Flashback: March 2015

Shannon heard about an independent show happening at The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia, which was about fifteen minutes away from her University of Pennsylvania campus. She was glad she could catch one close as she would really hate driving nearly five hours to Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania was a large and very wide state. Commuting back and forth on weekends from Philadelphia to her hometown of Baltimore wasn't as big of a deal as navigating from various towns in PA themselves. In fact, she was in her spring semester of her final year of college, and had been secretly training back home at MCW for a few evenings a week after class. She'd leave Philly around 4:00 PM two afternoons a week to attend the 6:00 PM sessions, and make it back to town a little after 9:OO PM, after wrapping up two hours of training around 8:OO PM. Her parents didn't know about it of course, but if she was a good student, and chose to combine income earned from work-study and her parents' allowance on training, it wasn't exactly their business. Right?

Pamela Rose Martinez, who competed on the independent scene as Bayley, was a star on the rise. Shannon knew Martinez was a West Coast girl, California specifically. Although Shannon hadn't made any trips West, thanks to the internet, knew she was trained by Big Time Wrestling, a promotion in Northern California. Like Shannon, Martinez considered the promotion she competed for and was trained by her "home promotion" despite making her way around the country working events with other companies. Bayley appeared at this show and Shannon didn't want to miss it.

Sometimes independent shows would do open meet and greet sessions at ring side two hours before bell time. Wrestlers would come out and interact with fans free of charge, unless they wanted some authentic merchandise signed or official pictures from the promotion taken, which would require a small fee. This show did not do a meet and greet before, but after the show, which the ring announcer informed the crowd before the opening match. About fifteen minutes after the last match ended, a few of the wrestlers came out in street clothes to interact with the audience. Bayley followed them, only she was still in ring gear. Shannon wasn't sure if the booker didn't allow her time to shower, or if she was called by them to help out with the rest of the card following her own match.

"Macho Man Mark?" asked Shannon who got Bayley's attention when she made her way to Shannon's section of the front row after hugging a little girl. "The fringe," she added, pointing at Bayley's gear.

"Huh, what? Oh yeah. Yep. One of my favs," Bayley responded to Shannon nodding. "The fringe. The colors. The cape. Savage was an icon."

"Absolutely! I agree. I was two years old when I watched my first match, and it was with The Macho King," said Shannon, who reached her hand out for Bayley to shake it. "That reverse 'rana from the top rope was..." Shannon saw another small child to her right and despite not knowing where their parent was at the present moment, covered their ears with both of her hands. She continued, "was badass. It's not the first time I've seen a reverse hurricarana. But the first I've seen one from the top rope by a woman. Fantastic."

"Hahaha, thanks um, what's your name again?" Bayley didn't realize she never asked what Shannon's name was, but after doing so many meet and greets, it became instinctive to have rapid conversations with fans, asking their name before some quick small talk. She presumed she already did, and just forgot.

"It's Shannon," she replied, reaching her hand out again, this time without needing to censor a child, and Bayley shook it smiling.

"Right. Well Shannon, I have to continue to the other side of the theatre. Maybe I'll see you around," Bayley said with a half-smile. She wasn't trying to be misleading, condescending, or phony. She had no idea if she'd ever see Shannon again, and really did need to get to the other side of the room as people were waiting for their opportunity to interact with her.

As Bayley turned to leave, she was pulled back by Shannon, who never released her grip from the handshake.

"We will," Shannon remarked, smiling back. "A lot sooner than you think." Shannon was training and had plans to continue to do so full time in a few months after graduating. She had no idea where Bayley would be in the next few months. She could return to the West and sign with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, another popular California promotion. She could join Shine Wrestling in Florida, its Midwest sister promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in Chicago, or even Northeast to Shannon's hometown for Ring of Honor. Regardless of where Bayley ended up, Shannon was determined to meet Bayley again. She'd just prefer the second time to be in the ring.

"Cool," was all Bayley said as Shannon released her grip and allowed her to continue mingling with the crowd.

