"Take cover, there’s a storm coming through!"
Name: Brianna SteeleRing Name: Black Tornado
Age: 32
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'6
Weight: 125 lbs.
Hometown: New York City (billed from Parts Unknown)
Alignment: Tweener (leaning face)
Entrance Music:
Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
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Appearance:
Ring Gear
With the Wildcat Championship
Casual
Swimwear
Gym
”...yes, he gave me this shirt…”
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History: Though billed as ”the woman known only as the Black Tornado,” Brianna Knight had a modest upbringing in a lower-middle-class family in Brooklyn. Though her parents did their best to support her, they were struggling financially, dealing with an economic downturn and difficulties finding work. This led to Brianna growing up without a lot of the comforts her friends and classmates had - she didn’t have a big house, or a big-screen TV, or anything too fancy. Still, she made the most of what she had.
No matter how hard things got, Brianna had two things to keep her going: comic books and professional wrestling. She was an avid reader of DC and Marvel, following the exploits of their heroes from month to month, and every week she tuned into the TV, never wanting to miss a moment of the athletic action that graced her screen every Monday night. She was amazed by what the world’s greatest wrestlers could accomplish through only their hard work, dedication, and training - particularly the death-defying acrobatic stunts of the high-flyers, and the colorful presentation and pageantry of Mexican lucha libre. As she soon realized, it was the closest thing she had to watching real-life superheroes - but it was really happening, and some day, she just might be able to see it in person for herself. Not just that - there was always the promise and the possibility that, some day, Brianna might be able to become a wrestler herself and join them in the ring!
From an early age, she had her mind made up that she was going to become a wrestler, designing costumes and moves for herself and practicing them on her pillow at night. Brianna’s parents were glad to know that she had an interest, but they had doubts it would take her anywhere, and they urged her to find a stable career. She took to her studies, working her way through school in the hopes that she could find a job to lift her out of poverty, but the dream never died that, some day, she might be able to join the big leagues.
When she was in college, Brianna finally found herself away from home, and with the freedom to pursue any path she wished. When she found out that her school had a wrestling team, she was eager to sign up - although she was a little disappointed to find there weren’t a lot of hurricanranas or tope suicidas involved, she still had the opportunity to pursue her passions further and train in grappling. From there, she was able to go pro and jump ship to a career on the independent circuit, and while she finished her studies, she was making the odd appearances under her new persona, one inspired by superheroes and luchadores - the fearsome Black Tornado, an unpredictable and unstoppable force of high-flying fury!
Brianna found the idea of wrestling under a mask liberating. Though her shy demeanor and social awkwardness held her back in her day-to-day life, she found that by putting on a mask and assuming an alias, she could shed that side of her, if only for a little while, and put forth something new - she could be as bold, courageous, and bombastic as she wanted without having to worry about what anyone thought! She found she couldn’t get enough of it, and she continued to make appearances as the Black Tornado through various independent promotions before making her way to World of Womens’ Wrestling, which saw her feuding with Astrid Ostberg herself.
It was there that Brianna met Jonathan Steele, who was at the gym training some of the WOWW talent. He saw potential in the girl, and the two of them soon became close friends - not only did he want to see her improve and hone her skills, he also grew closer to her as a person. He didn’t judge her for her insecurities, and he was willing to help encourage her and give her that extra boost to be the best she could be. Before long, the two of them realized they had feelings for each other, and they started dating. And, after a couple of years, they decided to get married.
Around this time, Jonathan came out of retirement to join United Supreme Pro Wrestling, and the Black Tornado was happy to follow him there. She quickly established herself a fixture of the company’s womens’ division, the Wildcat Division, and she was crowned their inaugural Wildcat Champion, defending her title for a long-running reign. Even when she dropped the belt, she quickly won it back. And she was still the champion when USPW announced it was in talks to form a working relationship with LAW, cross-promoting its events and featuring talent exchange.
As one of its champions, Brianna was happy to represent USPW in front of an all-new audience. She was even willing to take the belt over to Japan to defend her title against whatever contenders LAW had to offer. And she was going to do it the same way she always did - loud, proud, and full of spirit!
