Flashback: FCW 2011
I could feel my eyes burning as I stood watching the man in the white t-shirt and blue jeans talk in the ring. FCW wanted to make sure all of its talent was well-rounded and developed in all categories involving wrestling, which led to them making the wrestlers practice their promo skills before we taped the shows. However, they were wasting their time with this guy. You couldn't perfect what was already perfect. Most guys stumbled along their lines or forgot their main points, but not this man, who I only knew as Dean Ambrose.
When he talked, a river of gold streamed from his mouth and turned the world to dazzling shades of twisted irrationality, and I was blinded by his words, forgetting that there was an objective reality. It was unsettling, thought-provoking, captivating…and he had me right from the very start.
"I'm gonna beat the trash out of Alex Riley!" I wanted to look away due to the glimpses of prior memories flashing in my head, but I also wanted to keep staring as he spoke. "Because I'm hungry, and I'm angry, and I don't care. About anything." He eyed the camera for a second longer after he finished before he turned away, face calm like the land after a storm and I watched in fascination. He just cut a perfect one minute promo and walked away like it was nothing. He sold himself, the rivalry, and the match in a way that made it look as if that rivalry was the most important one currently.
He walked directly in front of me with his head down, tossing the microphone from hand to hand. One toss had too much force, causing the mic to tumble down to the ground and land beside me. I reached down to pick it up after staring it for a frozen moment, only to come face to face with eyes almost as captivating as his words. My heart started to pound.
"Great job, Dean." I praised him, handing him back the microphone, waiting for the flash of recognition in his eyes. He blinked, staring at me for a long moment.
"Thanks…Lia, right? Lia Taylor?" The fact that we only knew each other's ring names made me feel shame.
"That's my ring name." I nodded. He gave a lazy jerk of his head that indicated he probably didn't really care before he turned to keep walking without another word. Maybe he didn't remember what had transpired between us, not that I truly minded. If he didn't remember, it would make it easier for me to forget it. "Aren't you going to tell me your real name?" I called. He stopped before he glanced over his shoulder.
"Get to know my character first." A smirk played on his lips, though it didn't quite reach his eyes that studied me pensively. They were flickering glass orbs that had a mind of their own; if eyes were truly windows to the soul, it was one of disarray.
"Alright." I agreed. "Figure out mine then."
"If you ever get on TV, sure, I will." Dean threw the words over his shoulder. I narrowed my eyes as I watched his figure retreat, vowing that he and everyone else would be seeing me very soon, however something else was bothering me. How could he not remember the past? How did he not remember me? I didn't want him to, so maybe that was alright. This would be a clean slate…
Present: Lily's POV
Jon stood waiting, eyes widening expectantly as he stood waiting for my reply.
"Well, that's what the script says." I held it up. "The storyline section has it all laid out, but I'm not officially joining you guys until tomorrow night." He took the script from my fingers and read through the written plan. His eyes didn't linger on a page, he scanned each one and flipped through the packet hastily.
"What's the plan in the long-run for all of this?" He asked me, glancing up.
"Do the writers really have a set future for any storyline? I'm just hoping they won't drop it out of nowhere and send me back to NXT." He grunted in agreement, looking back to the script.
"Very smart of them to give us the Diva's champion. We were never really complete until now." Jon murmured sarcastically, holding back a mocking smile. I played along, smiling sweetly.
"I hear they're still debating on whether or not they plan to have me become the number one contender for the US title."
"I'm sure we'd tear the house down." He replied, unfazed with a full-blown smirk on his face. He had a face made to wear a smirk. Before I could reply, someone nudged my back with their knee.
"And when exactly were you planning on telling me we were working together?" Colby asked as he joined Jon and me, his hurt tone contradicting the grin on his face.
"Now would probably be good." I replied as he grabbed me and ruffled my hair. I was about to protest, but I bit my tongue when Joe strolled up, a storm brewing on his features.
"Lily's working with us now." Colby told him, still holding me in a loose headlock and sounding very much like a braggadocios father of a son who had just made the little league all-star team.
