"Come on, Alexa! We've been through this before, you can't tense up in the ring!" I say after helping Alexa Bliss up. When a warm up training session was suggested to get me back in the wrestling mindset before the upcoming pay per views, I agreed… but I should've asked beforehand who would be sparring with me in the ring at the performance center.
"Maybe I wouldn't tense up if you weren't so damn rough, Amanda! This isn't the Attitude Era you grew up watching or the Ruthless Aggression Era you caught everyone's attention in!" Alexa says.
I'll admit that I have a reputation for being one of the toughest trainers in NXT as well as one of the few female wrestlers willing to wrestle against the guys in WWE but you've got to be tough, this is a tough business!
Old habits die hard… Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were tough towards me when I started training when I was in high school and things were different 11 years ago. It was just the way I grew up, influenced by the legends who paved the way in this business for the next generation and future generations.
"Look… we've got Wrestlemania coming up soon and the NXT TakeOver: Dallas show before that. If you're going to be called up to one of the main rosters in July, you've got to pick up the pace in these sessions." I say, getting frustrated.
"Fuck you, Amanda! I'd rather be in NXT for a bit longer and train with someone who isn't set in the old ways of the business!" Alexa growls before getting out of the ring and storming off, me kicking the middle ring rope before sitting down in the corner.
"Damn it… why can't I let my old habits go?" I mutter, burying my face in my hands… thanks to doing that, I didn't notice that someone else walked into the ring and crouched down in front of me until I felt his hands lightly rubbing my knees.
"Because some old habits are hard to break, lass." I hear, drop my hands and look up, seeing Finn Balor in front of me. "You're a tough person, Amanda… but you grew up influenced by a different generation of wrestling, like I did. As tough as you are, you also have good intentions and you're trying to instill the kind of wrestling we grew up watching into this generation… they're pushing back too hard and it's bugging ya." He says.
"I ask myself sometimes what happened to the wrestling business… no one was afraid to get rough in that ring 15 years ago, divas were even fighting superstars and winning tough matches. Hell, Lita and Victoria fought in a steel cage match once and it was an awesome match… until Matt Hardy went and slammed the cage door in Lita's face." I say, resting my hands on Finn's.
"Things have changed since those days… it's not the same business anymore. But the past generation isn't going anywhere anytime soon… and the new generation is trying to muscle in and cross the old school style out. I've been in this business for 16 years... and I grew up idolizing the same icons you did, Amanda." Finn says before standing up and pulling me up to my feet.
Third person perspective…
Alexa watched from a distance as Finn and Amanda got out of the ring and hugged, Finn resting one hand on Amanda's lower back as one arm was locked around Amanda's upper back, Amanda's hands resting on Finn's back as well.
The tiny diva grabbed her Samsung Galaxy S6 phone and accessed the camera, taking a picture of the two before walking down the hallway and into the ladies locker room.
"Oh, hey. How'd the warm up session go?" Bayley asked in her usual chipper voice.
"Terrible! Amanda and I are roughly the same body size but she wrestles like it's still the mid 2000s and ended up hurting my back!" Alexa says, pulling her blonde and red ombre style hair in a ponytail.
"Amanda grew up influenced by the icons in wrestling and also grew up with five older brothers, so she had to be tough. Look, she's also trying to get back into that mindset and get her career back on track but she's one of the nicest people outside the ring. Just give her a break, okay?" Bayley says before leaving.
Alexa once again retrieved her phone and glanced at the picture of Finn and Amanda in what she knew was an innocent hug… but to the fans, it would look more like an intimate embrace.
"Oh, I'll give her career a boost." Alexa mutters, uploading the picture to her Twitter account and adding the caption 'Baby faced Amanda and the demon king being awfully cuddly to be just friends. #What's The Real Story?' before posting it and waiting.
It only took a few seconds before fans started replying with posts of their own and Alexa smirked as she read them before exiting out of her account and putting her phone in her duffle bag.
If the other trainers and wrestlers couldn't see past Amanda's exterior, the fans sure as hell would.