Mike rings his birthday in on Sunday one Miztourage member short, and to a video call from AJ, Sara babbling from where she's sitting on her high chair, Maryse sipping tea on the other side of the table. He blows kisses to Sara and AJ, relaxing as he gets to witness how they're celebrating his birthday even from this distance. "I love you," he tells AJ with a smile once she walks off to have a moment of peace and quiet to talk to him.
"Love you too, husband. Go kick some ass tonight, have a great birthday." She purses her lips at the screen, winking at him.
"Thanks, it's already pretty good," he tells her. "I'll call you later. Have a great day yourself, sweetheart."
"Talk to you later then." She smiles at him before the screen goes black, AJ's hands full between the baby and trying to find food that Maryse likes that won't stir up her morning sickness. Mike sighs, remembering those days, before going to confront Axel. "Now... where is Bo?"
Under the weather. Such a cheap excuse. But Mike is still feeling good after retaining his title the week prior so he lets it go. Even decides to hold another Mizzies award ceremony on Raw...just for The Shield to interrupt. Ruin everything. Leave him and the others laying. He can't believe the three egotistical men had gotten their shit together enough to actually get this far. He closes his eyes, rubs his throbbing back and tries to think of something to do to make his chances better.
It all clicks into place when The Shield target Strowman and send him through the commentary table. He almost hates doing it but it's a price of business so he stands by the gorilla position and waits for Strowman to pull himself out of the wreckage of the table. "Hey," he calls out to him before he can storm away, get revenge right here, right now. "I have a proposition for you."
It works. Strowman agrees, as does Angle. Mike fights not to smirk when all of the pieces come together to beautiful. Him, the Bar, and Strowman all against the Shield at TLC. There's no way he can lose. Especially with Axel on the outside, and maybe Bo back where he belongs.
There's a pleased swagger to his step when Mike almost stumbles into TJ Perkins. He blinks and looks more closely at the man's oddly tense expression before coming to a stop, aware of what has put that look on TJ's face most often in the past. "What's wrong with you?"
TJ pops his earphones out of his ears and quirks an eyebrow at Mike. "You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" Mike asks, wondering what he's missed while trying to piece together a proper game plan for TLC.
"Neville," TJ says, Mike unable to help the wave of smugness that his deduction was correct, "got into it with Kurt Angle for not letting him face Enzo Amore because of his little edicts and... he left." TJ adjusts his earphones and exhales. "I think he's quitting."
It's Mike's turn to pale dramatically, gaping. "No way." It somehow feels like Neville's been around forever, although when Mike really thinks about it, it's only been a couple of years that he moved up from NXT.
TJ exhales. "Yeah. Well, I have to go get ready to be a lumberjack later." He offers Mike a flimsy little wave before heading off to the locker room.
Mike turns to watch him go, lost in thought. First Alex Riley, then Damien Sandow, and now... Neville. Not that Neville had ever fully been his understudy, but still. It had been a close thing. Mike had tried. He'd really wanted to work with Neville, had seen something in him. He can't help but wonder, maybe if Neville had accepted, Mike could've shielded him from the worst the business had to offer... not that he'd helped Sandow and Alex much, but that had been their choice in the end- they'd wanted to go off on their own, leave him in the dust. He sighs.
Look who's the last man standing.