Scapino1974

Friday of Week 3, December 2022 Monica started squealing the minute Abigail and I walked through the door. Patrick shot me an apologetic look. I waved him off. My soon-to-be brother-in-law was a stand up guy, but even he couldn’t reign in some of my sister’s habits. Monica was a sucker for anything romantic, and the fact that Abigail and I had been together for so long was like catnip to her. I had prepared both Abigail and myself for the fact that Monica would be dropping huge hints about how a ring was in our future. Abigail took it all in stride. Me, I was a bit unsettled. Carson, my older brother, came over and gave Abigail a quick hug before slapping me on the back. “Bringing her to family Christmas? What were you thinking?” I shrugged. “She was free and Mom insisted.” Carson guffawed. “Dude, you’d be better off setting yourself on fire. Why do you think I’ve never brought a girl home for anything?” Because you got emotionally stalled in college? Somehow I doubted saying what I really thought was a wise idea, so I just smiled and shrugged. “No hassles from the parents or the siblings, man.” I glanced at Abigail, who was trapped in a huge hug from Monica. Laughter shone in her eyes and I rolled mine in return. Her family hadn’t been quite as rabid when I visited them earlier in the week, and there were more of them! Thankfully, Dad put an end to Monica’s gushing when he ordered us all to the table for Christmas dinner. Once again, Mom had outdone herself, cooking enough food to feed us and the next two or three generations to boot. Dad and I would have leftovers for weeks, but we all oohed and aahed over the meal and dug in. We spent most of dinner getting caught up with everyone’s lives. Carson had taken on some additional duties at work. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten a raise to go with them, but he saw it as a way to build trust with the company. An investment that would pay off down the road, he said. Patrick and Monica regaled us with stories of wedding plans. Everything was coming together for their May wedding. When Monica talked about the bridesmaids dresses, she kept throwing pointed looks at me. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I caught her meaning easily enough. When Monica was choosing bridesmaids, she wanted to include Abigail, but I asked her not too. We had just gotten back together and things were still a little too raw at that point. I hadn’t known how things would work out and the last thing we needed was for Abigail to not be there. So I had insisted and Dad had backed me up. But now, so many months later, and Abigail and I were still dating, I could tell that Monica was still sore over that. But what could I do? Yeah, we were doing pretty good, all things considering. We saw each other two times a week when we could. We talked on the phone every day. But we both skirted around the topic of the future whenever it started to come up. Neither of us wanted to put a word to what we might be. I shot a glance at Dad to see if he was picking up on the subtext. He shook his head and motioned for me to back down. Apparently he had and apparently he thought we were fine. When it came time for Abigail and I to share, we didn’t have much. Abigail was still attending classes in the Cities and she was doing okay. I was still picking up temp work when I could. I shared a little about what we were going through with RFW, but that caused just about everyone’s eyes to glaze over. Carson tried to give me some financial advice, but much of what he said didn’t really apply. Eventually, dinner and dessert wrapped up and it was time for presents. We crowded around Mom and Dad’s tree, which was once again decked out with ornaments from our childhood: old gifts from relatives, class projects that were barely holding together, plus a few nicer ones that had been peppered in over the years. Our tradition was to go from youngest to oldest, so that meant, technically, that Abigail went first. And at first, everything was fine. Carson (being Carson) gave her a gift card to Target for twenty bucks. My Dad bought her a sweater that…well, probably wouldn’t fit her in terms of size or style, but Abigail acted like she loved it anyway. Mom got her some nice earrings they had apparently seen on a shopping excursion I hadn’t known about. But before I could give her my gift, Monica shoved a box into Abigail’s lap and practically vibrated as she opened it. Abigail smiled as she tore away the wrapping paper and popped the box open. Then she frowned as she pulled a large, white three-ring binder out of the box along with a stack of magazines. But then her expression froze and she shot a worried look in my direction. Why? What was she—? “It’s your own wedding planner!” Monica squealed. “Well, not the magazines. Those are mine, but I don’t need them anymore and I figured you might want to start putting some ideas together. And I included the cards for the dress shop that I used. It’s a small one off of downtown, and while they may not have the biggest selection, Cindy is such a sweetheart and she was able to work with us.” Monica kept gushing about all of the stuff she had crammed into that box, not really talking to Abigail but to the rest of us. So she didn’t see the way Abigail’s expression turned brittle. She mouthed a few words, cast another worried look in my direction, and then, while Monica rambled about cakes, she shoved the box and its contents aside and hurried out of the room. Mom called her name and Monica gaped at her as she left. “What?” Monica asked. “Really wished you would have asked me about that,” Patrick mumbled. I hauled myself out of the chair and motioned for Mom to stay where she was and I followed Abigail. She had slipped out the front door and stood in the cold, hugging herself as the wind whipped some snow past the house. “I am so sorry,” I said. I tried to step closer to her, but she flinched away. She swiped at her face and then cursed under her breath. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset. I mean, Monica was trying to figure out my ring size when I met her the first time. This is just on brand for her.” “Even still, this wasn’t fair of her. She knows that we’ve only just gotten back together. She shouldn’t have done that because…” My voice trailed off as I caught myself before I actually said it. But Abigail understood and she filled in the blank: “…because we don’t actually know where we’re going with this, right?” I clenched my jaw shut. She nodded wearily. “I get it.” “No, Abigail…” “John, it’s okay. I feel the same way. I…I don’t know where this is going either or even…where I want it to go.” Oh. We stood in the cold for a few quiet moments, only to hear Carson’s laughter through the closed door. I finally sighed. “Look, this is all I know for certain: I’m a lot happier now that you’re back in my life than I was when you weren’t. And I may not know exactly where I want us to go…but I’m willing to find out.” “Me too.” She took a step closer to me. I put my arm around her, feeling her body shiver. “So what do I do with Monica’s gift?” she asked. I considered it, then shrugged. “Keep it.” She turned to look into my eyes. “Really?” “Why not? You never know. Might come in handy someday.” She smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss. Then I popped the door open and we slipped back inside. The conversation in the living room quieted as we rejoined everyone else. Monica started to say something, but Patrick nudged her in the side and she fell silent. Abigail thanked her for the gift and then turned to me with a small smile. I handed her her gift, which she carefully opened. It as a small jewelry box. Monica latched onto Patrick’s leg, but he nudged her again. I sighed and waited as Abigail opened the box, revealing the pendant I had bought (following Mom’s advice; apparently it was a matched set with the earrings, something she neglected to tell me). Abigail gasped and leaned over to give me a quick kiss. The rest of the night was mostly drama free. My family stuck mostly to my Christmas list, which meant BluRay sets, some work clothes, and a few books. Abigail got me a jacket with the RFW logo embroidered on the back. And on it went. By the time the evening was over, it seemed like everyone had forgotten Monica’s gift. But I knew Abigail hadn’t. And neither had I, because it brought up a bunch of questions I didn’t want to answer but I knew I’d have to eventually.

Friday of Week 2, December 2022 I don’t think I slept a wink after I got home from the Civic Center. I knew I had to. I had a ten hour shift the next day, helping a local car dealership transfer their records from one computer system to another. They probably could have come up with an algorithm to do it automatically, but hey, the pay was a bit above decent and they had lots of data to move, so at least I’d do well by it. But in spite of the fact that I knew I’d have a mind-numbing day ahead of me, even though I knew that staying up could mean that I’d fall asleep at the keyboard the next day, I spent most of the night lying in bed, staring at my ceiling. I tried to will myself to sleep and, when that didn’t help, I kept checking the clock to see how much longer I had to pretend. Finally, when the clock reached six, I figured I had waited long enough. I rolled out of bed and immediately felt the effects of both the match and my sleepless night almost drop me to the floor. But I stumbled over to my desk and booted up my laptop. I fumbled with the mouse as I clicked over to the TEW website to check the news feed. I had to sift through the usual stories about other promotions’ shows and the gossip about who was sleeping with who. But then, there it was, plain as day, just as I hoped: “RFW RISES TO SMALL” I leaned back in my chair with a satisfied grin. I had suspected we were on the verge of breaking through to the next level for the past couple of months. And with each show, I felt like things were moving in this direction. We had been tiny for so long and now… Wait, what was that? According to the article, rumor had it that we were going to go on a hiring spree? I snorted at the idea. No way we were going to do that. We had too many workers on contract as it was. I suspected that a bunch of them were pretty frustrated with me since I couldn’t give them consistent work. Why would I add more people to the mix? After skimming the rest of the article (which turned out to be pretty standard nothing), I checked my email. Sure enough, I had a few congratulatory messages from people who had seen the article. And one email from Papa Swoll asking for a raise. I was in a good enough mood, I decided to go ahead and give it to him. I mean, why not? RFW was on the way up. Best to keep our workers as happy as possible.

