#wrestling x nfl

[pacificxcoast]

My made up Company that is owner of pro wrestling and some sports teams

[waynes-multiverse]

Plastic Hearts – Part 22

Pairing: Director!Dean Winchester x Actress!Reader

Series Summary: Los Angeles, 1985. Y/N’s a young actress without any success, hopping from one failed audition to the next until one desperate mistake brings her to her breaking point. Dean Winchester, on the other hand, is a grade A asshole and washed-up director at the end of his career, known for his godawful slasher movies in the 70s and his love for blow, booze, and women. Lost in the toxic Hollywood life, their paths cross when one hopeless little wrestling show changes their trajectory.

Chapter Warnings: +18, language, injuries, hospitals, jealousy, drug use, angst, smoking everywhere 'cause it's the 80s, girl fights, a whole lot of FLUFF

Word Count: 6.9k

A/N: Thank you guys so much for all your comments last week! So happy to bring these two idiots back to your screens of choice and give them an ending they deserve! Now, buckle up! We have some bitchy moments in this one 👀😇

<< 21 || Spotify Playlist || Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist

22. Girls, Girls, Girls

The gym smells of blood, sweat, and tears tonight. More so than ever before. The tensions run high.

It’s the first live taping since the show’s official cancellation. The first three matches have already run their course, the rest of the women joining Dean in his office, using the platform as the perfect viewing room. It’s like an NFL suite at Super Bowl. Everyone’s drinking, celebrating, and has gathered here to watch the biggest match of the night:

Red Sparrow vs. Liberty Bell

Usually, the green-eyed director would be bothered by the constant chatting, shrieking, and yapping. But tonight, he could care less as he passed the director’s crown on to his spawn, leaving Claire to man the booth and direct the show on her own, putting her AV skills to the test.

After all, the show’s already canceled. What’s the worst that could happen? Might as well let a rebellious teenager call the shots. Who gives a shit! Isn’t it awesome to be this carefree?

“Can you guys keep it down?” Claire hisses with an annoyed roll of her eyes, her shoulders tense with stress as she tries to concentrate on the monitors. “I’m trying to direct a show here! I can’t fucking hear anything!”

Amused, Dean chuckles. Now, his daughter finally knows what it’s like to be in his shoes. He’s tried telling everyone for ages that these women are fucking annoying and that being a director ain’t easy.

While the women are busy talking up a storm and pay attention to the match, Dean sneaks to his desk and opens the first drawer. He pulls out his pack of cigarettes, but it’s not a smoke he’s in the mood for. To his surprise and shock, however, the little bag of white powder he hides in there is gone.

Did he put it somewhere else?

Frantically, he starts opening every drawer, moving stuff in and out of them. He rummages through his folders on his desk, sees if he placed it there somewhere, but it’s nowhere to be found. His green eyes then dart to his kid and an eerie feeling settles in his stomach. Surely, Claire didn’t take it, right?

Like father, like daughter, it echoes through his mind.

He always loved the fact that his kid was so much like him – the love for good movies, the humor, the sass, the sheer unabashed talent. But not in that regard. God, does he hope she didn’t inherit his drug addiction, too.

“Claire?” Dean knows he has to be careful in his questioning, not wanting to alert the other women in the room to the pressing issue. But his daughter skillfully ignores him, too focused on her current task. “CLAIRE?!” he barks loud enough to rattle the entire office.

Yeah, okay, that wasn’t as smooth and inconspicuous as he had hoped, but he’s fucking panicking on the inside, alright? He has entered worried dad mode.

Don’t act so fucking surprised, okay? He has evolved like man is supposed to do.

In all honesty, Dean wanted to get completely clean two weeks ago. As soon as Y/N waltzed into his office and slept with him, he swore he’d never touch the toxic and nasty stuff again. He was done, and this time, it’d be final. No going backsies. But he had one teeny-tiny baggy left, and well, he hates to be wasteful. So, his plan was to slowly stop and keep the withdrawals at a minimum. And it worked great so far. It hasn’t snowed in four fucking days.

“What?!” his kid grunts back, audaciously annoyed.

“Did you snoop through my drawers and take my smokes out?” Dean asks her in his best dad voice. He’s gotten quite good at it since he practiced it over the last few weeks.

Do your homework!

Eat your vegetables!

Tell that fucking boyfriend of yours to stop sneaking in through the window, or I’ll get my gun!

“No, I don’t smoke!” Claire huffs without missing a beat and doesn’t take her eyes off the monitors even once.

Dean believes her. Usually, when she lies, there are a few seconds of thinking that pass by before she comes up with a reasonable excuse. Not that he buys any of them, but whatever. This time, though, she answered right away, and he knows she has no idea what he’s even talking about.

So, did he misplace it? You’d think he’d be more careful with drug storage, but sometimes it’s a glass of whiskey too many, and stuff gets lost. Did he leave it in the car? Is it at home?

But then it dawns on him. Joanna.

The blonde storms into his office, forcing the director to look up. Her mascara is smeared across her cheeks, her hair disheveled and overall she seems upset and out of breath.

“I need my own goddamn dressing room,” Barbie demands. “I can’t get ready and in the right head space with all of these women down there. I’m the star of the show. Some of us need peace and quiet to wash the shit of the world from us before they have to fucking perform!”

“Whoa, whoa, easy, alright? Sit down,” Dean tells her calmly and gestures to the seat in front of him, where the blonde immediately plops down with an exhausted huff. “You can get ready in my office tonight, okay? You want a drink? You look like you need one.”

Jo nods with a sniffle and accepts the flask he’s offering her, almost downing the whole thing.

“What’s going on? You good?” Dean checks. Usually, he wouldn’t care about the blonde’s feelings, but since she’s up against Y/N tonight, he wants to assure himself nothing goes wrong.

“Yeah, it’s just… Sam.” She scoffs and takes another swig. “He’s got a new girlfriend. His secretary, Jessica.” The blonde rolls her eyes at the name. “Who knows how long he’s been fucking her. Our divorce isn’t even final.”

Dean nods understandingly as he rises from his chair and pats the blonde’s shoulder. “I know. Divorce is shitty. You’ll get through this. Trust me.”

“Shit…” Dean mumbles.

He left an emotionally vulnerable woman alone in his office with a bunch of booze and drugs. How could he be this stupid and reckless? He doesn’t even suspect Jo took the coke on purpose. She was probably looking for a smoke and stumbled upon it, thinking, “What the hell? My day is already shit, maybe this makes it better.”

Dean knows because it’s usually what he thinks as well when he’s at his lowest. How do you think he got addicted to drugs in the first place, huh?

Here’s how: two divorces and a failing career.

“Boss?”

“Dean?!”

“Dad!”

The green-eyed director snaps out of his thoughts and turns to the room full of women upon their calling, all of them looking quite panicked and worried. It’s like a fox got loose in the coop.

His brow furrows as he approaches the booth and big windows, trying to see where the concern is coming from. “What? What’s going on?”

“I think there’s something wrong, boss,” Donna informs him. “That’s not the fight they’ve practiced during training. They’re going off script.”

Fucking shit…

“Dean, what the hell is going on?” Billie cocks an eyebrow at the director, but he can’t get himself to focus or reply as his green eyes are glued to the match downstairs.

Dean’s too cynical to believe in a God and has certainly never prayed before, but tonight he can’t help it and utter a quiet prayer, hoping for a goddamn miracle.

His heart is racing as he watches the match unfold. There’s nothing he can do about it. Nothing can stop it. It’s like watching a fucking car crash as a bystander on the sidewalk.

Looking at Y/N’s face, he can see that she’s panicking as well and getting scared. It breaks his goddamn heart. The actress tries to talk to the blonde and get through to her but to no avail. Killer Barbie is on a mission, and her target is clearly Y/N.

And then, it all happens fast. Jo throws Y/N onto the mat and grabs her leg, raising it up by the ankle. There are tears in Y/N’s eyes before an audible crack echoes through the gym. Y/N screams out in pain. Jo drops her foot and backs away in shock, hands high in the air. The entire gym becomes mum, only a few quiet gasps uttered by the audience bounce off the tall walls.

Dean’s heart is about to explode as he bolts down the stairs and almost takes a fall. He hasn’t even reached the ring yet and assessed the damage, but he already blames himself. This is all his fucking fault. Donna warned him, and he didn’t listen. Y/N was obviously not fine, and neither was Jo. How many goddamn warning signs did he choose to ignore? And for what? For fucking ratings no one even cares about?

Y/N’s agonizing scream rings in his ears as the director makes his way to her. Rufus is already there in his referee costume, trying to help her as best as he can. Dean’s so close he can practically count the steps to the ring. Has this gym always been this huge? It feels like he’s been running a mile.

But then, he’s abruptly stopped by Cas’ announcer voice and what his green eyes find unfolding in front of him.

“And here comes a camera guy to save our Russian warrior!”

Oh hell, no!

Dean should probably be glad that someone is helping her and not let his jealousy win. But does that someone really have to be fucking Benny of all people? The green-eyed director truly thought he was done worrying about that guy. Now, however, he has to watch that douchebag heroically carry Y/N out of the ring while the audience cheers and claps.

It’s his worst goddamn nightmare. Well, that and Y/N getting hurt in the first place.

“Put her down,” Dean demands fiercely as he faces Benny, his blood boiling as he watches the actress hold on to the guy’s neck and wince in pain. A bit of guilt mixes with his jealousy at that.

Don’t be an asshole. Focus, he reminds himself. Y/N’s more important than your fucking ego.

“What? No,” Benny denies his request with a confused and irritated frown.

“That’s an order,” Dean grits boldly.

“I don’t care. She’s hurt,” Benny snaps back with emphasis and acts like Dean doesn’t know what that means. “Fucking fire me if you have a problem with that. The show’s done anyways.”

That fucking little prick…

Dean purses his lips in frustration. What is he supposed to do now? Rip her from the guy’s arms? Start a fist fight?

“I can take her. I’ll drive her to a hospital,” the director insists with a little more reasoning.

“Let’s take my limo! There’s enough space for her,” Ruby chimes in as the whole pack of women flock to the rescue and worryingly gather around Y/N.

Great. More helping hands is what Dean needs right now.

“No, we’re taking my car,” Dean maintains, trying to remain calm amongst the concerned chatter. “Baby’s backseat got plenty of space, alright?”

“True,” Bela agrees with a dirty smirk.

Dean sighs, Billie rolls her eyes, and Y/N frowns at that. Dear God, these fucking women…

“How about we ask Y/N what she wants, huh?” Dean proposes, knowing the actress will surely pick him. God knows she’s picked him yesterday all night long…

Benny smiles as if he could win this battle. “Fine.”

“Y/N, sweetheart, what d’you want? Who do you wanna go with, huh?” Dean asks, lowering himself down to her with a gentle look in his eyes and a warm, caring smile.

“I don’t care!” Y/N whines with pained features and a high level of annoyance. “I just wanna go to a hospital! Any hospital in any car.”

Fair enough, Dean thinks dejectedly. Still, she could’ve done him a favor and picked him. He hates losing to a fucking camera operator.

“My limo it is!” Ruby exclaims and bolts ahead to the parking lot, keys jiggling in the air.

With a triumphant smirk, Benny turns and follows Valley girl outside, Dean swallowing down the urge to punch the guy as Y/N throws him an apologetic look over camera guy’s shoulder.

These fucking women…

Dean has floored the gas pedal of the Impala, but it’s fucking LA, so an hour was spent standing in traffic on the freeway. Moreover, he had to gather Claire and Cas as well and check on Jo, while Benny and the girls were already at the hospital with Y/N.

When Dean finally arrives, he rushes through the glass doors into the waiting area of the emergency room, Cas and Claire on his heels. His group is easy to spot, considering they’re all still in their fucking wrestling costumes.

His hands ball into fists when he sees Benny holding an ice pack to her injured ankle as she sits in a wheelchair, the girls scattered around Y/N on creaky hospital seats as they keep her company. He hates that camera guy is taking care of his girl. It should be him by her side, not some fucking footnote in this story.

“Hey, what the fuck is going on? Why is she still waiting?” Dean asks furiously, charging in full-throttle. His heart is burning for Y/N, and nothing can extinguish it.

