Post by styg on Aug 20, 2020 1:27:49 GMT
TEAM INFO
Tag Team Name: The UK Dragons.
Members: Evangelista & Laurel Anne Hardy.
Combined Weight: 285lbs / 129kg.
Billed From: The United Kingdom.
Ring Attire: Long tights and a sleeveless crop top - high necked in Laurel's case; deeper cut neckline with a bit of a collar and Queen Anne shape in Evangelista's - plus ribboned armbands from wrist to mid-bicep. The tights have a mesh cutout section on the thigh (Evangelista's right, Hardy's left) in a stylised dragon shape. The colour and pattern of the gear varies hugely; sometimes it'll be a matte black base with a glossy, multicoloured paint spatter effect. Sometimes, a colourful nebula design on holographic fabric. Sometimes, a print of the same dragon design as on their thighs, in two bold, contrasting colours (and they might swap those colours, so for example Evangelista has a yellow dragon on a purple background while Laurel has a purple dragon on a yellow background). Sometimes it'll be something else again.
Evangelista will be wearing matching boots and kickpads, and kneepads under her tights. Laurel may or may not be. Laurel will probably be wearing a matching choker. Evangelista will definitely not be. Flamboyant makeup to match the design of the attire, usually involving jewels, glitter, bright lipstick, and such things as bands of paint across the eyes, starbursts around the eyes, swirls extending down the cheeks and/or up to the temples, or half-face skulls.
Manager: Savannah Lyons.
TEAM BIOGRAPHY
Relationship: Best friends since training, almost 15 years ago now. Platonic life partners, or maybe soulmates, and they've been living together for a huge chunk of their lives at this point. Back in their youth, they helped one another become much more functional people and will always share that bonding experience. They kinda drive each other nuts at times but they couldn't imagine being apart; they're still as close as they ever were and have only had one major falling out in all those years. However, they've barely teamed together in half of that time (though they're still training partners).
Team Career History: Hardy and Evangelista were part of the same graduating class from Manchester's The Superstar Factory, and were considered that class's star students. Via Leanne's friend Mark Chapman and other wrestlers she knew through him, they got tryout matches with Global Extreme Wrestling and a referral to Shane Tallin's Battlegrounds Academy in Ottawa for advanced training. Many of the group around Battlegrounds at that time would become the stable known as The Asylum, and Laurel and Leanne (along with Matt Kail) made their TV debut in summer 2010 as entrants in GEW's trios gauntlet. The stable waged war on GEW, declaring that the company had become soft and decadent, and that The Asylum would save it from itself by destroying it and rebuilding it in the old image. This, naturally, meant turning against the friends who'd helped them into GEW in the first place - some of whom Laurel and Leanne have since mended bridges with, some of whom they have not. The Asylum succeeded in its goal of breaking down GEW but not in its goal of rebuilding it, and GEW closed its doors in summer 2011. In the aftermath of that, Laurel and Leanne focused on their singles careers, competing in separate promotions until the end of the year. They both took 2012 out to deal with injuries.
During this time, they grew remorseful for their villainous actions and agreed to start trying to do things the right way. Together with Jay Pride and Jackie Boy Warner they returned to the UK to take over The Superstar Factory, renaming it Caledonian, and in January 2013 they re-debuted in the UK with Pro Wrestling FRONTIER, under the new name The UK Dragons. Laurel and Leanne quickly established themselves as one of the company's premier tag teams and would go on to compete together in places like WARPED, EXODUS and Frontier Grappling Arts, among others. In these promotions, they would run afoul of multiple factions with similar goals as The Asylum once had, and in response Laurel arranged the reformation of The Asylum, this time as protectors rather than destroyers. But the stresses of this period - which saw members of The Asylum's greatest enemies, AbominationZ, kidnap Evangelista's sister Lily and assault Laurel's brother Matty - caused Leanne to snap and turn on Laurel, fed up of her selfishness and habit of dragging Leanne into wars with wrestling's monsters. Each feeling betrayed by the other, they aired one another's demons in vicious promos before meeting in a hardcore match at FRONTIER's 50th anniversary show. The match was 45-minute bloodbath as they exorcised the frustrations that had been building for many months, and it ended in a draw when they finally reconciled and left the arena together in floods of tears. A couple of months later it was named FRONTIER's match of the year, something Laurel and Leanne still have mixed feelings about. Despite their relationship being rocked the pair renamed themselves Dragons Unleashed and decided to continue teaming together, but found themselves having mixed results with both major successes and major losses, and split to focus on their singles careers before 2015 was out. Since then, although they're sparring buddies and co-trainers at Caledonian, they have reformed their team only twice, to compete in their friend Emi Yamamoto's Love Power produce shows... but the return of GEW means they have a few matters from their tag days to put to bed.
