She saw them before they saw her and for a brief second she thought about turning around on her heel and walking back the way she came before they would eye her down and then run their mouths at her as usual. She would normally bite back, this bitching back and forward between them had been that way from the beginning. They didn't like her and she most certainly didn't like them. But things were about to change and even though they didn't know it just yet, they would soon enough, just a little later on this evening as a matter of fact, and she might as well man up and keep moving ahead.
"Tyra," Dean's arm shot out in front of her and stopped her in her tracks.
"Move it, Ambrose," she said in a hard tone.
"Get me a water," he demanded.
"Fuck off," she bit back.
"Don't forget, Dean, she's only Hunter's assistant. She thinks she's too good for us," Roman snickered from the crate he was sitting on.
Dean grinned and removed his arm but before she could start walking again, two strong hands grabbed her hips and yanked her back up against his chest while his head dropped so his mouth was right next to her ear.
"Is that it, sunshine? You think you're too good for us?" Seth asked menacing.
She hated when he used that tone with her and unfortunately he used it way too often around her. He knew it worked. He knew he had her on edge every time he did so and he loved every second of it.
"Let go!" She hissed.
"Or what?" He challenged.
"You know what?" She snapped.
She spun around so fast that she actually managed to slip out of his grip, something that surprised her and by the look on his face, surprised him too. Before he could gather himself and reach for her again she quickly took a step backwards.
"No, we don't. Why don't you enlighten us?" Dean said with a hint of a chuckle in his voice.
She didn't need this. She didn't need to tell them. They would find out soon enough like everybody else. A smirk came across her face as she took another step backwards while still eyeing them down. By the looks on all three faces they knew something was up but they couldn't figure out what exactly.
"No, nothing. You'll find out soon enough," she said.
She spun around and continued walking down the hallway, feeling how all three sets of eyes just burned a giant hole into her back. She had managed to rattle them to some degree since none of them shouted anything at her back like usual.
"You ready for this?" Hunter asked as they both stood in the gorilla.
"As ready as I can be," she answered, holding a bit too tightly on the microphone in her hand.
"You got this, Tyra. I picked you because I have faith in you. I know you can do this," he gave her one last pep talk.
"Cue music. And we're live. Tyra, get in there," someone yelled.
Everyone looked in wonder as she walked determined down the ramp and entered the ring. She wasn't an unfamiliar face to anyone. She had been in the ring and on camera many times before but it was always next to Hunter as his assistant. This time she was on her own and everyone wondered why. She stood still in the ring as the music died down and she raised the microphone to her lips.
"I know you're all wondering what I'm doing out here on my own but there's a really good explanation for that."
She held a dramatic pause for 5 seconds before continuing.
"It's no secret WWE has run without a general manager for a month now since Vickie Guerrero quit out of the blue. I've been trying to help Hunter find a new one and believe me, it was just as surprising for me to hear when he first told me as it's gonna be for you to hear right now, but it's me. I'm the new general manager."
She paused again, allowing the audience to react to the news. Some cheered, some booed, but everyone had an opinion on their own. She tried imagining how every superstar in the back was freaking out by this news as well. Hunter had kept the cards close to his body. Only he, Stephanie, Vince and of course Tyra herself had known about this so this was bound to be a shock to several people.
"Now, I am not Vickie. I am not gonna run this place to the ground like she did. I am not gonna abuse my power and deny people a shot if they've earned it, but that's what it's gonna come down to. You gotta earn it. No one will get special treatment from me. I hope you all will work with me. I don't expect everyone to see eye to eye with me from the start, you don't even have to like me for all I care, but I expect you to respect whatever decision I'm gonna make."
She gave a smile to the nearest camera and then exited the ring again. Still as determined as on her way down, she walked back up the ramp, ready to get back out in the gorilla and hopefully hear from Hunter himself that she did good.
Sierra hotel india echo lima delta... Shield
She spun around with anger in her eyes and watched the three men making their way down the stairs. What could they possible want already? She hadn't even been GM officially for ten minutes yet and already they were out here trying to make her life a living hell. As usual. Nothing had changed about that except that they were going into the ring, making it public, instead of keeping it backstage like they always had.
"GM, huh? Who did you have to screw to get that gig?" Seth started.
"Come on, Seth. We all know she's Hunter's little pet," Roman offered the answer in a mocking tone.
"So you screw big daddy Hunter and he finally lets you off your leash to run the show? Is that it?" Seth asked.
"Unlike you, Rollins, I don't have to screw my way around for people to notice me," she said.
"Really? Because you look like you could use some dick for sure," Dean joined in and stuck out his tongue.
