ATM: Seth and the God Girls – The Bloodline Wars
Bayley rallies the God Girls when Seth tries to pull Sasha out of deep waters with the McMahon family and Bray Wyatt on his own and Roman Reigns files for custody of Abiyah Rollins.
Chapter Twenty Two – Executive Decisions
WWE HQ
Beth Hardy went through some paperwork in preparation for a roster meeting that was taking place in a few hours. Now that DX had returned Beth had to move quickly to make sure that her plans for SummerSlam went off without a hitch. Rumours were circulating in the male locker room that the Bloodline were not happy about not being engaged sooner on the SummerSlam line up. Roman still had no idea who he was competing against but yet Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega and the Hurt Business already had their roles written for them. Beth had to fix this now as she did not want anything to get out of hand being that SummerSlam was only six weeks away.
The Board room had been prepared to accommodate all of the roster and she was expecting Becky Lynch and the God Girls, as-well as her Executive Assistant Charlene MacKenzie to show up first. The God Girls showed up pretty soon after the Board room was ready and as soon as Beth saw Becky Lynch, she hugged her tightly and with great relief.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she said as the God Girls flanked Becky. Beth looked a suspicious Lynch in the eyes, "I've got big plans for you Becks and I can't afford to lose you right now,"
Becky looked at the other God Girls who had the same doubting expression that she did, "My Girls told me about this big storyline that you've created while I was out cleaning up the mess that you made when you Transcended DX and Abiyah Rollins. Apparently, you didn't wanna let them in on it until I got here, well I'm here now Beth so let me in on the big plans you've got for me at SummerSlam,"
"Just one second!" came the authoritative voice of Paul Heyman who appeared with the Bloodline shortly after Becky had spoken. Charlene MacKenzie arrived soon looking a bit flustered.
"I'm sorry I'm late Beth, Cassie just got in touch with me, apparently Dan and Charlotte McCool are trying to get a-hold of her and that ain't good," Mac explained and Beth looked at her nonplussed.
"I don't care Mac, we have a meeting, are you ready?" Beth said firmly as Mac hugged the God Girls before taking her position by Beth's side.
"Let's get to it, I gotta get out of here to see Cassie and Lisa," Mac said and Beth was not impressed with that.
"This meeting is a big deal Mac and I need you to be taking it a lot more seriously," Beth said to her Executive Assistant.
"Get off her case, you should be grateful Mac is even here with all the crap that you've been pulling lately," Becky said and Beth nodded. "You know DX are back right?"
"Yes Becky I know but I'm the one who needs Mac's attention right now, I can't let yet another DX problem get in the way of my family business," Beth said and she looked at Mac pleadingly. "I want you on your game okay?"
"I'm here Beth, who else are we waiting for?" Mac replied as the roster piled into the Board room.
"I believe that would be me," Roman Reigns said as Paul Heyman closed the door behind him. "Now the meeting can start,"
Beth Hardy sat at the head of the table with Mac by her side and the God Girls close by.
"SummerSlam is gonna be huge this year. Coming out of this year's SummerSlam many of you will be elevated off the back of a major storyline that I have written, that includes Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, the Hurt Business and Becky Lynch," Beth started. "The crux of the story is that Finn Balor will have to decide between his boys and the Undisputed Championship. So, the main event of SummerSlam will be determined by who wins in the Hurt Business vs Finn Balor, AJ Styles and Kenny Omega match,"
Becky Lynch nodded, "That sounds good but what does that have to do with me?" she asked and Beth Hardy smiled at her.
"Oh it has a lot to do with you Becks, you see, in order for Finn to win his match, he is going to have to make a decision that will determine whether or not he gets a shot at Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam," Beth said with her face suddenly darkening.
"And what's that?" Becky asked her.
"He's going to have to convince me that he deserves to be in the main event," Beth Hardy said and Becky furrowed her brow.
"Convince you, you mean in a series of matches? I thought that was the whole point of the feud with the Hurt Business?" Becky said.
"I want you to show support for Finn on the air so by the time we get to that match, the fans will think that you are soundly behind him. That's when things get a little interesting, as it gets closer and closer to the contender's match, things start to unravel between you and Finn," Beth said and Becky looked at Beth displeased
"Unravel? Are you saying you want our on air relationship to fall apart in the build to SummerSlam?" Becky asked and Beth nodded.
"Yes, as part of the storyline, Finn is going to have to choose between you and me," Beth said. "If he chooses me, he gets a shot at Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship. If he chooses you, he never gets a shot at the Undisputed Championship again,"
The roster gasped at the storyline and they talked about it amongst themselves while the Bloodline exchanged unimpressed glances.
"So the build up to SummerSlam is without the Bloodline?!" Jey Uso said disgusted. "What you got the Tribal Chief doing then?"
Beth Hardy shrugged indifferently, "I don't think the storyline calls for the Bloodline to be heavily featured on TV," she said coolly. "Roman can do what he always does, just show up and win,"
"So the Bloodline won't be part of this build at all?!" Paul Heyman said puzzled. "You wanna build up the main event to SummerSlam without Roman Reigns?!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Ronda Rousey said.
