both the Warfare Champion and the Universal Champion walking into Wargames.

Wear yer’ sunscreen, boys. It’s going to be a hot summer.

2x KWA Unified Southern Glory Champion
6x KWA Middleweight Champion
4x KWA Tag Team Champion
1x XWF XTreme Champion


-Dumb Dolly records that no one cares about-

3x XTreme Champion
2x Tag Team Champion (w/ Vita Valenteen, w/ Charlie Nickles)
2x Hart Champion
3x Television Champion

3x Star Of The Month
August ‘21, May ‘17, October ‘16

3x RP Of The Month
What light through sonder... my perception breaks.
Tranquility: For Old Times Sake
Manifest Victory