They were trying to rile her up. She knew it and she wouldn't give in. She just stood there, stonefaced, as they laughed to each other.
"That's it? That's all you can come up with?" She smirked.
"Oh, I forgot. You already got that redhead," Dean said.
"If you're trying to make this into a dirty little secret, you're too late. The world already knows that Sheamus and I have been seeing each other the past three months. If you knew how to use technology, you'd know both he and I have been posting pictures on Twitter and Instagram of us together," she said.
"But he's not gonna get any special treatment?" Roman asked while smirking.
"Like I said, everyone has to earn their shot here. Even Sheamus," she said.
The three men grinned at each other. She still stood there, just waiting for them to finally cut to the chase. She knew they were out there for a reason and it wasn't solely to mock her although that without a doubt also was part of their plan to begin with.
"We've been raising havoc in this place for so long. We've taken down everyone who stood in our way. We bloody well earned it. So how about giving us some title shots?" Seth asked.
It was a clear challenge, one they expected her to answer right away. She knew they were trying to intimidate her, even hoping for her to fail on the first sign of struggle at her new job, so she did the only thing she could think of. She met the challenge with a smile.
"Sure. Let's have a number 1 contender match for the world heavyweight title. A triple threat starting right now between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Can we get a referee down there?" She twisted a little smile as she saw how the anger appeared on all three of their faces.
"You can't do that!" Dean shouted.
"I just did," she said.
"You can't make us fight each other for a spot. That's not how it works," Roman said.
"But it is, Reigns. I call the shots here. My word goes. So you three either take on each other for the spot you think you earned or you get the hell out of my ring," she said.
With those words she spun around on her heel and walked away. She heard them shouting at her, angry and spiteful as always, but she wouldn't even acknowledge them. She made it all the way to the gorilla before a huge smile crept up on her face.
"They're leaving," someone said.
She turned her eyes to the nearest monitor and saw all three men roll out of the ring with angry faces, jumping over the barricade one by one and retreating back up the stairs. She didn't think her smile could grow any wider but it did. She had won the first official battle against The Shield. She knew the war was far by over, after all it had been going on for months now backstage, but she had put them in place in front of the entire world and it felt so good.
"Good job. I knew you were the right person for it," Hunter brought her back to reality.
"Thank you, Hunter. I'll do my best not to let you down," she said as she shook his hand.
"You never have, you didn't out there two minutes ago and I doubt you ever will," he said.
She walked back to her office. The rest of the evening was already taken care of when it came to matches and she would follow the show on a monitor from her office while getting some other work done. Only five minutes after sitting down at her desk, the door flew open without warning and three angry faces marched right in.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?" She asked.
"Cut the bullshit!" Seth sneered.
"I suggest you watch your tongue from now on, Rollins. After all I am your boss now," she warned him.
"Oh, really?" He snickered. "And what exactly do you think you can do to us?"
"Maybe some time off will do you good," she said casually.
He walked up to stand right in front of the desk and stared down at her sitting on the other side. She calmly looked up at him, refusing to show him what a trembling mess she actually was inside right at that moment.
"Careful now," she warned him again.
She heard the door close and looked past him to see Dean lean his giant body up against it while starting to whistle an innocent tune. Even if anyone wanted to get in there to reach her, no one could as long as he stood there leaning his entire weight up against it. She turned her eyes back to Seth and he suddenly reached over the table, grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her up on her feet. He leaned his head close to hers and stared her down with evil eyes.
"I'd better fucking watch my every move if I was you," he threathened her.
She swallowed as she tried to regain some sort of composure as he held on to her like that.
"I gave you what you wanted. You had your shot out there," she said.
"The Shield doesn't fight each other," Roman's voice boomed from somewhere on her right side.
"You got that, sunshine?" Seth took over again. "One more time you try and pull a stunt like that and we're done being friendly."
"This is you being friendly?" She asked before she could bite her tongue.
"Better not catch us on a bad day," Dean chuckled from the door.
"Right, better not," she said lowly, not knowing what else to say to make them back down.
Seth loosened the grip on her shirt and leaned back out a bit but still held on to her though. She could turn her head to the side again and saw Roman push himself off the wall on her right with a twisted smile on his face. He walked over to Dean who moved away from the door and opened it. Sweet, blissful freedom was all she saw when she looked past Seth and out in the empty hallway.
"You coming, Seth?" Roman asked.
"Yeah," he answered before leaning in again and lowering his voice. "We're clear, sunshine?"
She nodded, suddenly lost for words. He smirked and let go off her, took four steps backwards and then finally turning around and leaving her office with the two other men. She blew out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in and sank back down on the chair. She had to put in a request to get rooms with keys in the doors from now on.