Sunday March 29th 2015
The final Axxess session of Wrestlemania week is held on the morning of the event. Being one of the VIP's signing at the Sunday session was hardly ideal preparation for Seth, but he had no say in the matter. While there were some on the roster who viewed Axxess as some kind of chore that they were forced to go through, Seth did not look at it that way. He enjoyed meeting the fans and always made sure to be pleasant with all of them.
"Don't even think about cashing that briefcase in and costing Roman the title," the latest of his visitors ordered him. She was a very attractive woman with dark skin and long black hair, wearing a Roman Reigns t-shirt. Laura, she had said her name was.
Obviously he could not give away any kind of spoiler as to what would happen later at Wrestlemania so he laughed and told her, "No promises." The woman gave a little laugh of her own, then posed for a picture with him. "Good to meet you," Seth said pleasantly as she departed with a smile. He turned to greet his next visitor and he was blown away.
"Hey, Seth," the young woman beamed as she walked slowly over to the table, after being helped up the two small steps by the member of staff who was handling security at Seth's stage.
"Maggie," Seth exclaimed, standing and walking around the table with a huge smile on his face. When she reached him, he hugged her.
"Notice something different?" Maggie asked, grinning and hugging him back tightly.
"Yeah, I noticed," Seth laughed after releasing her. "Wow. When did you, uh, when did this happen?" The sight of Maggie walking made him feel happy in a way that he could not really explain. He had only met Maggie briefly at a restaurant, but her heart-wrenching story of losing both her mother and her legs had really moved him. Seeing how happy she had been to be sitting front row at the Royal Rumble thanks to the tickets that he had organised for her and her father had reminded him what a difference someone lucky enough to be in his position could make to someone else's life.
"When did I get legs?" Maggie helped him out, giggling.
"Well, yeah," Seth smiled.
"Dad managed to raise enough money," Maggie announced proudly. "It took him more than a year, but he managed to raise it. The insurance we had screwed us over and wouldn't pay out, so he's been doing all kinds of things to raise money towards these legs, and the last one took off a bit. It brought in enough for the rest of what we needed for my legs, and also we were able to make this trip with it too. I'm so lucky, honestly, that people would donate money to help me. I'm still getting used to walking on these things. They hurt quite a bit sometimes, but it's still great to have them. I'm so pleased I was able to get them in time to come here and show you. That was what I wanted the most."
"I'm so pleased for you," Seth said genuinely, wondering how Maggie could possibly describe herself as lucky. It was beyond humbling. "Where is your dad?" he asked.
"We could only afford one VIP ticket. But we're both going to be at the show later. We're up in the top of the stadium, but I'll be there when you cash in and win the title."
"You should have gotten in touch," Seth sighed. "I could have sorted you out with something closer to the ring."
"I couldn't have done that," Maggie insisted, almost as if she found the idea preposterous.
"Sure you could," Seth told her. "Have you got your phone? Tweet me now and I'll follow you so that we can keep in touch in future."
"Really?" Maggie asked, her brown eyes widening in surprise as she took her phone out of the pocket of her jeans.
"Yeah," Seth nodded. "You're one of the most amazing and inspiring people I've ever met. After what you went through, you were just so... I don't know the word I want to use. Brave, I guess is what I'm trying to say. One day I'll face a tough time of some kind, and I hope that I can do it with half as much courage as you."
Looking down at her phone was the only way that Maggie could attempt to hide the tears that began to flow down her cheeks. "I tweeted you," she mumbled.
"Don't cry," Seth urged gently. "We need to take a picture and you don't want to do it like that, do you?" He was not aware that he was almost echoing his own words from the first time he had met Maggie. She was able to get herself under control and they posed for a picture together, both wearing the same black shirt with the yellow Seth Rollins logo and both smiling broadly. "Are you coming to Raw tomorrow?" Seth asked when this was done.
"Yeah, we had enough for that, too," Maggie grinned.
"How about coming backstage?" Seth asked.
"Really?" Maggie squeaked, her eyes widening once more.
"Really," Seth confirmed. "We can all invite people from time to time. We don't get complained at as long as it's not too often, and I'm long overdue, so I'll hook you up. I'll message you on Twitter, okay?"
"I don't know what to say apart from thank you," Maggie said quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. She was stunned by what she had just heard and she felt tears stinging her eyes once more.
"You don't have to say anything apart from thank you," Seth smiled. "I need to keep the line moving, but I'll be in touch, okay?"
"Thank you so much," Maggie repeated herself. "Say hi to Ronda for me?" she asked as she made to leave.
"I'll do that," Seth agreed. "Hey, you know what I call her now?"
"Huh?" Maggie asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Gattina," Seth smiled. "She loved your drawing, and the nickname kind of stuck. It's a nice one."
"My mom was Italian," Maggie mumbled, her expression becoming slightly vacant. "Good luck later," she smiled a second later, the painful moment pushed aside. "Cash that briefcase in. I want to see that title belt up close tomorrow."
A satisfied smile came to Hunter Helmsley's face as he watched the Wrestlemania main event from the production office backstage. He considered the first Wrestlemania that he had been personally responsible for to have been a huge success as he thought back over some of the highlights.
