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10 March 2013 Intro Proving Ground PPV

Page history last edited by Archer844 10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by Lookout! Boxing on March 10, 2013, 12:01 pm

Proving Grounds PPV
Pre-PPV: Why Are All The Bricks There?

“How in the world did we ever make it five years?” Kristy Swanson wondered quietly, sipping her drink as she looked over the festive party assembled to celebrate this important occasion. As the owner and founder of Lookout! Boxing, she felt excited to attend such an event. When she started this stable several years ago, she didn't think it would flourish to the point that it had many considering them one of the premiere stables in the Female Celebrity Boxing Association. What were the odds?

Paris Hilton, who had come to represent Lookout! Boxing in their day to day management and operations, slid up beside Kristy and clinked her glass up against hers in an impromptu toast, “This is all because of you, you know? This is your vision and I know we've certainly had our fair share of disagreements over how to achieve that vision, but I think we've done pretty well.”

Swanson grinned at the compliment from the blonde heiress and nodded her agreement as she knew that she and Paris hadn't started out on the same page or for that matter, even reading the same book. They had been at odds and rivals for quite some time before Paris basically bought her way into the company after she got bored with her own stable, the short-lived Phoenix Boxing. However, like the fabled phoenix, Paris had a habit of rising from adversity every time.

But, once she and Paris had resolved their differences, it allowed Kristy to slide behind the scenes where she often preferred to be and it turn, had the advantage of allowing Paris to be front and center, which is where she often preferred to be. It had turned into a partnership that had worked extremely well for all parties involved. The stable had been successful beyond anything they could've anticipated.

But, on a night like tonight, there was no way Kristy was going to remain behind the scenes. It was really thrilling to see how many individuals had shown up to celebrate their five year anniversary. Right now, it was more of a smaller gathering with board members, major financial contributors and of course, the stable itself. Tonight, after the pay-per-view itself, there would be a much larger party. Paris had promised that. One of the major benefits of having Paris in such a prominent position was that you could always get a place to party and Paris had certainly come through tonight.

Paris had rented an exclusive nightclub (or series of them) and a nearby hotel for the night, which Kristy thought was extravagant but then again, the five year anniversary of your stable only happened once. A limo and taxi service had been reserved to help those who celebrated a little too much, of course. The number of people who would be there was quite a guest list in regards to the FCBA with of course the main Lookout! Boxing roster being the main event. However, every Lookout! Boxing member, present and former, had been invited and expressed their intentions to attend. Rumor had it that Nicole Richie and the girls from Lookout! Atlantic would be coming over from England to help celebrate, following Paris' recent trip over to the BBU. Celebrities who had been on the roster before such as Miley Cyrus, Megan Fox, Blake Lively, Jennifer Lawrence, Rachel Bilson, Stacy Keibler and others would be there to help celebrate Lookout! Boxing, although security would definitely be on hand in case their motivations weren't quite as pure as they professed. But, Paris had no worries that the event and evening would be anything less than a complete success!

Thus far, it was going extremely well. Given that this small event was taking place prior to the PPV, there was no alcohol involved at all. Afterwards would be another story, but for right now, although the atmosphere was generally positive, it was thick with tension between some of the fighters who would be getting into the ring with one another before long.

Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian were posing for pictures, though kept trying to push the other out of the way and into greater prominence for themselves. Nina Dobrev was doing her best to completely ignore Lindsay Lohan, not that Lilo was making it easy at all with a steady stream of trash-talking going back and forth between the two. Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale sat with Brenda Song and Hilary Duff, with all of them laughing and getting along for now. One could hear some subtle verbal jabs being delivered back and forth, which was to be expected from four graduates from Disney Fight Prep. Snark was basically a way of life there.

Emily VanCamp and Leighton Meester held court over in one corner, regaling board members with stories. Stories, which of course, were continually putting themselves on a collision course with one another. Both VanCamp and Meester played it off, pleasantly enough, as they were old pros on delivering backhanded compliments if not actual backhands due to their work on Gossip Girl and Revenge. Of course, the board members ate it all up.

In another section of the room, Missy Peregrym and Yvonne were also chatting up major financial backers of Lookout! Boxing and by the looks of it, funding wouldn't be a problem for Lookout! Boxing for the foreseeable future. Missy and Yvonne were popular both domestically as well as internationally and looking at them, it was easy to see why. Laughing and exchanging compliments with one another, it was clear that they respected each other although were competitive with each other as well. It was what you didn't see often enough in the FCBA – a respectful rivalry. That's because it didn't sell quite as well as a volatile rivalry but with fighters like Strahovski and Peregrym, it would sell tickets anyway, which certainly had occurred for this PPV.

But, of course, there probably wasn't a more volatile situation in the room than Elisha Cuthbert and Minka Kelly. You could probably sell tickets to watch these two play chess, which is effectively what they had been doing all night, mentally and verbally. The two of them had been sparring all night, though not physically, but had drawn the attention and approval of all those party members in attendance nearby. Both of them, as were many of Lookout! Boxing members, complete contrasts in so many ways which made their rivalry all the more interesting. It was a miracle that they were able to co-exist as stable members for this long but issues between the two of them were best settled in the ring.

That was the entire point of tonight's PPV, of course. Would it help settle rivalries or only serve to make them more intense? If Paris and Kristy had to bet, they would lean towards the latter. But, the spirit of competition had always served their stable in the past and there was no doubt it would do that it would do the same in the future.

