Before anyone gets alarmed at the fact that I am posting another story, I want you to know that this project will be collection of stories about Randy Orton and his relationship with my OC Charlotte McNeal. The reason I am doing this is mostly for me to refine and perfect my writing style, something that I most definitely need to work on before I attempt to finish my other stories. I just chose wrestling because I love it and I always have scenarios popping in my head as I watch. So this will be a way for me to get those out and hopefully get some helpful criticism along the way. I hope you enjoy!
I own absolutely nothing except Charlotte aka Charlie. WWE owns everything else. Randy Orton "owns" his wife and daughter. I guess... that sounds weird.
Elimination Chamber 2011
He had told her not to come out with him and stand at ringside. He told her it was too dangerous and too brutal of a match for her to see up close. She told him that she would continue to do her job no matter what kind of match he was in. She could handle it.
And now here he was, thirty minutes later, staring at her from inside his pod, seething. How had it come to this? Sure Punk had tried his hand at berating her and intimidating her before, but that was to be expected. She usually never batted an eye, only showing that he had shaken her in the privacy of her locker room. Punk had proven time and time again that he was a coward, using his Nexus cronies to help him fight his battles and talking down to those who did not follow his cause. But he was smart and he was vicious. Punk had slowly but surely shown the world that Randy Orton did in fact have one weakness. CM Punk showed that through all of Orton's promises that he would be less forgiving and would show no mercy to anyone, there was one person in the WWE that he would protect. His fiery haired manager, Charlie.
Now everyone backstage knew that there was no romantic relationship between Randy Orton and Charlotte McNeal. He was head over heels for his wife Sam and his baby girl, and Charlie had too much respect and dignity for herself and for Randy. She did, however, have one thing from him that he almost never gave. His trust. Charlie had gained his trust, and on some level, his friendship. Sure their relationship had always been rocky. She was scared out of her mind when Vince McMahon had told her that she would be the manager of the brooding Viper and though she had never met him personally, she wasn't deaf. She had heard about his mood swings and his inability to let others into his small group of friends. The only other person that she knew of that had his friendship was his on-screen enemy, John Cena. So it was only natural that she could hardly speak when they were first introduced, only managing out a small, quiet "Hello". He sneered at her.
Over time, she slowly got used to his erratic moods, making herself scarce when he was angry. There were only a handful of times when he would vent his anger at her, and she would be lying if she said that she hadn't been scared. It wasn't until she finally yelled back that he started to respect her and not treat her as if she were in the way of his career. His surprise after being yelled at had slowly turned into a smirk. "I guess you're not timid as I thought you were." Each week brought Randy more surprises as Charlie slowly started to gain confidence around him and her position in the WWE. A shouting match with Maryse here, pulling Alex Riley off of the side of the ring there. She was getting bolder, and Randy liked that. You wouldn't survive long in this business if you were afraid of confrontation.
But for all of her newfound confidence, Charlie was still just as scared now as she was before. Only this time it was not Randy who she was afraid of.
Charlotte had walked out with Randy like she had countless other times before, walking slightly in front of him so that the camera men could capture Randy's most intimidating look of fearlessness and self-confidence as he slowly made his way towards the demonic structure known as the Elimination Chamber. Charlotte stayed on the outside, watching as Randy entered the structure. She fingered the chains surrounding the Chamber, imagining the type of pain and torture that they could inflict. She made her way over to stand behind the pod that Randy was locked in, watching him as he surveyed the Chamber. R-Truth and John Cena came out next, pumping up the crowd with their signature entrances and unique styles. Randy turned his head, looking down at her. "If any of this happens to spill out of the ring, get out of here". Charlotte nodded, signaling that she would. They waited a beat before the opening riff of "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engaged blasted through the arena, followed by the nearly deafening boos of the crowd. CM Punk made his way out of the curtains, kneeling at the top of the stage before making his slow descent down the ramp. Randy only had eyes for the man that had been the bane of his existence for the past few months, but Charlotte was on the look out for the other members of the Nexus, remembering all of the moments in the past when they had struck out of nowhere. Not seeing any other members in sight, she turned her attention back to the men inside the Chamber. Randy was still staring at Punk, waiting for him as he took his time walking down the ramp. R-Truth was bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to shake out the nerves from being inside the hellish structure. Cena seemed to be trying to focus and get himself into the right mentality in order to compete, but as Charlotte looked closer, she saw a look of … confusion? And outrage? Charlotte looked in the direction that Cena's eyes were trained towards and immediately saw the cause of his concern.
The three remaining members of Nexus had appeared.
