"I can beat the Undertaker."
Trish Stratus rolled her eyes as she pulled her body upright. She twisted on the bed, dragging herself around until her head was at the foot of the bed. Her legs bent at the knees and she locked her ankles together. Her arms folded and she let her cheek rest against her crossed arms.
Randy Orton had been saying the same thing for weeks. He could beat the Undertaker. He could end the winning streak. He could be a real Legend Killer. Trish may not have been completely sure that she believed he could do it, but more than that, she was almost positive that Randy didn't believe it very much, either. If he did, he wouldn't need to constantly assert and reassert his faith in himself.
"If I just got half a chance… I mean, if I go into this with my head on straight, ya know?"
Trish sighed. WrestleMania wasn't shaping up very well for either of them. She still couldn't believe that she'd gone from having one of the biggest feuds to hit the Women's Division in years, to defending her title against Christy Hemme, of all people. Not that she had anything personally against the woman, but she was what she was. Nice girl she may have been, she was still just a girl that had won a bikini contest, and that did not get her a shot at the title. Or at least, it shouldn't have. And it most certainly shouldn't have given her the opportunity to go for said title at the biggest event of them all.
She knew that, at some point, a girl had to work her way up. Trish had been there for purely T&A value, and she knew that. However, she hadn't decided that she needed to be Women's Champion at her very first WrestleMania, either. It was bad enough that half of the division had been fired, but to push out the two remaining GOOD women's wrestlers for the chick that did Playboy, well… that was just too quick of a leap from T&A to contender for Trish's liking.
And yet, she could at least say that she knew she was going to win. From the start of this thing, she knew she was going to win. Trish had made it very clear that she wasn't about to help them further degrade the championship by going over for someone whose biggest claim to fame had been her label as Juggy Girl. She was sure to let them know that as surely as they were trying to steal AJ Styles away from TNA, they were doing the same thing with her and the remaining women left in the company. TNA promised a women's division that actually got seen… just as soon as they got more women. She wasn't exactly thrilled about the downgrade, but there was only so much disrespect that a girl could take, and the company knew that. They also knew that it wouldn't be too hard for her to take the other girls with her. So, she got to keep her title at WrestleMania. But Randy…
They were still keeping it close to the vest who was going to win. Would the Legend Killer come out on top? Or was the Phenom going to take home his 13th consecutive WrestleMania victory? It was a toss-up and either way, it could be promoted. He was either the unstoppable Undertaker, or thirteen was a very unlucky number for him. They could easily set up their match and just leave the finisher open. Undertaker, despite the lack of entertainment Trish got from watching him, was still a veteran and he knew how to plan a match that could work with either finisher. Be it a Tombstone or an RKO, the match could still be planned out until WWE made up its mind.
"Randy, stop worrying over it." She sighed and rolled over onto her stomach. "Whatever the outcome, you'll still show them that you've got what it takes to be the next great star."
And to think, she had thought that the most vulnerable she would see him was during his concussion. Even that, though, could be explained away with the injury. One usually so self-sure and cocky, the concussion gave him the excuse to be human, to have emotions. To care about his own feelings enough to want someone else to care as well. But now…
As he stood there, staring in the mirror, admiring his sculpted form, the only surety, the only cockiness he held was in that he had a great body. The confidence behind his ability and his destiny were stripped away by the months after his loss to Triple H. Finding himself in that pile of former champions who were lucky to get five minutes of camera time had been detrimental to his ego. The fickle fans who had once cheered him and built him up to a stature of greatness now turned on him and claimed they never liked him in the first place. When combined with those same fickle fans grabbing him and faking their worship for the sake of an autograph, it caused for not only a somewhat self-conscious Rnady Orton, but an aggravated one as well.
"My ass." Randy groaned and turned towards her. "You don't get it, Trish. There's no way for me to come out on top if I don't pin the Undertaker. He's gonna no-sell every fucking move I've got, and what does that show? Not a damn thing. It'll make all my shit look weak, and he'll be this great thing who doesn't have to put anybody over." He sighed and his body drooped. "Ya know, people put him over."
"I know."
"And people still put him over."
"I know."
"So why the fuck is it a big deal for him to put me over, huh? If… If Ric Flair of all people can do it, he can. If Ric Flair, a true fucking legend, can put over me and Dave and can sit there every week and tickle Hunter's ball sack and suffer it all with as much dignity as he has left, then why the fuck can't Taker put somebody over for once in his whole fucking career."
Trish sighed and slowly got up from the bed. She ran her hands through her hair, then let them fall from the ends to drift down her sides. She didn't know what she thought about this particular version of Randy Orton. The cockiness had been sexy. The confidence was alluring. The self-consciousness, though… her instant reaction was to have disdain for it, but there was something attractive about it. His bouts of insecurity made him human, real… It made him more accessible, and the fact that she was the only one that he showed this side of himself to made Trish feel special. It showed her that even though they hadn't spoken a word about the epiphany in the ER, he had meant every word.
She put a hand on his arm and looked up into his eyes as her palm slid down his skin. "Because Ric Flair is respectable. Ric Flair knows that there are more important things than putting himself over at this stage in his career. They'll see, Randy. They'll see that you deserve this win at WrestleMania, and they'll give it to you."
"And if Taker says he won't lay down for me?"
"Well, then… That just shows the McMahons that he's not a team player. That he thinks he's bigger than their decision, and in that case, well..." She looked up at him and smirked. "Remember what happened in Montreal, Randy. Those out of McMahon favor lose one way or another."
"So, I take victory by default?"
"You take victory however you can get it." She leaned in and pressed her lips to his chest. "We all have to take victory how we can get it. It's not always right and it's not always fair, but it's victory, Randy. It's a push, and we all want a push."
