It's back to Monday Night, and we all had flown to Connecticut for the show tonight. We're all busy getting ready in our rooms. I walk out and grab my shoes, slipping them on before I feel arms snake around my waist and lips touch the skin of my shoulder.
"Someone's being awfully affectionate tonight."
"I can stop if you like."
"I'm not saying that am I?"
"Just teasing." He chuckles.
"Couldn't get enough over our break could you?"
"Nope."
"Too bad we can't stay like this all night."
"Yeah...darn."
"You're gonna have to let me go in order for us to leave."
Alex sighs a little but lets me go.
"You'll have plenty of time for that later." I smile.
"True." He returns the smile.
I grab a light jacket, and then we head out and down to the car to wait for Aly and Mike. She's
sticking her feet in her shoes while trying to clasp her necklace, humming a song faintly.
"Need help clasping the necklace?" Mike asks, seeing you struggling.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I can't seem to get it."
He walks over and stands behind her, taking each side of the necklace and clasps it for her.
"Thank you." She smiles as she turns around.
"You're welcome, always happy to help."
"I know and I appreciate it very much."
"I know." He smiles.
She ges to pick up her jacket and the corners of her mouth curl when she feels his eyes
drifting over her.
"I know you like what you see, but we have to go."
"Awww nuts."
"You'll live. You've gotten spoiled the past week."
"I can't get spoiled just one more time?"
"You can wait. Its not like you have a match tonight so who's to say we can't sneak off for a
little bit?"
"I really like the sound of that." He smirks.
"I figured you would. Now can we go?"
"Yes, we can go."
She laughs a little and they leave the room to meet up with Alex and I. They get into the car
and we head off to the arena. Once we get there and walk in, I walk right off down to the
locker room to change because I was told that I'm having a match that is basically opening
the show after one little thing happens with John in the beginning. Aly walks with me while
Mike and Alex go to the room.
"Aha, you get to amaze DC with that ring gear of yours again." She laughs.
"I know." I grin.
"But my opponent tonight...Brie Bella...oh joy." I add.
"Oh joy is right. They'll probably try their little trick on you." She says.
"Oooh lightbulb...what if we get one of them marked so we know which one is which?"
"That's a great idea."
"Can't believe we've never thought of that before."
"I know right? Duh...haha."
"Oh well."
"They won't be getting away with it tonight, that's for sure."
"Right."
Then we reach the locker room, and we walk in so that I could change. I finish putting the
boots on and lacing them, then dig through my bag for something useable to mark one of
the Bellas to know who is who.
"Ah wait, I have something." Aly rummages through her purse and pulls out a Sharpie.
"That's perfect."
"Haha they're gonna be so pissed."
"Well that's just too damn bad."
"I know." She laughs.
"Now to head to the room, deal with what John is gonna talk about...most likely his rematch
clause." I roll my eyes.
"Great." She rolls her eyes too.
"Which you know he's gonna get...obviously."
"Of course."
So then we head out and down the hall, reaching the room and walking in. Mike looks at Aly.
"Yes I know he's going to be out there running his mouth. I could care less about what
stupid ass stuff he spews next."
"Just making sure, because I didn't know if you were gonna walk out of the room again like last week."
"I'm good right now. I know you'll distract me if I start to get upset."
"Of course I will."
We both sit down. As usual the show start with the normal intro thing for WWE, then we go
right to the ring instead of the Raw intro.
"Ladies and gentlemen please welcome, award winning broadcast journalist, and the only undefeated superstar in the WWE, Michael Cole!" Justin announces and everyone boos.
"Oh great." We both roll our eyes.
He walks down the ramp and around the ring and he taunts Jerry, which causes him to get up and Cole goes into his little box, before John's music hits. He does his usual entrance as the crowd goes nuts, and after a few moments he goes and grabs a mic to talk.
"Ass." Aly mumbles.
"Look around. I know you people at home can hear this, look around. What a great time to be in the WWE Universe. Listen it's...it's chaos, it's excitement, it's energy because last week an announcement was made that turned the WWE upside down. For the first time in history, an announcement that was so big, it needs 1 year for the WWE Universe to digest."
"No it doesn't. You're an idiot."
"These people know what I'm talking about. A match was made for Wrestlemania 28. A match that puts icon against icon, a match that clashes generation against generation. A match that will be the biggest spectacle in ALL of sports entertainment. I know ya'll got your calendars circled April 1st, 2012...Wrestlemania 28. John Cena goes one on one with the Rock!"
"Don't care."
"In a match of this magnitude that can electrify a crowd like right here tonight, can't just be...two competitors fighting for bragging rights. I'm telling everyone right now, that the main event of Wrestlemania 28...John Cena vs the Rock will be for the WWE Championship!"
"We'll see about that."
"If it's gonna be the biggest thing that we've ever seen, we have to make it for the richest prize in sports entertainment which...leads me to tonight! Because for this match at Wrestlemania to be for the WWE Championship, the guy who fights every week has to capture the WWE Championship. I will waste no more time. Right now I issue a challenge to the current WWE Champion The Miz. Last week was a Wrestlemania moment, we deserve another one right here tonight!"