Hell, if she isn’t getting help soon, he’ll burn this goddamn hospital down.

“Because she’s not a gunshot wound?” Ruby answers wryly, earning her glare.

But Dean supposes party girl has a point. It’s an LA hospital in a bad neighborhood.

“Want me to lick your wound? Saliva helps with blood clotting,” Meg offers as she holds Y/N’s hand tightly.

“She’s not even bleeding,” Cassie counters with a raised brow.

“She might be bleeding internally,” Meg argues and places her palm on Y/N’s forehead, taking her temperature.

“Stop it! You’re freaking her out,” Charlie scolds from the seat behind her.

“Why is this taking so long? My friend is in pain! Do you hear me?” Meg whines, calling to the nurses’ station.

Why are girls so exhausting? That question has been running around Dean’s mind for months now. He’s still lacking an answer.

Ignoring the female turmoil around him, Dean lowers himself down in front of Y/N and finds her eyes, smiling gently. “Hey, sweetheart. How are you doing, huh?”

“Dean!” Y/N smiles broadly when she recognizes him, her face lighting up and beaming brighter than the fluorescent lights above her. It warms his heart.

The director’s head then tilts slightly, inspecting her closer. She seems awfully chipper for someone in pain. Her pupils are gigantic, too.

Ruby leans in and whispers, “I gave her a Valium… and then half a Klonopin.”

Ah. There it is. She’s fucking high. That explains it.

Dean reaches out his hand and caresses her pink cheek, feeling her lean into his touch. “You feeling good, sweetheart?”

“I’m awesome,” she replies with a drowsy giggle.

He grins. “Yeah, I bet you are…”

Is it weird he’d like to fuck her in this state? Right, probably not a good time to ask those questions. (But he swears he wouldn’t take advantage of her. Just play with her and test her senses a little.)

“You’re so pretty,” Y/N tells him dreamily, making him blush hard as she touches a few strands of his hair and plays with them.

“And the first pill is kicking in,” Ruby notes, amused.

A nurse then finally walks into the waiting room with a tired gleam in her eyes and clears her throat to catch everyone’s attention. Dean can’t blame her. He knows it’s like a fucking circus in here.

“Good news. We have a bed ready, so I’ll take her back and all of you can leave?” the nurse explains and looks at the wolf pack hopefully.

Meg stares her dead in the eyes and replies flatly, “Not a chance.”

Yeah, Dean could’ve told that nurse those girls weren’t going anywhere.

Benny rises from his position and attempts to push Y/N’s wheelchair, following the nurse. But Dean will be damned if he lets him. Provocatively, he pushes the camera guy aside and scowls at him, making his territory and claim clear. The girls aren’t the only wolves in this waiting room.

“I got her. You can leave,” Dean growls with a deathly stare. “My show, my actress. I’m the director, and she’s my fucking responsibility, got it?”

Benny raises his palms in surrender and takes a step back. He already knew he lost when Y/N only had eyes for Dean as soon as the director showed up. A pill-high never lies.

The nurse helps Y/N into a bed in a small, quiet room. As they wait for a doctor, Dean impatiently paces the room, fuming away on his smoke. If you can’t tell, he’s far away from relaxed.

A man in a white coat with a friendly smile then finally strolls in and introduces himself. “Hello there, Y/N Y/L/N. I’m Dr. Gabriel Piccolo. Are you with the circus?”

Dr. Sexy, as Dean refers to the guy, lifts an eyebrow at Y/N’s unusual costume. You’d think as a doctor at a hospital in Hollywood, he’d see more people like this.

“I’m an actress on a wrestling TV show,” Y/N replies, not offended by his question in the slightest.

“Oh, uhm, I’ll have to watch it,” Dr. Sexy says politely and then gets straight down to business, cocking his head at her injured leg. “Okay, so left ankle. We’re gonna have to cut off this boot.”

“Oh! No, no, no. Sorry, these are important.” Y/N protectively throws herself over her knee-high army boot.

Dean sighs a little. Even high on pills and in unbearable pain, Y/N still prioritizes her silly job. “Alright, Doc. I got it,” the director relents and shoots the man a look.

Carefully, Dean unties her laces, loosening the shoe enough. “I’m gonna go slow, sweetheart. Just take it easy, alright?”

Dean flashes her a smirk and watches as she bites down on her lower lip, nodding. She inhales sharply and whimpers when he slips the boot off her foot. His fingers smooth over her leg, soothe the skin, and elicit a shudder from her. He can tell the action turned her on, can see the goosebumps rise on her arms as she presses her thighs together. He can practically hear her drip.

He smirks devilishly. Y/N sends him a knowing frown.

Dr. Sexy clears his throat and interrupts their heated moment, causing Y/N’s cheeks to flush furiously.

The doctor then assesses her ankle. It’s swollen and the skin a purplish-blue. Dean knows it doesn’t fucking look good. He guesses it’s not a simple sprain.

“Can you feel your toes? Can you wiggle them?” the doc checks. Y/N does as asked and moves her toes as best as she can. It’s not much though before she winces in pain. “How does that feel?”

Dr. Sexy touches the swell on her ankle, and Y/N squeezes her eyes shut and locks her jaw, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Fucking hurts,” she grits through strained teeth.

“Okay, we’re gonna take some X-rays. See what we’ve got,” the doc finally says and disappears out of the room.

Y/N exhales an exhaustive breath and looks at the director. “Distract me,” she prompts with desperate eyes.

“Well, I’m not gonna be my regular chipper self,” Dean quips, making her laugh. He smiles, too, and leans in closer. “How about this?”

He wiggles his eyebrows and then dips his head, claiming her lips in a blistering kiss that makes her legs quiver. His tongue slips inside her mouth, swipes deep as teeth scrape her lower lip. Upon her first moan, he draws back with a smug smile.

He leans close to her ear, whispering against her shell, “You know if curling your toes didn’t hurt, I’d make you come so fast on my fingers right now, baby girl.”

Her eyes widen. She gasps and gently hits his arm in a scolding manner. “Dean!”

“What?” He chuckles and pecks her crown. “It’ll be alright. Don’t worry so much, okay?”

The girls then soon flood the room, one by one providing endless entertainment that surely no other patient at this hospital receives. Y/N’s a fucking star here, although she always is to Dean.

First, there was Claire, who practically emptied the vending machine, buying sweets and snacks for every taste (with Dean’s money). He’s nothing more than a wallet to that girl.

Meg, on the other hand, stole more pillows and blankets from other patients, making sure Y/N was as comfortable as possible. Ruby read Cosmopolitan to her and filled out the magazine’s sex quiz, intriguing Dean a lot.

Every girl pretty much brought their unique sense of entertainment, making Y/N laugh and smile so much she almost forgot why she was here. Only one woman was missing from the wolf pack – Joanna.

As Y/N is finally wheeled away to her X-rays, Dean decides to join the other women in the waiting room. He’s more than happy to discover that Benny actually left when he can’t catch sight of the guy anymore.

Guess the director is the true winner, after all.

Donna then approaches Cas, who’s nervously sucking on a cigarette in the corner by the vending machine, and hands him a clipboard with a hospital form.

“Y/N doesn’t have insurance, and we don’t know what to fill out,” the blonde tells him and meekly saunters back to her seat.

Cas frowns and looks at the women in disbelief. “How could she not have insurance? She’s a professional wrestler.”

Billie arches a sarcastic eyebrow at that and replies wryly, “Yeah, employed by Novak Productions, who doesn’t provide health care.”

Cas swallows guiltily and purses his lips. “How many of you don’t have insurance?”

Almost every woman in the room raises their hand, except for Jo, Billie, and party girl.

That tracks, Dean thinks and is not the least bit surprised. Judging by Cas’ shocked expression, though, this revelation clearly shatters the privileged rich boy’s world.

The producer nods earnestly. “This is my responsibility, and I will take care of it,” he promises. Dean gives him a pat on the back, letting Cas know he’s doing the right thing. If the producer hadn’t footed Y/N’s bill, Dean surely would have.

The director then glances around the waiting area, noticing the sad faces and depressed mood. “Alright, she’s not dying, okay?” he tells them and catches their attention. “You guys did a great show tonight. Why don’t you go back to the motel?”

“Great?” Donna cocks a brow at his word choice. “We were amazing.”

Charlie looks up at him, a hopeful look in her eyes as her red hair shimmers in the fluorescent light. “You think we get our old time slot back, Dean?”

Dean smacks his lips, scratching the scruff on his chin. He then shakes his head. He can’t lie to them. Knowing what he knows, he also knows it’s over. “No, I don’t. I think we’re gonna die at 2am… But we’ll die on our own terms, alright?”

Nodding, Ruby sighs loudly. “I’ll drive everybody home. And then, we get drunk while we ice our knees.”

As the girls start to gather their belongings and rise from their seats, Jo rushes through the glass doors. The women punish her with little glares on their way out. No one buys it was an innocent accident. In fact, Dean’s pretty sure the wolf pack believes the blonde tried to murder their beloved leader.

Dean, however, doesn’t.

“She’s in room 3,” he tells Jo without further comment.

The green-eyed director didn’t know what he had expected when he sent Joanna into Y/N’s room. Maybe that they’d talk like adults, get it all out in the open, and finally make amends. Be best friends again.

But maybe that was a little naive of him.

It all started out innocently. Dr. Sexy entered the room with a set of X-rays and left happily a few minutes later. Meanwhile, Dean and Cas smoked in the hospital’s corridor and drank the most awful-tasting coffee out of plastic cups.

Then, the mood started to shift. The guys could hear the girls arguing with slightly raised voices, just loud enough for it to drown out into the hallway.

“Eight to ten weeks? It’s not that long,” Jo could be heard saying.

“It’s the rest of the season. I won’t be on the show,” Y/N threw in through gritted teeth. Dean could hear the upset in her voice.

Jo scoffed, brushing it off. “Well, we’re getting canceled anyways, so… It’s just a job, you know.”

“No, it’s not!” Y/N’s voice went up a notch in volume. Dean knew she was close to reaching a boiling point. This wasn’t good.

“Okay, geez, you don’t have to lash out at me. I did not mean to break your ankle, okay?” Jo countered, pushing all blame off her.

“I don’t fucking believe you!”

And that was the turning point. That’s when the yelling started. The one that could be heard throughout the hospital, spilling into every room and probably several floors.

“No, no, no…. See, that was an accident, Y/N,” Jo says with a jittery voice. “Unlike the time you accidentally fucked my husband! TWICE!”

“You made out with my prom date on prom night!”

“That is not the same thing, and you know it!”

“Oh? Is it the same thing when you hooked up with your co-star at your stupid soap wrap party one week before you got married? And coincidentally, Sammy was born nine months later! Is he even Sam’s? ‘Cause he looks a whole lot like what‘s-his-face!”

“How dare you!”

“You didn’t even love Sam! You only married him for his money!”

“You don’t have the fucking right to say anything about my marriage!”

Cas swallows down a big gulp of coffee, sharing a nervously concerned look with Dean. “Should we, you know, go in there?”

Dean’s eyes widen as he vividly shakes his head. “Fuck no! Are you nuts? We stay right here. Look, men are simple. They throw a few punches and then share a drink. And women… Well, women do fucking this. Bottle everything up, even for years sometimes, till it fucking explodes. Trust me, they need this. Let ‘em get it outta their system.”

Fucking women…

“Oh, do I have the right to talk about your power complex?” Y/N yells. “Or do I have to schedule a meeting with all the producers?”

“I’ve earned my title!”

“Right, your fucking work ethic is legendary! I’m so sick and tired of apologizing about Sam! I don’t care anymore! I have eaten shit for months! I have done everything I can think of to make this right!”

“You can’t make it right!”

“Great! Then I’ll stop trying!”

“Fine!”

“Yeah, fine like you telling me I should get raped to save our show! The show you don’t give a shit about!”

“God, you’re so melodramatic! I just figured you’re already screwing our director for attention, what’s one more network executive!”

Cas blinks at Dean with wide eyes and a raised brow. “Are you-… Are you and Y/N dating?”

Dean averts his eyes to the blue wall opposite him and wordlessly sips his coffee. He has a feeling the girls’ fight is about to take a turn, going into a direction he doesn’t particularly care for. Why can’t they just leave him out of it?

