"Will you two listen to yourselves?" Cornette all but shouted, as he started to get red in the face. "If you really want to blow through all that money why not just set that ticket on fire? It'll be a lot more efficient and won't give you as many ulcers."
"So how do you really feel about the idea, Corny?" Lance responded with his customary deadpan delivery.
Lisa Marie chuckled in spite of herself. Her idea for starting a new wrestling company for women only was not going over well with Cornette. And his opinion was not one to be ignored lightly, his brilliance when it came to the wrestling industry was unquestioned…even by his detractors.
But Lisa Marie believed that her idea could work. She was sure of it. For so long in her career, even when the women's division had been at its best, there had always been so many annoyances and problems that had held women's wrestling back. She and her peers had always been convinced that they could have achieved so much more, if only they'd been afforded the same level of support and opportunity as their male counterparts.
And she was glad to have Lance's unconditional support, though not surprised. The origins of their friendship could be traced back to the early days of her WWE career. Unlike some of the other male grapplers, Lance had always been respectful and supportive of the women. His passion for the business was primarily about the craft of wrestling itself. He appreciated anyone who worked seriously to improve their in-ring skills and had offered many pointers and tips to the ladies. Even better, he'd always conducted himself as a gentleman when working with the women…and as a result he was almost universally admired among Lisa Marie's peers.
And at the moment, there was another advantage to having Lance's support. He really knew how to deal with Cornette.
"I understand," Lance told the other man in a polite tone. "I get it. You think it's a bad idea. That's alright. We'll just give it a go by ourselves." He turned to address Lisa Marie, and gave her a quick wink before continuing. "So I think the first thing we should do is start nailing down some contracts with various arenas. We'll need to be a touring company, running shows from coast to coast."
"OH MY GOD!" Cornette exploded. "How in the hell can you even think that? If you want to have any chance at all of success, you need to establish--"
And with that…Cornette was off. The fast talking man immediately launched into a full on diatribe about what to do and what NOT to do when starting up a wrestling promotion. Lisa Marie grabbed a pen and paper and started jotting down notes, while Lance slyly directed the conversation…throwing out deliberately bad ideas every so often and causing Cornette to throw out a dozen new good ideas in response.
It actually didn't take Cornette too long to catch on to the ploy…but by that time, his mind was too wrapped up in tackling the challenges a new women's promotion would face.
"You both think you're so damn clever don't you?" he told Lance and Lisa Marie after they'd talked into the early hours of the morning. "Well, fine. In my career I've made almost every possible mistake a man can make in this business, so one more isn't going make much difference. I'm in."
And at the sound of those words, Lisa Marie knew that her idea was going to become a reality.
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Of course, there were a lot of hurdles to jump. Documents were drawn up, papers were signed, endless phone calls were made…and that was all just to get ready for the real work.
The plan for the company was a sound one. Touring was not a goal. Instead they'd base themselves out of a single location, worrying only about one venue to run shows in and then taping those shows and looking to DVD sales for make up the bulk of their revenue until they could secure a television contract. The "home base" plan also would allow them to set up a training faculty that the women could use. Lance, having run his own wrestling school up in Canada since his retirement from competition, was the perfect person to oversee that.
But even with that plan, and the great deal of starting capital they had to invest, they were going to need a lot more money to keep the company strong and solvent until it had established itself. This would involve more investors…and that was problematic.
If they were going to bring anyone else into the ownership side of things they'd need someone who either truly understood the wrestling business, or who would be content to not interfere at all with the way the company was run. But nobody outside the wrestling industry with that kind of money would ever sign on for such a deal. And all the wealthiest people who did understand wrestling were currently working or heavily involved with either WWE or TNA.
With one notable exception.
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Lisa Marie, Lance and Corny looked at the display case full of pictures and trophies in the waiting room outside the office. At the center of the case was a custom-made plaque that appeared to be solid gold. Inscribed on the plague was a long list of achievements.
"United States Champion, Intercontinental Champion, three time Tag Team Champion, seventeen time Hardcore Wrestling Champion," Lisa Marie read aloud before pausing to make an observation. "Underneath that, he's got each of his Hardcore Championship reigns listed individually."
"He's never exactly been shy about blowing his own horn," Cornette commented.
Lisa continued reading. "WWE Champion with the longest individual title reign in Smackdown history.
"And a bona-fide WRESTLING GOD!" a great booming voice sounded from behind them.
All three turned to see the large form of John Bradshaw Layfield…JBL…retired wrestler, millionaire investor and over-bearing loudmouth. He was wearing both his trademark cowboy hat and trademark smirk.
"Corny, it's been too long," he said as he gave Cornette a friendly slap on the back. "And Victoria, you are always a welcome sight." He gallantly took her hand and raised it up to kiss it.
"You haven't changed," she said in response.
"And why would I, darlin'?" he replied. "You don't mess with perfection."
