"Alright, everyone warmed up?" Coach Bloom called out.
Having completed one of her favourite stretching routines, Sonya was ready to go. To her surprise, the recruits had been assembled on one side of the huge training area, not at one of the rings.
"This afternoon, we're going to have you all in the ring, seeing how well you can take bumps," Bloom said. "But before that, we're going to start you out with a good old fashioned bleep test. We'll see who needs to put work into their conditioning."
"Get ready at the far end of the room," Coach Paige instructed, pointing.
Walking down to the end of the room next to Mandy, Sonya felt quietly confident about a bleep test. One thing she had no doubts about was her conditioning, such was the amount of work she had put into her MMA training over the past couple of years. She was a little surprised that the men and women were going to run at the same time, but she had no problem with it.
Moments later, all ten recruits were assembled behind a line on the floor, giving each other enough space to run comfortably. Twenty metres away, there was another line on the floor. The goal was to run the twenty metres before a bleep came through the sound system, with the amount of time between bleeps decreasing every time.
Coach Bloom blew a whistle to signal the start of the exercise. Sonya set off at a jog, knowing that it would be easy going for the first few bleeps, and that it was important to pace herself. When the going started to get tougher, she wanted to have plenty of energy in reserve.
It came as no shock to Sonya that it was more than five minutes before anyone showed any sign of struggling. Although the backgrounds of the recruits varied, they were all trained athletes.
The first person to drop out was one of the guys, who was carrying a fair bit of extra weight. Sonya felt bad for him, but glad that she wasn't the first one to fall by the wayside. Naturally, she wanted to win, but avoiding coming last was the most important thing.
After another couple of minutes, Sonya found herself on the limit of dropping out. She was running as fast as she could manage, breathing heavily and pouring with sweat. There were still five people left including her. The only other woman still going was Charlotte Flair, which shocked Sonya. However she had gotten her NXT contract, whether through family influence or not, Charlotte was undoubtedly very fit.
Making the line right on a bleep, Sonya knew that she was done. She was physically spent, with nothing left to try and pick up her pace to make the next one. Slowing down to a jog, she peeled off to the side, towards where the other dropouts were standing and watching.
"Fifth place, Sonya. Well done," Paige said, passing her a hand towel and a bottle of water.
Already, Sonya felt herself gravitating towards Mandy. After all, they were going to be housemates. "Jesus Christ," she said between heavy breaths, wiping her face with the towel.
"Great job," Mandy said. Having already spent two minutes out of the running, she was towelled off and somewhat refreshed. "Look at Charlotte go. She looks like she's still cruising."
Opening her water bottle and taking a long hit from it, Sonya turned back to face the action. She saw that Mandy was right, Charlotte appeared to be still finding the going relatively easy. "Let's hope she can win it for us girls. That Seth guy seems like he's doing okay though, too."
Sure enough, Charlotte and Seth ended up being the final two in the competition. It turned the occasion into something of a battle of the sexes, with the women cheering Charlotte on and the men wanting Seth to win.
"Come on, Charlotte!" Sonya yelled, joining in with the chorus coming from the other girls. It suddenly dawned on her that she had discovered another reason why Coach Bloom had started off with this drill. It wasn't all about conditioning, it was also about starting the bonding the process between the recruits.
Sadly for the women, it was eventually Charlotte who failed to reach the line before the bleep, bringing an end to the contest. Seeing disappointment as well as exhaustion on Flair's face, Sonya was the first to go over to her, with the other women close behind. They were all applauding their new colleague for her effort. "Amazing job," Sonya said.
"Thank you," Charlotte gasped, bent over with her hands on her knees. Sweat literally dripped off her onto the floor. "I thought I had him."
"You nearly did," Seth said. Avoiding the congratulations from the other men, his first priority had been to go to Charlotte. "Great job. I didn't think anyone would last with me that long." He gave her a pat on the back as she stood back upright.
"Thanks. I'll get you next time," Charlotte promised with an exhausted smile.
Coach Kendrick and Coach Purrazzo had reappeared, ready for the start of the next session. They handed out towels and water to Seth and Charlotte, telling them to take a minute to rest.
"So, learning to take bumps. Do you think it'll be hard?" Mandy asked, talking to Sonya while the others spoke to Charlotte.
"Not sure," Sonya replied. "Learning to take them might be one thing. Taking them well might be another."
"Yeah," Mandy said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Okay, ladies, you're with me," Coach Purrazzo called out a few minutes later. She set off towards a ring on the opposite side of the hall, well away from where the men were going to work.
Sonya decided on the way over there that if volunteers were called for, she would step forward. She wasn't afraid to be the first one to have a go at things, even in front of the rest of the group. Plus, she wanted to show willingness to the coach.
In the end, it didn't work out that way. Purrazzo didn't seek a volunteer, she climbed into the ring and asked Zelina Vega to join her. The other four recruits stood by the apron, watching on.
"Zelina," Purrazzo said. "Of the group, you're the only one with significant wrestling experience. I want you to demonstrate how to bump. Take one, and stay on the mat in the position you land, please."