Associates:
* Their extensive household, colloquially known as The 4077, which includes Laurel's brother, Matty Graves; Leanne's sister, Lily Fontanilla; Leanne's husband, Kickass Smurf, and their son; Laurel's girlfriend, Christina King; plus Mia Scott, Roz Davies, Ai Han, as well as others not connected to wrestling. Emi Yamamoto and Jay Pride are also former residents of the household and remain close friends with them.
* Their fellow staff and their trainees at Caledonian, as well as the circle of other wrestlers who train there.
* The rest of The Asylum.
* Their manager, Savannah Lyons, and by extension The Natural Ones.
Team Title History:
* 2 x GFC World Tag Team Champions
* 1 x WARPED Tag Team Champions
* 1 x EXODUS Pro Tag Team Champions
* Love Power POWER TEAM Cup
* GFC Match of the Year 2013 (vs each other)
* GFC Tag Team of the Year 2014
* UKSS Tag Team of the Year 2015
MATCH-WRITING INFO
Entrance Theme: Glass Candy - "Candy Castle"
Entrance Description: Multicoloured spotlights swirl around the entranceway as the martial-sounding intro to Glass Candy's "Candy Castle" comes across the PA. As the beat kicks in Laurel Anne Hardy bursts through the curtain, cavorting energetically and twisting a feather boa around like a dancing partner. A moment later Evangelista walks through and stands beside Laurel, placing her hands on her hips as she surveys the auditorium with a small smile. The Dragons share a good luck hug, then start down the aisle and head in opposite directions when they reach the bottom - Evangelista focused on the task ahead and absently tagging a few outstretched hands, Hardy dancing back and forth and interacting with the fans much more with hugs, high fives and handshakes. After completing a circuit of the ringside area they regroup, and Evangelista slides under the bottom rope while Laurel leaps over her onto the apron, somersaulting over the top rope. They run up opposite turnbuckles and pose, then drop and repeat their actions in the other two corners. Hardy throws her boa into the crowd, prompting a scrum to catch it. Then they both moonsault down to standing positions in the centre of the ring. Laurel takes a deep, theatrical bow while Evangelista crosses herself and warms up.
Fighting Style & Mindset: With their longstanding rapport, the Dragons have incredible chemistry and are particularly exceptional at reading one another. They were always a team with a knack for rapid, inventive double manoeuvres in particular, thanks to not only their bond but Evangelista's combat awareness and Hardy's creativity. They don't really have specific roles within the team, though Laurel is the de facto captain given her natural leadership and more outgoing, confident personality - although she respects her partner's ability to read and respond to opponents quickly and, in practice, will tend to go along with Evangelista's suggestions. They use fast-paced offence coming from all directions, heavy on grapples and head-drops with strikes often thrown into the middle of moves. By design, many of their double team moves can be performed equally well either way round.
Historically, the Dragons' biggest weakness was a tendency to be overprotective of one another, especially Laurel towards Evangelista. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen. A more pressing concern now is the fact that they've barely teamed together competitively since 2015...
Primary Team Finisher:
01. "Warped Frontier" - Inverted facelock from one of the team, with a springboard moonsault from the other. As the diving member connects with the crossbody splash of the moonsault, the other drops into an inverted double knees to the back of the skull. A variant, slightly harder to pull off but more punishing, sees the springboard moonsault rotated further into a double knee strike.
Alternative Team Finisher:
01. "Snapdragon" - Tandem spinning kicks to opposite points on an opponent's head.