RFW All In Thursday of Week 2, December 2022 Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region) Broadcast on WrestleWorld (32,793 viewers) 569 in attendance As Squealing Mud wrapped up their opening set, Martin and Curt welcomed the audience to the show. They hyped up how the crowd was already buzzing, especially since local celebrity Harrison Mack was in the house. The audience offered him some cheers and applause, and he stood up at his ringside seat to wave, but it was pretty clear that most of the crowd weren’t all that familiar with C-List celebrities from the ’80s. 1) Grace’s entrance music hit and she stormed out to the ring. She spent a few moments holding the RFW Women’s Championship over her head, then got on the mic. “I know all of you have been paying attention to what’s happened here the past couple of months. It seems like the challengers are coming out of the woodwork. Every time I try to stop one, another pops up and attacks me. First Marie, then Alice, and now Abigail? It’s pretty clear they all want one thing: my title. They’re all here to end my winning streak. So let’s take that out of the equation.” She tossed the belt aside. “That’s why I requested the handicap match tonight. That’s right, I asked for it. Why? Because I realized something. No matter who I fought in the ring tonight, I would wind up fighting all three of them in the end. So why wait? I want to keep all of my enemies in front of me so I don’t have to watch my back. “So this is what’s going to happen. Those three cowards are going to be in the ring with me. And they’re going to learn the hard way: this Diamond doesn’t break!” RATING: 82 2) TEXAS HANGMAN vs. MARK LATRELL The opening match was pretty decent, if a bit by the book. Hangman looked dangerous in the ring, leading to Mark doing his best to level th playing field by using some underhanded tactics to slow Hangman down. He jawed at the crowd who booed at him whenever he did something the ref didn’t notice. And for a while, it looked like Mr. RFW might actually pick up the pin, but then Hangman rallied and finally put Mark down with a Choke Slam. WINNER: Texas Hangman in 14:53 RATING: 38 3) As Martin and Cassidy continued to talk about the previous match, Cassidy Blaine came down to ringside and got in Curt’s face. Cassidy yelled at Curt about how he had been bad-mouthing him the past few months and finally demanded that Curt get into the ring and fight him, man-to-man. Curt blew off the challenge, pointing out that he didn’t have to fight someone to prove his masculinity. “And besides, I’m working here. Color commentary? Who’s going to do that if I get into the ring?” Before Cassidy could answer, someone hopped the rail and plopped down in an empty chair that just happened to be sitting next to Curt… He introduced himself as MC Motormouth. He said that he just happened to be in the arena and he couldn’t help but overhear Curt’s dilemma. It turns out Motormouth has done color commentary in the past and he’d be more than happy to take over for a match or two so Curt can actually wrestle. Curt tired to back out of it, but Motormouth and Cassidy rallied the crowd to demand that he get into the ring. Martin joined in as well and finally, Curt grumbled something and took off his headset and followed Cassidy to the ring. RATING: 48 4) CASSIDY BLAINE vs. CURT MERITT This turned out to be a decent match as well. Curt played up being uncomfortable in the ring, clearly upset that he wasn’t in any sort of wrestling gear. Cassidy took full advantage of that, using his button down shirt and tie to tangle Curt up at different points. Within the first few minutes, Curt’s nice clothing was pretty much in tatters. But eventually, Curt started to fight back, much to the surprise of Martin and Motormouth, was actually doing pretty well. As much as Cassidy tried to fight back, it was clear that he had been taken by surprise by Curt’s skill as well. In the end, Curt managed to hit Cassidy with a DDT and picked up the pin and the win. WINNER: Curt Meritt in 13:41 RATING: 37 5) As Curt settled back into the announce table, Papa Swoll came out. He was just as laid back and mellow as ever, but he spoke about how he was ready to face both Fro Sure and Stuntman for his title. “I know everyone thinks that this is a big deal, but it only is if you make it. And I know Fro. And I think I have Stuntman’s number. It’s time for people to see why Papa Swoll deserves to have the title.” RATING: 37 6) PARTY ON! © vs. DREADMASK for the RFW Tag Team Championship Another decent match. Dreadmask didn’t seem to care if they won the title or if they just hurt the champs. Motormouth said that this made sense: “This Monster’s Court business is still pretty new. They have to establish their dominance in RFW in one of two ways: either by capturing gold or by making people afraid. Either way works.” But as much as Dreadnought and Masked Mauler tried, they just couldn’t quite get the upperhand over Chip and Charlie. In the end, Chip managed to hit Dreadnought with a Super Kick and made the pin. When Mauler tried to break up the attempt, Charlie tackled him and kept him from interfering. WINNERS: Party On! In 15:58 RATING: 38 7) JOHN “ACE” HART vs. ROGER MONTEIRO vs. PRIME TIME JACK PRYDE vs. QUENTIN QUEEN vs. DUSTIN DEUCE vs. JAMES DIAZ in a scramble match to determine the #1 contender for the RFW Championship Martin explained the rules of the match: it would last 35 minutes and the participants would try to pin each other. Whoever picked up the most pins would be declared not only the winner of the match, but the #1 Contender for the RFW Championship. Quentin Queen practically exploded out of his corner, taking down Roger Monteiro who couldn’t quite kick out in time, giving Quentin the early lead at one pin to everyone else’s nothing. But once everyone recovered from their surprise, we all collided in the middle of the ring. It was barely contained chaos as everyone fought to hit their finishers and pick up pins. Unfortunately, Jack looked a little lost in the ring and he wound up getting pinned most often by the rest of us. While most everyone else managed to score two or three pins, James, Quentin, and myself started to pull ahead. By the twenty minute mark, we had each picked up four pins. As we realized that we were the frontrunners, Quentin and I seemed to decide that we had to score our final pins on each other and we focused pretty much exclusively on each other. That proved a bad strategy as the others would break up our pin attempts or try to pin us. James, however, kept working, quietly pinning the others until, when the final bell rang, James had picked up eight pins with Quentin coming in second at six, me at five, and the rest of the competitors still at two or three. WINNER: James Diaz in 35:00 RATING: 42 8) Sarah Taylor came out to the ring and once again complained about the chaos both in the ring and backstage. She pointed to Cassidy’s impromptu match with Curt as a problem and said that that sort of thing shouldn’t be tolerated in a professional company. That’s why her until now anonymous business partner had finished his work in taking over the RFW. She said that she was sure that someone with his raw power and machismo would make a huge impact on our company’s atmosphere. It was her great pleasure to introduce… Puerto Rican Power! Power came out to the ring in a tight-fitting three-piece suit. He got on the mic and did his best to portray a harsh authority figure, but he came off a little lackluster. The fans who recognized him were thrilled. Martin really played up how Power was a hero in Puerto Rico and how his (recently folded) FREEDOM Caribbean Wrestling had been an up-and-coming promotion. All in all, it turned out okay, but it was pretty clear that the fans weren’t all that thrilled with the reveal. RATING: 58 9) TALIA QUINZEL vs. SARAH TAYLOR With the introduction out of the way, Sarah waited for Talia Quinzel to join her in the ring. And this turned out to be a great match. Talia really took the fight to Sarah, unleashing some really vicious punches and kicks. But Sarah was able to weather the assault and slowly turn the tide in her favor. By the end of the match, Talia was on the defensive as Sarah kept after her, finally putting her down with a Newton’s Cradle. WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 15:46 RATING: 62 10) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL vs. ABIGAIL THOMPSON, MARIE PUNNEN, & ALICE PELLERTON The challengers made their way to the ring first, and they paced and glared at the ring entrance as Grace made her way down the ramp. Once she was in the ring, she didn’t take her eyes off any of them, shooting venomous glares at all of them before the bell rang. The moment the match officially started, Abigail, Alice, and Marie charged Grace and tried to overwhelm her with a combined attack, but Grace shrugged them off and fought back. She looked extremely dangerous in the ring, leading Martin to point out that this is why she’s been the women’s champ this whole time. “It takes a lot to stop Grace Kil. I’m not even sure if these three can do it!” But those words proved incorrect. As the match wore on, it was clear that Grace had bitten off more than she could chew. As she dealt with one competitor, the others would swoop in and strike, then get out of the way before she could respond. Pretty soon, Alice, Marie, and Abigail had completely taken over the match. Even when Grace managed to rally and hit Marie with the Diamond’s Edge, it was too little, too late. After Abigail managed to drop Grace to the mat, Alice put her away with a Top Rope Legdrop, picking up the pin on a clearly exhausted and overwhelmed Grace. WINNERS: Abigail Thompson, Marie Punnen, & Alice Pellerton in 16:52 RATING: 52 11) Even though the match was over, Marie, Alice, and Abigail clearly weren’t done with Grace yet. They continued their assault, even as the ref kept calling for the bell and ordering them to stop. They ignored it all, with Marie finally ordering Alice and Abigail to get a table and set it up in the middle of the ring. But before they could do anything with it, Selina Svelte and Talia Quinzel rushed the ring and, much to Martin’s surprise, actually chased off Grace’s attackers. While Talia watched them retreat up the ramp, Selina checked on Grace and helped her get to her feet again, then limp her way backstage. RATING: 30 12) PAPA SWOLL © vs. FRO SURE vs. STUNTMAN for the RFW Championship This was a pretty good match. The crowd was really into it and the wrestling was really awesome as well. The only downside was, surprisingly, Papa Swoll. While the champ tried to play it all off like he was unconcerned and that everything was fine, there were moments when it was clear he was kind of lost in the ring. Fro, for his part, looked hungry and very dangerous. He didn’t seem to care that Swoll was supposedly his friend. With the title on the line, he was clearly out to recapture it. Stuntman was kind of the wild card in all of this. He would interject himself in Swoll and Fro’s confrontations, trying to use attacks of opportunity to take out the others. That worked some of the times, but others, he would wound up getting caught by Fro or Swoll and knocked out of the ring. As the match wrapped up, it was pretty clear that Swoll was starting to take control. He wound up for the Pounce, only to have Fro catch him and reverse it into the Sure Thing. But before Fro could get the pin, Stuntman came out of nowhere with a move that Motormouth identified as the “Black Ice Driver” and picked up the pin and the win! Fantastic heat, great wrestling. Swoll the weak link, Fro looked dangerous. Stuntman hits Fro with Black Ice Driver and captures the title! WINNER: Stuntman in 23:01 RATING: 47 *** There was some palpable energy in the locker room as things wrapped up. We could all tell that this had been a great show. I made sure to thank Grace and Fro for their performances (in the hopes that it would lessen the blow of them losing their matches), and I thanked Sarah for her hard work as well. Stuntman pulled me aside and thanked me profusely for giving him the title. I knew his win would rankle Swoll a little, but Stuntman was sufficiently over in the Mid West Region that I knew I had to take a chance. We had to bring on bigger names if we could, and he was well known enough to be a good gamble. I helped clean up the locker room with everyone else before I headed home. And then I waited for the reviews to come in. Because I knew. I just knew… FINAL RATING: 53 Quick results: From RFW.com...

From RFW.com... As always, comments, questions, predictions...

