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Off Camera
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In jolly old
England there is one name that everyone cannot help but think of when the topic
of wrestling comes up; Glenn Braddock.
He was a man once known as “Britain’s Best” due to his amazing talents
and skill when it came to Greco-Roman amateur wrestling. He only lost twice during a career that
spanned several years. Unfortunately
that second lost ended with a career ending back injury and cost him what most
certainly would have been an appearance in the Olympic Games.
Fame never
lasts forever. People remember Glenn
Braddock for what he did, sure, but no one would recognize him today. And fewer and fewer of the new generation of
British are remembering the grizzled veteran of ring wars. Still, whether he is famous or not, Glenn
Braddock continues to leave his mark upon the wrestling industry. It may not be a direct impact through him
competing in a ring, but he does make indirect impacts on the sport through the
training of the next generation of professional athletes.
This is what
the Glenn Braddock School of Wrestling is for; this is Glenn Braddock’s way to
continue to influence the direction of wrestling. Many athletes have come out through his
school and entered into the world professional wrestling. If you ask him who his prize pupil is he will
automatically lie and tell you that he has no prize pupil. But he is lying. Glenn Braddock does have a favorite student…
…or maybe I
should say, students? For his favorite
students are his daughters, Gloria and Julia Braddock.
Glory
Braddock was the first. Julia would
later follow in her sister’s footsteps but Glory was the first and was also the
one that many thought would be the heir to the Braddock Wrestling Legacy. If her first night out after graduating her
father’s school was any indication, then success would definitely be in her
future. Her debut was part of a one
night single elimination tournament, a tournament which she won to become a
title holder. Corruption and politics
caused her to lose the belt just a few minutes later but no one could argue
with what she did that very night.
And she
didn’t let that one minor disappointment at the end stop her. In a way, Glory saw that moment as her
defining moment. She knew that she
couldn’t let corruption stop her. She
continued to fight against corruption anywhere and everywhere she saw it. Along the way she would win fourteen world
championships. And throughout that
entire time, Glory Braddock continued to
have one constant in her life and career…
…her father,
Glenn Braddock.
The grizzled
veteran would serve as her trainer, preparing her for any and every challenge
that came her way. Glory credits her
father for all of her championship accolades.
When she returned to a full time wrestling schedule early last year, she
of course brought her father along as her trainer. And now that she has signed a deal with FFW,
Femme Fatale Wrestling, she is bringing her father along for the ride.
We are met
by the grunts and groans of a female who is hard at work, sticking and moving
as she pounds away at a heavy bag dangling from the ceiling at a workout
facility. This particular facility just so happens to be the Glenn Braddock
Wrestling School and it closed a little early today so that Glenn Braddock
could work privately with his daughter.
The concrete
floor is gray and the walls are painted an off-white color, at least the walls
that still have paint on them, as most of the paint on the walls has begun to
peel.There is a standard wrestling set up in the center, weights scattered all
over the floor. At one of the far ends
of the room is a red heavy bag. Glory
Braddock, wearing a pair of purple sweatpants, white tennis shoes, and a white
t-shirt with her long dark auburn hair pulled into a ponytail in the back, is
lacing furiously into the bag with rights and lefts, and even a few kicks for
good measure.
Glenn
Braddock stands not too far away, carefully studying his daughter’s stance and
style as she strikes at the bag. He
occasionally stops to check his watch.
He is on a strict timetable, after all.
“Alright, stop!” Glenn shouts somewhat
nastily in a voice that would make most anyone run for cover. For her part, Glory knows that deep down
inside her drill sergeant of a father is a teddy bear, but even she knows
better than to disobey an order from him.
Glenn knows best, especially when it comes to wrestling. The British
Bombshell obeys the command and stops working over the bag. She stands at attention as her father
approaches her with a rigid frown on his face.
“You looked better that time. Keep it up and you’ll be ready for Raven
Knight.”
“I would hope so!” Glory says, grinning
from ear to ear. “I would like to think
I’m ready for anyone. Not to sound like
I’m bragging or anything but…”
“I get the feeling you’re about to brag.” Her
father states pointedly as he interrupts his first born child. Glory reacts with an arched brow.
