Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.
Part Twenty-One
It had been awhile since Eve had stood at ringside, cheering someone on. In fact, if her memory was correct, it had been about a year since she'd done so... And that particular alliance hadn't lasted very long, thanks to the combination of Ryder not being willing to be just friends and Kane using Cena's friendship with Zack to then drag her into the whole mess between the two of them. Before that, she'd walked out sometimes with Kelly when they weren't tagging together, but even that hadn't been truly managing someone. The last person she'd had a managing contract with was R-Truth, and that had ended two years before. So really, standing there between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns and cheering Seth Rollins on for his match felt a little... strange. Not in a bad way, just... different.
"C'mon, Seth!" Eve shouted out, the diva slapping her hands on the mat. She'd given up on trying to hold onto her title and cheer at the same time, instead taking the divas' championship over to the timekeeper's table. A quick glance to the side told her the belt was currently in Lilian Garcia's lap, which Eve was fine with. She knew Lilian wouldn't do anything to damage the belt; the ring announcer could be trusted.
As Seth slammed back into the turnbuckle, forcing Dolph to break the sleeper hold that he'd had locked in, Eve nodded in approval, then let out a cheer when Seth followed that up with a fantastic-looking kick that hit Ziggler squarely in the face. Seth could get some serious height when he left the ground for his kick, and he seemed able to do it at a lightning-speed, too.
"Short stuff is getting angry over there. Might need to keep an eye out," Roman said quietly from his spot next to her, the man leaning in toward her to make sure she heard his words, and Eve nodded, her gaze sliding over to the spot on the other side of the ring where AJ Lee was, the woman pacing back and forth and glaring at what was happening inside the ring as Seth continued to take control, the man nailing a drop toe-hold on Ziggler that actually sent the man face-first into the second turnbuckle, the move drawing more cheers from the Shield's side of the ring... And, actually, Eve realized, some of the fans in the stands. Of course, while Ziggler was an exciting performer, he'd done some pretty low things to people over his time in the WWE, including an extended period of time when he'd been involved with (and later just managed by) Vickie Guerrero, the wrestler at times using Vickie's influence and power to get repeated title shots... He'd briefly even been a part of Laurinaitis's repeated attempt to get the WWE championship off of CM Punk the year before. As for Seth... While he and the rest of the Shield had taken down a lot of people in sneak attacks during their brief time in the WWE, their first ever match in the company had pretty much stolen the show at the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view, earning both 'this is awesome' and 'holy shit' chants during the course of it. Clearly, whether fans approved of the tactics the Shield or Ziggler had used, they still enjoyed watching them wrestle.
Shaking her head slightly, Eve let her gaze go back to where AJ still wandered the side of the ring, the diva shifting a little closer to Roman. "As long as she stays on the floor, then I won't have to take her down," Eve said quietly, the woman taking a step back - the men on either side of her doing the same - as Seth came crashing into the turnbuckle closest to where they were standing, Ambrose's arm coming out in front of Eve, the man stepping so that he was a little bit in front of her... Perhaps so he would be the one to take the initial impact if the action came to the outside. The gesture ended up being unnecessary, though, as Seth and Ziggler both remained inside the ring, Rollins managing to get his foot up when Ziggler tried to nail him with a splash in the corner. Shaking his head, Ziggler went down to a knee at the impact, and Eve sensed more than saw Ambrose smile a little at that... And then Rollins was out of the corner, the man stomping Ziggler's head hard into the mat, slamming him face-first into it, and Eve realized why it was that Dean had been smiling. He'd known that the position Dolph had been in would make him vulnerable to the move, and he also knew that move was likely going to be enough to stun someone to the point where they would stay down for the three-count.
And that was exactly what happened.
Seth quickly reached down, shoving Ziggler onto his back and going for the pin, hooking the leg and leaning his weight on the older man as the referee counted... one... two... three. Seth Rollins had just beaten Dolph Ziggler.
And Big E Langston and AJ Lee were not happy about it.
The pair of them were in the ring almost immediately - AJ had actually been climbing into the ring as the three-count was made, the woman too late to break up the pin (which would have caused a disqualification anyway) - and Eve cringed as Langston made a grab for Seth, grabbing a fistful of hair and trying to yank him to his feet. Moving quickly, Dean and Roman hopped up onto the ring apron and climbed into the ring, the two men leveling Langston with a double-clothesline while Eve went after AJ, grabbing hold of the younger diva and pretty much just tossing her out of the ring before she could really try much of anything. Shaking her head, Eve made her way over to where Seth was still sitting on the mat, the man rubbing at his head. Arching a brow, she held out a hand to him, and he looked up, smiling a little as he took hold of her hand and let her help him pull himself to his feet, the diva then letting Seth pull her in for a quick hug before she lifted his hand in victory since the referee wasn't there to do it... The man had fled the ring when it seemed things might get out of hand. Not that they really had... Well, not for them, anyway. After all, they weren't the ones that had ended up sprawled at ringside.
"And once again, you miss me laying Big E out with a spear," Roman muttered from beside her, and Eve looked over at him, the diva absently accepting her title from Ambrose as the man handed it to her. A glance to the floor told her that Langston was now outside the ring, his arm banded over his stomach as he gasped for breath. Yeah, he'd definitely taken another hit from Roman.
"Well, I guess you're just going to have to do it again sometime," she told the big man beside her, and he gave her a smile.
"I think that can be arranged."