WZCW SuperShow: Kagura Ozhora vs. Bruce Irwin

[Richard Blonoff]

It will be singles competition for two of the fastest rising rookies in WZCW in recent memory who have yet to find themselves a spot for the Kingdom Come card. However, with the recent announcement of a Battle Royale to determine the final 5th entrant for the Super Ladder Match Melee that will contest the Eurasian championship, these two shining stars will need all the momentum they can get to help propel them to competing at their first ever Kingdom Come event.

Will it be Kagura Ohzora to jump back up to the level she once was after recent weeks of down-time or will the Australian Sensation Bruce Irwin continue his perfectly exponential ascent to the top?

Deadline is Friday, October 17th, 11:59pm CST. Extensions available upon request.

 

[Lee]

Bruce: That was something different.

Crocodile Bruce Irwin is shown sat on a train looking directly at the camera.


Bruce: In Oz I'm classed as a bewdy. Someone people look up to. Someone who always comes out on top.

A pause.

Bruce: America is different.

Bruce sighs.

Bruce: I didn't lose. It was great to see Daddy Mack pick up a much needed win. It was good to see the crowd rally behind him. It's brilliant to see that he won't retire and that he'll get the chance to win a ladder match at Kingdom Come. I didn't lose, but I didn't win.

Irwin smiles.

Bruce: The American dream, mate. That's what it's all about. Second chances. I get to enter a battle royal for a chance to enter the match and win the belt.

Another pause.

Bruce: The Eurasian title. The prestige as many. When I win it'll be the EurAustralian title. Ha, that would be funny.

Bruce quickly shifts to a more serious look.

Bruce: I need to learn the American way first of all. I can be good as I am but how can I be the top end of things? How can I be legendary? I go on a quest. I find a place as an American base that can be my home. One that fits the ideals that I need.

Another pause.

Bruce: I tried the home of Rocky and realised that I didn't really like Philly. So I whistled for a cab and when it came near the licence plate said Fresh and it had dice in the mirror. Yup I attempted Bel Air and that was the most opposite for me you could get.

Irwin laughs.

Bruce: I needed a town where a man could be a hero. Where foreigners are welcomed with open arms. A small town that I could get on with life and as hot as possible. Yes I needed to go south. Not quite Texas but...

The loudspeaker is heard on the train.

Could all passengers prepare themselves and get their luggage as the next stop is our final station. Keystone City, Kansas.

 

[Bernkastel]

Madrid, Spain.
The Airport
Kagura’s Point of View​

I was still in a state of disbelief from the events that had transpired the previous week. I cannot believe that Gozaburo-san’s tickets had gotten mixed up and he ended up on a different flight. He was a smart man, but I did not want to believe that there had been some kind of foul play involved. My comrades from my days working in Tokyo had warned me about the politics that went on inside big companies like WZCW. I assumed that was one of the reasons why Gozaburo-san was chosen to become my manager. He had been the one best suited to mentor me in the ways on not only the American culture, but also the American lifestyle.

Because he was missing I had been forced to fend for myself during the tour. I was so far out of my comfort zone that I stumbled over all the English that I knew and wound up staying inside the locker room for the night. During my match that night I had been so out of place with my worrying over Gozaburo-san’s well being that my opponent quickly capitalized and defeated me before I could even defend myself. I was so embarrassed and disappointed that I almost didn’t want to show my face anymore, but somehow I knew I had to build up the courage to do so.

A couple of days later I had finally received a phone call from Gozaburo- san. It was in the evening and the sun was beginning to set. We were leaving the country soon and all of us were at the airport. I had been staying close to a couple of the other girls trying my best not to get lost.

The noise jolted me forward as I fumbled for the phone and pressed the receive button, greeting the caller in my native tongue.

“Hello?"

“Hello Kagura. This is Sasuke.”

I was shocked. He had actually called.

“Where are you? Are you hurt? Did you get lost?”

I began firing off questions. I had so many fears that my mentor had gotten hurt, or lost, or even kidnapped.

“I’m fine Kagura. I am in St. Louis.”

I tilted my head in question, “St. Louis? I do not know where that is –”

“It’s in Missouri. Have you been studying your maps like I asked? You’ll be working some of these cities soon. Don’t you think it would be nice to know where you are if there was an emergency?”

I sighed. I didn’t want to argue with him.

“I was worried about you. So your flight tickets were mixed up after all.”

“No, they weren’t.” He replied gruffly. “I meant to come here. There were some things that I need to take care of.”

My eyes widened. My brain was unable to process this information so suddenly.

“What? Are you saying that you left me on purpose Gozaburo-san? Why would you do that?”

I was hurt and angry. It was like a feeling of abandonment.

“Listen Kagura, calm down. I didn’t do it to hurt you. I did it to try and help you. How many times have I told you not to rely on me to navigate your way for you?”

“Yes but… we ended up in Europe. Spain! They don’t even speak English here!”