"Great. Next thing you know, we're going to be jobbing for the dark matches before PPV's. I hope they're not reducing us to jokes." The us he had said very obviously did not include me. Ouch. I mean, I was funny, but just because they were putting me with them didn't mean we were going to be jobbing to Hornswoggle. Hopefully. I certainly didn't think I was a joke.
"I'm the Diva's champion," I spoke up as I straightened up out of Colby's grip. Joe eyed me, his expression remaining the same.
"Is that supposed to give us credibility?"
"They're not making me the team cheerleader, I'm going to be a member. I would wrestle just like the rest of you, and-"
"Look, Lily, I understand you're trying to prove yourself; we all are. The three of us understand each other and we have the same goals. It is what it is to us. But you're a different story, it seems. It's like you've had a chip on your shoulder ever since you got here, because you think you're entitled to more. It doesn't matter what you did in other promotions, this is different. I know you feel slighted because you're a woman, but we don't want any unnecessary drama." Genuine shock made my mouth fall open; this was the most Joe had ever said to me during conversation and I didn't understand where it was coming from.
"I feel slighted because of people like you who think they know it all." I retorted. "You've been wrestling for all of two years and I've been wrestling ever since 2004-"
"This is exactly what I'm talking about, that doesn't matter. I worked just as hard as you in FCW, and all I ever heard you talk about was how you deserved to be on the main roster already. If you haven't improved in all of those years wrestling, do they really count?"
"Excuse me?" I said through gritted teeth. "Look, you got 18 minutes for you tag team match at Extreme Rules. Know how long my match was? Three and a half minutes; if you blinked you would have missed it, I don't blame you. So yes, I do feel slighted because I am worth helluva lot more than three and a half minutes!"
"Any longer and it would have been a botch fest." Jon's eyes widened and he made an 'o' face. I could feel my cheeks burning as the flames inside me flickered up to my face. I stepped forward only to be pushed back by Colby.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop it," He snapped at me as I tried to push past him. He pointed a finger at Joe, even though he was standing completely still. "Stop it. We're going to be a team now, we can't be fighting like this."
"We? He just started insulting me out of nowhere; don't act like you've never made a mistake in the ring!" I yelled at Joe. Okay, yes, I messed up a dropkick, but it was one dropkick. It was my first title match and the most nerve-wracking match of my life.
"You only had three and half minutes not to mess up." He muttered. Colby glared at him, though he said nothing.
"Brutal." Jon shook his head, crossing his arms as he continued to watch.
"That's enough, guys. Joe, Lily's worked her ass off to make it to this point and she does deserve more than what she's getting. Besides, she wants this more than any other of them women that I know."
"At least they didn't give us Rosa Mendes," Jon offered nonchalantly.
"She's going to work even harder to get better and make us look good." Colby continued, eyeing me for confirmation. I glared. Why was it such a concern that I was going to be the catalyst that turned the group to trash? I had a wrestling background, something many of the other Divas lacked.
"Chin up, big guy, you're still the champ. We're not jobbing to the Usos yet." Jon punched Joe's shoulder, and he merely gave a stiff nod before walking away, refusing to look at me as he passed.
"He's a real blast, huh?" I turned to Colby, my words stinging like acid.
"It's not anything personal, Lily, he's just concerned. We've worked really hard to get to this spot-"
"And I haven't? Look, the Diva's title might not have any worth to anyone else, but that's the brass ring to any woman that wants to make it in this business and I finally got it."
"Sorry, sweetheart, but that title is only a representation of false hope." Jon spoke up. I looked to him quickly, and he shrugged matter-of-factly. "Women were never meant to be anything more than eye candy in the world of wrestling."
"I am not eye candy." I said indignantly.
"And I'm a wrestler, not a superstar." Jon rolled his eyes. "I didn't say you weren't good, champ, you are. Maybe a little fine-tuning, but you've got the idea of wrestling down. You could be the greatest woman to ever grace the ring, but do you think they'll give a damn about you? You can't go head to head with John Cena, so no, you won't be anything more than a glorified watered down Trish Stratus. It's just the truth." He was right. He was just so right and I absolutely couldn't stand it.
After-all, I was given four minutes for our match tonight. Yeah, the match where I was defending my title against three other women. A fatal-four-way had been the main event at several PPV's in the past.
And we were given four minutes. The Undertaker's entrance was longer than that.