Michelle Trachtenberg walked up and beaming, stated, “We'd love for you to make a speech now, Kristy. Everybody is waiting to hear from you.”

Paris nodded, “I'll introduce you, not that you need it.” and Swanson nodded her assent with a chuckle. Paris then she walked over to the raised stage and tapped the microphone to gain the attention of the assembled party members. It did take a minute to pull them away from the lovely roster of Lookout! Boxing, but after a minute, all eyes were on the stage.

“Here to give a speech before the biggest PPV in the history of Lookout! Boxing, I'd love to introduce our founder and owner of what I consider to be the absolute best stable in the FCBA!” Paris said, which drew a large number of cheers and applause, “I've been fortunate enough to be part of this stable and represent it proudly, but there is no way this stable would be here without the courage and vision of this woman over here.” - pointing over to a slightly blushing Kristy Swanson, who raised her glass and waved, as the audience cheered loudly, “As the star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all apologies to Sarah Michelle Gellar, she's the original and in my opinion, the best! There is no question that she personifies kicking ass and that is the attitude that has led this stable to greatness over the last five years. We don't doubt that is the same type of attitude that will take us through the next five years!” (Paris paused to allow the audience to cheer and they did so – loudly). Paris smiled, “Here to inspire us again is the one and only Kristy Swanson!” as Paris Hilton pumped her fist into the air for a loud roar of applause that echoed through the room. Kristy and Paris exchanged hugs and kisses on the cheek before Kristy Swanson stepped up to the podium.

When the applause died down, Kristy spoke.

“Thank you so much for those amazing words from our manager and leader, Paris Hilton! Between her and Michelle Trachtenberg, they've done an amazing job keeping our roster active, successful and happy, which as you all know, is no small feat.” Kristy allowed herself a chuckle as the audience nodded in agreement, with applause and small ripples of laughter occurring throughout the room, “I'm sure it'll be a tall task after today with some very proud women in this room, who I'm all very proud to have on our roster, because none of them like to lose! But, we all know the matches tonight won't end in a draw as our fighters do not accept them. But, regardless of the outcomes, each and every celebrity and fighter on our roster is a winner. Don't forget that – not for one single, solitary second.” Kristy paused as everybody applauded, unexpectedly and pulled out a index card.

“I'd like to read something from two very wise people just to discuss what I'm talking about. The first is from Maya Angelou, who says: “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” That is a fact. You certainly can't win every match in the FCBA and you're going to lose sometimes, but it's how you lose, how you handle those losses and the character you display in those moments that will make the difference. Same goes for those of you who win tonight!” Although Kristy had no illusions that knowing some of the winners would definitely be humiliating their stablemates and honestly, she wouldn't blame them. That was part of the stakes here in the FCBA and of course, part of the nature of Lookout! Boxing.

“But, again, don't forget how proud I am of you. There are so many great stables here in the FCBA, but I don't think there is a better roster in the entire FCBA! We support you, we believe in you and we know that you are going to continue to be successful for as long as we're around – and we plan to be around for a long time!” This was greeted by a very loud and sustained cheer.

“And of course, I'd also like to share a quote from The Last Lecture, by a professor from Carnegie Mellon named Randy Pausch. If you're not familiar with him, look him up. Although the professor is no longer with us, his words and spirit live on. In his book, he writes: “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” In life, there are opportunities. A lot of people told me not to bother with starting Lookout! Boxing, but I did and look at us now! I know how badly you all want it and there isn't an obstacle in the FCBA that we can't knock down and for that matter, not a girl in the FCBA you can't knock out! One by one by one, we'll knock those brick walls down. Brick walls are there to stop others and the people who don't want it badly enough. Not us. Not Paris, not Michelle, not Lindsay, not Hilary, not Jessica, not Kim, not Leven, not Brenda, not Vanessa, not Ashley, not Nina, not Leighton, not Emily, not Minka, not Elisha, not Missy, not Yvonne. Not Lookout! Boxing. We are going to not going to be kept out, we are not going to stay down, we are not going to be stopped, we are going to WIN!” and this earned the loudest cheers of the night. A standing ovation followed that as Kristy smiled, seeing the enthusiasm and fire from her assembled roster, “Let's go out there and kick some ass!” Kristy had to shout the last lines to be heard over the applause as the crowd was still cheering and she grinned, enjoying motivating the best roster in the FCBA today as she stepped back from the podium.

Michelle Trachtenberg stepped up to the podium and smiled broadly, “I won't even try to follow that up. We're very lucky to have such a passionate owner in Kristy Swanson, but here in the next few minutes, it'll be time for the fighters to get ready for their upcoming matches. I hope everybody continues to enjoy themselves and of course, thank you for supporting Lookout! Boxing! We hope to do you proud tonight and I know that every fighter here will! I'll leave you all with a quote that I don't know who to attribute to, but it goes: “Never let go of a good thing without a fight. Especially if that good thing is a pair of boxing gloves.” Good luck to each and every one of you tonight!”

Everybody raised their glasses to that as Michelle stepped off the stage and out from underneath the banner that read: Happy 5th Anniversary Lookout! Boxing. The time had come for the PPV and every roster member there was ready to make it the best event possible. After a speech like that, it was hard not to. Of course, none of the roster needed the speech to motivate them against their own stable members, but it certainly didn't hurt. As the members of Lookout! Boxing headed off to their respective locker rooms and party members headed off to their reserved seats, the anticipation built by the second until it reached a crescendo, with the crowd cheering with enthusiasm and unrestrained excitement at the upcoming slate of matches.

Here we go!