Charlotte watched as Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, and Mason Ryan made their way towards the ring from different parts of the crowd. Randy whirled around in his cage after hearing the crowds' jeers grow louder and Charlotte's frantic "Randy!" She watched with wide eyes as Mason Ryan hopped over the barricade nearest to her, before locking eyes with him. "Get her!" was heard over the crowd as Punk barked out his orders, spurring the large man into action. Charlotte didn't think twice as she turned away from Ryan and sprinted towards the ramp, leaving her signature blue peep-toed pumps behind her. The Nexus had all made their way to the outside of the ring, blocking any means of escape through the crowd. She attempted to jump around Punk, who was standing next to the barricades nearest to the ramp, by planting one foot on the steps leading up to the ring and launching herself around him. Her hopes of escaping were dashed as the muscular arms of David Otunga caught her in mid-flight. She lashed out, a mess of flailing elbows and legs, trying to struggle out of his grasp. She heard a satisfying curse as a foot connected with a stomach and a yell of surprise as an elbow connected with a face. She was forcefully passed off to Punk who successfully pinned her arms to her sides, though she still continued to kick. Ryan and Otunga forced the referees out of the way as Punk and McGillicutty attempted to drag her into the Chamber. The other men could only watch as the Nexus forced her into the last remaining pod, closely followed by CM Punk. The three Nexus members quickly left the chamber, smirking at the occupants of the pods. Charlotte noted with grim satisfaction that Mason Ryan was sporting a new bruise under his left eye. R-Truth and Cena stared in disbelief at the cruel act that had just unfolded before them, a look of shock evident on R-Truth's features while disgust registered on Cena's handsome face. Orton was yelling obscenities and trying to claw his way out of the pod. "You let her go you sick son of a bitch! She's not apart of this!"
Charlotte attempted to flatten herself against the chain-link wall of the Chamber, trying not to touch the man who currently occupied the pod with her. Punk smirked at Randy, reaching behind him and grabbing Charlotte by the arm. He yanked her in front of him, pulling her flesh against his torso, a tattooed arm holding her tightly into place. Red scratches marred her arm from where they were dragged against the chain-link, a torn piece of material from her dark purple button up blouse caught in the links.
"She is apart of this Randal, and you have no one to blame but yourself. You displayed your weakness to the world and I am going to use this woman against you!" Charlotte shivered as she felt his words sink into her skin.
Randy Orton was seething.
The final two men finally made their way down the ramp. King Sheamus didn't spare Charlotte a second glance as he made his way into the Chamber. John Morrison gave her a look of concern as he passed Punk's pod, but she shook her head, silently telling him to focus on the task at hand, not her. The referee signaled for the bell and the two men advanced on each other, their old rivalry suddenly renewed. Only half of Charlotte's attention was on the match, the other half worrying about what Randy would do once he was released from his temporary prison. At this point, she didn't care how badly he hurt Punk like she would have cared when she first started as his manager. The whole point of her managing him was to keep him from putting any more Superstars on the shelf. No, now she was worried about his mentality. All of the mental preparation for this match was shattered. Randy would only run on his anger, and that left him open to making a mistake that could cost him the match and his chance to headline Wrestlemania. She tried not to look at him, tried not to show him how scared she really was, hoping that he couldn't hear her heart beating as it tried to kick its way out of her chest. That would only fuel his anger. Punk, much to her dismay, had other plans.
Punk tightened his grip around her stomach as he used his free hand to grab her chin, forcing her to look at Randy. "Look at him," he whispered in her ear, his hot breath making her skin crawl. "That right there is the look of a mentally disturbed man. Do you know who caused that? You did. You were supposed to keep him from harming anyone else, and now one of my guys is sitting at home, wondering if he will ever be able to step back into the ring. You failed. Hell, you even helped him." Charlotte could clearly hear the mockery in his voice but she knew that he was right. She practically cheered Randy on as he kicked Husky Harris in the skull. The guy was a creep and she was sick of the Nexus ruining Randy's chances of regaining the WWE Championship. But in doing so, she had allowed Randy to revisit the monster that was inside of him, thirsting for blood and the next victim to eliminate. She stared at Randy, watching his usually handsome features contort into a look of pure rage. That monster was bursting to get out.
Randy's icy blue eyes grew dark with hatred as he stared at the image before him. Punk was whispering in her ear, the noise of the crowd and the two men battling in the ring drowning out the sound of his voice. He watched as Charlotte's jaw clenched, a sure sign that she was trying to keep her anger in check. He saw the fear swim through her dark blue irises. He always told her that showing emotion was a weakness. She always told hin that it showed that you were human. Now the only emotion he showed was rage and frustration. He was going to tear CM Punk apart.
After a few more agonizingly long minutes, the countdown for the next Superstar to enter the Elimination Chamber began. Charlotte held her breath, silently praying that Punk would be the first man out so that she would finally be able to get away from him. She counted down the last 10 seconds along with the capacity crowd in her head, waiting for the buzzer. The loud noise echoed throughout the arena, silencing most of the noise from the crowd. The air was still as the first pod opened.
