Chapter 1 - Wild Horses
Smackdown was officially live.
Shane McMahon had gone through the WWE main roster and the NXT roster and handpicked every wrestler he thought would make a difference on Smackdown.
AJ Styles was one of the names he picked. AJ's past career path had preceded him. He Debuted in the Independent circuit in 1998. He was just barely 21. He'd moved onto TNA in 2002 for 11 years, he had sporadic matches in Ring of Honor between 2002-2006; before he went to New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2014.
He'd made a complete career out of professional wrestling. He had numerous championship reigns in his 18 year career. And then WWE came calling. It honestly didn't take long for him to read through what Vince McMahon was offering and sign on the dotted line.
He made his debut at the Royal Rumble and his career with WWE skyrocketed after that...not that anyone had any doubt in their minds that it wouldn't. He was AJ Styles; they didn't call him the phenomenal one for nothing. His long time professional wrestling career was preeminent.
Tonight was nothing different. It was weird for him to not have gone to Raw the night before. Everything changed in his schedule; technically people disappeared from his schedule that he wouldn't be seeing until the Battleground PPV. He pulled the rolling suitcase behind him into the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. Last Tuesday was the draft and a half ass show with all the superstars on it. Tonight was their first official live Smackdown.
AJ had made his way through the fans. He still couldn't believe the welcome he'd gotten from the WWE fans. It seems they had waited for him to get to WWE just as long as he had. He found his locker room; he would be sharing with Dean Ambrose who was the complete opposite of his Lunatic Fringe character and Baron Corbin who he hadn't really worked with all that much but had heard through the grape vine he was EXACTLY like his character.
AJ stopped in his tracks when he looked down and saw a pair of black peep toe three inch heels. They wouldn't have a Diva sharing their locker room...would they?
Shaking off that thought he set belongs on the bench before he readjusted his baseball hat; fixing it so the brim was straight. He'd seen other guys in the company who would tilt it to the side and no matter how he tried that just didn't work for him. He either wore it straight or backwards. He stepped out into the hallway; it was time to explore the arena. Exploring the arenas gave him a chance to unwind from the flight or drive and it got him relaxed.
He had recently been through a messy divorce with his wife of 20 years. They married right after high school graduation and had 4 beautiful kids out of it; 3 boys and one girl. Unfortunately all the touring and traveling had taken its toll on their marriage. One day AJ came home and the first words out of his wife's mouth were 'we have to talk' instead of 'I missed you' and they both knew it was over. Here he was at the age of 39 divorced and single again. He hadn't truly felt this alone in a LONG time.
AJ walked through the black curtained off gorilla pit and could hear cussing and laughing. As he walked out on the already assembled platform he looked down the ramp towards the already assembled ring and could see a guy and girl in the ring. As he moved closer he could tell the guy was Dean Ambrose but he didn't recognize the girl. She was short...She was REAL short probably 5'7, she had waist length dirty blonde hair with maybe some kind of auburn highlights. AJ's pale blue eyes watched as she spun around; aqua eyes twinkled as she dropped Dean Ambrose on his ass in an arm bar.
"OUCH! DOMI YOUR BREAKING MY GOD DAMN ELBOW!" Dean yelled.
Dominique laughed. "Oh shut up you pussy!"
"OH" Dean growled out when she smacked the heel of her right foot into his chest. "Don't play dirty Domi!"
"Oh the great WWE Champion Dean Ambrose can't take getting his ass kicked by a girl huh!" Domi teased as she moved her hips and hyper extended his elbow.
"Dominique I swear to God!" Dean warned.
"Who do you think you are talking to Mr. Ambrose?" Dominique asked with a smarmy smirk on her face.
"A dead girl if I get my hands on her." Dean growled.
AJ cleared his throat. "You know Dean, I've never seen any guys get their ass handed to them by a 5'7" woman before; Divas yes...man no." He couldn't help chuckling out loud as Dean shifted his position in the ring to look up above him to see where the voice was coming from.
