Post by Kenzie Rydell on Aug 10, 2016 17:13:42 GMT -5
MARKETING 101
Kenzie Rydell watched from the rickety bleachers, the basement floor of The Trench teeming with excitement. Spencer Walsh sat comfortably elsewhere in his cushy leather office chair, watching the show play out in real time on a small monitor embedded into his desk. This was his baby. It was a gym, sure, but what lied just beneath the surface was what really made The Trench stand out above the rest.
Pulsating sounds thumped up against a few cheap speakers, a generic song by Lorde without the words captured everyone's attention. Kenzie watched their faces light up, not sure who was coming out of that curtain until a woman strutted out with her hands on her hips. The way she walked exuded confidence, her skin nearly as white as her teeth. A confident grin graced her features, and as the crowd got louder to show their appreciation, all Kenzie could do was stare at one of the most well-known wrestlers in this whole independent promotion.
Her figures were on the pulse of what the fans wanted, what they craved. The way she teased the audience with just a wink, the way she scowled as she glanced at her opponent already in the ring, it was all effortlessly endued with one simple word: Superiority. It wasn't false superiority, it wasn't a complex, it was the real deal, and as she neared the apron, whipping her raven-colored locks out of her hair with just the crank of her neck, she owned the room.
"And his opponent, making her way to the ring and hailing all the way from Portland, Oregon... Coda," a man in the middle of the ring announced with an obnoxious shout, causing the crowd to cheer even louder than before. Kenzie joined the mob mentality, eager to see the main event of the night. Truth be told, Coda was the main event. The way she carried herself, the careless self-righteous smirk she gave to the whole crowd solidified it more than anything, and as Kenzie's hazel eyes flashed to the man she would be competing against, her heart pounded even quicker than the pulsing of the music.
The man was taller than Coda, more muscular than Coda. Compared to her lean and mean look, face plastered with dark makeup and a bad attitude; the man looked like he could flatten her with just one well-placed kick. Thick dark stubble surrounded his mouth, his fists as big as catcher mitts. Across his black sleeveless tank top read the words 'The Carnivore' in red, bright, gory letters. Mr. Carnivore shot daggers at the woman, scoffing at the sight of her as she climbed over the bottom rope in another attempt to tease the crowd. Immature cat calls left the lips of the rowdy untelevised crowd, but Coda ignored them, proudly swinging her hips back and forth with every step to her corner.
Carnivore let out an audible growl before the bell rung, watching with dark brown hues as Coda came running at him at top speed. Flying lariat. It pushed him backward against the corner, but he didn't fall, not yet. The big man shot her an evil glare, but once again, Coda just smirked in return. Running back against the ropes, she hit a flying leg lariat, more successful than the first. It sent him crashing to the mat, but he was up in no time. The crowd booed Carnivore's actions, watching as he gripped her neck and picked her up for a scoop slam. Just as quickly, Coda made it to her feet again, and everyone in the small venue could hear her speak.
"Is that all you've got, big boy? C'mon. Be a man and actually hurt me!" Awe left the crowd's lips, shocked at her powerful words towards the much bigger man. Kenzie even more so than anyone else, having never sat on these bleachers and personally watched one of Spencer's shows. The truth is this match and every other show that happens under The Trench banner - whether that be here in Nashville or its original location in Houston - was an extension of Insurgency Wrestling. It was a feeding ground, an arena sponsored heavily by Matthews Enterprise with advertisements via LED displays and posters littering the walls.
Carnivore sprinted towards the lanky woman with a growl and tried for a deadly clothesline, only to be dodged with a duck. He kept on running, rebounding off the ropes, barreling back at her at full speed with fire in his eyes. Before Coda could dodge a second time, she was nailed with a stiff clothesline that sent her crashing to the ground. While he taunted to the rowdy crowd behind the steel barricade, Coda perched herself on her shoulder and chuckled. He wasn't happy after that. He thanked her by stomping on her abdomen, fury in his movement while the crowd rained down boos on the mass of humanity making a statement in the main event of the night.
Kenzie watched from the ruckus crowd as Coda caught his leg and dragon whipped her opponent to the ground. Getting back up to her feet using the momentum, she ran towards the ropes and came back with a senton, landing on her back right over Mr. Carnivore's broad chest. The crowd went crazy, hemming and hawing for their favorite wrestler.