"Oh he'd just love that wouldn't he." Aly rolls her eyes.
But then all of a sudden Randy's music plays, cutting him off and Randy walks out and down the ramp to the ring.
"Oh jeez, here we go. He wants a title shot too."
"He needs to go to the end of the danm line, he had his chance."
Randy walks up the steps, grabbing a mic that was laying there and gets into the ring,
looking at John with a weird look before his music fades.
"John, with...with all due respect, I think any business that you had at Wrestlemania...well it's already been settled."
"I agree with that."
"You can blame The Rock if you want, you can make as many matches for next year's
Wrestlemania as you please, but it doesn't change the fact John...that you lost."
"Finally somebody that gets it."
"Now I think that you should step aside and give someone else the opportunity. Say
someone...who actually won their match at Wrestlemania."
"Moment over."
"The way you're talking..." John starts to say but is cut off by Morrison's music.
"Oh HELL no."
Morrison walks out and gets down to the ring himself, getting a mic as well as he gets into
the ring and his music fades.
"John Cena and Randy Orton. Pardon the interruption guys, but I can see where this is
headed. The two of you out here arguing about who the number one contender should be?
I've seen this show before, I think we've all seen this show before."
We roll our eyes. Aly clenches and unclenches her hands.
"And it's a good show, it's just not as good as it's gonna be now that John Morrison's
involved. If there's gonna be a discussion about who's next in line to face the Miz for the WWE title, that discussion needs to involve John Morrison."
"Excuse me!" We hear Vickie's voice.
"Oh god no..."
"Who's next? Anybody else going to join this damn circus act?"
"Who the hell knows."
Then we see Vickie walk out and down the ramp with Dolph.
"I said excuse me!"
"Morrison, somebody should...somebody new should have a championship..." She trails off
getting into the ring.
"...opportunity. But you...um, didn't I personally pin you in a match a couple weeks ago?"
"Oh shut up."
"The person who should be next in line for a WWE Championship match, is me! Alright
alright alright, okay. If it's not me, it should be Dolph Ziggler."
"Pfft whatever."
"I didn't come to Raw to waste my time on people like Snooki. I mean look around...look at
yourself, I'm obviously the most talented superstar in the ring right now. More importantly, I
have never faced the Miz for the WWE Championship, so until then the line starts here."
"You wish." I say.
"Don't worry...hey...keep your heads up. Once I'm champion, you'll all get your chance to face
me, you'll all get your chance..." Dolph's cut off by Truth's music.
"The circus has been completed."
He walks out and gets to the ring himself with a mic in hand.
"Bridgeport, Connecticut. What's up! The gospel truth. Truth is, I have never...never gotten a
one on one WWE Championship match on any show."
"And what does that say about you? Hmm?"
"That's what I was about to ask."
"That's the truth."
"There's a reason for that." Dolph cuts in.
"And that's what's up!"
Then they all start arguing over who should be the number one contender, until the GM
dings in.
"Oh hell, what now."
"I hate that noise, I really do."
"Can I have your attention please? I have just received an email from the anonymous
general manager, on my iPad."
"Well good for you." I say sarcastically.
"And I quote. You all make compelling arguments as to who should recieve the next WWE
Championship match against The Miz. So to end all arguments, I'm going to give all of you a
chance to earn that opportunity. I have come up with a new concept in the form of a 5-man
Gauntlet match. Two superstars chosen at random will start this match. The winner will face
the next random superstar. This continues until all five superstars have been in the match.
The man who goes the distance, becomes the number one contender for the WWE
Championship, and faces The Miz at Extreme Rules."
"Great." Aly grumbles.
"Another pointless, effing thing that John's going to win."
"More than likely."
She sits back against the couch, mumbling in Italian under her breath. Mike can see that
she's starting to get upset, so he puts an arm around her shoulders and starts rubbing her
arm to calm her down. She falls quiet, concentrating on the motion of his hand. During the
commercial break the usual stagehand knocks on the door, telling me that my match was
coming up after the commercial.
"You want me to go with?" Aly asks without opening her eyes.
"I think I'll be good with Alex coming along with me, you can stay here with Mike...he's busy
trying to calm you down anyway."
"Okay. Don't forget the Sharpie."
"Right. Toss it to me please? You still have it."
She cracks open one eye to locate the Sharpie and tosses it to me before closing it again.
"Good luck, kick some ass."
"I'll try my absolute best." I say, catching the Sharpie and putting it in the side of my pants,
then grabbing the title.
Alex gets up and follows me out after Mike gives his own 'good luck'. As Alex and I are
waiting to go out for the match, he's keeping himself occupied with playing with the fishnet
sleeve on my left arm, that's part of my ring attire.
"Heyy quit." I laugh.
"No, this is fun."
"You are so easily amused."
"You love me." He shrugs.
"I do, even if you act like a goof sometimes."
