For the past week there had been a strange feeling somewhere in the back of Seth's mind regarding his relationship with Ronda. Since her blatant disregard of authority at the meet and greet session the previous week, they had talked about it and had tried to put it behind them, but to Seth things just didn't feel quite the same. Given that their relationship was only a few months old, he knew that this was a bad sign. What he found himself doubting was whether they were right for each other. It seemed that over time, negative aspects of Ronda's personality were revealing themselves to him.
Selfishness was certainly not something that was a rarity in the wrestling business, and in some ways it could even be a good thing to have at times, but Seth had the feeling deep down inside of him that what mattered most in life to Ronda Rousey was Ronda Rousey, and that would always be the case. Her actions spoke louder than words in that regard. When they had eaten dinner together the previous night, following Payback, Ronda had complained bitterly about what she had been asked to do at the pay-per-view and had even said, "I might as well have stayed on as a fucking referee, if that's all they're going to have me do."
She had gone on to moan about the fact that her supposed knee injury had been written in the first place, saying that all it was doing was costing her the chance to wrestle. Seth had tried to be patient, and to yet again explain that she was being written and booked in this way so that it looked like she was fighting to overcome the odds which were always stacked against her. The conversation had irritated Seth to the point that he had changed his mind about treating himself to a dessert, keen to just leave the restaurant and head back to their room. It was true that he and Ronda had enjoyed some fantastic sex before going to sleep for the night, but Seth wanted more than sex from a relationship. He could pick up a girl in a bar in any city he went to if sex was all he desired.
Having just finished his Monday morning workout, Seth decided to go find Ronda and talk to her about how he felt. After all, he had told her when they first got together about the importance of not keeping emotions bottled up inside and talking when you had something that you needed to talk about. It was time for him to follow his own advice. As she had already done her customary ridiculously early morning workout with Roman, Ronda had said that she was going to relax by the hotel's pool for a while and soak up some rays while Seth was in the gym, so he headed out there to find her.
A couple of minutes later, when he walked outside to where the pool was, Seth saw that Ronda had company. Nikki Bella was just picking up her things and preparing to leave the sun lounger next to Ronda's. By the time he made his way over there, Nikki was just leaving. "Hey," she smiled warmly as she approached him.
"Hi, Nikki," Seth smiled back, congratulating himself on managing not to look at her tits as she walked past. It was quite an achievement, however, he had noticed as she was bending over to pick up her possessions that Nikki had a tattoo on her left buttock. You learn something new every day, he thought.
"Hey. Good workout?" Ronda asked with a smile as Seth sat down on the now vacant sun lounger which Nikki had been using, facing Ronda, who remained lying down with her head turned towards him. She pushed her sunglasses up on to the top of her head.
"Yeah, it was good," Seth smiled back, trying to figure out how exactly to bring up what he wanted to talk about in such a way that it would not seem like he was trying to start a fight or have a dig at Ronda.
"Awesome. Hey, guess what?" Ronda grinned.
"What?" Seth asked, seeing that she was excited about whatever it was.
"My agent called. I'm going to be in a commercial," Ronda beamed.
"That's great," Seth smiled back, even as a thought dawned on him, causing him to sigh inwardly. "Wait. Your agent? This isn't anything to do with WWE, is it?"
"No," Ronda said, narrowing her eyes as if she found the question to be stupid in some way. "I'm going to be in an Adidas commercial. What does that have to do with WWE?"
"Really?" Seth asked, feeling his irritation rising a lot faster than he wanted it to. "You just can't help yourself can you? You don't think you should at least talk to Hunter about this before you accept it?"
"I already accepted it," Ronda said offhandedly. "Like I said, this isn't anything to do with WWE. I'll be filming it on my own time. You could at least be pleased for me. What's your problem lately?"
"My problem?" Seth snapped. "The same as everyone else's problem; you going around like you're better than everyone else in WWE and don't have to follow the same rules, or even need to have the same common decency as the rest of us."
"Excuse me?" Ronda asked, eyes narrowing as she sat up on her sun lounger.
"You heard. How would you possibly not realise that you should at least talk to Hunter before accepting this thing? You didn't even think about it, did you? All you thought about was Ronda Rousey. You break script when it suits Ronda Rousey. You defy security when it suits Ronda Rousey. You mouth off at Stephanie when it suits Ronda Rousey, and it's all because you think that you're better than everyone else. Your ego is out of control, and frankly I'm tired of it."