"Styles is that you - you scruffy lookin bastard." Dean chuckled.
AJ chuckled as he nodded. "Yes sir Mr. Champion sir."
Dean sighed heavily as he tapped Dominique on the foot three times. "I only did that for you." He watched as she untangled her legs from his arm as she rolled backwards and up into a standing position before she grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet.
AJ watched as the short barefoot beauty followed the much taller man through the ropes as they each hopped off the apron and onto the mat outside on the ring floor. He exchanged handshakes with Dean. "Looked like she was giving the Champ a run for his money."
Dominique smiled softly. "Why thank you Mr. Styles. I'll take that as a compliment."
Dean chuckled. "That - That was just me taking it easy on my sister. I don't think Shane wants her limping around backstage." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer before kissing the crown of her head.
She hugged him around his torso before she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I gotta go, I have a board meeting Shane wants me present at." She looked around for a few minutes. "Have you seen my shoes?"
"Black peep toe heels?" AJ asked. When she nodded. "Dressing room." Now that she was vertical he remembered seeing her around the back area. She was usually walking side by side with Shane McMahon.
"Oh My Gosh! Thank You so much!" Dominique exclaimed before she rushed over and kissed AJ's cheek and took off like her black skinny jean backside was on fire.
Dean chuckled at the look on AJ's face. "She's excitable. You probably just saved her a good 20 minutes. Every time I turn around that girl is losing her shoes or her phone." Dean clapped AJ on the back. "C'mon man let's go check out catering. She made me wake up the tape worm living in my small intestines."
Once in catering AJ sat beside the man with the same work ethic reputation he had. Dean Ambrose's professional wrestling career was just as synonymous as AJ's. They were getting food in their system as they waited the couple of hours before Smackdown would start. AJ swallowed the bite in his mouth before he took a sip of his water.
"So what does your sister do here exactly?" AJ asked curiously. He had never put two and two together as them being siblings, but WWE was famous for having family members from the same family in their business.
Dean took a couple of drinks of his water. "She used to be the Shield's assistant before we broke up. Shane McMahon decided to come back privately long before he made it public and she's been his assistant for the last year and a half. Normally she travels with me, but there's been a few times she had to go with him."
"So why Smackdown? I know most of the veteran's in the company got to somewhat pick where they wanted to go for the draft. I'm not a vet with WWE, but Shane and Stephanie still gave me the option of choosing." AJ stated.
Dean cleared his throat. "When Shane decided to overhaul Smackdown and give Stephanie Raw; I was the first one he came to and asked if I wanted to go to Smackdown. I told him I'd go wherever he needed me and wherever my sister was. We spent too much time apart while I was in the Indy's and I'm trying to make up for lost time with her." Dean explained.
They continued eating in a comfortable silence. Dean put his fork down. "How are you doing...ya know - since the divorce?" He questioned. He didn't want to seem nosey but AJ's divorce had been extremely public thanks in part to the nosey WWE fan girls, who combed every inch of the internet and media to get every scrap and shred of information they could. He felt bad for the guy; something so private about his life away from the company being so open and out in the public.
It sucked.
And sometimes it sucked being in the WWE. The WWE had the most loyal fans but sometimes you couldn't even take a shit without someone trying to put it on social media. Dean thanked God every day that he wasn't into social media. His cell phone was for text messages and phone calls and the occasional use of the GPS application.
"I'm a - I'm doing okay. It feels weird to be single again after 20 years and four kids. It's harder on the kids than anything, but my days off are spent with them, reassuring them that they are not losing either of their parents and that I still love them with all my heart even if I'm no longer with their mother. They have to understand I love Wendy because we had 20 great years and she made me a father four times, but we aren't in love with each other and that's the part they really don't get; how people fall out of love." AJ explained.