Cas, however, takes Dean’s silence as what it is – an admission. The producer’s face lights up with joy. He excitedly rubs Dean’s shoulder and gasps giddily. “That’s so great! You haven’t dated anyone since Amara! I’m so happy for you! I love Y/N! Are you guys getting married? Did you buy a ring? Can I be best man? You know what they say, third time’s the charm!”

Dean scowls at the producer and heaves a deep sigh. “Calm the fuck down, would you? No one’s getting married.”

“Go to hell! I’m not fucking Dean, okay?” Y/N denies Jo’s accusation loudly.

Dean thinks she’s a hell of an actress. If he didn’t know for a fact that he was balls-deep inside her last night, he would’ve bought that little lie.

“Oh please! It’s so obvious!” Jo counters. Dean can practically hear the exhaustive eye roll that followed. “He’s following you around the gym like a lovesick puppy!”

That’s what Dean was afraid of. He does not like where this conversation is headed.

“He is not! Shut the fuck up!”

“Are you really trying to fucking lie to me, right now? I’ve known you since middle school!” Jo snaps. “And he certainly fits your glorious dating choices! Drug addiction? Check! Asshole? Check! Commitment issues? Check! He’s perfect for you. I’m surprised your slutty ass didn’t jump him the first day!”

“Oh, fuck you, you fucking bitch!”

“Slut!”

“Whore!”

Then, more yelling, more accusations, and more tears follow before Jo storms out of the room and bolts past the boys down the hallway.

Fucking girls…

“I’ve never felt so guilty about anything,” Cas mumbles next to him, completely distraught and shaken.

Dean scoffs. “Geez, you’ve lived a charmed life.”

“Thought I was gonna have a wrestling show, and no one was gonna get injured?” Cas shakes his head at his own nonsense. “What the fuck is wrong with me? I destroyed our little family! I mean, Y/N is a gimp.”

The director rolls his eyes and sighs. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. She’ll go on to have a full life, okay?”

Somehow that causes Cas to smile cheekily. He nudges the director’s shoulder. “With you?”

Dean sends him a thundering glare and dumps his burning cigarette bud into the producer’s coffee cup as he walks past him and returns to Y/N’s room.

Dean sat quietly next to Y/N as a nurse put a cast on her leg. The ankle, much like the women’s friendship, was broken, and the actress was out of commission for the foreseeable future. She hadn’t spoken a word yet, only sniffling and crying silently to herself. Dean left her alone and only handed her a tissue every now and then, figuring she needed some time to calm down and think. But he still wanted her to know he was there in case she needed him.

As the nurse finally leaves, Dean reaches out his hand and takes hers, drawing comforting circles on the back of it. Patiently, he waits till she’s ready to look at him.

“Well, I won’t be needing these anymore,” Y/N mutters with a pout and dumps her army boots on the little bedside table. “You should give them to Claire. She’d make a great replacement Red Sparrow.”

Dean purses his lips. It takes a lot out of him not to roll his eyes at her dramatization. He supposes that’s what he gets for falling in love with a goddamn actress – fucking theater no less. But he knows she’s really going through it right now, so he’s willing to cut her some slack.

“Relax, I’m not giving your part away,” he assures her with an easy smile.

“Well, you have to, if you want to keep the storyline moving forward,” she mumbles grumpily.

“Who cares? It’s just a TV show,” Dean argues.

However, that particular line seems to anger her. “Everyone keeps saying that. It’s not to me,” she contends and finds his eyes, her teary-eyed and desperate look boring into him. “I have people now. People who come with me to the ER. People who care if I’m hurt.”

Dean nods his head in understanding. He knows Cas and Y/N are essentially right, as much as it hurts him to admit it. They are a little family – a weird and incredibly dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless.

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just the easiest thing to say, you know?” he says and lets out a sigh. He rests his palm on her thigh and squeezes reassuringly. “How’s this? I don’t wanna make this show without you. I’m not gonna make this show without you.”

Y/N sucks in her lips, forming a tight line as she stares at her hands in her lap. “I thought we were all replaceable.”

Dean’s lips twitch with a smile. He lifts her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Well, you’re not, sweetheart.”

He leans closer and kisses her ardently till her toes curl. When she hisses slightly in pain, he pulls back, both of them chuckling.

Then, Dean swallows the heavy lump in his throat. He knows he has to come clean, literally and figuratively. He takes her hand in his again. This time for his own comfort.

“Listen, uhm, tonight was kinda my fault… on some level, at least,” the director starts.

Y/N’s brow creases, but she brushes it off with a disbelieving snort. “Why? Did you tell Jo to break my ankle?”

Dean chuckles lightly, although he doesn’t feel like laughing, considering he’s scared to death she’ll dump him in a few seconds once she hears the truth. “No, uhm, but she might’ve found something in my office that caused a lack of judgment on her part. I-, uhm, I might not have been as clean and drug-free as you believed me to be.”

“Oh. I see…” Y/N bites her lower lip and averts her gaze back to her hands, her fingers fumbling in a nonsensical pattern like a nervous tic. And then, she doesn’t say anything for serval minutes, while Dean slowly feels himself go crazy.

“So, uh, where do we stand? Are we mad? Disappointed? Disgusted? Sad?” Dean pries and pokes for an answer.

“I guess, uhm, disappointed,” she says finally. Dean sighs internally as his heart tightens. He had hoped it wouldn’t be that one. It’s the worst one. “And sad,” she adds.

Strike that. This is the worst one.

“Okay, uhm, good,” he replies before noticing her cocked brow at his answer. “I mean, not good-good, obviously. Just good to know where we are… So, where are we? Is this-, you know, is it over? Between us?”

Y/N glances at him slightly and takes a thoughtful breath. “No,” she says, and his heart rejoices with relief. “I kinda already knew you’re not perfect.”

Dean’s brow furrows momentarily before he smirks cockily. “Agree to disagree.”

Y/N tries to hide a smile at his joke. She’s unsuccessful in her endeavor. She squeezes his hand in reassurance. “It’s not your fault. It was still Jo’s choice,” she tells him. “Are you, you know, still…?”

Dean vehemently shakes his head. “No, no, I’m not. I haven’t for a couple of days, and I won’t anymore. I promise. Especially after tonight. I learned my lesson. I’m done with it. For good.”

“Okay,” she accepts.

Dean frowns a little because her forgiveness feels too easy, but he doesn’t get a chance to prod some more, her soft lips on his shutting him up for now. The kiss is fervent and sweet all the same. It makes his head spin and provides him with a completely different high – a much better one.

“Well, looks like we’re gonna have to get creative with this thing, huh?” Dean grins smugly and gently pats her cast.

Y/N throws him a raised look that borders on amusement. Of course, all he ever thinks about is sex. But she doesn’t mind a little sexy goofiness in her life right now and leans in for another kiss. He is a pretty fantastic kisser, after all.

“I got markers!” Cas hops cheerily into the room with a few pens held high in the air, watching the two of them quickly pull apart with red-tinted cheeks. The producer smiles adoringly at them. “You guys! Look at you! This is so exciting!”

“Oh, uh–”

Dean sees the panic spread on Y/N’s face and quickly swoops in, sending Cas a friendly but threatening look. “Hey, uh, buddy? Keep this between us, alright?”

“You got it! My lips are sealed.” Cas winks and locks his lips with his fingers, but his excitement isn’t even close to disappearing. “And I paid your bill, by the way!”

“Oh, Cas, you didn’t have to do that,” Y/N tells him sweetly and seems clearly flattered by his care.

“Yes, I did, ‘cause you couldn’t possibly afford it,” Cas says bluntly and uncaps a marker, signing his name on her cast. “And I felt so guilty.”

A knock on the door makes the three look up and watch Jo hesitantly amble inside, her head lowered in resignation and guilty admission. She holds up a duffel bag with a nervous smile.

“I thought you might wanna leave the hospital with pants on, so I brought you your favorite sweats from the motel,” she says and hands Y/N the peace offering. Y/N accepts it with a small smile. Jo then glances awkwardly at Dean and Cas. “As you may have heard, Y/N and I got into a big fight,” she explains the general tension in the room.

Dean nods curtly. “Oh, yeah, everybody heard.”

“Yeah, the cashier at the gift shop couldn’t stop talking about it.” Cas chuckles, causing Y/N and Jo to blush in embarrassment.

“So, what’s the plan, Dean?” Y/N looks expectantly up at him like he’s an oracle with all the answers.

Lucky for her, though, he’s cocky enough to provide them.

“You know what? We got four episodes left, right? Fuck it. No one’s watching. No one cares. Y/N can’t even walk. So I say we do whatever the hell we want,” the director suggests and grins broadly. “Let’s just set the weirdos free and see what the fuck happens.”

“I hope you guys have fun,” Y/N mutters with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

“Oh, you’re not getting out of it,” Dean interjects her pouting and self-pity. “You’re like a one-woman idea machine. I need you. Where we’re going, you don’t need legs.”

Jo smiles encouragingly at her and sits down on the edge of the bed as Cas hands her a marker. The two women then chat as if nothing ever happened, while the producer and the director share a confused look over the sudden ceasefire. But they take it as what it is – a gift from above.

Girls…

“Hey, uh, there’s something I need to do,” Dean says then. “Are you guys okay here to keep Y/N some company? I’ll pick you up right after.”

The three of them nod, and Dean feels confident enough to leave Y/N’s side. After all the emotional turmoil and chaos over the last week, the director direly needs an appropriate outlet.

The Impala pulls into the parking lot of H-ELLTV in Anaheim. It’s early in the morning, the sun barely up but still powerful enough that the beams sting his green eyes. Maybe it’s also the lack of sleep that causes it to hurt more.

Drugs aren’t an option. It’s too early to drink, even for him. And sex would’ve been possible, but he doesn’t want to be the ass that asks for it while his not-girlfriend is suffering in the hospital.

So, here he stands, next to Dicksuck Roman’s spot, where a beautiful dark blue Aston Martin V8 is parked.

Ever since Y/N told him what that creep tried to do, Dean’s been raking his brain with different revenge fantasies. Sure, he could cut off the guy’s dick and make him eat it, or cook his balls over a BBQ grill, or chop his head off and dunk it in acidic cleaning supplies. But Dean knows the only way to truly hurt a man is through his car.

The green-eyed director then pops open Baby’s trunk and hauls out a golf club. It was a gift from Cas that came with an invitation to hit the green in Pasadena for “networking purposes.” As if. Cas eventually accepted that Dean would rather kill himself before setting foot in that country club. (He might’ve also threatened to kill everyone else in it, which scared Cas enough to drop it.)

Dean’s heart soars high to the cloudless sky above as he administers the first few blows, shattering the front window and thoroughly denting the scratch-free and glistening hood.

Not anymore, Dean thinks with sinister joy.

He stops mid-swing, though, when Crowley walks by. The two men look at each other for a moment. Will the manager call the cops? Will Cas have to post bail on top of paying hospital bills?

But Crowley only bobs his head in acknowledgment. “He pisses off a lot of people,” he offers as an explanation and strolls ahead into the building, not paying Dean any more mind.

So, Dean continues hitting and swinging and batting until his lungs burn and his arms hurt. Only then does he drive back to the hospital across town to pick up his friends with a lightener heart.

23. Every Breath you Take

*sighs blissfully* Aah, some sweet fluff before all the drama starts... (And yes, I consider this chapter less drama and lots of fluff. That's how far we've come 😂)

Let me know how you've enjoyed this part! Are we rid of Benny for good? Is Y/N going to break Dean's plastic heart? 👀

TAGS:

Jensen: @alwaystiredandconfused @xlynnbbyx @lyarr24 @deans-spinster-witch @blackcherrywhiskey @deansbbyx @foxyjwls007 @ladysparkles78 @roseblue373 @zepskies @agalliasi @yvonneeeee @hobby27 @iamsapphine @globetrotter28 @mxltifxnd0m @lacilou @feyresqueen @suckitands33 @onlyangel-444 @syrma-sensei @perpetualabsurdity

[kelcemenow]

Touchdown - Endzone.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 1590

Warnings This is the bonus chapter of my first series, Touchdown! If you haven't read that yet, find all chapters on my Masterlist here! There's fluff, smut and sexual language.

