"It is now time for the women's Royal Rumble match!" Greg Hamilton announced, standing in the middle of the ring. He spent what seemed like ten minutes explaining the simple rules of the match, with the fans waiting impatiently. "And now, it's time to find out who drew number one!"

After a short pause, Ronda Rousey's music hit. Although she was a heel, the huge crowd at Arizona's Chase Field came to their feet, making one hell of a noise. For the past year or so, Ronda had been utterly dominant on Raw, only losing the Raw Women's Championship thanks to a triple threat match, where she herself had not been beaten.

Of all the people to enter at number one, Ronda was the worst as far as the rest of the entrants were concerned. Entering the ring and facing her was not something anyone would look forward to.

It didn't take long for Ronda to storm down the aisle and enter the ring, looking ready to tear anyone she encountered limb from limb. She stood on the opposite side of the ring to the entrance and limbered up while Hamilton made his next announcement.

"And the person who drew number two…"

The Riott Squad's music began to play. Liv Morgan came up the steps to end of the aisle and sprinted to the ring. If she was daunted about taking on Rousey, she showed no sign of it.

A bit more caution may have been advisable, for after Liv slid into the ring she stood up right into a flying clothesline from Ronda that damn near took her head off her shoulders.

Scraping the unconscious Riott Squad member up off the mat, Ronda tossed her over the ropes like a piece of garbage. Liv's participation in the match had lasted about as long as her entrance.

For the first time that night, since the men's rumble was going to be later in the show, the crowd had the chance to count down from ten in anticipation of the next entrant.

Standing behind the curtain, Sonya said a short prayer in her head, as she did before any match she took part in. A few weeks earlier a rumour had done the rounds saying that this year's women's rumble match would focus more on NXT talent than on returning legends. Sonya had hoped it was true and that she and Mandy would get a chance to appear. It had been a huge surprise when she had been told she was going to be entrant number three.

The countdown finished and a loud buzzer sounded in the stadium. The Golden Gloves theme hit, drawing a groan of disappointment from the crowd. Sonya took pleasure in it, thinking that it was exactly the reaction a heel stable like theirs should get.

Stepping through the curtain and walking up the few steps to the end of the aisle, Sonya tried not to look mind-blown by the fact that nearly 50,000 people were watching her. The biggest night of her professional life was at hand.

With her hair already up, Sonya went through a shadow punching routine and shouted, "Time to square up, baby!"

Unlike Liv Morgan before her, Sonya wasn't stupid enough to rush the ring. In fact she did the opposite, taking her sweet time to walk down the aisle. Her character was an understudy of Zelina Vega, which meant she was wise enough not to hurry into a one on one situation with Rousey.

Reaching the ring, Sonya climbed up onto the apron. Ronda's glare was locked on her, and her fists were up, ready to fight.

The Golden Gloves music faded out, but Sonya didn't get in the ring. The fans booed what they saw as cowardice. Sonya felt sure one of the commentators would call the correct reason she wasn't getting into the match yet; she wasn't dumb enough to do so.

"Get in and fight!" Ronda screamed at her.

Sonya responded by sticking a middle finger up at her and getting down off the apron. More boos came her way as she began walking around the ring. She made sure to mouth off in character at a couple of the more aggressive fans in the front row.

Nearing the corner of the ring on the commentary table side, Sonya got a surprise. In the front row was the fan named Sarita Lopez, who Sonya had met some time back outside of an NXT event. Sarita called herself the first Sonya Deville stan, and was a frequent promotor of Sonya on Twitter and Instagram to say the least.

As yet, the Golden Gloves did not have any official merchandise. That hadn't stopped Sarita, who was wearing what had to be a shirt she'd had custom made. It had Golden Gloves in big gold lettering, with a picture of two gold boxing gloves punching each other. Sonya would have loved to have gone over and said something to her number one fan, but that would not have been in-character.

"Go, Sonya! Kick her ass!" she heard Sarita yell at the top of her voice as she walked by.

Sonya continued pacing around the ring, ignoring the boos. Eventually the countdown for the next entrant started.

Figuring that Sonya wasn't going to come into the ring and fight her, Ronda turned her attention to whoever was going to come out next.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The buzzer sounded.

Clementine's music hit. The crowd came to their feet, cheering on one of their favourites.

Unlike Sonya before her, Clem showed no reluctance at all as she came down the aisle, throwing her baseball cap out into the crowd. Her expression and her stride were all business.