Sunday of Week 4, November 2022 I was glad for Grace. Really. I was. Really. I mean, how could I not be excited for her? She had sent me her first ever t-shirt, one made by QAW. I mean, it wasn’t much: just her picture and her name. The QAW logo loomed behind her, making it clear who she worked for. But it was her t-shirt. People could buy it and wear it. Thankfully, RFW was finally catching up on that front. This month, we finished upgrading our merchandise, which meant that we would have worker-specific merch as well. But it wasn’t just the merch. A cage match? A title shot? A great main event? She was doing so well! And yeah, I really only had myself to blame. I could easily throw myself into the title hunt at RFW, but I didn’t feel like I had the momentum to be a credible contender at that point. Maybe someday. I was just being stupid. Jealous of my best friend? I mean, I had my role in the company too. I had to keep paying the bills. I had to handle pay negotiations, like giving Sabrina Wells a raise. Or giving Papa Swoll a bonus for taking the loss in his last match. Or figuring out that we somehow made over $6,000 during the month. But I still couldn’t help but feel just a little jealous. Well, maybe we had to keep going big or go home. I decided that for our last show of the year, I would splurge a little. I found a local rock band, Squealing Mud, to put on a mini-concert to open and close the show. And I also paid out a little money to have Harrison Mack, a retired movie actor who happened to live in Rochester, to show up as a special guest. It might not do much to move the needle, but maybe we could keep going. Onwards and upwards.

QAW Titan Clash #98 Sunday of Week 2, November 2022 Held in Colorado Springs, CO I stopped short as I entered the arena. I stared up at the ceiling, hardly believing what I was seeing. “Is that…is that a cage?” I asked. I mean, I knew the answer to my question already. It was hard to miss the steel cage hanging over the ring. We had never used one at RFW; the few times I jokingly suggested it, Ace would simply point out the expense of getting one and storing it and all that. And most of the guys in RFW had never been in a cage match either, so just being in the same room as a cage sent a thrill through me. So who was the poor victim who would get locked inside? “That it is, little lady,” Jackson stepped up next to me. “You up for it?” My head snapped around. “What?” He shrugged. “We need a big splash tonight, and Farrah thinks the time has come for you to get into a cage. You and Raquel going up against Darkness Cat and Little Miss Perfect.” My mouth went dry. I looked back at the cage and my mind reeled. A cage match? Really? Part of me was thrilled at the idea. Let me in there and let me shine! But at the same time, my knee twinged. A cage match could be brutal. What if I got hurt again? Jackson patted me on the shoulder and stepped in close. “Look, you’re still kind of green and if you’re at all nervous, you just say the word and I’ll swap someone else in. But if you agree to do it, you’re in all the way. You’d have good workers in there with you and I think you’d have a great match. But it’s up to you.” How could I say no? “Let’s do this.” And it was a great match. Sarah and Cat did their best to keep me safe, but Raquel and I did our best. We lost (I mean, how could we not?), but when I rolled out of the ring and slipped out of the cage, I knew. I knew. I had just taken a huge step and there was no going back. *** QAW Thanksgiving Thunder Friday of Week 3, November 2022 Held in Wichita, KS I had lost. I. Had. Lost. And Emma May still held the QAW World title. I know, right? I guess Jackson and Farrah had liked what the saw the week before in the cage. They had booked me into the main event to take on Emma May for the QAW World title. And in some ways, it had all been by the book. They had me play the cocky heel, hyped up on the fact that I had a title “up north.” Emma shot back that that title meant nothing since this was QAW, yadda yadda yadda. And then we had our match to see who the better worker was. And I gave it my all. And I sold for Emma May like I had never sold before. The crowd seemed to get into it and yeah, I lost. But another big step. I knew something was starting to click for me in a way it hadn’t before. *** QAW Titan Clash #99 Sunday of Week 3, November 2022 Held in Denver, CO What’s the old saying? “Two steps forward, one step back.” Kind of felt like that. I got put in a trio match with the San Diego Girls to take on Darkness Cat and Anderson & Snyder. It was an okay match. I mean, we lost, which kind of stung. Three losses in a row. And yeah, the audience got into it, but the stakes felt so low. But even as I left the ring, I had to remind myself that I couldn’t be petty. Ups and down. Wins and losses. Just because I was pretty much undefeated at RFW didn’t mean that I would have the same kind of momentum at QAW. I just had to be patient. *** QAW Titan Clash #100 Sunday of Week 4, November 2022 Held in Denver, CO And that patience paid off finally. I rounded out November by having another trio match with Tex-Mex. We fought Darkness Cat and The Globetrotters, which was actually kind of nice. Cat and I were kind of gelling as opponents. She and I spent a lot of time in the ring for this match, fighting each other. And here’s the thing: this match was a main event and my team got the win. I mean, granted, it was Teresa Perez who picked up the pin on Felicia Luck. But still. Main event for QAW, and I was on the winning team. I think November has officially become my favorite month.

Hey, everyone. Just an OOC note. I'm not done with this yet, but life has kind of gotten away from me at present. I'm hoping to have a new post up soon. Just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't abandoned the diary. Just haven't had the time to work on it.

RFW All In Thursday of Week 2, November 2022 Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region) Broadcast on WrestleWorld (30,756 viewers) 547 in attendance The audience seemed a little rowdy as Martin and Curt welcomed them to the show. 1) That was probably because Grace was in the ring already with a microphone. She paced back and forth, looking like a cornered animal. But she didn’t say anything. Instead, she would pause every now and then and glare at the audience or at the ring entrance. And the crowd ate it up. After a few minutes of her silently whipping up the audience, she stopped in the middle of the ring and said, “Well, look who decided to come crawling back to the RFW.” The crowd practically exploded. Several of them started to shout Abigail’s name, only to be drowned out by a bunch of the audience booing. “That’s right, Abigail Thompson is back. Let’s review, shall we? Six months ago, Abigail almost ends my career in this very ring. But rather than face me afterwards, she ran. She took off and hid for six months. Six. Months. I came back right away. I didn’t let my injured knee hold me back. And because her feelings were hurt, she goes off somewhere to cry and cower and not face me? Ridiculous! “Only then she comes back when all of these competitors have come out of the woodwork? Yeah, I’m sure that’s a coincidence. “So I know there’s a line forming to go after my title. And that’s fine. But tonight, I want Abigail Thompson. I want her in this ring. I want to make her pay for what she—” The champ was interrupted by Abigail’s entrance music. Abigail came out in new, edgier ring attire and with a really bad attitude. She shouted some abuse at the crowd before getting on the mic herself. “Oh, boo hoo, Grace. You got hurt, but the way you’re carrying on, you’d think I broke your neck or something. Your career wasn’t almost ended. Your knee got a little twisted. But none of us should be surprised at any of this. After all, this may be called ‘Royal Flush Wrestling,’ but we might as well call it the Grace Kil Show. It’s all about you. You get a hangnail, and everyone has to stop what they’re doing and cater to you, don’t they?” Grace started to protest, but Abigail didn’t let her talk. “So yeah, I’ll wrestle you tonight. No problem. And what I started six months ago, I’m going to finish tonight. Count on it!” RATING: 75 2) JAY SILVER vs. CASSIDY BLAINE “So we go from the best to the worst, huh?” Curt asked as Jay and Cassidy made their way to the ring. This really wasn’t that bad of a match, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Curt called the match. He kept complaining the whole time about both Jay and Cassidy being given any amount of time in the ring. Pretty soon, Martin got sucked in, quizzing Curt about who he thought the better wrestler was. Curt said they were both awful. They spent so much time arguing about it that they almost missed the fact that Cassidy surprised everyone by picking up the win on Jay. WINNER: Cassidy Blaine in 14:56 RATING: 32 3) Sherry Smart was backstage with Charlie Corner and Chip Martin. They seemed excited but nervous about their title shot against The Franchise. Sherry does her best to psyche them up, using an elaborate dowsing rod and a bunch of playing cards to “accurately” predict how the match is going to go. She confidently predicts that “her man” Charlie is going to pick up the win and that she was talking to the brand new tag team champions! As they left the locker room, Curt once again scoffed and he made a prediction of his own: “The titles aren’t going anywhere. If they change hands tonight, I’ll eat my hat.” RATING: 27 4) PARTY ON! Vs. THE FRANCHISE © for the RFW Tag Team Championship Mark and Jack looked completely unworried as they made their way to the ring. They even took a few moments to make fun of Sherry to her face, waggling her fingers and making spooky “oooo-eeee-ooooo” noises at her. Charlie tried to go after them, but Chip held him back. “They may wind up regretting that,” Martin observed. Out of everyone, Martin turned out to be the most prophetic. The champs’ behavior had lit a fire under the challengers. As much as Mark and Jack tried to fight back, Charlie and Chip were simply too much for them. Mark tried to pin both challengers using a handful of tights or his feet on the ropes, but it didn’t help. But much to everyone’s surprise (especially Sherry’s), it was Chip who picked up the win for his team by hitting Jack with a Super Kick. WINNERS: Party On! In 12:32 RATING: 34 5) James Diaz came out to the ring with Original Sinner in tow. He got on the mic and taunted Fro Sure, pointing out that the former champ didn’t have a title shot this month at all. “Instead, you’re facing Original Sinner. And here’s the thing: my court is going to make sure that you’re done. By the time your match with Sinner ends, you’ll be broken. A husk of your former self. Your time here is done.” RATING: 50 6) FRO SURE vs. ORIGINAL SINNER In the early moments of the match, Sinner seemed to be in control, knocking Fro around the ring and overpowering him with his offense. But Martin was the one who noticed it first: “Fro is playing with him.” It became more and more obvious as the match wore on. Fro simply wasn’t bothered by what Sinner was doing to him. He was absorbing the abuse and wasn’t letting it stop him. As if a switch had been flipped, Fro suddenly took over, knocking Original out of his momentum before finally putting him down with a Sure Thing. WINNER: Fro Sure in 9:47 RATING: 46 7) As soon as the ring was cleared, Quentin Queen stormed out from the back. He got into the ring and went on a rant about Stuntman jumping the line last month. “Some of us have been here since Day One. We’ve paid our dues, we’ve put in our time, and somehow, we keep getting overlooked for title shots. There’s no way that’s fair. And some guy who just showed up gets to go after Papa Swoll? Stuntman, you’ve got to get in line! And I’m ready to put you back in your place.” RATING: 38 8) QUENTIN QUEEN vs. STUNTMAN This was easily the best match of the night. Quentin was focused and looked determined to put Stuntman in his place. Stuntman, as near as we could tell, was not at all concerned about the threat. He almost looked lazy before the bell rang, like he wasn’t worried at all. But once the bell rang, it was like Stuntman threw it into overdrive. He simply overwhelmed Quentin with his offense. Quentin managed to defend himself a few times, but it soon became clear that Quentin had underestimated the newcomer. Quentin did manage a last minute rally and looked to be setting Stuntman up for a Q-Ball, only to have Stuntman slip out of it and then put Quentin down with a move Martin identified as the “Black Ice Driver.” WINNER: Stuntman in 18:29 RATING: 53 9) Sarah Taylor came out to the ring and she seemed particularly upset. “Quentin Queen has illustrated a problem that’s been plaguing RFW for months now. While having someone new go after the title, Stuntman clearly hasn’t spent enough time paying his dues. We have champions making matches on their own. This is a ship that’s not going to survive for long. And it’s time for a new captain. “The Power That Be have been fighting us behind the scenes, but they’re going to lose. My business partner will be here next month to introduce himself. And believe me when I tell you: he has the power to back up what he’ll do to make this a better company.” RATING: 71 10) SABRINA WELLS vs. SARAH TAYLOR Sabrina Wells came out to the ring and she did a pretty good job facing off against Sarah. It was pretty clear that she was trying to send a message to the newcomer as well. But Sarah was able to power her way through the offense and finally put Sabrina down with a Newton’s Cradle. WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 14:09 RATING: 58 11) PAPA SWOLL © vs. JAMES DIAZ for the RFW Championship Papa Swoll and James seemed focused on each other. Swoll, who normally is composed and collected, looked a bit concerned. This especially was true when Dreadmask came out to the ringside and stomped around for a good chunk of the match. Eventually, though, the ref ordered them away from ringside, much to their consternation. Even James looked a little upset about that. Once that was done, though, the match really got started. Swoll seemed to set aside his unflappable demeanor and really got into the fight. James actually looked worried several times, especially after Swoll nearly pinned him. He kept looking toward the ring entrance, almost like he was expecting someone. Martin speculated that he was probably expecting his court to come out and help, but Martin said that was unwise given that Dreadnought got ejected. But then Fro Sure raced out of the back and vaulted the ropes, attacking James and beating him down. Swoll looked absolutely shocked by this, but the ref quickly called for the bell. It took several guys from the back to wrestle Fro out of the ring, leaving us all to see that James was actually laughing. WINNER: James Diaz by DQ in 19:54 RATING: 36 12) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL © vs. ABIGAIL THOMPSON for the RFW Women’s Championship This match turned out a whole lot better than I expected it to. Abigail looked focused and determined, not the least bit nervous. And Grace looked furious as she made her way to the ring. Once the bell rang, they went after each other, trading punches and tossing each other around like they wanted to kill each other. Grace took early control of the match and made it look like she was going to put Abigail away easily. But then Abigail managed to poke Grace in the eye with her thumb and took control of the match. She spent some time working Grace over and she seemed more interested in hurting Grace than pinning her. She passed on some opportunities to pin her, seemingly content to keep up the abuse. Martin wondered if that was a smart idea. “I understand Abigail wants to punish Grace, but she’s passing up a chance to become the RFW Women’s Champion. That doesn’t seem like a wise trade-off to me.” Once again, Martin proved prophetic. Eventually, Grace came back to life and took control of the match, finally putting Abigail down with a Diamond’s Edge. WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil in 17:29 RATING: 48 13) Grace sneered at Abigail, but her celebration was short lived. Alice Pellerton and Marie Punnen rushed the ring and attacked Grace. Abigail got up off the mat and joined the fray. Soon all three women had battered Grace and left her lying in the middle of the ring. RATING: 33 *** There was still some tension in the locker room between Abigail and Grace. Freddie quietly told me that there would be until everyone was used to them being here again. “As for whether or not they’ll ever bury the hatchet, well, that’s up to them.” In my post-show speech, I decided to skirt the tension. I highlighted Quentin & Stuntman and Sarah’s matches and thanked them for their effort. With another year about to end, I hoped that we were going to get even better. I really wanted to end 2022 with a bang. FINAL RATING: 54 Quick Results: From RFW.com...

