#TopTierShaina Week 1

"Hi lovelies! Shaina here. It's the first of October. You know what that means..."

From the perspective of the camera held in her hand, the one and only Shaina Sheridan was recording one of her usual video blogs Most of her content was in this perspective, but then again, with a combined total of 2.8 million followers watching the videos and live streams on her multiple channels, she wasn't about to change her usual content anytime soon. Normally she would record her daily life on a regular basis, uploading almost every single day to her main and biggest channel ShainaSays, but with a new path on the horizon, as well as a major change to her daily life, her online activity was about to change. She was still satisfied with her huge collective following though, and she knew they wouldn't mind the less frequent uploads on her other channels, especially with her unexpected career choice. In this moment though, with the camera pointed down at her face, she tilted the camera slightly, revealing two suitcases and a backpack on her bed.

"It's moving time!"

Her videos were notorious for quick cuts, as seen in this next shot. Quickly shifting from a downward angle to an upward angle, and with Shaina fully dressed, she also has a tendency of getting up close and personal with her adoring audience, albeit with many cuts in between her sentences. This time, we cut to a close-up of her, sitting on her bed, dwelling on what's to come.

"So the moment has finally come. Today, I begin my new journey. Today, I become a professional wrestler. Now I know a lot of you lovelies have been like dreading this moment, but you don't have to worry. I'll be fine. I've seen enough footage to know what it takes to like be a wrestler now, and I'm pretty sure I have what it takes. As most of you know, I'm a lot tougher than I look. And you know I'll always keep you like posted and stuff. Make sure you’re subscribed to ShainaWrestles and hit that notification bell to stay in touch. You know I love you too much to ignore you. Right, I better be off then! Don't forget to hit that like button if you like what you see and subscribe to follow my incredible new journey."

But before moving on, we must sit through a 3-minute advertisement. With such a huge audience, Shaina Sheridan had earned herself a few sponsors, and since earning them, has been featuring ads in all of her videos. Just another benefit of being a popular social media idol... After the advertisement, we cut to a shot of Shaina, still from the perspective of the camera in her hand, now in the kitchen of her family house.

"This is gonna be the last time I see my parents for a long time. Mom's probably gonna cry. God I hope not..."

Although she is Welsh-born, Shaina has lived in Los Angeles with her parents since her high school years; another luxury she could afford. Although her parents disapproved of most of her decisions, they had to act supportive in front of her cameras, otherwise they'd feel the wrath of her adoring fans. Nonetheless, her parents were just as loved by her audience as Shaina herself, and in the kitchen, we caught a glimpse of her mother, already in tears. The first thing she did was hug Shaina, as any loving mother would on the day their first born child moves away from home.

"Come on mom..."

Shaina couldn't hold it in anymore. She too started sobbing, although it may have been for the sake of the camera, since we could hear sad royalty-free music in the background. This lasted a few seconds until they both withdrew from each other, although Shaina's make-up was fortunately unchanged by her crocodile tears. Still, it was rather upsetting to see. The camera then turned to see her father, who was a lot more cheerful. With the camera pointed at him, he had both thumbs up in support of his beloved daughter. Despite disapproving at first, as seen in previous vlogs, he wanted to maintain a positive persona on camera, and so he wished Shaina the best of luck on her journey.

"Thanks dad."

They too shared a hug as Shaina's mother hid from the view of the camera to wipe the tears from her face. Shaina was always their precious little princess, so to watch her enter a world as crazy and unpredictable as the professional wrestling industry was a lot to bear, but they did their best to stay positive, at least in front of Shaina and her camera. This was a strange new journey that their daughter was about to take, seemingly a decision made out of nowhere, but they tried their best to support her, even as we see her leaving the house, both suitcases at hand and her backpack behind her, entering a taxi cab to the nearest airport. After showing their long-winded farewells, we then cut to Shaina, donning her face-mask, in the back of the taxi.

"Wow. I didn't think I'd ever leave then. Almost got my lashes soaked there..."

She said that line in a similar tone as one would after getting off a long phone call with their parents. Another quick cut in the same taxi, some time later.

"So I've called all my friends now and let them know I'm on my way to the Academy now. I'm starting to get really nervous now. Like I mean I can't believe this is happening right now. I wonder what everyone will be like when they get there..."

We had to wait a while to find out because the next few cuts were long-winded shots of her entering the airport, boarding the plane, and waiting in first class. There's only so much she could do while in airplane mode after all, but that didn't stop her from stretching the time of her content, as she was also known to do. After a 4 hour plane ride, and over 3 minutes of pointless filler, she finally arrived at the airport in Chicago. She was on her way to the mini-bus taking her to her next destination when she could finally address her public again.

"Here we are! Chicago. Not as bright and sunny as LA, but I guess this is gonna be my new home for a while. I'll definitely have to do a tour when I get the time..."

