Raw: September 30, 2013
The baby was at home with Randy's parents this week, but Randy was still hanging out in my office. However, neither of us had really spoken to each other at all. I was still a bit angry with Randy over seemingly trying to flirt with Brie, and we hadn't discussed it. Plus, I had actually gotten in touch with a divorce lawyer late last week because I was starting to feel that Randy and I were unfortunately going down that path.
Randy sighs before looking over at me. "What's going on with you?"
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"
"You've been incredibly quiet around me for the past week. Why?"
I move my paperwork to the side and cross my arms as I look at him. "Do you realize that you were coming off like you were flirting with Brie last week?"
"I wasn't flirting with Brie. This is ridiculous."
"I'm not saying that you were flirting. I'm saying that you came off that way. I wasn't the only one who thought that either. Renee was watching with me last week and agreed. Stephanie came by my office last week and was civil with me out of concern because of it, and don't even get me started on all the comments on Twitter. Nonetheless, you even looking like you were flirting with Brie doesn't reflect well on you. How do you think it makes our marriage look? It's embarrassing."
Randy rolls his eyes. "Well for one, Stephanie was probably full of bullshit."
"I'm not so sure she was. I've gotten pretty good at seeing her bullshit. She seemed genuine this time."
"Doesn't mean she was. I wasn't flirting with Brie."
"I don't think you were. It just looked that way. What did you expect when bringing up her relationship and then telling her that this is what a real man looks like, Randy?"
"If people perceived that as flirting, it wasn't intentional. You want the truth? It was pretty much me telling her that she got the inferior man after she cheated on me."
"Are you still worried about that?"
"Are you not?"
I shrug. "It was over three years ago. We've been married for over two years. We have a family together. I've moved on. Hell, Daniel was a rebound, and our past relationship was brought up the night I became general manager. He said that it would've never lasted anyway. Honestly, I think he's right. You can't tell me that Brie wasn't a rebound for you because you dumped me over dumb shit."
"They still cheated on us."
"I know, but I've moved on. That doesn't mean I like them at all because believe me, I can't stand either of them, but I don't see the point of dwelling on it. Maybe it doesn't stick with me as much since that was the third time I've been cheated on and that was the first that you knew of for you, but I'm over it. Honestly, I'm kinda happy that we caught them cheating because who knows if we would've gotten back together if they didn't cheat on us?"
Randy rolls his eyes. "Just because I've brought it up, it doesn't mean I haven't moved on. I brought it up to get under Brie and Daniel's skin and to remind Brie that she isn't the sweet and innocent woman she acts like she is. The only woman I care about is you. I need to go. I need to make sure that I'm ready for whatever I've got tonight."
"You don't have a match. You and Daniel have a face-to-face tonight."
"Are you going to oversee it personally?"
"No, I'm sending Brad. Make sure that it doesn't sound like you have a thing for Brie if you bring her up."
"I will do that."
"And if you see Colby, tell him that I want to talk to him."
"Okay. I'll come back later."
"Okay, Randy."
I sighed as I sat in my office. This show had been chaotic. Big Show was after Triple H and had hurt my assistant, Brad Maddox, in the process. Cody and Goldust were scheduled to face the Shield to get their jobs back this Sunday at Battleground and got attacked by the Shield. CM Punk and Paul Heyman were continuously trying to pull one over on each other. Randy and Daniel still had to do their face-to-face, and I had a feeling that things were going to end chaotically. With Brad being too hurt after what Big Show did earlier, I asked Jerry Lawler to moderate the face-to-face, but that still didn't calm my worries. Maybe I should've moderated it myself.
I watch as Randy and Daniel trade verbal jabs at each other and realize it's probably best that I didn't moderate it because it would be too hard for me not to insult Daniel. I put my full attention on the TV as Randy goes for his next verbal jab.
"You think that just because they chant that one syllable word of yes that you can be champion?" Randy asks. "Bryan, I know you're on a roll as of late. I mean, hell, you're marrying a Bella. Which begs the question…what could be so incredibly wrong with Brie Bella that she would settle for the likes of you? You know, Daniel, one day, Brie is gonna wake up and realize that she's not sleeping with a virile, handsome champion like myself. She's sleeping with a barnyard animal."
Daniel cuts Randy off by attacking him. The two men end up brawling outside of the ring. I was just glad that Jerry Lawler was far enough away to be safe from harm.
Since I set up this face-to-face, it would fall under my jurisdiction to stop this, and I knew this was going well past what it was supposed to. However, the fans were eating this up, and it would probably draw more interest to the WWE Championship match on Sunday.
