Climbing The Ladder

[Highfly]

Today was the day of one of her first interviews, and JJ was super excited! It was at the arena before a show in a side-room done up to look nice. Instead of dressing up JJ simply arrived early and wore her wrestling attire. She wanted to be ready to mix it up at all times and tonight was no exception. She wanted to be taken seriously so she decided this was the best way to do it. She knew she was part of a group interview or at least with one the woman.

JJ had no clue who else was going to be there but she imagined that a wrestling interview in her ring gear just seemed to fit. JJ didn't have a match scheduled and she was itching to get back in the ring. She was just coming off a loss to Corey Sniper, and that loss stung as JJ hoped to be elevating herself to a notable level. JJ was going to do her best to put her best foot forward tonight though!

She made her way through the halls and arrived in the designated interview room. There were three chairs at a table so JJ assumed only two women were invited... or replied. She sat down on the far left chair and stretched, wondering who was going to come through that door next.

[pikazard]

JJ wouldn't have to wait long for someone else to arrive, soon the door would open and Ashley Lucas would walk through. The fit blonde wore a white dress shirt and some black trousers, going for a much more business casual look than her fellow interviewee since she assumed that a more professional look was appropriate, plus she just didn't like wearing her wrestling attire for anything other than an actual match since it showed off way too much of her body. When Ashley spotted JJ a look of recognition flashed on her face, quickly replaced with a polite smile as she approached the woman with an outstretched hand "Hi, I'm Ashley! You're here for the interview too, huh?"

Ashley made a point of doing her research on her fellow LAW wrestlers in case she ever had to face them, especially when it came to her fellow middleweights, so it was little surprise that she knew who JJ was since she was also considered to be a noteworthy rookie in the middleweight division like Ashley. The blonde suspected that that was why the two of them in particular had been selected for this interview. Once she and JJ had exchanged pleasantries Ashley would walk over to her chair and sit down in it before turning to face JJ, who was now making her wonder if she was supposed to have worn her wrestling attire "So do you know who we're waiting for?" she asked, since she herself was clueless.

[Highfly]

JJ saw the door open and a woman she was often compared to.... and found to be a bit lacking.... walked in. JJ wasn't unhappy to see her but she could only guess how the interview would go from here.

JJ threw on a smile and shook Ashley's hand. "Nice to meet ya I have heard all about you and your fast rise through the rank!" JJ said before sitting down again. "Honestly I have no clue who is coming in but I imagine it could be a LAW magazine writer of some kind." JJ said as she sat back. JJ gave Ashley a long looking over, clearly measuring her out and sizing her up.

[pikazard]

Ashley smiled as she and JJ shook hands, laughing bashfully as JJ commented on her fast rise through the ranks "Haha, thanks. You're making it sound more impressive than it really is though" she said rubbing the back of her head shyly, hoping that didn't come off as false modesty. As the two of them sat down Ashley couldn't help but notice her fellow interviewee looking her over and sizing her up, she wasn't too surprised though; with how much the two of them had in common in regards to their LAW career it was probably only a matter of time before they were paired up for a match. With this in mind the blonde decided she would show off a little, stretching out her shoulders so that they were as broad as possible while turning to her and opening up her body language, giving JJ as close a look as she liked at her fit body, albeit with her clothing in the way.

In response she would also look JJ up and down, a much easier task given that her wrestling attire showed much more skin than Ashley's casual clothing, and she had to admit she was impressed by the level of fitness JJ was displaying. If the two of them were to enter a bodybuilding competition Ashley wasn't sure if she would win. That being said they weren't here to just try and out-flex the other, and in the back of her mind Ashley realised how odd this might look if the interviewer came in right now.

[Highfly]

JJ smiled as she saw Ashley looking her over just the same. JJ expected that and her in her ring gear was easy to check out as far as the confident young lady was concerned. She was about to say something when the door opened and their interviewer walked in. JJ chuckled as this was a bit unexpected. It was Sienna's least favorite woman on the roster but a woman JJ grew up watching and she was a fan of this lady even if Sienna hated her.

Alaina walked in dressed in a blue dress shirt, black suit jacket, black skirt and heels as she came in seemingly ready for the interview! "Hey ladies! I am just here to do a bit of writing for the magazine. I hope you don't mind being interviewed by an older wrestler do you?" Alaina asked as she shook the hands of both women. She had wrestled Ashley before and had seen a few of JJs matches but hadn't tangled with her. However she did know JJ worked with Sienna whom Alaina was very familiar with inside the ring.

"It is nice to meet you JJ, and it is nice to see you again Ashley. First I will ask how are you both doing? How is your training going, and could you walk me through a workout or two that you both do to keep ahead of the rest of the rookie pack?" Alaina asked as she readied herself to take down their answers.

JJ started first with a smile. "I am good, hoping to make up for my last match which was a loss to Corey Sniper. I won't let that derail me though because you don't get all this just from taking it easy." She said, flexing her arms and winking to the amazon. "I love my slams as much as you do and I mix up strength training with endurance. I put in a lot of mat work so that way one day I can tangle with the best with gold on my waist. I am not going to stop until people mention me in the same sentence as hall of fame level grapplers."