"But I'm YOUR goof, so it's okay."
"Yes I know." I smile, then turn and kiss him.
He keeps me in the kiss until he hears my music and then he releases me. We walk out
onto the stage and stop at the top of the ramp, where I raise up the title as I'm being
introduced. We walk down and get to the ring, Alex stays ringside as I get in doing the usual
entrance moves. The ref takes the title and hands it off to an attendant ringside as my music
fades. He goes to start the match but I stop him. I explain to him about them doing the
switch and marking one of their hands so I know who is who. The Bellas of course flip out,
but agree to making the mark on Brie's hand anyway.*
"Oh like I really was gonna do anything?" Nikki says.
"Uh yeah I know you. Now get outside that ring and shut up."
She gets all mad but one look from Alex shuts her up and she gets out of the ring. The bell
rings and I get into the ready position, but she catches me off guard and kicks me so I keel
over. Then she hits me in the head so I drop to one knee. Then she hits me again and gets
me into the corner where she repeatedly starts to kick me. She gets me out of the corner
and flips me over, then slams my head into the mat face first. Then she starts pushing me
around, ending with getting me in a submission with her arms around my neck. Alex starts
encouraging me to get out of it as I struggle. I manage to get up and counter the
submission, making her let go and making her stumble backwards. Then I grab the back of
her head and run, ending with slamming her face into the apron.
When we both get up, I jump and dropkick Brie and then take a few more hits and finally clothesline her. I climb to the top rope and steady myself, before jumping and flipping and
landing on her. From there I go for the pin, but she kicks out. Brie immediately gets up and
stumbles into the corner, telling me to stay back. I was just like 'pshh whatever', and ran to
hit her and she moved. That made me hit the corner face first and I turned around as she
went to hit me. I blocked and lifted her up and leaned her on the corner upside down. From
there I repeatedly kick her in the gut until the ref tells me to back up and he pulls me away.
As the ref is distracted with me, Nikki rolls in and rolls Brie out, going for the switch. Alex
sees this and starts yelling to the ref, but he's not paying attention. I happen to be paying
attention and after Alex says to me that the Bellas made the switch I turned around as Nikki
got up.
I stare at her for a few moments before attacking her anyway. I grab her hand and get the ref
to see that the 'x' isn't on her hand. Nikki struggles to get out of the ring, but the ref catches
her and tells her to get out. She yells 'whatever' and gets out, holding her hand. When I turn
around Brie goes to attack me, but she misses and I get her up on my shoulders. I look over
at Alex with a smirk and once again use his finisher, and I pin Brie for the win. Alex just
laughs as the bell ring and my music plays. He gets in the ring and comes over to me. He
kisses me then raises up my hand and I hold up my title with the other hand.
"Have I ever told you how hot it is when you use my finisher?" Alex whispers in my ear.
"No you haven't, but since you think that...maybe I'll use it all the time."
"You would do that." He chuckles.
Then we leave the ring, and make our way backstage. We walk back to the locker room so
that I could change back into my dress.
"Aww, but I like the ring gear." He comments.
"I know you do but I'm still changing. Sorry babe."
"I'll be back out in a few." I say as we reach the door, then I walk inside to change.
Alex leans against the wall to wait for me. After a few mintutes, I come out.
"You know even though I do love the ring gear, I love that as well." He says, smirking and his
eyes start wandering over me.
"I can tell."
"But, we do have to get back to the room..." I add.
"Just one thing before we go back..." He interjects.
"What?"
He wastes no time, and instantly presses his lips to mine, also pulling me close. I slide my arms around his neck as he turns and presses me into the wall. After a few moments, his grip on me tightens as he deepens the kiss, and I in return tighten the grip I had on him. My nails drag across his neck underneath the collar of his shirt and he growls faintly. Because of that, he takes my hand away from his neck and holds them against the wall, so I can't do that anymore. I let out a soft whine.
"No more." He mumbles against my lips.
"Ruin my fun." I mumble back.
"I can make this torture." Alex warns, pulling back just barely.
"You wouldn't dare..."
"Would I?" He smirks.
"Okay okay, point proven. But I think we really should be heading back...Mr. Affectionate." I
laugh.
"Alright." He agrees reluctantly, placing one last kiss on my lips before he lets me go.
"I have a feeling you're gonna be like this all night..." I say, grabbing my things and walking
back to the room.
"You know you enjoy it."
"Well I certainly can't deny that around you..."
"Nope." He smirks.
Then we reach the room, and walk inside sitting back down.
"Nice match." Mike says.
"Thanks." I reply.
I relax against Alex and he slides an arm around me. Aly's sitting pressed against Mike's
side, her legs over his. One of his hands is occupied with running through her hair as he
draws circles on her thigh with the thumb of his other hand. Her head is laying against his
shoulder and her eyes are closed. After a while, the commercial break was over and they
replayed what happened between John and The Rock last week, and how the Corre ran in
to attack them. After the replay, the Corre is standing in the ring.
"Ugh..." I groan.
