The Friction Spotlight with Taylor Parker and Kelly Conway!

Adrian made a noise that was somewhere between a gulp and a sigh when Kelly mentioned Taylor's dad. Even for Kelly that was classless move, especially as the champion was on the retreat, trying to get the last word in. Unfortunately for her, it only seemed to spur Taylor on further as the challenger started to rally the crowd behind her. And with how anti-Kelly this audience was with the exception of Talia to start with seemed like an easy thing to do, even Valley Doll who'd just had a heated moment with the former champ seemed solidly on Taylor's side.

There was however going to be one notable exception to Ace's rallying cry. While Adrian would have agreed with what Taylor said, and she had a lot of reasons to dislike Kelly as well, as much as Taylor said it wasn't her AFW, it might as well have been. They weren't chanting the company's name, they were chanting her name, not anyone else's. She'd made herself the face of this new AFW, and all Adrian could think about as she slunk out of the hall was if it wasn't for a few brief seconds last year, it should have been her.

As the exchanges got more heated and Kelly got more crazy, Talia just kept seated with her arms crossed and one leg over the other. She more or less kept the same facial expression, not keen on making her obvious bias any clearer. Like she was fooling everyone. As the champion descended further and further into madness, Talia couldn't help but grin and laugh. It was predictably going down. Taylor ruffled Kelly's feathers and she got more and more irritated by it all.

Talia wondered if Kelly truly would "learn her lesson eventually" as Taylor put it. A mockery like this seemed to only guarantee a prolonged, bitter rivalry.

Yet, as the champion stormed off, Talia's eyes stayed on Taylor as she told the story about her father. She'd never heard about that aspect of her life before. The red-eyed brunette kept a somber look on her face as the defiant Taylor spoke about how she wasn't going to let the adversity she faced make her upset. And then she rallied the crowd in one swift collection of words.

They all cheered around her. All chanting Taylor's name in solidarity. She watched as everyone shouted together, and couldn't help but grin smugly. She looked to her left, and then to her right. And then looked up for a moment seemingly deep in thought. And then, rather oddly, the woman raised her right fist...and cheered along with the other people. "Parker-san, Ichiban!"

"Parker-san! Ichiban!"

Angel yelled along with everyone else, clapping her hands in time with the chant, the crowd rallying behind Taylor in support of her. She grinned as Kelly beat her hasty retreat, the "champion" (and oh, did she use that term loosely), vanishing from everyone's sight.

She looked around with satisfaction at the chanting audience, and smiled, but as she glanced around the room something caught her eye. Adrian slinking out of the hall didn't escape her notice, and the Latina's smile fell off as she realized something was wrong.

She looked back towards Taylor, standing proud in the center of them all, then back towards the exit. She took a moment to yell out the chant one more time, then slipped away herself, heading to the doors to make an exit of her own.

Taylor first gave Ace a curious look when the girl started the chant, and then it spread.

"Ohmigod..." For a moment, all she could do was stand there, hands cupped over her mouth. She'd had crowds chant her name, but she had never had support from other wrestlers. Not like this.

She broke into the broadest grin and jumped for joy before taking off to make a lap around the auditorium. She ran across seat backs and back flipped off and leapt up into Angel's arms bridal style and did a cartwheel.

"I PROMISE!" She shouted. "I'LL WIN IT BACK AND EVERYTHING WILL BE GREAT, I PROMISE!"