Author's notes:
Eek, I've actually written a wrestling fanfic. Oh well, there's a first time for everything I suppose.
Anyway, standard disclaimers apply. All characters (except one!) belong to World Wrestling Entertainment and this is purely a work of fiction for a bit of fun.
I write about the onscreen characters rather than the actual people who bring them to life, so I prefer to avoid resemblance to the real individuals concerned in terms of names, etc. No offence is intended to any party whose character is portrayed herein.
I use British English, so if you're American, there will be some linguistic differences.
Rated T for now, to possibly rise later.
Reviews, be they one word or a thesis, are all cherished. Virtual cupcakes if you can figure out the song reference in the title!
Cruel Device
Chapter 1
It was Monday night in the Nexus dressing room backstage at Raw.
David Otunga was fiddling with his Blackberry. Most of the group swore it was surgically attached to his hand, as he spent the majority of his day keeping up with his supposedly A-list social life.
Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel were watching the show unfold on the monitor, the self-proclaimed "One Man Rock Band" keeping up a running commentary, with his South African friend occasionally rolling his eyes in despair.
Michael Tarver and Wade Barrett, the group's leader and strategic mastermind sat on plastic chairs in the corner of the room, mulling over strategy. The reason for this tactical planning was that Nexus had a dilemma. They had debuted as the most impressive and dominant force to hit the WWE in years, but now, only a few months in to their time in the company, they had been losing members at an alarming rate. Bryan and Young had both been kicked out of the group, lacking the ruthless attitude Wade felt necessary. Skip Sheffield was out and likely to stay out for some time. Wade worried that their decline in numbers would stall their momentum completely.
So the Nexus were looking around for new blood and not just any wrestler would do.
Much of the group's strength derived from their unity, living up to their theme of "We Are One". While they had not always agreed, their embarrassing experiences on NXT had bonded them together through a shared hatred of the WWE hierarchy. The variety of styles, skills and experiences that had made them a good range of competitors on the rookie show worked in their favour now, with strengths overlapping and weaknesses covered.
As such, scouting around for new talent was difficult. Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty, who had recently finished NXT Season 2, were likely prospects. As second generation wrestlers in particular, they had expected better treatment from the companies they had grown up around and had shown themselves sympathetic to the Nexus' ideals. Beyond that, however, the group were having difficulty filling the eighth place in their ranks, as Michael and Wade's increasing frustration showed.
Their deliberations were interrupted as, from the corner of the room, Heath Slater piped up.
"What about her?"
Wade eyed the redhead with mild scorn "I'm sorry, I must have misheard, I thought you said "her", as in a female" he said, resenting the no doubt puerile interruption to what he saw as an important matter.
"Well, why not? It's an entire division we've stayed away from so far. Besides, picking on the girls a bit, would surely get Cena's attention…"
Despite his often flippant nature, Heath was clever enough to know how to push his leader's buttons. Cena had been the focus of much Nexus attention from their formation, as Wade felt that the best way to have a lasting impact on the company was to go up against the man who was the very symbol of the WWE.
"Yes, but there's another reason we've stayed away from them. They're eye candy, not fighters"
"And we don't need eye candy when we've got Gabriel!"
Justin, used to such cracks at his carefully-maintained appearance, merely struck his best modelling pose and laughed.
"No seriously, check her out. This chick can actually work."
With a sigh, Wade rose and moved towards the monitor, seeing that this line of conversation wasn't going to evaporate on its own.
"Fine, who is she?"
"She's new, one of the girls from the new series of NXT" Heath responded, delighted that his suggestion was actually provoking discussion.
"But that's still going on, isn't it" Tarver interjected.
"Yes, she was the first one eliminated"
"First out with only divas to compete against? Doesn't sound like she's exactly worth our time Slater" Wade waved his hand dismissively.
"Actually, she eliminated herself."
"What?"
"She wouldn't go along with any of the stuff they put on to get guys watching, so they disqualified her from the whole competition. One of the challenges was a dance contest - she grabbed Striker and made him tango with her, while the others were doing stripper moves. Then she just downright refused to go along with the kissing contest. I mean, she'd probably have changed her mind if I were the target! Nobody can turn down the Ginger Love Machine!"
Tarver interrupted, "Whatever you say Slater, but bad attitude aside, can she fight?"
"Oh definitely, she was the only one halfway to being decent on the show. She's smaller than one of us obviously which would limit her a bit, but she has a good style, can handle herself against any other chick, and she gets results, no matter what. Clever too. She doesn't seem to get on too well with the divas. Probably because she can string a sentence together!"
David Otunga, sensing that something worth his notice might be occurring, took the momentous step of pocketing his phone and joining the conversation, asking Heath "Dude, how do you know all this?"
"Well I've been watching."
"Watching the diva version of NXT?" Wade's question was followed by an outbreak of snickering amongst the black and yellow shirted group.
"For….research, yes! Research!"
Justin shook his head. "Trust Heath to be the only one bothering to notice the divas!"
"Excuse me if I'm missing the obvious here, but if she got thrown off NXT, she surely shouldn't be competing on Raw" Wade pointed out, cutting through the banter.
"Well that's where the fun part was. She showed up on Raw, demanding a contract. Obviously, the GM said no dice. She has this sweet submission finisher, which she stuck on Michael Cole and threatened to break him in half unless she got a contract. The GM must have been worried about losing his mouthpiece…either that or that Cole would squeal about who he is if she ramped up the pressure, and gave her what she wanted. And she's been beating Divas senseless for the last couple of weeks"
Tarver voiced the sentiments of the entire group, commenting "…seriously Slater, you know far too much about the women around here."
By this point, the Nexus had crowded around the small monitor in the corner of the room, watching the divas match. Sure enough, the prospect Heath had pointed out was in the process of laying waste to the other woman in the ring, ruthlessly capitalising on the many mistakes of a poorly-trained opponent. She executed complex moves cleanly and crisply, showing a technical style that incorporated the occasional highflying manoeuvre and a nasty streak a mile wide.
Wade was surprised at what he saw. Maybe this suggestion of Slater's wasn't such a crazy idea after all? Gaining a presence in the women's division would bring an added dimension to the group and possibly regain some of their momentum by putting the rest of the roster on notice. The diva's championship might also be an easy way to get some gold quickly, without having to worry about interference in Wade's upcoming match against Cena. A disdain for the WWE system, a bad attitude, capable in the ring, and no hang-ups about being liked by the locker-room…yes, there may be some potential there.
Watching the match, the Englishman's confident smirk was soon back in evidence. Heath grinned, seeing that he had managed to persuade his leader. "Did I mention she's British?" he prompted.
"Why didn't you say so before? Very well then men, let's have a little talk with this Ivy Venom!"
Hope you enjoyed. I've started writing part 2, but as yet, I've no idea about any sort of update schedule. Reviews would be greatly appreciated if you could spare the time.