"Not them."
"Now last week John Cena and The Rock made WWE history, when they agreed to a match
at Wrestlemania 28. Well we as the Corre decided that we were gonna come down and
attack Cena and The Rock to no avail."
"Yeah look how that went for you." I scoff.
Alex and Mike snicker.
"And I might add that that was through no fault of my own. Now I used to see us as equals
but, if you're not capable of holding up your end of the bargain, then I really don't see any
point in us continuing any further. I mean last week was nothing but a..." Wade's cut off by
Gabriel grabbing the mic from him.
"Ohhhh do we have a little drama going on in the Corre?" I smirk, laughing.
"Our end of the bargain? Let me remind you Wade Barrett, that it was my 450 that has taken
out more guys on this roster than anybody else. I'm the most talented guy in this ring right
now. I am a three-time tag team champion." Gabriel says, before Slater takes the mic from
him this time.
"Oh look now Wendy's mad." I snicker.
"No...WE are three-time tag team champions. And no one's gonna take that success from
us." He says, finally looking at Wade.
"Not you, not Nexus, not the Corre, not anybody else..." Slater adds, but is cut off by Ezekiel
taking the mic from him.
"This is SO entertaining." I say to Alex and he laughs.
"I know you're not talking about me. I'm the one who made us credible by slamming a 500
pound giant. I'm the most dominant person you have ever met. I'm the most powerful
person walking around in the W..." He's cut off by Santino's music.
Me, Mike, and Alex look at the screen strangely. Even Aly opens her eyes and gives it a weird
look. Out walks Santino with a mic, and behind him was Daniel Bryan, Evan Bourne and
Mark Henry.
"Ooookay, this is a strange alliance."
"Um...yeah..."
"Hello gentlemen. If you guys are the Corre, then allow me to present to you...the Apple."
"What the hell?"
Aly starts laughing.
"Oh my god, I actually get it."
We look at her weirdly.
"Apple...Corre."
Mike and Alex laugh and shake their heads.
"That's right. Allied...People...Powered...By Loathing...Everything...that you stand for. And
your team self-implosion will continue tonight. Because Team Apple...in the name of
Vladimir Kozlov, challenge you to a fight! And unlike Apple, this fight will not keep the doctor
away. Apple powers unite!"
"Haha, Evan looks like he's going to crack up at any second."
"Well it is kind of hilarious...only Santino would come up with that." I laugh.
"True."
They all walk down the ramp as we go to another commercial. As we come back the match
was already underway. In the end, Corre won because of them cheating of course.
"Cheaters." I sigh.
"As always."
After Corre leaves and as Cole is ranting on about Swagger beating Jerry again tonight
since the match was next, JR's music hits and he walks out.
"This is getting so old."
"Well here he is ladies and gentlemen, good ol' JR! He's like a cross between Barney the
Dinosaur and Porky Pig." Cole says, laughing.
"Wow that was real funny...not."
"Lame."
"Combined with a little Peter Cottontail. You waddle like Donald Duck JR hahahahaha. Hey
you know what? Business is about to pick up, too bad you can't bend down to pick anything
up hahahahaha. I'm glad you could join us JR. How's the barbecue sauce by the way? Did
you finally get it out of your eye? Did they have to flush the barbecue sauce out of your eye?
Did you need emergency first aid? Did you have to lay down on the trainer's table?"
"Somebody shut him up." Aly sighs.
JR walks over and tries to open the door to Cole's little box.
"What're you doing? What're you doing?"
JR reaches in to hit Cole, and then starts shaking the box around.
"Nice."
Then Swagger comes out of nowhere to attack Jerry, but his plan backfires. Refs come
running out and over to them breaking all them apart and then we go to a commercial.
"Blehh. That's all I have to say to that."
"Yup."
After the commercial, the match was getting ready to start. Once it did, Cole couldn't shut up
the whole match. In the end though, JR knocked out Cole and distracted Swagger enough
for Jerry to roll him up and pin him for the win. When the camera went to the ring to see
Swagger's reaction, his jaw was dropped and his eyes were popping out of his head.
"Pffft!" I crack up.
"Hahahahaha his face!"
Cole can't believe what's happened either, and he walks around and gets in the ring and
starts yelling at Jack and poking him in the chest repeatedly.
"Keep poking him and he's gonna snap."
He keeps yelling at him and slaps him across the face.
"Ohhhhh."
"Ohhhhh." She echoes, laughing.
Cole scrambles out of the ring, after seeing the angered look on Swagger's face.
"And the slap did it...he snapped."
"I told you."
"Hey...Michael Cole, let's talk about the match. Now I get to decide the match, and I get to
decide the stipulation. First of all, I got a real good idea for the match. I think...we should
make this a tag team match! Me and my good friend good ol' JR, against YOU Michael Cole
and your former friend Jack Swagger. Jack, that's the guy that just slapped the taste out of
your mouth. What do you think about him now Jack?"
"Wah wah wahhhh..." Aly snickers.