A week later was Wrestlemania weekend, which goes without saying, one of Shannon's favorite weekends of the year. Wrestlemania 31 took place at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara California, home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. Shannon never attended a Wrestlemania live. She made a promise to herself as a little girl that the first Wrestlemania she'd attend wouldn't be as a fan, but as a performer. While the desire to maintain that promise presented moments of temptation, she remained firm to her decision. This time around, not solely because she still wanted to be on the card of her first Wrestlemania, but because in the past five years, Wrestlemania weekend unofficially turned into wrestling weekend. Various promotions, both independent and televised, would all map out at the end of the year the next year's future schedule with the March or April events organized in the host city of Wrestlemania. If there was one thing Shannon was selfish about, it was wrestling. She couldn't see herself attending Wrestlemania, without wanting to see ROH's Supercard of Honor, without wanting to see PWG's show, and any other in the area. Simply put, there was just too much shit to see, but to Shannon that was a good thing. It was encouraging to her that there were plenty of other wrestlers still loving what they were doing without being employed by the richest, biggest, and most profitable company. The sport needed that passion out of the independents to survive and feed the WWE giant as they had been for the past decade.

So after watching Wrestlemania from her apartment in Philly, she tuned in to the USA Network to watch Monday Night Raw. Plenty of people complained that three hour Raws were too long, boring, and were only tolerable for specials such as The Slammy Awards, scores of Raw anniversaries, or even the King of The Ring tournament that Vince McMahon decided no longer needed its own Pay Per View. There was no debate that the people's complaints for these three hours would cease as the Raw after Wrestlemania-regardless of the city it was in-was usually a hot show with a hot crowd. The Raw after Wrestlemania wasn't just a time to relish and reflect on the events of the night before, but also the show that kicked off new angles for storylines. This was one of the things Shannon looked forward to.

Last night, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, an opportunity to a WWE World Heavyweight Title match any time or place of his choosing. Personally, Shannon thought the gimmick long outlived its usefulness, as it was pretty automatic that heels or tweeners won the match; and whenever faces rarely won the briefcase and were unsuccessful, they won the match, but not the championship, on some lame disqualification call. Shannon's allegiance as a fan was towards heels, but she could dismiss her bias to understand fans' frustration with heels more often than not, winning both the briefcase and the championship.

On the other hand, if there was one scenario that the company hadn't tried with the briefcase, it was a successful cash-in at a Wrestlemania. It was predictable by year five of the briefcase's existence to Shannon, that someone would successfully cash-in at Wrestlemania. She thought for certain Dolph Ziggler would get that honor at Wrestlemania 29 in 2013; in addition to having great, quality matches in 2011 and 2012, he had a ton of momentum from defeating the face of the company, John Cena, at the 2012 TLC Pay Per View to retain his Money in the Bank briefcase. Despite being incredibly over, Creative decided to pull the trigger the next night on Raw. To their credit, Ziggler received a huge pop after winning the title, but Shannon saw no reason against doing it the night before at Wrestlemania. Interrupting the Cena-Rock match for the WWE Title-which was only supposed to be "once in a lifetime" anyway-would have been a much larger and memorable moment than merely defeating Alberto Del Rio for the less prestigious World Heavyweight Championship as he did on Raw. In Shannon's view, even the people who weren't Ziggler marks would've appreciated being saved from the boredom of Cena-Rock II. Talk about stealing someone's thunder.

Still, she was happy for Seth. She remembered when he competed in Ring of Honor and Chikara as Tyler Black. He worked hard and deserved it. She had mixed feelings about a different new champion on Raw.

"Oh my God," JBL mumbled, stretching out the first word.

"Ronda Rousey," Cole announced. "She's a black belt in Judo and an Olympic Bronze medalist." Ronda walked slowly down the entrance ramp as Nikki was shown looking a lot less sure of herself, speaking to referee Charles Robinson, who was ready to call the match.

"Ronda's a referee," Booker T reminded everyone. "Referees just can't come out here and wrestle if they feel like it, black belt or not. I don't think this thing is going to happen guys."

I like the fact that this crowd is behind her. She doesn't look like the rest of the women in the locker room. Sure, she's not 5'10, 200 pounds with a bodybuilding background like Chyna, but with Beth Phoenix and Victoria not around, she's a natural fit for the strong woman role on the roster. Paige may have to come up with a new nickname because "The Anti-Diva" is more fitting for Rousey than her. But wait a minute. Why the fuck is she wrestling anyway? She's not on the NXT TV roster and hasn't even competed with the NXT live event group on tour. This chick is a referee. Both on the independents, and now in the WWE. I reclined on the black leather couch and kicked off my boat shoes, elevating my feet on the ottoman stool, trying to get comfortable in the event they actually moved forward with this. I mean the show doesn't end until 11:05, sometimes 11:25 PM. This match should be an interesting 15 minutes.

