Author's note: For those who have not read it yet, I recommend reading my one shot Opposite Extremes before reading this chapter.
Royal Rumble 2015
The backstage areas were always a chaotic place to be before a WWE pay per view event, none more so than the Royal Rumble. Although it was frantic, this was one of the favourite nights of the year for Hunter Helmsley. Next on his extensive list of things to do was to go over the ending of the WWE title match with those involved. To that end, he had just dispatched runners to bring Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Ronda Rousey and a guy called Ian, who had been hired as an extra for a very specific reason, to his office so that he could put them all in the picture.
"I'm still not happy about this," Stephanie McMahon griped at her husband, sitting on a couch against one wall of the office, sipping at a cup of coffee.
"Really?" Hunter sighed from behind his desk, looking over at his wife. "You're still on this Ronda thing?"
"It's not just me," Stephanie reminded him. "Most of the divas are pissed off too. You sign her as a referee and less than a month later you have her in training for a place on the roster. No NXT, no anything. It's not right, and I don't like it. She played you. Not only did she play you, after tonight we haven't got a female referee again which was what I wanted to start with. So yes, I'm 'still on this Ronda thing.'
Hunter already knew that there was heat on Ronda with some of the other Divas for how quickly she was being put onto the main roster, but he was not going to change his mind. Ronda Rousey was the real deal and just what he needed to satisfy the large number of fans who wanted Divas to be given a chance. In a couple of months or so, when Ronda had ironically been trained not to hurt people, he could see her being one of the companies biggest stars, let alone being a boost for the Divas division. If people had a problem with that, even his wife, then that was tough luck for them. He had a company to run and increasingly impatient Chairman to satisfy. In reality, Vince's supposed step back had not really been a step back so much as a change from giving the orders himself to giving Hunter orders about what orders he should be giving out himself. The old man sure could be tough to work for at times.
"I've been over this with you before," Hunter reminded his wife, not having the time or patience for an argument. "Ronda didn't play anyone. She had a mental problem with her neck injury, which she's now working on in training with Rollins. When she's trained up, she's going to be a real star for us. Period."
The discussion may have been ended, but Hunter could see his wife boiling away in silence on the couch. She had some strange character traits which she had picked up from her father, and taking an unnatural dislike to certain people was one of them. Ronda Rousey was marked in Stephanie's book. Over the next few minutes, all of the people who had been summoned arrived in the office. When they were all in attendance, Hunter ran over what the finish of the title match was going to be and everyone aside from Stephanie, who remained seated on the couch, shared a laugh at Ian's appearance, including Ian himself.
Hunter brought the brief meeting to an end, but asked Seth and Ronda to stay behind. "How's it going down in Orlando?" he asked when the office's population was reduced to four.
"Great," Seth announced proudly. "Ronda's coming along real quick. It's only been a couple weeks, but I think we're pretty much past the neck injury, right?" he asked his girlfriend, deliberately avoiding the use of his current chosen term of affection at the end of the question. He knew that Ronda would not want to be called babe in front of the boss.
"Yeah, it's going better than I could have hoped for," Ronda smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw his wife shaking her head as Ronda continued. "I'm not really feeling nervous all that much about bumps now, so maybe I'll do another week with Seth, if that's okay? Then I can work with someone else. I know you need him back on the house shows."
"That's fine," Hunter smiled, impressed with Ronda's professional attitude. "I'm glad it's working out. You'll get all the training you need down there. I've spoken to some of the guys, and they think they can have you ready to go in around two months. Right, that's all," he said, dismissing them.
Seth and Ronda said their goodbyes and left the office. "What's Steph's problem?" Ronda asked as they walked along the hallway. "She looked like we had a bad smell following us around."
"I don't know," Seth shrugged. "She's a McMahon. They're a strange family. You'll learn that quickly enough. Don't get me wrong, they've been good to me, but yeah, they can be strange at times."
"Well, I'm done as a referee from tonight," Ronda sighed. "Still, more time to focus on training," she said, quickly moving on. "It sucks that we won't see much of each other, but I guess it can't be helped."
"It does get hard," Seth admitted. "Still, it's only a couple months. It'll go quicker than it sounds. At least you actually work here, so soon enough we'll be able to travel a lot together. We'll still get an odd day here and there to spend together now."
"We'd better make use of tonight then, while we can," Ronda said softly as they reached the locker room belonging to the three former Shield members.
"I'll hold you to that," Seth grinned, planting a kiss on her lips before pushing the locker room door open and leading Ronda inside.
An F5 through the Spanish commentary table took care of John Cena, as far as the ending of the triple threat match for the WWE title was concerned. The fans were really into it, even cheering for Seth, who was putting on one of the best performances of his career. This was only emphasised even further by Seth breaking out his Phoenix Splash from the top rope a minute later, hitting Lesnar with it and getting a really close near fall.
In the storyline, it was still not clear if Ronda was helping Seth, although most people seemed to expect her to in this match, especially with the now quite famous Instagram picture taken into consideration. "Come on!" Seth could be heard complaining frustratedly to Ronda as she only got a two count on Lesnar following the impressive move from the top rope.