Jerry's music hits and Cole is apologizing while Lispy is angry as all hell. Then Josh starts
talking and then they play a video about superstars talking about Hunter vs Taker at
Wrestlemania. After that, we see John backstage with Edge and they're talking before John
shakes his hand and Edge walks away heading to the ramp for his big announcement
coming up next.
"Bet you it's a retirement announcement."
"More than likely." I nod.
"That's sad though. I may not have always liked the guy but I respect him."
"I think a lot of people feel that way."
She nods. After the commercial, Edge is introduced and he comes out like always and gets
into the ring. After his musid fades, the crowd cheers and claps.
"You may have to bear with me a little bit, I'm probably gonna ramble and not make much
sense, but just please bear with me. Uh...a lot of people think that the uh...the WWE doesn't
hurt. Um...that we do maybe it's done with smoke and mirrors and I wish that were true.
Anybody in that locker room, anybody who has ever stepped foot in here, laced up a pair of
boots they know that's not the case."
All of us nod.
"Uh...which brings me to what I'm about to tell you. 8 years ago, I uh...I broke my neck. Um...I
had spinal fusion surgery, which means they move your throat over, they put a plate in there
and screws and...it's really in depth surgery. But because of that surgery, I knew that I was
uh...I was wrestling on borrowed time from that point on."
"Uh...so fast forward, and uh the last...last little while I've been in uh...a lot of pain. I uh...I've
been losing feeling in my arms. Um...so...I passed a strength test and all of those things,
and I made it through Wrestlemania, but the WWE wanted me to go get more tests. And
thankfully I did. Um..because the MRIs showed that...that I have to retire."
"At least they found it before something bad happened."
"I mean trust my choice, the doctors have told me that I got no choice. Uh...and thankfully
found out because I'm not gonna be in a wheelchair now. Uh..."
Everyone starts cheering and clapping and everything else. Then it looks like he's going to
start crying.
"Awwww."
"Aw...poor guy."
"Haha, it's a little more tougher than I thought it was gonna be. Um...so...you know...ah thank
you guys, haha." He says, after everyone starts chanting 'thank you Edge'.
"Aw."
"But I tell you, this has been an emotional rollercoaster of a week for me, and not gonna lie I
felt sorry for myself. I uh...until I talked to Christian. And for those of you who don't know,
Christian as been my best friend for 27 years. And you see I was angry, I was angry at
myself, I was angry at my body because I felt like uh...there's a lot of people in this company
that depend on me. And I felt like I was letting them down."
"Uh...I felt like I was letting you guys down. But then...you know...I was upset too because I
didn't feel like I was ending this on my terms. But he reminded me that...that I've...I've
competed my whole career on my terms. I uh...you know, I'm still like all of you, I am a huge
fan of the WWE. Every month Christian and I would go to Maple Leaf Gardens and we would
watch all of our favorites. We would watch the Legion of Doom, we would watch Demoltion,
we would watch Hulk Hogan, we would watch all of them and just be enthralled. And then I
went to Wrestlemania 6, and watched Hulk Hogan against the Ultimate Warrior and I
said 'I'm doing this one day'."
"And you know what? Fast forward a whole bunch of years, and I'm main eventing
Wrestlemania against the Undertaker. There's no way I ever would've dreamed of that,
there's no way if you told me when I was 11 years old, that I would win more championships
than anyone in the history of this company. No way I would've believed it. And if you had told
me that my last match would be at Wrestlemania in one of the main events defending the
World Heavyweight Championship, and that I'd be retiring as the World Heavyweight
Champion, man I couldn't dream of a better way to go out...I really couldn't."
"You know, I uh... I started in the WWE when I was 23, I mean I've been doing this for 19
years. 14 of them with the WWE, my first match was May 10, 1996 in Hamilton's Cops
Colliseum. And uh, I was 23 years old and I feel like I've grown up in front of all of you. I feel
like uh...I've made a whole lot of mistakes in front of you. I've learned from them and I've
become a man in front of you. I've gone from being the...the silent guy running around the
streets of New York with a trenchcoat that was was too small for him, to uh a psuedo
vampire in the brood, to one of the funny goofy guys along with Christian posing for the
benefit of those with flash photography."
The speech went on for a while longer, before he got out of the ring and walked up the ramp
to head backstage.
"I think I'm going. Are you?" Aly looks at me.
"Oh yeah." I nod.
We untangle ourselves from the guys and get up. They both sulk a little.
"Oh stop it. There's plenty of time for that, you'll live." Aly shakes her head.
"I'm sure you'll be out there soon anyway, because the Gauntlet match is up next, and I know
you want to be there ringside for it." I add.
"Yeah yeah yeah..." They mumble.
We then make our way out the door and down to the curtain where a bunch of WWE
superstars and divas are waiting for Edge.
"This is kind of sad but you...it happens."
"Right, I mean we all have to retire sometime..."
"Yup."
