"Are you serious? You want to tap out to the sharpshooter?" Nattie stood in front of her opponent in disbelief.
"Yes," Molly responded emphatically. This dark match against Nattie Niedhart would be the biggest match of her career. Molly had been recruited out of Lance Storm's wrestling school in Calgary and asked to participate in the dark match.. Molly had only been wrestling for a little over a year, but she had the look that John Laurinaitis loved. She was slender and tall with long brown hair. Her athleticism could best be described as fit, but she was also agile. Molly Grimes was made for this business. "People love the sharpshooter, Nattie, but whatever you're most comfortable with is fine by me." Molly knew she had to be careful not to step on anyone's toes. She followed the golden rules of backstage conduct. She shook everyones hand and introduced herself. It was a time honored tradition and it showed respect to the legends and superstars that she would be sharing the arena with later that night.
"Sharpshooter it is," Nattie replied with a smile. "We should run through it once. I think we have everything else worked out."
"I really appreciate you taking the time to go through this all with me. You were a very big reason as to why I went to wrestling school in the first place." Molly said.
"Ladies? Are ye almost done in there? Some of us need to run the ropes a little," Stephen Farrelly, better known to the WWE Universe as Sheamus, climbed up to the ring apron.
"Just a second. We need to run past one last thing." Nattie turned to Molly. "Unless you feel ready?"
"We can wait." Stuart Bennett, or Wade Barrett as he would be known to the crowd, joined Stephen up on the ring apron.
Their presence caused Molly to become anxious even though all she needed to do was lay down and wait for Nattie to apply her submission move. "Let's run through it then," Molly said shrugging. She lay down on the mat in the center of the ring. Nattie stood above her and slowly twisted Molly's legs before flipping her on her stomach.
"Sell it!" Stu yelled from the sidelines.
It was easy for Molly to sell it because the amount of pain she was in was excruciating. After Nattie bent her frame back a little further, Molly gave in and tapped out. Nattie released her grip and Molly rolled on to her back, staring up at the arena lights. "That wasn't so bad," Molly lied through her teeth. It would take a minute for her spine to reset before she could get up. Luckily, Nattie helped her to her feet.
"I won't be doing that at match time," Nattie joked.
"Well done," Stu praised. Molly made her way over to the apron where Stu and Stephen were standing. She extended her hand out to Stu. "Hi, I'm Molly Grimes." She extended her hand to Stephen in the same sentence.
"It's nice to meet you Molly, I'm Stuart Bennett." He shook her hand firmly.
"And I'm Stephen Farrelly. Is this your try out dark match tonight?" Stephen hopped over the ropes.
"Yes, it is. I'm much less nervous than I expected I'd be," she said shrugging.
"You'll be fine. You just need to be able to handle getting a beating. That's what dark matches are," Stu offered. "You'll do great tonight."
"Thank you," Molly smiled. That's nice of you to say. I'll let you gentlemen get to work. Thank you for giving us a few extra moments."
"Anytime, Molly," Stu smiled.
Molly sat backstage in the corner of the changing area with the other WWE Divas. Compared to the other girls, her ring gear was not as glamorous and far more worn. She laced up her scruffed up black boots and pulled her yoga pants down over them. Her red gingham sports bra style tank top clung to her figures. This had always been her ring attire. She was self conscious about her legs, but completely proud of her abs.
"Go get 'em out there, Molly," Beth Kocianski encouraged. All of the Diva's Molly encountered had been encouraging.
Molly smiled. "Thank you, guys. It means so much to have your support."
"It's just nice to have someone coming from a wrestling background," Beth responded. "I bet you can bring a lot to the division."
Molly smiled. "Thanks again. I should probably head off to gorilla." Molly made her way from the locker room through the twists and turns of the backstage area. She was worried about getting lost on the way, but she just watched the flow of traffic and eventually made her way to where the pre-tape promos were being done.
"Molly? There you are!" A producer she had yet to meet grabbed her by the arm and quickly led her to gorilla just as Natalya's music kicked in and the chant of "boos" started. "We didn't know where you had run off to."
"I'm sorry. I got lost," Molly replied apologetically.
"Wait here. When your music kicks in, you can head out," he said.
While most WWE Superstars had music exclusive to them, Molly was allowed to use her own since the match would not be televised. The beginning beats to Nicki Minaj's "Superbass" filled the arena and Molly went busting through gorilla right as the lyrics kicked in, skipping her way down to the ring. Natalya waited in the ring, an impatient and annoyed look on her face. As soon as Molly entered the ring, the bell rang and Natalya went after her, eager to prove a point. The first five minutes of the match were a pretty steady back and forth. At one point, Molly had Natalya flat on her back so she went for the moonsault. At the last second, Natalya moved out of the way, leaving Molly to roll around on the canvas clutching her ribs. Natalya then grabbed Molly's legs and put her in to the sharpshooter. Molly fought every step of the way, but Natalya proved to be too strong. Molly vigorously shook her head when the ref asked her if she would give in. Natalya leaned back further in to her submission hold causing Molly to tap. Natalya dropped her legs and rolled Molly over on to her back. She stepped on Molly's stomach as she thrust her hands in to the air in a victorious celebration. Molly rolled out of the ring where she was greeted by the ref who would walk her backstage.
Nattie met her backstage. "Great job out there! That was awesome. The crowd was in to it!"
Molly was out of breath. The struggle to get out of the sharpshooter and the rush of adrenaline from the crowd, sent her endorphins in to a tailspin.
The same producer that was looking everywhere for her earlier came frantically running up to her. "Molly, Mr. Levesque and Mr. Laurinaitis would like to speak with you."
"Now?" Molly whispered through breaths.
"Yes, right now."
Please let me know what you think! I love the honest feedback that I get from you all. I hope you enjoy this story!