"That seemed to go well," Thea said to Ronda after they had walked out of Hunter's office.
"Need to find Bayley," Ronda muttered to herself, ignoring Thea's comment. "Let's go this way. Someone will know where she is." Making a right turn, she lead her small entourage down the hallway.
"The meeting went well, right?" Thea tried again, hurrying to keep pace with the taller woman.
"Yeah, it did," Ronda replied. "I've been in a stable before, but never just a regular tag team. Something new for me to try. And I like Bayley. She has a lot of talent and the fans really buy into what she's doing, for good reason. I think we can do some good shit together, and I think the fans will dig it."
Thea was about to say that she thought Ronda's idea to add the aspect about her character being reluctant to hug Bayley was a really good idea, but she found herself worrying that it might seem like she was sucking up to her, with it being so early in the filming. The first couple of days were going to be key in setting the right tone. The documentary was supposed to be about Ronda, but it wasn't supposed to be pro-Ronda to the point of being sickening. Instead, she went with one of the other questions that she had filed away in her head while listening to the discussion between Ronda and Hunter. "You used the Clothesline from Hell as your finishing move when you first came onto the roster, then you were given the RKO. Now you're back with the clothesline. Why have you been asked to change your finisher twice?"
"You tell me?" Ronda shrugged. "They asked me to use the RKO, then they asked me not to. It's as simple as that for me. I'm sure they had their reasons. Anyway, I like using the clothesline, it's a very hard hitting move to use for a finish."
There was a hint of something in Ronda's tone which seemed to suggest that she hadn't been as indifferent about the changes as she was making out, but Thea didn't get to push her on it because they saw Paige walking towards them along the hallway. The English woman was one of Ronda's least favourite people on the roster, largely because Paige had made it known that the feeling was very much mutual. In her view - a view which some of the other members of the Divas division agreed with but were less vocal about - it was tough for the other women to get big match opportunities, or even significant TV time when Ronda was around, unless they happened to be given a program to work with her.
"Ronda," Paige greeted her coolly. Even that was a concession due to the fact that Thea, and more importantly the cameraman were there.
"Paige," Ronda replied with an equal lack of warmth. "Where's Bayley?"
The abrupt nature of the question seemed to irritate Paige even further. "Ask me one on sport," she suggested sarcastically, and then walked past Ronda and her two companions.
Sensing the tension between them, Thea added Paige's name to the list of people that she intended to speak to for the documentary. For now though, continuing to trail Ronda was the order of the day. "That didn't exactly seem friendly," she said as they continued along the hallway.
Ronda gave a dismissive grunt. "Who cares? Some people work harder when they want to prove they deserve an opportunity in this business. Others just like to piss and moan about not getting things handed to them. Other people's insecurities aren't my problem, no matter how much they try to project them onto me."
Thea decided that it was time to push the point again, making sure not to give Ronda an easy ride. "But you would surely agree that some of the women don't get anywhere near the amount of time in the ring that you do?"
As she had the first time Thea had stood up to her, Ronda stopped walking and looked down at her. Her voice became quieter, but there was an aggressive edge to it, directed at the women that were being talked about. "There are some who aren't getting ring time. I think they take the easy option by blaming me for that. What they should do is blame themselves for not working hard enough to improve, and blame themselves for not going to Hunter and making him take notice of them." Her final sentence was delivered with real venom. "They're a weak lot, you know, some of the women on this roster. Weak. Feeble."
Ronda turned and carried on walking. Trailing slightly behind, Thea couldn't help but smile. Talk about shots fired, she thought. I've been with her for less than half an hour and I have headline material already: Rousey spits venom at members of the Divas division.
When they walked into catering a couple of minutes later, Ronda saw Bayley sitting at a table with Nikki Bella and Sarita Lopez. Presumably they had been talking about their match later in the night while they had been eating. The plates in front of them were now almost empty. "You might as well get yourself some coffee or something to eat," she told Thea, getting the message across loud and clear that now wasn't a time for questions.