Then we see Edge emerge from the curtain and starts hugging and shaking the hands of
various superstars and divas. We stand there and watch as he makes his way down. He
makes his way down to us, and he gives each one of us a hug, also congratulating me on
winning the title at Wrestlemania. I thank him as he moves on, we turn and head off. But we
don't get too far since Mike and Alex find us."
"Let me guess...match time..."
They nod. We turn around and follow them back towards the curtain and once Mike's music
hit we walk out, then down the ramp and around the ring to commentary. Mike hands the title
to Alex, and he grabs a headset and puts it on.
"Welcome." JR greets.
"Oh yeah it is a welcome." Mike replies, as he sits down in the chair and Alex and I walk
around to stand behind it.
Aly moves to stand beside the chair. But out of nowhere, Mike grabs her and pulls her down
so she's sitting on his lap.
"You're sitting with me."
"Well Miz, thank you very much for joining us here for this five-man Gauntlet main event."
"You are absolutely welcome."
Then in the meantime, I'm standing next to Alex but he pulls me over and backwards with
his arms around me, so that I'm leaning back into him. I smile and rest against him. Then
Justin announces the start of the match, and first Randy comes out. Once he was done with
his entrance, Dolph's music played and he walked out with Vickie.
"And Miz here's a superstar who perhaps is the only mystery to you. Dolph Ziggler, a
superstar that you have never faced. Will Dolph Ziggler be the number one contender to the
WWE Championship, next week when we come to you from London, England at the O2
Arena."
"Miz, they love you in London don't they?"
"They love me everywhere Lawler." Mike responds.
Aly and I are eyeing Vickie with semi-evil looks.
"So obviously at the luck of the draw, it didn't work out too well for Dolph Ziggler and Randy
Orton. The first two superstars competeing in thie five-superstar gauntlet match. The winner
will go on to face another superstar until all five have competed, then that man will be the
number one contender. And face you The Miz for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules."
"And if you think about it, I've taken out Randy Orton, I've basically beat him for the WWE
Championship when I won the Money In The Bank. Then I've retained my title twice against
him, then you think about a guy like Dolph Ziggler. Dolph Ziggler I'm kind of curious if he can
do anything without his sidekick Vickie Guerrero." Mike explains.
"Good question." Aly mumbles.
"...and Miz that's funny that you mention sidekick. You have Alex Riley..." Josh starts to say
but is cut off by Mike.
"Alex Riley is not my sidekick, let me remind you he is my vice president of corporate
communications. He is the person who basically does my interviews, he does everything
that I need to be done."
"Everything that isn't taken care of by my wife of course." He adds and she just laughs.
"...but Miz I just want to say you know, you can't live in the past." Jerry says, ignoring Josh's
question he asked.
"You know what Lawler? I can't hear you over how awesome I am. Okay? I can't hear you
over the sound of how awesome I am. I do exude awesomeness. I am fantastic."
Aly stifles a laugh, shaking her head a little.
"...anybody can beat anybody any given day in the WWE. So you're just saying, just because
you think you beat Randy Orton in the past, you're just looking...he's not even on the list..."
"And not only have I beaten Randy Orton on the list, I've beaten John Morrison, John Cena
AT the grandest stage of them all...Wrestlemania 27, beat him. Uh...I've beaten R-Truth. The
only person I have to beat is Dolph Ziggler, and if he wants to win tonight, then I'll beat him
at Extreme Rules as well."
She has her eyes on the match but she rests her hands on the arm that is wrapped around
her waist.
"So Miz, out of these five superstars, who do you feel deserves the next opportunity at you
and the WWE Championship?" Josh asks.
"None of them! Are you kidding me? Exactly, I think Vickie has a right. I'll take on Vickie, how
about that? How about that for an Extreme Rules?"
Aly and I both snicker. As the match goes on, Dolph is showing signs of losing and Vickie is
screaming like she always does. Randy gets into the Viper mode as Dolph gets up and that
when he turns around and we all see Nexus back and in the ring attacking Randy.
"Hmph...nice."
This of course came after Randy lost to Ziggler. Once Nexus had done their worst, they got
out of the ring, and during the commercial break Truth came out as the next competitor. We
roll our eyes slightly.
"We are back live on Raw in the middle of an unprecedented number one contender's five-
man gauntlet match. We are now down to 4 superstars. Randy Orton was eliminated with
some controversy by Dolph Ziggler, now set to take on the 3rd man here R-Truth."
"Let's face it, Randy Orton deserved every little bit that he got. He took away the new Nexus'
spotlight at Wrestlemania, the grandest stage of them all."
"And the new Nexus just took away Randy Orton's opportunity at facing you Miz at Extreme
Rules in 3 weeks."
"And now we have Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth. Competeing for my WWE Championship. And
let's face it, R-Truth...I'm wondering which R-Truth we're gonna get. Are we gonna get the
guy who's sitting there singing, rapping, that's high-fiving little kids...or are we gonna get the
street thugger, are we gonna get the guy that's someone to be reckoned with? That's what I'm curious to see. That's why I'm out here tonight."