Ronda shook her head in disbelief before mumbling, "Unbelievable." Her anger began to mount as she continued, "You're actually jealous, aren't you? You're as bad as most of the Divas. What kind of guy gets jealous of his girlfriend when she has success, rather than being pleased for her? You say you're tired of it? I am tired of it. When I met you I thought you were an amazing guy. I'd never met anyone who seemed as kind and caring as you, yet now look at you. You're happy while I'm some lowly referee who's beneath you, but when I'm as big a star, if not bigger than you, you get jealous. That's it, isn't it?"
Seth laughed. "As big a star as me? Have you heard yourself? I'm not the one who's changed since we met. You are. You've turned into a fucking walking ego, and I'm done with it. I'm done."
Seth stood and made to walk away but Ronda jumped up too. "Wait. Seth, wait," she pleaded, realising that she had gone too far with what she had just said. Seth stopped and turned around, but it looked like he was doing so almost despite himself. "I'm sorry," Ronda said as she walked over to him and hugged him. "I didn't mean what I said. I don't mean to do any of this destructive stuff, it just happens. We talked about this last week, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," Seth said, half-heartedly returning the hug. "I remember talking about it for a long time and offering you the best advice I could, and I remember saying that I didn't like the way you were acting. I remember saying that it's not the kind of thing that I like at all, and that you needed to stop it. I remember you promising that you would stop with this shit, but here we are a week later and we've got another example of it already."
"What are you saying?" Ronda asked quietly and hesitantly as she pulled away from Seth so that she could look him in the eye. "Are you breaking up with me?" she asked after a moment of silence from Seth.
"No," Seth said, after another moment, closing his eyes as he did so, which was not lost on Ronda, and told her that the other answer had been a real possibility. "I'm not breaking up with you, but you need to stop with this ego shit. You're not above the rules, and you're not better than anyone else at WWE. Get that into your head, before you ruin this relationship and your career."
"I will," Ronda assured him, hugging him once more and this time feeling the gesture being returned properly. "I really will. I don't want to lose you, Seth. I love you."
"I love you too," Seth said, even though he was still wondering if he had just made the right decision in ignoring the large part of him that had been telling him to break off the relationship right then and there.
Neither of them had noticed that Roman had walked out to the pool for a swim just before their argument had started, or that he had stood watching them from a distance. It hurt him as he watched his chosen brother and sister arguing, and he almost went over there to intervene. What had upset him the most was that it looked to him as though Seth had been laying into Ronda and had upset her. Roman had then watched as Ronda had hugged Seth twice, clearly attempting to show Seth that she loved him and to stop him from walking away from her. Even the fact that Seth had returned the second hug and then walked away hand in hand with Ronda had not done much to calm Roman down. He knew Seth's track record in relationships, his record of breaking things off after a few months, and even worse there was also his history of cheating. In the past, Roman had always had his brother's back, even when he had been in the wrong, but Ronda was not just Seth's girlfriend, she was also Roman's sister. As he slid into the pool, Roman knew exactly whose side he would come down on if Seth did anything to hurt Ronda as he had with some of his past girlfriends.
Monday Night Raw 18th May 2015
With the opening pyro display complete, the crowd cheered as the Raw theme music played and Michael Cole made his introductions. The Raw theme stopped playing and a moment later Ronda's music hit to a thunderous response from the crowd.
"Here comes Ronda Rousey, guys," Cole announced as Ronda walked out onto the stage, wearing a leather jacket and her official WWE t-shirt. "Listen to this ovation for the number one contender for the Divas title. Last night at Payback, Stephanie McMahon confirmed that Ronda would face the winner of the Divas title match, which ended up being Sarita Lopez. But guys, that's not all."
"No it isn't," Booker T joined in. "After the match, Brie Bella attempted to... No, she did cash in her Money in the Bank contract on Lopez, but then Brie's own sister, Nikki, turned on her and cost her the match. I think I speak for all of us when I say I want to know why."
"Right," Saxton agreed. "I'm glad to see that Sarita Lopez got her title back, which was unfairly taken from her by Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey, but there's no excuse for what Nikki Bella did last night. It was appalling."
Ronda was in the ring by this point, and her music faded out. "I'm someone who's better at fighting than I am at talking, so this will be brief," she began. "Last night, we found out..." She stopped herself abruptly and looked at a bunch of five or six guys a few rows back from ringside who had started to chant her name. Within seconds, everyone in the arena seemed to have joined in, and the chant became deafening.