Jon and Colby stood silently, Colby looking at the ground and Jon watching me carefully. I had been forced to acknowledge the truth in Jon's words, an unspoken truth that no one had ever hit me with. Everyone seemed to agree the Divas were unimportant, but to my face they always complimented me. Right now, I didn't feel anything like a champion.
I felt like absolutely nothing.
"I have a match, I need to go." I mumbled, moving away from the two of them.
Back long before I even stepped a foot into a wrestling ring, there were women who paved the way for other women, women who wrestled in carnivals against men. They were ridiculed, hated, but above all, special. They stole the show. They fought viciously and aggressively to be taken seriously, only for all of their hard work to be erased today? Were their tears, their sweat, their pain…was that all to be in vain? If they knew sacrificing their bodies at the time would only result in bra and panties matches and three minutes squash matches in the future, would they still have done it?
"Hello, champ." I looked up into the glittery smile of Paul Heyman and could barely offer a hello back. I had been called that twice today, and it sounded more and more like an insult each time. He stopped me with a hand to my shoulder. "That's hardly a spirit of a first-time champion, having some trouble?"
"What do you think the role of women in wrestling is?" He frowned at my blunt question, mild concern turning more somber.
"When I ran ECW, I hired women." He told me. "Know why?" I blinked. "They were appealing to the eyes of the male demographic." I looked down in disgust. "You see, Lily, there are two categories of women in this business. Can you guess what they are?"
"In the end, we'll always be reduced to eye candy." I replied bitterly, crossing my arms.
"Would you place the likes of The Fabulous Moolah and Gladys 'Kill 'em' Gillem in the category of eye candy?" I looked up, and he gave me a five-star smile before continuing on. "There are two categories. Liberators and cookie-cutters. The liberators are the women like Mildred Burke and Mae Young who had to fight to earn a legitimate reputation. They were their own liberators and they put wrestling on the map for someone like you. I'm sure you can make a guess at what the cookie cutters are."
"Something tells me it would have something to do with breast implants and playboy covergirls, or women meant to be nothing more than T&A imagery, and I feel like I'm heading down the same path." I sighed. Paul frowned. "They're putting me with the Shield, and…I don't want to be just a valet. I want to make an impact." I tried explaining my feelings, though I'm sure I sounded like every other person who wanted to "make an impact".
"Then you be the impact. When people watch this angle, don't make them roll their eyes and be able to predict the storyline. Change it up and keep them guessing. Don't be a valet, think outside of the box so that they can't even categorize you at all."
"How can I do that if they decide to make it into a romantic storyline?"
"If they decide to go with that route, then you be your partner's equal. Work to make him look good, but expect the same." I nodded, though secretly knew expecting that respect out of either Joe or Jon was most likely not going to happen.
"I suppose."
"Hey, that's not an attitude of a champion. Be a liberator." He grinned broadly. I gave a half-hearted smile that I knew he wasn't buying and a departing nod, not wanting to waste his time with my own doubts. "You know, the Fabulous Moolah's closest companions called her 'Lil'." I looked over my shoulder at him. "That sounds pretty close to 'Lily', and if you ask me, they both sound like winners." He winked before he continued on his way, as if he always gave such pearls of wisdom at all times of the day. Maybe he truly was just that brilliant.
And maybe he was right. Maybe I was right. No, I was right, there was no maybe to it. I was worth more than a four minute match, and I could unquestionably offer a whole lot more than a four minute match. If they were putting me with a white-hot faction, I was going to take it to the stars and we would be bigger than before; Moolah would expect no less. What was I even doing here if I wasn't trying to be the best?
I stood waiting in the Gorilla, glaring at the ground. The Bella Twins stood in front of me, glaring at the curtain and Natalya sighed for the fifth time in a three minute period.
The only thing we could all manage to agree on was a finish. I had tried offering ideas for back and forth finishes, counters, a spot where the Bellas could truly shine against Natalya and I, and what did they do?
Shot every idea down.
"If you wanted to get all intricate for a four minute match, you should have found us sooner." Nikki had told me.
"It's not just a normal four minute bout, its one for the title, don't you want to look like contenders?" I tried convincing the two of them, who only looked at me as if I were insulting them in Greek.