The tall man then turned to Lance and paused. "And you are?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"Very funny," Lance replied as he wondered again if it wouldn't have been better for Lisa Marie and Cornette to have handled this meeting without him. He and JBL had never been on the friendliest of terms. Inside of the ring, the two had all the respect in the world for one another's abilities…but outside of the ring their contrasting personalities had always mixed about as well as oil and water.
Despite that, when all four of them sat down to talk business, things went very well.
In many ways, Layfield was the epitome of the "old boys' network" aspect of the wrestling industry. As such, he'd never championed women's wrestling…but unlike other "traditionalists" he'd never been dismissive of it either.
In his years with WWE, JBL had seen how hard some of the women had worked and how little appreciation they'd gotten. It reminded him of aspects of his own career. He'd been told often that his size and toughness would enable him to make a living as a wrestler, but that he'd never be a main-event superstar. Of course, the people that had told him that had no idea just how stubborn he was. In the end, sheer bull-headedness and a sizable ego had taken him all the way to the top championship in the industry.
So despite having a reputation for being more than a bit of a bully, he also had a soft spot for underdogs.
"This could work," he finally said, after Lisa Marie had finished laying out the proposal. "I really think this could work. But if I buy in, how are we going to run things?"
The negotiations that followed were quite complex…but ended up with all four of them happy. All of them would be equal co-owners and split profits evenly. Cornette would be the commissioner of the promotion itself and be in charge of the match making and managing the wrestlers. Lance would be in charge of training. JBL would handle business negotiations, and also serve as part of the broadcast team.
Lisa Marie would have no authority when it came to the other employees, as she wanted to compete on the roster as an active wrestler. When the time came that she wanted to retire from competition, then she would have full executive powers equal to the other partners.
It took just over two weeks for the final business details to be ironed out for the formation of the FWF – Female Wrestling Federation.
And then the recruitment drive started.
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For most of the women contacted, the timing was perfect. Those not employed by either WWE or TNA were excited to have a new option to explore. And many that were already employed were unhappy with their current bosses.
JBL's business savvy proved invaluable at this time, as he was able to easily buy out the contracts of any ladies signed with the other companies. He actually made the bean counters at WWE and TNA believe they were getting a great deal. The idea was that they could make an immediate profit be releasing any of their current women who wanted to leave, and replace them with new girls that would work for much less. And since the WWE and TNA officials didn't believe the FWF would last as a viable organization, they could later rehire any of the women they released…at a lesser rate of pay.
By playing into these ideas, JBL was not only able to purchase contracts, he was able to purchase intellectual property rights as well. Any of the girls that came to join the FWF were able to bring any assumed ring-names and theme music with them.
And Lisa Marie was able to call herself Victoria once again.
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Offers were made to virtually every woman currently working in the business, even the less talented ones. The thinking behind this was three fold.
- The larger the roster, the more variety of match-ups they could have.
- Some of the poorly trained models might discover hidden potential if they were given the chance to learn properly. Victoria had actually become good friends with Lena Yada, one of the less successful women that WWE had brought in a few years earlier. She'd felt that if Lena had been given proper guidance, she might have developed into a real wrestler.
- And it was a great opportunity to teach some of those untrained models, the ones with bad attitudes, what real wrestling was all about.
But the recruitment drive wasn't limited to just in-ring talent. Being an organization for women, the founders wanted females to work in a variety of roles.
Christy Hemme, who'd been forced to abandon her own wrestling career due to a neck injury, was hired to be an on-air interviewer.
And it was also decided that a woman should be in the broadcast team to call the matches alongside JBL. Of course that job would require a woman that was knowledgeable, good on the microphone and had a strong enough personality to not be dominated by the bombastic cowboy.
The answer was obvious.
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"So of course I took the job," Ivory told her friend as they drove together to the autograph show. "I'll be doing play by play…what other woman has ever been the lead play by play announcer? And working with JBL? That's going to be a trip! I mean okay…he can be a jerk, but he's one of the best at color commentary. This is going to be great!"
Ivory's friend just smiled and nodded, happy that the older woman was so excited about her new job.
"So I think this could really take off," the talkative woman continued. "I've been keeping track of all the women who've signed on. Lots of talent. I'm actually almost tempted to turn down the broadcast job and get back in the ring. I mean, face it, I'm still in great shape."
The quieter woman nodded in agreement. There was no denying that Ivory had been fairly successful so far in the battle against Father Time. She looked better than many women half her age, and was still quite an athlete.
"Yeah," Ivory went on. "I should go out there and show them that a woman going into her early-forties can still get in the ring and win."
That finally produced a more animated response from Ivory's friend.
"Early-forties?" the other woman spoke up with a laugh. "Going into? Come on. I know when you were born."
"And I've sworn you to secrecy," Ivory told her younger friend. "Don't forget that."
"If these are still your early-forties, when do you hit the mid-forties?"
"The day before my fiftieth birthday," Ivory responded quickly.
"And your late-forties?"
