Sunday night, during a pay-per-view, John searched for Stephanie avoiding Vince or Shane before any trouble stirred.
"Hey, Champ. Where you off to?" Ric Flair asked him when John turned at the corner.
"Ric. Hey. I'm just walking around. To relax a little before the match." He lied.
"You'll do great. You're the champ! You're gonna come out on top!" Ric ranted on. John just laughed and nodded his head. "Thanks a lot man, but I better get going. Thanks for making me feel a little better." He replied. "No problem. Anytime." Ric said and patted him on the back before walking away.
John continued to roam around the hallways trying to find Stephanie's office to talk to her. Just as he was about to turn another corner, he saw none other than Shane walk towards him.
"Fuck!" John thought. He tried to act as if he knew nothing and waited for Shane to come up to him.
"Shane, what's up man?" he said with a smile. He and Shane shook hands. "Nothing at all man. What's going on with you? Where you off to?" Shane asked. "Me? Nowhere. Just walking around trying to kill time before my match." He lied. "Yeah, with a guy like Umaga, I don't blame you, bro. Good luck with that." Shane replied. "Thanks, I need that." John laughed. He started to walk away but after taking just a couple of steps, Shane grabbed him by the shoulders to stop and talk to him again.
"Another thing before I forget. What the hell were you doing at my sister's house that other night?" Shane asked. "What are you talking about?" John asked confused. "Don't give me that bullshit. The night when you came over for dinner… what the fuck was that all about?" he asked. "Hold up, Shane, you gotta relax man. She asked me to come only because the other night she was standing in the freezing cold waiting for her limo to come. I took her home and she insisted that I come to dinner." John explained. "It better be that innocent. You have no idea who you're messing with. One wrong thing and I'll come over there and break your legs. You got it?" he threatened. "You're threatening me?" John asked. "Yeah I am. I don't want you near my sister. Guys like you are nothing but trouble. You better watch it now. If I even catch you talking to her… you better pray to God that I don't run over there and smash your head into a wall." He continued.
John laughed at this whole situation. He couldn't believe that Shane was even saying all this. "You really think I'm scared of you?" John asked him. He walked right up to him, eye to eye, tightening his jaw and giving him a cold stare. "You have no idea who the hell you're messing with John. Even if you don't do anything… we can still have you behind bars. You wanna know how? Money. We've got the money and we've got the power. You can be sitting around just watching some television and have you arrested even if you never did a damn thing." Shane explained. "You think I should be scared of that?" John asked. "You think you're some tough guy? With your baggy jeans, your chain, and that backwards cap?" Shane asked when he took a step back. John took off his cap and tossed it aside as he scratched his head.
"You're nothing, John. Remember that. If you even think of coming close to Steph, I'll kill you." Shane replied as he poked him in the shoulder with his finger. He walked away as John looked at him. He took his cap off the ground and sat on the large chest to think about the consequences if he does get involved with Stephanie.
Meanwhile, Stephanie walked by and saw John from a distance. She walked up to him and John just got up and walked away from her.
"John. John! John, what's going on?" she asked as she walked alongside him. John kept ignoring her but that didn't stop Stephanie from finding out why he was acting this way. "John, we were supposed to talk tonight. Why are you ignoring me? What happened?" she continued to ask. She got in front of him to stop him in his path but John just stepped aside and continued to walk.
"John!" she said.
John turned around and walked right up to her.
"You wanna know why I'm not talking to you right now!? Because your family doesn't want to see me with you! That's why! If I even come close to you I am dead! I don't wanna deal with any of that!" John screamed.
Standing there in shock… Stephanie didn't know what to say.
"Yeah… exactly. You don't know what to say. Neither do I. I can't even talk to you because your brother warned me." John said. "Come with me." Stephanie said and pulled him by the arm. "Where are we going?" he asked. "Where is Shane?" she demanded. "I don't know. I just saw him walk straight ahead." He answered.
"Shane has no right to tell anyone if they can talk to me or not!" Stephanie replied. "Steph, calm down. I think it's better if we not go somewhere together." John explained. "John, why are you listening to Shane's threats!? HE is not going to do anything! Shane has been doing this to me since I was in high school! I am sick and tired of him telling me what to do!" Stephanie screamed. "And I don't wanna be around you because I'm scared he'll do something to you!" John yelled.
Stephanie stopped walking and stood against the wall to face John.
"Shane has controlled my life since I can remember. I hated it but back then I was too scared to say something to him. I'm a grown woman. Why should he tell me who I can and can't see or talk with?" she asked. John walked up to her and hugged her. "I can't have him do this to me again, John." She cried.
John saw that she was crying and wiped away her tears. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her. "It'll be okay. I promise." He said. Stephanie stepped away and began to cry again. She dropped down to the floor and as she cried, John sat next to her and hugged her, trying to comfort her as much as he could. Stephanie got a hold of herself and fixed herself up.
"You feel a little better?" he asked as he helped her up. "Yeah. I'm okay." She answered. She held his hand and walked with him. "Can I ask where we are going?" he asked her. "To find Shane." She said. John stopped her and shook his head. "Steph, whoa. Not a good idea. I think it's just best we sneak behind his back." He explained. "That would be possible… but he needs to know that he's not in charge of anyone. I can do whatever I want to and so can you whether he likes it or not." She explained.
Just then, Shane appeared and saw the two of them together.
"Steph… what's going on here?" Shane asked her. Stephanie and John looked at each other not knowing what to do.
"You," he said looking at John. "What did I tell you?"
"Shane… you need to stop. You can't threaten John from seeing me. He has every right like me to see me and talk to me. What gives you power to tell me who I can and can't talk to?" Stephanie asked. "Steph, look at him! You don't need to be around someone like him!" Shane yelled. "Maybe I do! You don't know what I like and don't like! You wanna why you don't know? Because you always controlled my life! You made the decisions for me and now that I'm finally a grown adult, I still can't make my own decisions because you and dad are still controlling me!" Stephanie yelled. "Because you've made stupid decisions in the past and it's up to me to make sure you don't make anymore stupid decisions to embarrass the family!" Shane lashed out. Stephanie's jaw dropped as she couldn't believe that her own brother would say such a thing. She grabbed John by the collar and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and made sure that Shane would see just how much she enjoyed doing something like kissing John and making Shane furious. When she stopped kissing him, she looked at Shane and smiled.
"Tell me, Shane… just how embarrassing was that for you? Because I sure as hell enjoyed it."
Shane walked up to her and the closer he got, the more Stephanie would step back until she couldn't walk any further back from the wall behind her. "You just wait, Steph. You can go on and enjoy your little rebellious game but when you least expect it… you'll regret everything you did." He warned her.
John pulled him away and faced him.
"You gotta watch it, man. If you're angry at Steph, take it out on me, not her." He replied. "Even better. So that means I can do this, then." He said and punched him across the face. John fought back and shoved him into the wall and an all out brawl started. As Stephanie is trying to pull John away, other WWE superstars ran over to pull them apart. After several attempts, they finally succeeded and as they were going to different places with the WWE superstars, they cursed each other other. Stephanie walked with John until they were finally alone.
"What was that all about?" John asked her.
"John, let me explain. I didn't kiss you because I wanted to make Shane angry." She said. "So then why did you do it?" he asked. Stephanie sat closer to him and looked at him. "Because I'm falling in love with you." She opened up. John leaned closer and kissed her. He started to laugh and pulled away. "What's so funny?" she asked with a smile. "Because I thought it was just me who felt that way." He answered. Stephanie laughed and kissed him one more time before they talked about how they would try and work this out without letting her family know about it.