Saying nothing, Vega threw herself backwards to the mat, landing with a loud bang. Sonya was impressed with the amount of force the small woman had been able to put into the bump.
"Good," Purrazzo said. "Look at the way she has positioned her arms and legs. Perfect form for landing a bump. Zelina, give me three more, quickly."
Vega got up to obey the instruction. As she performed the bumps, Purrazzo got the other four women to focus on the way she landed on the mat on her entire back, spreading the impact evenly.
"Never allow your head to hit the mat," Purrazzo said after the last of Vega's three demonstration bumps. "Land on your back only. Thank you, Zelina. Step out of the ring."
Sonya gave Zelina a little smile of appreciation. The way she had moved so quickly, getting up and going back down again without losing her form had been impressive. If she hadn't known already, Sonya would have just realised that she had a lot to learn, even to reach Vega's level of in-ring ability.
"Right, who's going to try some bumps?" Purrazzo said. Without waiting for an answer, she made the decision herself. "Dakota, in you come."
Looking slightly shy, Dakota entered the ring.
"Ever bumped before?" Purrazzo asked her.
"Yes. But I'm not as good as Zelina."
"You will be," the coach promised. "Show me what you've got."
Sonya watched as Dakota did a few bumps, with guidance from Deonna. The bumps were less forceful and less convincing than the ones Zelina had managed., but her technique wasn't bad.
"Sonya, you're up," Purrazzo said when Dakota's turn in the ring was over.
Eagerly, Sonya climbed into a wrestling ring for the very first time. She found it firmer under foot than she had expected.
"MMA background, right?" Purrazzo said. "Never bumped before?"
"No," Sonya confirmed. "Never been in a ring before."
"We all have to start somewhere," Purrazzo said reassuringly. "When you're ready, remembering what you've just seen from Zelina and Dakota, I want you to take a single bump. Land on as much of your back as you can, and avoid taking any impact on her neck or head."
Sonya nodded her understanding of the instruction. Part of her felt a bit silly as she considered throwing herself to the mat in front of a bunch of people. That feeling would soon have to go if she wanted to be taking bumps in front of audiences of millions.
Figuring that the first one would be the hardest of them all, Sonya launched herself into her first bump, wanting to make a good impact like Zelina had.
Jesus Christ, Sonya thought as soon as she hit the ring. She had expected to feel cushioned, but it was quite the opposite. It felt like she had landed on a wooden floor. She had clearly felt the outline of the wooden boards under the mat on her back. Most of the impact had been taken up near her shoulders, and it hurt. Her head had also made contact with that mat, albeit not heavily.
"No," Purrazzo said, shaking her head. "You focused on how hard you went down, not on getting the technique right. That's a fast track to hurting yourself. The most important part is to land properly on your back, distributing the impact. You'll find yourself able to do it with more authority in time. Up you get, try again. Focus on how you position your body, not how hard you can throw yourself back."
Feeling embarrassed by her mistake, Sonya got up. She was familiar with the feeling, however, from her early days of training for MMA. Getting started on a new discipline was the hardest part for sure.
For her second attempt, Sonya took the bump at little more than a fall. It felt like she landed on most of her back that time, and it hurt a lot less. Even so, it was painful. She was sure it had looked like the lamest bump in the history of wrestling.
"Much better," Purrazzo said. "Hurts, though, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Sonya said with a laugh, getting back to her feet.
"It'll get better. Your back will toughen up as it gets used to it."
By the end of the afternoon, after taking more bumps than she could count, Sonya felt like she had been brutally beaten on her back with planks of wood. She could tell that Mandy felt the same. If was obvious just from how she was standing while they listened to Coach Paige wrap things up for the day.
"We start again at nine tomorrow morning. You'll be learning to run the ropes. You can go get hit the showers now. Before you leave, see Coach Bloom in reception. He will issue you all with an ID card which will give you access to the Performance Centre whenever you need it. You are free to come in for extra training on your days off if you so wish. Importantly, do not lose your ID. No ID means no access past reception, and there will be no exceptions to that rule. Understood?"
Sonya joined the other women in confirming her understanding. Security was apparently tight here, but for good reason.
"You'll find a kitchen and a lounge upstairs if you would like to use them," Paige continued. "They're open to you, but treat them with respect and keep them clean. The gym next door is also open you whenever you'd like to use it. Okay everyone, off you go."
As they set off towards the locker rooms, Sonya found herself hoping that Mandy didn't want to hang around. Personally, she wanted to get to her new apartment, check it out, then soak in a bath to ease the pain from her back muscles. She was so lucky not to be facing another night sleeping on the back seat of a car.
"How far away is the apartment?" she asked Mandy.
"Ten minute drive, maybe a bit less. I'm happy to head there after we've showered, if you are?"
"Definitely," Sonya assured her. "I'll follow you there in my car."
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.
The first day of basic training went okay for Sonya. Now she's off to check out her new home. What do you think it will be like? And how we she get along with Mandy outside of the training environment?