Coda didn't waste any time whatsoever getting to the top rope, proudly gesturing towards the crowd before jumping through the air with an incredible corkscrew shooting star press, only to be greeted by Carnivore's knees! She hunched over and cried out in pain while he used the ropes to make it to his feet. Lifting Coda up from a supine position to a powerbomb stance, he held her up like a crucifix for the crowd to see. It lasted a few seconds, walking towards the center of the ring, and before he could hand the Black Tiger Bomb, Coda squirmed from his hold and fell back to her feet. Seething with anger, she readied herself and prepared to end the match with a—
CRACK!!
A thinner man smacked Coda in the back of the head with a black steel chair! Shock washed over the crowd, more specifically Kenzie herself, as the star of the show flopped to the ground with a thud!
CRACK CRACK CRACK!!
Three more chair shots left her writhing with pain, and as the bell rang, everyone realized that the match was officially over.
"And the winner of this contest... by disqualification..." The announcer began, getting ready to announce Coda the winner via interference by this man Kenzie's never seen before, but before he could finish the announcement—
THWACK!!
The staff member buckled to the ground, and the man who brandished the chair reached down to grab the microphone from his hand. With a shit eating grin, the crowd shared their feelings with him, louder than they've been the whole time. Kenzie shouts at the man from the bleachers, frustrated that such a great match was ended so underhandedly.
"As you all should know, my name is Blake Napier," the man clutching to the steel chair in his other hand spoke. "Jack. Congratulations on a hell of a performance tonight in the main event. You sure gave this crowd their money's worth, hm? And best of all, you finally shut that nuance up for good. I call that a pretty successful night, don't you?"
Needless to say, the crowd didn't agree with him.
"Oh, what's that? You're not happy about the way this match ended?" His words were condescending as ever, strutting back and forth with both his hands full. "You're upset that you put all your hard money into this only to have it taken away from you by me, Blake Napier? Well, ain't that just pathetic?!"
"So what are you gonna do about it then, huh? 'Cause let's be honest. It's not like Insurgency Wrestling's even paying attention. It's not like Matthews Enterprise is going to lift a single finger, and we all know the owner of this great establishment is too chickenshit to do anything about it either, so why don't you all just get out of here and—"
"Kenzie Rydell," he suddenly remarked, eyes centered right at her. She didn't know what to do, eyes furiously boring into the man as he continued his onslaught of words with all the power in his hands. "Enjoy the show, sweetheart? Did you love it when I took down the 'fan favorite' just because I can? Clearly, if you came all this way from Spencer's ivory tower just to witness Jack and I victimize your heroes, surely you have an opinion, hm?"
Kenzie stood up amongst the civilians, everyone's eyes firmly on her. The crowd hadn't even realized she was among them, too absorbed into what was going on in the ring to notice the people surrounding them on the bleachers. With a gesture, he ordered Kenzie down to the ring, and while the crowd let out a roar of approval, Kenzie shuffled past the people and slowly made her way down the stairs. Hoping the barricade, she was handed a microphone and asked to step into the ring, standing face to face with the two men that brutalized Coda right in front of her face. Thankfully, the fan favorite herself was carted away by EMT's who wanted to make sure the blow to her head didn't leave too much damage.
"So let's hear it. What does NGW's resident drunk have to say?"
Kenzie glared at him, furious beyond belief about what he just said. The crowd around her fell away, and the only three people in the world stood herself, Blake and Mr. Carnivore himself, Jack. Heat pounded at the back of her neck from all the lights, sweat dripping down her back and making her T-shirt stick to her skin.
"You're a worthless piece of shit, you realize that?" Those were the first words Kenzie Rydell said in this ring, the fact that they weren't televised not lost on her. "You attacked the number one contender for your Nashville Championship, and for what? Coda officially won. Do you honestly think you've gained anything?"
"You're stupider than you act on Twitter, aren't you?" The Nashville Champion smirked, proud of the crowd reaction he was garnering. "Your friend Coda was taken away by medical personnel, Kenzie. Probably has a severe concussion right about now. Don't you think that benefits me? If she's even allowed in my ring next week, she'll be easy pickings but should she get put on the shelf? Well, that's one less thing for me to worry about, isn't it?"
