Monday 12th November
Screen falling off the door,
Door hanging off the hinges.
My feet are still sore,
My back is on the fringes.
We tore up the walls,
We slept on couches.
We lifted this house,
We lifted this house.
Alexa was alone in the women's locker room of the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio where Raw was being held that night. She had been stretched out on the bench for a while, her iPod balanced on her stomach as 'Anna Sun' by Walk the Moon blasted through her ears.
Time seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye; a lot had happened over the last few months.
FCW had now fully merged with NXT.
Steve Keirn was still acting as president of the new brand. Canyon Ceman was the Senior Director Of Talent Development and serving as the Creative Director was Dusty Rhodes. Bill DeMott had replaced Tom Prichard as the head trainer and there were a several other new recruits. Joining Norman Smiley and Terry Taylor as trainers were Monty 'Billy Gunn' Sopp, Nick 'Eugene' Dinsmore and Darren's good friend Robert 'Robbie Brookside' Brooks. Also joining the training team, was one Sara Amato, more commonly known as Sara Del Rey.
Alexa had been a huge fan of hers for years, they had met briefly once before when Sara had stopped by FCW to visit Claudio shortly after he first signed with the WWE. The two women were widely regarded as two of the best female wrestlers in the world and a lot of people had voiced their desire to see the two women get in the ring together. Alexa hoped that one day, they would have that match.
Along with hiring new backstage staff; they had also signed some new developmental talent. Tenille Dashwood; she was an Australian wrestler going by the ring name Emma, and Benjamin Satterly. He was more commonly known as Pac, which was the name he had used while touring the indies, but he was using Adrian Neville as his WWE ring name.
Alexa hadn't been on any shows since October so with her being in Florida for the month, she had gotten to know both of them quite well. Tenille was a lovely, bubbly young woman and had immediately hit it off with Saraya, the two were almost inseparable. She got on the best with Ben though, both of them having an eerily similar in-ring style so she liked to spar with him whenever she got the chance.
Shaul had been granted a release from her developmental contract. She wanted to eventually enroll at college but that wouldn't be until after she sought treatment for an eating disorder. Alexa had felt so guilty, she hadn't even realized there was anything wrong until Vickie had called her out of the blue to tell her. But, she was getting better, that was the main thing.
Beth and Barbie had also both parted ways with the company. Beth because of family reasons and Barbie because she needed the time off to heal from a lingering neck injury. Chris had also departed again; he had plans to return once he had completed his Fozzy tour. Jason had aggravated an old shoulder injury, he was looking at a long leave of absence.
Back in May, a few days after her admission to Randy, he had been hit with a sixty day suspension. This time it was due to his second violation of the company's Talent Wellness Program. He had made his return at the end of July and somehow she had been able to avoid all contact with him. She usually saw him backstage in passing so she just assumed he was avoiding her, which suited her fine. They both needed to move on with their lives.
Her relationship with Jon was going from strength to strength, she had finally let her guard down around him and she had to admit, it felt pretty great. She had forgotten what a big deal it was, how amazing it was, to have someone who wants to hear about all the things that go on in your head.
He understood, or he tried his best to understand everything she went through. And for the things he didn't get, he just listened. He was always honest with her and gave her answers instead of excuses, no matter how badly she would take it. With Jon, she never had to be a simmered down version of herself. She didn't need to cover her mouth when she blurted something out, he never thought she needed a filter. She didn't care how loudly she laughed and how obnoxious it sounded, she was just her.
Alexa felt free, for the first time in a long time.
She still hadn't found the courage to tell him that she loved him. She wanted to, but there was still that fear of rejection lingering since he, too, had yet to say those three little words.
''Lex!''
She let out a cry of surprise, the voice startling her so much that she almost rolled off the bench, she quickly planted her hand on the floor to hold her up. There was a loud laugh that she immediately recognized as Phil's. Her headphones fell to the floor with a crash as her iPod, luckily, landed on her duffel bag near the bench.
Phil grabbed her arm and helped her up and she rewarded him with a punch to the side. ''Dick.''
''Paul's looking for you, they want to film your promo now.''
She crouched down and quickly tucked the iPod inside her bag before standing, a grin curling her lips. ''Sunday's going to be awesome.''
As had been the plan for a while; Jon, Joe and Colby would be making their debut on the main roster at Survivor Series. The whole thing had come about after a throwaway comment she had made a few months ago.
''You and Jon had sex in my bed, didn't you?''
''What? No, of course not! Do you really think I'd be so disrespectful?''
''Well, no, I guess not... Sorry.''
''We did it in the shower instead.''
Phil turned to glare at Alexa, letting out a string of curses when she took advantage of his momentary distraction; on the screen, the Big Boss Man pinned The Undertaker for the three count.
"Yes!" She jumped up, dropping her controller on the couch and doing her victory dance.
"How did you let that happen again?" Kofi laughed, looking over at the Chicago native.
Phil just shook his head, too busy laughing at Alexa's ridiculous dance to answer his friend. ''You're not being a very good sport.''
She flipped him the bird, continuing to dance with a goofy look on her face. ''You're just jealous that I beat you with my mad skills.''
''You cheated.''
''Did not. Kofi, tell him.''
The man held up his hands, shaking his head. ''I'm not getting involved in another one of your spats.''
Alexa ceased her erratic movements, flopping back down on the couch with a sigh. The three of them were passing some time playing WWE video games while they travelled to the next show, the two men surprised to find that the younger woman had an uncanny ability to beat them. No matter their choice in superstar, she always won.
''I used to love Boss Man's gimmick. Wouldn't it be awesome if they did that again? You know, get a few guys, dress them all up in the same kind of gear as Boss Man and have them go around beating people up.'' She mused, grabbing her controller and handing it over to Kofi so he could set up the next game before facing Phil. ''You should pitch it to Paul, it would make you're character look like even more of a pussy if you had, like, a security team helping you keep your title.''
Phil had pitched the idea to Paul and Vince and they had loved it. They had chosen three members of the NXT roster who they thought were ready for the move up and who would mesh well together, forming a new stable.
The Shield.
RAW
''Just fix it!'' CM Punk hissed before storming out of the locker room.
Sighing, Paul Heyman watched the man leave before turning around to head the other way. He stopped dead in his tracks when he found Sierra standing in front of him; arms crossed over her chest and her head cocked slightly to one side.
''Paul.''
''Sierra.'' Mimicking her stance, he looked over her curiously. ''What are you doing here? I assumed you'd still be hiding under whatever rock you crawled under after your embarrassing loss at Hell in a Cell.''
''It's all in hand, Heyman.'' Sierra offered a small smile. ''Besides, you're one to talk. That whole fiasco with Brad Maddox was really quite pathetic.''
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. ''What do you want?''
''Actually, I've got a proposition for you and-''
Paul barked out a laugh. ''I'm sorry, what makes you think I'd be interested in anything you have to offer?''
''Didn't youjusthear Punk tell you to fix everything?'' She questioned, cocking a brow at the man in front of her. ''Or, maybe, you're losing your hearing as well as losing your touch.''
''I don't have time for this.''
He made to move past her, only for her to reach out and plant her palm firmly on his chest as she shot him a devious smirk. ''I swear, this will solve ALL your problems...''