2001

The place reeked of sweat and multiple other body odors. Men and women in various versions of wrestling gear filled the room. Sounds of fists hitting punching bags and bodies hitting wrestling mats mixed in with the loud, excited voices of the wrestling hopefuls.

Randy was in Heaven. He looked around and felt his heart start to race with anticipation and his stomach clench with a bout of nerves. His eyes looked around the room and took a deep breath before taking another step inside the huge gym. He followed the signs leading to the door marked Office and knocked lightly on it.

"Come on in,"

Randy pushed the door and looked inside, "Mr. Briley,"

Daniel Briley looked up from his stack of paperwork and smiled when he took in the sight of the huge young man in front of him.

"Well, I'll be damned; if it isn't little Randal Orton all grown up!"

Randy smiled and walked over to the Ohio Valley Wrestling owner. He held out his hand for a shake but was quickly pulled into a huge bear hug.

"Mr. Briley, it's nice to see you again. It's great to be here, finally."

Danny nodded his head and motioned for Randy to have a seat. He dropped his body into the chair across from Danny's desk and placed his gym bag beside him.

"So, Bob tells me you wanna follow in the Orton footsteps. What; the marines didn't work out for you?"

Randy grimaced and shook his head. "No, sir. It was a mistake to even enroll and frankly, it's an embarrassment I'm going to have to carry with me forever. I hated having some guy screaming in my face and giving me orders. It was a nightmare. My parents warned me I wouldn't like it, but I didn't listen at all."

Danny leaned back in his chair and frowned. "So, you gave up and quit? How do I know if I take you in this program you won't give up and quit on me? You know how many people want to wrestle with OVW and go on to the WWE? Why should I take you, someone who has already proven himself to be a quitter because he didn't like being told what to do, and turn away one of the other hundreds of applicants I have sitting here in this stack? Because you're an Orton?" he smirked sarcastically.

Randy's eyes opened and his mouth dropped in shock. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to respond but Danny held up his hand. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk.

"Randy, you do realize you're gonna have tons of people telling you what to do here, right? Your last name means shit here; hell, it won't help you. It will probably mean you have to work 3 times as hard because of it. You will have coaches screaming in your face, trainers, fellow students and most importantly, me, every day. Is this what you really want?"

Randy tightened his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, it is. I have wanted this for more than the 5 minutes it took me to walk in here from my car. The only reason I didn't pursue this after high school was because of my parents' hesitation towards it. Don't you think I know my last name is going to work against me here? Everyone is going to hate me immediately because of it. They're gonna think I'm some spoiled brat who's not going to work at anything because it's just going to be handed to me due to daddy's name. I can assure you, I will wipe those thoughts away the minute I step in that ring. I plan to work my ass off because this is my dream. I have no problem taking direction and screams, as you say, if it's going to help my craft."

Danny stared at Randy's face for what seemed like hours and he stared back just as intently. Finally, Danny's face cracked into a smile.

"Exactly what I wanna hear; passion behind the words. I've heard great things about you, Randy, and I think you'll do great here, but I need to be sure always. "

Randy nodded. "I understand. I won't let you down, but really, it's about me; I won't let myself down. You have nothing to worry about with me."

Danny nodded and stood up. He walked around from behind the desk and walked over to the closed office door. He pulled it open and stuck his head out.

"Cena, get in here, now!"

He left the door open and walked back into the room, leaning on the desk. He looked down at Randy, who was now staring at the open door with a frown.

"I'm gonna assign you a Big; that's a buddy. I do it with all my newbies for the first few weeks. It helps them learn the ropes and the training schedule. It also provides you with your first friend and confidant. Trust in this person; he will help you with whatever you need. You're getting John. He's a good kid and has been here for a couple months already, so he'll help you get settled in."

Randy nodded and looked at the open door as a slightly shorter than him man walked through. His stomach flipped at the sight of the blue-eyed, muscular man in a muscle tank and basketball shorts and he narrowed his eyes in confusion about the feeling.

"Hey, Dan, what's up?"

Danny pointed at Randy, who now stood up. "John Cena, this is your newbie, Randy Orton. I place him in your hands."

John smiled and stretched out his hand towards Randy, who smiled and shook it firmly. "Orton, huh. Sounds like I've heard that name before,"

Randy sighed as he followed John out of Danny's office. He figured he should get ready for a lot more of this teasing.

John laughed at Randy's expression. "I'm just kidding. I'm not gonna bust your balls about your family. Frankly, I was never that much of a fan of either your dad or granddad!"

Randy's head jerked up and he prepared to launch a tirade when he caught the smirk on John's face. "Very fucking funny. Is this how you're supposed to help me?"

John led Randy into the locker room and plopped on the long wooden bench running down the middle of the room. "Hey, I'm giving it to you easy. You think I'm bad? Wait till you get out there. You're gonna hear how much your father and grandfather sucked, how they couldn't wrestle for shit, how their characters were beyond lame, yada yada yada. It's all part of the welcoming ritual here."

Randy sat and softly nodded his head. "OK, and what else should I expect?"

John pursed his lips and looked up in thought. "They'll tell you how much you suck, too."

Randy laughed and shook his head. "Can't wait,"

John nodded with his own laugh. "It'll die down after a few days. Trust me, we all went through it."