Sliding into the ring, Clem went right after Ronda, and they started hammering away at each other with right hands.

For Sonya it was the perfect moment to finally enter the ring. Coming at Rousey from behind, she smashed a forearm into the back of her head, knocking her down.

Sonya Deville's first Royal Rumble appearance was underway.


As was the way with rumble matches, Sonya had spent a fair amount of it on the mat once the ring had started to fill up. It was necessary so as to give everyone involved a chance to get some moves in.

The Golden Gloves music began to play, which told Sonya they had reached entrant number fourteen. Mandy was on her way to the ring.

It was time for Sonya to get to her feet, as when Mandy hit the ring it would be time for them to get some spots in.

Ronda Rousey and Lacey Evans had just knocked each other down, leaving centre stage clear for the Golden Gloves with near perfect timing.

Sonya and Mandy posed together in their now familiar manner before Mandy picked up Ember Moon from the canvas and got her up in the air in position for the Golden Slam.

Sonya came off the ropes and jumped into the air, kicking Moon in the side of the head. In the same moment, Mandy slammed Ember down onto the mat.

AJ Lee, the one returning legend in the match, was the next one on the receiving end of a Golden Slam. The outcome was as devastating for her as it had been for Moon.

Going for a trifecta, Mandy picked Lacey Evans up off the canvas and hoisted her up into the air. Sonya hit the ropes, ready to deliver her kick. She knew that this time Charlotte Flair would come into the picture to stop her.

Even though she was prepared for Charlotte to give her a Big Boot, things went awry. She put her hands up, but Charlotte's foot missed them and blasted her right in the side of the head. It was no ones fault in particular, both of them had slightly messed up their timing.

Hitting the mat, Sonya barely registered the loud reaction from the crowd to the brutal kick in the head. All she could hear was ringing in her ears, and the lights above the ring appeared to swim around.

Fuck, that's a concussion, Sonya thought. She had her wits about her enough roll away from the middle of the ring.

The next thing she was aware of was a referee leaning over her as she lay on the edge of the apron. "You okay?" he asked with some concern.

"Yeah, just need a minute," Sonya replied. She had no intention of telling him that she was fucked. This was the biggest match of her life, and she was absolutely not going to leave it earlier than she was supposed to.

From that point on, even with her overwhelming determination, competing proved to be difficult for Sonya. Charlotte's kick had properly rung her bell. Every time she tried to move around the ring at any kind of speed the stadium started to spin around her, and she felt like she was going to spew up. The ringing in her ears also continued.

Even so, half an hour later, Sonya was one of the final four women in the match, having lasted all the way from number three. Trish Stratus, Lita and the hated Melina, one of the biggest heels on the main roster, were the other three.

Melina, Stratus and Lita were all on their feet, sizing each other up now that the real crucial phase of the match was about to begin. By now, out of character they all knew that Sonya was hurt, so they were improvising a bit with regard to what they were going to do.

Having been in the ring for nearly an hour, by far the longest she had ever wrestled, Sonya would have been struggling fitness wise even without taking the kick in the head. With that added to the equation, she could barely stand. As the other three women went into battle, all finding their second wind, Sonya used the ropes to pull herself up. She heard some cheers from fans who realised that she was giving literally everything she had to keep going. As if lasting all the way from number three wasn't enough, they had all seen the kick she had taken from Charlotte, so it wouldn't have been hard for them to figure out what the issue was.

Thankfully, Sonya saw that she had made it to her feet in time for her next spot. With Lita now down on the mat, Melina had been able to bundle Trish over the top rope, but not with enough force to eliminate her. She was standing on the apron, and had grabbed hold of Melina, hoping to pull her over the ropes.

Somehow, Sonya managed to run across the ring and leap into the air, intending to kick Melina's head off. However, Melina was able to get free of Trish's grasp and duck, leaving Stratus as the one to take the kick. It hit her in the side of the head and knocked her off the apron into elimination, drawing groans if disapproval from the crowd. Of the final four, Trish had been their favourite.

Delivering the kick nearly made Sonya fall back to the mat, such was her exhaustion. Thankfully, she grabbed the top rope and kept herself upright. Turning around, she found Lita running at her, looking like she was going to deliver a clothesline that would mean elimination.

Sonya ducked her head, countering, and used Lita's momentum to send her flying over the top rope to the floor. Just like that, only two competitors remained.