From RFW.com...

Sunday of Week 4, October 2022 After all the drama over the past six months, it was kind of nice to deal with some normal issues. Like giving Fro Sure another raise. And releasing Flying Patriot from his contract (I mean, I barely remembered that he was on the roster in the first place). And financially, we were doing okay too. We had made a little over a thousand bucks. And I felt pretty good about the way things were going. Like we were on the cusp of something even bigger. By the end of the year…well, who knew? Given what we had in the works, I felt like we were going to see something really, really good.

Sunday of Week 4, October 2022 I think I may have had my most winning-est month ever. At least, I can’t remember a month where I won so many matches. I mean, back at the beginning of the month, I did win that throw-away tag match with Felicia Luck. And I technically won the match against Alice back home. But apparently, Jackson decided to keep my streak going through the end of October. Right after All In, I was in a four-way dance with Izzy Quick, Kira Lee, and Sabrina Wells and I somehow was chosen to win that. Then a week later, I beat Allie Perks (granted, it was another disqualification, but a win is a win, I guess). Then Coco Malloy and I had a match to open the next Titan Clash and I won that too, and then the next week, it was Poison Ivy. I should have been happy. I was still pretty much undefeated at RFW. I was starting build some momentum at QAW. No title shots yet, but fans were beginning to recongize me. But as I sat in my hotel room in Tulsa, trying to relax after the show, I felt…kind of empty. I looked around the room and wondered what was missing.