This was an Anon request and I'm so glad it was sent in! I loved revisiting this story again "I have an idea I would really appreciate it Hahhaha for the finally of touchdown you should do like a 5 years later where the reader and Travis are engage and starting a family"

“You looked so pretty in your dress, Auntie Y/N.” Wyatt pointed her finger at the wedding photograph you were holding in front of her. She shifted on your lap and looked up at you with the big, inquisitive eyes.

You wrapped your free hand around her and gave her a squeeze, “Thank you, babygirl. But you looked prettier!”

She giggled and grabbed the photograph with both hands, studying it with furrowed brows, “Where’s Uncle Travvy?”

You smiled, “This was a photo for just the girls. So there’s me, you, Elliotte, Bennett, your Mom and both of your Grandma’s.” You leaned slightly to reach for the wedding album that was resting on the sofa, holding onto Wyatt ensuring she didn’t fall off of your knee. You flipped the pages and found a photograph of you and Travis. “Here he his.”

Wyatt beamed, “He looks pretty too.”

You laughed loudly, “He does, doesn’t he?”

“Auntie Y/N?” Wyatt asked with a childlike questioning tone, “Do you love Uncle Travvy?”

You gently kissed the top of her head, “I love him so much, sweetie. So so much.”

“As much as pizza?” Her voice heightened at the end, making your heart melt.

You giggled, “Almost! Speaking of, where is Uncle Travvy with the pizza?”

As if on cue, the front door swung open and Travis stepped through holding half a dozen pizza boxes. The boxes were stacked up, balanced on one hand as the other hand struggled with 2 paper bags full of snacks and soda bottles.

“I have returned!” He shouted.

Wyatt jumped up from the sofa, “Uncle Travvy! Guess what? Auntie Y/N loves you!”

You chuckled and Travis raised his eyebrows, “No way! Well, I hope so!”

You walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss, “Hi baby. Do you want some help?”

“Nah, I got it. Safest hands in the NFL baby!” He winked as he wrestled with the boxes and bags, “So, how have my girls been today?”

You had agreed to Jason and Kylie that you would watch Wyatt for the day. Since the wedding, where the girls were bridesmaids, Wyatt was practically obsessed with you, constantly asking when she would be able to stay with you and Travis. Jason had friends who lived in Missouri and whilst he was visiting, he dropped off Wyatt to spend the day with you.

“Oh, we’ve had a great day, haven’t we madam?” You said as you closed your wedding album and placed it gently back on the shelf.

“Yeah! We went in the pool and we did some painting and we had a dance party!” Wyatt squealed.

Travis shot Wyatt and animated face, “Oh my God, that’s awesome! Where was my invite to the dance party?”

Wyatt giggled and reached up, “You were at practice Uncle Travvy!”

Travis leant down to pick up his niece, her tiny arms wrapping around his neck, “Well, we can carry on the dance party now, can’t we?” He suddenly began dancing wildly, spinning Wyatt around and shimmying his shoulders.

The sound of Wyatt’s laughter made your heart soar. You watched Travis with her, your eyes creasing into the biggest smile as he danced around the living room, throwing her into the air and catching her. Your stomach fluttered as he gave her a small kiss on her cheek before placing her gently onto the floor. She immediately ran to you, her face alight.

“Is it pizza party time now, Auntie Y/N?”

You nodded, “It is! Can you go and pick a movie for us to watch while we eat our pizzas?”

Her blonde curls bounced as she ran over to the sofa and began searching through Disney+, the television remote huge in her tiny hands. You looked up at Travis as he walked slowly towards you. You tilted your head to the side and let your eyes dance over his physique.

“What you looking at me like that for girl?” He grinned and spoke with a low voice.

You shook your head and unstacked the pizza boxes, “Nothing at all.” You said before winking.

______________________________________________________________

You cleared away the rest of the mess that was in the living room whilst Travis finished the dishes. Smiling at the painting of you, Travis and Wyatt dressed as fairies now proudly displayed on the fridge, you tiptoed your way towards Travis. You pressed your chest into his back and snaked your arms around his waist. Pressing a kiss into the fabric of his t-shirt that was covering his muscular back.

“Hey baby.” His tired growl was enough to make you shiver.

You paused for a second, “Do you ever think about having kids?”

Travis turned his head over his shoulder, “With you? All of the time.”

You moved to his side, peppering his bicep with more kisses, “Do you think about when we’ll start trying?” You looked up at him through your eyelashes.

Travis’ jaw dropped open slightly, “You mean, now?” He quickly grabbed a towel to dry his hands before throwing it back down onto the counter. He ducked down and his strong arms bundled you up and hoisted you over his shoulder.

You squealed as your head landed upside down, your legs flailing in the air with only one of Travis’ hands to hold you steady. He rushed up the stairs, your body bobbing violently with every step.

Once you were in your bedroom, Travis tossed you onto the bed, his eyes gazing at you with a passionate hunger. He crawled up your body, laying kisses into any skin he could get access to. You gasped when he reached your neck, an area he knew drove you crazy.

“So, we’re trying?” He growled into your neck.

You placed your hands on the back of his head, “I haven’t taken my pill yet today, if that answers your question.” You whispered.

Travis almost whimpered, suddenly lifting your shirt up and latching onto your exposed breasts with his mouth. Your lips parted and a slow exhale escaped from them as your body writhed underneath him, wanting to feel him between your legs. He rose to his knees, watching you as you calmed slightly, removing his shorts with ease and peeling his t-shirt from his solid torso. His thick erection was pressing into the fabric of his boxer briefs. Your eyes glazed over as you watched Travis lick his lips, his intense stare burning into you. He reached down and pulled your shirt off, his large hands pawing at your breasts. You wriggled out of your sweatpants, leaving you only in your underwear. You watched as Travis’ head lowered, his teeth taking the white lace between them and pulling down. You lifted your hips to assist him, his hands taking place where the fabric once laid. Within seconds, his thumb was pressing onto your clit, rubbing circles, a wetness forming immediately.

His eyebrows rose, “That was quick.”

“You turn me on so much, baby.” You said with a grin.

Your breath hitched when Travis lifted his thumb into his mouth, sucking your juices from it. You reached down to the waistband of his boxer briefs, tugging at them desperately. Travis bucked his hips forward, allowing the material to lower. His thick cock quickly sprang free, pre-cum forming at the tip.

You swallowed hard, looking back up at his face, “Let’s make a baby.”

He lunged down, lifting one of your legs and admiring your perfect pussy. He slowly ground his hips, letting his solid erection run along your slick folds, his shaft grazing your clit repeatedly. You let out small groans with each thrust, your lips quivering with pleasure.

Travis studied your face, adjusting his speed and angle to suit your reaction, “You’re so beautiful, baby.”

“I want you inside of me, Travis.” You said, breathlessly.

He obliged, pushing his cock into your wet pussy, letting you feel every inch slowly. You let out a guttural groan, his dick filling you up as it always did. His thrusts stayed slow and deep, his eyes on you the whole time. Your fingers clawed at his back as your orgasm grew harder in your gut. His solid, muscular frame loomed over you, but you always felt safe and protected, something that you found incredibly attractive. You looked up to see Travis' jaw tightening, his teeth clenched and short, hissed breaths leaving his body.

“Baby, I think…I’m gonna-“ Travis stuttered.

You pressed your forehead to his as his movements began sloppy, “Come on, baby. Come on, Mr Kelce.”

His shoulders tensed and he squeezed his eyes shut. You clung on as he gave you one final thrust, his body straining as he released himself into you. You stroked his back while he came down from his orgasm, letting his breathing relax to a normal speed. You both laid there for quite some time before Travis broke the silence.

“Sorry, baby.”

“Why are you saying sorry?” You glanced down at him.

“I didn’t want to cum straight away.” He lifted his body up and rested on his elbow, his face only a few inches away from yours, “But you wanting to make a baby with me is so damn sexy to me.”

You smiled as he craned his neck to press a small kiss on your forehead, before slowly resting back down, his head laying on your chest and your heartbeat thumping in his ear. You could feel your hazy eyes slowly fluttering, the image of the love of your life the last thing in your vision before you drifted to sleep.

______________________________________________________________

Okay, I'm officially done with Touchdown now!

Taglist @kkrenae @keiva1000

[blowflyfag]

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT/FEDERATION MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 2011

THE CULT OF CM PUNK

“All it took for The Straight Edge Superstar to turn the world upside-down and ignite the WWE Universe was one microphone. HEre we’ve given the “Voice of the Voiceless” another soapbox to explore his many issues with WWE management, his epic match at WWE Money In The Bank, his fellow Superstars who deserve a better shot, and what, if anything, is going to change now that he’ back for good. 

By JOHN MIHALY PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL, DIGITAL IMAGING BY ERIC HEINTZ

[The Second City Saint reveals his cult of personality, and shows off his new T-shirt and WWE Championship during his unexpected return to WWE a week after leaving with the title (Raw, 7/25/11).]

In your estimation, what do you feel is wrong with WWE right now, and what would you do to change it?

What’s wrong with WWE right now is that there isn’t enough youth. Most of the ideas are old. They worked in The Attitude Era or in the ‘80s-and I'm not necessarily saying that they’re bad or they’re wrong-but they need updating, they need tweaking. There needs to be some young minds spinning the webs, so to speak. I’m sick of seeing people who are excellent wrestlers get passed over for people who have abs or who were good-string linemen in a European football league. I think there are a lot of people who, on their own terms, have made their own personas and perfected their craft simply out of love for what they do. They’re not trying to be bodybuilders or football players who fail miserably and then call their uncle or their dad and say, “Hey, I’ll give that wrestling thing a shot because I suck at everything else.”

Why do you think it’s such a strike against guys who-like yourself-are fans but aren't from a sports or bodybuilding background?

Now, this is complete speculation. I can't even tell you what somebody else is thinking. I can only say what I think works. And I'm not going to be right 100 percent of the time just like they're not going to be. Somewhere along the way I think we lost the Midas touch. This whole thing became uncool. I think people who love it aren’t going to go do something else  if they get fired. Like Colt Cabana. He’s a perfect example. He is a wrestler. If he gets hired and it doesn’t work out, he’s wrestling somewhere else the next day. He’s not trying to shoehorn himself into an accounting job. He’s a wrestler. He’s always going to be here. So I just think if you love wresting sometimes-maybe-you’re punished. You’re placed last in line. The attitude is: You’re always going to be here,  maybe we can use you later if we need you, but right now we’re going to use this guy because he was good at college football, and he didn’t quite make it in the NFL.

Another one of your gripes is how the WWE Championship looks. How would you redesign the title? What is the definitive look of that particular championship for you?

Oh god. How long is this interview? Honestly, I think old Dwayne used to have a cute little blue cow on his title or something. Then, of course, Stone Cold had the Smoking Skull title. I don't know. I think I could Straight Edge the hell out of that thing. A couple of “X”’s might make it look good. Make it look like a title should look like, and not make it look like some sort of weird, rapper bling. I feel the definitive look, though, is what I like to call “Bret Hart’s Title.” I think everyone likes to call it the “Winged Eagle Title.”That’s a little bit redundant. I’m pretty sure most eagles have wings. That’s the one that always sticks out in my mind.

This anger with your job has been festering for a while. Was there one moment backstage when you felt that you’d had enough?

I can name one off the top of my head. How about main-eventing a pay-per-view as the World Heavyweight Champion against Undertaker and then, a few months later, being in a dark match against R-Truth at WWE TLC? That’s pretty ignorant in my mind. This is the problem. We do this too many times to too many of the Superstars. It’s a start-stop kind of thing. The company likes to spotlight certain people. Like, “This week, Kofi’s cool,” and then, the next week, “We changed our minds-we like Dolph this week.” It flip-flops back and forth ad nauseam, and the next thing you know, the people couldn’t give a crap about either guy.

When did the powers that be really begin to take your leaving WWE seriously?

