#when the boys were standing in the ring on smackdown and there was a space left for her…

[thejudgmentdays]

RheaRipley_WWE: This is what happens when you take my JD boys away from me for a week 😵‍💫🥴

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

THINGS YOU MAKE ME DO

Prompt: Inspired by the song Things You Make Me Do by Devil Doll

Word Count: Long-ish

Pairings: Roman Reigns x Reader

Warnings: +18, angst, heart break, manipulation

Editor: @thenightmareismyreality

Tag: @ziasaph , @marlananicole , @akiko-tanaka , @wickedsunfire , @sassymox , @nicolewoo , @saccreigns , @mindofasagittaruis , @reigns-5sos , @drewmcintyrekoccsrocbwdgfan , @auawdo , @lustyromantic , @babydee17 , @yungbludjazz360

Notes: This song is amazing, this band is amazing and I missed my main man, so enjoy lol ❤️ If you’d like to check out my other works, you can find them on my Masterlist 😉

I've got a secret plan to love you and I do so night and day

And I always stand right by you, have your back in every way

And you wish that I could save you and I wish that I could too

But if you cause too much pain for me I'll leave if I have to

He stood up from the hotel bed and began to get dressed, and as she stared at his figure, she wondered until when was she going to put up with this

But I think about you constantly all through the night and day

And I toss and turn in bed at night and hope it goes away

But it never does and when I wake and you're not next to me

I remember where you are, I hope your girl forgives me

“Are you leaving already?” She asked

“You know I have to” He looked at her “We can’t have people suspecting this” He motioned to the space between them “I would be fucked if they did” He scoffed

“Excuse me?” She asked, hurt by his lack of emotion “What do you mean by that?” She couldn’t have felt more offended, even if she chose to

“What, Y/N? Look, we fuck every once in a while, we have a good time but that’s it!” He chuckled, as he tied up his sneakers “Don’t try to turn this into something that it isn’t” He stood up

“Like what?” She asked angrily

“You know what? I’ll see you later” He winked, and walked out the door of her hotel room

Do I need you?

You seem to think I do

Can't seem to see through anything that you do

Oh, ooohhh, the things you make me do

Y/N was walking down one of the dark arena hallways, when a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind, pushing her inside of one of the locker rooms

“Aren’t you gonna talk to me?” He asked, with his lips glued to her ear

“No, and let me go! I have work to do”

“You’ve been ignoring me for three days straight! Why is that, baby?” As his lips made contact with her skin, trailing down her neck

“Roman, just let me go. This is not the place and DEFINITELY not the time”

“I miss you” He whispered “Y/N, baby, you hurt my feelings when you treat me like this” He buried his face in her hair and caressed her body softly

She scoffed “As if you had any”

“Hey” He turned her around so she could face him “What’s the attitude about?” He looked into her eyes, and saw the resentment they held

“Is this because of what I said in your hotel room?” He sighed

“If you know, then why play dumb?” She spat

“C’mon Y/N, I’m sorry, ok?” He hugged her waist “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m an asshole! Please forgive me?” He pouted “Please, baby? I hate when you get mad at me” He begged with his eyes

“You don’t deserve it, you know” She crossed her arms in front of her chest

“Don’t be such a bitter bitch...It’s hotter when you’re MY bitch” He teased

When she tried to hold back a cackle, he knew he had won again

I should know better than to follow your lead wherever you go

Through the raging rivers, stones and alley ways we go

Sometimes I wonder if you really know where you take me to

But your radio is on so loud I can't get through to you

But if everything's ok with you then it's ok with me

You are such a little boy with you're big philosophy

But I'm not a little girl, I am a woman, don't you know?

I'm packing up my toys, I don't want to play anymore

“I don’t want to do this anymore” She said, watching him turn around and get dressed again - as he did every time.

“What are you talking about?” He frowned, as he looked for his shirt

“I don’t want to see you anymore, I’m done with this bullshit”

“You’re breaking up with me?” He laughed, in disbelief

“Well technically, in order to break up with someone you need to be with them in the first place”

“Not this again” He rolled his eyes in annoyance “Why do you always have to get feelings involved, huh? For fucks sake, can’t you ENJOY a one night stand like everybody else?” He threw his hands up in the air

“One night stand?” She widened her eyes in surprise “Do you call fucking almost every night for two years straight a ‘one night stand’ ?”

“Sexually speaking, we couldn't be any more compatible if we tried - so what the fuck do you want me to do? You’re a good fuck to me and I’m a good fuck to you! Why would I search in clubs and bars for something I have next door?” He tugged on his hair out of frustration “I don’t have to date you to like you, Y/N” He sat down beside her on the bed, and caressed her face delicately “You know I like you, don’t you, baby?”

“Yeah I know” She slapped his hand away “You like me when your dick is inside of me”

“Y/N” He sighed

“Get the fuck out” She kicked him on his lower back, in a repeated attempt to shove him out of the bed “Get out!”

“I’m leaving!” He said, grabbing his jacket

“Out!” She threw one of her heels at him, and her aim made it so it nailed him sharply in the hip

“I said I’m fucking leaving” He grabbed the door handle “Crazy bitch!” He said loudly enough for her to hear as he left

But what he didn’t hear were her sobs, which lasted the entire weekend

Do I need you?