With the crowd booing her Nikki grabbed Ronda's arm and whipped her across the ring, into the opposite corner. Ronda crashed in the corner and Nikki sprinted after her, intending to run right into her but before Nikki could make contact, Ronda ran off to the side causing Nikki to miss her and crash full force into the turnbuckles instead. Ronda had ran off the ropes and by the time Nikki turned around, holding her chest in pain, Ronda was already coming at her at full speed. As they had earlier in the night with the chair shot that Ronda had delivered to Triple H, the crowd joined in with the huge impact of the clothesline connecting with Nikki, "Boom!"

Nikki almost did a backflip, crashing to the mat on her head and right shoulder before falling limply onto her back. "Count to twenty," JBL advised the referee.

Ronda made the cover and the crowd joined in with the count, like the forgone conclusion that it was. "One, Two, Three."

"We've got a new Diva's Champion! Cole announced as Seth Rollins' theme music, The Second Coming, begin to play again. "Ronda Rousey is the Divas Champion! She just beat Nikki Bella in 30 seconds and may have just killed her in the process."

Okay, WWE, you got me! It's the post-Wrestlemania Raw, I said after smiling widely. You have a hot crowd. You want to boost ratings. You need to do something to get more people to buy a subscription to the WWE Network. Next week Nikki will in kayfabe, file an injunction against the company for granting Ronda the ability to compete in a title match, the decision will be reversed, and she will get her championship back. It is beyond fucking ridiculous to have Rousey win the Divas title in a squash match, on her first night competing after spending less than a year in the company, solely refereeing! Something she did less than 24 hours ago. They can't possibly move forward with this. It's bullshit!

Flashback: July 18th, 2015

Shannon had been training two months full time at MCW and read reports that Bayley, who she met briefly in March, had a tryout and was signed by the WWE. Because the NXT brand was completely controlled by Triple H and not Vince McMahon, he allowed Bayley to fulfill her last remaining independent dates before reporting to Full Sail in August. After all, before WWF or WCW, Triple H was an indie guy too. He understood what the grind was like and how loyal the fans could be there despite the venue or production budget not reflecting the size of their passion. Shannon found out one of Bayley's last independent dates was at their annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup. This was a show that honored the late Shane Shamrock, who was MCW's first ever Light Heavyweight Champion, when the promotion and training school had its inaugural card in July of 1998. He was shot and killed during an altercation with police. The championship was retired a few months after his death and the featured main event of that show became an annual tournament in his name.

"Coach, coach, tell me," Shannon said panting after racing to McDevitt's office the minute she arrived at MCW that morning. "Tell me you don't have an opponent booked on the card tonight for Bayley."

"Of course we do," He said twisting his mouth puzzled. "You know we book well in advance, with the exception being if someone gets seriously hurt, or if a star coming in gives us at least 48 hours notice and we have to make new arrangements."

"Right, right," she said as she leaned over and caught her breath. "I also know all cards-regardless of the promotion- are subject to change. I want Bayley. Can I get that match?"

"No," McDevitt said, shaking his head as he replied. "I told you it's booked. No one's notified me of a cancellation for any reason. You're on the card too anyway."

"Yeah, I know, but can you switch it with whomever on our roster's got Bayley?" she asked eagerly before leaning forward, placing her hands on McDevitt's desk. "I'll make it up to them. I don't care how I get booked after this." She didn't mean that. Of course she cared, but she was desperate. She hoped the the desperation in her voice and nonsensical statement would be ludicrous enough for him to change his mind.

"Shannon, you've only trained for a month, and-" Shannon cut him off.

"Come on Coach, you know that's not true! I've been coming here since the spring a few times a week, and since college I've been full go. You know I'm not a jabroni!" The Rock was never one of her favorites, but being the mark she was, recognized his contributions to the business' boom of the 90s, and felt his Miami slang was appropriate for this situation. "I'm not green. I have a solid six years of amateur wrestling experience. I'm not a bum. You've seen how huge NXT's grown in just three years. Really, when's the next time you think we'll be able to book Bayley again? She's going to help carry that brand. I just sense it. Come on Coach, let me have this...please."