I told them probably a year out. They would say, “Hey, how about we talk about your contract?” And I would just say, “No, I don’t really feel like it.” And they would say, “Ok, back off. Punk’s crabby and temperamental.” We’ll get him next week.” And the next week it would be, “Hey let’s talk about it.” And then maybe eight or 10 months out, it was, “Hey, I really want to sit down. We really need to sign you a new deal.” And that’s when I straight up said, “No, I’m not interested.”

[CM Punk perches on the top rope to hear out The Chairman’s final contract offer (Raw, 7/11/11).]

Take us back to your title match at WWE Money In The Bank. What did you do differently that day knowing that could have been your last day on the job?

I don’t think I did anything different that day. I’m a man of my word. I wasn’t going to skip out on my contract earlier. I was going to let it run out. These to do, and I was going to let it run out. These are the terms. I agreed to and the dates I agreed to do, and I was definitely going to finish up. But I think I talked so much about everything and everybody that all eyes were on me and it created a high-pressure situation. Thankfully, I thrive very well in those situations. I’d say I pulled it off. All this stuff i talk about, about ebony the best in the world, I certainly proved it that night. The match went near the 35-minute mark But i wrestled for 93 minutes one time back in 2002 or 2003 in a Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match.

You mentioned on the Bill Simmons B.S. Report podcast that you had made the decision to come back and resign at WWE Money In The Bank. Do you think your decision was at all clouded a little bit too much by all the emotion going on that day?

I can definitely put it aside. I can be a robot if I need to be. Resigning was something that was on my mind day -in and day-out whether I was at the gym or sleeping. I was dreaming about it, I was really trying to figure out what was the best decision for the company as a whole. I love what we do. I ‘m not going to get along with everybody I work with. I’m certainly not going to agree with everything all the time, But at the end of the day, I want everybody’s voice to be heard. I want this place to succeed. So I had to weigh my options. 

[The conquering hometown hero wins his first WWE Championship (To add to his three World Heavyweight Titles) at WWE Money In The Bank (7/17/11).]

They say  a man’s refrigerator is a window into his soul. When you Tweeted a photo of the WWE Championship inside your fridge the night you won, we couldn’t help but notice that there was a jar of peanut butter in there. Isn’t peanut butter meant to be stored at room temperature?

Is it? Why? I'm not saying we have to end the interview now, but here’s a good wrap-up for you: WWE has stored their peanut butter at room temperature for over 30 years; I'm putting it in the refrigerator now. It’s time for a damn change. I don’t eat my peanut butter like everybody else, I suppose. I don’t spread it on anything, because I try to stay away from bread and all that, so if I’m eating peanut butter, i take a spoonful of it, and i eat it like ice cream. It tastes better a little frozen. 

Another thing we noticed is that you used the “W” word a lot in your tirades these last weeks. How much do you dislike saying “sports-entertainment”?

I don’t hate it as much as you would think, but I really do think it’s ridiculous when you’re not allowed to say “wrestling.” At the end of the day, that’s what goes on in that ring. That ring is our stage. What we do on that stage is we wrestle. I’m not playing grab-ass. I’m out there fighting to win. Wins and losses mean something. Wrestling happens to be damn entertaining.

So is it weird to call yourself a “Superstar” as opposed to a wrestler?

I don’t think it’s weird. I think we’re all Superstars. Absolutely. I don’t think there’s anybody else who can be called that. Would you call Brad Pitt a Superstar? Do I think Brad Pitt can do what we do? Absolutely not! Brad Pitt gets scripts and lines to study months ahead of time and he has a very controlled setting in which he looks the best he possibly can. He has makeup on, there’s lighting, there’s people doing the sound and everything. We go out there on live TV every Monday night and kill it. That’s where the entertainment part comes in. It’s more entertaining than a Brad Pitt movie. There are no retakes, you know? There’s no Take 1, Take 2–”I screwed that up, let me do it again.” IF we screw up, we screw up. That’s the entertaining part. 

Entertaining was your baseball analogy equating John Cena to the Yankees-which caused him to punch you. But let’s follow that analogy a bit further. Earlier this century, your Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox were quite similar. Then the Red Sox were quite the equivalent of baseball’s nouveau riche, effectively placing that franchise and fan base in line with the Yankees. Won’t the same thing happen to the Cubs when they win? And what about you? If you continue to win, wont you in turn become what you hate?

Possibly. We’ll have to wait and see. Is the same thing going to happen to me? It’s quite possible. That’s life, though. I really think it depends on the person. Am I going to change? Absolutely not. I'm not changing anything. Will the WWE Universe maybe get sick of me? I think the people get sick of anything if it's shoved down their throat. I think free-thinking people like variety, and they like change. There’s no reason why multiple people can’t be marketed correctly and in everybody’s face constantly so there’s a choice. 

[Punk ruffles the feathers (and tie) of new COO Triple H (Raw, 8/1/11), and hopes for a retro design akin to, in his words, “Bret Hart’s Title” (above left).]

One thing you did change is your entrance music, to Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.” Did you consider anything else?

No, that was the one. It was a throwback to my Indie days, but it also just fit. I have tremendous guts, I’d like to say, and it was just a gut feeling that this was the right thing to do, to change my music now. Did I like my old song? Absolutely. Was it recognizable? Sure, I had it for five years. Was it time for a change? Was it a risky thing? Yes and yes. But ultimately, I think it was the right move. I haven't been able to get the song out of my head since last Monday. It’s a song that came out in 1989, when I was on my little league team, and now it just jumped into the iTunes Top 200. That’s powerful. That should speak volumes to the WWE management. They should say, “Holy crap, this kid has the power to do something like that. Let’s see what else he can do.”

What’s really different now that you’re back? What are we going to see that’s not status quo?

I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but i will tell you that when the Ramones were voted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. This is, after all, the establishment that shunned the entire band for its entire career, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He was extremely adamant that, “No, you don’t get the privilege of having the Ramones in your little club.” My good friend, Lars Frederickson [of the band Rancid], got on the phone and said, “Marky, listen to me. You almost have responsibility to the underground to accept this award and be in the Hall of Fame to show that you are as big as the Beatles, you’re as good as Led Zeppelin, all these mainstream bands that the Ramones maybe never got credit on the same level as.” And that’s kind of how I feel about WWE right now. I’m a guy who, for all intents and purposes, never should have even made it to WWE. Then I had roadblock after roadblock thrown in my way. Not only did I get past those roadblock thrown in my way. Not only did I get past those roadblocks, I did it while flipping off the people who put up those roadblocks. I feel I have a responsibility to the younger wrestlers on the roster, the ones that aren't signed yet, and the future of wrestling as a whole, to help make this place better, and to change this place. I certainly can't change it by sitting on my couch in Chicago.

[saucy-sassy-sparkly]

Pursuit of Happiness

1: Meet the Littlemans

Pairing: Chris Evans x Kat Littleman (OFC)

Summary: New England political daughter Kat Littleman is constantly showing up for her mother’s campaigns, playing the part of the perfect daughter in the perfect, American family. When her paths cross with Chris Evans while he canvases DC to build out ASP, she’s forced to face some truths about herself, her family, and her future.

Word Count: ~7k

Warnings: Chris is a bit of a horndog. Lots of swearing, alcohol, sex talk, politically charged topics, chaotic families

Note: Despite spending a lot of my formative years in and around DC, I know absolutely nothing about politics or how things work on The Hill. This also runs the risk of dipping into some political topics (hopefully not heavily, but certainly some commentary and references). If that could trigger you, please avoid this.

Series Masterlist

1: Meet the Littlemans

“It’s navy blue with a hot pink luggage strap around it.”

“I’m sorry ma’am,” the agent’s voice was distant as she sorted through the lost luggage around her, “it isn’t here. I’ll add you to our list. Can I get a name and phone number?” She didn’t even bother to force a smile at Kat as she returned to her computer and started to click buttons, presumably opening up the never-ending list of people whose luggage had been lost by United Airlines.

Kat rattled off her name and number, muttered a quick “thanks” to the agent who had already turned to the next customer, and wrestled with her tote bag over her puffy winter jacket. She shuffled through the hubbub of Dulles baggage claim and made her way to the sliding doors and the waiting arrivals pick-up.

The doors wooshed open and the blustery November air hit her straight in the face, sending her hair flying around her and sticking in her chapstick. Kat stopped abruptly to rummage through her bag and find her beanie, yanking it firmly on her head, and returning to scanning the waiting cars for her father’s huge SUV.

After pacing the sidewalk to the end of the waiting cars, Kat finally reached for her phone in the back of her jeans pocket and groaned when she realized she hadn’t even powered it back on. Being the rule-follower she was, if the flight crew asked that you turn off devices, she dutifully turned all of her devices off and sowed them for the flight. In the chaos at baggage claim, she’d forgotten to turn it back on.

As the screen lit up in her hands, she saw the missed calls and then texts from her father. Or rather… her father’s assistant, Ted. Why a former NFL tight end turned garden fanatic even had an assistant was unfathomable to Kat, but nonetheless she put the phone to her ear and listened to Ted’s voicemail.

“Hi Kathrine, it’s Ted. Ted Brown, Tim’s–err– your father’s assistant that is. I’m calling to let you know that your father tried to pick you up when your flight was scheduled to arrive, but once he learned it was delayed, he came back to the townhouse. He sends his apologies and looks forward to seeing you tomorrow at the gala.”

Clicking over to the texts and finding herself unsurprised to have four texts from Ted, all with the same general message and one with a link to the Uber app (thanks, Ted), and even one from her father that read: Sorry KitKat, Giants/Cowboys game was kicking off!

“For fuck sake, Dad…” she muttered before shoving her phone back in her pocket; Kat then turned to the taxi stand and was grateful there were several waiting. She poured herself into one, gave the driver her hotel address, and sank back into the seat to start doing the math:

It was currently 8:37p. By the time she got to the hotel, checked in, and to her room, it would be at least 9:15p– after a 12-hour travel day that should’ve only been 4 thanks to snow just about everywhere she was exhausted and would likely pass out after shoveling in a granola bar and water bottle from the mini bar. She had to be at a brunch with her mother at 10a Ambar, then was expected to pop over to the townhouse and visit with her father before going back to the hotel to get ready for the gala at 7p. That left her about four hours to find a black tie gown– not to mention something to wear to brunch, clean underwear, and makeup– to replace the one that was lost in the bowels of Dulles International Airport.

She fired off a quick “finally made it, talk tomorrow” text and watched the snowflakes hit the window of the cab and the lights of downtown rush by as the car took the slick streets way too quickly. But, Kat was too tired to care. She’d arrived at the airport with plenty of time for her preflight ritual: a cup of overpriced coffee and 40 minutes to read a smutty novel. She’d watched the big red “delayed” letters flash up on the departure screen once, then twice. After the fourth time, the gate agents stopped giving excuses over the intercom and just started to apologize.

Her flight finally boarded only to sit taxing for another 45 minutes before taking off for the less than two-hour flight. The 7:15p landing had then become an extra hour between waiting for the luggage carousel, discovering her bag was not coming and then hunting down the missing luggage desk.

Tim deciding to bail on pick-up and have his assistant call for him– that was the most consistent part of her day. Tim Littleman was, first of all, the opposite of his name. He was 6’4 but claimed to be 6’6, and had filled out since his professional days when Kat was a kid, but he was still fit and trim for a man in his late 50s. Tim also loved his kids but he loved football just a little bit more, even after being out of the game for years, it wasn’t a surprise– although always a disappointment– when he picked a football game over a drive to the airport with his youngest child.

Kat paid and tipped the driver and tumbled out of the car and into the infamous Watergate Hotel– her mother’s favorite spot to put Kat up for the night when she visited. Mallory always insisted it was to make life easier for Kat; as a 31-year-old, she’d obviously want her privacy from her parents when she was visiting! Over the years, Kat had stopped rolling her eyes or even bickering with her mother and had instead accepted a free stay in a balcony suite overlooking the Potomac River.

As expected, she passed out almost immediately and woke up with a start to her alarm sounding at 7:45a. The morning passed in a blur, sprinting to the nearest Zara for a quick brunch outfit to meet with Mallory and several of Mallory’s WASPy DC friends, then back to the hotel to shower and change, then back out again for brunch where her mother barely interacted with her and then headed back to her office while Kat went to the townhouse for coffee with Tim to discuss the prospects in his greenhouse garden back in Connecticut, and then back out shopping again. With only an hour to spare, she’d found a dress and pumps for the black-tie gala– an event to raise money for some important cause her mother only vaguely mentioned in her email requesting Kat’s attendance.