Dean nodded. "Bro all you can do is keep telling them over and over you love them. Dominique and I only had each other. Counting on a dad who was in prison and a mom who decided she was still 17 wasn't really an option. Through the binge drinking and her pills and sex parties - we only ever had each other. I had to remind her constantly that I loved her and she had to do the same to me. We never really fought because we didn't like being apart from each other. We were definitely not normal siblings. Other guys with little sisters would take their dolls or push them around. I couldn't I would literally take care of Dominique when our mom was passed out with her date. I'm seriously surprised both of us are as level headed as we turned out; considering what we went through." Dean laid it all out in the open. He had never been one to be shy about his rocky past.
AJ nodded. Dean opening up to him about his past was a valiant gesture. One that not many human beings showed their true side. "Thanks man."
Dean nodded. "You should really be talking to Domi about this stuff. She's always got advice and shit. She's definitely the smarter of the two of us." Dean suggested as the two finished up eating.
An hour before Smackdown all the Superstars and Diva's chosen for the Smackdown side were all gathered in the big board room. AJ was once again sitting next to Dean as they chuckled back and forth. They both looked up as Shane walked in with Dominique by his side.
Dominique took a seat on a stool at the head of the board room table as she looked over and saw AJ and her brother. She threw a smile and a wink their way as she looked down at her blackberry before her aqua eyes scanned the room. She felt herself get queasy. She didn't know he was back. Shane had told her he wouldn't be returning until after his match at SummerSlam, but apparently things changed. She watched as he walked into the room all cocky and full of himself as he plopped down into one of the chairs across from her brother.
Her aqua eyes narrowed as he raised his hand to his mouth and blew her a kiss; not even missing a beat she flipped him the bird before Shane turned to her and asked her a question. Thankful her boss missed that slightly childish display.
AJ's pale blue eyes widened. "Whoa! What is going on with Orton and your sister?"
Dean chuckled hard; that was his sisters spitfire attitude coming to the surface. "Dominique got pulled into Orton's line of bullshit about a year ago; he was a pompous ass and a dick to her and was dating her on the road and his new wife Kim off the road - before they got married. Domi found out about his lies. He broke her heart and she dislocated his shoulder. Though he will tell everyone it happened during a match; it's not the truth. With as bad as he hurt her; he's lucky I didn't get my hands on him." Dean kept his voice low since the Viper was sitting across from him.
AJ shook his head. Why would someone do that to another human being?
Shane cleared his throat as he stood in front of everyone. "I wanted to say congratulations to Dean on keeping his Championship at Battleground over this past weekend. Your sister assures me if you start to lag she'll kick you in the ass to keep you up to par." Shane joked with a chuckle.
"Yea you can count on her Mr. McMahon." Dean chortled. It brought a laugh out from everyone in the board room.
"I also want to congratulate all of you for making the Smackdown Live cut. I think with the group of people I have chosen we are going to change the way sports entertainment is looked at. We are going to make it bigger, we are going to make it better and we are going to have fun doing it. You all have been under Stephanie and Paul's thumb for far too long and many of you have not been able to showcase your true talents. They are the reason you got into this business and made names for yourselves. Times are changing and so is the professional wrestling business. Tonight is the first official Smackdown Live show; let's be safe and let's go out there and kick a little ass!" Shane exclaimed.
Shane could definitely bring the masses to their feet with his personal speeches. They spoke to people in ways no one could. By the end all the Superstars and Diva's were on their feet clapping. They knew the bosses son was here to change their lives for the better and Shane McMahon rarely let anyone down.
As the board room emptied Dominique stepped up next to her brother and AJ as Dean looked down at her. "I know you know I'm facing Bray Wyatt tonight; so say whatever it is you want to say and get your ass going before Shane decides to get a different assistant." Dean demanded.
Dominique scoffed. "Please that man wouldn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt without me." She laughed. "You know my only request right?" She watched as he rolled his eyes and nodded. "All I ask is you be safe."
Dean chuckled as he put his hand behind her head and brought it forward to kiss her forehead. "I'll stay safe as long as you keep wanting to run with the wild horses."
"Always."
AJ watched as Dominique walked away. Being on the Smackdown brand was going to be interesting and couldn't wait to see what else being on team blue was going to bring his way.
