Chapter 25

Dolph and I get up early in order to head to the hotel where all the non-Orlando based talent is staying. The company has set up a conference room where we are to go get our schedules for Axxess appearances and all the media obligations we have to do in the days leading up to Wrestlemania. I groan as my schedule shows that I am booked pretty solid all the way till Sunday. I leave Dolph who is going to go with Zack to the gym since I have plans to meet Ravyn at the Performance Center. On my way out of the conference room I am stopped by Mark Carrano who is standing with Nikki and a camera crew from Total Divas. "Ah! There she is! How are you feeling heading into your first Mania?" he asks rubbing his hands together grinning. I catch Nikki rolling her eyes out of the corner of my eye which makes me smile. "I am so ready. I'm nervous, but excited." I tell him. "Isn't it great?" He says turning to Nikki, "we are going to be making history with our women's division this year!" He says excitedly as she plasters a huge fake smile to her face, "It is amazing." She says and I can detect a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I hope you really are ready, you don't want to embarrass yourself on the big stage." She tells me not even bother trying to hide the attitude from her voice. "Okay…" Carrano says his eyes shifting between the two of us obviously sensing the tension. "I'm sure JJ will be great. She has more than earned this opportunity." Carrano tells Nikki who just rolls her eyes again and leaves. "Well…good luck at Mania." Carrano tells me quickly before he too walks away. I just shrug and head off to go meet Ravyn.

I walk into the Performance Center to find Ravyn sitting on the edge of the ring waiting for me. We get right to work planning some spots for the match, taking extra care to work with the ladders. One of my greatest fears of this match is looking awkward carrying the ladder around. After a few hours we are both exhausted so we take a quick breather. We sit on the apron catching our breath as I take a huge drink of water. "I can't believe Mania is only three days away…" she observes taking a sip of water. "I'm not going to lie…I'm freaking out." I admit laughing nervously. Ravyn agrees with me, admitting that she is nervous too. "I never dreamed we would be in this caliber of match at Mania together…let alone our first one. Talk about dreams coming true." I beam happily. "We're sure lucky. We've come a long way and the company must trust us a lot to let us have a ladder match." She says unable to contain her excitement. "I just hope we can pull it off." I worry out loud.

I take another drink of water as Ravyn looks to be struggling with something to say. "Hey J…" she starts, sounding nervous, "how would you feel if I left Florida?" She finally blurts out and I can't help but smile. "I'll only allow it if this conversation is going where I think it's going." I say as she blushes, "AJ sort of asked me to move in with him last night when I was complaining about never being home." She explains. "It's a huge step for both of you, especially after all the crap that has happened the last few months." I try to encourage her sensing her doubt, "if you feel it's the right thing to do then you should go for it." She sighs, "I'm not sure if it's the right move, but I think it's worth the risk." She admits, "I just didn't want to leave you alone without any warning." She adds and I chuckle, "Hey, it's like you said, we are never here. Don't worry about me. I have Dolph and sometimes we stay in Phoenix anyways. Besides, we see each other more at the arenas than we do during off days anyways. Nothing will change." I rationalize as she smiles at me. "Thanks friend. I think that was the push I needed."

We get back to work in the ring for a while longer before calling it a day. I clean up before I head off to do my first Axxess signing which luckily is with Dolph. Most of the fans are fantastic, glad to be taking part in the Wrestlemania festivities. There are a few creeps who drop snide comments about the damn photo causing Dolph to tense up every time but he manages to keep his cool and just ignore them. We finish the signing a couple hours later and head to do a sit-down interview with Renee for the WWE Network. We cover all sorts of topics from our relationship to our careers. Dolph and Renee have such an amazing chemistry that the whole interview just feels like three friends hanging out. Renee asks me how I'm feeling heading into such a historic match, "to say that I'm nervous would be an understatement Renee." I chuckle, "I'm actually starting to freak out. I've always been a huge fan of ladder matches and to be able to be in the first ever women's ladder match on the grand stage of Wrestlemania? Talk about pressure." I tell her truthfully. "Well, you have a great knowledge base of ladder match tips at your disposal. Dolph how do you feel about the match? You've had some incredible ladder matches in your career." She says to Dolph, "oh stop Renee." He says pretending to be embarrassed before he gets serious. "No, in all seriousness, I'm very proud of her. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this and in my completely professional and unbiased opinion no one deserves it more than she does." He praises causing me to blush. We chat some more about ladder matches before ending the interview.

