Chapter Eleven

John Cena

Man, the heat that the fans are giving me is just off the charts!

Slowly, but surely, I've been making progress with this new rap star gimmick that creative thought I should run with. It's been a lot of fun, so far. They put me with Bull Buchanan for a little bit, then my character replaced him with Red Dogg, a rad cat by the name of Rodney Mack.

Tonight, even though I'm not carded, I'm sitting backstage at the 2002 Armageddon pay-per-view, thinking about next month's Royal Rumble. Man, it would be so awesome if I won it. But the top dog right now here is Brock Lesnar, last month he got screwed over by his "agent" Paul Heyman. It would be so awesome getting a run at Brock, but at the moment he's tied up with Kurt Angle. I heard around here that Stephanie McMahon and the writers team want to set something up between the two of them for WrestleMania. That would be awesome to see. No plans for me just yet. It would be cool to be at WrestleMania, taking part of the promotions.

Christmas is right around the corner, and Charlie Brennan is coming up to see his daughter. She's still trying to sell him about moving up to Missouri to be closer to her, since all he really has down in Texas is his shop. I don't know what's up with the rest of her family; Amberlea never talks about it, but I think it would be pretty good for the two of them to live close to each other.

I'm off to my home turf in New Westbury to spend it with my brothers and my parents. Dan's been seeing this new woman named Jessica that I'm finally going get to meet. My mom just told me Sean got engaged to his girlfriend Elisa. Sometimes that's kind of the lame thing about being so far away from the family; I wind up missing out

Randy's spending Christmas with his family, and I heard he's contemplating inviting Amberlea and Charlie to spend Christmas with them since it was going to be the two of them. I doubt that, though; Randy seems to be a bit of a chicken with Amberlea. For why, I have no idea; the rumours are backstage that he has a bit of a crush on Trish Stratus. Which is odd; I didn't know Randy was into blondes. I always had him pegged as a brunette guy.

Tonight I got to see them both; Amberlea is currently in a fatal-four-way match against Trish Stratus, Victoria and Jacqueline for the Women's Championship. She isn't supposed to come out victorious tonight, but sooner or later, her hard work is going to pay off. She's becoming such a well-rounded athlete and personality. I'm still waiting to see the photo spread of her in WWE Magazine. I think the issue goes on stands Tuesday. If the photographer understood what kind of a natural beauty Lea is, I'll bet that the photographs are going to be downright amazing. Her interview had gone well; nobody internally had cried foul, anyway. Not that I'd heard, anyway.

"Hey, man, what's up?"

I looked up to see Randy. His arm is officially out of the sling and he's improving by leaps and bounds each day. They're getting ready to stick him back on TV pretty soon. The ball is starting to roll, slowly but surely, with Triple H and this new faction. Dave Bautista's been taken from "Deacon Batista" on SmackDown to be a member of this group.

"Yo, man. What's up?"

"Not too much. Kind of bored. Been watching the matches by myself. Amberlea's really holding her own out there, isn't she?"

"Yeah. She's really improving by leaps and bounds with these guys," I conceded. "How's your arm?"

"A bit stiff, but it's coming along really well. They're saying I could be back in the ring within the next couple weeks, so I can't complain. I've had my fill of this being injured and taking it easy shit."

"No doubt." Randy leaned against the trunk I was sitting on, arms crossed over his chest. In the distance, Eddie Guerrero was being interviewed for the DVD release regarding his match with Chris Benoit, a short, stumpy guy who just screamed intense. "So, what are you up to after the show tonight?"

"Not sure. Probably just going to pass out. You?"

"Probably the same. Got to be up early for Raw tomorrow."

"Yeah. I'm just heading off to the next town for SmackDown early. No sense in going home for a day just to go out. Gives me a chance to get settled, sight-see and write some rhymes."

"Have you and your boys started the album yet?"

"I've got some stuff written, but I'm not too sure where we're going with it just yet. It's pretty much just brainstorming and basic outlines right now." He nodded. We looked up as the black curtains that separated us from the Gorilla opened and Lisa came through the curtains, the Women's Championship planted firmly over her shoulder. Trish came through next, only moments later, holding her lower back. I could have sworn I caught her and Randy locking eyes, but she just walked past us to the trainer's room. Jacqueline followed, limping a little bit from a misplaced kick. One of the backstage techs caught up with her and escorted her to the same trainer's office where Trish was receiving attention.

Finally, the curtains swung open and Amberlea came through, hand on her hip in a way that told me she had bumped it funny out in the ring. But she wasn't going to the trainer's room. Instead, she approached us.

"You okay, Lea?" I asked as she made her way over. She nodded.

"Yeah. I'll need a bit of ice tonight, but everything's fine." She looked over at Randy. "You still riding with Trish and I tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Unless you don't want me around…"

"Oh, cut it out," she chastised lightly with a laugh. "Trish and I are happy to have you around." I wanted to cut in and ask Amberlea about Trish and Randy, but I sure wasn't about to air anything in public. She flashed us her beautiful smile. "Now, I hate to do this, but I've got to go and get cleaned up. I don't want to miss the main event. I will catch you guys later, okay? Stay out of trouble, you two."

"Who, us?" Randy teased, cocking his eyebrow. I had to take a second look at him; he was actually teasing back. Maybe getting the sling off put him in a better mood than I realized. Amberlea smirked, gave us a goodbye and sauntered off down the hall, her hand never leaving her hip.