Daniel had the advantage at first, but Randy had taken the situation over. I knew that Randy was in a mood and likely going to be violent, but I also knew that he wouldn't go too far to the point that the WWE Championship match wasn't able to happen on Sunday. I was honestly entertained by watching the whole debacle on TV.
Is this what the whole Best for Business thing that Triple H and Stephanie always spoke of felt like?
As Randy was setting up to hit Daniel with a Draping DDT from the ring apron to the ground, Brie Bella starts running down towards the ring.
"Are you going to do anything?" Brad asks me from the doorway.
"No." I answer.
"No?"
"No, the crowd is eating this up. It's entertaining. If Brie's got half a brain, she'll not get herself hurt. I'm letting this continue. You can go."
"Alright then." Brad leaves.
Randy hits Daniel with the DDT and starts slowly walking away. Brie runs over to check on Daniel. However, Randy starts walking back. Brie backs off. She tries to ask Randy to stop, but of course, Randy doesn't listen. He RKOs Daniel through the announce table right in front of Brie before finally walking away. The show was ending too, so I didn't have anything to worry about.
I sat at my desk in my thoughts.
I thought I had been so different from Triple H and Stephanie, but I couldn't bring myself to stop it, especially knowing that the fans were entertained. I knew I probably should've, but I couldn't. Maybe it was because Randy is my husband. Maybe it was because I didn't like Daniel. Honestly, it was probably the second one because I could easily have seen myself being right on it to stop that if it was a friend.
Maybe I was less different from Stephanie and Triple H than I thought. Maybe I was no better than them. Maybe Daniel was right about that all along. I didn't know at this point if I could continue to oppose them when I just acted no better. Maybe they were all right, and I should've just joined them after SummerSlam.
Brie barges into my office. "This is all your fault!"
I cross my arms as I look at Brie. "What's all my fault?"
"What just happened out there! Randy beat the shit out of Daniel when things weren't even supposed to get physical!"
"I saw what happened. Daniel hit Randy first. Randy was defending himself, and you know it, Brie."
"You and I both know that Randy intentionally pissed Daniel off to that point! He instigated it! You would know because you've done that same shit before, Marissa! Randy brought me up to get Daniel angry! It was out of line! And while you're at it, tell your husband to stop trying to flirt with me! I'm happily engaged!"
"It's not Randy's fault that it's so easy to piss off Daniel. Also, he's not trying to flirt with you. Don't be so full of yourself, Brie. That was typical wrestling mind games. You and Daniel should know better. Randy isn't like you and Daniel. He's loyal to me."
Brie rolls her eyes. "I see how it is. You're going to defend Randy no matter what here either because he's your husband or because you don't like Daniel. Hell, maybe it's both. Either way, you aren't doing your job."
"I did do my job, Brie. The fans were entertained. I kept them entertained. Don't come in here and tell me that I'm not doing my job. Get out of my office before you put yourself in a situation with me that you don't want to be in." I stand up and point towards the door to my office.
Brie shoves me down. "Not so fun when you're the one who's getting hurt, huh?"
I laugh. "You're such a bitch. A dumb bitch at that, Brie. I'm not a competitor right now. You're not supposed to touch me. I could have your job taken from you." I stand back up. "But that's not what I'm going to do. I could have you charged with assault. But that's not what I'm going to do. You just made anything I do right now justified."
"You haven't been in the ring for almost a year. You won't be able to do a damn thing to me." Brie shoves me once more.
I stumble before punching Brie in the face. She grabs me by my hair and pulls me over my desk.
"You're making the biggest mistake of your life!" I say as the two of us start brawling on the ground.
"This is just payback for you being a bitch!" Brie responds.
We're punching, scratching, and clawing at each other. Hair was getting pulled. I'd just been sent over the edge. I had no idea if I was bleeding myself, but I could see that Brie was.
"I'm gonna make sure you never wrestle again! I'll end your career!" Brie yells.
"In your dreams!" I yell back at her.
Neither of us stop as the door opens. The next thing I know, Colby is pulling me away as Dean Ambrose is pulling Brie away.
"Calm down, Rissa." Colby quietly tells me.
"Calm down?!" I say to Colby. "The bitch came after me!"
"You're a horrible person, a horrible general manager, and while we're at it, a horrible mom!" Brie yells.
"Oh that's it!" I escape Colby's grasp and start beating on Brie. "I'll end you, Brie!"