"You have one more thing to worry about right in front of you," Kenzie snapped back at him, frustration in her fiery hazel eyes, preparing her stance. "Are you going to keep jabbering about how 'great' you are, or are you going to fight for once?"
"Fight? Fight who? You don't have a contract written out. You don't work here," he reprimanded. "You lie a single finger on me, that's assault. I could have you arrested for that, have you locked behind bars!"
"Then I guess I'll have to check with Jenkins so I can get a one night only contract for next week," she proclaimed, the crowd bursting into cheers all around her. "And who knows? Maybe you'll learn a thing or two from an actual professional."
"I know how to hold my liquor, Ms. Rydell. I don't need any lessons from you." The cheap heat showered him like acid rain. "Make it happen, and you've got your match. Just don't expect me to put my title up for grabs against a part-timer who's sole purpose in professional wrestling is helping her friends."
"It's not about Coda," Kenzie retorted with aggression coating her every syllable. "It's about me showing you and all these people how a match is supposed to end - with you broken and battered on your back for three straight seconds, wondering why your jaw won't stop clicking every time it closes!"
__________
"Damon Graves," Kenzie recites simply, sitting on the apron of the ring, hands firmly on her lap. "I congratulate you on capitalizing on my mistake. It's just a shame that's all you've done."
"You use the worst night of my career to inflate your ego, to construct a larger than life persona out of the ashes of what happened in Vegas. You use the NGW tag team championship to justify that you're some kind of big shot, a major player in this company in his own right, but when it comes right down to it, underneath all the shreds of my failure you've used to protect yourself, you're still just Aurora's arm candy."
"I mean, c'mon. You're a walking #ManCrushMonday. You're the type to talk about Avery Miles in a promo about me like that somehow pertains to the situation."
"You've used the worst night of my career to inflate your own ego, constructed a larger than life persona out of the ashes of what happened in Vegas. You use that NGW tag team championship to somehow illustrate to everyone around you that you're some sort of big shot, a major player in his own right. And yet, given all that, you're still just Aurora's arm candy."
The rowdy crowd that previously surrounded the ring was gone, absent and on their way home after the great show. Kenzie stayed behind, dangling her legs back and forth as she cast her hazel eyes towards the lens with a small smirk on her face.
"She's fighting guys like Mark Storm on his debut, showing she could very well be a Unified World Champion contender while the biggest win you've had in NGW was against Levi Daughterty, and you know how you won that match?"
"You won by forfeit. Levi didn't show up."
She chuckled, reaching back and grabbing the bottom rope between her digits. Standing up on the apron, she kept her eyes on the lens, confidence exuding from her every word.
"Oh, but what about that time you nearly choked out Gavin Grimes? That was impressive, right?"
"No. No, it wasn't. You got put in the roll up of doom right after and lost in front of everyone."
Bouncing back and forth on the heels of her feet, she finally jumped high enough using momentum to sit on the top rope with ease, fingers clutching the top rope with both hands to keep her balance.
"You talk about how I'm a disappointment when you've never done a single thing inside the walls of this company to warrant the ego you've got, Damon. You're literally poking fun at my expense when the only times you ever look remotely strong is when you're with the rest of the angelz, using your numbers to get things done or when you're in a picture Aurora puts on Twitter, but when you're on your own in the real world, you couldn't even beat Levi Daughterty if he showed up."
"Believe what you want to believe. Stay in your delusions where you're really an 'angel of rebellion' and that I'm the major disappointment in this match. Keep believing that you've got the upper hand. Even on your best day, I could still beat you in that ring ten times out of ten, and you fucking know it!"
Anger exploded out of her like a volcano, her head tilting slightly as she bounced up and down on the top rope, her legs crossed over one another right in front of her as she eyed the camcorder.
"You're not going into this match with a crutch, Damon. You're not that lucky. You're alone, backed into a corner by one of the most accomplished NGW fighters that's ever been on the roster," she sternly reminded. "Funny how people constantly forget that fact these days, isn't it? They're too clouded by the bad, they outright ignore everything else I've done. I don't blame them, really. Admitting I'm the second longest reigning NGW Five Lakes Champion doesn't bode well for the confidence on their part."