Signature Team Moves / Spots:
01. Full nelson from one of the team, into wheelbarrow facebuster combined with double knee facebreaker from the other.
02. One member hiptosses the other onto the opponent's shoulders, where they perform a huracanrana or headscissors takedown.
03. Stalling middle-rope Asai moonsault setup from Laurel; Evangelista dives through her legs in a tope, then Laurel completes the Asai moonsault once Evangelista's out of harm's way.
04. Tandem German suplexes, throwing two opponents into one another.
05. One uses the other's shoulders as a platform for an elevated leap (if Evangelista) or cartwheel (if Hardy) into some variety of splash or drop; frequently done from the top turnbuckle.
Common Double Team Moves:
01. Spinning toehold comboed with some kind of splash or drop.
02. Ankle lock or Boston crab from Evangelista, with Laurel coming in for some kind of strike to the opponent's head or neck.
03. Dragon suplex from one of the team, assisted by the other with a spinning roundhouse to the opponent's jaw.
04. Either partner using the other on all fours as a step-off platform for an aerial attack.
05. Powerbomb (Laurel) / hangman's neckbreaker (Evangelista) combo.
06. Space tornado from Evangelista onto Laurel's braced knee.
07. Abdominal stretch (from Evangelista) or octopus stretch (from Laurel) with kicks to the midsection from the other.
08. Death Valley bomb from Laurel into lungblower from Evangelista.
09. Vertical suplex from Evangelista into lungblower from Laurel.
10. Backslide pin from one of the team, with baseball slide to the opponent's trapped head from the other.
11. Bridging Indian deathlock from Evangelista, with rolling thunder from Hardy.
12. Bow and arrow stretch from one of the team, with something like a double foot stomp or elbow drop from the other.
Weapon of Choice: A swig of paraffin from a metal can, blown into a match to create a plume of fire.
Match of Choice: Regular tag team.
Tag Team Name: The UK Dragons.
Members: Evangelista & Laurel Anne Hardy.
Combined Weight: 285lbs / 129kg.
Billed From: The United Kingdom.
Ring Attire: Long tights and a sleeveless crop top - high necked in Laurel's case; deeper cut neckline with a bit of a collar and Queen Anne shape in Evangelista's - plus ribboned armbands from wrist to mid-bicep. The tights have a mesh cutout section on the thigh (Evangelista's right, Hardy's left) in a stylised dragon shape. The colour and pattern of the gear varies hugely; sometimes it'll be a matte black base with a glossy, multicoloured paint spatter effect. Sometimes, a colourful nebula design on holographic fabric. Sometimes, a print of the same dragon design as on their thighs, in two bold, contrasting colours (and they might swap those colours, so for example Evangelista has a yellow dragon on a purple background while Laurel has a purple dragon on a yellow background). Sometimes it'll be something else again.
Evangelista will be wearing matching boots and kickpads, and kneepads under her tights. Laurel may or may not be. Laurel will probably be wearing a matching choker. Evangelista will definitely not be. Flamboyant makeup to match the design of the attire, usually involving jewels, glitter, bright lipstick, and such things as bands of paint across the eyes, starbursts around the eyes, swirls extending down the cheeks and/or up to the temples, or half-face skulls.
Manager: Savannah Lyons.
TEAM BIOGRAPHY
Relationship: Best friends since training, almost 15 years ago now. Platonic life partners, or maybe soulmates, and they've been living together for a huge chunk of their lives at this point. Back in their youth, they helped one another become much more functional people and will always share that bonding experience. They kinda drive each other nuts at times but they couldn't imagine being apart; they're still as close as they ever were and have only had one major falling out in all those years. However, they've barely teamed together in half of that time (though they're still training partners).