You seem to think I do

Can't seem to see through anything that you do

Oh, ooohhh, the things you make me do

Six months had passed. Y/N had transferred to Smackdown, leaving Roman and all of their bitter memories together with Monday Night Raw, and for once in her life, is truly happy. That night, as she approached her car in the parking lot, she spotted none other than Roman himself leaning against the drivers’ door of her vehicle

And how can you smile at me when you know just what you can do

And it's not fair to me cause you know that I can never have you

How can you make me feel so good but then you make me feel so bad

You know that you are the baddest love that I've never had

“Hi, baby” He smiled sheepishly “I missed you” He tried to hug her, but she dismissed him

*It’s not going to be as easy as I thought* He mentally said to himself

“Can I talk to you for a minute? I wanted to apolog-”

“What are you doing here, Roman?” She asked sharply

“I got transferred to Smackdown”

“Good for you” She nodded once and continued “Now, if you excuse me, I’m really tired” She pointed towards her car

“Y/N” He cupped her cheek “Please, just hear me out? I regret everything I did, baby. I mean it! I should have never treated you like that, you don’t deserve it! You’re a beautiful, smart, sexy woman and it was a huge mistake to take you for granted” He brushed his lips softly against hers “Tell me you forgive me, I beg you, please, baby”

“I forgive you and then what? Everything goes back to what it used to be? You treating me like shit? No, Roman. This is not fair to me” She shook her head

“And you’re absolutely right! That will NEVER happen again! I give you my word, baby. Just give me one more chance and I promise I’ll make it up to you” His long fingers stroked the back of her neck lightly, making her miss what they once had.

That was until her phone rang, and the first chords of the Davy Jones Locket song echoed through the parking lot, remembering her of what she had now.

She smiled, as the song continued “No, I have to go” She took his hand off her face and entered the car to go meet the owner of that ringtone.

I've got my own man now, he treats me the way that you never could

And now you're all like "I should’ve, could’ve, would..."

But I'm afraid you've missed the train, you were too busy playing games

And now our story comes to an end, you ain't my lover or my friend

And when I am walking down the aisle oh so happily

Then you'll be saying "it could’ve, should’ve been me."

“Rumor has it, you’re getting married” Roman said, leaning against her office’s door

“Wow, news travels fast in this business, huh?” She answered, not paying too

much attention to him

“Can I see the ring?”

“Why? Want to buy a new one for your wife?” She scoffed

He decided to ignore her tone “Can I know who the lucky guy is?”

“Will it change anything if you do?” She continued to read her papers

“Can you stop answering my questions with other questions?”

“Will you stop asking me personal questions then?”

He chuckled softly “I missed that acid humor of yours”

“What do you want Roman?” She glared at him

“Your happiness” But this time, he meant it

“Now, that’s a bad taste joke” She laughed bitterly

“I know you don’t believe me, but I do”

“Right” She said dismissively

“Can you tell me who it is?”

“I figure, if you know I’m getting married then you also know who the groom is. Why hear old news again?”

“It’s Drew, isn’t it?” He asked defeatedly

She sighed “Yes, Roman. It’s Drew, are you happy now?”

“When is the wedding?”

“October. Why are you suddenly so interested in my love life?”

“I need to know how much time I have to kidnap you before you commit the biggest mistake of your life” He joked, but deep down, he meant it

“I’m pretty sure I’ve already committed that one” She said, intentionally making eye contact with him

“I love you, Y/N. Always have”

“You have a funny way of showing it” She murmured

“I’m sorry, babe...but I felt trapped. I didn’t knew how to express what I was feeling and I was so confused” He locked his gaze with hers “I would do everything different now, I swear I would”

She ignored his pleading eyes, and returned her gaze to her paperwork “I’m afraid that time is gone, Roman...There’s nothing left to do”

If you need me, I will not hear thee

Stay away from me, trying to decieve me

Oh, oh, ohhh the things you make me do

Oh the things you'll never make me do

Oh the things you’ll never make me do

Roses are red, violets are blue and so are you

One year later, Y/N is gathering her personal belongings from her office, her pregnancy doesn’t allow her to travel with the company any more, so she’s going to be working only from her home office for the foreseeable future. A knock on her door made her look up

“I heard the stork will be visiting you soon” Roman said

“Yeah, apparently she will”

“How far along are you?” He approached her carefully

“Just turned four months”

“Baby is popping out of nowhere, huh? Until a week ago you had no bump at all, and now” He reached his hand to touch her belly, but stopped midway

“It’s okay, Ro, you can touch it” She encouraged him

He smiled widely and rested his big hand against her tiny bump

“Do you know what you’re having?” He asked softly

“Girl” She smiled brightly “Regan”

“Even got her a name already? Damn baby, you’re fast- Sorry I shouldn’t have called you that” He said weakly

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it” She tried to hide the nostalgia the pet name brought to her

“I wish...” He trailed off

“Don’t. Don’t go there, please”

“You can still run away with me, you know?” He smirked, teasingly

“I’m sure you would look great holding a female version of Drew” She tried to joke

“As long as you birth it, I don’t care who made it. Although I wish it was me” He tried, one last time

“Maybe in another life, Ro” She smirked sadly, as she reached the door

“Do you promise?” He asked

“I’ll see you around” Smiling widely, she made her way out the arena doors, leaving him behind, for the second time (in that life).

But who knows what can happen in the next one?...

Please, if you’re comfortable with it, let me know your thoughts on this? Feedbacks are always appreciated 🥰😘

[theyungrose]

Chrysanthemums and Daisies (Roman Reigns/Jey Uso X OC)

A/N: More Chrysanthemum and Daisy for the TL today. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Rematches and Realizations

Daisy stayed with Chrysanthemum for the remainder of the show talking with her sister about her match and other things, but not once did she bring up Jey. How could she? The last thing Daisy needed her sometimes holier-than-thou sister believing is that she was only focused on finding love, especially her first night on her show. Not only that, from the looks of whatever intense exchange her sister and Roman had before she walked in, that part of the locker room wasn’t really friendly territory. At least to her. 

Still, she couldn’t forget the gentleness in his chocolate eyes, the smooth velvety feel of his skin, or the dreamy butter voice he spoke to her in; even for those few seconds. Admittedly Jey hurt her feelings a little bit with the way he reacted to her after her match, it’d brought her down from her victory high quite a bit. Could she blame him though? His cousin was a tyrant. 