Hopping into the ring, Kenzie ran the ropes, back and forth as she gained energy, gained momentum. The cameraman followed her, watching as she reached almost blinding speeds until suddenly jumping to the top rope like she was ready to do a springboard. Instead of bouncing off, she stood there, her mastery of balance on display.
"I've beaten Joey Miles for my pride since City Of Sin after he's said way worse than you, Damon. I've beaten Valentina Lozano after she retired my best friend and training partner Ashleigh Powell, and got the chance to end Lozano's career with the very same steel baseball bat she ended Ashleigh's with. To top it all off, I was never pinned a couple weeks ago in the triple threat match against Jack Diamond and Pekelo Kimo."
"I'm stronger, more athletic, more driven than I've ever been. And I'm not showing any mercy."
With that, she hops flawlessly backward, springboarding back to her feet.
"And if you think I'm underestimating you, think again, Damon. You're turning head's in the tag team division, don't think I didn't notice. People like you and Aurora are singlehandedly reviving NGW's tag team division to its fullest potential, and I can't thank you enough for that, but to tell the truth? I'm looking forward to giving you that competition you keep clamoring for every single week."
"So, consider this a favor. Consider this the most prestigious match you've ever been in here in NGW. Kenzie Rydell vs. Damon Graves, and in the end, the final decision's up to you. Do you fight hard and try to earn the victory, or do you act like a chickenshit coward and call in your friends AoD to get a job done you know you can't get done yourself? The choice is yours. Either way, the referee's raising my hand by the end, and you'll be lucky if anyone even remembers a single thing you've done all night."
"It's like I said. Ten times out of ten, you couldn't beat me on your best day. You and the rest of the Angelz? That's another story entirely," she growled, playing with his psyche. "Do you try to prove yourself, or would you rather look strong? Do you fight me, or do you hide behind Corey Bull like a five-year-old too insecure to do a thing without his father's permission?"
She climbed the turnbuckle, eyes firmly on the cameraman who stood in the center of the ring now, lens pointed directly at her.
"Sorry. I'm not Dirk Bentley but go ahead. Try to treat me like him. Give me every insult in the book. Try to make me feel like shit. Destroy me with your vocabulary and make yourself look like the best damn thing in wrestling today. Say Corey won't be helping you. Say Aurora's opinion doesn't matter. Say that I'm the most disappointing wrestler you've ever seen, and you'll still be jack shit! No words you use to make yourself sound tough work on me, Damon. You're just a boy playing dress up with his life, just toying with the idea of looking cool and dominating when you couldn't even convince a fly to go away. You're just a goddamn accessory for the tag team titles, and not the other way around, something Aurora can parade around to make all the other girls jealous like we fucking care, and you couldn't give a shit about competition!"
"You're one of the most overrated assholes in this whole damn company, and we have John Blade, for God sakes and it'll be my pleasure to take you back down to Earth! When gravity hits, and you lose your plastic wings and smack against the concrete, you'll roll on your back. You'll face the lights and feel something cover you, dazing in and out of consciousness until you hear the bell. Then, opening your eyes for the third time, everything blurred together, you'll hear the words 17,000 people expected to hear when they walked into the Smoothie King Center ready for a fight:"
Getting off the turnbuckle, she hopped the ring ropes and explores the outside area. Shoving chair after chair aside, she finds what she needs, and heads up the stairs to stand at the very top of the rickety bleachers. At the top of her lungs, holding the megaphone to her lips, she shouts, waving it back and forth the whole time.
"AND THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH... KENZIE RYDELL!!"
__________
"Was that you screaming out there?" Spencer asked her once she entered his office, eyebrow raised with a smirk adorned on his face. Kenzie just laughed, nodding her head before sitting down in the chair across the desk with a huff.
"Yeah. I got one of your cameramen to record me doing a promo," she explained, nodding her head. "Pretty sure his name was Dan."
"I'll make sure Dan's compensated then," he smirked, eyes still focused on his desk at a few pieces of paper. "How'd you like our show?"