After the interview with Renee we head to radio row where several sports podcasts and local media are set up and we move down the line answering the same questions over and over again. How do I feel about the match? What went wrong in my friendship with Ravyn? Am I afraid of getting hurt? And so on and so on. By the time I reach the end I am spent. I find Dolph who had finished before I did chatting with Chris Jericho. "Hey! You survived your first media marathon!" Jericho jokes as I approach. "Barely. I'm glad I won't have to do that again for a year." I say with a yawn. "You wouldn't mind doing one more would you? I was just telling Dolph that I'd like to have both of you on my show." Jericho asks. "Oh yeah? I'd love to do that! I love your show." I tell him excitedly. "Babe…he was hoping to do it tonight…" Dolph says carefully and realization hits that my night just got longer. "Oh…" I say unsure at first because of how exhausted I am. "You know what…let's do it. It would be an honor to be on Talk is Jericho." I agree.

We make plans for Jericho to get his recording equipment and then just meet us back at my apartment where we would have a late dinner and record the show. We set up is equipment on my coffee table and after we eat we settle in on my coach with drinks and kick off the show. He starts off by introducing and setting the scene of us hanging out in my apartment and it being just a few days away from Wrestlemania. We start with the basics, a brief history of my wrestling background, spending time discussing my training with Jericho's friend Lance Storm, before covering how I made my way to the WWE. "So how long have you two been dating now?" he asks next. Dolph and I both glance at each other grinning, "around 6 months?" Dolph says first and I nod. "That sounds about right." I agree. "How did it happen? Who asked who? Dish on the juicy details!" Jericho asks as if we are gossiping in a high school cafeteria and I laugh. "He started harassing me while I was eating breakfast at the hotel one morning." I tease. "We just started talking one morning and it became a daily thing for us to eat breakfast together for a few weeks which then morphed into me riding with him and Broski and so on…it just sort of happened." I say as Dolph shakes his head. "No, you are leaving out some parts. We had a dinner date, and I was a complete gentleman and brought you an ice pack when you had hurt your hip." Dolph adds and I grin. "Just making sure you remembered babe." I say with a smirk. "Okay, you two are disgustingly cute." Jericho quips and I laugh.

We talk a lot more about our relationship before transitioning into the drama that unfolded on Total Divas. The first episode with the car accident in Japan aired just last night. "You were really lucky in that crash, weren't you?" I'm quiet for a moment, thinking back to that day. "We really were. The rush hour traffic in Japan was some of the craziest I have ever experienced. That car was barreling towards us so fast that I barely had a chance to react. If they had hit our car any further back the impact would have been right at my door…well let's just say it could have been a lot worse." I admit as Dolph takes my hand giving it a squeeze. Jericho sees this and turns the questions to Dolph, "Now Dolph what was running through your mind when you found out what happened?" Dolph sighs, "we didn't really know what had happened. They had trouble getting a call to the arena where I was waiting for her, she was supposed to have teamed with Zack and I, but they were running late getting back. We knew something had happened but didn't know what. They gathered all of us guys together and told us a whole lot of nothing. It was a long hour of worry, which wasn't helped when we saw Doc go sprinting by on his way to go to the scene which just made my imagination starting running wild with all these horrible scenarios of what was going on." His voice is heavy with emotion as he recounts the day. "They got back just as I was supposed to be going to the ring, I was refusing to go until I saw her, which got me in some trouble but there was no way I would have been able to work not knowing." He adds. Now it's my turn to squeeze his hand, "Luckily everyone was okay." Jericho says expressing all our thoughts.

I'm thankful when the Total Divas talk doesn't turn into the fight in Mexico as Jericho transitions us into the next topic. "We are 72 hours away from your very first Wrestlemania, and what away to make your debut. The first ever women's ladder match for the title. You aren't afraid of heights are you?" I laugh, "luckily no. I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I am huge ladder match fan thanks to the Hardyz, Dudleys, and Edge and Christian from back in the day. Then there is this guy right here who in my completely unbiased opinion has had some of the best ladder matches in recent years." I brag. "I'm going to try and watch as many ladder matches as I can in my little bit of free time over the next couple of days between all my appearances." I add "Do you feel having Dolph in your corner for advice is a huge advantage for you over Ravyn?" he questions. "I certainly hope so. Winning my first ever title in a history making match at Wrestlemania would be the biggest accomplishment of my life." I admit. "You are good friends with Ravyn right?" Jericho asks and I laugh nervously not sure if I should stick with kayfabe or not. I hate kayfabe so screw it. "Yes, she is my best friend. She actually is two floors below us right now still living in the apartment we used to share before I moved up here." I say which seems to shock Jericho. "Really? And you've been friends a long time right?" "Ten years. I ran away from the states right after I turned 18. I had scrapped together as much money as I could to buy a junker of a car, packed the few belongings I had after spending eight years in foster care…" Jericho interrupts me his eyes wide. "You were in foster care?" He sounds stunned. "Do you mind if I ask why?" he asks carefully. "No, it's fine. It's no secret. My mom split when I was really young and when I was 10 my dad went to jail. I haven't seen either of them sense then." I tell him matter of factly. "Wow…I had no idea." He seems stunned, unsure of what to say next. "Really, it's okay. The whole situation has shaped who I am today and lead me down this path. I wouldn't change anything." I try to reassure him.

