Chapter 1

26th September 2020

As the evening waned and the late summer sun filtered through her windows Morgan skimmed over the Facebook feed. She was bored and she had a few hours to kill before she needed to sleep before work the next day. There was nothing on TV, she had already caught up with what she wanted to watch. There were few pieces about sustainable housing and yet another advert from a place she had zero intention of buying from. Morgan hid it from her news feed. A post from the WWE popped up next.

Which WWE Champion are you facing? Your champion is the one who sits on the last digit of your phone number! Morgan laughed and scanned the image below of a phone keypad with various wrestlers imposed over it. She laughed again when it was revealed her particular wrestler was Roman Reigns.

"Oh as if," She said aloud to the empty flat. "He'd squash me flat in seconds." She leaned forwards, clicked the comments, and began to type. Me vs Roman Reigns? Hah. I'll end up like a pancake. Easier to just drop to the floor and let him pin me and get it over with! Morgan finished, shaking her head. She had watched Roman from the moment he had debuted in NXT. Every match, every appearance. She was not ashamed to admit that yes, she had a huge crush on him. But Morgan was well aware that staring at a poster on her wall and watching him on tv was as close as she was going to get towards meeting him. Never mind anything else.

The post was consigned to a faint memory over the next few weeks. September faded, October came and went along with November and December arrived. One evening as she sat watching a recorded RAW from the night before, her phone rang. Morgan frowned. It was a Facebook call from an unknown profile. Morgan hung up; she didn't answer unknown Facebook calls. But it rang a second, and then a third. Whoever it was that wanted to talk to her was clearly desperate.

"Hello?" She answered, figuring she would find out who it was and then hang up. She was surprised to see the video connect to someone who looked a hell of a lot like Vince McMahon.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to answer. Miss Bellare, I presume?" He asked her with a smile. Morgan frowned.

"Is this a prank? It is, isn't it?" She asked, getting up and going to her window to look out and see if she could see any of her ex-boyfriend's friends. They were the sort of people who'd do something like this.

"No, this is no prank I assure you." Vince insisted. Morgan wasn't buying it.

"Look, whoever put you up to this, whoever you are, I don't have time for pranks. I've got an episode of RAW to catch up on and you're interrupting. So if you tell me who set you up, we'll call it quits and we can both go back to what we were doing." She sighed heavily as she flopped down on the sofa again. On her phone screen Vince was joined by Hunter. Morgan blinked and wiped her eyes, thinking she was seeing things. No. That wasn't Hunter Hurst Helmsley, aka Triple H? It couldn't be…could it?

"Would you believe it if I said it's not a prank and we'd like to invite you to come to the Performance Centre?" asked Hunter.

"Honestly, no. No I wouldn't. Look I was about to watch Roman's match from Monday, and I've not missed one yet. So if you don't mind Imma go." She said as Vince and Hunter laughed. She was convinced this was some kind of fake thing, some kind of joke that someone had set her up with. Something that someone had planned. Because there was no way this was real she decided as Hunter beckoned to someone offscreen. The person came over as Morgan reached out for and took a sip of her drink. She bitterly regretted that as the person on her screen looked rather a lot like Roman himself, and she choked on the drink. Water went everywhere as she coughed and spluttered, dropping the phone on the sofa to much laughter from the three men. Morgan ran and grabbed some kitchen roll as she tried to stop herself coughing more and mopped up her spill between repeated swear words, before picking up the phone.

"Not missed one yet huh? I'm flattered." Roman smiled as she finally appeared on screen to them. Morgan flushed red.

"What…ahem…what are you guys calling me for? Why?" Morgan asked as she tried to steady herself. Her resolve this was some kind of practical joke wavered a little.

"We liked your answer to the Facebook post." Vince said as Morgan scrunched her forehead in a frown trying to remember. "Back in September. The one about the end of your phone number being your opponent?"

"Oh! That!" Morgan laughed as the memory of her comment resurfaced. "Thanks I guess?"

"I wondered if you'd like to come to the WWE Performance Centre as a prize? All expenses paid, we'll give you a tour, you name it." Hunter said.

"Seriously?" Morgan asked. Hunter affirmed that he was very serious.

"We'll even give you a crash course in wrestling, if you'd like." He offered. "And I'll get some Reigns merch sent over to you as well."

"Alright. I'm in." Morgan said, resigning herself to the fact this actually, definitely was all some big prank. "I'll come out."

"Excellent. We'll get those flights booked for you and have the tickets emailed to you. What's your email address?" Vince asked as Hunter picked up a pen and Roman stood there with a smirk on his face. Morgan told them, and then was asked for and gave her actual address, now a little less sure this was a prank. Vince told her to enjoy the episode of RAW, bid her goodbye and hung up.

"She didn't believe us for a second y'know." Roman said with a shake of the head.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Hunter replied.

"So are you guys going to let me know what that was all about?" Roman asked.

"In good time, Roman. But for now, you'd better write a little something we can put in with the merch we're sending." Vince replied. Roman nodded and took this as his cue to leave, bidding them both goodbye. It wasn't till the door shut that Hunter spoke.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked his father in law as he made a copy of the details Morgan had given him. "It could go really, really wrong."