"Okay," Thea said. "We have to keep filming you, though. Are you not eating anything?"
"I had something before I came to the arena, and I'll get something later at the airport. I try to avoid what they serve here if I can. Food is something I'm quite choosy about to be honest. Seth and I don't do cheap, as you'll see when you visit our place tomorrow."
Thea knew that she was referring to The Venice Steakhouse, the restaurant that Seth and Ronda had opened a couple of months earlier. Word had it that the food there was pricey, but well worth it if you could afford it. "I'm looking forward to that," Thea said, looking over that distinctly less appetising offerings that were made available by WWE.
"Catch you later," Ronda said, more interested in going about her business than Thea's conversational pleasantries.
Nikki Bella was one of the few people on the roster who Ronda could call a real friend. They had hit it off almost from the start of Ronda's time in WWE, thanks to Nikki being willing and gracious in putting her over for her first Divas title win. From there, they had only grown closer, to the point where Nikki had been one of the maids of honor at Ronda and Seth's wedding.
"Hey, Ronda," Nikki said cheerfully as her friend approached the table. "Back at last. How are you?"
"I'm good," Ronda smiled back, then spoke to everyone at the table as a group. "What's up guys? Working on the match?"
"Yeah. Have a seat and join us," Bayley offered her new partner, gesturing to the vacant space beside her, opposite Sarita. Ronda pulled the chair out and sat down. The presence of the cameraman hadn't gone unnoticed, but no one chose to comment on it. They all knew what the deal was; Ronda was supposed to be being filmed going about her business as usual.
"We were just tossing ideas around for the double team finish that Hunter wants for you," Sarita said after finishing off a mouthful of salad.
Nikki laughed. "Yeah, and I volunteered Sarita to eat one of your clotheslines again."
The other three chuckled, then Bayley said, "The idea we've got is that I hit my Bayley to Belly, then instead of going for a cover, I get up, grab their legs and catapult them. You know the move I mean, the one people use after countering the Pedigree for example."
"Yeah," Ronda said, picturing it - not realising that it said something about how Bayley thought about working with her that she felt the need to explain every minor detail.
"Okay," Bayley continued, "So I catapult them. Just as I flip them over, you time your run to deliver the clothesline so that you hit them at the moment they're coming towards you almost as fast as you're coming at them. It should give quite a big impact; perfect for a double team finish."
"Sounds great," Nikki quipped good-naturedly, thinking about being the first one to take the new move.
It surprised no one that Ronda smiled. A hard hitting move like that was just the kind of thing that she liked. "Alright, I like it. We can go with that. It fits what Hunter wanted, and it should look good."
Twenty minutes later the four women stood up from their table and prepared to go their separate ways. Despite being filmed the whole time, the conversation had been relaxed and enjoyable for all. Ronda felt good about that. Being given a new tag team partner was not what she would have chosen for her return to action if it had been her decision, but as it was not her decision she had to get on with it. She had meant it when she told Hunter that she liked Bayley and respected her as a talent. If there was a positive aspect to her new role, it was that she wasn't being made to team with someone she didn't like. She knew that building a positive relationship with her partner outside of the ring would go a long way towards making the team a success in the ring, and the team being a success in the ring was something that she was determined to make happen.
Bayley had said that she felt the same way, and had responded enthusiastically to the additional angle of Ronda's character being a somewhat reluctant member of the team who didn't want anything to do with Bayley's character before or after the bell rang, especially when it came to hugging.
Plans for that night's match had been agreed. It was now just a case of waiting for the show to start and then for their place on the card. When Ronda stood up and saw Thea walking over towards her, she started to prepare answers for questions about what had just been discussed, or about Bayley, Sarita or Nikki. It was a surprise when Thea spoke to Bayley rather than to her.
"Hey, Bayley, I'm Thea. I'm working on the documentary with Ronda, as I'm sure you know. Have you got a moment to chat?"