McDevitt knew Shannon was right on both accounts. She certainly was not green-far from it. And Triple H certainly was turning heads proving people wrong with his leadership skills during his creation and operation of the NXT brand. NXT was growing, signing stars of old to mentor, and future stars who were beginning to burst at their peak with their regional indie affiliates, left and right.

He rubbed his right hand all across his face and leaned back in his chair. He remained silent for a few moments. Shannon, who was standing the entire time, finally walked over to the chair on the side of the wall in his office. As she sat, she tried to read his eyes but got nothing.

"Alright, you got it," McDevitt told Shannon, who immediately rose from her chair in excitement.

"Really? Thank you. I-" Now McDevitt returned the favor, interrupting Shannon.

"But, you'll be curtain-jerking, first on the card," he said.

"Done," Shannon said simply.

"And, you're putting her over...clean. No bullshit with her winning because you intentionally got DQ'd or counted out."

"Done," Shannon repeated.

"Then you've got the match. I'll let Mandy know about the switch. Now hit the bricks kid!"

Shannon smiled, knowing McDevitt didn't mean anything by the last line. She wouldn't call herself a teacher's pet by any means, but knew he joked around with the students he liked. She thanked him once more before leaving his office. As she closed his door behind her, she fist pumped her arm three times before whispering rather loudly, "Yes!"

Later that night

As promised earlier, Shannon's match with Bayley was first on the card. They would be followed by a special edition of Piper's Pit from WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Shannon, despite being disappointed by Ronda Rousey's run as Divas Champion, read somewhere online that she was a fan of Piper. That was at least one commonality between them. Shannon was bewildered by Ronda. She couldn't understand how Ronda considered herself a fan, yet screwed fans-including Shannon herself-over with an unimpressive run. Shannon expected more in her matches than merely gesturing her arm roll before delivering JBL's patented "Clothesline from Hell." Other than four inches, Shannon couldn't really see what Ronda possessed that she didn't. Hell, Shannon possibly even had Ronda beat in the gun department. Shannon powerlifted in both her fourth year of high school and college, so had a solid muscular physique for her 5'3 frame. She made a note though of recording Piper's segment, so she could one day share it with Ronda in the off chance that they ever crossed paths.

Because Shannon was only with MCW for a couple of months, she had no identity. Therefore, she received no televised entrance and was already in the ring with taped wrists, wearing her all white singlet she recycled from her amateur days and long basic black boots with front laces. She had no complaints playing the role of jobber because she got her match with Bayley.

As soon as MCW ring announcer Danny Mays announced Shannon by her real name which was Shannon Harris, the lights in the room blinked a rainbow of bright colors sporadically. Suddenly, the lyrics of a familiar tune began to play:

"I wanna' be the very best like no one ever was."

"To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause..."

"Introducing her opponent, from San Jose, California...BAAAAYLEEEEY!" Mays shouted to a crowd that popped with excitement when Bayley came through the curtain, stretching out her cape.

No freaking way! This is just too good.

As Bayley span around and walked to each side of the entrance ramp embracing the audience before coming down the aisle, Shannon raised her wrist to her face, feigning that she had to scratch her nose. She was really laughing, as she could not believe Bayley's theme was the original theme song of Pokemon. Shannon had no idea what NXT would later change Bayley's theme to, but was secretly enjoying the fun while it lasted. In addition to wrestling, as a kid, Shannon was a huge Pokemon mark: she watched the television show, and bought the Nintendo games, as well as the trading cards. Today truly was a great day for Shannon. Roddy Piper, one of her favorite heels, was at the show, she was wrestling Bayley, and Bayley happened to also be a Pokemon nerd.

"And we are underway in this opening contest, seeing Bayley square off against Shannon Harris, a young woman whose a new member of our roster," said commentator Brent Tarring. "I gotta' say Shawn, I'm not sure if she's ready."

"Oh will you give me a break," Shawn Credle said to his colleague. "Everyone knows doubt and underestimation are the strongest motivators for a hungry person, especially an athlete! So what Bayley's seasoned? Anyone can be upset at any moment. She may lose focus in this match if she thinks about her future endeavors too much."

"To your point Shawn, Shannon's taking it to Bayley already as she's delivered six consecutive armdrags and followed up with a hip toss," said Tarring who rose a little in his seat when Shannon delivered another hip toss. "Oh no! And there's another one. Look at Bayley wipe the sweat from her face and caress her thigh in concern."