“And I don’t speak Spanish. You’ve been to Spanish speaking countries before when we toured Central America. All you had to do was to find someone in charge and use your English skills to explain the situation as best you could and they would have taken care of everything. But you didn’t do that did you?”

I felt downtrodden. Shamefully I starred at the floor.

“No… I hid myself in the locker room. I didn’t know what else to do!”

“Well, now you know. This was an act of tough love Kagura. Use it as a learning experience. I want to see you succeed as much as anybody else.”

“Are you going to be at the next show, Gozaburo-san? I’ve heard it’s in Canada.”

“Yes. I am. I am leaving St. Louis tonight.”

My eyes lit up. I was happy. My next opponent looked like a monster. His name was Bruce Irwin. He was much larger than I was. One wrong move and he could easily snap me in half. I had to be on my guard. I had to be ready. And with Gozaburo- san by my side I just… felt complete. It just wasn’t right if he wasn’t there with me. The time we had spend together training… he had become more than just a trainer and a manager. He was my friend.

“Alright, I am happy to hear that Gozaburo-san. I will see you when we get to Canada.”

“I will be in your corner again so you don’t have to worry.”

I smiled, “I’m happy to have you by my side again.”

“Yes. But be sure to keep studying your English.”

We said our goodbyes. And soon I was leaving Spain for yet another country that I had never seen. I knew of Canada thanks to the geography classes that I had taken in school. I had heard it was cold there and I wondered if I needed a jacket this time of year. But that didn’t matter as long as Gozaburo-san was by my side again. I felt like I could climb a snowy mountain in my underwear as long as he was looking after me.

But I wondered why he felt the need to go to St. Louis. It was so far away.

St Louis, Missouri
Sasuke’s Point of View​

There wasn’t a mix up between the tickets last week. I meant had meant not to accompany Kagura to the event last week. The girl needed some tough love. She was starting to get soft, and to over reliant on me. She wasn’t making progress on her English skills like I had wanted her to. I had told her so many times that she needed to learn English in order to fend for herself in these different countries because I wasn’t always going to be there to hold her hand. She was such a stubborn girl. And this was my way of showing tough love.

I took a flight to Chicago before taking a connecting flight to St. Louis. When I broke into the business decades ago I eventually ended up here. This was one of the hottest places for pro wrestling back then. And I regularly worked the circuits between St. Louis touring up and down the mid western United States. I loved it here. When I was a young child I had always been drawn to the concept of “The American Dream.” The nation of Japan was beginning to bolster her economy during the 60’s and I, being from a family that didn’t have a strong social standing, was already feeling the pressures of basically surrendering my freedoms for the glory of the nation.

And that’s not what I wanted. Many years later when I had found the success that I wanted in the States and had followed my idea of the “American Dream,” I chose to settle down and start a family a decade later. And I chose St. Louis. I married a nice Caucasian woman who had been the love of my life. We bought a house and soon she gave birth to a baby girl. I had never been as happy as I had been during those times.
But then everything changed…

First my wrestling career was brought to an abrupt end during the early 90’s due to sustained damage to my neck and knees. I had to have multiple surgeries and I was dealing with constant pain. My personal physician feared that I might be pushing myself into a wheelchair, or worse, an early grave if I didn’t give up the lifestyle. And ultimately I retired for her. So that she could spend as much time with her daddy as possible while I was still capable of walking.

And for a while everything was great. And I was the happiest that I had ever been. Then tragedy struck. I wasn’t the same man after that fateful night. I began drinking. My family life was falling apart. I soon became a shell of my former self. I ended up moving away from St. Louis briefly, but I left a little piece of my heart there. Actually I had left more than just a little piece of it there. This was where I had won the world championship. This was where I met my wife and had gotten married. And this was where my daughter had been born and raised.

And truthfully, I still loved it here so that’s why I chose to come back. It was why I was here now.

I got off the plane and took a cab to the restaurant where my wife and I had shared our 10th anniversary together. Then I begrudgingly took another to the one place that I didn’t want to go. Well, actually, this was a lie. I wanted to go here… no, I needed to go here! But it was painful.

The cab dropped me off at the bottom of a small hill, which I descended into a small valley. I stopped in front of the white row marker. I looked straight ahead and stepped over to the right. I had found what I had been looking for, a marble headstone marking that what was already dead and gone from this world.

I knelt beside it and said aloud, “hello darling. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I laid a bouquet of flowers that I had picked up at the restaurant and laid them beside the headstone. I stood and took in the atmosphere. Even if I wanted to cry I knew that I couldn’t. Those tears had long dried up, and now after many years I had finally accepted what had been taken from me… or so I thought I had.

Kagura was a fool. Or it was the only thing that I could think to call her at the moment. The truth was I was distancing myself from her on purpose, so perhaps I was the one being foolish. I just did not know anymore.

I turned and stared down at the headstone, “These flowers were your mother’s favorite. I hope that you’ll like them as well. I was never one for being original.”

It was starting to get a little late. I picked up my phone and dialed a number…