“Uh, yeah, it would be bragging somewhat,
but you got to admit, dad, I should be ready for anyone; and that goes for
whether I’ve prepared or not.”
“Do you want my help, Gloria?”
“Of course.”
“Then quiet and listen.” Glenn snarls. “You would do well to remember my lessons,
specifically about how anyone can be beaten on any given day. Don’t start buying into the hype those bloody
media types in FFW tried to shill on social media.”
“They weren’t wrong.” Glory says
giggling slightly.
“Right or wrong is irrelevant, the fact is
that their social media team hyping you to the bloody moon could give you a big
head, it could cause you to overlook and underestimate Raven Knight, and what
happens when you do that?”
“You lose.”
“Precisely, and that’s the last thing I want
from you.” Glenn may be a bit of a monster when it comes to training but he
is a father at heart and he shows that as he reaches out and strokes his
daughter’s cheek. “You’ve put a lot of
thought into this. I know how badly you
want to succeed here. I don’t want to
see you fail.”
“And I won’t fail.” Glory remarks,
shaking her head. “I know damn well that
underestimating an opponent is the cardinal sin of professional wrestling. When have you ever known me to commit said
sin?”
“Point taken.” Glenn answers with a nod
of his head.
“See?
Everything will be fine. If Raven
wants to beat me she’ll have to outwork me.
It won’t be because I let her win.” Glory folds her arms over her
chest and smirks.“But speaking of my
distinguished competition, what do you know about her, dad?”
“I’ve got some film for you to watch back at
my house, assuming you’ll bother to come visit.” He snarls.
“Hey now!” Glory says laughing, though
still with a somewhat shocked look on her face. “I do visit you all the time!”
“Yeah, right now and only when you’re
training for a match.” Glenn Braddock turns from Glory and approaches the
wrestling ring set up a few feet away.
He sits on the edge of the ring apron.
Glory tilts her head to one side and frowns as she studies her father,
who looks different than he used to.
Underneath that layer of tough grit is a sense of sadness.
“Dad, you ok?”
“You should visit more often, you know?”
Glenn states grimly, stoically. “And not
just when you’re here on business.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re always globetrotting, Glory. Whether you’re competing for GCW, performing
your functions as General Manager of Defiance, and now competing here for
FFW? I wonder where I fit in.” Glenn
looks up at his daughter. “You know I
won’t be here forever.”
“Don’t talk like that.” Glory remarks as
she walks over to the ring apron and hops up there, sitting down next to her
father. She wraps an arm around his
shoulder and plants a kiss on his cheek. “You’re
so tough that Death has refused to take you three times out of sheer respect.”
“Right,” Glenn rolls his eyes “I’m not some bloody American buffoon like
Chuck Norris.”
“Chuck Norris is no buffoon! He was once bitten by a venomous snake and
after three agonizing days the snake died!”
“Harumph!
The snake wouldn’t have lasted ten minutes with me!”
“See?
Now that’s the Glenn Braddock I know!” Glory remarks with a playful
shove.
“Yeah?
My point remains, Gloria. I won’t
be here with you forever.”
“I said quit that talk.” Glory’s voice
is much more serious now. She really
doesn’t want to think about her father being gone. “I have a match to prepare for, so why don’t you tell me what
information you have on Raven Knight?”
“Fine, let’s get to it then.”
Glenn
Braddock slowly pushes himself off of the ring apron. Glory then hops up off of the ring apron as
well and stands at attention before Glenn Braddock, her famous father. Ready to take in any advice he is ready to
give.
“She’s more of a brawler than anything
else. So she’ll bring the pressure early
on.”
“Yeah and I’ve been through enough brawls
that I should be able to handle myself.”
“Don’t get arrogant.” Glenn remarks
scolding. “Didn’t I already tell you
about that? You might be able to ‘hang’
with her but she could outdo you if you’re not careful. Stay with what your best at, Gloria,
especially because what your BEST at is one of her greatest weaknesses.”
“Oh?” Glory arches her brow out of
curiosity.
