Six friends grew up in the small town of Tranquil Heights, Newfoundland and Labrador. They started a news magazine called Tranquil Heights Chronicles. For various reasons, the magazine shut down. However, they were all offered jobs with the wrestling organization "Titanium Wrestling."
Michael Crane was one of the writers. Steve Moody was a referee. Steve's wife, Shelly, was one of the wrestlers, alongside Allison Cameron. Both incorporated their martial arts backgrounds into their wrestling characters. Sarah River-Song worked in the makeup department, while her wife, Melody River-Song, was the Chief Financial Officer.
“So, Michael, you came up with a new gimmick idea?” asked John Chafe, the president and head writer of the company.
“My character is called Dreaded Dragon. She's a heel character who’s a complete narcissist. She spends all her spare time on social media. I wrote a story where she makes false accusations.”
“I think that topic is too sensitive for our show,” said Gail Pepperman, another writer.
“I agree,” Michael replied. “How about she just makes stuff up to boost her ego? Like claiming she’s won 100 women's championships in various other wrestling promotions—but it’s not true.”
“Will Dreaded Dragon be a luchadora?” John asked.
“Sure,” Michael said. “The name certainly sounds like one. But since she’s a narcissist, she won’t wear a mask. In the ring, her goal is to end her opponents’ careers.”
“I like it,” John said. “Who should take on the gimmick?”
“Maria Garcia, since she’s our only female luchadora.”
“But she’s already established as the woman who came to Canada because her parents enrolled in MUN,” said Rob Smith.
Maria’s backstory was based on her real life. Born in Mexico City, Maria moved to Canada with her family on student visas. Her mother studied to become a doctor and her father, a civil engineer. Maria enrolled in the College of the North Atlantic to become a cook, all while training to be a wrestler.
“We can do a storyline where Maria gets injured,” Michael suggested. “During recovery, she spends time on social media to slowly build her new persona.”
“We’ll need to make sure she’s okay with it,” John said. “We want our wrestlers to have creative freedom.”
Later that day, John met with Melody.
“So, Melody,” John began, “you wanted to talk about concerns with the budget?”
“Buying that abandoned warehouse in Mt. Pearl and converting it into a small arena was a double-edged sword,” Melody said. “It'll save us money in the long run by hosting weekly shows, but it’s blown a hole in our bank account.”
“We could book other events in the arena to cover costs.”
“For what? We already have the Mary Brown’s Centre and Holy Heart Theatre for concerts and live shows.”
“We can still try hosting flea markets weekly.”
“It might not bring in much, but it’s worth a shot. The second issue is our weekly shows aren’t generating nearly the revenue we expected.”
“Could we afford to do two shows a week?”
“No. Too many wrestlers have quit because we’re not paying enough.” She handed John a paper. “Here’s a list of who’s quit.”
John’s eyes widened. “We don’t even have enough wrestlers to maintain our women’s tag division or secondary titles. How did you raise funds for your magazine?”
“We put money in a high-yield savings account and lived off the interest—but that’s unrealistic for this company.”
“Well, at least with wrestlers quitting, we don’t have to lay anyone off.”
“Not yet. I think we should do multiple flea markets a week and hire ring crew from a staffing agency.”
“I like the way you think. Get on it. Thanks.”
Later, Steve met with John.
“So, Steve, what’s up?”
“I’d like to move into the marketing department. I handled marketing for Tranquil Heights Chronicles, and I used to flip cars as a side hustle, which took a lot of marketing.”
“The issue is, we only have four referees left. And we’re not letting anyone go.”
“With fewer wrestlers, don’t we need fewer referees?”
“Fair point. But why the shift?”
“I have more experience in marketing.”
“Any ideas off the top of your head?”
“A cross-promotion. We hold a tournament against another wrestling promotion. The company that wins 10 matches wins the whole thing.”
“Right now, we still need you as a ref. But come to a creative meeting tomorrow with Shelly and Allison.”
That night, Melody and Sarah ate dinner together at work.
“How was your day?” Melody asked.
“Well, I only work once a week now, so I’m looking for ways to supplement my income,” Sarah said. “I applied to get my old job back in the cosmetics department at Small Mart, but I haven’t heard back.”
“Have you considered selling makeup on the side?”
“Like an MLM? No thanks. They’re just legalized pyramid schemes.”
“Okay, fair. But since John’s planning flea markets, maybe you could sell makeup there?”
“That’s actually not a bad idea. So, how was your day?”
“John and I talked. So many wrestlers quit, we may have to merge the writing and marketing teams into one creative department.”
“Damn. I can’t believe I’m working on our anniversary.”
“I know. But we’ll still celebrate Saturday. I’ve got a few surprises.”
“I love surprises.”
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