"Yeah, Roman's the biggest star in the company, how can you not have him featured in the main storyline leading up to SummerSlam?" Chad Gable asked confused.
Beth shook her head, "The last time I checked, this company was built on the back of all of your hard work. Why should you care if Roman's on TV or not?" she said.
"Because he's Roman Reigns!" Rhea Ripley said and the rest of the roster agreed with her while the God Girls reviewed her plans from a different perspective.
"You're trying to keep Roman off of TV," Charlotte Flair said. "You want to diminish his value to the product by proving that SummerSlam can be a success without him,"
"That's not what I'm doing, Roman will be in the main event, he just won't be in the build up to it. That gives a lot of air-time to everyone else," Beth Hardy argued and Mac looked at her like she was crazy.
"Beth, its because of Roman, that anyone else can even get TV time," she said. "ask anyone in marketing, they will tell you that Roman is the hottest member of the roster. Not featuring him on TV for six weeks is a dangerous move,"
"Its my move and its final," Beth said and Roman Reigns looked at her wisely.
"This is about your Uncle Shane and Sasha Banks isn't it?" he said. "You're appeasing them because you want them to know that you're on the McMahon side of this war,"
"What war, Roman what are you talking about?" Beth said laughing Roman off.
"What war, really? Like you didn't try to get rid of DX with your Gift of Transcendence?" Roman replied and Beth Hardy gulped. "The war between DX and the McMahon family is the war I'm talking about, you're choosing sides. You're supposed to be impartial Beth, you're a business woman. You can't take sides, if you do it will affect your ability to make the right decisions for the fans and for the company,"
Beth Hardy stood to her feet and walked over to Roman Reigns, "The last time I checked Roman, this was my company, not yours and if I wanna bench you for six weeks, then that's what I'm going to do. WWE will be just fine without you. DX might have kissed your butt for years but I'm going to prove that there is no-one more important in this company than the woman running it and that's me,"
The roster gasped at Beth's attitude and it was clear to Roman Reigns and the God Girls that Shane McMahon had indeed gotten to her.
"This is a mistake Beth, a mistake that you will not recover from. Think about that while you're trying to prove your point, kid," Paul Heyman said and Beth Hardy walked confidently back to the head of the boardroom table.
"Since you have nothing to contribute to this year's epic SummerSlam show, all members of the Bloodline are welcome to leave this meeting," she said and the roster looked at the Bloodline in shock.
"You're kicking the Bloodline out of a roster meeting?!" Rhea Ripley said aghast and Beth Hardy shot her a dark look.
"Pipe down Rhea or you can leave with them. You don't think I can replace you with another NXT call up?!" Beth exclaimed and Judgement Day calmed Rhea Ripley down even though she was hot at Beth's incendiary words.
The God Girls turned to Roman Reigns, "If Roman leaves, we're leaving too," Charlotte said, "we are one roster and you will not divide us like this,"
"I can replace your a** too Charlotte Flair, you wanna take a walk with Roman and the Bloodline, you go right on ahead," Beth Hardy said and Bianca Belair calmed Charlotte down.
"Don't aggravate her or she'll Transcend you and we don't need that right now, we need to stay together," Bianca said and she turned to Roman. "Let us handle this," she said to the Tribal Chief and Roman nodded.
"I know you will, keep my seat at the table warm for me Girls," Roman said to Bianca and the God Girls as he rose up and left the meeting with the Bloodline much to the horror of the rest of the roster.
Beth smiled as he left but her smile quickly faded as the God Girls sat in the seats that the Bloodline had just occupied.
"Roman might have left but you still have to deal with us," Alexa Bliss said to Beth Hardy confidently and the God Girls smiled at Beth Hardy as she tapped her crossed leg on the hardwood floor of her executive office.
"Good luck with that," Becky said with a smirk and Beth reached for Finn Balor's hand which he obliged to give her and she squeezed it like a stress ball.
"I've got all the luck I need right here, we'll see how long yours lasts," Beth replied and Becky eyed her husband wondering what game he was playing. Whatever game was being played, MacKenzie didn't like it one bit and she called her husband Hayworth Helmsley and told him that the McMahon family war against DX had just gotten ugly.
HayMac's apartment, New York City, New York
Hayworth Helmsley stared across the room at Bray Wyatt who had just appeared out of nowhere with the Street Profits and Liv Morgan. Both Tez and Dawkins appeared to be under some sort of hypnosis and Liv Morgan's face was motionless. Hayworth gulped as he listened to his wife's update from WWE HQ, he was in trouble and he only hoped that the God Girls could clue Mac in what was happening. As much as Mac needed her husband's help, that was something he couldn't give her right now. Whatever Bray Wyatt wanted from him, he was going to use force to get it. When he dropped the phone, Liv Morgan jumped on him and wrestled him down to the ground as the Street Profits watched in a hypnotised state and Bray Wyatt took the phone and held it to his mouth.
"Run!" he said and Mac screamed at the sound of his chilling voice knowing now that her husband was in danger and the McMahon war against DX had just taken a very unexpected turn. A lot of innocent people were about to get drafted into a war they didn't even know they were a part of, until now…