“What boy are you thinking about now Daisy?” 

Chrysanthemum lightly hit Daisy over the head with a beanie before pulling it over her head.

“No one...”

“My ass little girl, who is it?” 

Daisy giggled jumping off her big sister’s desk. Chrysanthemum was the perfect balance of mom figure and older sister when she wanted to be, a trait she had perfected over the years. 

“There’s no boy mom. He’s a man.” 

With her back turned Daisy couldn’t see Chrysanthemum roll her eyes playfully. She had to see Daisy finding a love interest here coming, she found love interests everywhere. She was in love with the idea of love, and as cute and sweet as that was, it was just as dangerous. 

“Well you make sure this man doesn’t become the reason I have to yell at you too. I was so proud watching my sister’s hand get raised for the first time on my brand.”

The duo continued to suit up for the cold December air awaiting them outside. Right before they were about to leave, Daisy decided to run to the bathroom one last time.

“Daisy I will leave you here if you’re not back in five minutes.”

Daisy grinned kissing her sister on the cheek.

“You won’t though.” 

In all honesty, Daisy was actually looking to use the bathroom before the flight back to Georgia, but the smallest part of her hoped Jey was still here. Hopefully he wouldn’t regard her the same way if he was.

“Daisy...” 

See? All it took was a little patience. 

Jey had almost missed her, Daisy was on her way back to her sister’s office when he ran into her at the end of the hallway. He was dressed to leave himself, decked out in a black beanie and heavy black winter coat.

“I thought I had missed you.”

Daisy just smiled as she looked up at him, hopefully he didn’t find her slight infatuation with him creepy or disturbing. 

“Almost, I was just about to leave.”

Jey leaned against the wall they were standing next to, admiring the smaller woman in front of him. He tried hard not to make it too obvious, but he couldn’t help it. From the moment her small hand had touched him the way she did when they first met, it was as if she’d placed him under a magic spell. Her beauty enthralled him, the soft tone she spoke in sounded like singing in his ears, and he was sure those emerald green irises could tame a savage beast.

She herself, was magic. 

“I’m sorry about how I reacted to you earlier, when you tried to talk to me. I know you were only trying to help.” 

Daisy nodded clasping her hands in front of her.

“I know. It must be hard having to live with that everyday.” 

“It’s torture actually.” 

Daisy felt the urge to reach out and touch him but she quelled it, partially scared of how he might react. She yearned to comfort him though, to take some of that heavy burden away. 

“He acts like this around family too. Not just my brother, everyone. I’ll never understand how you can just turn on family like that, as if we weren’t here for you when no one else was.” 

Jey’s head began to droop again, and just like he’d secretly hoped for, her hand lifted it back up again, bringing his eyes back to hers.

“I’m sorry Jey, that must be terrible. No one deserves to be treated that way.” 

Jey responded with a soft smile, avoiding his mistake from earlier tonight and allowing her hand to stay there for as long as she wanted to. 

“Do you have a ride to the airport? I assume your heading home for the weekend.” 

Only then did it occur to Daisy that Chrysanthemum was still waiting on her, probably with smoke fuming from her ears as she was not one to wait. 

“Yeah I am, I have a flight to Atlanta in a few hours actually. As for the ride, if you’re offering...” 

“I’m on my way to the A too. There’s this little underground burger spot I know about where we can wait until morning.”

Daisy grinned tucking her hair behind her ears. This wasn’t an opportunity she was going to give up by a long shot, even for a road trip with her sister. They had plenty of times for those, and she figured without having to go the extra mile to drop her at the airport, Chrysanthemum could stay here in Maryland where she lived. 

Unfortunately, big sister didn’t share the same sentiment.

“What do you mean you have a ride? Who are you riding with?”

Daisy was never one to lie to her sister, but this time she knew her late night date with Jey depended on it, and while sisters always came before misters, tonight, quite frankly it was quiet for all that. 

“I’m gonna drive myself to the airport. That way you don’t have to make the extra trip.”

Chrysanthemum raised her eyebrow crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Little girl, I drove you here today. How are you going to drive yourself anywhere?” 

Now, Chrysanthemum was no dummy. She could add two and two and get four; whatever guy had her deep in her thoughts a short while ago obviously had found her while she went to go pee (or she found him) and now she wanted to ride with him instead. A silly and hasty decision on the part of her sister, but not one she could fault her for. She was lovesick and young one time too. 

“I know that look, that means you understand. Thank you sis I love you!”

Daisy ran up to her sister and wrapped her in a tight hug, placing a long kiss on her cheek before grabbing up the rest of her things. Chrysanthemum didn’t say anything as she packed, but right before she ran out the door she spoke up. 

“Daisy.”

Daisy stopped mid-stride before her handle could touch the door, silently praying Chrysanthemum hadn’t changed her mind. 

“Does he know we’re sisters?” 

Daisy glanced over her shoulder, noting the subtle worry on her older sister’s face. 

“No of course not. No one does.” 

Chrysanthemum nodded giving her a small smile. 

“Keep it that way.

The conversations between Jey and Daisy seemed to stretch on for hours. She loved the way he chuckled a bit at his own jokes, and he loved the way her eyes were focused only on him the entire time he spoke. Being the quieter twin of the Uso duo, he wasn’t used to that much attention, but Daisy watched and listened to him as if he was the most intriguing man on this Earth. And to her, he was. 

Admittedly, Jey would be lying if he said it didn’t surprise him how fast Daisy took to him. Daisy was gorgeous, absolutely stunning to be exact, she had the kindest spirit he’d ever come across, and with those green eyes she could have any man she looked at. Yet, here she was with him. Jey didn’t want to imagine how different life would be if he’d never taken the time to talk to her earlier, or if he hadn’t found her before she left the arena. He wondered what good karma allowed the universe to bless him so. 

