Currently, Charlotte's programme was the ongoing European Championship tournament. There were no tournament matches taking place at Fastlane, and as a part of the storyline, she had been banned from ringside for Sonya's title defence against Carmella. For Charlotte, that meant she was fit to compete, yet would not appear on a pay-per-view. She couldn't remember the last time that had been the case.
What surprised her was that she was equally as disappointed by not being able to be out there with Sonya as she was about not wrestling herself. "If that's not true love, I don't know what is," Charlotte had said to her girl during a brief moment of privacy that they had been able to share in a quiet hallway, half an hour before Sonya's match.
"Ours is definitely true love," Sonya said sincerely. "I'm the happiest I've ever been. I mean that. I love you, Queen."
"I love you too, honey," Charlotte said. Glancing around to make sure there were no prying eyes, she kissed Sonya on the lips.
"You just called me honey," Sonya said after the kiss. It was plain to see how much it meant to her.
"Yes. You call me Queen, so I needed something to call you. It was either devil or honey."
Sonya giggled. "Let's stick with honey."
Now, with the moment at hand for Sonya to head to Gorilla for her match, it was time to for them to part ways for a while.
In the middle of the women's locker room, there could be no kiss for luck. Charlotte merely offered what she hoped would look like nothing more than a friendly smile and said, "Have a great match."
"Of course she will, it's with me," Carmella said with good humour as she walked past them on her way to the door.
As a ripple of laughter went around the room. Sonya gave Charlotte a parting smile, picked up her championship and followed after Carmella. "Yeah, that's the thing we're concerned about," she shot back good-naturedly, drawing more laughter.
WWE Fastlane – February 24th 2019
As ever, a promotional video package preceded the competitors making their entrances for the Smackdown Women's Championship match. It ended with Paige's announcement that Charlotte was going to banned from ringside at Fastlane, and Carmella voicing her opinion that the decision was fabulous.
Carmella's music was first to play. She was cheered as she entered the arena. Her entrance routine remained the same as usual, but in the past couple of weeks, there had been another side of her on show.
"With the Smackdown Women's Championship on the line, and with Sonya Deville standing across the ring, I don't think tonight is going to be a night for dance breaks," Tom Phillips said on commentary.
"No, I don't think it will," Byron Saxton agreed. "Since Sonya Deville and Charlotte Flair brutalised Mella a few weeks ago, we've seen another side of her. Aggressive, determined to get revenge, Carmella is coming for the title tonight."
"I think Mella wants to be careful of what she's about to get into," Corey Graves said. "The one out for revenge is going to be Sonya Deville, after the way her dinner date with her Queen was ruined a couple of weeks ago."
"Carmella destroyed Sonya, and a restaurant, that night," Phillips recalled.
Carmella had entered the ring, looking ready for the fight that was about to come her way. Win or lose, going up against Sonya Deville at the top of her game was not going to be easy.
The fans booed when Sonya's music began to play. Week by week, she was becoming more disliked by the WWE audience.
Walking out onto the stage in yellow and black ring attire, Sonya had fire burning in her eyes and bad intentions on her mind.
"What a sight that is," Graves said in awe as Sonya threw some shadow punches, standing at the top of the ramp. She finished off by spreading her arms wide and roaring like a woman possessed.
"And there it is," Graves continued. "The Deville inside. If Sonya can unleash it tonight, Carmella won't be heading home with the Smackdown Women's title, she'll be heading home in an ambulance."
"Ambulances don't take you home, Graves," Saxton chirped.
Sonya entered the ring and did another shadow punch routine before walking over to her corner and handing her belt over to the referee.
While the ref moved over to the middle of the ring to hold the belt up, on display for the crowd, Sonya limbered up, glaring a hole through Carmella.
On the opposite side of the ring, Carmella stretched her legs, eyes focused on Deville.
It was time for ring announcer Greg Hamilton to do his thing. "The following contest is set for one fall, and it is for the Smackdown Women's Championship!"
Carmella stepped forward slightly, her only acknowledgement that she was about to be introduced. She was desperate to get her gold back; there was going to be no moonwalking or flossing on this occasion.
"Introducing first, the challenger, from Staten Island, Carmella!"
There was a cheer in support of her, which she only acknowledged with a raise of her right hand. She wasn't about to take her eyes off Deville, knowing it was more likely than not that she would be attacked the moment she did so.
"And her opponent, from Shamong, New Jersey, she is the Smackdown Women's Champion, Sonya Deville!"
Sonya walked forward until she was almost nose to nose with Carmella, and a moment later, threw the first punch.
As the women launched into exchanging right hands, the referee quickly called for the bell to officially start the match.
The fact that the match had gone ten minutes, and had been fairly evenly matched, would have been a surprise to some, who may have expected the red hot Sonya to run through Carmella in a routine title defence.
