If YOU lose, you admit you purposely injured me. Either way we shake hands & put this incident behind us for good! Can you do this? Does this sound fair? See you at Fall Moonsault, Keiko & my dear fans!
Blade: Bloody Mary leaves me with mixed emotions. So much potential, why does she have to cheat?
Mutt: Because she can! And lately she's needed to. Losses to Lady Tiger and Micki Duran have hurt her rather badly. She could rise back up in the standings by squashing Keiko Mita at the Fall Moonsault!!
Dunbar: Speaking of the Fall Moonsault, Daisy Butterfly met with Sonya during an interview regarding the Ironwoman tournament as well as our NEW World Heavyweight Champion Officer Order....
Daisy Butterfly
(Scene cuts to a GDWA studio, two chairs tilted towards each other. "Atomic Dog" plays as the lights raise, revealing Sonya Blade and Daisy Butterfly seated in the two chairs. Between the two chairs is a blown-up portrait of Daisy Butterfly seconds after her final victory in the 1996 Ironwoman tournament from last year's Fall Moonsault; her arms raised in victory.)
Sonya Blade: Hello fans. Today we're speaking with Daisy Butterfly, international superstar and last year's Ironwoman. With the Fall Moonsault on us again, we've taken a bit of time to speak with our inaugural Ironwoman about the tournament, her career since her victory and her predictions and opinions of this year's Ironwoman hopefuls. Daisy, it's a pleasure to have you join us today.
Daisy: Thank you Sonya. As always, the pleasure is all mine.
Sonya Blade: First off, Daisy, I'd like you to take us back to the night of September 1st, 1996. Tell us all a bit about what happened that night, and what happened leading up to that.
Daisy: For me, personally, the Ironwoman tourney was my chance to show the world and myself that I was truly a world-class athlete. Deep down, I knew I had what was needed to become the GDWA World Champion. I had Zaranna beat under the lights of Madison Square Gardens, a feat that EVERYONE had told me would be impossible. But, in the first of many screw jobs that would keep me from winning gold, Zaranna managed to hold on to the belt.
Sonya Blade: I remember that night. You two were cradling each other, and you managed to hold her shoulders down for a two-count before she rolled your shoulders to the mat. The referee didn't reset the count and Zaranna managed to pin you with only a one-count.
Daisy: Yep, that's the right night, Sonya. To say I was angry and disappointed would be an understatement. But, at least I planted a seed in the champ's mind. She knew that I could beat her, and therefore I became the biggest threat to her title reign. To put it lightly, I wasn't in an enviable position.
Sonya Blade: How so?
Daisy: I was deeply involved in the now-infamous bloody feud with Nikita Marx at the time. She herself was dangerous enough to keep the whole Dragon Trio on guard. Adding Zaranna and Dana Wheatley to the chaos of the period only served me more obstacles. I was stretchered out of more arenas than Ma Porter has had hot dinners.
Sonya Blade: (smiling) I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Take us into the Fall Moonsault...
Daisy: I was a bit surprised that I was voted by my peers to be one of the women to take a stab at being the inaugural Ironwoman. Here I was ranked up there with two World Champions and the perpetual number one contender. I knew I was good, I guess everyone else had finally seen it as well. I tried not to let that go to my head; that would only give me more anxiety. And that same sort of anxiety is what got in my way at Madison Square Gardens. I was the underdog in this event; luckily I had the support of Sachie and Charlotte, who helped me train and gave me the right motivation and mindset to go into the Moonsault already a winner.
Sonya Blade: Your first match was against Ma Porter.....
