Over the years, Mandy figured she had probably watched every Royal Rumble match ever put on by WWE. That level of experience had in no way prepared her for what seemed like to her like the unmitigated chaos that reigned throughout the match in Gorilla.
Fit Finlay, who was in charge of producing the match, as he was with a lot of WWE's women's wrestling, would call out who he wanted to come forward to be the next entrant. Several people had been preassigned a number and given a set role in the match. Raquel Gonzalez was one such individual. Number twenty-seven had been given to her, and it was up next.
By that point, for obvious reasons, there were a lot less people in Gorilla, therefore there was a lot less chaos.
"Mandy, Raquel, you're next up. Thirty seconds," Fit said.
Mandy couldn't even tell how she felt as she stepped forward towards the curtain. Nervous, certainly. Or maybe terrified was more accurate. But at the same time very excited. After winning the World Series of Poker Main Event, which she had incredibly managed to cross of her bucket list, making a debut for WWE was right at the top.
"You good?" Fit asked Raquel.
"Yes, sir," she replied with determination in her voice, and in her eyes. "You good, Mandy?"
Both of them looked at her for an answer.
"Yes, I'm good," Mandy said. In the moment she had found herself falling back on her poker skills for projecting confidence when in fact she felt weak. It was a real lightbulb moment, happening only seconds before she walked out into a packed stadium. She had just found the key to nailing promos. Maybe she had been unconsciously doing it during her promo classes in Orlando, she wondered. Poker was all about telling a story to the other players at the table, attempting to make them believe your hand was either strong or weak, depending on what you wanted them to do. Now she was going to try to convince people that she really was the business manager of the badass bitch standing next to her. Okay, let's sell them a convincing story, she thought.
Out in the stadium, the fans saw the ten second countdown timer appear on the screens. They joined it in counting down to the next entrant.
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
"Seven!"
"Six!"
"Five!"
Holy shit, here we go, Mandy thought as Fit handed her a microphone.
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
The buzzer sounded loudly.
"Mandy!" the music began. It was actually the same saxophone music that she used for her stream intro. The rights to it had been signed over to WWE in a simple legal agreement which still allowed her to use it for streaming. She imagined that any of her fans who happened to be watching would be freaking out at the surprise.
As she walked through the curtain and up the steps to the start of the entrance ramp, Mandy noticed some cheers, and more than a hint of laughter coming from the crowd. For good reason, some people were having a hard time taking the idea of her entering the match seriously. The fact that she was wearing a revealing red top, black leather pants, and heels probably wasn't helping matters. She hardly looked dressed to wrestle.
"Thank you," Mandy said, stopping about halfway down the ramp. Her music faded out. For now, she didn't want to overtly come across as a heel. Shortly, it would be Raquel's job to get that message across. Doing things that way would make the maximum impact, hopefully. "But it's not me, Mandy Rose, who is entering the Royal Rumble. No, it is my client who is entering. Allow me to introduce you to a woman like no other on this planet, The Game Changer, Raquel Gonzalez!"
The new nickname had been Raquel's idea, and Vince had gone for it. The reaction the announcement got wasn't all that big, unfortunately, but what there was of it had a kind of, 'Oh shit, business is about to pick up' vibe to it. Anyone who had seen Raquel before new that someone of her size was going to do damage when she hit the ring.
Raquel's new theme music dropped. It was a fairly heavy piece of rock music that was unlike anything that any of the other women had. Whether people liked it or not, it would definitely stand out, Mandy thought. That was a good thing.
Wearing a black leather top and matching pants, Raquel walked slowly up the steps and started down the aisle. She intimidated Mandy, even though she was on the same side as her.
Raquel walked past her manager with barely an acknowledgement. Indeed there was almost no emotion on her face at all. The only notable thing about her expression was the laser-like focus she had on the ring, where her prey awaited her.
The ring was quite full. In there were several fan favourites, all thought of as possible victors. Tessa Blanchard was one, a recent signing who was on a real roll on Smackdown since debuting at Survivor Series. Lacey Evans was another, being touted as a Smackdown Women's Champion in the near future. Lastly, there was Sasha Banks, who had turned face by turning on Bayley, albeit failing to win the Smackdown Women's Championship so far in the ensuing rivalry.
Raquel continued her march to the ring, not hurrying herself at all. Mandy feel in step beside her, shouting encouragement to hype her up.
Climbing up onto the apron, Raquel stepped through the ropes. The first person to run at her was Kacy Catanzaro from NXT, who damn near got her head kicked off her shoulders with a big boot as a result.
Liv Morgan made the same mistake, and met the same fate. Within ten seconds, two women lay unconscious on the mat. And Raquel was only just getting started.