"Listen to this, guys. Ronda has this crowd in the palm of her hand," Cole said.
Ronda waited for the chant to fade away before she continued. "Last night, we found out that the stage is set, at last. Ronda Rousey will meet Sarita Lopez, one on one, for the Divas title. Believe me, I've been looking forward to this every bit as much as you all have. Sarita, I know you're here and I know you're listening," Ronda said, looking directly at the camera. "Look into my eyes Sarita, and believe what I'm about to say to you. I'm going to take my title back from you, and it's not going to happen quickly. I'm going to take my time with you, and it's going to hurt." The crowd cheered this, keen to see exactly what Ronda had just described.
Ronda resumed pacing the ring. "Sarita, let me describe to you what it's going to be like when you step into this ring to go one on one with me, be it tonight, next week, or at the next pay-per-view. You'll be standing in this corner, with your bottom lip trembling, and a suspiciously warm liquid running down your legs."
The crowd cheered as Ronda walked over to the opposite corner of the ring. "And I will be in this corner, staring you right in the eye, and getting ready to knock your head clean off your shoulders with a clothesline the likes of which you've never felt in your life."
The crowd cheered again as Ronda walked into the centre of the ring. "The two of us will walk into the centre of the ring, just like this, and every single fan in the building will be doing exactly what they're doing right now. They'll be standing on their feet, and they'll all be chanting my name." Instantly, everyone in the crowd did just that, Ronda's name being roared throughout the arena once more.
"This is incredible," Cole said. "Can you imagine being Sarita Lopez in that situation?"
"I'd rather not," Booker laughed.
When the chant subsided, Ronda was about to speak again, but she didn't get the chance, as May Devany's theme music hit, drawing another huge cheer from the crowd, and stopping Ronda in her tracks as she snapped around to face the entrance.
"There's May Devany," Cole announced. "She appeared to have the Divas title won at one point last night, but Ronda Rousey, who was the special referee, was down on the outside at the time."
"Thanks to May," Saxton pointed out. "It was May who took Ronda out to begin with, and who can tell if Sarita would have kicked out of that five star or not? No one made a count."
"I'm more interested in what May's doing coming out here interrupting Ronda," Booker said as May rolled into the ring and took a microphone for herself. Ronda had not taken her eyes off of the diminutive woman the whole time.
"I'm sitting there in the back," May began, "And all I can hear is you out here, talking about how you're the number one contender and how you'll be the next one to face Sarita Lopez." She stopped pacing and looked Ronda in the eye, "I'm out here to tell you that I don't see it that way."
The crowd cheered loudly, but this cheer had a different characteristic to it, containing anticipation of the possible and unexpected fight between the two women more than anything else, as Ronda cocked her head slightly and stared back at May, who continued. "It's all well and good standing there with that stupid look on your face, but let me refresh your memory about what exactly happened last night. I had Sarita Lopez beat in the middle of the ring after a Five Star, but you weren't there to make the count. If you hadn't been stupid enough to get in the way so that I knocked you out of the ring with that cross body, you'd be talking about facing May Devany instead of Sarita Lopez. It's as simple as that."
"May's got a point," Cole said as the crowd cheered once more at what May had said, partly at the element of truth within the statement, but also at the confrontational tone that May was using to Ronda.
Ronda still stood with her eyes locked on May, but didn't make any attempt to respond. "You're still looking like you don't see things from my point of view," May said, staring right back at her. "So, I've got an idea. Take your little leather jacket off, and you and I can take care of business, right here, right now."
"Wow!" Cole exclaimed as the crowd roared even more loudly. "This really developed quickly."
"Are May and Ronda going to go at it?" Saxton asked, delighted by the prospect. May tossed her microphone out of the ring, and stood watching Ronda carefully. Ronda slowly looked around at the fans, who began to chant her name again.
"They're chanting her name," Booker said, "They want to see Ronda and May, and they want to see it right now."
Slowly, Ronda slipped out of her leather jacket, and made a great show of holding it out with one hand before dropping it to the mat, with the crowd loving every second of it. "They're going to go, right here and now!" Cole yelled.
At that moment, JBL's music hit, along with Sarita's entrance video, drawing an incredible volley of boos, which were in part caused by their hatred of Sarita, but also the fact that she had just prevented the physical confrontation which everyone wanted to see.
"What's she doing out here?" Cole groaned as Sarita walked out onto the stage, with her Divas title over her shoulder and a very fake looking smile on her face.