Daisy: Which was definitely the worst case scenario coming to life. I knew I could beat Zaranna, and I knew I'd at least get a fair and hard-fought fight out of Lanny. But Porter was the woman who most intimidated me. No one could expect what she would do in any match, other than making sure her opponents were barely breathing when she was done. I was scared, but this was exactly the way I wanted it to happen. I figured I'd have to conquer my fear in the first match. That way, everything after that would be marginally easier for me to deal with. The bell rang, and Porter came out swinging. I had only fifteen minutes to try and bring down the behemoth, so my usually defensive style had to change. I tried to become the aggressor, and Big Ma showed me then and there that no one could push her around. She gave me a loss in my first tournament match, making it an uphill battle from that point on. I wanted a win so bad, and didn't get one. I think that's what helped to light my fire in the later matches.
Sonya Blade: Later on in the night, you faced Zaranna.
Daisy: It was different with Zaranna. Whatever fear Porter had put in me turned into anger when I got in the ring with Zaranna. This was the woman who cheated me out of becoming World Champion back in the Garden. This was the woman who had Z-Blasted me too many times to count when she could catch me by surprise. Finally, I'd get another chance to get her inside the ring and show her who the better woman really was.
Sonya Blade: Many critics agree that Zaranna showed a hint of fear throughout the Ironwoman tournament; most notably when she faced you.
Daisy: It had to be like this: Zaranna had beaten Lanny before, both in and outside of the ring with her mind games. She had never scored a solid victory over me and had never broken my will with her attacks. I think she seriously doubted that she could in fact beat me. That's why she showed a lot of hesitation throughout our match. I think she was trying for a time-limit draw. But her hesitation is what took her out of the match, when she got counted-out and I took my first win. Unfortunately, I never did get to pin her before she retired.
Sonya Blade: Did you find it ironic that you and Lanny Manson ended up being the last match of the night? How did you prepare to go into the ring and wrestle one of your closest friends?
Daisy: I had to forget about the Ironwoman tournament and the scores up to that point. Ma Porter had finished wrestling already, and apparently had the whole thing locked down. When it was time for me to wrestle Lanny, I convinced myself that I was somewhere else. I wasn't at the Fall Moonsault, I wasn't looking to become the Ironwoman. I had to block out all the fans...this was the one match where the fans couldn't make the difference.
Sonya Blade: Because both you and Lanny Manson were equally cheered by all?
Daisy: Exactly. I put myself back into the shoes I wore that past April when I first wrestled in the GDWA. I was there, just another woman, who had to prove what she was made of. I had to forget about Lanny's accomplishments, as well. We went into the ring, shook hands, and took it from there.
Sonya Blade: You shocked the world with what happened next. Not only were not expected to beat Lanny or win the Ironwoman tournament, you actually locked-in the Butterfly Deathlock and made her submit!
Daisy: Sonya, a year later and that still blows my mind! The clock was winding down and I saw my opening. I could have attempted to pin her, but Lanny has so much fight in her that that probably would never have happened. So I had to take a chance. I picked up her arm, slid my leg behind her head and sat down on her shoulder with all I was worth. Time just about stopped at that point...I never would have realized how close we were to the bell if my beating heart didn't tell me. I twisted and pulled on her arm, waiting for the bell to ring, which I knew was so imminent. The bell rang and my heart stopped...it took me a second to realize that Lanny was tapping out on my left foot! I just about collapsed in the ring when my ears turned the cheering back on. And I didn't even THINK about winning the Ironwoman title! I was just amazed that I had managed to beat "Fear Factory" Lanny Manson!
Sonya Blade: Most GDWA fans will forever remember the moment when Lanny raised your hand after the match, and the image of you two hugging in the ring.
Daisy: Sonya, most people didn't know Lanny as well as I did. With the exception of myself and Double-O, she pretty much didn't associate with other wrestlers; spending most of her time on the road signing autographs and meeting with fans. She was very much the essence of what a superstar should be; giving herself completely to the fans. I think, if it wasn't for her in the early days after the GDWA became independent, we never would have survived as an organization. She's always gonna be a role-model to myself and the hundreds-of-thousands of young women who watch the Grand Dragon on TV and see us live when we wrestle in their towns. Despite what you may think, or what her opponents may have thought, her heart