Currently, it was Carmella who had the upper hand. Whipping Sonya into the corner of the ring, Carmella followed her in, and was able to athletically use the ropes to manoeuvre herself and her opponent into a sunset flip and a pinning combination.
"One!"
"Two!"
Sonya kicked out in plenty of time.
Keeping the upper hand, Carmella grabbed both of Sonya's legs, setting her up for a catapult.
Carmella executed the move. Unfortunately, after making the two count moments earlier, the referee had decided to stand in the corner. Sonya was sent flying through the air, crushing the referee against the turnbuckles.
"Oh! The referee taken out by Sonya Deville!" Phillips called.
"Inadvertently," Graves was quick to point out.
As Sonya came out of the corner, Carmella attempted to hit a superkick.
Sonya dodged the kick, leapt into the air, and delivered a vicious kick of her own to the side of Carmella's head. In the past, it had been her finishing move. These days, it was usually a precursor to the Kimura.
Ready to finish her opponent off, Sonya unleashed the Deville within. She spread her arms and roared aggressively, a wild look in her eyes.
Unusually, the fans were cheering. When they heard the devil's roar, it was often time for them to resign themselves to Sonya winning. The reason for the difference in reaction this time was that Mandy Rose had come through the crowd, and was standing behind Sonya in the ring.
"That's Mandy Rose! Sonya Deville's long time tag team partner," Phillips called.
Rose spun Deville around, kicked her in the stomach and hit the Bed of Roses. The fans erupted at Mandy turning her back on Sonya, potentially costing her the Smackdown Women's Championship in the process.
"What the heck was that?" Graves protested. "Rose attacked Deville! Why?"
"I have no idea, but the referee never saw it," Saxton said.
With Sonya knocked out in the middle of the ring, Mandy sent some choice words her way before noticing that the referee was stirring. Not wanting to get caught interfering, she bailed from the ring and headed up the entrance ramp without looking back.
Meanwhile, Carmella was crawling slowly towards Deville, with the groggy referee now back on his feet.
"This is not right!" Graves objected as Carmella was able to drape an arm over Sonya.
"One!"
"Two!"
A loud groan of disappointment came from the crowd when Sonya got a shoulder up at the last moment.
Having managed to kick out, Deville still wasn't out of the woods. Carmella was able to wrap her legs around her neck, locking in the Code of Silence.
The fans cheered again, willing Carmella on.
Screaming in pain, Sonya first attempted to prise the legs from around her throat. It wasn't going to work, the hold was locked in too tight.
"Deville's going to have to tap!" Saxton cried.
It appeared that he might be right. Sonya's hand wavered a few inches from the mat. But then she seemed to find a second wind from somewhere. Using all the strength she had, she surged forward in a crawl and was able to grasp the bottom rope.
There was another groan from the crowd. There was also frustration from Carmella, who was obliged to break the hold. After doing so, she slapped the mat hard and screeched loudly, as only she could.
"Mella needs to stay focused," Phillips said. "She's got Deville exactly where she wants her."
Sonya was still holding onto the bottom rope. Carmella grabbed both of her legs for a second time and yanked her into the middle of the ring.
Almost immediately, it became apparent that Sonya had been waiting for that exact move. With lightning fast reactions, she grabbed hold of Carmella's arm and pulled her down into the Kimura.
The furious scream that came from Sonya as she locked in the hold signalled that the match was likely over. And so it proved to be. In a matter of seconds, Carmella tapped out, drawing another scream from Sonya.
"That's it! Sonya Deville is still the champion!" Graves yelled as the bell rang and her music began to play. He was possibly the only one delighted by the result he had just announced.
"Deville retains the Smackdown Women's Championship!" Phillips confirmed.
Sonya had rushed to her feet after getting the win. She angrily snatched her title belt from the referee, and her attention turned to the stab in the back she had received from Mandy Rose. Looking in the direction of the stage, she struck the familiar pose once more and let out yet another scream.
"Deville's going after Mandy Rose!" Saxton cried.
Bailing from the ring, Sonya ran up the ramp, carrying her championship belt.
Phillips said, "I don't know if Sonya's going to catch up to Mandy, but if she does, there's going to be serious trouble."
After Sonya disappeared through the curtain to the back, Graves brought the segment to a close. "Mandy tried to cost Sonya her title, and whether it's tonight or Tuesday night, there's going to be hell to pay. The Deville inside will be unleashed!"
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter. Shout outs to 76ers, ThatWrestlingFanWrites and Forza Azzurra for correctly predicting Sonya's victory.
I hope everyone who celebrated yesterday had a wonderful Christmas?
We learned here that WWE have apparently gone for the idea of Mandy getting into a rivalry with Sonya and Charlotte. And we also know that Ember Moon is locked in for a title match at Wrestlemania. So, the prediction question is what will happen on the next Smackdown episode?