Determined to put an end to the match, Seth lined up a curb stomp on Lesnar, who was slowly trying to get up from the canvas. But as Seth ran in, it became apparent that Lesnar had been setting a trap. Suddenly, Seth was up on Lesnar's shoulders and in position for an F5.
Panicking, Seth managed to wriggle off Lesnar's shoulders and scurry out of the ring under the bottom rope in front of the commentary tables. Seeing that Lesnar intended to come after him, Seth took what seemed to be his only option and crawled under the ring. Lesnar was only seconds behind him. He reached under the ring, yanking Seth back out from under the ring viciously by the ankle.
With Cena still down, Lesnar wanted to end the match quickly, so he rolled Seth into the ring under the bottom rope and climbed in after him. Wasting no time, he got Seth up on his shoulders and hit him with an F5. The crowd cheered loudly as their only desired outcome seemed to be for Cena not to win. "Ball game!" JBL announced as Lesnar rolled Rollins over and made a cover.
The crowd joined in with Ronda's count. "One! Two!" As she raised her hand to make the third count, she froze in place for a moment. Immediately, the crowd launched into boos, sensing conspiracy.
"I knew it!" Cole yelled. "Rousey sold out! That was easily three, but she stopped counting!"
"Wait a minute," Jerry Lawler cut in. "What's she saying?"
Ronda was now backing away from the furious Lesnar, pointing repeatedly at Seth as he lay flat on his back and yelling something to Lesnar to accompany her hand gestures, with which she was indicating that she couldn't complete the count. Paul Heyman also yelled protests into the ring from the outside. Then the noise from the crowd rose.
"What the hell?" Michael Cole yelled incredulously as a second Seth Rollins appeared in the ring, running up behind Lesnar. The second, and real, Rollins pulled Lesnar down and rolled him up, using a fistfull of his trunks in the process. "Rollins has the tights!" Cole protested.
Once more the crowd counted along. "One! Two! Three!" But Lesnar had in fact got a shoulder up at two, the crowd fooled again by Ronda's counting style.
"Two!" Cole announced. "Two and only two! There's a guy who looks like Seth Rollins in the ring, and it nearly cost Lesnar his title!"
Unable to believe that it was only a two count, Seth tore at his own hair as he stood and raged at Ronda. "What are you doing? What are you doing, huh? That was three."
Ronda looked a little apologetic, but appeared to be saying that there was nothing she could do because Lesnar got a shoulder up. Seth had a much bigger problem behind him. Lesnar had of course not been hurt by the roll up pin, and was now standing behind Seth. Giving up on the argument with Ronda, Seth turned around and walked right into Lesnar who hit another F5, this time definitely on the real Rollins. The champion rolled Seth over and made a cover.
"Is Rousey going to count?" Cole demanded. Looking very reluctant, and getting into position slower than usual, Ronda did just that, signalling almost angrily to the timekeeper to ring the bell after getting a three count. With that she left the ring, shaking her head and not bothering to raise the hand of the winner or present him with the title.
Lesnar and Heyman celebrated for a couple of minutes in the ring. When they headed for the back, medics came in the opposite direction to attend to the remains of Cena and the fake Rollins. The real Seth managed to get to his feet and now that the match, and with it kayfabe to an extent, was over, the crowd gave him a standing ovation for his outstanding performance.
Seth heard Lesnar's music stop playing and saw an advertisement for the WWE network appear on the big screen. Knowing that he was no longer on camera, he was glad to have the chance to do something which was technically breaking kayfabe. The previous Monday night, he had been out for a meal with Ronda, Roman, Dean and Renee when they had met a teenage girl named Maggie who was a huge fan of his. Maggie and her mother had been run down by a drunk driver a year before, costing Maggie both of her legs and her mother her life. Seth had been so moved by Maggie's story that he had arranged for her and her father, Martin to be at ringside for tonight's event.
Seth walked around to where Maggie and Martin were and leaned over the barrier, offering a her hug and receiving a very tight one in return as he asked, "Enjoying the show?"
"Yeah!" Maggie enthused. "You were awesome, Seth. You really were."
"Lesnar was just a bit better," Seth laughed, releasing the hug.
"Never," Maggie laughed. "Thank you so much for this. I'll never forget it."
"My pleasure, enjoy the Rumble." With that and a slap on Martin's shoulder Seth headed for the back.
Handshakes and hugs were exchanged when Seth returned to the locker room. Both Roman and Dean congratulated him sincerely on his performance. Seth wanted to get his post match shower out of the way as soon as he could so that he could watch as much of the Royal Rumble as possible. Roman and Dean both had reasonably late entry numbers, so he knew that he would not miss out on seeing them, and would certainly see Roman's moment of glory. He was passing on his good luck wishes when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in, babe," Seth yelled, assuming it was Ronda at the door, having changed out of her referee attire.
"I don't think I've been called babe before," a familiar voice laughed as the door opened. In walked The Rock. Understandably, the first man he went to was Roman. The two men were related, and the reason The Rock was there was to help Roman win the Rumble match.