She was actually quite pleased with the last-minute find feeling confident when she’d examined herself in the mirror, and it fit all of Mallory’s qualifications which were: black tie appropriate, black or navy, and tasteful.

Kat used the polished metal reflection of the elevator doors to check herself one more time, smoothing down the black fabric and tossing her hair over her shoulder. The sound of the event met her ears before the doors slid open: laughter, clinking glasses, and quiet music. When she stepped out onto the plush carpet, she saw several familiar faces immediately and offered small waves and smiles while she studied the sea of people for one of her parents.

“Kathrine,” a perfectly manicured claw wrapped around Kat’s bicep signaled Mallory before she pulled her daughter around and closer to the nearest wall, “what are you wearing?”

“Hi, Mom, you look nice,” Kat deadpanned, bracing herself for impact as she took in her mother. Mallory was dressed in a perfectly tailored champagne number that was likely her typical Ralph Lauren. Her hair was pulled back in a tight French twist and she looked every bit the upper-crust Connecticut woman she was.

“This is highly inappropriate,” Mallory reached up and started to play with Kat’s hair, pulling it over her shoulders.

“I have no idea how to respond to that,” Kat bit back her urge to tell her mother that her dress looked like a wedding gown.

“Kathrine, this is just… it is far too sexy for this event.”

“This is the best I could do on short notice.”

“Short notice! You’ve known for months,” Mallory hissed at her daughter, dropping her voice so the women standing near them wouldn’t hear.

“Mom,” Kat huffed, “I told you at brunch that United lost my bag. I had to go out and get this today.”

“Right, right,” she waved at her daughter, still reaching out to maneuver her hair. “Well there is nothing we can do now,” she sighed and finally gave up before pushing her shoulders back.

Behind her was a ballroom full of political powerhouses– senators, congresspersons, aids, donors, and all the other powerful DC folks who liked to gather in rooms together and remind each other how important they are. Mallory had been working her way up the political world for years, starting on the Board of Education in Kat’s hometown (not that Mallory Littleman would’ve ever sent her children to public school, even in their wealthy town) and now just after her second election as a state senator. Hence, Kat’s summons to attend as part of the senator’s loving family. Kat hated these events… but showed up anyway.

Mallory huffed and dropped her hands to her hips, squaring her jaw at her daughter. “Don’t bring up your job.” This was a common command; never ever talk about work. Kat nodded dutifully.

“Yes ma’am.”

“And don’t mention your… that you… the…”

Kat cut her off and failed to contain her eye roll this time, “I won’t let anyone know that we’re not the perfect family.”

“Thank you,” she said curtly, still eyeing her daughter’s dress.

“Did that hurt,” Kat laughed, looking at the tight expression on her mother’s face after displaying gratitude for her daughter.

“Do not sass me, Kathrine. Tonight is a big deal. I need it to go well.”

Kat sighed, “yes ma’am,” and neglected to bring up the fact that Mallory said that for every political event to which she dragged her daughter.

Mallory ignored her, “you know who I need you to talk to?”

Kat nodded, “I was briefed by your aids. Which, by the way, I would’ve preferred to do with you than your 19-year-old college interns.”

“I mean they are hired to take things off my plate.”

“Where’s dad, Senator Littleman?”

“Kathrine,” Mallory’s tone was warning as she turned back to Kat, “please behave.”

“Promise, Senator, now I’m going to find Dad,” Kat pushed past her mother and started to move through the room, listening for her father’s loud laughter. Despite his faults, he was the far easier parent to be around. He was easy to talk to and could entertain a crowd: the perfect way to disappear in one of these large functions was to stand near Tim and let him relive his glory days to people who just oohed and ahhed appropriately in hopes that he would end up writing them some kind of donation check.

She spotted him across the room regaling a group of men. As she passed by familiar faces, she greeted them politely, engaging in small talk when necessary, and pushing her way closer and closer to Tim. When he caught a glimpse of her, his face split into a grin and he threw his arms wide, stepping between the men surrounding him, “There’s my KitKat!” He wrapped her in a hug, smothering her in his heavily applied Polo Blue. When he kissed her cheek and draped his arm over her shoulder, he turned back to the group, “Gents, this is my beautiful daughter Kathrine.”

Kat reached out her hand to shake with the shortest of the group, who introduced himself as Mark, “Kat is fine, it’s nice to meet you.”

Exchanging quick greetings with the other two, Joe and Chris, Tim quickly charged back in control of the conversation before she could say more, “Sweetheart, these boys are trying to get me to spend some money on them.”

Mark, or maybe it was Joe, jumped in with a laugh, immediately changing the narrative to describe the new political platform they were developing, but Kat had essentially stopped listening. She was too busy batting her eyelashes at Chris. He stood almost a head taller than her, his shoulders filling out his navy tuxedo in the most delicious way. His perfectly styled hair, his relaxed stance with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a beer– how refreshing; no one in DC admitted to liking something as lowly as beer, much less a Sam Adams.

He���d had been the last to introduce himself and their hands had lingered while Chris’s blue eyes blatantly trailed slowly down her body. She’d felt a blush rising in her cheeks when his eyes met hers again and a very brief but very smug smirk crossed his features.

Slowly he returned his focus to his colleagues and let them continue to explain their new venture, glancing at Kat now and then, who got caught staring back almost every time. She had to force herself to stare at Joe and Mark while they spoke, feeling Chris’s eyes trail over her skin.

As soon as she’d approached, Chris’s eyes had been immediately drawn to the skin of Kat’s thigh exposed in her dress. Most of the room was filled with an older crowd, the younger women in the room choosing much more conservative dresses for this event. Kat’s choice, with her shoulders, a hint of cleavage, and all that leg made Chris practically salivate. He’d been back and forth to DC for the last several months as he, Joe, and Mark tried to build a following and convince the political world to work with them; each time he was surrounded by women in pantsuits or blazers. The young aides usually wore their outfits slightly tighter, but it was still the same variations of cream, navy, and red work dresses… not that it had stopped him from spending some time getting to know a few of those women.

When the three men had entered the ballroom this evening, he’d been prepared with their usual speech, ready to network and subtly beg for support. He hadn’t been prepared to be adjusting his pants at the sight of this woman’s tight ass when she turned to hug her father. Chris didn’t even bother to scold himself; they’d been working all weekend, and more importantly, Kat’s eyes were drawn to him too.

Kat recognized Chris, albeit not immediately, but after several minutes of making eyes at each other while the people around them talked, it clicked into place that she’d seen some movies that featured his washboard abs and perfectly cut pecs. She watched his reaction when she tossed her hair over her shoulder, exposing her skin (and bumping her father’s hand, which briefly ruined her moment before regaining composure); his eyes moved across her collarbone and up her neck, settling a steady gaze back on her.

No one was paying attention to them anyway. Joe and Mark were chatting away and Tim was listening the best his ADHD and slightly narcissistic brain allowed him.

“Well boys,” Tim finally said, both literally and figuratively jolting his daughter back to reality with a shake of her shoulder, “that is a truly terrific pitch, but I’m the wrong one to give it to. Just didn’t have the heart to stop you. My wife, Mallory, is the politician in the family.”

As if summoned, Mallory’s voice called over Kat’s shoulder, “there you two are,” in a huff and appeared at her daughter’s side, putting more distance between Kat and Chris. Tim remade the introductions of the group and Kat didn’t miss the way Chris’s eyes stayed on her, not Mallory, when the three of them once again began to explain their idea.

This time, Chris did most of the talking, Joe and Mark only offering occasional additions, but he continued to flicker his eyes to Kat. Kat found herself more impressed; she’d assumed he was the Hollywood buy-in to get politicians' attention, not part of the actual brain power. She listened to him, adding her own questions as her mother did the same, and watched him get more and more animated as he rattled off what seemed to be a heartfelt passion project.

He finally paused when Joe took over explaining the technical side to Mallory and Kat allowed herself to look back at his stupidly handsome face; he lifted his beer towards her and raised his eyebrow, silently asking if she wanted a drink.

Kat started to nod when a well-dressed staff member approached and invited them to find their seats, dinner was being served. Chris spoke up before the group separated, “I’m going to grab another drink before I go to the table, can I get anyone anything?” He looked pointedly at Kat who started to speak when her mother spoke for her.

“What a lovely offer, but Kathrine and I don’t drink. Tim?” She turned to her husband, letting him give Chris his drink order, before wrapping her hand around Kat’s arm and pulling her away from the group towards the clusters of tables without a goodbye.

“Kathrine, don’t even think about it,” she hissed, staring at the place cards on a long table and searching for theirs. She reached across Kat, snatched all three off the table, pulled Kat towards table 4, and continued, “I knew this dress was too much for tonight.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?”

“I saw the look on your face and that boy's. Don’t you dare.”

They’d reached the table and Mallory immediately dropped Kat’s arm, circling to say hello to their companions. Kat tucked herself into the nearest chair and immediately moved for the bread basket, perking up when she discovered the rolls were still warm. Mallory perched on the chair next to Kat, still in conversation with another one of DC's most powerful people whose name Kat could never remember… nor ever tried to.

Tim joined them shortly, sliding into the chair on Mallory’s other side and calling a loud, “see you boys later,” and toasted them as Joe, Mark, and Chris walked away. Kat’s eyes flickered up to catch Chris’s, offering a coy smile to his nod.

“That is what I’m talking about,” Mallory was back in her ear, using her butter knife to gesture at Chris’s broad, retreating back.

“Mother, relax, I just smiled at him.”

“You think I was born yesterday? That was not just a smile.”

“You do realize I’m 31 years old, right? And it is perfectly acceptable to smile at a man or even, god forbid, flirt with him.” Kat’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she spread her napkin on her lap.

“I don’t care how old you are, you reflect my campaign and my values every time you’re seen with me. If there are pictures of you kissing Captain fucking America, it is a direct reflection of me.”

“Literally no one cares who your adult daughter kisses.”

“You don’t think it comes up every election? You don’t think that you and your brother and… Do you know how much of my staff it takes to be sure that our family doesn’t get our business blasted across headlines?”

“I wish you realized how much America did not care about my sex life or Ben’s,” Kat reached for her ice water and sipped slowly, wishing it was a vodka tonic, and glanced at her mother’s furrowed brow, “Careful, Mom, your Botox doesn’t like when you frown.”

Mallory huffed and leaned away to start speaking to Tim, whispering frantically at him and casting sidelong glances at Kat. Kat, however, leaned back in her chair and allowed the woman next to her– a Congressman from Minnesota’s wife– to share all of the details of the grandchild her daughter was expecting. Kat had to bite her tongue while she listened to the several-minute monologue about how silly she found it that some people wouldn’t want to buy gender-specific baby clothes anymore. She let the woman talk, as she did most of these people, and let her mind wander, only staying focused enough to offer the occasional, “you don’t say” or “wow, that’s incredible.”

She truly loathed these events. She’d lost track over the years of how many she’d shown up to, how often her mother trotted her out like a prized pony to amplify her mother’s strong family value platform before being sent back home to her normal life. Each time it came with an all-expenses paid plane ticket and hotel, several– usually public to avoid real conversation– visits with her mother, at least one major political fundraiser/gala/rally/etc., and then a quick and once again public goodbye from Mallory before the whole ordeal was over.

Kat knew she could stop coming, stop being hassled by her mother and used as a pawn, she knew that she could and certainly should stop saying yes and start saying no. Ben always reminded her that no was a complete sentence.

Ben.

Ben had stopped coming to these the second he moved out of the house, right about the same time that Mallory and Tim–mostly Mallory– had refused to acknowledge that Ben might not actually be the preppy, lacrosse-playing womanizer he was bred to be and was instead questioning all parts of his identity. He’d moved to Vancouver for a job, and met a wonderful man, Kevin, who Kat adored and had never looked back.

Kat missed him terribly, even after almost 10 years of living several time zones apart, and looked forward to their annual September trip together. They’d meet somewhere each year to celebrate their birthdays… four days and four years apart… together, often surrounded by other people they loved but never ever with their parents.