"Who would you rather face? Which one?"
"Why do you guys keep on asking me stupid questions? Who would I face...which one...who
would I face..which one...I'll face anyone, I don't care. I'm the WWE Champion, I'll face all
comers. I have a target on my back at all times, but the fact is these guys have a target on
their back, because I'm going up against one of them for MY WWE Championship at
Extreme Rules."
"Or you may face John Cena or John Morrison, who have yet to come out here in this
Gauntlet match."
"Let's talk about John Cena. John Cena at Wrestlemania 27, uh what happened? I walked in the WWE Champion, and all the critics, all the cynics, all the experts said I was going to
lose. And then I got the best, the best John Cena and the Rock had to offer, and I walked out
Wrestelemania 27 still the WWE Champion."
"Well Miz, you and I had a conversation earlier. You're very upset about what the WWE
Universe is talking about. They're not talking about what you told me earlier...you took out
Stone Cold Steve Austin last week."
"Exactly. I called out Stone Cold Steve Austin for one more match. You saw the fear in Stone
Cold's eyes, but the only thing anyone could ever talk about is the Rock and John Cena at Wrestlemania 28 in the main event. I'm sorry but the main event of Wrestlemania is the
WWE Championship. And someone has to go through me to get there. And let's face it, I
asked the question this...why didn't the Rock challenge me? Why didn't the Rock challenge me? He wants icon vs icon, there's only one icon in the WWE and that's the WWE
Championship."
Aly leans back into him, boucning her foot lightly.
"And I hold that WWE Championship."
"Well Miz earlier tonight John Cena did say that it will be Rock vs Cena at Wrestlemania 28, and it will be for the WWE Championship."
"Whoop-de-doo! Talk is cheap! I'm not a talker, I'm the type of person that goes out and does what I say. What I say is, I go for the WWE Championship and I always win."
Aly smiles a little and nods.
"Hang on, did you just say you're not a talker?" Jerry interjects.
"I'm not a talker...what're you talking about Jerry. Jerry you should sit there and shut up.
Nobody wants to hear you talk anyway."
Alex and I laugh, Aly giggles quietly.
"This is a first time ever five-superstar gauntlet match. We're joined here on commentary by
a man who has of course invested interest in this match, the WWE Champion The Miz."
"Thank you very much...Josh. You know life has certainties, certain certainties in life you
know? The earth will spin, the sun will rise, and the Miz will always be awesome. I mean
you know, I don't think I'm great...you know it's funny. People don't say that you know I'm the
best, I'm the great... I don't think I'm the best, I don't think I'm great...god does. And I have
been blessed with the ability to...with the genetic ability to be better than everybody else."
Once Truth eliminated Ziggler, Vickie flipped out and then as Ziggler rolled out, Morrison's
music hit. Instantly Aly growls and slides as close to Mike as she can get.
"Welcome to the Gauntlet Truth."
We go to a commercial as Morrison gets into the ring, and when we come back he's in the
ring and the match starts. After a few hits, it turns into back and forth attempts at pinning
each other. Mike laughs and looks at Morrison in the ring, mocking him pretending to clap
and tell him 'bravo' with a big smile on his face.
Aly scowls deeper as Morrison keeps sending looks.
"Two very popular superstars exchanging nearfalls."
"Notice nearfalls, they're...a handshake." Mike says, noticing Truth fall for the handshake
trick by Morrison.
"Why would Truth fall for handshake honestly? Really? Really? A handshake? You're gonna
handshake someone going for the WWE Championship? Trying to be the number one
contender, and you're gonna handshake someone?"
"Idiot." Aly mumbles."
"Morrison, another cover here on Truth."
"It's those same fancy, high flying stuff that's gonna get John Morrison in trouble. It's always
happens, one after another. I tagged with John Morrison for two years. I had to carry him on
my back for two years, telling him stop doing the high flying stuff. It's high risk, there's a risk
every single time. But he never listens to me, he will never make it to my status in the main
event, when he's doing stuff like that."
"Well Miz, let me just ask you real quick. Obviously pointing out the obvious, there's three
superstars left, two of them are in the ring, one of them is John Cena."
"And your point is what?" Mike asks.
"John Cena will have a distinct advantage when he comes in here. John Cena will be fresh,
taking on John Morrison or R-Truth. If R-Truth wins, he'll have already gone through two
matches."
"Very true very true. John Cena always seems to have some sort of advantage, something
up his sleeve everytime, 'cause he's Super Cena." Mike says, making fun of John in a little
voice.
Aly continues scowling, especially with the mention of John.
"What a great opportunity for both these young men, we have to admit...with the stakes so
high, there's nothing more important in WWE than the WWE title. That's the bottom line of
that."
"Absolutely. Not the Rock vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 28, that really...is not the main
event."
Then Morrison looks over at Mike as he walks around the ring.
"Quit looking at me. See? You pay attention to me Morrison, that's what happens. Stupid."
Mike says as Truth drops Morrison after grabbing his feet.
