It was Monday night, and everybody knows what that means.
Monday Night RAW, arguably the most well-known wrestling show in all of the sport. I've been watching it ever since I can remember, but the thought of actually performing in the same ring as many of my favorite previous superstars in crazy to me.
In a good way, of course.
However, getting on the show isn't easy. I've had to put in numerous hours per week at the gym, and that's not including the time I spend actually training inside of the ring. In fact, I think that the majority of the preparation for matches is done by lifting weights and running rather than locking up with an opponent.
It's a lot of hard work, but I wouldn't trade it for all of the money in the world.
"Tonight, I have a tag-team match with Natalya against Aksana and Alicia Fox." I told the cameras later on. "It's not my stiffest competition, but I know they'll be on their best for the audience."
I was just arriving at the gym in Miami, Florida when I saw Trinity and Ariane pull up their car beside me. I gave them a smile before walking out to meet them.
"No Jon today?" I asked, taking notice to the fact that Trinity's fiancé was missing from her usual side.
Trinity shrugged. "You know the deal. Free one minute, busy the next. I'm lucky if I even get to see him at all with his new championship and stuff." She complained.
I laughed. "He's had the Tag Team titles for what, two days now?"
"You know what I mean!" She told me, lightly nudging me off.
It was then that I really took notice to the cameras that were following us.
"Do they really follow us everywhere?" I whispered softly over to Ariane.
"You know it, girl." She said, a slight arch forming in her eyebrow.
I sighed; I did know what I was getting myself into, but was still hard knowing that this was my life now. And, the extra money in my paycheck wasn't making up for the invasion of my privacy.
The three of us quickly began our regular workout routine, starting off with stretches and warm-ups before getting into our cardio exercises. I personally enjoyed the workouts that I had with Ariane and Trinity. It has always been so easy for me to forget about any problems that I'm having and just have fun.
We were barely into our sprint circuits when we were interrupted by another group of girls. I looked up from my shoe that I was tying to watch as Brie and Nikki Bella, Eva Marie and of course, Danielle walked in.
"Hey, girls!" Ariane greeted, scurrying out of the ring to welcome them to practice.
Sighing, I reluctantly gave the girls a fake smile while waiting for Ariane to return.
"I'm actually really glad that you're all here." Brie said to us, a smile plastered on her face. "I was waiting for the right time, but since everybody is here I'm formally inviting all of you to Bryan and I's wedding!" She squealed before turning to her sister and doing a little dance.
"It's about time!" Trinity teased before exiting the ring as well, making her way towards the bride-to-be.
"I'm so happy for you." I told Brie.
She smiled in my direction. "Thank you, Cheyenne."
Things between Brie and I hadn't been the smoothest of things as of late. Partially because of a little argument that we had one night when she was in full-on "Brie Mode". Basically, she got so drunk that she tried to sleep with one of the bartenders and then I had to step in and stop her from making that huge decision. She was still dating Bryan at the time, so I figured that I would take one for the team and stop her before it was too late. But, considering she doesn't remember ever being that drunk, plus she felt disrespected by the assumption of her being that drunk, I was apparently out of line.
I directed my attention back to the ring where I began to run into the ropes.
"Cheyenne, you can take a break." Ariane assured me.
"I really need to work on my formations." I said, looking at her and into the small crowd of girls. I noticed that Danielle wasn't paying any attention to my existence, so I granted her the same.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ariane returned to the group of girls who continued to talk about what they were going to wear and who all was going to be there. All while I, the only person in the entire gym who seemed to care enough, worked on my wrestling skills.
I was stretching in my locker room when I heard the door open and close, followed by a trail of laughter.
Looking up, I saw Jon and Colby enter my room.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked.
Before they answered, I saw as Colby noticed the Total Divas camera crew behind me. I tried not to laugh as I watched his face turn from giddy laughter to pure terror.
"I came by to wish you luck tonight." Jon said. I could tell that he had been drinking again.
All of the sudden, Colby began to laugh again. That's when I could tell that they both had been drinking, and they had both already forgotten that there was cameras pointing directly at them.
"I never said I picked my friends wisely." I confessed later on.
"Anyways," I redirected them. "I watched your match tonight. I think you guys did really good."
Jon covered his mouth and bent over to hug me. "Thank you so much."
At this point, I couldn't control my own laughter. "You are so drunk right now." I told him, pushing him lightly off of me, sending him right into Colby who began to crack up even harder.
Rolling my eyes, I stood up and grabbed my water bottle. "You two stay put, I'm going to go have my match and when I get back we're going to have a serious talk about you're drinking." They could tell that I wasn't serious, so they put on sarcastically frightened faces and waited for me to leave.
All of the way down the hall, I couldn't help but giggle at how stupid they looked. Even though their bad habits were serious, I still understood that no matter how much I tried, they wouldn't accept my concern. So, naturally I gave up on trying to make them better. After all, they would both probably end up so drunk that they would get arrested and then I wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.
I eventually made my way to the gorilla and placed my water bottle on the small table that awaited me. Flipping my hair off to my side, I stretched out my arms one final time as I waited patiently for my tag-team partner to show up.
"Hey, Chey." I looked over my shoulder at Natalya as she approached me with a bright smile.
Natalya had been struggling with getting TV time lately, and I understood how important this match was to her.
"I'm excited." I told her. "I can't believe that the last time we wrestled each other was in FCW."
She laughed. "You make it sound like decades ago."
"Feels like it."
"Hey, ladies."
Both Natalya and I turned around to see our opponents for the night, Aksana and Alicia Fox walk into the gorilla.
"What's up?" I asked casually.