Kat couldn’t actually remember the last time the four of them shared the same air. It had to have been a holiday while Kat was still in high school and Ben was home from college for a break. She knew that he occasionally emailed Tim or exchanged a quick phone call, but that Ben hadn’t spoken to their mother since the day he’d graduated from college. At their celebration dinner, he’d handed her a check and said, “I won’t owe you anything ever again,” and flown to Canada the next morning. Kat had been devastated but she knew what it was like for Ben to grow in their house. She knew the best thing for him was to put the Canadian Border Patrol between him and Mallory.

Ben was her rock, one of her favorite humans, and her constant reminder that she was a pawn in Mallory’s system and needed to get out before people started to think she actually supported their mother’s platforms. That thought pulled her back into the conversation with the Congresswoman’s wife just in time to force a cheerful, “hurry back!” when she’d told Kat she needed to use the ‘little girl’s room’ and scurried off.

Kat took the moment to enjoy the silence and scanned the room. The sea of tables was tastefully if subtly decorated in muted tones and low centerpieces on each table to allow for conversation. There had to be at least 50 tables, each holding anywhere from 10-12 guests, all various members of wealthy DC society. The majority were politicians and their donor friends; a perk of donating thousands of dollars to a cause was getting to attend other functions for free as a ‘thank you for your support’… only to be expected to write a check at the end for whichever cause the evening endorsed.

Five tables away, she found Chris’s gelled hair and sharp jawline in profile while he laughed at something the woman next to him said. She allowed herself the moment to admire the imperfect slope of his nose, the way his smile showed all his teeth, and the way his biceps were visibly flexing even under his jacket as he lifted his fork to his mouth.

“He is very handsome, I’ll give you that,” Mallory leaned closer to her daughter, who had been actively ignoring her mother trying to catch her eye, “but do not embarrass me tonight, Kathrine.”

“And what would be embarrassing for you, Mom?” Kat sighed and looked at her mom.

Mallory paused, glancing at her husband who was deep in conversation, and back at Kat, “if you did something inappropriate with him.”

Kat grinned slyly, knowing how much her mother hated these kinds of conversations, “what do you consider inappropriate?”

“You know what I mean,” she huffed.

“I’m not sure that I do. Could you explain it to me?”

Mallory sighed heavily and waggled her finger, “do not go home with that boy.”

“He seems to be all man,” Kat countered, her eyes traveling back to Chris just to spite her frustrated, demanding mother. He was rising from the table and gesturing to his tablemates, seemingly taking drink orders.

“Kathrine Marissa Littleman,” Mallory’s voice dropped low and Kat knew she’d hit a nerve, “I do not need any gossip because of you, there has already been enough talk about everything else in our family.”

“There hasn’t been anything to talk about for years, Mom, please give me a break. I’m a grown-up.”

Mallory shot her one last look and stood from her seat, moving around behind Kat and towards an empty seat at the other side of the table to start working the room now that she’d finished her meal– it didn’t matter to her that no one else had.

Kat reached into her clutch and rifled around for a pen, finding one at the bottom, and slid her place card towards her. She folded open the thick cardstock and write inside it, closing it back up and slipping the pen back in her purse before whispering, “back in a bit,” to Tim, who waved his acknowledgment, and she moved through the room to the bar.

Chris leaned on the bar in front of her, chatting with the bartender as he gathered the drinks for Chris’s table. She took a deep breath and stepped beside him and ordered a vodka tonic from the other barkeep; her voice caught Chris’s attention, who leaned on one arm.

“Kathrine,” her name in his deep timbre sent a chill down her spine and a warmth filling her belly.

“Christopher,” she countered, throwing a smile over her shoulder at him.

“I see that ‘we don’t drink’ thing was bullshit,” he nodded to the drink she now took a deep swallow from.

“Just another politician making things up.”

He gathered the drinks from the bartender– another beer for him, a wine for one of his tablemates, and a scotch for Joe, and turned to her– “Gimme a second. Don’t move.”

Kat nodded and watched him strut away; she toyed with the place card in her hand. She flipped it open, looking at her handwriting on the inside, and looked back up at Chris, who was just arriving at the table. Throwing her shoulders back, she followed after him, coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I thought you were waiting for me,” he said quietly, dipping his head low to talk to her.

“I changed my mind,” she smiled and slid her hand down from his shoulder, briefly across his bicep, and to grip his large hand. She squeezed, pushing the cardstock into his hands, and turned gracefully on her heels. She moved slowly, knowing he was watching her, and swung her hips ever so slightly as she made her way across the room to the exit closest to the elevator.

She entered it alone, letting the doors slide shut and giving her a chance to take a deep breath, and another gulp of her drink before the doors were opening again on her floor.

In her room, she finished off her drink and mixed a new one from the minibar, and then moved across the suite to stand at the sliding glass doors. Her heart was pounding in her chest with both anticipation and anxiety, knowing she could be stood up, but hoping she’d read him right. Several long minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door. Kat took her time to cross the room, finishing off her second drink on the way, and pulling the door open to Chris standing, both hands in his pockets, on the threshold.

“Hey you,” his crooked grin melted any nerves she had and she reached out, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the room; she shut the door after dropping the “do not disturb” sign on the handle and turning to face him.

“Drink?” She started to move around him towards the mini bar but he used their still connected hand to pull her to him.

“Maybe after,” his boyish grin was gone and replaced with a sexy smirk; he held their hands to his chest while his other hand reached up to her shoulder, pushing a few strands of hair off her neck. His fingertips trailed along her clavicle before coming to rest at the back of her neck and leaning towards her.

He slotted his lips over Kat’s, the kiss hovering for a moment in sweetness before his tongue swiped at her bottom lip and the movement shifted. Kat stepped closer to him, allowing his tongue to swipe against hers and pushing her chest into his while his hands covered all the planes of her body, squeezing her hips and her ass, trailing gentle touches up her arms and into her hair to hold her to him and continue the needy kiss. She slid her hands up his body and tugged at his bow tie, feeling grateful for making out with Miles Sharpton at cotillion who taught her how to untie a butterfly knot. Once it fell around his neck, she slid her arms under his jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. Chris let it hit the floor and stepped away from it to push Kat– one hand on her hips, the other still grasping her neck— towards the dresser.

The backs of her thighs bumped the large wooden piece and she let herself lean against it while he pressed into her, his mouth now trailing her neck and his hands grasping at the back of her dress, pawing for the zipper. Kat pushed his chest away from him, his lips pulling from hers with an audible suction noise, and she panted to catch her breath while her fingers worked their way down the buttons of his shirt. Each one she popped open exposed more of his chest, undershirt, and, to her surprise, a smattering of dark ink that made her mouth water.

She leaned forward and kissed the exposed skin, while she continued her journey down to his belt. Kat tugged his shirt free from his pants and glanced up at him through hooded eyes to find him watching her. Chris’s hands were rubbing her shoulders, raising goosebumps on her skin and sending a fire straight to her core.

Her hands hovered on his belt buckle, slowing the momentum of the last several minutes but giving neither of them pause. Chris watched her, licking his lips and trying to decide which way he wanted her to come first. “Don’t stop now, baby,” his voice had dropped dangerously low and he cupped her chin in his hand, rubbing his thumb along her bottom lip, “or I’m going to take over.”

Kat blushed deeply but held his gaze; she felt her panties dampen even more with those few words and she finished unclasping his belt, whipping it out of the loops dramatically and winking at him when he chuckled. Slowly, agonizingly slowly for Chris, she popped the button of his trousers and then slid the zipper down, holding his eyes and watching his Adam’s apple subtly bob.

Keeping her eyes glued to Chris’s, she slid her hands under the waistband of his pants, still over his boxer briefs, and rubbed slowly down his length, then back up, then back down again, reaching all the way through to briefly caress all of him before dropping her eyes to see the hard bulge that seemed to just keep growing under her hand. When Kat looked away, he took the opportunity to close his and open his jaw, letting out a low groan when she squeezed him back and forth, teasing him, knowing that he wanted her lips on his cock but she wouldn’t give it to him just yet.

She continued her work, flicking her eyes back up at him and taking in the way his chest heaved and his eyes fluttered when she stroked him in just the right away. All this response and everyone still had their clothes on…

After more minutes of this agonizingly slow tease, Chris groaned and dropped his head to press his forehead into Kat’s and growled, yanking her upright and twirling her around. “It’s my turn to tease, Kitty Kat.” The impulsive nickname made Kat’s heart skip a beat but she shoved down that feeling and leaned back into his strong chest. He held her in his arms, one wrapped around her stomach, the other reaching towards her zipper, dragging it down slowly and his hand on her stomach pulled the fabric of the gown down just enough to expose her breasts. Both of his hands slowly slithered up her body to cup them in his palms, rolling her peaked nipples between his thumb and forefingers while he kissed her neck.

“Open your eyes,” he commanded between open-mouth kisses; one of his hands dropped her breast and used it to push her hair off her neck and expose her other shoulder, licking a stripe from the nape of her neck to her earlobe and planting a kiss behind her ear. Kat’s eyes flew open, surprised to find that he’d positioned them in front of the dresser mirror where his eyes were watching her reflection.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of her breasts exposed and being palmed by his large hands, Chris’s face kissing all across any exposed skin he could reach, all while never breaking eye contact. He leaned his weight into her and she felt his hard cock against her ass; she pressed her hips back into him, grinding against him and letting out a moan before closing her eyes again to enjoy all the sensations.

“Open,” he said again, his tone leaving no room for question. He pulled his lips away from hers and he stood to his full height behind her– even in her heels she was still inches shorter than him, “I want you to watch yourself.”

Kat nodded, not knowing what else to do and allowing herself to melt entirely into his embrace and his command.

His right hand left her breast and moved tantalizingly across her sternum, her stomach, and to the thigh-high slit in her dress. Chris bent forward slightly to pull the fabric up and allow him access to her lacy thong. He bunched the dress up the best he could, pushing as much fabric out of the way to expose her in the mirror and trace a finger along the top hem of her panties. His left hand still played with her breast and now, she grasped his right forearm, bracing herself against him and using her left hand to reach behind her and hold onto his hip.

Chris traced the edge of her thong again, dipping his finger under the elastic and then back out multiple times before finally sliding his hand all the way down to cup her core. He groaned into her ear as his pointer finger swiped through the wetness between her legs, “all this for me, Kitten?”

“Please,” she whimpered, bucking her hips against him in anticipation.

He hummed in agreement, nuzzling into her hair and pressing his finger into her entrance, slowly pumping in and out at a painfully slow pace. Kat dropped her head back on his shoulder, obediently keeping her eyes open to watch his hand move in the mirror. His thumb found her clit and pressed against it, moving just as slowly. She rolled her hips, trying to find more friction, more pressure, more anything, but he stilled his movements and tutted, “not yet, Kathrine.”

She whined and pushed her weight against his chest, nudging her nose against his neck and pressing messy kisses to his jaw. Her reward was a second finger pressed inside of her, slowly making a come hither motion while his thumb started to increase the pressure and pace on her clit. After more minutes of playing with her, he leaned in to kiss her lips muttering against her, “you ready, baby? You going to come now, sweetheart?” as he continued to increase the intensity and Kat’s hips moved to meet him. He pulled away from her lips, removing his hand from her breast to gently but firmly grasp her chin and turn her to face the mirror again, “watch, baby, c’mon,” he grunted, his hips now joining the fray, “c’mon, Kat, come for me, baby.”

Kat let out a strangled, semi-pornographic moan when her orgasm hit her hard, her ears ringing and her whole body shaking in Chris’s arms. He slowed his rhythm, working her over the edge and through the intensity, giving her a moment of reprieve while he kissed her shoulders, her neck, her cheek, and pulled her lips to his to give her a long, wet kiss.

“Do you have a condom,” she muttered against him, ready to feel him inside of her the moment his fingers slid out. He released her with a quick kiss, stumbling in his pants that were still undone and sagging toward his tuxedo jacket. He fished in for his wallet while Kat studied herself, still trying to catch her breath.