Brie tries to get away from me, but it doesn't work. Colby and Roman Reigns manage to eventually pull me off of Brie, who, at this point, was very bloody as I had busted her nose open at a point. They keep their grasp on me as Dean carries Brie out of my office. I stare at the office door in anger.
"You good?" Colby asks quietly.
"I swear the bitch put her hands on me first." I tell him.
"I believe you. You didn't seem like you were going to be wrestling any time soon, so why would you instigate that? I just didn't want things going too far or you getting hurt."
I roll my eyes as Roman stands guard in front of my door. "I can handle Brie. I'm not out of shape. I'm almost in as good of shape as I was when I wrestled. I'm not bloody, am I?"
"I think you've got Brie's blood on your hands, but that's it."
I get up and walk into the bathroom to wash my hands. "She deserved it. You don't have to stand guard and protect me from Brie, Roman."
"I'm not protecting you from Brie. I'm preventing you from leaving before you calm down, so you don't go to the trainers to beat Brie even more." Roman tells me.
"Okay, that's fair."
"I take it that it was about what happened between Daniel and Randy?" Colby asks as I finish washing my hands.
"I guess so. That's what she came here to bitch about at first. She's lucky you three showed up because after what she said about me as a mom, I would've knocked her ass out. Plus, what if my son was here? She's lucky he wasn't because I would've had her ass arrested if he was."
"I honestly don't blame you."
"How'd you guys know to come here?"
"Brad saw Brie heading towards your office and got concerned. He found us and sent us this way because he was worried things would escalate between you two."
I walk back out of the bathroom. "He's not wrong for that. Why'd you guys join up with Triple H and Stephanie?"
"They promised to help the three of us keep our championship reigns secure. We're the Tag Team Champions. Ambrose is the United States Champion. It sounded like a great deal."
"Too good to refuse. That was what Randy said to me about what they offered him. I should've known that you had something similar."
"It doesn't mean that we agree with everything that they do."
"I would hope not. I kept telling myself that I was better than them, but after tonight, I'm not so sure that's actually true."
Colby gives me a concerned look. "What makes you say that?"
"They let the people that they don't like get severely hurt. Daniel is the main target, but it's not just him. Look at guys like Cody and Goldust. It's against whoever they don't like. I've been over here preaching about being fair and all that, but I did the same shit tonight. I let Randy do that."
"I don't think you let Randy do that."
"As much as you want to believe that your older sister is a good person, Colby, I did let Randy do that to Daniel."
"Who says you would've gotten Randy to stop?"
"I could've, and I know it. He'll listen to me. If I went out there and told him to stop it, he would've. If he somehow didn't, getting referees and security out there to stop it would've been my job. I didn't lift a finger to stop it, and while I can stand here and justify it by saying it entertained the fans, which is what I said to Brie, I let it happen. Entertaining the fans wasn't even entirely why. I let Daniel get beat like that because I wanted him to get beaten. I liked watching Randy do that to him. I didn't even go out there to stop it when Brie started pleading with Randy. I'm no better than Triple H and Stephanie at the end of the day. I was trying to fight for fairness, but I'm a hypocrite. I wasn't fair to Daniel, despite making sure he got the chance to be WWE Champion. I wasn't fair."
"That doesn't mean you're a bad person, Rissa. He's been a jerk to you for years. You shouldn't be expected to like him." Colby tells me before someone knocks on the door.
Roman, Colby, and I exchange a look.
"Who is it?" Roman asks.
"Your teammate." Dean answers. "And I'm alone now."
I nod at Roman. Roman lets Dean into my office before closing the door once again.
"She's at the trainers." Dean tells us. "She's in there with a nasty bloody nose. Daniel is still in there getting looked at. I don't think you'll have to worry about them being in here anymore tonight."
"That's good." I comment as Roman goes back to standing guard at the door.
"What'd you tell the trainers?" Colby asks. "I'm sure they asked."
"I told them that it didn't matter at the moment. I'm sure she'll tell them, but I ain't a snitch. There's something you need to know though, Marissa." Dean explains.
"What's that?" I ask.
"She looked me dead in the eye and said that she was going to get her hands on you in the ring one way or another."
I laugh as I start packing my things. "That doesn't bother me at all."
"She was talking about calling you out tomorrow."
"Probably because she knows I'm not usually at SmackDown filmings. She wants to make me look like a coward. I'm not bothered."
"You're not?" Colby asks me with confusion.
"I'm not. If she wants to wrestle me so damn bad, she can have it. I just hope she realizes that it won't go her way."