"But it could also go really, really right. I don't want Roman to know a thing. Not him, not the others. Not till I say. Oh and Hunter? I noticed a framed Undertaker poster on the wall of her place. Send some Taker merch as well, would you?" Vince added as Hunter stood and began to make his way to the door. He nodded. There was a lot to be done.

Barely a month later and Morgan was in Orlando. She was there for two whole weeks, all expenses paid. See the sights, she had been told in another video call, this time with Hunter. See the town, go and have a blast. But be at the Performance Centre for twelve on the first Friday. And so as Morgan stepped out of the taxi, she found herself at the very place. It wasn't what she was expecting, if she was honest. But then again, what was she expecting? A massive building with the red, white and black of the WWE plastered all over it? It was a training centre. They had no need for frivolities.

Walking to the doors of the WWE Performance centre was perhaps more terrifying than she had ever imagined. Though she knew she was only there for a tour of some kind for her prize, she was nervous as all hell. Would she bump in to Roman there? Maybe. It was entirely possible. Despite the January chill Morgan could feel her hands sweating as she pushed the door open, and tried to slyly wipe her hand on her trousers as she walked up to the reception desk.

"Hi…I'm supposed to be meeting someone here at twelve? My name's Morgan Bellare." She said with a nervous smile. The receptionist looked at his screen, nodded and clicked his mouse a few times.

"Ah, we've been expecting you. Down this corridor here, and third door on the left. He'll be with you in a moment." He pointed to where she was to go. Morgan thanked him and headed towards the corridor in question. She walked slowly down it, looking at all the pictures on the walls of stars past and present in the middle of matches, at Wrestlemania, media shots with smiles and laughter. It must be an amazing life, she said to herself. To be on top of the world, to have people cheering for you, yelling your name. To hold that belt high. Morgan shook herself out of her reverie just in time to see the door of the third room on the left was open. With a deep breath she went inside, expecting, well, she wasn't sure. Something. Someone. But it was empty. She decided to sit herself down and wait for whoever it was that was supposed to join them. She was twenty minutes early. It was going to be a wait.

Time ticked by. She was joined by a guy from Australia by the name of Noah. He was warm and friendly, chatting away and setting Morgan's nerves right at ease. They were joined later by a woman, who gave her name as Chantelle. She snubbed their attempts at interaction and sat away from the pair. Morgan wondered if her rudeness was nerves. As the last few minutes before 12pm drew to a close a fourth guy came in the room. He sat himself down near Chantelle and flashed Morgan and Noah a smile.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Noah." Noah extended a hand to the newcomer.

"Graham." He replied with an unmistakable American accent. He shook Noahs hand, and then turned to Morgan.

"I'm Morgan, pleased to meet you." She offered her hand and he shook it, though Morgan noticed he didn't let go quite as quickly. She almost had to pull her hand away. Graham managed to get a name from Chantelle, then the four found themselves joined by someone. Morgan was on her feet in seconds, swiftly followed by Noah. Chantelle and Graham were a little slower to stand up.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure you all know who I am." He gave the four a grin that said he was a hundred percent certain of it. "But, I do have manners. I am Vince McMahon. Pleased to meet the four of you."

"Pleased to meet you Sir." Morgan replied as he shook her hand. Morgan noticed he left Chantelle and Graham 3rd and fourth over her and Noah. She wondered if it was on purpose because of their delay getting up when he entered.

"I'm glad you could all make it today. We've got a very busy tour lined up for you and then there's some things I'd like to discuss. There some things I can talk to you as a group and some things I'll talk to you in private about. So, a tour first of all. And yes, I will personally be leading you around the facility." Vince added, forestalling the question Morgan had.

The tour was quite literally as intimate and thorough as possible. Morgan was shown the rings, they toured the gym. Told where locker rooms were, met William Regal and had some pictures with him. Barely an inch of the facility was untouched. It was beginning to seem to Morgan it was almost certainly on purpose. But why? As the tour completed itself, the four were lead to a room that held a small buffet of food, and the group were told to make themselves at home and dig in. Something was off, Morgan decided. She was quite sure this wasn't your usual VIP tour. She didn't think they even did tours of the Performance Centre for that matter. And certainly not with the Chairman of the WWE Himself.

As everyone made themselves food, Morgan hung back a moment and watched before getting her own. Graham and Chantelle were making themselves at home with the sheer amount of food they were loading on their plates, whereas Noah was going easier. Morgan wasn't sure she could eat much and opted for a rather small plate. As they ate, Vince explained the real reason they were there. The comments they had left on that post were what had gotten them picked out. The tour of the centre wasn't the only prize. There was something a lot bigger at stake. It was now that Vince revealed he had planned for the four of them to actually fight their number opponent. They were going to be given a year and a half. They would be trained as WWE wrestlers, exactly the same way as any other WWE star. After the first six months, there would be a confrontation in the ring with their challengers. After that, a further year and then they would face the person with their end digit number in the ring. The soft bread roll became like hard rocks in her mouth, and Morgan swallowed with difficulty. This wasn't happening, surely?