It was not the first time that Seth and Dean had met Dwayne Johnson, so when they exchanged handshakes in turn there was a genuine warmth to them. The four men chatted for a few minutes before Ronda's voice came from the open doorway. "Okay to come in?"
"Yeah," Seth smiled. "Rock, meet Ronda Rousey."
"Dwayne, but please, call me Rock," Dwayne smiled as he shook Ronda's hand. "It feels strange to be called anything else around here."
"Rock it is," Ronda smiled, feeling a little star struck.
"I hear you're training to join the roster?" Dwayne asked.
"That's right," Ronda confirmed. "I can't wait."
"You'll do great," Dwayne assured her. "Especially with this guy training you." He looked at Seth. "You're going to be champ one day, man. You were great out there."
"Thanks man, that means a lot," Seth replied honestly. "Hopefully they let me cash this thing in soon," he added, gesturing to his Money in the Bank briefcase which was sitting on the bench. "Listen guys, I want to get my shower out of the way so I can catch the Rumble. I'll see you afterwards, okay? Rome, enjoy this bro. You deserve it." Seth headed for the showers and Dean, Roman and Dwayne headed off to join everyone else who was involved in the Rumble match.
Watching on a monitor in the locker room with Ronda sitting beside him, Seth knew that the night was not going to work out as he had hoped for Roman because as soon as his music hit at entrant number nineteen, Roman, who was a face character which should have meant that he was greeted with cheers, instead was met by very loud eruption of boos.
"What's going on?" Ronda asked, turning to Seth with a look of confusion on her face.
"Something bad," Seth mumbled.
Seth had known that the reaction to the finish was going to be bad, but when the match came to a false end, with it appearing that Roman had won, he could never have imagined what would come next. There was another competitor still in the match, lying on the floor outside. The crowd began to realise this and started a chant, "We want Rusev." For Rusev, the biggest heel in the company, to be cheered over Roman was a disaster for him. Even The Rock coming out in support of Roman had not made them get behind him.
"They're fucking murdering him," Seth complained angrily.
Ronda watched on in a shocked silence as Roman eliminated Rusev and won the match, trying to celebrate his huge moment, only receiving boos and abuse in response. She had not known Roman long, but she could tell that he was a great guy and did not deserve this at all. There seemed to be no logic to all of the hate, that was the worst part.
"We need to go," Seth announced, snapping out of his shocked, almost trance-like state and heading for the door. "We need to be there when he comes through the curtain."
It only took a couple of minutes for them to reach Gorilla, but by that time Roman and The Rock were already backstage. There was some kind of argument going on between The Rock and Vince McMahon, while Roman had been pulled aside by Hunter. Dean was also there, waiting to speak to his brother.
"I don't fucking believe this," Seth said quietly as he approached Dean.
"Fucking bullshit, man," Dean agreed.
Roman's discussion with the boss proved to be a brief one, and he walked over to his two closest friends, forcing a smile. "I guess they could always turn me heel," he joked weakly.
As the three men began talking, Ronda stood nearby, momentarily forgotten about. She found herself taking out her phone and loading up Twitter to see what the reaction was like there to Roman's victory, hoping that it was only the the live crowd which had turned on him. "Oh God," she breathed to herself. The crucifixion of Roman was only just starting. A hashtag was starting to trend, urging everyone to cancel the WWE Network. In the space of an hour, her new friend's career had suffered a devastating blow rather than the incredible push that he had been so happy about. She knew a lot about what it felt like to feel depressed and to put a brave face on it for the benefit of other people, and she could see that Roman was doing it now, trying to suck it up for his brothers. It was an understandable thing to do, but it was also the wrong thing to do.
"Guys, can I have a minute?" she asked Seth and Dean, walking over to the three men.
Seth and Dean backed away to allow Ronda the privacy she had asked for, sharing a look of confusion as she started talking quietly to Roman, so that he was the only one who could hear her. A full minute went by with Ronda speaking. The two other men could tell that she was clearly adamant that Roman needed to listen to her, and he was listening, nodding several times. The conversation ended and Ronda and Roman walked over towards Seth and Dean.
"You okay?" Dean asked Roman, knowing that it was a stupid question, but not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah," Roman smiled, this one looking slightly less forced. "I might have lost my push tonight, but I gained a sister. I know what's more important."
All four of them headed towards the locker room. Dean and Roman continued talking to each other as Seth whispered to Ronda, "What did you say to him?"
"I told him not to put a brave face on it and be as stupid as I was for a long time," Ronda replied just as quietly. I told him he can talk to me any time he wants, even though he has you guys. And I told him that he and I are going to have an hour in the gym first thing tomorrow. I want to help him work out all of that anger."
"Thank you," Seth said. It meant a lot to him that Ronda would step up in support of his brother as she had. "It means a lot to me that you would do that."
"I didn't do it for you," Ronda told him as she took his hand. "I did it for him. Albeit for different reasons, I've been where he's about to go."