Team Career History: Hardy and Evangelista were part of the same graduating class from Manchester's The Superstar Factory, and were considered that class's star students. Via Leanne's friend Mark Chapman and other wrestlers she knew through him, they got tryout matches with Global Extreme Wrestling and a referral to Shane Tallin's Battlegrounds Academy in Ottawa for advanced training. Many of the group around Battlegrounds at that time would become the stable known as The Asylum, and Laurel and Leanne (along with Matt Kail) made their TV debut in summer 2010 as entrants in GEW's trios gauntlet. The stable waged war on GEW, declaring that the company had become soft and decadent, and that The Asylum would save it from itself by destroying it and rebuilding it in the old image. This, naturally, meant turning against the friends who'd helped them into GEW in the first place - some of whom Laurel and Leanne have since mended bridges with, some of whom they have not. The Asylum succeeded in its goal of breaking down GEW but not in its goal of rebuilding it, and GEW closed its doors in summer 2011. In the aftermath of that, Laurel and Leanne focused on their singles careers, competing in separate promotions until the end of the year. They both took 2012 out to deal with injuries.
During this time, they grew remorseful for their villainous actions and agreed to start trying to do things the right way. Together with Jay Pride and Jackie Boy Warner they returned to the UK to take over The Superstar Factory, renaming it Caledonian, and in January 2013 they re-debuted in the UK with Pro Wrestling FRONTIER, under the new name The UK Dragons. Laurel and Leanne quickly established themselves as one of the company's premier tag teams and would go on to compete together in places like WARPED, EXODUS and Frontier Grappling Arts, among others. In these promotions, they would run afoul of multiple factions with similar goals as The Asylum once had, and in response Laurel arranged the reformation of The Asylum, this time as protectors rather than destroyers. But the stresses of this period - which saw members of The Asylum's greatest enemies, AbominationZ, kidnap Evangelista's sister Lily and assault Laurel's brother Matty - caused Leanne to snap and turn on Laurel, fed up of her selfishness and habit of dragging Leanne into wars with wrestling's monsters. Each feeling betrayed by the other, they aired one another's demons in vicious promos before meeting in a hardcore match at FRONTIER's 50th anniversary show. The match was 45-minute bloodbath as they exorcised the frustrations that had been building for many months, and it ended in a draw when they finally reconciled and left the arena together in floods of tears. A couple of months later it was named FRONTIER's match of the year, something Laurel and Leanne still have mixed feelings about. Despite their relationship being rocked the pair renamed themselves Dragons Unleashed and decided to continue teaming together, but found themselves having mixed results with both major successes and major losses, and split to focus on their singles careers before 2015 was out. Since then, although they're sparring buddies and co-trainers at Caledonian, they have reformed their team only twice, to compete in their friend Emi Yamamoto's Love Power produce shows... but the return of GEW means they have a few matters from their tag days to put to bed.
Associates:
* Their extensive household, colloquially known as The 4077, which includes Laurel's brother, Matty Graves; Leanne's sister, Lily Fontanilla; Leanne's husband, Kickass Smurf, and their son; Laurel's girlfriend, Christina King; plus Mia Scott, Roz Davies, Ai Han, as well as others not connected to wrestling. Emi Yamamoto and Jay Pride are also former residents of the household and remain close friends with them.
* Their fellow staff and their trainees at Caledonian, as well as the circle of other wrestlers who train there.
* The rest of The Asylum.
* Their manager, Savannah Lyons, and by extension The Natural Ones.
Team Title History:
* 2 x GFC World Tag Team Champions
* 1 x WARPED Tag Team Champions
* 1 x EXODUS Pro Tag Team Champions
* Love Power POWER TEAM Cup
* GFC Match of the Year 2013 (vs each other)
* GFC Tag Team of the Year 2014
* UKSS Tag Team of the Year 2015
MATCH-WRITING INFO
Entrance Theme: Glass Candy - "Candy Castle"
Entrance Description: Multicoloured spotlights swirl around the entranceway as the martial-sounding intro to Glass Candy's "Candy Castle" comes across the PA. As the beat kicks in Laurel Anne Hardy bursts through the curtain, cavorting energetically and twisting a feather boa around like a dancing partner. A moment later Evangelista walks through and stands beside Laurel, placing her hands on her hips as she surveys the auditorium with a small smile. The Dragons share a good luck hug, then start down the aisle and head in opposite directions when they reach the bottom - Evangelista focused on the task ahead and absently tagging a few outstretched hands, Hardy dancing back and forth and interacting with the fans much more with hugs, high fives and handshakes. After completing a circuit of the ringside area they regroup, and Evangelista slides under the bottom rope while Laurel leaps over her onto the apron, somersaulting over the top rope. They run up opposite turnbuckles and pose, then drop and repeat their actions in the other two corners. Hardy throws her boa into the crowd, prompting a scrum to catch it. Then they both moonsault down to standing positions in the centre of the ring. Laurel takes a deep, theatrical bow while Evangelista crosses herself and warms up.