"Tonight's going to be a blast." Alicia informed us. "I don't think I've been this excited for a match since I was winning the Divas Championship."
I was confused by her statement. Why would she be that excited about a mid-card tag-team match? Honestly, as fun as they can be, they aren't the type of matches that are really worth the hype. They used to be, with all of the great teams that used to compete, but now they're only card holders for empty slots. Which, doesn't bother me unless the creative team dismisses my match.
"Really?" I chuckled. "No offense, but I don't think that a tag-team match is worth that kind of excitement."
Alicia shrugged her shoulders. "After tonight, I'm on my way back up the ladder towards the Divas Championship." She explained, causing my jaw to almost drop.
"You were promised a shot?" Natalya asked out of curiosity.
I kept my mouth shut. However, I was completely stunned, even though I knew that I shouldn't be. It wasn't the first time that Stephanie and the rest of the McMahon's promised me a title match before dropping out and handing it off to someone else at last minute. In fact, it was probably the tenth time just in that year alone.
After some more small chatting, Aksana and Alicia's entrance music began to play and they exited out the curtain in their villainous fashion. Natalya and I waited for our turn in silence. I was still so taken aback by the news of Alicia's title opportunity considering how slow of a career she'd been having ever since she lost the title back in August of 2010. If anything, her partnership with Aksana was the best thing that had happened in a long time.
Trying my best to find contentment in any way possible, I took multiple deep breaths to try and calm my nerves. No matter how many times I had to run out of those curtains and perform, every time felt like a first for me. There was a certain kind of scattered rush that fills my body, sending my mind to run at a billion miles per hour. I can't explain how the nervous feeling lingers inside of my stomach, but it feels heavier than butterflies.
Just as I was about to take one final breath, Natalya's theme music hit and I followed her through the curtains. The audience was on fire, so loud and so chaotic. I could barely hear myself think as I hurried down the ramp and entered the ring.
Seconds later, I was on the outside of the ring, standing impatiently on the apron. I love being there, so close to the action that you can almost taste the intensity; even if the Divas matches weren't the most intense. Either way, I ate up the adrenaline.
As I waited, the crowd died down and I sighed. The only part about being a Diva that I hate is the short attention span that the fans have sometimes. Its almost as if the minute things aren't going as fast as before, they lose interest.
Natalya was locking up with Aksana in one of the corners across from the place I was standing, and I was beginning to feel antsy. It had been weeks since I actually got to square up against another person. In all honesty, I didn't think that it was possible to miss wrestling so much, but standing right in front of the action made me go crazy. I needed to get into that ring.
Jumping up and down, I held out my hand the second that Natalya looked in distress. After awhile of her crawling towards me, she tagged me in and I busted through the ropes. In a way, it was liberating. I felt free.
I ran over to Alicia, who had been tagged in by Aksana and nailed her with one of my signature clothes lines. She bounced right back up, and I went right back in for another one. The crowd was still dead so this time I grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into the corner where I pounded her forehead into the turnbuckle, aching for a response from the audience.
"Take down." She called to me, which I replied with by taking her down.
I noticed that her head bounced off of the mat, so I bent over to ask if she was okay, which she replied by nodding slightly before wrapping her legs around my neck and flipping me over. I grabbed the back of my neck before she picked me up again, this time throwing me down onto my back. Letting myself breathe, I rolled onto my side before sliding out of the ring and leaning up against the barricade.
I listened as the crowd behind me cheered me on, some of them getting close to my ears. Everything was so vivid and wonderful.
Without warning, Alicia jumped off of the apron and her forearms met my skull with an overhand axel. Dropping to the ground, I held tightly onto my head so that the crowd could sense the pain. I looked up from the ground at Alicia's face, and I remembered what had occurred earlier.
The anger that I was feeling at that moment cannot be reenacted, let me put it that way.
I rolled over my shoulder and got to my feet, where I connected my foot to the side of her head with a roundhouse kick, my signature. Sprinting, I entered the ring and tagged back in Natalya who went in and fought against Alicia until I was forced back inside the ring. That's where I finished it all off with my famous finisher, a moonsault off the top rope.
"Considering how fast it all happened, I honestly don't remember how it ended." I admitted during my interview. "But, after seeing the response Nattie and I got, I can't say that I'm disappointed in our match."
The whole way to my locker room, I got hugs and 'congratulations' on my win. I felt so accomplished, after all of the training I'd done the past few weeks and to see that it all paid off on a live episode of Monday Night RAW was the best feeling.
Walking through the hallways, I heard a deep voice say my name and my heart rose to my throat.
"Cheyenne!"
Recognizing who it belonged to, I slowly turned and tried not to portray how nervous I was.
"Randy." I smiled. "What's up?"
I know that Randy's not always the most...pleasant of people, so I tried not to get too close to him. But, once I acknowledged that I saw him, he was walking in my direction to greet me.
"I saw that match you just had." He explained, gesturing towards the gorilla where I had walked from.
I nodded in response.
"I'm impressed."
My heart was throbbing and I could barely see straight. Did Randy Orton really just tell me that he was impressed by a match by a couple of Divas? Considering everything that had been happening in the last year, it's honestly one of the most surprising things that had happened to me.
Suddenly, all the words I was thinking about went away.
"Thanks." I managed to slip from my mouth. "It means a lot coming from you."
"I wasn't flirting, if that's what you're getting at." I warned the cameras during my interview.
He only nodded before turning away to leave, and my heart calmed down. I still was in shock after what happened, but I pushed myself to turn and walk to my locker room where I was greeted with two heavily drunken friends who were all too happy to see me.