"You're going to wrestle? How long has it been since you've been in a ring for more than just talking? You've not wrestled a match in like a year."
"Believe it or not, I figured at some point that someone would get mad enough at me to try to wrestle me. I haven't done any full on wrestling, but I've been running ropes and taking bumps in the ring in my house. I've been fine. I can find someone to help me train a bit and knock some ring rust off."
"What's your plan?"
"I guess if Brie is supposedly going to call me out tomorrow, I'll stay for the SmackDown filming. I'll confront her on TV and accept her challenge. Hell, if she wants her match at Battleground this Sunday, I'll accept. I'm not backing down from this. If Brie wants to pick fights with me, I'll remind her exactly who she's dealing with. If she wants to call me a bitch, I'll remind her just how big of a bitch that I can be. Brie Bella has no idea what she's gotten herself into with me. She'll regret this one."
"So you're likely wrestling on Sunday?"
"Probably." I answer just as someone knocks on the door.
"Who is it?" Roman asks.
"Randy." Randy answers from the other side of the door.
"Let him in." I tell Roman.
Roman opens the door for Randy. Randy slowly walks in and locks eyes with me.
"Thank you, but I'll be okay with Randy here now. You can go." I tell the Shield.
Roman, Dean, and Colby all exit my office. Randy closes the door after they leave before walking over and gently grabbing my chin while examining my face.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"I heard Brie is with the trainers with a pretty bad bloody nose. I figured she came down here and got into it with you, so I need to make sure she didn't get you too bad." Randy explains to me.
"She put her hands on me first. What did she expect me to do?"
"Who knows with her? This is my fault."
"Not completely."
"Not completely?"
"I'm not saying you're completely unable to be blamed, but I'm not really blaming you. She came after me for not doing my job. I could've done something to stop you from going as far as you did. I didn't."
"Well, he did put his hands on me first."
"True, but you were beating the shit out of him."
Randy laughs. "Fair enough."
"But my point is that I could've stopped it. I didn't, and I know that's because I don't like him. I enjoyed watching you beat the shit out of Daniel. I've been so critical of you, Stephanie, and Paul, but the truth is that I'm no better. I wasn't fair tonight."
"He bitched you out last week. It was justified."
"You and I are the only ones who know about that. Others will blame me. It won't just be Brie."
"Not everyone is going to like you. Especially when you're the boss. But you don't have to blame yourself for what I did."
"Don't act like I couldn't have stopped you. We both know I could've. I've been a hypocrite for being angry with you, Triple H, and Stephanie. I really am no better."
"You're still better. You didn't screw anyone over."
"Fair enough. She wants to wrestle me now."
Randy raises an eyebrow at me. "Brie wants to wrestle you?"
I nod. "Yeah."
"What do you plan on doing?"
"Well, Dean said that she was going to call me out tomorrow. I was going to see if your parents minded having the kids for an extra day, so I could go to SmackDown and confront Brie."
"I'm sure my parents will be okay with that. What are you going to tell Brie?"
"If she challenges me to a match, I'll accept it."
"You're going to wrestle soon? Are you ready for that? You don't need to be risking severe injury, babe."
I take my shirt off. "Look at my back. What do you see, Randy?"
Randy puts his hands on my shoulders as he looks at my back. "Rope burn…you've been running ropes at home."
I nod. "And taking bumps. I've just not been doing any actual wrestling in training because I've not had anyone in there with me. I'll do a little bit of that to knock off the ring rust, and I'll be okay."
"This still worries me. You haven't wrestled in a year."
I put my shirt back on. "I know, but if she calls me out and I don't accept, I'll look like a coward. Plus, I know how she works in the ring. I know how to beat her. I'll just do some training."
"How soon will you wrestle?"
"As early as Battleground if she really does call me out and make the challenge tomorrow."
"That's rather soon."
"I know, but I can handle it."
"Just be cautious, okay? I'll talk to my parents about watching the kids. Be at SmackDown tomorrow, Rissa. Just promise me that you'll be careful."
"I will."
"Okay." Randy kisses my cheek. "I need to shower and change back into normal clothes. I'll let you know when I'm done, so we can leave."
"Alright. Let me just finish packing up my bag, and I'll come meet you in your locker-room."
"Great. See you then." Randy kisses my forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Randy walks out of my office. I realize that all of these issues made me almost forget how kind and caring Randy is. He's amazing, and I had been ready to throw that away. Contacting that divorce lawyer was a huge mistake. Randy and I could make things right between us. I should've never gone to that lawyer in the first place.