The Viper was let out.
Randy shot a smug smirk towards Punk, clearly satisfied that he was out before the Strait-Edge Superstar. Now all he had to do was bide his time and the second Punk was out, he would attack. Charlotte glanced up to see the dark scowl across Punk's face, feeling him fidget with anticipation. His patience was running low. He wanted to beat Randy Orton so savagely that there was no chance of him going to Wrestlemania, or continuing his career. Charlotte watched as the three men in the ring traded blow after blow. She could see Randy struggling as he tried to reign in his anger, but every hit that he made seemed to be meant for Punk. He punched harder, slammed with more impact, slithered around the ring at an alarmingly fast pace. He focused his anger towards his two opponents, barely registering the next countdown or the buzzer that followed it.
Again Charlotte and the crowd waited with bated breath for the second pod to open and release the man inside. From the corner of her eye she saw the door to the pod she was in begin to open. Punk shoved her back against the chain-link wall as he moved towards the door. But it was stuck. Punk tried to pry it open, forcing himself between the sliding glass, only to succeed in getting himself stuck. Charlotte called out to Randy, bringing his attention to the helpless man before her. Randy's head snapped into her direction, along with Punk's. Randy smirked, an air of triumph surrounding him when he realized that his prey was caught. Punk looked at her, horrified that she had called Randy's attention to the fact that he couldn't escape. His attempts to remove himself from the pod doubled, but proved to be futile as the Viper was already upon him, landing punches on every available surface of the Nexus leader. Orton then grabbed Punk by his arms, dragging him out of the pod. Punk grimaced in pain as the edge of the doors ripped at the skin of his leg, leaving three bleeding cuts along his upper leg. He stumbled to his feet, only to be given a thunderous RKO on the steel floor, the impact shaking the humongous structure. Randy wasted no time going for the pin, making the first elimination of the night.
Charlotte let out a shout of joy as the referee counted the one-two-three, signaling to the announcer that CM Punk was eliminated. Randy stood over the fallen man, partially upset with the fact that he had put Punk away so quickly. But this was not the time to exact revenge, not when there were still four other men to go through. He would exact his revenge the next night on RAW. Charlotte's joy and Randy's musings were cut short, however, by the distinctive double beeps and flickering lights that had plagued Monday Night RAW for the past eight months. The Anonymous General Manager had sent an email.
All movement in the ring stopped as Michael Cole rose from his seat behind the commentary table, announcing with flourish that the General Manager had something to say. Charlotte let out a huff of annoyance as Cole took his time, drawing out each word of "And I quote" before reading the email to the crowd. Her eyes grew wide with disbelief as Cole went on to announce that CM Punk would be allowed to stay in the match as it was viewed as unfair that he was never able to properly begin the match. Punk smirked up at Randy, pushing himself back towards his pod. He stumbled back in once the referees had pried open the sliding door, nearly crushing Charlotte against the opposite side. With a growl of frustration, Randy turned back to Morrison and Sheamus, attacking both men with renewed fervor. Charlotte watched the match with impatience as Cena, followed by R-Truth, was let out of their pods. She jumped at the sound of Sheamus' boot colliding with R-Truths face, eliminating the rapping Superstar. Randy continued to trade blows with his opponents, going toe to toe with his oldest enemy, John Cena, as Sheamus and Morrison pummeled each other.
Finally, the last countdown began. Punk readied himself to exit the pod, locking eyes with the Viper as the buzzer sounded. That was where Orton's made his anger-fueled mistake. With his attention fixed on Punk, he didn't see Sheamus as the pale man launched himself off of the ropes until it was too late. With a strangled cry, Charlotte watched as Randy's face was met with a Brogue Kick, leaving his body lifeless on the mat. Punk, the always watching vulture of a man, swooped in, pulling Randy onto his shoulders and delivering a sharp GTS to his temple. Punk found Charlotte's eyes as he made the pin. Randy Orton was eliminated. Randy Orton was not main-eventing Wrestlemania. Randy Orton was once again stopped from regaining the WWE Championship by CM Punk and the Nexus.
The referees were made their way to Orton as he was coming to, telling him that he had to leave the Chamber. He pushed them off as he slowly made his way to his feet. As soon as Charlotte thought she had a safe shot, she flew out of the pod, landing at Randy's side. She led him out of the cage as he held a hand to his forehead, applying pressure to where Punk's knee met his head. Charlotte was silent as they made their way up the ramp, glancing back only once to see Punk watching their retreating forms.
"That son of a bitch is going to pay," Randy ground out through clenched teeth.
Randy Orton was seething.
Reviews and constructive criticism welcome.