"Hope she's not hurt too seriously," I mused. Randy shrugged.

"If it was really bad, she'd be in seeing the trainer. I could say a lot of things about Amberlea, but I won't say she's stupid. Anyway, I've got to go talk to Vince. I will see you this week." I nodded and watched Randy leave. For some reason, just me on the trunk, I felt like the odd man out.

Randy Orton

My shoulder's a bit stiff, but thankfully getting better more and more every day. I don't want anything to happen that's going to fuck up this chance to work with Triple H and Ric Flair. Vince is really high on the idea, and Triple H is bursting at the seams with different ideas for this group he's calling "Evolution".

The meeting with Vince wasn't too bad. He just wanted a timetable on my return. He's a pretty intimidating guy, larger than life, but Triple H manages to get away with saying stuff to him that would probably get my ass fired. Then again, he's in real good with the McMahon family, so I have no doubt that plays a huge part of it. Stephanie sat in on our meeting. She's a pretty awesome chick, quick to make sure that everybody's comfortable backstage, especially if they had spent the night before out with her brother Shane.

I don't know Shane too well. He doesn't really sit in on any meetings or anything. Just keeps his head down and does his job. Vince's wife Linda is hardly ever on the road with us. She prefers to handle any WWE business from the headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

When the show ended, I just went back to my hotel. Trish, Amberlea and I were leaving early tomorrow and I needed to get as much rest as I could, considering I had volunteered to drive first. Not that I've told the girls yet, but I'm treating them to breakfast tomorrow as a thank you for driving me around so much while I was injured. Between Amberlea and Trish, they sure made sure I was taken care of on the road while I was recovering. Amberlea's even been helpful enough to help me with some of my physiotherapy exercises backstage. I really couldn't be any more fortunate to have a friend like her.

The hotel room isn't too bad; not one of the worst hotel rooms I've ever been in, but still nothing to write home about. At least it's clean. I threw my bags down on the floor and flopped back on the couch. Turning on the TV, I settled on some old South Park re-run, putting my feet up on the coffee table. Sometimes it's just nice to have these moments to relax, especially once Evolution really gets started. I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of time spent with Hunter, Ric, and maybe Dave if the rumours are true.

I remember growing up, watching wrestling with my friends and wanting to be Ric Flair. Putting on my dad's bathrobe and staring in the mirror, trying to give the best "woo" I could muster. My mom used to laugh at me over it. My dad, on the other hand, would beam with pride. Ironically, years later when I told them that I wanted to try my hand in the business, they were both very reluctant, and both didn't want to see me go into the business. Thankfully, since they've both seen how I've been doing, they've come around. I wonder how Charlie must have taken it when he found out that this was the life Amberlea wanted. I know if I ever have a daughter, this is the last thing I'd want her to be doing. Not that I look down on the business; not by any means. It isn't even about the people back here. I'd support my child either way, but the sacrifices are so high. Especially for women, though that's something nobody ever talks about. The women probably sacrifice more for this business than anyone, sacrificing motherhood and stuff. They get put in the middle of the line between motherhood and career, and it's an unenviable position to be in. But I digress. We all make these choices because this is what we want. We want our dreams. But it's a shame to think that Amberlea is going to give up her chance to be a mother. I guess I shouldn't say that; who knows what the future holds?

Amberlea Brennan

I took an awkward hip toss from Lisa Marie tonight, and now there's a decent bruise forming on the bone.

Pulling off my black shirt and just randomly throwing it on the floor, I went towards the shower. Sure, it sucks I'm not the Women's Champion tonight, but the fact I got to go out and hang with three of the greatest WWE Divas, two of whom are my close friends. And in the morning, I get to travel onto the next town with two of my closest friends. The best part is I get paid to hang out with my best friends.

The shower was awesome; flopping down on the bed afterwards was even better. It's not the best hotel, but Trish is upstairs and Randy is four doors down, in case I need anything or want to hang out. Tonight, though, is all about getting some much needed rest after having such a hard fought battle tonight.

John and Randy have been a bit different lately. I don't know if they're picking up on it, or if I should say anything, but I sense some kind of underlying tension between the two of them. I could be paranoid, maybe it's just a by-product of Randy's moodiness. If anything were wrong, I know they would have had it all hashed out and water under the bridge by now.

I turned on the television and settled on a rerun of an old Married With Children, a show I used to watch with my dad every Sunday night growing up. My thoughts went to him; Christmas was ten days away; he'd be here in five to spend a few weeks, even though I was going to be on the road. A huge part of me wanted to talk to Vince about letting him travel with me. I didn't think it would be a problem; after all, everyone brought their families backstage at some point or another. And I would love for my dad to get to meet everyone, and get to visit with Randy and John for longer than a day or two. I think my dad and Randy would bond over motorcycles, and him and John would bond over sports. It's the best of both worlds.

Working with the WWE so far has been amazing. And going into 2003, I couldn't be more excited about what the future could bring for me. And for John and Randy. The three of us were going to reign supreme in 2003. Unstoppable. A huge part of me wants to take part in WrestleMania. From the sounds of it, it may be a possibility, as they're talking about Trish and I feuding with Victoria to the extent where they put me against Trish. Logistically, from a storyline standpoint, I don't get it, but I'm just willing to go with it and see to it that I give the fans the best that I can give them.