Chapt. 3

CLAIRE

At the arena it became clear to Claire that Stephen was avoiding her as much as she was him. She had only caught a glimpse of him going into his locker room earlier in the night to prepare for his match. There was a small part of her that wanted to watch the match, and then another part told her it would be emotional suicide. Before she could ponder it any further, Steve Caranno, head of talent relations, came up to her, clearing his throat.

"Claire, I've been looking for you. I have some talent that I need to get your take on. Would you mind coming to my office for a minute please?"

"Yeah, of course," she said with a fake smile in place as she followed him down the hallway and into his office for the night. He had been her boss for a few months now and she liked working with him. He respected her thoughts and opinions and he truly took them to heart. It felt nice to feel respected in such a male dominated business

Caranno turned his computer to where she could see the screen and pressed play. "This kid is down in NXT and he is loaded with charisma. Talent oozes outta him. Wrestling is in his blood, literally. He comes from a long line of wrestlers and it shows in his in ring work. His work ethic is out of this world. He is willing to put in extra training, to learn anything that anyone is willing to teach him and he still begs for more. I'm just concerned he's not over enough to bring up even though he is destined to be a huge star, but I think we just need a push to get him there."

"Where is his file? I'll look over it and see what I can throw together." She took the plain yellow folder that he slid across the desk and opened it to begin reading the first page. Joe A'noai, AKA: Leake, Roman Reigns. Well at least his name had progressed and was as strong sounding as the man looked. Claire nodded her head and looked up at Caranno. "I assume you have videos and such for me to go over as well?"

"Absolutely," he said sliding two disks across the table. "You can watch in here on the computer or go to your office space and use the DVD player, it is your decision."

Claire stood, gathering the study material in her arms. "I'll head to my space. What is the time frame that I am working with on this?"

"Two weeks. Think you can do it?"

Flashing a smile, grateful for something to distract her mind, Claire said, "Yes sir. You will have my recommendations within those two weeks sir."

As she was about to close the door he called out, "Claire, Steve is fine, if that makes you uncomfortable, Caranno works. Drop the sir kid." His smile said that he wasn't being angry or upset, just telling her that they had reached a respect level that warranted a more casual relationship.

Claire settled into her office, if you could call it an office. That term always made her snicker to herself while they were on the road. Their offices were typically empty spaces that held a television and DVD player and a make shift desk with a space to set up a laptop and to get work done, though sometimes they would luck out and get an actual office that was not in use. That was her fortune this week. She had a desk positioned in front of a television so there would be no issues taking notes on the footage she was about to watch. She hated when she ended up having to hold the notebook in her lap and try to write and focus. Before sitting in the rather uncomfortable looking desk chair she went to the DVD player and put in the first disk. It was what was known as a working disc. It would consist solely of in ring work against various opponents throughout this guy's time at FCW and NXT. Settling into her seat she lifted the controller and pressed play as she pointed it at the television.

Thirty minutes in and she had an easy five pages of notes. He was good, and he did have a raw, natural talent, one that burned from inside and that could never be taught. He had a good look to, minus the cheesy Tarzan mess they had him wearing in the earlier matches, but there was nothing about his trunks that stood out to make a statement. He needed to make a statement.

He had the looks. Long, dark, curly hair that hung just past his shoulders, dark skin that made his piercing blue eyes stand out, looking almost fake. Oh the girls would love him. Even through all of that though Claire knew that he was missing something. Now she simply had to put her finger on what.

When she changed the DVD to the mic work disc she sat back down and was looking over her notes. She found it better to really get how these kids were on the mic while she wasn't looking at them speak. It didn't take long to see that his in ring ability was his strong suite. That wasn't to say that he was horrible on the mic and for interviews, but he needed work. She scribbled notes and found herself circling the words "put him in a team" over and over. Her mind kept going back to two individuals who he had matches with on his working disc. She checked her database for NXT roster names and found the pictures of the guys she was looking for. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Jotting those names down she made a note out to the side to ask for their files and discs. Her mind was churning ideas out, if only the other twos work was what she hoped that it would be.