"You told Blake to do that, didn't you?" She smiled a little at the thought, chuckling at its sheer absurdity. "You knew I'd be here, so you told him to call me out. And you knew I'd do something about it."
"It's a good booking opportunity," he mentioned, still giving the pieces of paper in front of him the attention they required more than Kenzie herself. "Been around you enough to know how you'd react to things, Kenz. And I know that hearing a guy like Blake Napier telling you all the things you've been telling yourself for weeks would motivate you enough to at least have one match."
"So, it's just all about the money to you then? You're using my insecurities just to put the butts in the seats next week, and you think I'm going to be okay with that?" Her eyes furrowed and her teeth clenched.
"It's not just for me, Kenz. You'd be doing Matthews Enterprise a huge favor. More 'butts in the seats' means more people are willing to tell their friends about us. That happens, maybe we'll get more sold out shows like this one," he explained, finally looking up at his roommate for the first time today. "Besides, it's a chance to get more of that frustration out."
"I don't know, Spence. With FFW and NGW, I—"
"It's just one night," he spun the piece of paper around for her to see. It was a one night only contract freshly warm from the printer. He handed her a pen and nodded her way, expecting her to sign it. Hesitating, Kenz looked up at her friend looking back at him in his business suit.
"Just one night," she repeated, scribbling her name in the blank next to the X he drew. Looking elsewhere, she put her initials everywhere else, making sure the date was accurate. With a huff, she pushed the contract back across the desk, slumping down in her chair with a huff.
"Congratulations. Welcome to the roster," Spencer said with the best professional voice he could muster, reaching out to shake her hand over the table. Kenzie half-heartedly complied, plopping backward and landing in her chair again. "Oh, that reminds me. I've had Terry design a couple things for ya."
"Spencer, what are you talking about now?" She didn't even know who Terry was, much less what he could have 'designed,' so of course, she was skeptical. He spun around and searched the shelf before finally grabbing the prize. Slapping it on the desk, Kenzie's eyes widened as she saw it.
It was a medium sized patch, a logo. KR. It stood for Kenzie Rydell. It was green in color and shaped like a hexagon, a minimalist professional design that caught her eye immediately.
"He made this? For me?" Spencer just nodded, proud to see she liked it.
"We're going to put it on the front of all your attires. Think about it as an early payment for what you're doing for the brand. I've been holding on to these babies since you won the NGW Five Lakes Championship, and now's a good time as any to incorporate it into your in-ring wardrobe, isn't it?"
"This is incredible, Spence! I can't believe you did this. I can't thank you enough," she told him with genuine emotion, eyes glued to her new logo with a bright toothy grin permanently etched into her.
"There's one more thing," he noted, watching as Kenzie's wide hazel eyes looked at him again with anticipation.
"What it is?!" She couldn't contain her excitement, watching as a steel baseball bat landed on the desk right in front of her. It looked familiar. Her heart raced, thinking back to the night Valentina Lozano brutalized her friend Ashleigh Powell in an FFW ring with a baseball bat and permanently retired her before her time. Kenzie and Ashleigh trained together under the same trainer and seeing her career cut short sparked something in her. It fired up an internal rage Kenzie didn't know she was even capable of possessing, an inner drive stronger than anything she knew before. She had a reason to fight, and right on the desk, the reminder looked her square in the face.
"You... You made a replica?"
"No," Spencer explained. "This is the baseball bat Valentina used to end Ashleigh's career. It's the same bat you used to almost end Valentina's too," he explained, watching Kenzie unable to speak. She didn't know whether to proudly wield it in honor of her friend or run from the scene, leaving it there to rot.
"It looks different," she quietly told him, eyes never leaving the artifact.
"Terry made some modifications. A better grip, hardened steel, but all around still the same baseball bat."
After a long period of silence, Spencer spoke again.
"You don't need to—"
"No. I'm going to use it. I'm going to keep it around, as a reminder," she explained softly, hazel eyes never flinching away from the weapon. It almost emanated visible power - the power to fight fire with fire, confidence seeping out of its hardened slick steel. It felt dangerous, even taboo to keep it if only for the feelings it arose within her.
She reached and grabbed the heavy weapon, her digits wrapped around the black grip. It made her feel stronger. It made her feel hatred.
__________