[pikazard]

While the two women were showing off for each other like a pair of peacocks the woman who would be conducting their interview walked in, a woman who Ashley knew very well "A-Alaina!?!" When the blonde spotted her idol and former opponent her eyes widened and she jumped slightly, almost falling out of her chair from the shock. She knew that Alaina was a LAW magazine writer since she'd read some of her articles before, but even so she had never for a second thought that Alaina would be the one interviewing her! Ashley quickly did some last minute adjustments to her outfit to make sure she looked good even though there was nothing that really needed fixing before returning the amazon's handshake "Y-yes! It's a pleasure to meet you again Ms Alaina!"

It seemed that despite having had the chance to meet her childhood hero a few months back for a match Ashley still seemed to be quite awestruck around the woman like she had been before the start of their match, something that would be plainly obvious to both Alaina and JJ. Even so she wouldn't allow herself to be distracted and would wait for JJ to finish answering Alaina's questions before answering them herself "I'm doing great, happy to be here. My training is going good, I've been getting pretty good results in the ring recently. In regards to working out I don't do anything special, I just do a little bit of everything but I do it constantly; strength training, cardio, mat grappling and striking and all that. I work on myself in all ways so I can improve as an all-round threat, and at least in my opinion that's why I'm so successful. Uh, not that I'm bragging or anything, just trying to give a detailed answer" she said, worrying about whether or not she had been overly praising herself.

[Highfly]

Alaina smiled and nodded listening to both women. They were young, confident and finding success early in their promising careers. They had no reason not to be confident. Alaina smiled and as Ashley wrapped up her answer Alaina looked down at her notes.

"All right Ashley we will start things off with you this time. Who are some of your dream opponents and matches you would want to have in your career?" Alaina asked with a smile turning first to Ashley.

[pikazard]

Ashley perked up slightly as she heard that she was being asked first this time, with Alaina asking her about opponents she wanted to face off against "That's a good question" Ashley would remark, taking a moment to gather her thoughts "Well... one day I want to shoot for the Middleweight belt, so of course I'd want to face Lillian Bryne. Or if anyone manages to take the belt from her I'd want to fight them. For a similar reason I'd also want to face Tina Armstrong; if I can do well against a formal champion then it'll prove I'm a good contender for the belt."

"Aside from my title aspirations I have quite a few women I'd want to face; Alizeh Midori who seems to have a lot in common with me and I know wants to face me, Tina Kelley who actually name-dropped me as someone she wants to face, Sachiko Koizumi who I have some unfinished business with, and some other woman in my weight division who I think are worth looking out for like Petra Adamos, Megumi Mutoh, Camie Young, Erin Quinn, Cecilia Lombard and Misaki Toyoda." She would then turn in her chair to face JJ "And not to forget you of course!"

Upon finishing her list Ashley would laugh slightly and rub the back of her head "Sorry if I rambled on a bit, but that question is honestly something I think about a lot so I had a lot of answers to give." she said sheepishly "Oh uh... also I wouldn't mind taking another shot at you, Alaina." she would add, hoping it didn't come off as too cheeky.

[Highfly]

Alaina chuckled and nodded to Ashley. "That is fine there is no wrong answer and trust me I would love to go at it with you again but don't think you will get lucky by slamming me silly again. I will be the one to do that to you." Alaina said with a wink before turning to JJ.

JJ smiled and listened to the list and her ears perked at hearing Petra who beat JJ in a spar as well as Misaki Toyoda who beat JJ in an official matchup giving JJ the first of her two losses. "Honey, I will slam the amazon around to show my girl Sienna that I can wrestle better than her against tough opponents. Another shot at Misaki and Petra would be nice. Putting Lillian Byrne in her place is also a great matchup for me so I think there is a lot of overlap. You know what? I think Ashley is on my wishlist too." JJ said while crossing her arms and smiling.

Alaina took note and asked her next question, grinning a bit. "Well you both want a piece of me so if we had a match right now first do you think you would be able to take me? Secondly if you faced one another right now who would win?" Alaina said as she sat back looking forward to seeing what the two said.

JJ spoke up first. "Yes I like my chances against a powerhouse, strong, sexy slamming soccer mom." JJ said with a smile. "Alaina you are the amazon and all that but I feel like my youthful vigor would overwhelm you. I also think if Ashley and I went at it you would see me strutting my stuff with my hands in the air with Ashley flat on the mat after I pin her."

[pikazard]

Ashley smiled bashfully as Alaina said that she would also like to face Ashley again, although she would also remark that Ashley wouldn't get as "lucky" as she did last time "Well I did get hit by your finisher, so can you really call me lucky?" she would comment with a chuckle. She would then listen closely as JJ gave her own answer to the question; it seemed as if the two of them had quite a lot of desired opponents in common, including each other. A part of Ashley wondered if this meant the two of them would face each other in a match some day.

This thought of Ashley would soon be tested as Alaina would ask them how they felt they would perform if they went up against Alaina if they had the chance, and who would win if the two of them fought each other. JJ would answer first this time, giving a confident answer as she declared she could beat both Alaina and Ashley, making Ashley laugh slightly at just how sure of herself JJ was. Ashley wasn't trying to mock JJ, rather she found the woman's confidence to be quite amusing and endearing "I wouldn't write me out so easily, I'm stronger than I look you know."

Ashley would then take some time to think before giving her own answer "For your first question I hate to admit it but I think if we had a rematch right now it would go the same way and I'd lose. I have a long way to go before I can beat you" she answered honestly "As for JJ, I honestly don't know who would win between us. It would be a match for the ages though!" she would say, not quite having the same confidence as JJ but putting a positive spin on her indecisiveness.