Ivory paused for a moment as if to consider. "How about when I'm fifty-five? Yeah, that'll work."
The other woman laughed again. "You are something."
There was a slight pause in the conversation, then Ivory spoke in a more serious tone.
"I noticed that you haven't signed on with the FWF yet."
"I don't think it's right for me," her friend said in a small voice.
Ivory exhaled in an annoyed manner. "That's crazy talk. This company needs women like you, Molly."
Molly Holly, kept looking in front of her at the road. "I'm retired. I've been retired for years."
"You retired when you were twenty-seven," Ivory shot back. "Only twenty-seven and one of the greatest wrestlers in the world. I still wrestled like crap when I was that age, but you…you were amazing."
"I needed to walk away," Molly said quietly.
Ivory frowned. "Sweetie, you know I love you, but you didn't walk away. You ran."
"Can we not have this conversation?" A note of anger sounded in the younger woman's voice.
"Are you telling me to shut up? Because lots of people have tried that over the years and it hasn't worked yet."
Molly shook her head and sighed. "You do have a big mouth."
The older woman spoke in a gentler tone. "Molly, I know we've talked about this before…and I gave up trying to change your mind because the business started to turn bad. There was no point in you going back then. But now...with a new group that's nothing but women wrestlers? Molly, you can't pass this up. You're only thirty-two. With your talent, you could go straight back to the top and stay there for a decade or more."
"I don't know if I can. Not after--"
"You've got to let it go," Ivory cut her off, knowing the incident that troubled her friend so. At Wrestlemania XX, the biggest single show in the history of the business up to that time, Molly had tried to regain the Women's Championship from Victoria, who'd won the belt from her in an arguably unfair circumstance. Molly felt that her long and illustrious title reign entitled her to a rematch on the grandest stage of them all…Madison Square Garden. But her requests had fallen on somewhat deaf ears. As a result, she'd had to agree to a special stipulation for the match. It was turned into a Hair Match.
Molly lost and then had her head shaved bald in front of a worldwide audience.
"I was humiliated," she protested.
"I know, sweetie," Ivory replied. "But you know what? And I'm not joking here. Even for the humiliation, I would've traded places with you in a heartbeat."
Molly spared her an incredulous glance before shifting her eyes back to the road.
"I'm serious," the older woman continued. "I know it was bad…but think about the other side of it. You wrestled for the title belt at Wrestlemania XX! Madison Square Garden! Your match was just a couple away from the main event. You and Victoria are the only women in history that can say that. Not even Trish Stratus, she didn't wrestle that match…you did. I swear Molly, I would have shaved my own head if I could have had your spot on the card that night."
Molly was silent for a time before responding. "In my head, I know you're right. But I feel like everything went so wrong. It's not just that I lost…or the haircut…it was just everything at once. I should never have lost the belt in the first place. I shouldn't have had to beg for a rematch. When I got the match, I should've been more focused. I was off my game completely, and I never got back on track afterwards. You know the losing streak I went on. I was hopeless."
"And that's why this is your chance to make things right," Ivory said. "Get back into the ring. Show the world just how good you are. Hell, wrestle Victoria again. Show everyone that you can beat her."
Once again, Molly hesitated before answering. But when she finally did speak, her words caused Ivory to smile.
"I suppose I could give it a try."
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To be continued…
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author's notes: Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Please review, I truly appreciate feedback.
In this story, I'm going to include certain things that are inspired by actual anecdotes from reality. For example, in the first chapter, the story about Lance and Victoria's 'brother/sister' joke is based on an actual hoax that Lance Storm started for real and kept up for several years with the help of Victoria and Trish Stratus, both of whom 'confirmed' the story whenever asked.
As for Lance being supportive of the women wrestlers...this is also true. His friend Dave 'Fit' Finlay, oversaw the women's division during its heyday, and Lance often pitched in to help work with the women and improve their in-ring skills.
Ivory (Lisa Moretti) and Molly Holly (Nora Greenwald) were often travel partners during their time in WWE, and are great fun if you've ever seen them at an autograph show together. The line about Ivory shaving her own head to have Molly's spot is based on an unused contingency plan for that famous match. Many fans know that in reality, it was Molly's idea for the hair match at Wrestlemania XX…but not as many people are aware that Ivory was in line to be the back-up plan in case either Molly or Victoria were injured or otherwise unable to work that night. At a fan convention a couple of years ago, Ivory detailed how she had volunteered for that role…and to be the one who lost her hair no matter who she faced. If she'd gone against Victoria, Ivory would have lost cleanly and been shaved. But if she'd faced Molly, they were going to switch things up and have Ivory win…but then fall victim to a sneak attack after the match so that Molly would end up shaving Ivory anyway. This would've set up a future rematch where Ivory could have her revenge and cut off all of Molly's hair. Of course, both Molly and Victoria were injury free and able to work the event as planned, so Ivory didn't get her big Wrestlemania moment that year…but at least she did get to keep her hair.