RFW All In Thursday of Week 2, October 2022 Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN Broadcast on WrestleWorld (31,365 viewers) 542 in attendance Martin and Curt welcomed the audience to the show. 1) ROGER MONTEIRO vs. CASSIDY BLAINE “And we’re starting off this All In with a bang!” Martin said enthusiastically. “Half of one,” Curt countered. “I mean, that is Cassidy Blaine in the ring…” And that wasn’t the last negative thing that Curt had to say about the match. Any time Cassidy messed up or let Roger gain an advantage, Curt cut him down verbally, going so far as to say that the only reason why Cassidy was here at all was because of his hometown connection. The match itself was decent. Cassidy actually did okay in the ring, but he couldn’t quite keep up with Roger. In the end, Roger put him down with an Eagle Chop and picked up the win. WINNER: Roger Monteiro in 10:01 RATING: 36 2) Texas Hangman came out to the ring and said that enough was enough. “We’ve been doin’ this dance for months. Years, even. But the time has come to put this bed. No, not to bed. To bury it. And that’s what I’m going to do to you tonight, Stallion. I still don’t totally get where your beef with me came from, but in the end, it really doesn’t matter. It’s over because I’m putting it down.” RATING: 24 3) MINNESOTA AWESOME vs. THE FRANCHISE © for the RFW Tag Team Championship Martin pointed out that this was kind of an unusual match since all of the participants were Minnesota natives. “You don’t see that kind of local representation in wrestling promotions. I think it’s kind of cool.” “Why don’t we toss in Cassidy Blaine and really make the match suck?” Curt countered. The match, thankfully, did not suck. Both teams did their best to rally the crowd to their side, with Perry and Clark doing so with natural charm and enthusiasm and Jack and Mark acting like they somehow deserved the support. The crowd seemed mixed in their support of the teams, leading to more of a discussion about “hometown heroes” from Martin and Curt. Speaking of which, one of our hometown heroes seemed a bit lost in the ring. Mark seemed a bit off his game throughout, so distracted at one point that he missed Jack trying to tag him into the ring. Martin tried to cover for him, speculating that Mark was upset more of his friends and neighbors weren’t supporting him. Unfortunately, I knew the real reason why. He was nervous about the main event. And truth be told, so was I. Whatever the case, Mark eventually snapped out of it and came into the ring to win the match for his team by pinning Perry. WINNERS: The Franchise in 15:03 RATING: 35 4) Backstage, Party On! and Sherry Smart were in the locker room with Jerry Pepper and Pepper Pelton. Sherry confidently predicted that these two teams together would be more than enough to defeat James Diaz’s Monster’s Court. Chip and Charlie completely bought into it, adding their own confident predictions about how things would go. Jerry looked a bit skeptical as Sherry went on, but Pepper seemed to get into it. He whooped and clapped and encouraged Sherry to keep sharing her predictions. Finally, Sherry pointed to the door and said they should get out there and show the monsters what they were made of. Party On! followed her out. Before Pepper could leave, Jerry stopped him and asked, “You didn’t really believe any of that, did you?” Pepper rolled his eyes. “Of course not. I was just messing with them.” RATING: 36 5) TEXAS HANGMAN vs. WILD RED STALLION Hangman came out first and grimly got into the ring. As Stallion made his entrance, Hangman just glared at him, which caused Stallion to hesitate several times. Eventually, Stallion got into the ring. The match itself didn’t set any records. Martin said it was pretty obvious that Hangman was bound and determined to put Stallion away. Stallion seemed a little overwhelmed at points, even taking a few moments outside of the ring to gather his thoughts and try to rally. But in the end, it didn’t do much good. Hangman was clearly done with this entire feud and finally caught and dropped Stallion with a Choke Slam. WINNER: Texas Hangman in 13:15 RATING: 28 6) I appeared on the screen with a mic. “Normally I look forward to getting in the ring here at RFW. I mean, that’s why I’m here. That’s why you’re here. You want to see people like me wrestle. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a ‘big’ match or a ‘small’ one, I’m always thrilled to be able to go out there and give it my all. “But tonight’s different. Tonight, I’ve been booked in a match against Fro Sure. And…I don’t like it. “Not that I don’t want to wrestle Fro. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it at ever All In if the Powers That Be want me to. But I’ve noticed a change in Fro Sure lately. He isn’t the happy-go-lucky guy we’ve all come to know and love. Ever since he lost the RFW Championship, there’s been a darkness to him. A hunger. And it worries me. I mean, I get it. He wants to be champ. We all do. Again, that’s why we’re here. But hunger can turn into obsession if we’re not careful, and I worry that my friend has crossed that line. “So I’ll go out and wrestle Fro tonight. But I worry about who I’m going to find in the ring.” RATING: 34 7) PARTY ON! & THE SCOFIELD INDEX vs. THE MONSTER’S COURT Once again, Pepper put on a big show of being on the same page with Party On! and Sherry Smart. Jerry seemed more annoyed with it than anything. By contrast, the Monster’s Court came out to the ring looking focused and determined, with James Diaz leading the charge. The match itself turned into a fun mess. Not for the Monsters. They were disciplined in how they fought against their opponents. The problem was that Party On! and the Scofield Index were struggling to stay on the same page. They seemed reluctant to tag in people from the other team, and there were a few times when the Scofields blind tagged their way into the fight without Party On!’s knowledge. This led to an argument in their corner between Chip Martin and Pepper Pelton at one point, which the Monsters capitalized on by systematically destroying Charlie Corner. Even though Party On! and the Scofield Index did manage to rally and somewhat put their differences behind them, the Monsters were too well organized. James put an end to the match when he put down Jerry with an Asian Thumb Spike. WINNERS: The Monster’s Court in 19:17 RATING: 36 8) Sarah Taylor appeared on screen and once again went on a rant about the chaos at RFW. She said that she can’t abide the decision that the Power that Be have been making lately. She revealed that she had been in contact with someone she knows who has experience running wrestling promotions. “I’ve asked him to see what we can to do bring the RFW under control. He is going to utilize my considerable financial resources to right this sinking ship. It gives me no pleasure to announce this, but by the end of 2022, there is a very good chance that Royal Flush Wrestling will be under new management.” RATING: 53 9) JOHN “ACE” HART vs. FRO SURE I came out to the ring first and then waited. Fro’s usual entrance music started and he came out to the ring entrance. He stood there and glared at me for a few moments, then signaled for the bouncy, upbeat music to stop. He walked out to the ring without fanfare, with the fans shouting or cheering for him, a few asking him to dance. The match itself was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Fro got into my face right away and basically berated me for talking smack about him. I tried to explain, but Fro wasn’t having it. He attacked me and then we were off to the races. The match was a bit lopsided. Martin said that it was clear that I was trying to put an end to the match as quickly as possible whereas Fro clearly wanted to keep things going so he could hurt me. This led to some fun spots between the two of us that kept the crowd shouting for more. In the end, Fro put me down with a Sure Thing. WINNER: Fro Sure in 15:28 RATING: 62 10) During the post-match analysis, Cassidy Blaine came out to ringside. He got in Curt’s face over the way he had been running him down the entire night. Curt seemed completly unimpressed and unworried, finally telling Cassidy to hit the showers since he had already stunk up the arena once tonight. RATING: 38 11) MODESTY PARDOR vs. SARAH TAYLOR Much to my surprise, Sarah was off her game tonight. Curt covered for her by saying it was Cassidy Blaine’s fault. “He’s behaving in such an unprofessional manner and we all know that the Bling that Stings doesn’t like that. I can only imagine what he must have said to her as they passed in the hall before this match.” It was still a good match, don’t get me wrong. Modesty tried to take the fight to Sarah and she actually took control of the match’s momentum for a short while. But Sarah rallied early on and fought back. They traded blows both in and outside the ring before Sarah finally put Modesty down with a Newton’s Cradle. WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 15:38 RATING: 47 12) Papa Swoll came out to the ring. “Now I know what some of you must have been thinking: who the hell is the Stuntman? I don’t blame you. We didn’t have anyone on the roster by that name, and suddenly, that guy is in a match with me for the RFW Championship tonight?” A few of the fans (who knew who Stuntman is) started chanting his name. Swoll shrugged. “Okay, some of you know. But for the rest of you, he’s the clown that’s attacked me a couple of times. And you know what: I know how this song-and-dance goes usually. The new guy makes a big deal out of messing with the big dog until finally, the big dog gives in and gives him a match and eveyrone’s so excited. And I figured, why wait? If Stuntman wants to face me for the title, let’s cut out all the build up and just do it. So that’s why, tonight, you’re going to see me face Stuntman for the RFW Championship. And hey, spoiler alert: this belt isn’t going anywhere.” RATING: 46 13) PAPA SWOLL © vs. STUNTMAN for the RFW Championship The fact that some of the smarks in the crowd knew who Stuntman is really helped the match. While the majority of our fans were in Swoll’s corner, there were enough people cheering for Stuntman to make things interesting. And Swoll and Stuntman were able to play off of this tension, pausing before the match actually started to bask in the back-and-forth and even encourage it a little. Once the match really got started, the crowd quickly realized why Stuntman was such a threat. He took the fight to Swoll and didn’t hold back. There were a few times when it looked like the champ was genuinely in trouble. But, as Martin reminded the viewers, Swoll has a weapon in his arsenal that he can unleash at any time. And sure enough, just as it looked like Stuntman was going to sew up the win, Swoll suddenly hit him with the Pounce, seemingly out of nowhere, and put him down for the pin and the win. WINNER: Papa Swoll in 16:50 RATING: 44 14) RFW Women’s Champion Grace “Diamond” Kil came out to the ring. She looked pretty upset. “I don’t know what the deal is lately. A few months back, I got injured and I was out of commission for a month or so. And since then, all these newcomers have shown up and gone after me. First it was Marie Punnen. Then, Alice Pellerton. It’s like they think there’s blood in the water or something, like I’m in some sort of trouble and they’re going to capitalize on it. “Well, I’ve got news for you, ladies. This belt isn’t going anywhere. There’s no blood in the water. Yeah, I may have had a knee injury, but that’s in the past. It’s not going to hold me back. So bring it on. I’ll put you all down one-two-three!” RATING: 37 15) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL © vs. ALICE PELLERTON for the RFW Women’s Championship Once again, the crowd really got into the match. Grace whipped them up into something of a frenzy as Alice made her way out to the ring. Alice actually looked a little hesitant, like she wasn’t sure she wanted to actually face Grace in a real fight. Once the bell rang, though, any hesitation on Alice’s part disappeared. Alice proved to be an interesting challenge for Grace, taking to the air and trying to keep Grace off-balance through some hit-and-fade offense. Grace gave as good as she got, though, but Martin still wondered if maybe, just maybe, Grace had been too overconfident going into the match. But then Grace took firm control of the ring. She knocked Alice out of the air and started working her over, clearly setting her up for a Diamond’s Edge. But before she could actually finish her opponent, someone rushed out of the back and hit the ring with a steel chair, using it to knock Grace almost out of her boots. As the ref called for the bell, the camera got a clear look at her. Abigail Thompson stood over Grace’s fallen form, a twisted smile on her face. WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil by DQ in 16:38 RATING: 60 *** After the show was done, I made sure to hype up Fro, Alice, and Grace for their excellent work. And once that was done, I made sure to check on both Grace and Abigail to make sure that they were both okay with how things played out. I mean, the chair shot was Grace’s idea, but Abigail had seemed a little too eager to do it. As near as I could tell, they were still cool. Whatever truce we had struck in Colorado was still holding. FINAL RATING: 57 Quick Results: From RFW.com...

QAW Titan Clash #93 Sunday of Week 1, October 2022 Held in Aurora, Colorado I’m not saying I was a different woman when I made it back to Colorado the next week. But in some ways, I felt like it. I hadn’t realized how much my anger and resentment toward Abigail was weighing me down. Yeah, she still wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but she was dating my most important friend, so that would have to be enough. Once again, Jackson booked me in a random tag match. This time, I was hitting the ring with Felicia Luck to take on Amy St. James and Ellie de Grazia. We were booked to win and I’d like to think we did a pretty good job of taking the fight to them. Afterwards, Farrah came over to me and clapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t know what it is you did to bring that fire, Kil, but keep it up.” I smiled thinly and nodded. I would. Didn’t have much of a choice.

From RFW.com... Be sure to join us, either online or in person, for our next All In! Texas Hangman will finally come face-to-face with Wild Red Stallion Party On! and the Scofield Index will take on the Monster’s Court Minnesota Awesome will take on the Franchise for the RFW Tag Team Championship John “Ace” Hart will square off against Fro Sure Sarah Taylor will fight Modesty Pardor Papa Swoll takes on newcomer the Stuntman to defend the RFW Championship Grace “Diamond” Kil faces Alice Pellerton for the RFW Women’s Championship Predictions or whatever is always welcome.