“Why are you staring at me?” 

Her soft voice pulled Jey from the trance he’d unknowingly fallen into while speaking to her, and he realized that he was indeed staring at her with his chin propped up on his hand. 

“Sorry Daisy I didn’t mean to stare. I think I just got lost in your aura for a moment...you’re just magical girl.” 

Daisy smiled softly, pushing her chair back so she could rise from her seat. Jey looked at her questioningly as she slid her warm hand into his, urging for him to stand with her. Slow holiday music played from the speakers in the bar’s walls, and as she pulled him under the ambient lighting in the middle of the space, Jey realized that she was silently asking him for a dance. 

There were a few other superstars from Smackdown gathered in the bar with them, but as Jey glanced around at them no one seemed to be paying much attention. Daisy smiled into his chest as his body finally relaxed against hers and his free hand slid along her side to cup her back. Now closer to her than ever before, Jey took in the notes of vanilla and amber in her scent. The softness of her straight hair against his cheek. 

It was then that Jey started to realize the magic he held in his arms, and soon he was convinced that meeting her tonight was no coincidence. Daisy was a free, gentle spirit, warmth and love exuded from the depths of her being, and Jey knew then and there he only wanted that warmth and love for himself. She was a fragile snowflake that had tumbled down from the heavens into his hands, and he would protect his fragile snowflake with his life if he had to.

He would hold her in his hands forever, just as he did now. 

Meanwhile, Daisy couldn’t have been any happier. She’d trusted this feeling from the moment she felt it, and her intuitions had not misled her. She knew the energies that drew her into this man was not to be ignored, and now here in his arms, she felt safer than she’d ever been. His arms around her were like her favorite comforter wrapped around her naked body with the heat going.

There couldn’t be a more perfect ending to this perfect day.

*****

Fast forward a few days and it was Monday Night Raw, and as promised Roman interrupted McIntyre in the middle of his promo and demanded a rematch from Survivor Series. Drew didn’t pass up the opportunity, and with a few verbal jabs there was security overcrowding the ring to keep the two men from tearing the other to shreds.

It would have to wait until the end of the night.

Roman knew in the back of his head that this wasn’t a good idea, and Paul surely wasn’t allowing him to forget. He knew Drew was almost an impossible feat to overcome, he’d barely succeeded the first time. He knew this. To attempt it twice was simply put, a stupid idea. Nonetheless, Roman was here strapping up for his match because he had something to prove.

More specifically, something to prove to her.

Chrysanthemum had occupied the Samoan’s mind since the last time they spoke. As a man, a woman that attempts to challenge his power should offend him, and offend him strongly. Yet, when Chrysanthemum spoke, even as she was ripping him a new ass, he was undeniably drawn to her.

Her power matched his, only his. The way she walked and carried herself through life, he admired it. She was the alpha female if he’d ever seen one, and the only one worthy enough to hold her hand was the hand of the Chief.

When he reached the gorilla for his main event match, he was pleasantly surprised to find her standing in the corner beside the curtains. Even more surprising, she’d changed her hair. The usual raven black was now mixed with a light honey blonde, the splash of color bringing out the bright features of her face.

“I’m assuming you’re here to watch your champ go main event?”

Chrysanthemum smirked at his cocky tone, on a worse night it would’ve pissed her off, but even she would admit she was happy to see him.

“Actually I’m surprised you showed up at all. You’re usually more stubborn than this, at least that’s what I’ve heard.”

Chrysanthemum had been this close to him on Friday, but this time he was shirtless. Hair wet down his chest and shoulder, dripping water down his abs. It was a little bit harder to maintain her composure. At least a smidge.

“Well I’ve got something to prove to you tonight little mama, and I’m never one to disappoint.”

At the end of the day Chrysanthemum was still a boss woman. She was here only to represent her broken brand and bring some power and respect back to it, which was the only thing Roman needed to focus on. This wasn’t about whatever Roman was trying to make it about, and she would show him mercy if-and only if- he walked out of here the victor tonight on his own. Polynesian God or not.

He was still just a man.

Roman noted the sudden straight expression that covered Chrysanthemum’s face, and secretly he hoped he hadn’t offended her.

“Don’t call me little, Reigns. And don’t embarrass me either. I’d hate to walk out of here with a loser.”

Just then Roman’s music echoed through the Superdome.

“I think that’s you’re cue...champ.”

Roman smirked down at her as they walked past each other, him towards the curtains and her towards the computer monitors. They shared one last glance as she sat down at a desk and pulled a headset over her ears. With those full pink lips she mouthed...

Make me proud.

And boy did he.

As promised, Roman gave Drew the ass whooping of a lifetime. It was like watching a man with nothing to lose yet all the world to prove, and Chrysanthemum loved every second. He dominated damn near the whole match, and in the small moments where it looked like Drew had the upper hand, he came back ten times harder.

As soon as he hit Drew with a deadly spear in middle of the ring, Chrysanthemum knew it was over. But its when he didn’t go for a pin, that’s when she knew she had him wrapped up like a toy on Christmas. 

When Drew finally stood up Roman nailed him with another spear more deadly than the first one. Then with a white fire in his eye Roman hit him with a third, nearly snapping the poor Irishman in half.

“That’s a man on a mission there.” One of the producers said.

Chrysanthemum could only giggle and grin to herself, knowing she was the reason why.

@lavitabella87​ @oncetwiceandoveragain​ @msbigredmachine​ @stellarollins​

@saccreigns​ @fatedxdestiny​ @thewrestlingobsessor​ @bigpsychicbagelauthor @jasmine03322​

[junker-town]

WrestleMania 33: The full rundown and why you should care

WWE’s biggest show is happening Sunday, and we’re here to tell you all you need to know.