"Don't know if he's paying attention to you or me or both." Aly mutters, just loud enough for
Mike to hear.
"Was that familiar? Does that look familiar to see R-Truth's head bounce off the floor there?
What about that Miz? How do you feel after Wrestlemania?" Jerry asks.
"Yeah I uh...I passed my impact test, and uh...I passed it with aces."
He squeezes Aly gently, knowing how relieved she is about that.
"I got to give you credit, that would've possibly ended a lot of guys' careers."
"Absolutely."
After Morrison has Truth supposedly knocked out, he drags him over to the corner for
Starship Pain.
"Why wouldn't you cover? Why wouldn't you cover on that? Dumb!" Mike comments.
Morrison ends up missing of course.
"Well Miz you're right on the money."
When Truth ends up knocking John out, Mike laughs while Morrison is pinned to lose the
match.
"Happens every time Morrison, every time. You go for a cover."
"What an idiot."
"When has he ever had all? When has he ever had all?" Mike asks, slightly amused.
"This could be R-Truth's night."
"He's been through two matches already!"
After the replay of what happened, John's music hit. Aly and I immediately started to tense
up. Alex starts to whisper things soothingly in my ear. Aly turns her head and clenches her
jaw, gripping Mike's arm. He gets into the ring, doing his normal routine, until we go to
another commerical. After the commerical as always, the match started. The crowd erupted
in to two different chants...'let's go Cena' and 'Cena sucks'.
"...and can you hear this audience? Let's go Cena by the five year olds and the girls, and
then Cena sucks from basically everyone that has a brain." Mike comments.
"Hmph."
"Let's face facts, Cena's time...did he just do a dropkick? Wow."
For basically most of the match, John had control.
"Miz we asked you a few times, who you'd like to face for the WWE Championship next. You
wouldn't give us an answer. Will it be John Cena, will it be R-Truth, do you have an opinion?"
"...it doesn't matter Josh." Mike says after a few moments of silence.
"You know Miz you said something earlier about certainties in life. Really, the only thing
certain in life is change. And that title that you have is eventually gonna change."
"Change? Let's talk about change. The change is that I'm the poster child of the WWE, and
will continue to be the poster child, because I am the WWE Champion. And the greatest
most must see WWe Champion of all time!"
Aly can feel him trying to calm her down but it isn't working. I'm over in Alex's arms, still
tensed but relaxing as he continues doing things to calm me. Then when Truth and John
both go down, the same chants as earlier broke out. John then gets the momentum again
and turns to face Mike and does the 'you can't see me' motion to him.
"Oh I can't see you? Oh I can't see you? I can't see you?"
As John is busy getting Truth set up for the AA, Mike carefully gets Aly off his lap and takes
the headset off, rushing to the ring. Alex does the same after letting me go and then they
both attack John and Truth, ending the match in a double DQ. Aly and I walk close to the
ring, eyeing John with dark looks. Aly's holding Mike's title while I'm holding my own.
Mike walks over to grab his specialized mic with the WWE logo flipped in the form of an 'M',
with a satisfied look on his face.
"Well, it looks like there's a double disqualification, which means both of you are losers.
Which means the both of you can go to the end of the line, because there is no number one
contender."
"Bet you the GM won't say so." Aly mutters.
After a few moments, that's when the GM dinged in. We tense up again and turn to look at
Jerry who got up to read the email.
"Well the anonymous Raw general manager says, you're right Miz. There is no number one
contender for the WWE title. Wait...oh it says that's because there are now two number one
contenders. He says the WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules will be a triple threat
match, between the Miz, R-Truth, and John Cena!"
"Just effing great." Aly sighs.
That's when Mike whips the mic down in pure anger, and by the time we turned around John
and Truth were up and going after him and Alex. John was busy with Alex while Truth was
busy with Mike.
"Shit." Aly mutters.
Truth throws Mike out, and John AAs Alex, making him roll out of the ring out by us. Aly goes
to make sure Mike is alright, while I check on Alex. During this time John and Truth shake
hands, then get into a slapping fight across the back. It gets a little too much and John
finally shoves Truth. Truth laughs and walks away, leaving John in the ring alone. He looks
in my direction but I don't look up. He turns to look at Aly and finds her glaring at him. I do
look up after a few moments, with a look of pure hatred at this point. I stand up, arms folded
across my chest, looking not too pleased as I always get with him now. She's giving him the
same look but Mike tugs on her hand.
"Come on, let's just get out of here." He says soothingly, but she doesn't move at first.
"You don't want to do anything you'll regret...come on."
She slowly lets him pull her away as Alex does the same to me. I start mumbling things
under my breath as we walk away from the ring, up the ramp and backstage. Aly just stays as quiet as possible, holding onto Mike's hand.
"And no, I'm not gonna punch a wall this time...you don't need to worry." I say to Alex before he could even say anything.
"Good to know." He replies.
"Let's just get our things and go...please."
"Of course." He agrees.
We all go back to the room and gather our things, then head out to the car to head back to
the hotel.