"This is of course just a large publicity stunt as well as a prize for the four of you, I'm sure you can gather that. You will be booked to lose, and this will be rehearsed meticulously. I'm not about to send people into the ring with my stars and have them and you get hurt, especially as one of you four has no wrestling experience at all." He finished. He had done his homework, she realised. She had never wrestled in her life. She'd wanted to, who wouldn't if they were a wrestling fan. But she had been turned away wherever she tried sign up for lessons. There had to be thousands who would give their right arm for what Vince was suggesting. Morgan held her breath and her wish that he wasn't going to elaborate on who couldn't wrestle was granted. The others looked at each other, a frown dominating their features. Why would he take a chance on someone who had never wrestled? Vince encouraged them to eat up and he would talk to them one on one once they had.

Morgan was now regretting not having so much to eat as Vince zeroed in on the fact and invited her to talk to him first. She was walked to a room a little way off from the meeting room and once inside, offered a coffee and invited to sit down. Morgan barely sat down before she just had to speak.

"S-sir…are you really going to pit me against Roman Reigns?" She asked. "Only that won't last very long. And I'll get very hurt." As much as I'd like nothing more than to be that close to him, she added in her mind. Vince looked over at her and gave her a smile.

"Yes, you will. You'll be fine facing Roman. I'm going to make sure you get extra training. One on one with someone who has been in the business for a considerable amount of time. I know you haven't wrestled before and it's a lot I'm asking of you, and in turn a big risk I'm taking. A big risk for a publicity stunt. I don't mean that in a demeaning way towards you," He added as Morgan nodded quickly, understanding that this was all the event was for the WWE. Publicity, nothing more, nothing less. "But I need to make sure it's going to have maximum impact, while I also need to make sure both you four and my superstars don't get hurt." He said before pausing to drink his coffee. "I know that look on your face, I'd know it on anyone's. You're concerned?"

"Well, yes… yes I am." Morgan spluttered. "He's got a height, weight and knowledge advantage. I can call out a move when I see it on screen. But I can't execute it, I can't even run the ropes. I've never set foot in a wrestling ring. He's had years of training for this. It's in his very blood, literally. He comes from a wrestling family. I can't wrestle, I've never wrestled. This is going to be a farce." She said, shaking her head.

"Do you think I'd be wading into this without knowing I'm taking a huge risk? Of course not. But having spoken to you I'm also confident that with a little hard work, you'll give Roman a run for his money and you'll give the fans a show to remember." Vince said. "Look. The contract is right here for what we're doing. Read it through. If you can honestly tell me you can't see yourself stood in that ring, wrestling with Roman Reigns, then you're free to walk out the door." He pushed a white envelope over towards her. She saw the ghost of a smile as Morgan took it from the table. He knew she was a Roman fan, and probably had correctly assumed she had it bad for him, which was why he'd just said that. He knew this, because he'd done his homework. He would have seen the copious Roman Reigns related posts on her timeline, the shared pictures when he won things. He'd probably seen her Instagram account with similar things. Of course the fact she was wearing a Roman Reigns t-shirt was also a bit of a give away. Morgan looked at the envelope as she held it, unsure if she should open it there or not.

"Look. I can see you're not sure. Take it back to the hotel with you. Read it back to front. And if you think you can't do it, drop it back here tomorrow and I'll find someone else. If you want to take this chance, then meet me back here same time tomorrow to go over it and we'll go from there." Vince added as he leaned back in his chair.

It was laying on the desk in front of her and she'd read it through at least three times. Back home had little to offer her right now. A low paid, minimal hours job that was barely paying bills. She had split from her boyfriend a few months back, so she had no one to tie her down. Morgan looked at the clock and did a quick calculation. It was six pm here. Which meant it was one in the afternoon back home. She pulled her phone out and dialled a number.

"Hey hey. What's up girl?" Came the cheerful voice of her friend.

"Hayz, I need your advice." Morgan began. "I've got a big opportunity here, and I don't know what move to make." Her friends voice came back and Morgan noted the immediate switch from happy and bubbly to serious.

"The thing you travelled to the USA for?" She asked. "It's more than just a visit to the Performance Centre isn't it?"

"Oh fuck yes."

"Tell me everything." Her friend demanded; the faint sound of a soda can being opened in the background.

When she returned to the Performance centre the next day Morgan still had the urge to drop the contract at the desk with a "Sorry, no can do" and leave. But talking to Hayz last night had made her realise she was right. This was a real chance to do something, to make something of herself. Even if it didn't go anywhere wrestling wise, she would be getting paid so she could save it. She would be making connections. And after all, her friend asked, didn't she want to meet Roman Reigns? This was her chance. And it could very well be her only chance. If that was all she got out of it, Morgan decided, she would be happy.

Getting through the doors Morgan was greeted with Vince talking to the receptionist. Noticing her heading towards him, he smiled. Morgan had the thought pass across her mind that for once he was being genuine.

"Ah Miss Bellare. You've come to a decision?" He asked gesturing to the envelope in her hand.

"Yes."

"And?" He smiled still as Morgan took a breath to steady herself.

"I've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain by this. I'll do it."