Match Type: 1v1, Falls Count Anywhere
Bengal, the Blaze Tiger
Spoiler

"Clean the wax out of your ears!" Bengal snapped. She pounded her fist down on her manager's table, making the other woman jump back in her chair a full foot. "I said, I'm feuding with the other cat-themed wrestlers in LAW."
"I-I know that Bengal," her manager stammered, rifling through the papers on her desk as she looked through notes on her client's previous matches. "You're talking about the Panther? Or someone from BCW-
"I'm talking about ALL OF THEM!" Bengal screeched, her voice echoing through the entire office building. "All of them at once! They're nasty little tramps, and they STOLE MY GIMMICK!"
This time, the other woman was certain she hadn't misheard, although she wished she had. What kind of crazy ego trip was her client on this time? She tried to be as gentle as she could. "Bengal...wrestlers have been dressing in tiger-themed outfits for decades. Here in Japan, everywhere. And not only tigers, all kinds of cats! No one stole that from you, it's just a popular gimmick. If anything, you're the one who - "
But Bengal leaned forward across the desk with a menacing gleam in her eyes, and her manager suddenly knew better than to finish that sentence. In the end, she decided to go along with her client's demands, however insane they might be. If she didn't comply, the Tiger would probably just end up ambushing her fellow catgirls in the locker room. She needed some outlet for her aggression, and the manager didn't want it to be her.
A few weeks later, she finally found Bengal a fitting matchup. Her client would be going up against Hellcat, a Spanish lucha libre prodigy, now making her LAW debut! Unfortunately, the higher-ups rejected Bengal's pitch to make it a "cat-themed match". What would that even look like? They decided to book the contest with Falls Count Anywhere rules, and to go with a fire motif instead - Hellcat VS. Blaze Tiger. Bengal complained about the changes, of course, but she went along with the terms in the end. Anything to get her claws into a new rival!
Now, she was at the LAW arena, waiting for her entrance music to begin. Peering from behind the curtain that separated the backstage area, Bengal could see that the suits had been true to their word when it came to the fire theme. Torches and candles lined the long ramp leading down to the ring, and the barricade separating them from the fans. High above the ring, suspended from the arena ceiling, an old-fashioned flame chandelier flickered and swayed. The whole thing was probably a fire code nightmare, but it was strikingly beautiful. Bengal had always enjoyed fire. Maybe too much, in hindsight, she thought to herself grimly. But that was the past, and she wasn't going to worry about it now.
As soon as the opening riff started to blast through the arena speakers, Bengal charged out onto the entrance ramp. Fireworks erupted around her with each step, as she strutted down the long walkway. The additional pyrotechnics, on top of the candles and torches already present, were a bit too much for some fans. They crowded backward, coughing from the smoke - but for the Blaze Tiger, it was paradise. The sparks seemed to dance off her umber skin, and the firelight transformed the white parts of her shiny vinyl costume, making them appear a shifting red-and-orange. Her eyes, however, shone with a light of their own, cold and blue, like two distant stars.
Bengal climbed onto the ring apron, tossing back her mane of pearly hair. While the decor was enchanting, the Tiger had already noticed that all these open flames had raised the temperature of the air within the ring considerably. That was all right though; she could deal with a little heat. She took a deep breath of the sweltering air and leaned back in her corner, as the ring announcer's voice boomed out: "Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is a Falls Count Anywhere match! Contestants may win by pinfall, submission, or knockout, anywhere within the arena! Introducing first...from Kolkata, India...standing five feet seven inches, and weighing 140 pounds...THE BLAZE TIGER! BENGAL!"
Jeers and catcalls rained down from the stands, as Bengal fought to keep her face composed. The Tiger was never a fan-favorite, but it was especially galling to have them boo her from the very start, when she hadn't done anything wrong yet. And against a wrestler making her LAW debut, no less! You don't even know who this other loser is, Bengal thought furiously.
In that moment, the Tiger resolved that she'd do whatever it took to prove the fans wrong. She would win tonight, even if it meant crossing the line. If she'd thought a little harder, she might have realized that her cutthroat attitude was the reason fans were booing in the first place. But she wouldn't be having that epiphany tonight. She was concentrating on the entrance ramp, waiting for her opponent to arrive.


