Takes place immediately after the May 4th, 2015 WWE Monday Night Raw, after Sami Zayn challenged John Cena for the US Title, a match which, while Sami gave Cena a run for his money, Cena retained his title.
Sami Zayn sat with an ice pack held firmly against his left shoulder. He was in a horrible amount of pain, but it was worth having his main roster debut – a title match even. He wasn't sure he was up to it, but when his mentor and idol, Bret Hart, contacted him about John Cena's open challenge, in his hometown of Montreal even, he had to take the opportunity.
He caught the attention of a trainer. "Hey, can I get my bag? I need my phone."
The trainer turned and immediately bumped into a large obstacle. John Cena, all 6'1" and 250 pounds of him, was walking up to Sami. He excused himself out of the way of the trainer, and sat down on the bench next to Sami.
"How's the shoulder, kid?" John looked at his former opponent. Sami looked up and caught John's eye. John had a relaxed, easy smile on his face.
"It hurts real bad," Sami looked down. "You did a number on it. But I've dealt with worse."
"I know. I've seen what goes on down there in NXT. You and Kevin Owens. Damn brutal, man."
"Yeah, he's quite the wrecking ball." Sami paused. "But I can handle him."
"You gonna stick around up on the main roster? You should." John patted Sami on the back gently. "Look how it's treating Neville. People love him. And look at the pop they gave you tonight. You can't tell me that was all just the hometown effect."
"John, I may stick around, but I still got business with Kevin."
John let his hand rest on Sami's good shoulder. "Sami, let me give you some advice." John sucked in his lips slightly and sighed. "No matter how many times you revisit history, it never changes."
Sami looked at the US Champion curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Take, for instance, Orton and me." John looked up and away. "Randy and I have been close, and not so close. There have been times when I had him close to me and I never thought it would be different. And then there have been times when it broke my heart, but I had to put him down." John let the silence between he and Sami hang, then, looking Sami square in the eye, continued. "Sami, Kevin will bring you nothing but trouble, in many, many ways. Go find yourself a nice girl. That's what I did. Nikki, her and her sister have this tough chick thing going on, but Nikki is a nice girl. She is there for me. She could never break my heart. Not the way Randy did."
Sami sat stunned. "John, I-"
John cut Sami off. "There are some nice girls down there in NXT. I've seen them. How about that Alexa Bliss? She's real cute. Or that girl with the ponytail...Bayley? She seems like a sweet girl. Take one of them out. Romance them a little. They'll be there for you. They won't torture you. They won't turn on you."
"John, I appreciate what you're doing. And I appreciate you giving me a chance tonight. I had fun in our match, even though I think I really injured my shoulder." Sami saw the trainer returning with his training bag in tow. "Kevin and I have history, yes. We used to be lovers. But I really need to close business between me and him. I'm not under any illusion that we'll be lovers again, but I really need this clear. Either way, if I win the NXT Championship back from him, or if he beats me once again, I'll be able to move on."
John stood and nodded. "You say that now. But trust me, Sami, you'll never move on if you keep on that path. It perpetuates itself. You tell yourself 'just one more match and then it will be over' and you're doing nothing but fooling yourself. I'm telling you right now, just drop it. Your hearts will be able to heal. You'll be happier."
Sami hung his head down and felt tears involuntarily welling, but he wasn't sure if it was because his shoulder was screaming with pain or not.
John turned to walk away, then paused and turned his head back. "When you get all healed up, you have to show me how to do that dive-between-the-turnbuckle-into-a-tornado-DDT thing. My bell is still ringin' from that." John chuckled, then lowered his voice with gravity. "I'm proud of you, Sami. You're gonna be awesome on the main roster."
Sami looked up and smiled. "Thanks for giving me a chance, John."
As John walked away, Sami dug out his phone, and saw the massive amounts of texts and missed calls he had. Everyone was tweeting about his match for the US Title. He scanned a couple of texts. His mom, a couple of his friends from the indie leagues...his eyes lit up when he saw a text from Finn Balor, probably the best friend that he had in NXT right now.
He read Finn's text. "Sami, you were fucking amazing. Great job! Call me when you can, we need to talk about Riley." Alex Riley? Sami was slightly confused but moved on.
The next text was from NXT General Manager, William Regal. "Sami, top notch job tonight! Many people have been contacting me. In fact, you'll find an e-mail with an e-ticket in it. You're expected at WWE headquarters on Friday. Triple H would like to meet with you."
Sami's heart jumped. Triple H? Sami flipped over to his e-mail inbox and saw that he had a plane ticket to New York City, and arrangements for a town car to take him to Stamford, Connecticut to WWE Headquarters.
Going back to his texts, he saw one that stopped his heart beating in his tracks.
Kevin Owens had sent a text.
"Proud of you. No one does it like you, baby. Love you, Sami."
The tears started pouring from Sami's eyes. Maybe John was right.
–
Finn Balor was about to walk out of the training center for the evening. He had just finished watching WWE Monday Night Raw in the media room, and seeing his best friend Sami Zayn challenge John Cena for the US Championship was amazing. He didn't win, but what a great match! He was proud of his best friend for holding his own with one of the greats.
Walking out, he heard someone calling his name from behind. "Finn! Wait up."
He turned to see his friend, the spunky, happy NXT diva Bayley running up to him. "Hey Bay, what's up?"
"Hey," Bayley smiled and caught her breath. "I just wanted to give you this." She handed Finn a small flash drive. "I called in a couple of favors. I could get kicked out of NXT for getting these. I haven't even looked at them, but it's straight from Regal's e-mail account. His assistant got them for me."
Finn smiled and leaned over and merrily kissed Bayley on the cheek. "You're the best. Thank you."
"You promise you aren't doing anything bad with them, right?" Bayley suddenly looked unsure. "I don't want to get anyone in trouble."
"Don't worry, doll. I'm only looking out for friends."
Bayley nodded. "Weird things are going on around here. Everyone's going crazy! First the thing with Sami and Kevin Owens, and then Alex Riley got involved! And get this- have you heard? Someone attacked Alex and busted his knee up bad. Between that and the beating that Kevin gave him...he's gonna have to have surgery! He's gonna be out for awhile."
Finn tried to hide his smile with a droll monotone. "Imagine that! Who would do such a thing?" He turned away from Bayley and waved. "Thanks, Bay, I owe you one."
Alex Riley having surgery? Finn didn't think that his attack on Alex Riley was that bad. However, in the end, it got him information that he needed. Now to get this flash drive home and find out what was really going on in NXT.
–
Tyler Breeze watched Bayley and Finn Balor parting ways from a distance. His eyes following Finn all the way down the hall, Tyler couldn't help but to chuckle to himself. "Predictable. But then again, they always are." Tyler lifted his phone up and posed for a couple of selfies. "Prince Pretty, you are not only gorgeous, but brilliant. I'll take care of what that uggo Riley couldn't, and get all the praise for it." He struck an expression, eyebrow raised slightly, lips pursed in a self-satisfied grin. He clicked the button and looked at the results. That was the face of a winner, he thought to himself, and he couldn't wait for the fruits of his labor to be ripe.