The crowd had been right into the action from the start, brought to life by the fact that Damien Mizdow had turned on The Miz and eliminated him from the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the pre show.
The first match on the main card had been a ladder match for the Intercontinental title, which had been won by Dean Ambrose. Hunter knew that Vince and most of the WWE's fans had been expecting Daniel Bryan to win, and it was for that exact reason that it had not happened. Predictability was something that Hunter intended to avoid as much as possible from now on, and had instructed the guys in the creative department on this new edict. Less predictability, more title matches on Raw, more frequent title changes and generally better writing were all required from this point forward. Predictability was something that not be avoided at all times, however, and that had been the case with John Cena winning the United States title from Rusev. The fans had swallowed it quite well, probably because they knew that it meant a spell in the mid card for Cena.
A real highlight of the night had been a match between his wife Stephanie and AJ Lee, which Stephanie had won, even though she had supposedly be badly injured by AJ in the process; the reason that she would not be seen at Raw the following night.
Hunter's own match, Triple H against Sting, had also gone over well despite the fact that Triple H had emerged victorious. Again, this was largely due to the fact that all of smarks were certain that there was no way Sting was going to come to WWE at last and lose his first match. The appearances of DX and the NWO had added a lot to the match, and had made sure that the fans came away from it thinking about what great moments they had been, rather than the fact that Sting had lost.
Nikki Bella had retained her divas title in a one on one match with Paige, and The Undertaker had beaten Bray Wyatt in the match before the main event. A Wyatt victory had been considered, but after Undertaker losing the previous year, it was determined that he should be given another victory.
Now the main event was in progress, and Seth Rollins was about to get his Wrestlemania moment after losing to Randy Orton in the second match on the card.
Blood poured from Brock Lesnar's head as he staggered to his feet in the corner of the ring. He had accidentally busted himself open for real when Roman Reigns had ran him into the ring post and he had failed to block the impact with his hand. It was making the finish of the match look a lot better, even though the significant loss of blood was strictly not PG.
Brock had just taken three superman punches from Reigns. Even that had not been enough to keep him down on the canvas. As he stumbled out of the corner, Reigns ran in and caught him with a spear. The crowd were vehemently against Reigns, as they had been at the Royal Rumble, and they booed loudly at the prospect of seeing the outcome that they were so set against. Referee Mike Chioda counted the pin, but only got a two count, Lesnar's kick out drawing a cheer from the crowd.
Chioda had put on his black medical gloves, as was required when a superstar was bleeding, and chose to improve the injury as a way for the next part of the match to happen. As Lesnar struggled to his feet in the corner once more, Chioda made out to be checking if he was okay to continue. Reigns ran in, attempting to hit another spear, but Lesnar pulled Chioda in the way and he ate the spear instead.
Lesnar and Reigns got up simultaneously as Chioda rolled out of the ring to the floor. Reigns ran in to attempt a spear for the third time, but Lesnar caught him and Reigns ended up on his shoulders, in position for an F5. Lesnar hit his finishing move for the fourth time in the match, to a loud cheer from the fans.
"Both men are down, but who can capitalise?" Michael Cole asked.
The answer came when Seth Rollins' music hit, the crowd instantly erupting, despite the fact that Rollins was a heel character. For them, anything was better than the prospect of Reigns walking out with the title. In any case, it was proving hard to keep Seth heel as his sheer ability was causing fans to cheer for him despite the character he was playing.
"This is brilliant!" JBL yelled as Seth sprinted to the ring, Money in the Bank briefcase in hand. He slid under the bottom rope and looked at the two fallen men on the canvas, but then he realised that he had a big problem. He wanted to cash in his briefcase and join the title match, but there was no referee to take it from him, or to count any pin that he might make. "Rollins wants to cash in but there's no referee!" JBL protested.
Seth already had something in place for this eventuality. He began gesturing frantically towards the stage for someone to come down to the ring. "Rollins is calling for another referee to get out here," Cole announced. "This is insane! We're in the middle of the Wrestlemania main event here!"
When a referee did appear, running towards the ring, it was not one that the crowd expected, and they cheered loudly once more. "Wait!" Jerry Lawler cried. "That's Ronda Rousey. She doesn't work here any more... does she?"
"We haven't seen Rousey in months," JBL recalled, "But she has a referee shirt on, and now she's in the ring."
"Great," Cole whined as Ronda took the briefcase from Seth and headed for the corner of the ring to hand it to the timekeeper. "We've got Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank, and his girlfriend refereeing the match. This is really fair."
Lillian Garcia, having received instructions from Ronda, made her announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, Seth Rollins is cashing in his Money in the Bank contract! This is now a triple threat match!"
The crowd cheered loudly as Seth lined himself up for a curb stomp on Lesnar. The champion made it to all fours and Seth ran in, nailing his finisher perfectly, but he made no attempt at a pin. This was Brock Lesnar he was dealing with, and he wanted to make absolutely sure of the victory. He lined himself up for yet another curb stomp.