“She is nowhere near the technical wrestler
that you are. You should be able to
wrestle circles around her. Stick to
that, stick to what you know, don’t try and prove anything by wrestling her
type of match.” Glenn taps her on her forehead. “Be smart and you should be fine.”
“No worries then, right?” Glory Braddock
grins from ear to ear. “All because of
you!”
“Eh, I
wouldn’t say that.” Glenn answers with a chuckle. “You’re doing the legwork. I’m
just the old piece of crap shouting at you in this gym.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re the smartest man in wrestling. I wouldn’t want to have anyone else but you
in my corner. Because you and I,”
she winks at her father “we make a great
team!”
“Yeah, and I suppose it is good to be back
in the saddle again.”
“That’s the spirit!”
==========
Glenn
Braddock
On Camera
==========
You’ve heard
all the hype by now; the hype surrounding the arrival of my daughter Glory Braddock
to FFW. I don’t need to hype her any
further because her record speaks for itself.
But what you don’t know is that my daughter is a bit humble, maybe even
too humble for her own good. But then
again, that’s why she has me. I’m
willing to tell all of you victims…because that’s what you are, victims…the
truth about what you can expect about the arrival of Glory Braddock.
Glory
Braddock’s arrival means the imminent shake up for FFW as you know it. Everything you knew and loved about FFW is
over. Your precious spot on the roster
is soon to be taken. Those at the top
will soon be at the bottom, those at the bottom will be at the top. The whole first shall be last bullshit, you
know? In other words, Glory Braddock is
going to turn this entire roster upside down.
You can try
to stop her but I’m here to tell you right now that you can’t. It’s like fighting mother nature
herself. You just can’t bloody well win. And if you don’t believe me, just see for
yourself when you watch her take Raven Knight apart on Velocity. And then after the match is over, you can all
go to Raven and ask her if what that old piece of shit Glenn Braddock said was
accurate.
She’ll tell
you I was selling The British Bombshell a little short. She’s all of that and then some.
==========
Glory
Braddock
On Camera
==========
Forgive my
overbearing father. When he gets on his
high horse you can’t shut him up and believe me, it is thoroughly embarrassing! But you can’t blame him. What parent wouldn’t
want to brag on their child and what trainer wouldn’t brag on their
student? I happen to be both when it
comes to Glenn Braddock.
Rest
assured,I’m not here to take anyone’s spot or to turn FFW on its head. No, I’m just here to compete. That’s what I was born and bred to do. I am a wrestler’s wrestler; a woman who climbs
into that ring each and every night because I absolutely love the thrill of
competition. I love testing myself
against the best professional wrestling has to offer.
My drive, my
very motivation, is finding new obstacles to overcome, to challenges to meet
head on, and everywhere I have been I met those new challenges head on. Everywhere I have been I found a way to
overcome each and every obstacle that was placed before me until I ascended to
the top of the mountain.
But I get
it, I’m new to FFW and that means I’m not the best. Not yet, anyway. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to once again climb a mountain and
once again prove that I can hang with the best this business has to offer. And my road to the top of the mountain begins
on Velocity against Raven Knight.
I’m not here
to try and impress you with my resume, mate.
Let the social media butterflies do that with their bloody twitter
hype. I don’t need twitter or any other
form of social media to prove how good I am.
I let my actions in the ring do the talking and Raven, let me warn you
right here and now, you are going to hear me speaking to you loud and clear on
Velocity.
It may be my
debut but what you and everyone else will quickly come to realize is that I
wrestle every match as if it’s my last.
No match is taken for granted.
Every match is the biggest match of my career. And that means each and every night I step
into the ring the fans of FFW will get to see The British Bombshell performing
at her very best, giving them a spectacular show that they will never ever
forget.
And you,
Raven, you won’t soon forget it, either; because you will be front row center
for the greatest show on a wrestling canvas.
You will be front row to watch me at my very best.
They say
that you only get one chance, one opportunity, to make a first impression. You may have heard of me, you may not have
heard of me, but the fact is that this is my first match in FFW. This is my FFW debut match. I only get one debut match, one first match,
and this opportunity won’t come back again.
I only get one chance to show the FFW universe just what I’m made of.
And I intend
to make the most of this opportunity, Raven; unfortunately for you.
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