DEFIANCE Press Conference!
[The Cowboys’ Stadium in Dallas. The press conference room was packed full of journalists. After Eric Dane’s forcible closing of the World Wrestling Alliance, pro wrestling journalism, financial journalism, and entertainment journalism were waiting for the next big bombshell.]
[Something had to come of this, right?]
[The podium with a blood-red DEFIANCE logo printed on it stood empty, with a number of chairs behind it. The amphitheater was elegantly dressed up, with fancy blue-and-gold curtains, pretty side decor, and multitudes of white plastic chairs. When the time was right, and the speaker was ready, people began to file out from the back.]
[Angus Skaaland.]
[Eric Dane.]
[Cito Conarri.]
[Dane walked to the podium and took ahold of the edge with one hand, laying his papers out before him. No cane, either, so no need for a hand being free just for that. After a moment of consideration, Dane looked up, to the audience. The Baws of DEFIANCE cleared his throat, before adjusting the mic.]
Dane:
Thank you all for coming out, today. As you all could imagine, the decision to close the World Wrestling Alliance was a heavy one to make, but one that I can assure you wasn’t made lightly.
Matter-of-factly, it was a decision that had been weighing on my thoughts for most of the preceding six months. Many of those in my “inner circle” have said openly that I’ve been distracted, and it was true. If I spent forty hours in my office every week working on Defiance, I spent another forty if not more dealing with the WWA.
[He paused, took a calming breath, and continued.]
Dane:
But none of that matters anymore. The World Wrestling Alliance is dead, in every possible meaning of the word. As such, we in Defiance have no choice but to move onward and upward...
Under the umbrella of the Alliance, we were limited in where and when we could produce television shows. We had to follow certain guidelines, rules that helped drive other, lesser promotions to the wayside, but we soldiered through. As a part of the Alliance we were allocated a certain funds to keep operations up without the increased intake that producing more, bigger, better shows would produce.
Without that allocation, and without the stifling nature of the by-laws that came with it, we are now faced with a major decision.
[Again he paused.]
Dane:
Shit, or get off the pot.
[The statement was devised to break the tension, and it had worked. Journalists who’d been sitting on the edges of their seats and biting their nails relaxed, even chuckled.]
Dane:
And, well, we all know me. So, faced with the knowledge of the Alliance’s impending doom, I took it on myself to start looking at my options for the post-WWA era of Defiance.
The first step was obvious. In order to prosper and grow, Defiance TV has to find it’s way off of the internet, and onto at least a semi-National television network.
[Reporter-types were scrawling furiously into their notepads.]
Dane:
As you can imagine, with the saturation of bad wrestling television on cable, nobody but G4TV would even look at us, and even they wanted us to pay them.
So, just when things were looking grim, I get a phone call. On the other end is Quentin Sullivan. Word had gotten out that I was shopping DEF TV around, and he asked if I had any interest in bringing the Defiance product to the network that he’d only just returned to himself, ESEN TV.
As you know, ESEN is the premier wrestling and fighting network across the globe. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. To be perfectly honest, the contracts were all but notarized two and a half weeks before Summer Games went live.
So, without further stalling, I can now publically state that Defiance TV will begin airing on ESEN TV immediately, We’ve secured a late-night timeslot for re-runs of the first season, and Season Two, Episode Four will be the first Live Television Broadcast for Defiance. To top it off, we’ve secured a primetime 8:00pm to 10:00pm slot in which to do so.
[Hands shot up, Eric politely asked for questions to be held as he was not yet done.]
Dane:
Now, just to seal the deal and make it official, I’d like to bring the President of ESEN to the podium, please welcome Mr. Quentin Sullivan!
[Sullivan came around the stage unseen from the side. There was more furious writing of notes and raising of hands. Again, questions were asked to be held as Quentin stepped up to the podium, shook hands with Dane as well as Angus Skaaland and Cito Conarri, and finally took his place in front of the microphone.]
Sullivan:
We'd like to welcome DEFIANCE WRESTLING to the ESEN Family. As one of the up and coming national promotions, we're looking forward to partnering with them for a long time.
DEFIANCE will make a fine addition to our network’s roster of talent... As long as that Victor Mandrake guy doesn’t keep trying to kill you, Eric.
[Sullivan chuckled, and stepped back aside.]
Dane:
Yes, well, I know how to deal with Mr. Mandrake, Sully, and frankly his parlor tricks just don’t have the impact anymore that they did ten years ago.
[A nervous chuckle flares through the assembled press as Mr. Sullivan took his seat behind the podium.]
Dane:
Now, with access to a Global television audience comes the opportunity to grow our brand name in areas outside of the South-Eastern US, where we’ve been so far confined. We will immediately be embarking on a tour of the continental United States.
Not only will we be bringing Defiance TV to new, untapped markets, but we will be bringing live, non-televised events as well. This is a first for Defiance, but it’s always been my hope to put the product in front of as many eyes as possible.
[Catching his stride, the Defiance boss continues.]
Dane:
Along with National product expansion, of course, comes roster and staff expansion. As has been reported all over the internet, Defiance has absorbed quite a bit of former WWA talent after the events of Summer Games. To lay the fears to rest, this is good news.. There are spots for everyone in Defiance, and opportunities to not only thrive but to succeed in this wrestling business. No cuts shall be made on this account.
We’ve also taken on several new staff members, the most notable of which is sitting right here at my side, a Mr. Cito Conarri.