Sunday of Week 4, September 2022 I took a deep, steadying breath and glanced to my right. “You ready for this?” She nodded, so after another shuddering breath, I knocked on the door. I think I heard motion on behind the door, but then nothing. So after a short wait, I knocked again. The door popped open and Grace stood there. She looked like she was ready to take a hit, but then her mouth popped open. She looked at both of us, her gaze flicking back and forth. She stuttered, spitting out random noises that could have been words. “Can we come in?” I asked. Grace didn’t say anything. She didn’t nod, but she did step out of the way. So I motioned for Abigail to go in ahead of me. That might have been provocative, but if there was going to be a fight, better to start it off right away rather than let it linger. I glanced around the hotel room. Nothing too special: two double beds, a cheap dresser with a TV on it, a bathroom off to one side. Definitely not a home away from home, but comfy enough. Abigail sat down on one bed and I took my place next to her. Grace walked over to the rickety office chair next to the desk and collapsed in it. She stared at us, her jaw working like she was trying to speak, and then she finally just motioned toward us. I understood her consternation. A month ago, when I found out that Grace would be wrestling tonight, I decided to take some time off and travel out to Denver to surprise her by just showing up at QAW. I had booked the hotel room, gotten my ticket, and even planned on doing some touristy stuff while I was out here. But then Abigail happened. We weren’t back together, not exactly, but the potential was there. We both wanted it, but there was still an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed. Several, actually. So my weekend getaway turned into…well, not a touristy trip. Abigail and I had done some sightseeing after arriving in Denver, but the tension between us made it too awkward to really enjoy. This wasn’t making things much better, so I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry that we just surprised you like this,” I said. “Great match tonight, by the way. Should we be looking at hiring that Izzy Quick?” Grace’s expression sharpened into a glare. I looked away, realizing a little too late that my attempt at humor was poorly timed. “What are you doing here?” Grace finally whispered. “And with her?” I gritted my teeth and rolled my shoulders, trying to think of just the right way to put explain this. “Two weeks ago, Abigail came to All In. And then we talked afterwards and—” “And you two are back together?” Grace spat the accusation like it was poisonous. “Not yet,” Abigail said quietly. That caught Grace’s attention. “What?” Abigail sighed. “I know how important you are to John and vice versa. You two have been friends for a long time. And I can’t say that I like the idea of my boyfriend having a female best friend, I’ve come to realize that you two are a package deal. If I want to be with him—and I do—then I need to also find a way to…co-exist with you. “So that’s why I came out here with John. Grace, I’m not asking for us to become BFFs or anything like that. And I know that you’re probably still mad at me for injuring you and for…whatever else I’ve done to hurt you. I am sorry. I just…I want to see if we can’t bury the hatchet. Is that possible?” Grace scowled at her, then turned her fiery gaze at me. This time, I met her eyes and tried not to flinch. I knew this was going to hurt. “So what, you need my permission?” she asked. “Date whoever you want to.” “Grace…” “No!” She stabbed a finger at Abigail. “She could have ended my career, John! Every time I get in the ring, I always feel just a little twinge in my knee and I have to push past the fear. And now, what, you want to date her again? Fine. Go ahead. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it!” Heat flashed through me. In hindsight, I probably should have left well enough alone, but I couldn’t. “That’s not fair,” I said. “None of this is fair. When you started dating Mark, I didn’t say anything, did I? No, I knew that you liked him and that he was important to you and so I didn’t say a word. “But I wanted to. When I found out that you were dating Mark, I couldn’t believe it! It’s Mark Latrell, Grace! Think about the hell he put us through growing up. The way he treated other people. The way he treated you! The fliers, Grace! The fliers! But I was willing to give Mark a chance. Second, third, whatever. Because he mattered to you and you matter to me. I…I let go of those past hurts and did my best to leave them buried. I even gave the guy a job, for crying out loud! “Now I get it. Abigail hurt you. And she’s apologized for that. And I would like to think that my best friend would be able to get past that, the same way that I got past you dating Mark. But if you can’t do that, then I guess we’ve got nothing left to say to each other. C’mon, Abigail.” I stormed over to the door and yanked it open, only to find myself face to face with Alice Pellerton. Her concerned look melted to one of surprise, and then she grinned at me. “Ace! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” She glanced past me and her smiled broadened. “Is that Abigail? Are you… are you…” Then her excited look turned to confusion, and she sighed. “Read the room, Alice. Sorry. I just heard some raised voices and I wanted to make sure everything was okay in here.” I turned to look at Grace. She wouldn’t meet my gaze. “We were just leaving,” I said. “Wait.” Grace’s quiet voice halted me in my tracks. I turned to her. She looked up at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t go. We have a lot to talk about. You too, Abigail. We need to find a way to make this work.” Alice excused herself and Abigail and I sat down on the bed again. Grace took a deep, shuddering breath, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I’ll admit…I’ve had a hard time letting go of my…my anger over what happened,” she said. “I’ve tried to put on a brave face and pretend like nothing had happened. But it did. And it scared me.” “I get it,” Abigail said. “It scared me too. I never want anything like that to happen again.” “I don’t want something like that to happen either.” Grace grimaced. “But I think maybe I’ve been treating you like a voodoo doll. I’ve been pinning all of my anger and fear on you…and that’s just not fair. I’m sorry too, Abigail. You’re right, I don’t know that we’ll ever be besties, but if you and my bestie are together, well…that’s good enough for me.” There was another knock at the door. Grace grumbled something and walked over to it. Alice breezed back in. “So I read the room and I realized what it needed.” She produced a bottle of tequila. “Lubrication, anyone?” I’m not sure that turned out to be the best idea, but it did help. A few shots in, and Grace, Abigail, and I were able to hash out some of the problems between us with Alice acting as a slightly tipsy referee. By the time the bottle was empty, though, we wound up spending more time laughing and making fun of each other. Thankfully, we weren’t too hungover in the morning, so we went down the hotel lobby for a quick breakfast. While we were eating, I went over the financials with Grace (we were a little over $500 in the red this month, but we were weathering to storm okay). And Grace, Abigail, and I wound up caravaning back to Minnesota, which gave each of us time to act as each other’s co-pilots, allowing us to fien tune some of what we said the night before. By the time we all made it home, I think we had found an equilibrium. I hoped so. Because I really needed that for my life.

Sunday of Week 4, September 2022 Maybe this life wasn’t going to work out for me after all. I stumbled into my hotel room and my body screamed with exhaustion. Why had I thought this was a good idea? Over the summer, I had plotted it out so carefully: I’d go to class Tuesday through Friday and keep my Mondays free. I’d study like crazy on Saturday mornings and then head south for Titan Clash on Sunday nights. Except for the third week out of the month. In that case, I would skip my Friday class and head out on Thursday so I could be there for the QAW’s big show each month. And, of course, I couldn’t forget about the second Thursday of the month when I’d have to sneak back to Rochester for All In. When I first came up with this convoluted schedule, I figured it would be no problem. I was young. I had been able to tailor my class schedule to make it work. And with Mom running interference with Dad? No problem. But after going through that schedule for a full month now? I had serious doubts about how long I’d be able to keep up. If I wasn’t studying, I was in class. If I wasn’t doing one of those two, I was on the road or in the ring. And if I wasn’t doing any of that? I was sleeping. Mark had started leaving me passive-aggressive texts about missing me and I knew we probably were going to have a fight about it eventually. If I ever had enough time and energy for it. Not that I was complaining! My career was finally beginning to take off. At least, it felt like it was. Jackson was consistently booking me in matches and while half of them were pre-show, it was consistent work. In Austin two weeks earlier, Alice and I lost to Kira Lee and Honey Badger in a pre-show match. Then at Amazons Attack, Skye Hermosa and I defeated Sonnaz and Izzy Quick. Two nights later, in Denver, Kira Lee and I put on a pre-show match that was easily the best of the night (even if I did have to lose). And then tonight, I was back in Denver, where Izzy and I lost to Sabrina and Kira. I sighed. Okay, so maybe things weren’t quite as good as I hoped. So far, I was being used in throw-away matches. It wasn’t like I was part of an official tag team. And I hadn’t been booked in any real feuds. I mean, the fans still responded when I showed up in the ring. And the pay was…well, I think I was probably breaking even, given travel expenses and all that. I walked over to the window and pulled open the curtain, revealing the view of the Rocky Mountains. I smiled. And there were other perks that more than made up for it. Someone knocked at my door. I groaned. Probably one of the girls. As I walked over to the door, I mentally ran through the contents of my bag. I didn’t think I had forgotten anything. At least, I hoped I hadn’t. I had learned that, in QAW, there was a tax on people who left their stuff in the locker room after a show. The girls would bring the offender’s forgotten item to her hotel room, knock on the door, and then blast the victim with water and beer and silly string and whatever else they could find. So far, I hadn’t fallen prey to this tradition and I really didn’t want to join the club. As near as I could remember, I hadn’t forgotten anything. Even still, I braced myself for whatever waited for me on the other side of the door. For a brief moment, a smile tickled my lips. What if Mark had decided to come out and surprise me? We hadn’t been able to spend that much time together and granted, one night alone wouldn’t be much. Or even… Another knock at the door. I shook my head to clear it. Might as well get it over with. Taking a deep breath, I stepped to the door, yanked it open, and… My voice died in my throat. I gaped at the people on the other side. What were they doing here?

Thursday of Week 2, September 2022 I left the locker room and considered where I should go. She hadn’t come to the locker room. But then, why would she? Too many questions, too much chaos, too much. Would she go to one of the conference rooms? No, that didn’t seem likely. And she wouldn’t stick around in the arena either. That really left only one place where I would find her. Sure enough, she sat on the trunk of my car. She hadn’t changed much. Her hair was a little longer, but she still wore it much the same. A pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap sat next to her. She looked up when I approached. “Hi, John,” Abigail said quietly. “What are you doing here, Abigail?” I asked. She shrugged. “I’m not really sure. This afternoon, I was getting ready to go to new student orientation at my new college in the Cities and the next thing I know, I’m driving down here to see what’s going on with RFW. To see if Grace was okay. To see if…” I crossed my arms. “I tried texting. Calling. You never responded.” “I know.” She couldn’t meet my gaze. “John, when I hurt Grace, I felt horrible. You remember how worried I was about you getting hurt? Not only did someone get hurt, I’m the one who did it! And…and I was angry. At Grace for getting hurt. At me for doing it. And even at you for convincing me to try. Every time I thought about talking to you, that anger would…would bubble up inside me and I just couldn’t get over it. I couldn’t talk to you.” “So you left.” Abigail nodded. “I wanted to escape the anger…the pain…you. I mean, we were almost done with classes, so I transferred out of RCTC a little early. I got an apartment in the Cities…and I started dating someone.” My heart twisted and I could feel the blood drain, cold, into my feet. She nodded. “My next door neighbor in my new place. Real sweetheart. Baked me cookies when I moved in and everything. We dated for… three months? Four? And then, one night, he made me dinner and told me he loved me.” I held my breath, not daring to say anything. Her words were like a knife between my ribs. “And…I…just sat there. I couldn’t say anything. Because as much fun as he was, as much as I enjoyed spending time with him…he wasn’t you.” She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. “He said he loved me, and all I could think of was, ‘He isn’t John. I can’t say it to him.’” “What are you saying?” I whispered. “I don’t know. I know we haven’t talked, and that’s my fault. But I’ve realized…I still love you. I didn’t react well to what happened with Grace—” “No, that was my fault. I should have been more understanding. More supportive. I should have—” And then she launched herself from the car and rushed across the space between us and we collided, our arms around each other, her mouth pressed to mine. And it felt so right, so real, so good. Like we hadn’t been apart, like we hadn’t argued, like I hadn’t said those things to her and… I gently pushed her away. “No. We…we can’t. Not like this.” Her face twisted into sorrow itself, and I shook my head. “Abigail, I’ve wanted this. But…but the things I said to you, the things you said to me. We can’t just shove that aside. And then there’s…there’s Grace.” She stumbled back a step. “Are you two…did you…” I shook my head. “No, but she’s still my friend. And I can’t ignore that either. If we’re going to…to try to make this work, I need you two to be okay too.” Abigail frowned, but only for a moment. “That’s fair. So what do we do now?” “We take it slow. We talk about what happened between us. We figure out how to make this work now. And in a few weeks…you come with me on a trip.”