Fighting Style & Mindset: With their longstanding rapport, the Dragons have incredible chemistry and are particularly exceptional at reading one another. They were always a team with a knack for rapid, inventive double manoeuvres in particular, thanks to not only their bond but Evangelista's combat awareness and Hardy's creativity. They don't really have specific roles within the team, though Laurel is the de facto captain given her natural leadership and more outgoing, confident personality - although she respects her partner's ability to read and respond to opponents quickly and, in practice, will tend to go along with Evangelista's suggestions. They use fast-paced offence coming from all directions, heavy on grapples and head-drops with strikes often thrown into the middle of moves. By design, many of their double team moves can be performed equally well either way round.
Historically, the Dragons' biggest weakness was a tendency to be overprotective of one another, especially Laurel towards Evangelista. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen. A more pressing concern now is the fact that they've barely teamed together competitively since 2015...
Primary Team Finisher:
01. "Warped Frontier" - Inverted facelock from one of the team, with a springboard moonsault from the other. As the diving member connects with the crossbody splash of the moonsault, the other drops into an inverted double knees to the back of the skull. A variant, slightly harder to pull off but more punishing, sees the springboard moonsault rotated further into a double knee strike.
Alternative Team Finisher:
01. "Snapdragon" - Tandem spinning kicks to opposite points on an opponent's head.
Signature Team Moves / Spots:
01. Full nelson from one of the team, into wheelbarrow facebuster combined with double knee facebreaker from the other.
02. One member hiptosses the other onto the opponent's shoulders, where they perform a huracanrana or headscissors takedown.
03. Stalling middle-rope Asai moonsault setup from Laurel; Evangelista dives through her legs in a tope, then Laurel completes the Asai moonsault once Evangelista's out of harm's way.
04. Tandem German suplexes, throwing two opponents into one another.
05. One uses the other's shoulders as a platform for an elevated leap (if Evangelista) or cartwheel (if Hardy) into some variety of splash or drop; frequently done from the top turnbuckle.
06. Double ducking legsweep followed by double back elbow drop with clasped hands.
07. Camel clutch from Evangelista, into a roundoff cartwheel dropkick to the face from Hardy, into a jumping double foot stomp to the back of the neck from Evangelista.
08. Camel clutch from Hardy, into 3-4 shoot kicks and then a rolling sole butt to the face from Evangelista, into a standing neck twist from Hardy.
Common Double Team Moves:
01. Spinning toehold comboed with some kind of splash or drop.
02. Ankle lock or Boston crab from Evangelista, with Laurel coming in for some kind of strike to the opponent's head or neck.
03. Dragon suplex from one of the team, assisted by the other with a spinning roundhouse to the opponent's jaw.
04. Either partner using the other on all fours as a step-off platform for an aerial attack.
05. Powerbomb (Laurel) / hangman's neckbreaker (Evangelista) combo.
06. Space tornado from Evangelista onto Laurel's braced knee.
07. Abdominal stretch (from Evangelista) or octopus stretch (from Laurel) with kicks to the midsection from the other.
08. Death Valley bomb from Laurel into lungblower from Evangelista.
09. Vertical suplex from Evangelista into lungblower from Laurel.
10. Backslide pin from one of the team, with baseball slide to the opponent's trapped head from the other.
11. Bridging Indian deathlock from Evangelista, with rolling thunder from Hardy.
12. Bow and arrow stretch from one of the team, with something like a double foot stomp or elbow drop from the other.
Weapon of Choice: A swig of paraffin from a metal can, blown into a match to create a plume of fire.
Match of Choice: Regular tag team.