"Sure," Bayley replied plesantly, without hesitation.
"I'll be in my locker room then," Ronda told Thea, feeling a little put out, although she wasn't entirely sure why. Nikki and Sarita had both noticed her discomfort and made a point of teasing her about it on their way out of catering.
Meanwhile, Thea had walked over to an empty table and invited Bayley to sit down opposite her. The cameraman took the seat beside Thea so that he could film Bayley as she answered the questions. In his opinion, the documentary would have been better if they had two cameras to work with so that someone could have also filmed Thea from the other side of table while she was asking the questions, but they had to work with what they had.
"Okay," Thea said when they were all ready to start. "I'm just going to ask you a few basic questions about Ronda for now. Won't take long at all."
"Great, let's do it," Bayley said enthusiastically.
Thea paused for a second before asking her first question to make the later editing process easier. "Bayley, how do you feel about teaming with Ronda Rousey?"
"I'm looking forward to it," Bayley said genuinely, with a smile. "I've not been on a tag team for a long time, and I don't think Ronda ever has, so it's something different for both of us. I think we'll be a team that the fans will really connect with, and for me that's probably the most important part of what we do. Whether you're a face or a heel, the fans have to buy into what you're doing for it to be a success."
Nodding her satisfaction at that answer, Thea moved on. "What about working with Ronda specifically? There are people who say she can be tough to work with at times."
"I've never had a problem with Ronda, honestly," Bayley replied. "We've only wrestled each other a few times, and I've lost all of them, which probably helped," she added with a giggle.
Thea grinned smiled broadly at that, having to hold back a laugh of her own. "So you don't really know Ronda all that well then?"
"No," Bayley said with a slight shake of her head. "She keeps herself to herself a lot more than people might imagine. I mean, she'll speak if you walk past her in the hallway or whatever. She's never been rude or ignorant, but unless you're the one who's going to be in the ring with her, she won't have much to say to you. We just had a good talk about tonight's match though, and she was open to the ideas that we were all putting out there. We've put together a finishing move that we think will be great too, so yeah, just waiting to go out there and enjoy the match now."
"Okay, last question for now," Thea said. "How much of the increase in popularity and quality of women's wrestling in recent years would you say is down to Ronda?"
Bayley thought for a moment before giving her answer. "Ronda has played a big part in it for sure. There's no doubt about the fact that people started to really get on-board with what was going on in the Divas division a few years ago because they enjoyed watching Ronda when she same onto the roster. At that time she brought something to the table that no one else was bringing: a much more powerful and impactful style of offense. There's a reason it looks like Ronda's beating the hell out you when she's in the ring with you; she is beating the hell out of you. She hits hard and she works stiff. When you've gone ten minutes with her, it really feels like it," she giggled.
"The fans enjoy seeing that kind of action though," she continued. "Back then, it was something unique for them to get behind, and boy did they get behind it. But the main person who we have to thank for the success of women's wrestling today, in my opinion, is Hunter. He's the one who showed faith in women to play a big part in WWE rather than being a footnote like we used to be, and he still does show that faith in us. Who would have imagined five years ago that we could see a women's match headline a WWE pay-per-view?"
"That hasn't happened yet," Thea pointed out.
"No, but it will," Bayley said confidently. "It's happened on NXT many times, so there's no reason it can't happen on the main roster. Who knows, maybe this new team of Ronda and I will get to be a part of it when it does?"
"I'd really like to see that happen," Thea said, bringing the short interview to an end. "Thanks for your time, Bayley."
"Once the Survivor Series pay-per-view was underway, Ronda's demeanor seemed to change. She told me that she has a pre-match routine that she has to go through in order to be in the right frame of mind to go out and give her best in the ring. It was a strange thing to experience, seeing her sitting in her locker room in silence for about fifteen minutes. She explained that she uses that time to visualises the match she's about to go into, and the finish of it in particular. If she's not able to go through that preparation process, she feels awkward and distracted while she's in the ring.
