Disclaimer: Even though I try to make this as realistic as possible, as much as my little brain will allow, I'm definitely taking some liberties. None of this is real, hence the fiction in fanfiction.
The members of the creative team gathered in a small cramped room in the underbelly of the arena in London, Ontario. Most were hungover and miserable, grasping their cups of coffee as though they were i.v.s pumping a constant flow of pure energy into their bloodstream. The room had an aura of desperation and uncertainty as the men and women grasped straws trying to recreate the excitement the pay-per-view generated the night before. The meeting had gotten off to a late start due to the fact that everyone felt sick from the previous evening's hedonism and had arrived at the arena later than normal. The group had already covered the events of SummerSlam and was planning RAW for August 16. Thanks to the sudden inclusion of Paul Heyman as more-than-consultant-but-not-quite-booker, they had finally begun planning more for long term ideas, but only for possible main events and the combatants. Now that SummerSlam was over, they had to plan for the next pay-per-view: Unforgiven.
"You honestly want to go back to a Triple H title reign again?" Brian Eiworth, the head of the RAW brand asked as he sat next to Paul Heyman. How Brian figured in as 'head', no one was quite sure anymore. Normally, he conducted meetings for the Monday show and took Vince and Stephanie a basic outline of how it would flow; lately, however, Stephanie and Paul Levesque had begun running them.
"After the reaction Orton got last night in Toronto? We HAVE to turn him face, Brian. We've had a babyface champ since Benoit won at WrestleMania, so we need to have a heel champ for a while. The ratings always go up when the face chases," Stephanie replied; she had a point. Somehow the fans always seemed to enjoy angles more when the good guy chased the bad, in simplest terms. Something about overcoming adversity, triumphing in the face of evil, really seemed to appeal to the common man
"It just doesn't make sense. You've done nothing but build this kid up; it's the reason why Evolution was created: to give Orton a vehicle to get into the spotlight. The angles with Foley, the whole Legend-Killer persona, the long IC belt reign; it was all to get him to the championship. To take it away from him after a month? I don't see how it's possible to do it without making him look like a chump and undoing all the great work for the past year?" Heyman loved being back in the swing of things, creatively speaking. RAW and SmackDown had done their best ratings in two years when he had been onboard, but then his big mouth and refusal to kiss ass led him down the wrong path. Paul, however, was still very well-respected among many people backstage, and some of those same people felt that he could be the one to turn the company back around. Unfortunately, however, none of those supporters were named McMahon. The success of his 'little underground promotion', otherwise known as ECW, had produced some of the most fantastic, unbelievable-unless-seen-with-your-own-eyes angles. His promos were second only to the best Ric Flair shots, and he could make a stupid plotline seem plausible; he was sorely needed not only among Creative, but on camera as well. Vince and Kevin Dunn, his second-in-command, had apparently been able to bury the hatchet with the evil genius, thankfully; while not fully onboard as a member of Creative, people still paid attention when Paul Heyman spoke.
"We can't hotshot this angle, Steph; this is something that will draw huge if we do the right build-up for it. Let's tease an Orton turn and start slowly with jealousy from Hunter; really make people uncomfortable whenever they're onscreen together, wondering when it's going to happen. Finally have it culminate just before Rumble and do the match there." Leigh piped in with Heyman nodding along.
"We can't possibly let the kid hold the belt that long, especially if you want to keep the two of us separated to build up this tension. I say he drops the belt at Unforgiven, I'll hold it for a couple months and we can do a back and forth thing, and then if Orton's still doing well, we can do a rematch at either Rumble or WrestleMania." Paul Levesque contributed. He was seated on Stephanie's right hand side next to the dry erase board with the evening's line-up. The only blank space was for the main event overrun.
"Hey, guys, where's Benoit in all this? He was champ for almost six months consecutively and we're supposed to let people think he lets it go?" Michael Hayes asked. They had slated Benoit to interrupt Randy's promo at the beginning of the evening and the rematch would be aired tonight, against everyone's better judgment. The Evolution angle would determine how the night ended, however.
"That's where I think this whole thing should go down. Randy beats Chris again, with the RKO. That'll be what—the second? third time?—so it'll put the move over huge. Evolution comes out to do the whole big celebration in the ring; it makes sense since it didn't happen on-camera last night. There's cheering, singing 'He's a Jolly Good Fellow' or whatever the fuck, and out of the blue we just nail him. Beat the shit outta him, bust him open, the whole time screaming that he's nothing without Evolution." Levesque was excited; bloodbaths always made him excited. There was no denying he could come up with great matches and angles, however the problem was that they continuously revolved around him and he usually came out with the upper hand. Leigh sighed as she feared that Randy could possibly fall into Chris Jericho territory: well-respected, great matches, but never among the upper tier again. Levesque wouldn't do that to his prodigy though, would he? she thought.