WrestleMania 33 has 13 matches, so let’s skip the preamble and get right to it. The main card of Mania 33 begins at 7 p.m. ET on the WWE Network and pay-per-view, while the kickoff show will start at 5 p.m. ET. We are in for a long night, but it could be a wonderful night, too!

Kickoff — The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

What am I looking at here? Each year for the last four years, in memory of Andre the Giant, WWE hosts a battle royal at WrestleMania, and hands out a trophy to the winner. It’s like the Stanley Cup, if the Stanley Cup was a statue of Andre the Giant instead of a cup. There are a number of key wrestlers each year with a real chance of winning what we affectionately call The ‘Dre, but much of the 20 some-odd wrestlers in the match are ones who aren’t involved with anything else on the card. And that’s pretty cool for those performers, because Mania paychecks come but once a year.

Why you should care: Braun Strowman is in it! Braun Strowman prepared for The ‘Dre by lifting trees. Wrestlers weigh less than trees, so, uh, sorry, all you wrestlers who Braun Strowman is going to lift and throw over the ropes with ease. Sami Zayn is also in it, and Sami Zayn is the ultimate underdog you can’t help but root for. He’s a possibility to win, too, but the smart money is on someone screwing Zayn out of winning, which sadly is Sami’s lot in life. But that’s why we love him, for the times he overcomes.

Kickoff — WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries

What am I looking at here? Austin Aries is the one wearing the jacket that no credible good guy would wear. Of course, Austin Aries is only a good guy relative to his opponent, Neville, the Cruiserweight Champion and self-proclaimed King of the Cruiserweights, who may or may not sit on a throne made out the bones of his opponents.

What, you can’t prove he doesn’t.

WWE.com

Why you should care: It might be on the pre-show, but like with the Andre, it’s because something has to be. These two should be able to tear things up, and Aries is the first real challenge that Neville has had as champion. Neville is built like the dad from The Incredibles once he’s super buff again, but if he was also like 5-foot-7. When you’re all shaped like that and also you’re in a division where the max weight is 205 pounds, well, you’re probably going to outclass everyone. Aries, though, has the in-ring smarts of a heel and a submission move that might ground the man that gravity forgot.

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Mickie James vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch vs. Carmella

What am I looking at here? Alexa Bliss became the first two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion after Naomi was forced to relinquish the belt following a knee injury suffered in the match in which she took the title from Bliss. Alexa decided to go to the ring and brag about how much better she was than everyone else in the division, and since she annoys her boss, Daniel Bryan, on the reg, Bryan decided that Bliss’ opponent at WrestleMania 33 would be every available woman in the division.

Why you should care: For one, Alexa Bliss is dope as hell. But even better will be if she loses the title to Naomi again, who had the championship for less than 48 hours before having to give it up after waiting years and years to finally win gold in WWE. They aren’t the only two quality performers you should have feelings about in this match, though: Mickie James is looking to tie Trish Stratus for the most Women’s titles in WWE history, Becky Lynch has been screwed out of winning the title back from Alexa on multiple occasions, and Natalya and Carmella could both do a lot with the title given their current jerk characters should they manage to come out on top.

RAW Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (c) vs. Enzo and Big Cass vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

What am I looking at here? RAW doesn’t really use more than a handful of tag teams at a time — that’s why New Day went from setting the record for longest championship reign to making fun of Titus O’Neill to hosting WrestleMania 33 — but they have had these three teams floating around each other for some time now.

Enzo and Big Cass are the tiny one and the big one who will do a whole lot of talking in heavy New York accents. Anderson and Gallows are the less tiny one and the also big one who are both bald with beards, and are very much the bad guys here. Cesaro is a Swiss James Bond that does things only Street Fighter characters are capable of, and Sheamus is the one who looks like a World of Warcraft character who does all their level grinding in bar fights.

Why you should care: Well, ladder matches are generally great. Tag team ladder matches tend to be pretty bonkers. So, even though the build to this hasn’t been the best, the match can make up for it, especially if Cesaro decides to launch little Enzo into space. Sorry, Enzo, nothing personal, but you’re very tiny and Cesaro is very strong and I want to see what happens when you put those two facts together.

Also, the Hardys Boys might return to WWE for this match. It’s not a given, but they aren’t under contract with Impact anymore, and there have been whispers and open flirtation between the two sides, and they are also the only one of these four teams known for ladder matches.

Even without the Hardys showing up, though, all the things that could make this match a good time still stand.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Baron Corbin

What am I looking at here? Dean Ambrose is wrestling in jeans, and he’s been in an escalating feud with Baron Corbin that involves forklifts. There are unlikely to be forklifts in the match itself, not unless it suddenly gets some kind of hardcore stipulation, but it’s okay either way: Baron Corbin is literally the most metal athlete -- he won an award for it and everything — and is also a wolf aficionado and possibly the son of Undertaker.

That last part is not true, but only in the sense they haven’t revealed my truth to the rest of the world yet.

Why you should care: Dean Ambrose is almost always a good time against bigger dudes, and Baron Corbin is 6-foot-8, a former Gold Gloves champion, former Grappling champion, a former college and pro football player, and the winner of last Mania’s Andre Memorial Battle Royal — which he won in his main roster debut! He has a real chance of being WWE World Champion before next year’s Mania, and an Intercontinental Championship run would put him on the path to that.

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

What am I looking at here? It all started with Nikki Bella being thrown into Maryse backstage by Natalya — twice! — and then Maryse responding by attacking Nikki with a pipe. Maryse has a grudge against Nikki, and Maryse’s husband, Miz, has always had a rocky relationship with John Cena. So, when Cena eliminated Miz from multiple WWE World Championship opportunities over the span of a few weeks, Miz decided he was tired of Cena getting in his way, evolving two old feuds into new ones with all kinds of new angles to work. For example:

There are four of those videos. I suggest you watch all of them, because they get dark.