"Listen, you've only been champion for a week. We're used to working a certain way here, just because you have that belt doesn't give you the power to put together a match like some veteran, okay?" Brie agreed with her sister and I bit my tongue to the point that it was almost bleeding.
"Great, it'll be great just like it always is." Natalya quickly interjected, perhaps afraid that I would lose it before the match even started. The phony smile on her face told me three things: she wasn't happy, she had given up hope for a revolutionary future long ago, and she was only interested in keeping the work between us all harmonic. Technically, she was both on my side and against me.
Ever since our blow up we had all just stood in silence. When the Bellas went to the ring I let out a breath of air. Natalya looked at me sympathetically.
"There's no use in trying to change their minds, you should know that. They don't like it when things change."
"I just don't understand why they don't want to look good." I sighed in frustration. Natalya shook her head.
"I wondered that since the day I got here, and I still don't have an answer. It's not worth the headache."
"Nattie, do I have heat with the other women?" I asked suddenly. She looked uncomfortable suddenly, looking twice to the curtain as if she would rather be making her entrance.
"I'm sure it'll blow over soon." She murmured. Her music hit.
"So I do?" She sighed and paused right before she went out.
"Yes. You do." I smiled without humor and looked up to watch her make her entrance silently on the monitor. My theme played finally. It was a song that sounded a lot like "Ghost" by Beyoncé, and it made me feel like a nubile savage. I was definitely feeling like a savage tonight more than ever. If they were going to hate me for anything, it would because I was simply better than any of them in the ring.
The crowd was nonexistent throughout the entire bout, lukewarm at best, even when I hit my new finishing move on Nattie, a currently nameless inverted powerslam. I snatched my title from the hands of the referee and held it above my head before I grabbed the microphone from the timekeeper.
"How does it feel, Natalya, knowing that you've been an absolute loser since the day you were born? That's the longest and saddest losing streak I've ever known. When it comes to streaks, 'Takers got nothing on you." I kicked her arm aside as I walked a slow circle around her body. "A little birdy told me it was your birthday, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than me retaining this title." I got to my knees and pushed the title into her face, smothering her with it like it was a pillow before I tossed it to the side and planted a mocking kiss to her temple. "Happy birthday, dear Natalya…" I sang, standing to my feet and holding my foot against her throat. She thrashed as I held her in place before I gave her one last stomp. "Happy birthday…to you."
"This girl is sick." I heard Michael Cole say as I rolled out of the ring to a chorus of boos.
"I'm joined backstage with the Diva's champion, Lia Taylor, and Lia, I've never seen you perform your finisher before, does it have a name?" Renee Young asked me as the cameras rolled. I tried not to look at the Shield as the stood off camera, waiting.
"I'm so glad you noticed, Renee. That finisher that you failed to name is called an inverted powerslam, not that you would know anything about wrestling anyways, but I like to call it Liberation."
"Liberation?" Renee asked, frowning slightly.
"Yes, you see-"I stopped talking as the three men walked into frame and Renee took a small step back.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the illustrious Diva's champ." Seth mocked, looking at me with eyes he'd only given me when we were younger and I stole the last cookie. I gave him a sarcastic smile.
"Liberation, huh?" Dean asked me, eyeing me up and down again as he did earlier tonight. "And just what are you are you setting free?"
"I'm putting my opponents out of their misery. See, after going an entire match with me, they start begging for an end, and that's just what I give them." I said, looking the three of them in the eye as they all continued to step closer.
"Is that so?" Roman asked.
"Do I look like a liar?" They didn't answer. I smiled. "Well, if you don't believe me, why don't you just watch for yourselves sometime?" I pushed past the three of them, not at all intimidated, until I was out of the frame. I looked up at the monitor and watched the three of them looking at each other thoughtfully as Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole added their insight.
"Lia didn't show an ounce of intimidation around the Shield, King."
"Well, I don't know if I like the looks on their faces right now, Michael. They're up to something."
What happened in Lily's past with Jon? Will she be able to make the best of her debut with the Shield and gain Joe's respect? Next chapter will be Smackdown, with her debut. Thanks to all of you who have followed and favorited, it means a lot and please review! xx