Vignette 31: Regrets

One of the winners of the first Tough Enough contest was on the verge of tears. She had been approached to join the NWW crew and she'd turned them down and now, as she looked at the picture in the wrestling magazine on the table in front of her, she wished she'd accepted their offer. She'd been stuck in OVW for over a year now, with no hopes of getting out, and Maven had already been a multiple Hardcore champion as well as a tag team champ.
Now that the WWFE had lost their top women, be it Jackie, Lita, Molly, Trish and Ivory, she was moving up to the big leagues and being scheduled for a major feud with the valet of all valets, Stacey Keibler. Whoever NWW were, they had stolen the Divas from Vince and had added to them with the two strongest female competitors ever, Madusa and Chyna.
"What do you have here?" Jim Cornette asked, coming up behind her.
"Nothing," Nidia lied, snapping the magazine shut.
Cornette leaned forward and pulled the magazine from her grasp, eyeing it with a smile until he flipped to the page about the NWW Divas. Ignoring Nidia's protests about him walking away with her magazine, he got his cell phone from his pocket and called JR.

Vignette 32: Puppies abound

"I lay claim to the expression Puppies," Road Dogg told the assembled reporters. "I let Jerry use it but it's all mine baby... and considering all the lovely ladies I'll be watching as they strut around the ring, I plan on using it over and over and over and over..."
"Don't pay attention to him," Chyna said, lightly slapping him upside the head, "we have every intention of getting into that ring to do what we do best and that's wrestle our asses off."
"Oh that's right baby... show me that ass... you know how I love to kick that shiznit d--"
Raven reached over and slapped his hand over his fellow commentator's mouth, "He's an idiot. Pay him no mind."
"Jealousy is such an ugly thing."
"Oh please."
"Excuse us," said a reporter from Sports Illustrated, "but will Mr. Billings make an appearance today?"
"Unfortunately Mr. Billings is busy finalizing the details for our first TV show," Trish Stratus said.
"And he sent us to replace him," Molly added, "aren't we plenty?"
Laughter erupted from the assembled journalists as all the Divas leaned forward, showing off their impressive bosoms. Road Dogg leaned forward and ogled the exposed breasts, his tongue coming out of his mouth and his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Vignette 33: Breakdown

"Fucking mastermind," Vince said as he watched the press conference for the nth time. "It's fucking brilliant."
"He's just doing T&A," Stephanie said bitterly, "it's a basic Russo plot."
"It's more. Look at those reporters... they're not bashing them... they're enjoying this... this is going to be positive, God damn it all to hell!"
"Dad calm down. Listen, Rocky's coming back from his set next month, just in time to counter NWW... we just have to maintain the momentum."
"With what? What do I have to maintain any kind of momentum? Austin's gone, Taker's out... they've got all my tits and ass!"
"We still have talented performers. Look how well Jeff Hardy's doing with Helms, Karagias and Moore."
"No... they've got something I worked hard to give this medium... public acceptance..."
"Dad..."
"Get out!" Vince shouted, rising from his chair, "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!"
"Vince please," Linda said, coming to her feet.
"Get the hell out of here!"
Linda nodded to her children, Heyman and JR and turned around to face her husband, "If you want me out of this office, by God, you'll have to shove me out yourself!"
His face mottled with anger, Vince looked down at his wife, fully aware of the fact that he had the physical power to get her out of his office but that she would fight him every step of the way. He released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and slumped down into his chair, burying his face in his hands. Linda moved around his desk and eased her way into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, sighing as his hot tears soaked her shirt.

Vignette 34: Suspicion

Twenty-four hours to go. Nick Billings sat inside of the Air Canada Center in Toronto and watched the ring crew assemble the ring. He was new to this world and found it eerily fascinating.
"Hey man, what's up?"
"Michaels," Billings said, turning around to see the legendary Heartbreak Kid making his way to him, "how you doing?"
"I'm fine. You? You psyched about the next twenty-four hours?"
"Considering that all I have to do is make appearances across Toronto and get tongues wagging, yeah, I'm cool."
"Good, you'll need to be."
"Shawn, I don't pretend to understand this business... but something is bugging me."
"What?"
"I checked around and you know what? Your WWF contract isn't over."
Shawn swallowed hard and took another look at Billings. Physically, he could pass for another McMahon with his dark hair and blue eyes. His build was very similar to Shane's but he was slimmer, fitter.
"No, it isn't."
"And you're still very close with a lot of the WWF front office."
"You doubting my loyalty?"
"Yes."
"At least you're honest about it," Shawn said, walking away.
Nick watched Michaels and slipped a cell phone from his pocket. He might not know wrestling but he knew people and something about Michaels stank to high heavens.

Vignette 35: Loyal and disloyal

"Nick Billings," J.R. read from the private investigators' reports, "went to Stamford Law School but never took the bar exam. Joined his father's import-export business and, under his tutelage, the company literally exploded. He is also the principal owner of several successful dot.com companies and his personal f ortune is in the seven hundred millions of dollars."
"What's his wrestling connection?" Dad asked.
"Apparently he was sniffing around ECW before it went down but he's kept everything quiet since the WCW sale. Preparing for his next move I suppose."
"He's loaded and he's got connections," Heyman said grimly, "that puts him in a great position."
"Here's something y'all find fascinating," J.R. said as he went through a few pictures.
He slid the pictures across the table and Stephanie paled when she saw them, "No..."
"I wanted to run this past you before acting on it."
"Do me a favor and call Arn Anderson," Vince said, "find out if Rocky's at the arena."
"I did... he's there but..."
"But what? The man might still be out to screw us."
"No, not Dwayne," Linda said confidently, "Hunter's an ambitious son of a bitch, no reason to paint Rocky with the same brush."

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