[Cito stands and makes his way over to the podium.]
Conarri:
Well, let me start by saying, in case it wasn't already clear, that my decision to stand up for the Alliance in the end was not about starting some sort of 'feud' with Eric Dane. Obviously, or I wouldn't be here right now.
[Pause for a mild chuckle from the fans.]
Conarri:
What I wanted to do working with the Alliance was to try and work with the talent, to try and get some organization in the backstage ranks, and to communicate directly with the wrestlers themselves. Of course any promotion, no matter how charismatic the lead is, depends on the individual wrestlers.
[Another pause.]
Conarri:
And there's no reason that I can't do that same thing here in Defiance. So I'll be working with Mr. Dane as Head of Talent Relations, hopefully taking the stress off both the other wrestlers, and Eric himself. And in the future, there may be some sort of affiliation between my Wrestling Inferno training camp and Defiance, much like the one I had with the late great Old Line Wrestling. We're just trying to figure out what is needed and work out the details.
[Pause for applause.]
Conarri:
Oh yeah, and I'll be sharing host duties for Defiance TV with Angus Skaaland, as you saw on Episode 3.
[He steps away from the podium to polite applause.]
Dane:
Now, I believe we’re down to the last piece of news. Starting today, the Confederate Stock Exchange is no more. While it was an interesting concept, it was a numerical pain in the balls. We will be replacing it with a more traditional top ten list of singles wrestlers, and top five tag teams.
In these new Rankings, the top five ranking individuals will be able to challenge the Defiance Heavyweight Title at any given time, and the top two ranked tag teams will have the opportunity to challenge for the Defiance World Tag Team Titles.
The way to move up the ladder is simple. You beat a guy, you get his ranking.
Plain and Simple.
It is my hope, and our belief, that this will cause for some much more heated rivalries as it pertains to contention for the two top titles inside of Defiance.
The full list of contenders will be made public later this afternoon, but one thing I can tell you is that as loathe as I am to say it, Cancer Jiles will be named the Number One Contender, and as such will be recieving a shot at Aaron Vasquez on the next episode of Defiance TV.
[More hands shot up. Dane, having already hit all of his bullet-points, decided that now was as good a time as any to go ahead and get to the Q&A portion of the afternoon. A reporter rose, and as he waved for a question, Dane pointed, and called on him.]
Reporter #1:
Jerry Franklin, WWAunderground.com. What will become of the men holding WWA Gold? Boston Bancroft, Joe Drago, and Jesse James all are now contracted with DEFIANCE. What will become of the WWA World Heavyweight Championship and the WWA World Tag Team Championships?
[Jerry sat, pen at the ready.]
Dane:
You know, that’s a good question. As far as the World Tag Team Titles are concerned, I’m going to recognize them immediately. The Dragon Cowboys made a statement at Tag Wars, and then they came directly back home and they made a statement at the end of the last episode of Defiance TV.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of The Foreshadowing, that Sawyer kid alone makes me a wheelbarrow full of cash on merchandise alone, but they were upstaged and outclassed by the Cowboys.
As such, the DEF Tag Team Titles have been absorbed into the World Tag Team Titles and will henceforth be recognized as the Defiance World Tag Team Titles.
As for Boston Bancroft and his title, well, I guess you’ll just have to tune in to Defiance TV to find out the answer to that question!
[As Dane looked around for another reporter, he pointed to one he recognised.]
Reporter #2:
Fred Meltzman, Pro Wrestling Reviewer. Do you have any news on Victor Mandrake, and his frightening threat towards you and your staff?
Dane:
Mandrake is a twinkie. Next.
[Dane chose another reporter.]
Reporter #3:
John Hitchcock, Yahoo Sports. How do you feel about the rumors that DEFIANCE is going to grow too big, too fast?
Dane:
Somebody has been whispering rumors of Defiance’s demise since the day before anyone even knew I was going to open a promotion. And you know what, they’ll continue. But let me tell you one thing, my name is Eric Dane, not Benjamin Halkum, and I know a thing or two about pacing.
Defiance will grow at the pace that is best suited for Defiance, and it will continue to grow for as long as I am able and willing to continue on with it.
How about one more?
[Dane chose one final reporter.]
Reporter #4:
Jun Hiyao, SPORT magazine. Will DEFIANCE ever go international, tourwise?
Dane:
That’s another great question. As you know, Defiance has a healthy relationship with Pro-Wrestling FURY in Japan, and I’ve had many a late night chat with Kazuma Fujita on the subject of Defiance coming to Japan. That, in allocation with ESEN’s ties to Japanese television, I’d say that there is a definite possibility of seeing a Defiance show, hell, maybe even an entire season, emanating from Japan.
As for the rest of the World, you just never know, now do you?
[With his final words out, Dane stepped back, and bowed lightly, before turning on the morbidly expensive heel of his shoe, walking offstage to the right. Left in charge of closing this down, Angus Skaaland strode up to the podium.]
Angus:
We’d like to thank you guys for coming out today, but for fuck’s sake we’ve had a hard couple of months, let us catch a break, eh? For any further questions, contact our public relations people. Until then, that was Eric Dane, I’m the Mouth of DEFIANCE, Angus Skaaland, and that over there is my new arch nemesis Cito Conarri! And we’re out of here, bitches.
[Dozens more hands shoot up.]
[They are promptly ignored.]
Link:
http://defiance.quirkycircle.com
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