Personality: Taking advantage of her masked persona, Brianna can surprise people with how differently she acts inside the ring and out. As Black Tornado, she’s energetic, a big talker, and quick to boast of her accomplishments, building herself up as a champion. She’s just as invested in wowing the fans as she is in winning her matches, and she enjoys showing off with fast-paced, high-impact moves and showy displays, although this can come back to bite her if she neglects her performance in the process. She isn't afraid to be corny with her promos and her antics, but to her, that's part of the fun - and she doesn't let it get the way of being a serious competitor when things call for it.
Outside the ring, however, she’s shy and introverted, preferring to avoid a lot of attention. While her relationship with Jonathan is public knowledge, and she does appear in his promotional work, she prefers to lay low when the cameras aren’t rolling and doesn’t draw much attention to herself, enjoying the secrecy that her gimmick gives her. Although she normally stays fairly quiet around people she doesn’t know, when she’s around her friends, her true self comes out - she’s witty, enjoys teasing her friends, and gets deeply invested in the things that have meaning to her, even if she can be a bit scatterbrained at times and lack common sense. In particular, she’s a massive fan of all things wrestling, and she’s the first to get excited in the presence of established stars or famous memorabilia, as well as possessing an encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling trivia.
Trivia:
- She has a collection of autographs from different wrestlers, and she’s very invested in helping it grow.
- Brianna’s favorite superhero is Spider-Man, who she finds relatable for dealing with many of the same struggles her family did growing up but still managing to overcome them.
- She and Jonathan have two daughters.
- She's a noted animal lover, and she and Jonathan own a large number of pets, including their three dogs Angel, Jewel, and Mist, her cat Storm, and a deer named Shelby. They also once helped care for a beached whale that washed up near their home. She swears she doesn’t have a problem.
- Brianna occasionally streams video games on a YouTube channel owned by her and Jonathan, sometimes with her husband.
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Fighting Style: With her gimmick inspired by lucha libre, it’s no surprise that Brianna favors a high-flying, fast-paced style just like the stars that drew her eye as a child. She makes use of quick strikes and acrobatic moves, and she’s just as eager to make her matches look visually impressive as she is to keep up the competition - though she isn’t immune to getting carried away with her sense of showmanship and neglecting the importance of the basics, and she can sometimes set up impressive but impractical moves that her opponents can exploit the weaknesses of. Since training with Jonathan, she’s also incorporated many of his lessons into her arsenal, becoming more well-rounded through tightening her more technical and power moves, including his Lights Out finisher.
Favored Match Types: Brianna is in LAW to represent USPW and the Wildcat Championship, and she intends to defend her title against all comers. While the belt won’t be officially recognized by LAW as one of its company titles, she still wants to see what the League has to offer in terms of competition, and she intends to do her best against anyone who feels they can take her championship from her. In addition, Brianna is open to competing in non-title matches, including anything where she can wow the crowd and make a strong impression, though she’s less interested in anything too overtly lewd given that she is married with kids. She and Jonathan have also formed a mixed tag team that they’re open to competing as.
Author's Note
As Brianna will be defending a title from another promotion in LAW, booking her defenses will be a bit of a joint effort between myself, my partner, and TheWanderer - but don't be afraid to request matches with her, as we'll do our best to make it work. For non-title matches, I'm okay working one-on-one with people.
Eye of the Storm
A corkscrew missile dropkick, seeing Tornado jump off the top rope and spin in a circle as she crashes feet-first into her opponent.
Lights Out
A killswitch, borrowed from her husband.
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Friends:
- Jonathan Steele is Brianna’s husband, and the two work closely both as partners and as a couple. Ever since they met in the gym while he was training her, they’ve grown close to one another on a personal level, and they find ways they can complement each other in the ring, occasionally taking point in each others’ corners or competing in mixed tag matches.
- Brianna also has maintained close relationships with her fellow alumni from WOWW, including Astrid Ostberg and Marzia Servelli. Although the increasing distance between them and the business of their schedules can make it hard, they try to keep in touch with one another, and they still train together if they get the chance - although Marzia’s heel turn has made them grow further apart.