RISING TIDE
By Geoff Brantholder
The first thing you notice about Cheri Torrance…well, the first thing I did
anyway…is that she moves like an athlete. There’s not an ounce of unnecessary
fat on her, and her whole body seems to move like a fine precision machine, even
as she simply walks over to the table in the restaurant where we are conducting
the interview for this story. But that’s not to say she isn’t feminine.
Actually, she’s indescribably sexy. As beautiful as she is in photographs,
pictures don’t begin to capture that elusive quality she possesses. It goes a
long way toward explaining why Cheri is enjoying steadily growing popularity
with the television viewing audience, yet why fans who see her live in person
are so avidly enamored with her. She’s got grace, poise and a monster dose of
presence that fills the entire room!
She sits, we exchange pleasantries, she orders spring water with a twist of
lime, I stick with coffee. She’s literally bursting at the seams to tell me her
good news: Having labored under the terms of a development deal since her
arrival in the league last November, Executive Director Bethany Christian just
the day before signed her to a full contract. Cheri Torrance is now a genuine
FAWN Girl, and she can’t wipe the smile from her face.
Cheri’s rise up the ranks…indeed, her entire entry into FAWN itself…defied
conventions. Unlike all of the other talent in the organization, Cheri had no
experience as a professional wrestler before debuting in the FAWN ring; she
didn’t even have to woodshed down in F2 in order to prove herself. But by no
means did she not deserve her shot.
“I’m very into extreme sports,” the sun-kissed blonde says in between nibbles on
radishes from the vegetable platter. “Snowboarding, hang gliding and, of course,
surfing. Actually, I don’t know if there’s a sport I haven’t tried once or
twice.” She’s too modest to mention that she’s had more than a little success as
an athlete: California state high school all-star for swimming, volleyball and
track & field, full scholarship to USC, where she set school records for the
200m and diving; National Triathlon Champion; and, naturally, multiple surfing
trophy winner. Since the time she was 12, a lot of people who know of such
things said Cheri had what it took to go to the Olympics, and she had the
versatility to decide which sport she wanted to compete in.
But she never took that route. “Nothing against the Olympics,” she says. “The
athletes who compete are amazingly dedicated people. But I was never interested
in devoting myself one-hundred percent to pursuing one exact event. Sports, for
me, is about fun, and the Olympics are about work.”
So, Cheri graduated college with a degree in kinesiology, and promptly set out
to have her fun, and becoming something of a minor Golden State legend in the
process…and the girl’s not even 25 yet.
Having mastered everything from jai alai to korfball (I swear, I did not make
that one up!), Torrance began casting about for a new challenge. When FAWN was
launched, the blonde was immediately intrigued. She began pursuing training from
several California instructors, then went down to Mexico for a few months to
further her education. She put together a sample tape of her training bouts,
along with a resume of her athletic achievements, and sent the package cold to
Bethany Christian. Seven weeks later, she was called off the court from a
pick-up basketball game at her health club to answer a call: Bethany Christian
wanted to know how soon she could get to the FAWN office.
Cheri figured the FAWN fed head wasn’t asking her to jet across the country just
to tell the Ventura native to not waste Christian’s time, so she prepared
herself for the most logical scenario. “I was ready to hear Bethany tell me that
I had promise, but that I had to develop it better before she would consider me
for FAWN. I fully expected her to suggest I go to F2 to learn the ropes, and
before I flew out of LA, I had already made some inquiries about a place to stay
in Birmingham.”
But what the Executive Director told her made Torrance feel as if her jaw must
have hit the floor. “She said, completely matter of factly, that she was
tremendously impressed with my native ability…I distinctly remember her using
that phrase…and she felt that, with the right grooming, I could more than hold
my own in FAWN. I couldn’t believe it!”
By ‘grooming,’ Christian meant a new innovation in FAWN, the development deal.
Basically, Cheri signed on to serve at Bethany’s pleasure for an undetermined
length of time. FAWN could terminate the relationship at any time, and send the
surfer girl packing and back to Cali. Torrance would receive a less-than-regal
$100.00 a match, and she would receive no medical coverage during this
probationary period. It was a daunting proposition, and one which many other
women would reject. Cheri didn’t hesitate a moment to agree and put her
signature on the dotted line.
Less than a week later, the blonde was in the FAWN ring, facing Desire the
Naughty Schoolgirl in a dark match before a broadcast show…and the rookie won!
“The sensation of it all still gives me goosebumps!” she says. “Not just
winning, but being in that ring, knowing that thousands of people in that arena
were watching my every move, and then feeling their applause wash over me…it was
magical.”
She didn’t have much time to rest on the laurels of that initial triumph,
though. FAWN made the newcomer a staple of its touring house show troupe, and
Torrance found herself wrestling two, three, even four times a week in small
cities and hinterland towns. These weren’t spectacles held in massive stadiums
before tens of thousands of screaming fans and broadcast into the homes of
America…they were run in National Guard armories and high school gymnasiums,
often for as few as 150 spectators. And on nights when the troupe had a layover,
it wasn’t out of the ordinary for FAWN execs to ‘loan’ Cheri to a local
promotion for a night. By January’s end, Cheri Torrance had crammed many months
worth of experience into a few short weeks.
And all the while, regular progress reports on her development made their way to
Bethany’s desk.
Her next step up the ladder was a televised match, held the day after New
Year’s. She fought Demetria Andrews, and against the expectations of many, she
won. Just as importantly, at least in Christian’s estimation, is that Cheri went
over big with the audience, both in the America West Arena as well as the fans
watching on TV. Email began to come in steadily asking about this new talent,
and her page on the official FAWN Diva’s site began to record huge numbers of
hits each day.
And that, obviously, culminated in Bethany Christian offering the blonde a
regular contract with the organization.
But, lest anyone think the FAWN Executive Director is strictly benevolent, one
need only look at what else she’s given the rookie: A match against Miriam
Gaiman later in February.
If there are a Ten Commandments of Pro Wrestling handed down by a higher power,
than one of those laws must be Thou Shalt Not Put Rookies in the Same Ring with
Miriam Gaiman. The redhead takes a perverse pride in damaging newcomer in ways
the unfortunate women could never anticipate. The smart ones know to reject
match offers against Gaiman. The crazy ones take the offer, and then pay the
price. So, does that make Cheri crazy, or just stupid?
“Well, hopefully neither,” she laughs. “But if I had to choose, I’d go with
crazy. But that doesn’t mean I can’t beat her.” The blonde takes note of the
skeptical expression on my face…I’m terrible at poker, you know…and adds,
“That’s not to say I don’t realize she’s the biggest challenge of my young
career. But no woman is unbeatable. All it takes is skill and effort and, yes,
some good luck, and anyone can win a match. I’m going into that ring fully
intent on beating Gaiman. And even if I don’t, she’ll know she was in a hell of
a fight!”
There’s something about this woman, the way she speaks, the way she poses her
body even as she simply sits there and sips from her glass, the way she radiates
magnetism and charm, that makes you want to believe her. You start to think
that, yeah, she could beat Miriam!
Of course, beating Gaiman shouldn’t really be the sole objective. Escaping the
ring in one piece, with some semblance of one‘s dignity intact, and being able
to walk upright or bear children in the future must also rank high on the list
of priorities.
Yet, come what may in that match, there’s no denying that Cheri Torrance is a
young star on the rise. She’s caught her wave, and she intends to ride it all
the way.