"Yeah, then next week we can run a promo where H asks Orton to give up the belt since Randy didn't earn it or it belongs to Hunter or whatever. He can pretend to think about it and basically say no, thereby cementing his babyface turn. Then for the next couple weeks leading up to Unforgiven, we can have him play the slick young kid, always outsmarting Triple H and Evolution. That'll really get him over." Stephanie explained her stance.
"Don't get me wrong, this sounds like great stuff, but my problem is: if that's the case, and no one in Evolution is supposed to have the world belt except H, then why the hell is Batista hanging around? Shouldn't it be every big man's goal to fight for the title?" Marc asked. Leigh looked at him and grinned; he had a damn good point.
"Batista's benefiting just from being in Evolution; we've never played him for the brightest bulb in the lamp, just the monster," Levesque answered.
"Listen, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think Orton needs the belt for more than a month to stay over. Triple H is pretty much golden no matter what we do, but don't you think Randy needs that little something extra to make the fans care?" Leigh asked, bringing the focus back to the matter at hand.
"Aren't you the same woman who was saying that he's already over?" Levesque asked as he leaned back in his chair.
"On his wrestling skills, yeah, I don't think anyone will deny that he's great in the ring. He's held his own in there regardless of who we put him in with. Great brawl with Edge, unforgettable hardcore match with Foley, and the match last night with Benoit was fantastic. Granted, Benoit could make me look good in the ring, but last night was something totally different. If we book Randy to look weak, that's all going to be forgotten by the casual fans."
"But we don't have casual fans right now, remember? I think you even said that in your interview: we're working with the core group of fans, the ones who remember what we've done, what the wrestlers have done, and appreciate workrate above anything else. They have and will continue to recognize that Orton's great. And besides, we won't book him to look weak: we just said we'll have him be the guy that gets out of jams, constantly pissing Triple H off because he's always staying one step ahead of Evolution. Listen, I understand you want your boyfriend to look good out there, but we've got to think about what's best for the RAW brand as a whole. I honestly believe Hunter is it." Stephanie answered, but quickly bit her tongue at seeing Leigh's face. Shit, did she just call Randy Leigh's boyfriend? Shit, shit, shitty shit shit.
At the break in conversation where several people looked questioningly from Leigh to Stephanie and back again, dreading the idea of another member of Creative dating a wrestler, Brian cleared his throat and stood up. "OK, folks, I think we can go with this version of the script. I'll run it past Vince and once I get the okay, Mike, you, Dean and Arn can go meet with everybody and go over their roles for tonight. Marc and Leigh, instead of the contestants, I'd like you two to get together with our Divas to go over the wedding/baby shower angle. Pete, you get with Coach for the girls' 'We Hate Carmella' campaign. Everybody know what to do?" Brian asked
All attendants nodded in agreement and slowly began to file out of the room to see to their respective duties. They would meet up again in an hour and go over any revisions that Vince and Kevin saw fit to add and then present the outline at the wrestling meeting later in the afternoon. Leigh told Marc she'd meet up with him shortly in Catering, then turned to her boss.
"Steph, can I talk to you for a sec?" Stephanie walked outside into the hallway to meet with her charge, already fearing where the conversation might go. "Look, I just want to ask a favor. As a friend and as your employee, can you please not bring up my personal relationships—whatever they may be—in the booking room?"
"Sure, so long as you do the same," Steph answered.
"I don't understand…"
"I AM sorry for what I said in there. You're right that it shouldn't have been brought up, but…" Steph paused, not sure what direction to take the conversation in. Leigh was her friend, but first and foremost an employee. She decided to lay it on the line. "Look, I know there's something going on between you and Randy—don't shake your head at me. You may not be dating, but there's something going on. Whatever the status, you can't let your emotions and your friendships with these guys dictate your job; who you're friends with shouldn't determine who you write angles for and who you stand up for in our meetings The staff assembled in that room has a lot of experience booking shows; we know what's best in the long run. You've only been with us for a couple months and, while I do consider you a friend, you don't have the skill behind you to try to throw your weight around like that."
Leigh took with the words in with a look of surprise on her face; she hadn't realized anything she'd done could be construed as throwing weight around. On the other hand, though, who was Stephanie to say anything about not allowing your relationships to determine who gets tv time? That's right, Leigh though, she's Stephanie McMahon. Leigh took a deep breath and looked Steph in the face: "Point taken. Thanks for letting me know," she smiled grimly and walked off, trying desperately not to act like a pouting four year-old.
A/N: I know not much happened in this chapter and for that I apologize, but writing the actual wrestling stuff is easier for me and seeing as it's been forever since I posted an update, I figured this would work. Informal poll: do you even like these kinds of chapters where there's more of the backstage stuff, even if Our Boy doesn't make an appearance? I needed to add Paul Heyman in because he is my idol; not sure if the timeline on his arrival into Creative is right, but I figure it'll work for plot contrivance. Anyway, thanks as always to everyone who's taken the time to review; your comments and constructive criticism is very much welcomed. PS. How hot was Randy the other night? Me-ow!