Why you should care: This match is marrying SmackDown Live, Total Divas, and Total Bellas plotlines into one glorious mixed tag match, and it should be awesome. Also, Miz and Maryse have been ripping on Cena and Nikki hard for their relationship being fake and the fact they’re not — and never will be — married. Cena and Nikki have had discussions for years now on Total Divas about this, and Nikki seemed resigned to a life without the marriage she wants with the man she has.

This could all change at WrestleMania 33! Win or lose, we might see John Cena propose to Nikki Bella. Have they already agreed to be engaged off-camera? Is John Cena still debating whether he should try marriage again? Will Nikki take Fake Nikki’s tactic and propose to John in front of millions, forcing him to finally confront the situation he’s refused to attack head-on for years?!

I AM VERY INVESTED IN THIS PERFECT WRESTLING FEUD AND ALSO THEIR LOVE.

United States Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kevin Owens

What am I looking at here? Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho were best friends. Then, Kevin Owens turned on Jericho for two reasons: one, his boss, Triple H, told him to, and two, Jericho threw Owens the “Festival of Friendship” and got Owens a ton of weird (but awesome) art and then brought out Gillberg instead of coming up with a plan to defeat Goldberg and Owens snapped, both metaphorically and also in the sense that he brought art crashing and breaking down over Jericho’s head.

You should read this if you want the full breakdown of the Festival of Friendship, which was one of the great RAW segments — not just of the year, but in general. Sorry, I can’t do it justice in a blurb!

Why should you care: Didn’t I already suggest you read that breakdown? Ugh, fine. Jericho is doing some of the greatest work of his career. Kevin Owens is one of WWE’s modern-day greats. They’re in a blood feud, and it’s going to be ugly. Which means it’s going to be beautiful.

RAW Women’s Championship Four-Way Elimination Match: Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

What am I looking at here? Bayley is the current RAW Women’s Champion. Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks are the only other two — not just in this match, but ever -- to win that title, which was introduced at WrestleMania 32 last year. The three of them have been going at it for much of that time, with Bayley sort of replacing Becky Lynch as the third piece in what is going to be a career-spanning feud for all of them.

Nia Jax is unlike anyone other women in WWE — her theme even says so! She’s a powerhouse who has learned that she is capable of wreaking havoc on everyone who is not her. As this is an elimination match, the other three might need to work together to stop her, or else Nia Jax is going to be the next RAW Women’s Champ.

WWE.com

Why you should care: These four are the future and present of RAW’s women’s division, and while they also seem to be the only women featured on the show with any kind of regularity, their story has still been (mostly) well told. Will Sasha Banks turn on Bayley when the title is at stake? Will Charlotte work together with her old two friends who she turned on long, long ago in order to stop Nia Jax? Will Nia just lift all three of her opponents up in one Samoa Drop and then pin all three after leg dropping them at the same time?

That would be pretty great, actually, let’s do that.

Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles

What am I looking at here? AJ Styles is the greatest wrestler in the world. Shane McMahon is not. That doesn’t mean Shane lacks the ability to sports entertain, because he excels at putting his body in serious and unnecessary risk in order to make us react. The combination of the two might seem a little odd — fans were dying for Styles to wrestle John Cena again, or for Shinsuke Nakamura to come up to face him, and WWE even approached Shawn Michaels to come out of retirement to face Styles. Don’t let that all distract you from the fact that Styles is the one guy capable of making a Shane match memorable for more than just whatever ridiculous, bad idea Shane has that involves jumping off of something tall.

Why you should care: SmackDown has done a great job of making Styles the bad guy here in spite of his popularity. Shane McMahon actually supported Styles’ quest to wrestle for the WWE World Championship at WrestleMania, but Styles decided to take out his frustration on SmackDown’s boss anyway, by beating the heck out of him in a parking lot and then shoving Shane’s head through a car window.

It’s possible that this feud and match ends up pushing Styles from SmackDown to RAW, which could have some real repercussions for both rosters, given how key Styles is to the main event scene on Tuesdays.

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

What am I looking at here? You know who the Undertaker is. He’s just older than you might remember, and maybe starting to show it. In fact, this could very well be Taker’s last-ever match in WWE, with Roman Reigns the one to finally vanquish him. Reigns is super handsome and the one getting booed the entire time regardless of whether he’s being great or not. Spoiler: he is probably being great, but the decision to boo him was made a long time ago.

Why you should care: Reigns is real good, and only getting better as he embraces the fact that the crowd is just going to hate on him regardless of what he does or says. It feels like WWE is pushing him into situations now where he gets to lean far more heel than face: he’s not a heel, not really, but maybe this is the start of WWE giving him a more defined role. Taking out the Undertaker, one of the most popular wrestlers ever, would certainly increase the boos.

And if this is indeed the last Undertaker match, well, you’re going to see something special whether the match is great or not.

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H (non-sanctioned match)

What am I looking at here? Seth Rollins used to be Triple H’s handpicked champion and representative of the Authority, but then Aitch decided Kevin Owens was a better fit for the role, which means he cast Rollins aside. Rollins, while standing up to Triple H earlier this year, was attacked by another bit of Authority muscle, Samoa Joe, who wrecked Rollins’ knee (for real). Rollins is now recovering from a significant knee injury, and in a non-sanctioned match because of it — so that he can’t sue WWE when Triple H tries to destroy his livelihood forever.