He stood up and sighed. "OK, so obviously this is the locker room. Pick your locker; it will be yours till the day you walk out of here. Get a good lock. We're all mostly trustworthy, but there's always a bad seed around, you know."

He paused and stopped to see if Randy was listening. He was and showed it by nodding.

"Showers are back there, gym is out there. Trainer's room is to the left of the main entrance. Doc Martin, yes that really is his name, is great. Do not hide any type of pain you know is not normal for your body. Doc will know you're lying and he will tell Danny, who will chew you up. Safety is big around here. We protect each other and our own bodies. We have a counselor that comes once a week in case you need to talk about anything, but also your Big is supposed to be there for that. I would be your Big in case Danny didn't explain it."

Randy nodded. "Got it,"

"Last and most important, OVW is drug free. We have random drug tests and there is no special treatment for anyone. At least, not that I know of."

Randy again nodded and shrugged. "OK, I'm drug free."

John sat down and looked at his watch. "OK, we're scheduled to work out in Mat C in 15 minutes. Go get ready. I'll wait for you outside."

He turned and started to walk out of the door but turned back. He looked at Randy, who started taking things out of his gym bag. The kid was obviously nervous but was hiding it well. John saw in him the same stubbornness he himself embodied. For some reason, he wanted to see another smile grace Randy's face.

"You don't talk much. I never stop talking. I think we're gonna get along great, Randy."

Randy looked up and shook his head, but smiled the smile John wanted. "Yeah, I think so, too."

He grabbed his things and started organizing his new locker as John walked out into the loud training area. A few minutes later, Randy walked out of the locker dressed in a similar outfit as John's. He looked around at all the new faces and felt his nerves kick in again when a hand clamped itself around his shoulders.

"Ready to get your ass handed to you?"

Randy looked at a laughing John and felt himself relax.

For the next three hours the two men worked on mat techniques and discussed their lives in between holds. Randy found out John was born and raised in Massachusetts, was one of 5 boys and gets along great with his parents. John found out Randy had been born in Tennessee, but now lived in St. Louis, had two younger siblings and also got along great with his parents. Neither one was romantically involved with anyone and wrestling was both their dreams. By hour 2, the two men were talking like they had known each other forever.

"All right, people! Start heading out; our day has ended!" Danny ran the ring bell and everyone stood up and began a walk back to their respective locker rooms.

As John and Randy passed by, Danny stopped them. "So, John, how did our boy do?"

John patted Randy's back and looked over at him. "I think this one may have a shot, Dan. He's not as good as I am, but you know, no one else is gonna be. I'm wonderful."

Danny laughed loudly and Randy pulled back from John and stared at him with disbelief. "Seriously, could this guy be anymore conceited? Danny, did you have to give me him? I don't know if I can take it!"

Danny shook his head as John clutched his chest in mock shock. Randy laughed loudly and shook his head.

"I think you two boys are gonna do great together. Go on, get out of here."

John and Randy walked back into the crowded locker room and headed for their lockers. As John dug through his locker for a towel, he turned over and yelled at Randy, "Hey, wanna go grab some food?"

Randy looked back as he walked to the showers. He smiled and nodded. "Sounds great. I'm starved."

An hour later Randy and John sat in a local diner in downtown Louisville gorging on burgers, fries and chocolate milkshakes.

"God, are we really supposed to eat like this?"

John took a sip of his milkshake and shook his head. "No, not really, but hey, this is a special occasion. Your first day at OVW is one that should always be remembered and celebrated. In 10 years, hopefully we'll all be in the big leagues and we can look back at these days and laugh."

Randy smiled and nodded. He took a fry in his mouth and looked thoughtful.

"What's up,"

He looked up at John, who was staring intently at him. "Oh, nothing,"

John cocked his head to the side. "Come on, I'm your Big. You're supposed to tell me stuff so I can be there for you."

Randy laughed and just shook his head. "I'm just thinking of the time wasted. I've wanted to do this since I graduated high school but I didn't go for it because my mom was scared and my dad was so against it. I should have listened to myself and just done it instead of the marines."

John raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you were a marine? Awesome!"

Randy shook his head. "No, embarrassing. I was there for less than a year and I went AWOL and was sent to a military jail for over a month. It was horrible."

John grimaced and took a bite of his burger. "Ouch, so moving on. Are your parents cool with it now?"

Randy nodded. "Yeah, but it's probably because they have no choice. It's either support me or lose me. This is what I want and I'm gonna do it."

John smiled. "Good because you have the skill. Whatever you need, bro, I'm here for you."

Randy smiled and shook his head at the man sitting before him. At this time the day before he had no idea John Cena existed. Now, here he sat with him, talking to him, like they had known each other forever. That instant friendship with someone had never happened to him before.

"Enough about my drama; gimme some of yours. I may not be a Big but I can listen."

John shrugged. "I have no drama. I've been told I'm pretty vanilla; super boring. I graduated HS, went to college, played football and was pretty damn good, graduated college, looked into body building but fell in love with wrestling and here I am."

Randy nodded. "Yeah, you're vanilla."

Both men laughed and continued their meals, chatting about their lives and their goals for the future. It would be a conversation Randy would remember for the rest of his life.