Who Is Emmanuelle?

[The video begins with Emmanuelle sitting sitting on a couch, dressed in a white tank top with matching pants, confidently smiling at an interviewer sitting off camera. Right next to her on the couch is her recently won WrestleWorld Shogun Championship.]


“What do you think of the notion that you should enter Project Honor with a sense of humility? There are many people out there watching this who may have heard of you but probably haven’t seen you wrestle. Are you scared of finding out that you very well may be just a big fish in a small pond?”

[Emmanuelle seems to give the question some thought before leaning back against the pillows with the most self-assured of smiles one could ever see. She is completely unfazed by the moment and the question presented to her.]

“I remember watching this movie when I was younger. The name of it escapes me and even most of the plot does as well. But there is one exchange of lines that I remember that sums up how I feel about Pro Wrestling and life in general. One man says to the main character as he’s preparing to enter this meeting that the others inside expect him to be humble and polite. His response: ‘I humble myself before God and there the list ends.’ So no, none of the things that you mentioned to me mean the slightest to me.”


Emmanuelle: A young woman that considers herself the Platinum Standard of professional wrestling. An athletic dynamo with a pronounced arrogant streak, the young woman arrives at new shores in Project Honor as if she were a conquistador of old, eager to impress in her debut in the massive War Games match for the right to call herself Tyrant. But what fuels this woman despite her disdain for wrestling? Why is a woman raised in the lap of luxury so eager to collect titles and elevate the prestige of a sport that she clearly looks down upon?

“My mission in life is a pretty simple one. I grew up with everything being done for me. People waited on me hand and foot and my family took care of any need or desire I ever had. Do you honestly have any idea how boring and horrible that truly is? So...once I got into the world of wrestling, I wanted to make sure that I built my own life, my own little empire as it were. I think a lot of people mistake my disdain for wrestling despite being involved in it as some indicator that I’m somehow allergic to hard work. I was a three sport athlete in high school and made my way to UCLA on an athletic scholarship to play water polo. I could have easily let Mommy and Daddy pay my way, but I don’t like being beholden to people...not even family. I got my degree, went out into the world on my own and eventually got the opportunity to work in the wrestling world. Nothing was given to me, nothing was promised. I’m here because of my talent, my drive, and my desire to build on my success to create more business opportunities for myself and people like me.”

“Why is it that you have so much difficulty with wrestling promoters? There are some stories about your heavy-handed methods dealing with independent promoters and federation heads out in your native California. Why did you develop such a notorious reputation?”

“Ah, so here is the thing that I really hate about professional wrestling: it’s run by some of the most scummy, pathetic, most narcissistic people one could hope to meet. A lot of people believe that I’m arrogant and I am. The thing is that I actually have talent and I don’t lie to anyone. A lot of these men, they don’t use their positions in wrestling to produce the best show they possibly can. They flatter, mislead, and flat-out rob the people working for them and expect them to smile for the cameras and hug the fans and all that other crap. Most of these so-called legends are broken down husks of what they used to be who don’t even have health insurance because they’re financially illiterate AND had to deal with bosses that don’t give a damn outside of what they can provide in the ring. For a lot of the women it’s even worse. All of these lecherous bastards trying to cop feels, groom the younger girls coming up to be obedient little sex kittens. Miss me with all that bullshit. I know who I am as a person and I know what I’m worth as an athlete and a commodity. I’m not here to make friends or find a husband. I’m here to collect. Belts. Trophies. Money. Maybe the people in charge here will be different than other places I’ve been where the bosses don’t realize what they have. If not? Heh. I can always find someone willing to pay my price.”

“How would you describe your wrestling style to someone who has never seen you before? There are some who see your gaudy entrance attire and your unceasing presence on social media and mistake you for someone that has a great deal of flash but little substance.”