Why you should care: Allow me to borrow (from myself) from an earlier discussion of this match:

Defeating Triple H is no longer about Rollins exacting revenge for the betrayal that was always inevitable once Aitch found a shiny new toy he could manipulate. It’s about Seth coming to terms with his past, and making sure he’s the one in charge of his future. Rollins doesn’t even necessarily need to win at WrestleMania 33 in order to achieve these goals: what matters is that he trusts himself once again, likes himself once again, and is willing to fight for redemption and what he believes in. Even if Triple H wins this Sunday, what Rollins has managed (and will manage) to accomplish in that non-sanctioned fight could be the final step toward true reconciliation with the brothers he turned on. And when that happens, we’ll all remember the RAW where Seth let us know he had once again found himself.

WWE Universal Championship Match: Goldberg (c) vs. Brock Lesnar

What am I looking at here? Goldberg has had a successful return to WWE, but you can also count the seconds he’s wrestled for them since coming back in November without using four digits. Brock Lesnar has been made to look like an absolute nerd every time he gets in a ring with Goldberg, which is not a thing that happens to Brock Lesnar ever. This is the last chance for Lesnar to turn things around and show that Goldberg doesn’t absolutely own him.

Why you should care: The match probably won’t be special now that they’ve used up all the surprise factor just to get to this point — it was assumed this would be a one-and-done back when they squared off at Survivor Series, and I don’t just mean fans were thinking that was the case. However, the probable moment when Brock Lesnar avoids that spear that’s been his doom each time they’ve faced off, and then wraps his arms around Goldberg for the first of many German Suplexes... that moment and the realization that dawns on Goldberg’s face is going to be real good.

WWE World Championship Match: Bray Wyatt (c) vs. Randy Orton

What am I looking at here: Earlier this week, I wrote a feature specifically about what you are looking at here, because that’s what was required to explain this glorious wrestling feud.

The short version, if you’re pressed for time, looks something like this:

Why you should care: This has been a wonderful long-term feud for SmackDown that began well before Bray Wyatt won the WWE World Championship or Randy Orton had won the Royal Rumble. It’s totally ridiculous and occasionally nonsensical, but in both instances, in the way that makes pro wrestling a beautiful, distinct art form.

And yes, I am saying that about a feud involving swamp hillbilly cults and arson committed for the express purpose of desecrating the resting place of Bray’s demon girlfriend. Hey, I said wrestling was distinct.

[placetobenation]

So far I have been talking about more recent discoveries of mine, but today I am going back to one of my very first and most long standing wrestling loves.

I have been enamoured with Michelle McCool since I first saw her all the way back on the 2004 Diva Search. Was it the Southern accent? The dominant Diva Dodgeball performance? Who knows. But I fell instantly, so it’s clear that there was never really any hope for me.

Lucky for me she turned into a bomb ass wrestler.

The strangest thing about this is that more people don’t seem to think that is the case. The Internet Wrestling Community, to invoke such a thing, was decidedly not enamoured with her at the time, which is weird because she was basically one of us. She was pretty much a lowkey indy workrate geek in WWE, years before being an indy workrate geek in WWE was cool.

I mean, if you like workrate for workrate’s sake (and people do claim to when they praise Cesaro or whoever to high heaven), then Michelle is your dude. She wasn’t much of a promo, she kind of came off like a beautiful blonde robot a lot of the time, but damn, that was a beautiful blonde robot that could wrestle. From when she started wrestling regularly in 2008 until she retired in 2011 I’d say she accumulated more good matches than any of the other women at the time. She was a machine.

In more ways than one. My absolute favourite thing about Michelle McCool is that she wrestles like The Terminator.

Michelle, on offense, is relentless. REE. LENT. LESS. As soon as the bell rang she would just swarm. She was always attacking, always moving forward, always smothering you with her offense. It was overwhelming. It’s a random connection to make, but it’s something that drew me to Stan Hansen when I first started watching his matches (and I think Stan Hansen is the second greatest wrestler I’ve ever seen) and it’s something I’m just realizing now that I see in Michelle as well. They both come at you like the God Dang Terminator.

A lot of the time Divas matches get tagged with being too choreographed. You can see the strings, see a certain level of co operation between them. Let me tell you, once she turned heel, Michelle McCool never looked like she was cooperating with anyone in the ring. Almost to the point where she looks UN-cooperative. There are times where the babyface she’s wrestling will try to get some space or hit a move and Michelle will just swat them away and keep beating them down, as if to say “No no, you gotta do better than that.” And it forces them to really wrestle control back from her, in the purest sense of the word. She makes a babyface EARN every single piece of offense they get. Again, just like Hansen did.

They are also tied for the best, most vicious knee drops of any wrestlers I’ve ever seen, so yes Michelle McCool is the female Stan Hansen. I WILL die on this hill, do not at me. (Actually please do at me, hit me up, I love feedback.)

A lot of Michelle’s offense was pretty tight actually. She’d take people’s heads off with that Big Boot of hers. Or knee people’s heads into oblivion up against the barricade wall. She bent Melina into all sorts of shapes. She straight up murdered Eve Torres on some random Smackdown. And she once gave Mickie James a Knee Trembler that was so sick it made Mickie’s head spin around like she was in the fucking Exorcist.

The thing that cracks me up about Michelle’s Hansenesqe style is that (just like Stan!) she’d use it no matter who she was wrestling. She’d boss around girls like Kelly Kelly or Eve Torres, sure. Maria Kanellis is whom Michelle had turned heel on in the first place in a never ending Triple H-style beatdown (somewhere, right now, today, Triple H is still beating up Ric Flair on Raw and Michelle is still beating up Maria on Smackdown), and for the next six months or so Maria was Michelle’s personal bitch, just getting pummeled by her every time. But Michelle would also work the same way with bigger and more experienced opponents too like Natalya or Beth Phoenix. She was the Terminator and anyone was fair game. Just try to stop her.

(With one exception, which is so absurd that I have to mention the fact that Tiffany, of all the people on earth, always had the jump on Michelle and would dominate her in a way that nobody else was able to. This is so absurd I brought it up to Taryn Terrell when I met her in New Orleans and she couldn’t even disagree. I have no explanation as to why this should be, but believe me, it be.)