I honestly have no idea how I get good matches out of Modesty. Good partners or opponents? That's the only explanation I can give. Sorry!

RFW All In Thursday of Week 2, September 2022 Held at the Civic Center in Rochester, MN (Mid West Region) Broadcast on WrestleWorld (28,561 viewers) 501 in attendance Martin and Curt welcomed the audience to the show. 1) Unfamiliar entrance music started and James Diaz entered with Dreadmask and Original Sinner in tow. The four of them got into the ring and stomped around, glaring as the audience booed them. Eventually, James got on the mic and introduced everyone to his new team, “the Monster’s Court.” He explained that he wanted to biggest, baddest wrestlers on his side as he reshaped the RFW in his own twisted image. So he spent the past few months beating Dreadmask and Sinner into submission and now, they served him. “As everyone will, eventually.” He then confidently predicted that tonight, when Dreadmask took on the tag team champs, they would utterly destroy the Franchise. And then he confidently predicted that soon, he would be at the top of the mountain when he became the RFW Champion. “Because now, I’m not just the Son of the Monster. I will soon be the King of the Monsters.” His rant was interrupted by Fro Sure. He came out to the ring and pointed out there was a big green guy in Tokyo who might dispute that new nickname. He also said that it didn’t matter how many guys James got in his corner, he’s never going to become champ. “Because we all know the truth: that is my belt. Not yours. Not Swoll’s. Mine. And I’m going to reclaim it soon.” The other members of the Monster’s Court looked ready to confront Fro, but James motioned for them to stop. “Those are some mighty big words, Fro. And I know you think you can back them up. So why don’t I do this? I’ll send my monsters to the back and we’ll see if you can deliver.” Curt said that this was a really stupid idea. “If you have the team, why send them out?” But James didn’t seem to care. The rest of his Court left the ring and Fro made his way down to start the match. RATING: 33 2) FRO SURE vs. JAMES DIAZ The crowd really got into it. Most of them seemed to be solidly in Fro’s corner, but a few seemed excited at James. And James was able to build off of that. He took the fight to Fro even before the bell rang. James took control of the match from that point, battering Fro and knocking him around the ring pretty solidly. But it was clear that James was feeling a little too over-confident. He passed up obvious chances to make the pin and secure the win. Curt criticized him for doing so. “There’s proving a point, and then there’s taking really stupid risks. And I’m pretty sure James is doing the latter.” Sure enough, Fro managed to rally. Unlike James, he was clearly focused on the task at hand. He recovered just enough to catch James with a Sure Thing and then got the pin. WINNER: Fro Sure in 17:05 RATING: 52 3) Backstage, Charlie Corner and Sherry Smart met in her little fortune telling booth. Charlie seemed pretty relaxed and confident about his upcoming match against Dustin Deuce. Sherry very confidently predicted that he would win with very few problems. Only that’s when Dustin Deuce poked his head into the booth. “I couldn’t help but overhear what you had to say, sweetie, and I have to object. See, I know what you’re all about here. You’re not psychic or clairvoyant or any such thing. What you are is a placebo. All you do is tell Charlie what he wants to hear and that’s enough to get him to go out and perform. And if you don’t believe me, Charlie, why not come out to the ring right now and leave Sherry back here. Let’s see what happens when you have to wrestle without your lucky rabbit’s foot.” RATING: 35 4) CHARLIE CORNER vs. DUSTIN DEUCE Not too bad of a match. Charlie tried to maintain his confidence throughout the match, but it was pretty clear that he was rattled since Sherry wasn’t in his corner. He kept looking off to the side as if he expected her to be there. So while he was able to put in some good offense in the early going of the match, Charlie couldn’t maintain it. Instead, Dustin wore him down and finally caught him in a Deuces Wild, picking up the pin. WINNER: Dustin Deuce in 13:12 RATING: 37 5) Jay Silver came out to the ring. He took a few moments to let the crowd die down. As he did, he glared at a few people who held up signs that included pictures of his head photoshopped onto Aquaman’s body. “So tonight, I have the privilege of facing Wild Red Stallion. And I do consider it a privilege to wrestle him. Stallion’s a fierce competitor and not someone to mess with. And I’m going to do my best to win fairly. Cleanly. I want to show all of you what I’m all about.” The camera cut to Curt, who rolled his eyes and said something snide about it being such a vanilla promo. Jay seemed to hear what Curt had to say. He came over to the ring ropes and glares down at Curt. “You know, it’s really easy to run your mouth from the announce table,” Jay said. “But it’s another thing to actually put down the mic and back up your words with actions.” Curt produced a mic of his own. “Is that a challenge, Silver?” “It is if you want it to be one,” Jay shot back. Curt seemed to consider it, then laughed. “I’ve got better things to do than wash your bronzer off my hands after the match. Have fun against Stallion, loser. Try not to stink up the ring.” RATING: 40 6) JAY SILVER vs. WILD RED STALLION Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Jay and Stallion did. Martin and Curt tried to play it off as Curt having gotten in Jay’s head. And Jay did keep looking over at the announce table, almost as if he was expecting Curt to jump him or something. But Curt didn’t. Instead, he spent most of the match critiquing Jay’s technique and speculating on how long it would be before the powers that be wise up to how bad Jay is and send him packing. The distraction proved to be too much for Jay and eventually, Stallion put him down with a Lakota Cutter. WINNER: Wild Red Stallion in 13:12 RATING: 21 7) Stallion raised his fists in victory and looked really pleased with himself (although Curt said that beating bargain-basement Khal Drogo wasn’t much of an accomplishment). But before Stallion could celebrate for too long, Texas Hangman charged the ring and chased him out of there. RATING: 27 8) Much to everyone’s surprise, Sarah Taylor came out to the ring. But rather than wearing her wrestling gear, she was dressed in a sharp business suit. “You know, when I was contacted by the powers that be and asked to join the roster here at RFW, I thought that it would be a good thing. I mean, I’m always looking to get in on the ground floor of new and exciting corporations. And on paper, RFW looked like a great opportunity. Young wrestlers, many of them highly skilled, and nothing in their way to take this industry by storm. So I was more than eager to sign on. “But then I got here and saw what a chaotic environment this actually was. Take what just happened. A wrestler comes out and threatens the color commentator? And the winner gets chased out by a former tag team partner? We’ve got a charlatan setting up a fraudulent business in the backstage area. And do you know how many people are hooking up backstage? Completely unprofessional! “So while I cam here as a wrestler, I’ve come to realize that maybe what I need to do is put on my other hat. As Selina Svelte revealed a while back, I am a woman of considerable means. I’ve made prudent investments in the past and I’ve got a tidy nest egg I can use at my discretion. So I’m putting the powers that be on notice: I am going to use whatever means I have at my disposal to make the RFW a better place. If that’s in the ring or in the boardroom, everyone will know who is in charge here. I am. Sarah Taylor, the bling that can sting!” RATING: 75 9) THE FRANCHISE © vs. DREADMASK for the RFW Tag Championship The champs came out to the ring, looking pretty confident and not all that worried about their challengers. Curt said that was a mistake. “Dreadmask seems to have drunk the Monster Kool-Aid, so there’s no telling how this is going to turn out.” Once the bell rang, Dreadmask took control of the match. They knocked the champs around the ring, and Martin wondered if it was possible that we were going to see the title change hands. But then Mark and Jack took a quick break. They put their heads together and conferred for a little while. Jack got back into the ring and locked up with Masked Mauler. He seemed intent on goading the bigger man into a rage. Pretty soon, Mauler was mopping the mat with him. Jack managed, though, to sneakily tag Mark. Mauler didn’t see the tag, but the ref did. Then Jack slammed into Mauler and carried both of them over the top rope, taking out Dreadnought in the process. Mauler and Jack brawled at ringside while Mark, the legal man, watched from the center of the ring, shrugging in a very exaggerated helpless manner. The ref tried several times to get Mauler back into the ring, but he seemed too determined to fight Jack to listen. Eventually, the ref counted to ten and the match was over. WINNERS: The Franchise in 9:45 RATING: 36 10) I came out to the ring and waved to the crowd. I got on the mic and said that I was really looking forward to the main event tonight. After all, I was going to be facing my friend, Papa Swoll, for the RFW Championship. I said that, while I hoped I’d win, if Swoll retained the title, that would be fine since he’s such a great competitor. But then Fro Sure’s music interrupted me and Fro came out to the ring. He got in and paced while glaring at me for a little bit. “I hear you, Ace. I hear you,” he said. “You’re all buddy-buddy with Swoll now, huh? Such a good friend, such a great competitor? Well, I remember when you used to say that about me. You seem really determined to leech off of the champ’s fame, huh? Who cares who wins so long as Ace Hart gets his title shot and his time in the ring, right? “Now I listened to what that Sarah Taylor had to say. And I hate to admit this, she’s making some sense to me. Things are all messed up here. I mean, I’m the biggest dog on the block right now, and yet you’re the one getting the title shot? That ain’t right, man. That ain’t right.” I tried to say something, but Fro wouldn’t let me talk. “Now I know you’ve got stroke with those mysterious powers that be. So you send a message to them from me. I don’t care who wins the match tonight. That title is mine and I’m coming for it. I guarantee it!” RATING: 44 11) JOY RIDER vs. SARAH TAYLOR Jay Rider came out to the ring and tried her best to pump up the crowd with some dancing and jumping around. Some of the crowd got into it, but others weren’t as impressed. When Sarah entered, she had changed out of her business attire into her ring gear. Unfortunately, Joy seemed a little off her game tonight. She stumbled through some of the moves and looked like her head wasn’t quite in the game. But Sarah was able to cover for her, selling her offense and delivering some good moves of her own that really elevated this match. Martin speculated that Sarah was trying to send a message to the powers that be as well. In the end, Sarah pinned Joy with a Newton’s Cradle. WINNER: Sarah Taylor in 14:39 RATING: 51 12) GRACE “DIAMOND” KIL © vs. RUBY REECE for the RFW Women’s Championship Grace apparently took Sarah’s match as a challenge. She and Ruby put on what might be one of our best matches to date. Once again, Grace made a big deal over her formerly injured knee. It looked like she was really worried that Ruby would injure her again. And in the early going of the match, Ruby was able to take advantage of that fear. She would feint toward the knee or seem to aim her offense at it, causing Grace to falter. But after Ruby got two near falls, Grace seemed to psyche herself up. She tossed her fears aside and went after Ruby instead, taking the fight to her so intensely it was clear that she had gotten over whatever had been tripping her up. She finally managed to put Ruby down with a Diamond’s Edge. WINNER: Grace “Diamond” Kil in 18:43 RATING: 60 13) Unfortunately, Grace didn’t get much of a chance to celebrate her win in the ring and over her fear. Instead, Alice Pellerton rushed the ring and laid Grace out with a steel chair, then bailed before security could catch her. RATING: 32 14) PAPA SWOLL © vs. JOHN “ACE” HART for the RFW Championship I really wanted to match Grace’s intensity and fire in this match, but I’ll admit, my head wasn’t quite in the game. On my way out to the ring, I thought I saw…well, I tried not to dwell on it too much. Needless to say, though, I paid the price for it. Swoll tried to cover for me. He really sold my offense and he made sure I was ready for his as well. But then Fro came out to the ring and distracted both of us by just glaring. In the end, we did okay, but it was clear that the women had stolen the show again that night. Swoll put me down with a Pounce. WINNER: Papa Swoll in 20:24 RATING: 43 15) As soon as the match was over, Fro rolled into the ring and got into Swoll’s face. The two partners stared at each other, not really speaking, even as the ref handed the belt back to Swoll. Swoll, without taking his eyes off of Fro, held it up, either as a celebration or a dare, no one could say for sure. But then, the same masked man from two months ago shot up into the ring and drop-kicked Fro into Swoll. Swoll didn’t see what happened, and so he thought that Fro had attacked him. The two partners brawled in the ring while the masked man got out of there. RATING: 46 *** “You all right, Ace?” Freddie asked me as the show wrapped up. I nodded, even though that was a lie. I wasn’t okay. Not even a little. But I had to do our usual post-show routine. I gathered the workers together and gave props to those who deserved it. I singled out Sarah, Dustin, and Masked Mauler for their excellent work. Then, as quickly as I could, I dismissed the workers and tugged on a shirt and some pants. Even though Grace tried to ask me what was wrong, I couldn’t answer. Didn’t want to. I had to go face the firing squad on my own. FINAL RATING: 51 Quick Results: From RFW.com...