“There’s plenty of flash there, but why would I be holding a championship belt if I didn’t have substance? I didn’t beat one of the most respected wrestlers on the planet, Arata Asakura, by simple happenstance. I worked him over not just physically but mentally as well, taking every chance I had to goad him in and out of the ring. My wrestling style ties into my social media presence. I’m confrontational, belligerent and aggressive. I trained with a man who wrestled extensively in Japan and has a mixed-martial-arts background, so that should give you a very good idea of what my base is. I hit hard, I hit quickly, and I have plenty of other options if you want to get cute and think you can outgrapple me. I can go on the ground with the submission specialists, I can stand toe to toe with any striker out there, and I’ve got enough athleticism to fly with any luchador out there. To put a bow on it, I’m the consummate professional wrestler. There is nothing I can’t do and there is no one that I lack options to attack with.”

“What makes you believe that you can win a match like this unique version of War Games, a match that will require you to go through many other debutants as well as established veterans just to make it to the final round?”

“Well, I don’t really know much about the field save for a few people who I have been around. Daniel Horror, Ozymandias. I think that’s about it honestly. Oh, and Indy Darling. I’ve seen a little bit of his work and I’m impressed somewhat. I know Horror is a bit of a creep with his never-ending promises of suffering and pain to come to anyone who comes in his path, blah blah blah. Ozymandias I’m familiar with because he’s a former WrestleWorld European Champion. A very dangerous individual in a match full of extremely dangerous people. But, I remember being in a situation similar to this. We had this domed steel cage match called the “Dreamscape”, you see, and you had to fight your way through over a dozen other folks to escape and emerge victorious. I may not promise death and destruction or have spooky magical powers, but I’m smart enough and patient enough to survive in situations like these. Nobody expected me to win that Dreamscape match but I did. The opportunity that it afforded me? I took it and won the Shogun Championship, a title that I still have a grip on and will have a grip on for the foreseeable future. The thing is, I want my sweet little White Star belt to have some company soon! What other place than here to try to find it?”

“What is your impression on the competition here? Is there anyone in particular that concerns you?

[Emmanuelle tilts her head to the side with an amused little grin, even breaking out into a little chuckle. As she does so, a butler emerges to hand her a cup of tea that she carefully sips on, contemplating the question a little more seriously now.]

“There are some who give me cause for alarm. Ozy, for example. This Pyro guy seems to be very much into the violent aspects of wrestling. I’m very much interested in meeting this Victoria Strader person. She comes from a very fine pedigree of wrestlers, so I’m told, and that is always reason to be wary. To be honest, this place is full of new faces that I’ve never seen before, people that I haven’t gotten the chance to face yet. I’m going in blind and some people think that they have the jump on me because they saw a hype video and found out my family has a little money. That’s fine, I don’t mind the jokes, the neat little demonstrations and visual aides. I am alright with all the over-the-top buffoonery too. WrestleWorld and other places have made similar mistakes, thinking that I was just someone who could be dismissed. Now I sit at the top of that promotion, the unquestioned leader of the Shogun Division, Strong Style’s evolution. People like Blair Regent, they understand. When my name is on the marquee, you expect the best, so I’m here to give the best.”

“If you win this match and earn the right to call yourself “Tyrant”, what would you think of as the first order of business? What could Proving Ground and Project: Honor fans expect from Queen Emmanuelle?”

“Hmm. You’re honestly asking me this like some colonizer landing in the New World for the first time planting the flag of his country and not having a fucking clue of where he is and what’s around him. I don’t really know exactly what the first move will be. I’m not in this for power of the pro-wrestling sort. All the accolades of Tyrant to me is a means to an end. I need to find someone here that I can make magic with, that I can make a suitable conquest out of. People will hear my name and instantly boo anyway, so why not make use of my time starting out to find the Batman to oppose my Poison Ivy? I’m a realist at the end of the day so I can say this without any worry: the odds aren’t in my favor in this contest. Only one winner will emerge and I’m sure that there are plenty of candidates to watch instead of my scrawny ass. That said, I’ve already started making a splash overcoming some significantly steep odds. Why not do it again? But, win or lose, by the time the night is over everyone will know my name. All the champions, all the people who think shit is sweet for them are going to know my name too. And they’ll all know I’m coming, Tyrant crown or not.”