Slumping to a sitting position against the ropes, Sonya willed herself on. She couldn't fail to get up again now. She drew strength from the crowd, who she saw getting to their feet, now cheering her on. Yes, she was a heel on NXT, but that seemed to have been forgotten about. She was in the final two of the Royal Rumble, something an NXT competitor had never achieved before, and she had gotten there all the way from the number three spot. She felt sure a lot of people couldn't believe what they were seeing. Also, now that Melina was the only other possible winner, Sonya became fan favourite by default. Almost no one wanted Melina to get a title shot at Wrestlemania.

Across the ring, Melina was also in a sitting position on the mat. They locked eyes, and began to get up. The final battle was about to commence. A 'let's go, Sonya!' chant started to fill the stadium.

Summoning everything she had left, Sonya walked forward and started exchanging right hands with Melina, before the devious former Raw Women's Champion got the upper hand by kicking Sonya in the knee.

With her opponent clearly running on empty, Melina decided it was time to close out the match. She grabbed Sonya by the back of her head and ran her towards the ropes, throwing her over the top one.

The fans cheered loudly when Sonya landed on the apron, not eliminated. In the ring, Melina was celebrating the win she thought she had just earned, walking towards the opposite side of the ring with her hands raised in triumph.

Sonya stepped back through the ropes and rushed up behind Melina. The fans roared Sonya on as she pushed her opponent forwards and over the top rope. Unfortunately she did not have enough momentum to send Melina to the floor.

Ending up on the apron, Melina surprised Sonya by jumping up, using the ropes for leverage, and wrapping her legs around Sonya's chest. She used that position to lever Sonya over the top rope, but again there was not enough momentum to make her fall to the floor.

Both women were now on the ring apron, both having gone over the top rope. The fans were on their feet, knowing the end was at hand, one way or another.

Spinning around, Sonya aimed a very tired looking roundhouse kick at Melina. If it had connected, it might have been a winner, but Melina easily ducked it. In the same motion, she swept Sonya's other leg, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall to the floor.

As the fans booed and the bell sounded, Sonya found herself lying on her back on the floor. The adrenaline rush that had been keeping her going began to subside immediately, and she felt too exhausted to move.

One of the referees came over and crouched down beside her. He used one of his hands to perform what she knew was a concussion test on her eyes, testing their reaction to the light. "You okay? Can you get up?" he asked.

Over the top of Melina's music, Sonya heard a pyro display start going off in celebration of her victory, not that the fans would feel like sharing in her moment of joy.

Sonya just lay there breathing heavily, feeling too exhausted to even answer the referee's question. All she knew was that she wanted to walk out of the stadium. She had no intention of being carried out after what could prove to be a once in a lifetime performance.

The ringside doctor appeared next, presumably having been summoned by the referee.

"She's got a concussion, by the look of it," the referee reported. "She's out of it."

"Yeah, she is," the doc said as he performed a test of his own.

Sonya didn't like them talking about her as if she was a slab of meat, but she couldn't find the energy to speak up for herself. The one positive she could think of was that the ringing seemed to be fading now that she wasn't pushing herself to continue wrestling.

She was aware of the doctor signalling to the back for some help. She knew that he was requesting a stretcher to take her backstage. Suddenly, she thought of Mandy. She would be watching this on a monitor and probably panicking, wondering how badly Sonya was hurt.

"I want to get up," Sonya said, finding energy again. She was determined to show everyone that she was okay. Putting her hands on the floor, she pushed herself up to a sitting position.

Melina's music stopped playing, meaning that she had left the ring.

Shortly, a couple of medical personnel arrived with a stretcher.

"Let us get you on the stretcher," the doctor urged.

"No. Help me up. I want to walk out," Sonya insisted.

The referee moved around to the other side of Sonya, indicating his willingness to go along with what she wanted.

"Alright," the doctor said. He put an arm around her and joined the referee in helping to lift her to her feet.

To Sonya's surprise, she heard applause. Taking a moment before starting walking, she realised that it wasn't merely applause, she was being given a standing ovation.

The ovation meant more to Sonya than she could have out into words, but she didn't have the strength to acknowledge it. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as she was helped around the ring and up the aisle.


A/N: Many thanks to everyone who left a review last time.

Quite a night for Sonya! How did the WWE Universe will react to her stand out performance?

And what do you think is going to happen once she gets backstage and the doctor gets to properly examine her?