Nova stared at the poster backstage for the upcoming all women's ppv, Evolution featuring prominent faces from all the Raw, Smackdown and NXT women's division. She never thought she'd see the day this happened. Looking at it, something was missing. It seems the design team forgot to put Stephanie's face at the top seeing as she is the creator, overlord and overseer of everything women's wrestling.
Nova heard heels clicking to her right. Speak of the she-devil and she shall appear, designer clothed and power dressed.
"Nova, is that you?" Stephanie approached her. She put her hands on Nova's shoulders and inspected her from head to toe. "Wow, you look so different."
Yeah, removing fake tits and losing the blonde hair will do that, was a thought that Nova dare not say aloud. Instead she went with, "yeah, it's been a long time. It's so nice seeing you again, Stephanie."
"Aww, Nova. You're still just as sweet as ever. A lot has changed since you were here, for the better of course. I'm sure you're going to fit in just right," Stephanie smiled and Nova plastered the fakest smile she could muster across her face in return. "Are you nervous about anything?"
"Not really. The only thing I'm feeling is a little anxious about is getting back on the road. That schedule was no joke," she replied. Being an independent wrestler, Nova worked at her own pace. Her matches were mostly scheduled on the weekends. She didn't have to live 80% of her life in cars and on planes like she did on the WWE schedule.
"Oh, you'll be fine. Do you need me to give you a tour around?" Steph offered.
Nova shook her head. "I think I can explore for myself."
Already, everything was so different, especially the people. What most caught her attention was the atmosphere. Everyone appeared to get along. Back then, things were much more cut throat and tense. The men would stab everyone in their locker room with a sword if it meant they'd receive a push and TV time. The first thing she felt was lost, but she couldn't wait to integrate herself in this new environment. Some were looking at her as if she was new but she was thinking the same about them. Off topic, but she had to admit some of the chiseled faces and bodies were much more attractive than the men from her era.
Nova spotted a familiar face in the makeup chair. She whistled to get the person's attention.
Alicia gasped, turning her head to reveal half done makeup. "Omg! I want to run to you so bad right now but she's blending my concealer and I don't want streaks!"
"That's fine, I'll wait," Nova replied, sitting in one of the high chairs. One of the other makeup artists approached her asking if she needed anything and she politely declined. The girls of today seemed to wear more than what they wore back then with all the highlighting, contouring, thick eyeshadow and lashes.
"Okay, now!" Alicia exclaimed sliding out of her chair. She almost squeezed the breath out of Nova with the tight hug she initiated. "Look at you!"
"No, look at you! You look exactly the same, actually better. How is that even possible?" Nova complimented.
"I was thinking the exact same thing about you! You never did look natural with the bleach job and bolt ons."
"I didn't feel natural either."
"So, Triple H ran your angle by me and I think it's cool," Alicia nodded.
"You think so? It was my idea because apparently creative still isn't that creative. They just wanted me to pop up and do a generic 'I'm back' promo," Nova snorted.
"Yeah, that would've gotten you soooo over," Alicia sarcastically remarked, shaking her head. "I don't know why they can't get in touch with the current audience. Generic isn't going to cut it now."
"How many years does this make for you now?"
"12."
"Oh wow, a vet. There are men who haven't even lasted this long with the company," Nova replied, impressed.
"Yeah, I did pretty good for one of the model divas, huh?" Alicia joked. "I've seen a lot of girls come and go during my tenure here and none of the departures have affected me the way yours did, not only because I had to do the dirty work but because of what you stood for," Alicia went quiet for a moment. "I always liked you back then but after that night I really and truly respected you. There were a lot of different opinions backstage about what you did but everybody knew not to talk shit about you while I was around. Stuff started changing for us and after every milestone or accomplishment I couldn't help but think that you should've been there. It annoys me to no end that when they give the 'making history' speeches and name the pioneers of change, your name is never mentioned. When they do the Network specials, they don't show a clip or even a picture of you. Basically, you don't exist in the WWE timeline. It's not fair that they give you the Chris Benoit treatment as if you killed someone."
"Actually, I did kill someone. The diva in me," Nova chuckled. "It's cool though. I know what I did, everyone in the women's locker room knew what I did, the fans who heard that interview and later saw my last match knew what I did. That's all the acknowledgement I need. And don't give me credit for anything because I left in 2011. You guys went another few years being treated like shit before things really changed."
"What you did probably didn't change the mindset of management but it changed ours. Most of us always wanted more but you made us want to actually demand more," Alicia strongly asserted.
"I am so glad to hear that and it looks like it worked," Nova acknowledged.
"How old are you now?"
"I'm 26."
"Damn, you're still pretty young-ish. You're younger than Bayley and Alexa and the same age as Sasha. That's a good thing. You'll fit right in and won't be out of touch around the newer generation of girls."
When they walked in catering, Nova noticed that even the food selection was better.
"I remember coming in here and running straight to the salad bar. I wouldn't even look in the direction of the desserts terrified that I'd gain weight and end up in a Piggy James like segment or released like Candice Michelle when she came back from injury with extra weight. I was 18 when I got here...of course I wanted that M&M cookie!" Nova ranted, placing not one but 2 cupcakes on her plate. During her original run she weighed 110 at 5'7. Now she was 135 pounds of pure muscle and curves.