"Ladies, ladies," she pretended to chastise the two women in the ring, after her music and the boos had faded. "This is all so unnecessary. What you need to do is pay more attention when you're here in the back, because if you did, you would know exactly what the situation is as relates to the number one contendership for my Divas title." Another volley of boos came at Sarita.
"You can boo me," she grinned at the crowd, "But you can't change the fact that I pinned May Devany and Brie Bella right in the middle of the ring last night, can you?"
"Please," Cole snorted derisively.
Sarita continued. "What I was trying to say is that it has been decided that there will be a triple threat match to determine who the number one contender for my title will be."
"A triple threat match?" Cole demanded. "Decided by who?"
Sarita continued one more, "There are three people in WWE who I have problem with, and all three of you want a shot at me. Only one of you is going to get one. Therefore, next week on Raw, we will see a triple threat match between you, Ronda Rousey..." The crowd roared loudly and began to chant Ronda's name.
"Yeah, yeah," Sarita sighed before chanting Ronda's name herself, but pretending to sound like a simpleton as she did so, drawing more boos. "Ronda will be in the match, as will May Devany, and so will Brie Bella."
"Yes!" Cole exclaimed as the crowd cheered again. "Brie gets another chance; that's only fair. I can't wait for that match, but it's pretty obvious that this was put together by Lopez and JBL in order to soften up whoever wins the match."
"Either they want to fight Sarita Lopez or they don't," Saxton said. "Sarita's an honest, fighting champion."
Cole responded with a sarcastic laughing sound as in the ring, Ronda finally decided to say something. "May, I was all set to kick your ass, but how about this? Why don't you and I go up there and tear Sarita apart?"
With that, Ronda rolled quickly out of the ring and sprinted up the ramp, with May following close behind. Sarita reacted quickly and ran through the curtain to the back. When Ronda and May got backstage only a moment later, they were met by a large group of referees who prevented them from chasing after Sarita, who was long gone along the hallway.
"I've got to tell you guys," Booker said. "Whether it's Ronda Rousey, May Devany or Brie Bella, I have to think that Sarita Lopez has one hell of a beating coming her way, and I can't wait to see it happen."
Later in the show, following a commercial break, Nikki Bella was shown walking along a hallway, drawing a loud chorus of boos from the crowd as they watched on the big screen. "There's Nikki Bella," Cole said, making his contempt obvious. "What a disgusting, repulsive human being that woman is."
Booker joined in. "What she did last night? I've never seen anyone do anything that low in all my time in wrestling, and I've seen a lot of things. It doesn't matter what her reasons were, there's no possible justification for Nikki costing her own sister the Divas title after everything that's happened. She knew exactly what it meant to Brie to win that Money in the Bank, and what it would have meant to win the Divas title, and she turned on her."
Renee Young appeared in the shot. "Nikki? Nikki, I have to ask you, why did you do what you did last night? Why did you turn on Brie, your own sister?"
Nikki stopped walking and looked at Renee as if she didn't understand the question. "Sorry? Why did I turn on Brie? Think about it, Renee. Don't you think you should be asking Brie that question, rather than me? Ask Brie why she turned on me."
"What?" Renee asked, shaking her head slightly in confusion. "Ask Brie what?"
"Why she turned on me," Nikki spat, pure hatred on her face. "Everyone's going around making me out to be the one in the wrong, the one who turned on her own sister, and you know what? It makes me sick. I didn't turn on Brie. Brie turned on me!"
"What are you... What are you talking about?" Renee stammered, totally lost.
"Think back, Renee. Think back to Extreme Rules. I was in the best shape of my life. I'd never felt so good. I was dominating that cage match and I was going to win that Money in the Bank contract. I felt sure of it. But then what happened? Brie came out, and did she help me, like a sister should? Did she even help me fight the other Divas and then take me on one on one at the end to decide the winner? No. What did she do? She blind sided me and almost knocked me out with a running knee. She pinned me and eliminated me. My own sister did that to me, and did anyone say or do anything about it? Was anyone outraged? No!"
"That's why you attacked Brie last night?" Renee asked quietly, shocked.
"You know what Brie said to me in that cage, Renee, after she pinned me? She said, 'Every woman for herself,' and shrugged it off. Brie wanted it this way, every woman for herself, and she got it. So, don't you or anyone else dare come crying to me about what happened last night, because I don't regret it at all, and I'd do it again." With that, Nikki walked away, leaving Renee staring blankly after her.