After the silent routine was done, I was given the job of writing on her wrist tape for her. On her left hand, she told me to write 'My lovely father,' a tribute to her dad who is no longer with us. Then she told me that I could choose to write whatever I wanted on her other hand. I was caught on the spot, so I chose the first thing that came to mind: my initials. So when Ronda went out to win the Divas Tag Team Championship, she did it with TMT written on her right hand. We got the signal that it was time to go when a runner came and knocked on the locker room door to tell Ronda that her match was up next."
"That's what you wanted to go with?" Ronda said, looking at the back of her right hand as she walked out of her locker room. Turning slightly, she raised her hand and showed it to the camera. "You could have put anything you wanted, and you put TMT?"
"I couldn't think of anything else," Thea giggled sheepishly, following Ronda and the cameraman out of the door and closing it behind them. "It'll get people guessing at least. They'll be like, 'TMT? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'"
Ronda chuckled at that, which surprised Thea. Humour wasn't something that she expected from her, least of all right before a match, if the pre-match routine was anything to go by. "Just be glad my routine isn't the way it used to be," Ronda said. "It used to be half an hour, and silence until I went into the arena. I worked on it because it used to drive me fucking crazy having to do that a few nights a week. You know, the first time I was with WWE."
Thea couldn't pretend to understand. People all have peculiarities, she reasoned without saying anything. If it worked for Ronda and helped her to go into her matches with confidence, then that was really all that was important. "How are you feeling now?" she decided to ask. "There's an arena full of twelve thousand people out there, and they're about to go crazy when you come out."
"It's a strange thing, when you think about it," Ronda said, sounding a lot more reflective than Thea had thought she would. "There are so many people out there who like me, who want good things for me, yet they don't even know me. Most of them will never even meet me. I'm just an ordinary girl from Riverside, California who happened to make it big thanks to some big breaks and the support of all of those people. There would be no Ronda Rousey in WWE or Hollywood right now if it wasn't for WWE's fans always believing in me and supporting me. Sure, hard work helps a lot too, but it's fucking mad that so many people want me to do well. I live a blessed life and I'm trying my best to deserve it."
It was a tender side of Ronda that Thea wouldn't have imagined existed only a minute before. While she might not have been able to get along with some of her colleagues, and might at times be hard to manage too, there was no doubt that she was genuinely appreciate of the support that she got from the fans. When she had been researching Ronda in the weeks prior to starting filming, she had come across many stories of her going above and beyond what many other WWE Superstars would do for the fans. Part of Thea had wondered if it was all some kind of game or publicity stunt to Ronda, but now she believed otherwise. There was another side to the coin, though. Being popular with so many people had to have its negatives, such as not being able to go out for a meal in a restaurant without being recognised, for example. Thea could see how that kind of thing could drive anyone, but especially someone like Ronda, who seemed to have a fragile temperament, to the point of going crazy. She was a very complicated character, which meant that studying her over the course of the next month was going to be interesting to say the least.
"Have you ever found all of that public attention to be a lot to deal with though, even if it is mostly positive?" she asked gently.
"Yeah," Ronda said quietly, and Thea could tell that she didn't want to talk about it any further than that, at least not at that moment. There was no time anyway, as they were approaching the Gorilla Position, where Bayley, Nikki and Sarita were waiting for their segment to begin.
"Good luck," Thea said. Ronda didn't acknowledge her, she just walked away, over to where the other three women in the upcoming match were standing. Discreetly, Thea touched her cameraman's arm to tell him not to walk over there and intrude. There was a brief conversation between the four competitors while the promo for their match played in the arena and on TV screens around the world. Just before the promo ended, Hunter walked over and wished them all good luck.
A couple of minutes later, Ronda was entering the arena to a rapturous ovation. Hunter walked past Thea on his way back to the production office an gave her a little wink. "That's why I call her revolutionary."