She walked with her head down until she ran into a hard body. When she looked up she met the brown eyes of Seth Rollins.
He looked her up and down. "You must be new here."
"Actually, she's older than you," Alicia interjected. Technically, that was true since he was still in developmental during Nova's run.
"Wow, it doesn't show," Seth stared at her face in amazement which made Nova to laugh.
Seth tilted his head slightly. "You look so familiar, and I know I've seen your face before but, for the life of me, I can't remember your name."
"Crystal," she replied. Crystal Novaro. WWE didn't like to recycle names for branding and marketing purposes. Because there'd been a 'Crystal' before with Bobby Lashley's ex, Kristal Marshall, management had to come up with another name. There was Laura, Lisa, Veronica, Brittany, Evelyn. She suggested Nova but they didn't like it because it didn't fit in with the cheer squad names of her peers. During her debut, live in ring, she 'accidentally' introduced herself as Nova and Vince took a liking to it.
"Crystal..." his voice trailing off as he appeared to be thinking. He shook his head. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
"Nova!" Nattie shouted from across the room, making her way over.
"Nova?" Seth finally looked at her with recognition. "Wait, you're that chick from back in the day, huh?"
"Yeah, and don't say from back in the day. It makes me feel old," Nova chuckled, walking off to meet Nattie halfway.
They met in a hug and soon Nattie pulled back. "So it's true!"
"What's true?"
"Every week there's a new dirt sheet return story. This person is headed back to WWE. That person is headed back to the WWE. So naturally when I heard that you were allegedly headed back, I just brushed it off as another rumor," Nattie explained.
"Well as you can see I'm here in the flesh," Nova laughed before taking on a more serious tone as she placed a hand on Natte's shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry about your father. I know I tweeted you that day but now that I'm here it seems more formal to give you my condolences in person."
Nattie's eyes teared up as she took a breath through her nose. "Thank you, Nova. I'll see you later, okay?"
"You haven't been back an hour yet and you're already making people cry," Alicia commented. "Personally, I think she came back way too soon. Jim died that Monday leading up to Summerslam and by Sunday she was there at the show. She didn't really take time to grieve."
Nova had first day of school jitters as she stood in front of the Raw women's locker room. She got along with pretty much everyone in her old locker room but this new generation was entirely different.
"Are you ready?" Alicia asked.
"I think so," Nova took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"Alright, let's go," Alicia replied, turning the door knob.
Most of the women were off doing their own thing when they entered. None of them really looked up until Alicia loudly cleared her throat.
"We have a new addition to the locker room, readdition rather," Alicia announced.
Some of the women seemed the recognize her, others seemed confused by the reaction Nova received as they crowded around her. Nova didn't take offense to those who didn't recognize her because really she was just a flash in the pan. As CM Punk once said: "I'm just a spoke on the wheel - the wheel's gonna keep turning." Sure she was talented and a former champion but the way the division was held down, the only memorable thing she ever did was on the night she laid down.
"Thanks for fighting the good fight," Sasha whispered in Nova's ear as they shook hands.
"No, thank you...and you too," Nova said, acknowledging Bayley.
"Hey, little girl," Mickie smiled using Nova's old nickname when she signed as an 18 year old.
"I don't want to be rude or interrupt but I have to ask who is this so I can join in on the moment too," Ronda asked.
"This is one of the unsung heroes of the women's revolution," Alicia replied.
"Oh," Ronda nodded, extending her hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You too, Ronda," Nova smiled.
Nova was given a copy of tonight's card. There was a big change from the 3-5 minute matches from her time. There were two women's matches tonight, Sasha w/Bayley vs Dana Brooke and Natalya w/Ronda and Trish Stratus vs Alicia w/Alexa and Mickie. Right after the second match was a commercial and then Nova's segment.
While the other girls were out for their match, Nova stayed behind in the locker room to get dressed. She was wearing black boots and oversized black cargo pants. The black hoodie she wore pulled over her head shadowed her face. The only thing visible was one side of her long hair hanging from the side.
Nattie won the match and the ladies hurried to the back to film their segment. When Raw came back from commercial, the camera found Alicia beat down and stretched out in the middle of the floor.
A gasp was heard off camera as Alexa and Mickie came into view. Nattie joined them.
"Did you do this?" Alexa asked Nattie.
"Of course not!" Nattie shot back. "I just won the match, what reason do I have to attack her?"
"Ronda!" Alexa hissed. "I knew sooner or later she'd snap back into blood thirsty UFC mode. What am I saying? She never snapped out of it."
"No, Ronda went directly into the locker room. I saw her," Nattie replied.
Alicia struggled to sit up. "No… No…"
"No? No what?" Mickie questioned.
Out of nowhere a black figure came from behind to attack Nattie and Mickie while Alexa backed herself into a corner out of the way. Nova slung Mickie into a tall stack of trunks, taking her out. Nova viciously kicked Nattie, stomping her out while she was down. Then she took a step back.
"No…" she began to speak, removing her hood, "...va."
Nova heard the pop from the audience from where she stood as they watched on screen. She was surprised that they remembered her. She slowly approached Alexa who slowly sunk down. Nova drew her fist back to strike as Alexa shielded herself but Nova backed away. "Not yet, Alexa, not yet."