Yeah...I may have a problem there.

Hey, this is a total out of character post. I'll have the results for All In Posted tomorrow. I don't know if what I'm about to do is kosher or not, but I figured it's worth a shot. If I'm crossing the line, I apologize in advance. Some of you may remember me from a few years ago (or many years ago) when I was doing my SWF and MWA diaries and then I kind of just...vanished. The reason why was because I was pursuing other writing opportunities. During my absence from the forum here, I published five novels (if you want to see what they're about, here's my Amazon page). Well, this morning, I launched a Kickstarter to publish a sixth. The book is called "Drawn in Ash" and it's science fantasy loosely based on the Biblical book of Esther (because I'm also a Lutheran pastor in my day job). A friend of mine described the book as being Esther but if Esther took place in Star Wars. If you want to go check out the Kickstarter, here's a link. Now I want to make this clear: I have no expectations of anybody backing it. If none of you do, I'll be fine and happy and the updates to this diary will keep coming. But if you enjoy my writing, I thought you might be interested in seeing more of it. Thanks for indulging me.

QAW Titan Clash #89 Sunday of Week 1, September 2022 Held in Oklahoma City, OK (Mid South Region) “Okay, Mom.” I rolled my eyes and made a circling motion with my finger. She had been dragging on this call for a while. I wasn’t in danger of missing my match, but if I didn’t get her off the phone soon, I just might. Mom chuckled. “I know that tone. I’m sorry that I’m keeping you. I’m just worried, especially since you’re facing that Honey Badger person.” I chuckled. This had become part of my routine in the past few weeks. After I got to whatever arena QAW was using, Mom wanted me to call and check in and let her know how I was feeling. I think it was a way for her to feel okay with what I was doing. I mean, I got it. I was on the road a lot, more than I expected. Definitely more than I ever had before. And I think Mom was nervous about all of that. If I could keep her a little less nervous by calling her, that was fine. “Honey is really a sweetheart, Mom. We’re going to be fine.” “Her name is really Honey?” Mom said. I laughed again. “We really don’t know for sure. She insists on everyone calling her Honey Badger when she’s backstage. Won’t answer to anything else.” Even though I couldn’t see her, I recognized Mom’s stunned silence. “You’re kidding me.” “I wish I was.” I looked around the locker room. “Mom, I gotta go. We’re going to do some last minute prep.” It was a lie. We had already gone over the match with Sherie. Coco Malloy and I were ready to go, as were Honey Badger and Izzy Quick, our opponents. Coco and I were going to win, while Izzy and Honey were going to do a shock-and-awe type of offense on us. Sherie was even allowing me to be the “big damn hero,” as she put it. Mom delayed for a while longer but eventually hung up. I turned and found Coco giving me a quizzical look. “Problems with your folks?” Coco asked. I shrugged. “Kind of. Not really. My mom, she worries.” “You two close?” Coco asked. “Close enough. How about you and your mom?” Coco shrugged. “Well, she’s not exactly thrilled about my life choices. But we’re good. So you ready for tonight?” “Absolutely. Why wouldn’t I be?” She studied me. “I’ve been hearing rumors about you guys over at RFW. Word on the street is that big things are coming your way. You guys are on the cusp of…well, I don’t know. Something huge. So I’m almost scared to get in the ring with you. Last thing I want to do is generate some bad blood with someone who could sign my next paycheck, y’know?” My eyes widened and I looked around the locker room. Was…was Coco asking me for a job? Was that okay? Or would Farrah think I was trying to poach her talent? I mean, we kind of were. Marie, Alice, and Sarah all worked for Farrah before we hired them at RFW. Well, Marie was a bit of a muddle, but still… “I’m sure we’ll be okay,” I said. Coco smiled. “Then let’s get out there and see how things go, shall we?” I nodded, but my stomach had tied itself in a knot. Not because of the match. That would be fine. But because of whatever the future might hold.

From RFW.com…

Sunday of Week 4, August 2022 With the summer winding down, life started to get back to normal. Grace officially and truly moved back to the Twin Cities. This time, I was able to help her move her stuff into her apartment. Well, me and Mark did. I hate to admit it, but Mark was really growing on me. I never thought I’d say that, but there we were. I hadn’t heard where Abigail wound up. According to my friends at RCTC, she hadn’t enrolled for a new semester there. I kept texting her occasionally, saying that I wanted to talk, that I was sorry, that I wanted to try again. But I never really heard anything from her. And Cassidy wouldn’t share any information with me either. And RFW continued to remain in the black. In August, we made $1,102, bringing our warchest up to $83,130. And things were starting to gel. I had some fun plans in store for our audience. And now that Mrs. Kil was in our corner and running interference for us, I figured we would be good. But I still couldn’t shake a gnawing feeling that I had missed something. That I had overlooked something important. All I could do was hope that it wouldn’t come back to bite me.

Sunday of Week 3, August 2022 Things I never thought I would do: Actually tell my mom about RFW and my growing career as a professional wrestler. Never thought it would happen. Right up there? Showing Mom how to download the WrestleWorld app for her phone and then subscribe to both RFW and QAW’s shows so she could see what I was up to without letting Dad know about it. That proved trickier, but we figured it out. That was part of the bargain we struck: whenever I was in the ring, she had to know about it. And I had to text her the minute the match was over to let her know that I was okay. I think I may have freaked her out with the way I sold Marie’s offense at All In. And you know, I was okay with this. I mean, kind of. I still wasn’t happy with Ace for spilling the beans the way he did. But Mom and I talked about why he did and…well, maybe he didn’t have much of a choice. And it felt good to have the secret out in the open. Part of the way out. Okay, I still had no idea what I would tell Dad or when or how. But that would have to keep. And at least Mom was thinking about this as well. Thankfully, the first two shows Mom got to watch from QAW actually had me in the actual show. At Capital Clash from Austin, Honey Badger and I got creamed by the San Diego Girls. I really enjoyed the match. Badger and I got to play nasty, which proved to be a lot of fun. Mom didn’t like it so much. I think she’d want me to stick to face if I could. But heel was kind of fun. And then, a few days later, we went to Corpus Christi for Titan Clash. This time, I lost when Kira Lee and I went up against Skye Hermosa and Coco Malloy. Once again, I was the heel and, based on the texts from Mom afterwards, I think she liked the fact that we lost. I mean, she wasn’t happy that I was playing the heel, but hey, small steps. And that’s what these would have to be. Mom and I were starting to figure out how to be honest with each other again. Or rather, I had to figure out how to be honest with her. My dad has a saying: “The truth will out.” Well, the truth was almost out. And so far, so good. But I had a feeling if the rest emerged the wrong way, it would all come crashing down on us.