Another couple of seconds of filler content later, we skipped the mini-bus ride and cut straight to the front gates of the Academy.

"There it is! The Academy! Oh boy this is taking me back to my freshman year. So exciting!"

Shaina was greeted by the private security team in charge of patrolling the area. They of course were already busy, as the camera cuts to a small crowd waiting outside the gates. As soon as they all turned to the camera, they immediately screamed in unison.

"Looks like some of you knew I was coming..."

She could not resist the urge to act up to her fans in person. Despite security trying to refrain them, Shaina held the camera up to one of the fans in front of the group and took a selfie with her. The young girl, only 14 years of age, was clearly excited to meet Shaina. This was the kind of publicity that Shaina cherished, but like a celebrity being ushered into their home by their bodyguard, Shaina too experienced the celebrity treatment as the security team finally escorted her into the facility, but not without one more quick line for the camera...

"I love my lovelies."

The next cut was quite drastic. We couldn't see what happened next. Instead, we cut straight to the dormitories. This was where Shaina could finally whip her camera out without being constantly hounded by security. In the privacy of her bedroom, she was ready to show the world where she would be living for the next few months.

"Well, this is it. This will be my new home for the next few months. It's not quite as big as I was expecting. Not exactly a queen-sized bed either. But you know what? I think I like it. Kinda cute. Like something a college student would live in or something..."

She said that line with no experience of her own...

"At least it's tidy too. I'd hate to know who slept in this bed in the last class. Hang on..."

We see an arm reach underneath the bed, and to her disgust, she pulls out an old sock. She immediately dropped it on the floor, recoiling her hand to make sure her nails were still clean.

"EWWW! They left a sock here? Seriously!?"

After jumping to the next cut, we could only assume this issue was resolved until Shaina confirmed it as she spoke into her camera while sitting on her new bed.

"Can't believe I found someone's dirty sock under my bed. Luckily the janitor was nice enough to throw it away and rinse under my bed, so now hopefully we don't find any more unpleasant things like that again. While waiting though I got to try and meet a few of the other students here. Unfortunately none of them wanted to be on camera but I get it. It is getting kinda late and they probably need to get some rest. I know I do. I think I'm done unpacking. But you know what? Now that I'm here, I don't think I'm as nervous as I was before. I honestly thought I'd be in way over my head, especially with how much experience everyone else here seems to have, but honestly, I thought everyone would look a little more, I don't know, scary? Like I've seen some footage and all the wrestlers looked so much bigger. I haven't met that one fatty yet though so I guess we'll see tomorrow. Well, I guess that's it for day one..."


We didn't have long to wait to find out what happened on the second day, but with so little content recorded beyond the opening vlog first thing in the morning, there was also not a lot to discuss.

"Hi lovelies! I just spent my first night here at the Academy, and I gotta say, I slept like a baby. I know this room looks sterile, but it's really nice and cozy once you get all snuggled into this comfy bed. But it's my second day, and you know what that means... It's time for my first day of training!"

A significant cut later, we see Shaina in the changing room holding the camera up to reveal her new gym gear. She moved the camera up and down to give her viewers a good glimpse of her tight (and perhaps a little inappropriate) outfit.

"Well here it is! What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments."

Shaina was completely oblivious to the other students as she continued her vlog in the changing room.

"So we're about to see the wrestling ring for the first time. I wonder if they'll show us what it's made of. The footage I've seen makes it look like a trampoline but it can't be that. It'd be cool if it was though, I used to be amazing on the trampoline..."

Following this was a quick montage of clips of their first class together. Obviously Shaina couldn't speak during these clips, but we conveniently missed what happened when the students made their way to the gym, where Shaina was asked to step into the ring for the first time. Fortunately she was the first to let us know what happened in the next cut, where Shaina looked like she just worked up a sweat.

"Phew! I guess that's our first class. So I just found out what the ring is made of and oh my god let's just say it's no trampoline! We had to learn a few bumps today, and my back is like killing me! That was like no workout I've ever had. I gotta take a quick break."

The last footage from day two was another personal vlog in the comfort of Shaina's room, where she once again updated us on what happened.

"Today was absolutely nuts! After class I got to see the rest of the Academy. The gym here is even bigger than the one I got at home and that's saying something! I got to meet all the teachers. They didn't wanna be recorded but I think I left a pretty good impression. I think they liked me, but I didn't really care for that lunch lady...like what a cow... The courtyard reminds me of the quad back in my old school in Cardiff. I really do feel like a college student. This has been really fun so far, but I don't think the other students are finding it anywhere near as fun as me. I don't know why though, maybe they already know some of this stuff? I mean there's this one student, Beybey, she already graduated somewhere before, so she's probably just re-learning the stuff she already knows. I don't know, but anyway, I think I'm taking an early night tonight. I'll catch you lovelies again in the morning."