When Seth ran in to deliver the move for the second time, Lesnar repeated the counter he had made on Reigns earlier, catching him in the air and getting him in position for an F5. Now having no clue what was happening, the crowd were going insane. Lesnar was poised to put an end to Seth's cash in attempt, but at that moment Reigns appeared as if from nowhere and hit a spear on Lesnar, sending both the champion and Seth crashing to the mat.
Now all three men were down, but of course Seth was much fresher than the other two, and was quickly back to his feet. Lesnar rolled out of the ring to the floor as Reigns struggled to get up. Noticing the perfect opportunity, Seth ran in and hit a curb stomp on his former ally, to another huge reaction from the crowd. Seth made the cover and almost everyone in the stadium joined in with Ronda's count. As she counted, Seth whispered in his brother's ear, "Thank you. I love you."
"One! Two! Three!"
Levi's stadium erupted as Seth's music played and he stood up, staggering back towards the ropes with his hands raised and a look of shock on his face. He was the new WWE Champion. Ronda grabbed the title from the timekeeper and hurried over to Seth to present it to him. With the belt handed over, they shared a brief hug, before deciding that a quick exit might be the best idea, before Lesnar or Reigns managed to get back up.
Moments later, they were standing on the stage with Ronda raising Seth's right hand in victory as he held the title aloft with his left. They both wore huge smiles as an incredible pyrotechnic display exploded all around the top if the stadium, and all around the stage itself. The explosions and whistling noises were almost deafening. Glancing to his left, Seth saw that half of the stadium was now clapping along to his music, quite an achievement in itself given the style of it. "This is crazy," he said quietly to Ronda, scarcely able to believe that this moment was happening, and that he was sharing it with his girlfriend. The thought made him turn to Ronda and kiss her.
"I love you," she told him after the kiss, a huge smile still on her face. "Congratulations, asshole," she giggled.
"I love you too," Seth smiled back, before turning to face the crowd once more and resuming his celebrations.
Back in the production office, Hunter watched this display and turned to his wife with a smile. "That's money right there, Steph. There's your new power couple." Stephanie looked a lot less impressed with the prospect than her husband did. "I've got to go meet them when they come backstage," Hunter announced, heading for the door.
When Seth and Ronda walked back through the curtain, Hunter was the first to greet them and offer Seth his congratulations, along with a hug. Next in line was Dean, who was standing nearby with his Intercontinental title over his shoulder. The two men just stared at each other for a moment before Dean began applauding his friend. Seth walked over and the two men grabbed hold of each other in a hug.
"I'm proud of you, man," Dean told him seriously.
"I'm proud of you too, you crazy bastard," Seth replied.
While this was going on, Hunter had approached Ronda and he had a simple message to deliver. "I know you're ready, Ronda. The guys in Florida have nothing but good things to say about you. From tomorrow, the two of you are my stars, do you hear me?"
"Yes," Ronda told him determinedly. "I won't let you down."
"I know. I can see it in your eyes. Go enjoy this with him, there aren't that many moments like this." With that, Hunter walked away, leaving Ronda to walk over to Seth and share another hug and a passionate kiss with him.
"Get a fucking room," Dean mumbled sarcastically from nearby, a grin on his face.
"Go find Renee, or go jerk one off," Seth laughed in reply.
"I want to see you wearing it," Ronda said to Seth, ignoring the banter. "I want to see the new champion."
"Later. Here's Brock," Seth gestured as the former champion walked through the curtain, handing his title to Ronda, who put it over her left shoulder. Seth walked over to Lesnar and the two men exchanged a handshake. Brock passed on his congratulations to Seth, followed by Paul Heyman, who did the same. Ronda knew what was coming next so she gave her man some space. The moment that he and Roman were about to exchange was going to be private, and rightly so. Dean stood beside her and rested his arm on her right shoulder, clearly thinking the same thing that she was.
Roman walked through the curtain and went straight over to Seth. The two men grabbed each other tightly into a hug and slapped each other on the back a few times as Seth felt a lump forming in his throat. "I love you, man. Thank you," he managed to get out, almost repeating his words from in the ring minutes before.
"No, thank you," Roman insisted. "Without you and Dean, I wouldn't have been out there in the main event at all. I loved it, and I couldn't be happier for you."
"One day I'll give you this moment back, I promise," Seth said. "Me and you at 'Mania, and you'll be the one to go over. I promise you that."
"Maybe next year," Roman smiled, releasing his brother from the hug. Dean was next to come over to Roman and exchange a hug with him, followed by Ronda.
While this was going on, Seth had noticed a crew member walking past with a phone in his hand. Seth called him over and asked him to take a picture. "Let's get a picture," he urged his group of friends. Ronda handed his newly acquired title belt back to him, and the four of them quickly assembled in line, with Seth and Ronda in the centre, Seth now wearing his belt for the first time. Roman stood the other side of Seth, with his arm around the smaller man's shoulders, and Dean stood beside Ronda with an arm around her shoulders. All four of them smiled and the phone's camera flashed. The moment was immortalised forever. All four of the family members felt like the happiest people on Earth.
And this was only the beginning.