"Oh no my friend, that's not a look of concern, but a look of frustration," said Credle. "I told you Bayley's got her eye off the ball. Bayley needs to...Wham! What a beautiful counter by Shannon, who evaded Bayley's attempt of a clothesline with a hangman's neckbreaker!"

Shannon rolled out the ring and taunted the crowd as Bayley sold. "N...X...ME! That's who this show's about!"

"One, two, three, four come on Shannon, get back in the ring!" The referee shouted not wanting to end the contest prematurely.

Shannon heard the count, and went over to the announce table, demanding the time keeper to surrender his seat. She grabbed the chair and hopped on the apron.

"Maintain order ref!" shouted Tarring. "You know she can't bring that in the ring!" As the referee pointed their finger at Shannon warning her against bringing the chair inside, Bayley ran the far end of ropes and dropkicked the chair into Shannon's face causing her to leap from the apron to the floor, and Shannon oversold tumbling over the barricade.

"Maintain order? Are you serious right now Brent?" Credle asked dramatically. "It's chaos! This referee is letting Bayley act like a wild woman kicking people with chairs. This isn't a hardcore match! And why are you assuming Shannon was going to inflict harm? Perhaps the woman just wanted to have a seat in the ring and politely ask for a timeout."

The referee started a new count on Shannon, as Bayley stopped the initial one with the dropkick to the outside. But the new count was interrupted when Bayley rolled out of the ring to get her, prompting a third start of a count on them both.

"Toss her back over," Bayley told the audience. The crowd loved being a part of the show, and Shannon got a thrill out of the the crowd grabbing the straps of her singlet, tossing her back over the metal guardrails which barricaded them from the ring. Bayley grabbed Shannon's hair and guided her along the opposite side of the guardrail, and attempted to smash her face into it. Shannon thumbed Bayley in the eyes and on the distraction, back suplexed Bayley right onto the metal guardrail.

"Ref, I really think you need to get a hold of this. Maybe Bayley shouldn't have kicked the chair in Shannon's face, but a line needs to be drawn here," said Tarring as the referee began a count on Bayley as Shannon rolled back in the ring.

"So what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander? Is that what you're telling me Brent?" asked Credle. "So Bayley can kick chairs in people's faces, but when Shannon introduces Bayley to her friend Mr. Guardrail, it's suddenly no longer fair game?"

Bayley rolled back in the ring at seven. After crawling on her knees and making it to her feet, she charged at Shannon, who already reentered, for a spear.

"Bayley looks like she's going for a spear. Oh my gosh! What did she? Shannon just used Bayley's momentum against her with the charge...and tornado DDT'd her in the middle of the ring!" Tarring shouted. "You may be onto something Shawn. This lady is putting Bayley on notice!" Shannon collapsed as she executed the tornado DDT as they both sold exhaustion.

Shannon started to stir at six, and the crowd shouted, "One more time, One more time," indicating they wanted to see another tornado DDT. Shannon shook her head at the crowd.

"I'm not gonna' do it again because you want me to! I'm gonna' do it because I can make it twice as nice!" Shannon shouted back at them as she grabbed Bayley.

As she grabbed Bayley, Bayley grabbed Shannon in a waist lock and executed a belly to belly suplex on Shannon.

"There it is! Belly to Bayley out of nowhere!" yelled Tarring. "One, two, three! It's over. Bayley, who may have just had her last match in an MCW ring for awhile, digs deep, guts it out, and proves yet again, what a fun, can-do attitude can have on your outlook on life!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Credle. "That was a fast count if you ask me. Shannon was screwed."

As Bayley's music played and they both continued to sell the grueling impact of the match despite it being the opening contest. Shannon, still under Bayley, spoke to her under her forearm.

"Told you so," Shannon said after smiling.

"Shannon?" Bayley asked.

"Sweet. You remember me," Shannon said.

"Yeah, vaguely. Guess you're gonna' stalk me in NXT too huh?" Bayley questioned.

"Yep. Be a beast," replied Shannon.

"I will. I'll make them eat defeat," Bayley quickly confirmed.

They hit it off in the back and swapped contact information with each other, always ending every interaction with the last two lines of dialogue they exchanged in the middle of the ring after their match. Shannon accomplished her goal of meeting Bayley in the ring for the second time. She wasn't a gambling woman, but if luck were to strike her way again, odds were there would be another visit from Bayley. Maybe in front of more than 500 people. That would be the ultimate hat trick.