The next evening...

"So today was absolutely awful. I didn't record myself this morning. I mean like I couldn't. I wasn't feeling very well. I'm still not feeling very well. But I had to go to class anyway. I know I probably look awful right now..."

She said despite looking as if she had just come home from a night out...

"...I don't know if someone brought a bug into the Academy or something, I don't know. Hopefully things will get better tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get to learn some cool new moves."


The next cut was the following morning, and Shaina was looking significantly better.

"Morning lovelies! Feeling a lot better today. Think I'm ready to take on the whole wide world!"

After class...

"So I just learned something very interesting. So on the first live show for the Academy, apparently all the students are gonna be in something called a battle royal. I don't know what that is yet, but it sounds like something from a video game. It doesn't sound like a match at all. I have to ask someone that is..."

One cut later...

"Well none of the students wanted to tell me so I asked one of the teachers. So in a battle royal, all the students are in the ring together, and we have to throw each other outside the ring. Kinda like the floor is made of lava. But it's not that simple. Apparently you can't just throw someone out of the ring, you have to throw them over the top rope first. So if you get thrown out between the ropes, it doesn't count, and you get to come back in. Sounds like a stupid rule to me personally. I mean, what's stopping people from just waiting outside the ring first? But apparently that's not all. Whoever wins gets to win something called the Gold Star. The Gold Star is like the big prize here in the Academy, so if I win it, that makes me the top of the class. Sounds like we have our first goal here in the Academy. I can't wait..."

The next few days are a mash of more scattered recordings, showing candid glimpses from the classrooms and the gym, all featuring Shaina keeping her audience up to scratch. She seemed to be focusing more and more on her training, as she expected would happen when she first started this video blog. She wasn't as ignorant as she might come across; she was eager to learn as much as she possibly could, but being a complete outsider to the world of wrestling, it was a lot harder for her to grasp. Sure, she had the gymnastic background, but there were certain aspects of wrestling that she either questioned or she let fly over her head. There was also time in this video blog to squeeze in yet another 3 minute advertisement from one of her sponsors. Finally we come to the day of the Wild Bunch...


This was the day of the big event. The first Academy show of the season. Everyone would be sharing the same ring to compete in a battle royal. Needless to say, Shaina was absolutely ecstatic as she addressed her audience in the morning.

"Morning lovelies! Today is the big day. My in-ring debut. My very first wrestling match. It's been a long week, but I can't wait to get in that ring. I've just done my morning stretches, I've picked out which ring gear to wear, and I am ready to kick some butt! Let's go!"

What followed next was not a recording from her camera, but instead, were several clips from the big event. Backed by dramatic royalty-free music, particular highlights were shots of her making her way into the ring for the first time, several shots of her waiting outside the ring, and the important moments for her in the match, from eliminating Addison McKinley to shortly being eliminated by Bey Addams. Nonetheless, despite the disappointing result, that did not stop her from vlogging herself after the match. It looked like she didn't even break a sweat, but she acted as if she was exhausted in front of her camera.

"Well, unfortunately your girl didn't win. But I'm not disappointed, and neither should you be my lovelies. I mean sure I was picked last for the teams, and sure I got eliminated by Beybey, but you know what? I'm fine with it. I'm the least experienced one here, so I kinda expected to be picked last. It makes sense. That just makes me more of an underdog here. And sure I didn't win. But I think I did pretty good for my first match. I even got to eliminate someone who's way more experienced than me too. If I have to start from the bottom, then I promise I'll finish at the top. My wrestling nickname is Top Tier Shaina after all..."

The final cut of the video was the conclusion of Shaina's first week at the Academy, sitting in her bed, ready to call it another night. Normally she'd sign out of a video bursting with excitement, but that night, she made a promise to her followers...

"What a crazy week. I've moved all the way to Chicago, I started training to be a wrestler, and I even got to be in my very first match. I know I've got a long way to go, especially since everyone else here has an advantage over me, but you know what? I don't care. I'm not scared. I know my parents never wanted me to come here, I know most of you lovelies were worried I'd get like hurt or something, and I know a lot of these grumpy old wrestlers don't think I belong in their business, but when I first said I wanted to be a wrestler, I meant it. I don't just want to be a wrestler, I want to be the best one. This is just the beginning of my story. I'm the underdog in this Academy. I'm the hero of this adventure. This isn't a publicity stunt. This is real. This is really real. This is what I want, and I hope all you lovelies out there can support me on this journey. If you wanna support me, be sure to like and comment on this video, and don’t forget to subscribe!"

Just with every other content on her channel, the video must end with the usual sign-off...

"And finally, don't forget to just let it shine! Goodnight my lovelies!"