Naomi came at Raquel from behind, smashing her in the back with a forearm. She might as well have done it to a brick wall for all the effect it had. Unfazed, Raquel turned around, grabbed Naomi, lifted her high into the air with one arm and powerbombed her to the mat with devastating power, while seeming to use all the effort of someone throwing a ball of paper in the trash.
On the outside of the ring, Mandy cheered enthusiastically, making like what she was seeing was almost as good as sex. There was no telling when the production crew might go for a shot of her, if at all, so she had to be totally in character at all times.
Natalya was next to try and attack Raquel. Within moments, she was heading up into the air, on her way to receiving the second one arm powerbomb of the match. The crowd started getting behind the wrecking spree, reacting to the powerful impact with the mat.
Next came Tessa Blanchard. Breakout star or not, she was dispatched by Raquel with yet another one arm powerbomb.
Liv Morgan had made it back to her feet, using the ropes to help her. Unfortunately for her, it left her in a perfect position for Raquel to give her another big boot, sending her flying over the top rope and out of the ring.
Next, Raquel picked up Natalya and got her in a gorilla press above her head. Walking towards the ropes, Raquel dismissively discarded Natalya out of the ring. So far, it was an utterly dominating display.
The noise from the crowd rose when Raquel set her sights on Charlotte Flair, who was using her foot to choke Chelsea Green in a corner of the ring. Charlotte was the only woman in the ring who was even close to a similar height as Raquel.
Grabbing Charlotte by the shoulder, Raquel spun her around. The fans reacted loudly when she too was picked up one arm, in preparation for a powerbomb.
In the moment, Mandy was struck not only by the incredible sight, but also by the way Charlotte sold it. Helplessly flailing her legs around made her look smaller in the grip of Raquel, making her look even more dominant. The crowd joined in again with the impact when Charlotte's body thundered into the mat. Mandy also put it over for all she was worth.
While Raquel had been dealing with Charlotte, Lacey Evans had taken up a position behind her, ready to strike. As Raquel turned around, Lacey blasted her with a Woman's Right. The finishing move had knocked out everyone Lacey had ever hit with it, until now. Raquel didn't even fully go down. She staggered into the ropes, which held her up and helped her to rebound back to a standing position.
Undeterred, Lacey blasted Raquel with a second Woman's Right, staggering her against the ropes again.
"No! No!" Mandy screamed. Her client was out of it, leaning against the ropes. Lacey completed the job by running at her and clotheslining her over the top rope.
The crowd popped big time. Raquel had been on a tear, but now she was eliminated. She had landed on her feet, staggering over to one of the commentary tables and pounding her fist on it in frustration.
Mandy rushed over to Raquel, a look of anguish and fury on her face. She had to make it look like she had thought her client winning the match had been a given.
In the ring, Lacey was dabbing at her brow with a small white handkerchief, celebrating the elimination.
"Get her!" Mandy screeched, pointing at Lacey Evans.
Moving with a quickness that belied her size, Raquel, seemingly already recovered from the two powerful punches that she had taken to her face, rushed over to the ring.
Before Lacey could react, she was grabbed by the ankles, yanked off her feet and dragged out of the ring under the bottom rope. It didn't constitute elimination, but Raquel intended to do the eliminating herself.
Before the show, it had been Lacey herself who had suggested that she should be put through the commentary table without it being dismantled first. It would be more risky and painful, but it would make the spot look better. Raquel had expressed her gratitude, whereas Mandy had looked at Lacey with admiration. The former marine was a tough cookie, that was for sure.
Not hesitating for a moment to put the agreed upon plan into action, Raquel lifted Lacey up into the air, holding her in position for a moment before powerbombing her onto the table, which obliged by disintegrating.
"That's what you get! That's what you get!" Mandy yelled at the remains of Lacey, which were lying among the wrecked table. Raquel roared like a lioness, signalling her satisfaction with what she had done.
Now the fans were booing, Mandy noticed as a bunch of referees gathered around to make sure Raquel headed to the back without doing anymore damage.
The countdown to the next entrant distracted people's attention at that moment, but it didn't matter, Mandy thought. She had introduced herself and her client, and Raquel had shown how destructive she could be, also making it perfectly clear that she was a heel.
"Job done," Mandy said under her breath.
On the way around the ring towards the entrance ramp, Raquel put a bit of icing on the cake by shoving one of the referees on his ass.
All in all, Mandy couldn't have been happier. But her opinion wasn't what mattered. It was the reaction waiting for them behind the curtain that was going to be crucial.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.
What did you make of Mandy and Raquel's debut? How do you think it will be received backstage?