Anyway, this relentless style of offense lead her so beautifully in the direction of a little lady known as Melina. As I went into last week, Melina was the scariest person in the universe, and this held true even as a babyface in 2009 when she got traded to Smackdown. The first time they face off Michelle goes into her usual Beast Mode and starts beating the shit out of her – but Melina turns around and BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF HER RIGHT BACK. And Michelle freaks out and retreats, and that simple moment was SO HUGE to me because of how dominant she had been up until that point. If Michelle the God Dang Terminator is taking bumps in fear when Melina LOOKS at her funny, this shit is well and truly the fuck on.

When you talk about Michelle and Melina, you have to talk about the match they had at Night of Champions 2009. This match was too good. Literally, “too good”. That’s what Michelle and Melina were told by agents when they got to the back afterwards, that they can’t be wrestling like that because it looked too good, they were hitting each other too hard and they were showing up the boys. (THE DIVAS GOT IN ACTUAL TROUBLE IF THEY DARED TO HAVE GOOD MATCHES OR PUNCH EACH OTHER REALLY HARD. FUCK THIS COMPANY.)

The thing about that particular PPV match is that it’s basically a bomb-throwing indy spotfest style match squeezed into a six minute Divas match. I don’t know how more obvious it could be that Michelle McCool was a student of wrestling, but the evidence is abundant. Dudes, she used AJ Styles’ Styles Clash as a finisher when he was World Champion of TNA, their “competition”. Before that, it was Christopher Daniels’ Angels Wings, which she called the Wings of Love. She even used the heel hook as a finisher as well, and using a move as realistic and visually… small as that shows that she must have been a bit of an MMA geek as well. Michelle even regularly used Daniel Bryan’s signature heel refrain from the indies, telling referees, “I’ve got ’til five!” and popping me every time.

Michelle was never scared to bring in these outside elements and try new things (and remember that TNA and indy wrestling were treated VERY differently by WWE back then). And yet it’s not like you’d ever peg Michelle McCool as an indy wrestling aficionado, because she never worked indies and came in through the Diva Search. She was a Barbie doll, not a “real wrestler” and all that bullshit trash.

Perceptions are funny things, and I think in Michelle’s case perceptions of who she is have hurt her in a way that I don’t think is justified when you actually examine her work. She was a fucking wrestler. (And like, truly, if she really did supposedly have so much booking power because she was dating the Undertaker, you’d think she’d be able to book herself in a match that went longer than 90 seconds every once in a while. But I digress.)

I’ve been speaking mainly of her singles run as a heel, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that on one beautiful day in the lives of Michelle, Layla and myself, they put Michelle and Layla together as a tag team. And then kept them there. Be still my beating heart.

I really think Michelle McCool needed Layla. Here she was, the wrestling robot, having good matches but not doing a lot outside of the ring. Enter Layla, the wrestling goofball, and suddenly the magic starts happening. Layla brought all her stooging and bumping and goofiness to the act, and not only that but she brought those things out of Michelle as well. As the God Dang Terminator she rarely looked vulnerable or showed too much ass, but as part of Laycool she was bumping and stooging around with the best of them. She also developed this great expression of pure fear, where she would look up under the ropes into the ring at Beth Phoenix or whoever in abject terror, knowing her goose was cooked, which was a level of vulnerability she was never able to show before.

Laycool Michelle was a more well rounded Michelle, I feel. But at the same time, when they needed to get their heat back there was Michelle to turn around and Big Boot someone’s effing head off, and suddenly they were on top again. She was such a beast that she gave them instant credibility, no matter how preposterous they were or how much they sold.

Even her promos and skits got way better once she started doing all the ridiculous, over the top Laycool bullshit. Her and Layla almost immediately fell into their annoying Mean Girl patter, finishing each other’s sentences and overlapping and generally being awful, awful people. You can see it being emulated today when the IIconics cut promos, and it works because it’s such a wholly unlikeable, unpleasant way to act. Laycool are the furthest thing from nWo-style cool heels, and I love them for that.

So my point is, in every aspect Michelle was improved and enhanced as a result of hooking up with Layla (and vice versa), and Laycool was a great, great tag team act. For anyone participating in the Place To Be Nation Greatest WWE Tag Teams Ever project (which should be all of you, get involved!) I hope you take a good, hard look at Laycool.

I will certainly be taking a good, hard look at Laycool in a future piece because I have a LOT more to say about their run as a tag team and their eventual break up. Believe me. But I’m going to leave Michelle here for the minute. I feel like there’s so much more I could say about this woman, I have loved her for so long, she was such a beast of a wrestler and she just had a ridiculous amount of good matches. A true workrate candidate. My girl.

Now I held the next episode back a week, for reasons, but it means I’ll be going from someone I fell in love with in 2004, to someone I fell in love with a couple of months ago. And how!

Check it out: Michelle & Alicia Fox vs Melina & Gail Kim (Smackdown, June 26th 2009) Melina vs Michelle McCool – Women’s Title (The Bash 2009) Michelle & Layla vs Melina & Eve (Smackdown, July 10th 2009) Michelle McCool vs Melina – Women’s Title (Night of Champions 2009) Michelle McCool vs Eve Torres (Smackdown, October 9th 2009) Michelle McCool vs Tiffany (Smackdown, March 12th 2010) Michelle McCool vs Mickie James (Smackdown, April 16th 2010) Michelle McCool vs Beth Phoenix – Women’s Title Extreme Makeover (Extreme Rules 2010) Laycool vs Kelly Kelly & Tiffany (Superstars, July 8th 2010) Laycool vs Beth Phoenix & Kelly Kelly (Superstars, December 23rd 2010)