"So, you went to Canada and met Ravyn, did you become friends right away?" He asks changing the subject. "Believe it or not, no. There was only a couple of women there when I arrived so when we first met there was a little bit professional animosity. We were the others competition. We didn't dislike each other, but we also didn't take any steps to be friendly with each other. I was actually living in my car when I first got to Calgary. After travel expenses and paying for training I didn't have money for a hotel and I was having trouble getting a job since I didn't have a work visa. It was late fall so it was already starting to get pretty cold at night…she caught me one night, I'd been hiding it from everyone you see, and she took me out for French fries, we are both potato addicts. She let me crash with her and even helped me get dual citizenship so I could find a job and we've been inseparable ever since. We spent the next five years working the indy scene before we both got recruited to NXT together, spent the last five years there before we both got called up to Smackdown Live together and now here we are heading into Wrestlemania together, it just blows my mind every time I say it out loud. I don't think it will sink in for me until I am making my way down the ramp on Sunday that this match is really happening."

We make some more small talk before ending the podcast. We talked so long that it is now really late and I have to be up early to do a signing, plus an afternoon signing with Ravyn before we have to get ready for hall of fame.

I wake up early and head to axxess for my solo signing. I have loved getting to have all this extra time with the fans the last couple of days. Their enthusiasm and excitement has been contagious as they come through for autographs and selfies. They come through the line and get 8x10s signed, some though bring fan art which is incredible. I have a short break before I have a three-hour signing with Ravyn at noon. They sit us at opposite ends of an extra-long table. The fans cheer as we take our sets, me sitting at the entrance of the line so the fans would be meeting me first as they begin filing their way onto the stage.

I smile brightly as a little girl hands me half of a friendship necklace telling me that the other half is for Ravyn and that she hopes we can be friends again. I thank her, putting the necklace on and telling her that maybe we would be some day. I watch out of the corner of my eyes as the girl moves down the table to Ravyn and hands her the other half of the necklace. I can tell she is trying to not break character while at the same time not bringing the little girl to tears.

The end of our signing is signaled by the appearance of Renee and a WWE camera crew for the next part of my day. We wind up the signing and Ravyn disappears behind the curtain lining the back of the stage as Renee comes up to me. I stand next to Renee as the camera begins to roll. "JJ…even though you and Ravyn came up through NXT together, got called up to the main roster at the same time, and with Ravyn missing six months of action with a shoulder injury YOU are the one being considered the underdog, how does that make you feel?" She asks shifting the microphone in my direction. "You know Renee…I've been considered the underdog throughout my entire career. I'm the good little worker that's always there to put on a good match but always gets looked over to make that next step into the title picture. I had to scratch and claw my way into this match. I beat the best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be, Natalya in the first round! She's a past champion and future hall of famer in my opinion, then I had to beat another former champ in Alexa Bliss before finally putting away Carmella in the final round. I EARNED my way to Wrestlemania and Renee I'll be damned if I don't put every ounce of fight I have into that match. I'll climb those ladders until I physically can't climb anymore, and when I win…well it will just prove that the underdog can win the big fight."

I just finish my sentence as I get blasted from behind as Ravyn comes bursting back through the curtain attacking me. She kicks me repeatedly while I am down as the crowd gasps in shock. She grabs my hair pulling me up to my feet lifting me up for a powerbomb. She hesitates just a moment letting it sink into the crowd what she is about to do before power bombing me through the table we had just finished signing autographs at. She stands over me smirking out at the crowd as they boo loudly before she disappears back behind the curtain. I'm helped to the back by a couple of security guards, making sure I give a reassuring wave to the fans.