Chris appeared in the mirror behind her again, his hands falling to her hips and pulling the fabric of her dress up quickly. She helped him, letting the dress bunch at her hips, her breasts still exposed and now her ass as well. He stepped back from her and she watched him in the mirror.

He was palming himself in his shorts, one hand still on the curve of her hip and she arched her back slightly, giving him a more full view of her. Chris glanced up in the mirror to find her smirking; he stopped palming himself to tuck both thumbs in the waistband of her thong and drag it down her legs, helping her step out of it and tossing it somewhere in the dim room.

Still, on his knees behind her, his hands traced up her calves, the back of her knees, her thighs, as he rose to stand and smacked her ass, watching her flesh bounce. Feeling impatient, she wiggled at him, arching her back even deeper. He chuckled, “you’re ready for me, pretty girl?”

He met her eyes in the mirror and she bit her lip, nodding and watching him drop his boxer briefs. From her place in front of him, she didn’t have a good view but she listened to him snap on the condom and then mewed when he rubbed the tip of his cock through her arousal.

With one hand on her hip and the other pushing her neck to lean her closer to the dresser, he pushed into her without warning, causing Kat to cry out at the stretch. He stilled, kissed her shoulder, and waited for her to nod before he started a steady, deep rhythm, hitting the soft, spongy parts she so desperately craved. The salacious sounds of his hips meeting her ass, his grunts, and Kat’s sighs and moans filled the room quickly while he pounded into her, the pace ever increasing. Kat fumbled with her dress, trying to get to her clit. Chris moved his hand from her waist, still keeping one on her neck to hold her steady, and licked his fingers before reaching around her hips and quickly building another steady rhythm on her clit. Over and over again he thrust into her, circling her clit and groaning into her neck.

“C’mon, Kat, come for me again, let go, Kitten,” he growled while her velvet walls squeezed him tight, “I can’t hold on, come, baby,” he babbled, rocking his hips while her hips pushed back against him, chasing her release. It hit her quickly, making her legs shake and then wobble, struggling to support her weight. Chris finished with a moan drilling inside of her and draping his body over hers that was slumped against the dresser. He planted kisses on her shoulder, her neck, and then down the top of her spine before gently helping her come upright. Kat turned in his arms and slid into the dresser, letting her back lean against the mirror and lazily tugging her gown to cover her breasts just enough.

Chris snagged a few tissues from the nightstand and handed her some while he cleaned up and disposed of the condom in the trash can by the desk. He tucked himself back into his briefs and came to stand between Kat’s useless legs. He leaned forward and planted his palms on the dresser beside her legs to kiss her lazily, their tongues swiping at each other and showing no urgency.

Finally, Kat pulled back and reached up to push his hair back in place the best she could. “Your business partners will wonder where you went,” she whispered, giving him an out.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “what about that drink?”

“Next time,” she shrugged, sliding off the dresser knowing there would be no ‘next time’ and moving towards her shopping bags for the zip-up and leggings she’d bought today. Once they were in her arms, she turned back to Chris still standing there, pants around his ankles, and looking confused. “I’m going to take a shower,” she pressed up on her toes and kissed his lips once more before crossing in front of him and stepping into the large bathroom.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Just for fun, imagine this as the cast/contestants of an American adaptation of “Physical 100”:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor/former pro wrestler

Martin Sensmeier, actor/model

Jason Momoa, actor

Adam Driver, actor/former U.S. Marine

Brie Larson, actress

Brandon Curry, bodybuilder

Christian Guzman, bodybuilder/YouTuber

Bradley Martin, bodybuilder/YouTuber

Kali Muscle, bodybuilder/actor/YouTuber

Nonito Donaire, boxer

Deontay Wilder, boxer

Mary McGee, boxer

Andre Ward, boxer (retired)

Lauren Taylor, CrossFit

Jocko Willink, former Navy SEAL

Cydney Gillon, IFBB professional figure and fitness competitor

Renee Enos, influencer/bodybuilder

Massy Arias, influencer/health and fitness coach

Jen Selter, influencer/fitness model

Lauren Drain, influencer/fitness model

Logan Paul, influencer/WWE wrestler

Jake Paul, influencer/boxer

Mike Trout, MLB

Bryce Harper, MLB

Mark Kolozsvary, MLB

Jesus Ferreira, MLS

Zach LaVine, NBA

Steph Curry, NBA

Seth Curry, NBA

Jimmy Butler, NBA

Jordan Clarkson, NBA

Jeremy Lin, NBA/PLG

Shaquille O’Neal, NBA (retired)

Brock Purdy, NFL

Patrick Mahomes, NFL

Jimmy Garoppolo (“Jimmy G”), NFL

Jalen Hurts, NFL

Joe Burrow, NFL

Josh Allen, NFL

Tyreek Hill, NFL

Phil Kessel, NHL

Becky Sauerbrunn, NWSL

Ariel Torres, Olympic bronze medalist in karate

Nevin Harrison, Olympic gold medalist in canoeing

Jennifer Valente, Olympic gold medalist in cycling

Andrew Capobianco, Olympic gold medalist in diving

Nathan Chen, Olympic gold medalist in figure skating

Alex Hall, Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing

Simone Biles, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Aly Raisman, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Gabby Douglas, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Sunisa “Suni” Lee, Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics

Lindsey Vonn, Olympic gold medalist in skiing

Chloe Kim, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding

Nick Baumgartner, Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding

Katie Ledecky, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Nathan Adrian, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

Michael Cherry, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Rai Benjamin, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Athing Mu, Olympic gold medalist in track and field

Katie Moon, Olympic gold medalist in track and field (pole vault)

David Taylor, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling

Nyjah Huston, professional skateboarder

Matt Ladley, professional snowboarder

Mia Fishel, professional soccer player (Tigres UANL Femenil)

Brian Shaw, professional strongman

Jerry Pritchett, professional strongman

Dom Gabriel (“Dom Cruise”), reality TV star (The Mole/Perfect Match)

Joey Sasso, reality TV star (The Circle/Perfect Match)

Kolohe Andino, surfer

Gemma Nguyen, stunt performer/martial artist (see: Gamology)

Noah Fleder, stunt performer (see: Gamology)

Vincent Bouillon, stunt performer (see: John Wick Chapter 4)

Chris Brewster, stunt performer (see: Daredevil)

Lateef Crowder dos Santos, stunt performer (see: The Mandalorian)

Danica Goodheart, U.S. Army veterinarian and NPC Figure competitor

Colby Covington, UFC

Julianna Peña, UFC

Stipe Miocic, UFC

Dustin Jacoby, UFC

Kelvin Gastelum, UFC

Beneil Dariush, UFC

Max Holloway, UFC

Cub Swanson, UFC

Matt Schnell, UFC

Tatiana Suarez, UFC

Rose Namajunas, UFC

Holly Holm, UFC

Breanna Stewart, WNBA

Candace Parker, WNBA

Roman Reigns, WWE

Dolph Ziggler, WWE

Alexa Bliss, WWE

Cody Rhodes, WWE

Ronda Rousey, WWE/former MMA fighter

Brock Lesnar, WWE/former MMA fighter

Mikhail Varshavski (“Dr. Mike”), YouTuber and amateur boxer

Cassey Ho (“Blogilates”), YouTuber

Adrienne Mishler (“Yoga with Adrienne”), YouTuber

Jeff Cavaliere (“ATHLEAN-X”), YouTuber/bodybuilder

[angelkitty32001]

psychology and generation

Psychology - can I say both? I want storytelling AND high impact moves! Sometimes a match for match's sake is fine and dandy, but I like it best when there is some storytelling. It's the stories that hook me in, where is X going? What is Y fighting for? Who will Z face next? What does the gear mean? And so on.

High impact moves always make me go "Yay", I love the high flying and the flipping and all the things that make me go "Oh my dear gods, what the actual fuck!!", but it can feel a bit like a flying saucer (sweet comprising of rice paper in the shape of an alien spaceship with sherbet inside), delicious but not long lasting.

Generation - I'm going to cop out and say this one. We've got incredible work coming out of both main NA promotions. Big shows are being held in the UK and the UK indies are benefitting. There's interesting characters and storylines. The merch is good 😉 It's not perfect - so much could be done with the women's roster in BOTH big promotions, but it's so much better than what came before.

The internet makes things like watching Nooj, and finding other fans easier. I was so lonely as a fan in 91-94, I was the only person at school who watched wrestling (and I was bullied for it), at home it was my brother (who was more into the NFL) and the obnoxious boy next door (who we totally used for his Sky TV, computer games and pool - don't feel sorry for him, he was revolting). I knew there were other fans, cos there were 3 magazines in Smiths (WWF Magazine, PWI and The Wrestler), but as a 13-17 yr old, it wasn't like I could go out and find them. Plus they were nearly all dudes.

This time, I've got my delightful mutuals on here, there are people on the Twitter, there's Discord and group chats on FB. I don't feel anywhere near as alone. Definitely the best part about wrestling fandom for me now is finding you wonderful humans on here ❤️

[imaginyimagines]

Unexpected Reunion - Ch. 3

A/N: I was inspired by @let-me-love-you-loki​ and her amazing fics and I decided to write out the fictions I wanted to, for me. This is an AU pairing of my main OC Sabrina ‘Rina’ McMahon and Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks! I also tried going back and forth between perspectives for the first time!  

Chapter 1     Chapter 2

Rina Sadly our time in Japan went much faster than I would have liked. We were back in Los Angeles, about to go our separate ways. I'd made some plans with an old friend before I knew I would become so close with AJ's new group of buds. I'd made a reservation at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, and seeing as I wasn't ready to say goodbye, I'd upgraded to their suite to have room for everyone. As we pulled up to the property, all of their eyes glazed over. I giggled as the driver opened the door and stepped out first. "Thanks again for agreeing to let me cover this. I'd made this reservation before I knew I was making new friends. I got the suite, though!" The guys piled out, still in awe. "Hello? Guys?" I snapped my fingers a few times, and Nick finally made eye contact with me.

"Wow," He said with a very grateful smile.

"I hope you enjoy some much-needed R and R with the amenities here; you guys deserve it after this tour. I've been tired for you!" Everyone laughed as they followed me into the hotel and across the hyper-polished marble floors. I checked in, and a bellhop appeared with a cart for our bags. The guys seemed reluctant, but I insisted they enjoy every part of the experience. With my open Louis Vuitton wallet still in hand, I handed the man a folded-up bill with a smile.

"Thank you, Ms. McMahon. I'll have these up to the suite shortly. Enjoy your stay with us," I gave him a nod and smile and herded the boys off towards the gleaming elevators. Once inside, I zipped up my wallet and shoved it back into my purse.

"Louis Vuitton? Fancy now, Rina," AJ teased.

"Nattie loves all things LV. These were Christmas gifts. She also got all my animals LV collars." I shook my head but smiled at the memory.

"Animals?" Matt looked up from his phone.

"I have a dog and two cats. Oh, and a tarantula." I suddenly felt five pairs of eyes on me. "What?"

"A spider? As a pet, really?" Matt seemed incredulous.

"Tempestia is a doll, I promise. She has this cute little castle that she lives in. But I keep her in my office because not everyone is fond of the eight-legged friends." The guys nodded, seemingly mollified by this. Once we reached the top, we exited the elevator, and finding the large door; I opened it with a flourish. "Welcome home for the next few days, gentlemen," They walked inside in awe; the room was large and airy. Two large sectional couches spread across the living room in front of a large flat-screen television. A daybed stood behind it and off to the side, just beside the door that led to the balcony. Two more beds had been set up near the on-suite bathroom in the other half of the room. There was also a separate bedroom that was, of course, the star of the suite. The walls were cream-colored, as was all of the bedding. Gold accent pillows dotted everywhere with brushed stainless steel hardware on the tables. The guys also didn't know what to do with themselves, so I busied myself with a routine.

I slid behind Nick and Matt, entered the suite bedroom, and put my bag down. Letting my hair down with a shake, I kicked off my shoes and stripped out of my socks. I hummed to myself as I went back into the main living area and threw open the doors to the balcony. The California light breeze hit me, and I stood there admiring the view.

Nick My brother and I had never stayed anywhere so fancy in our entire lives. She seemed at home, though, knowing how to speak to the staff and slipped cash to the man who took our bags. Of course, her wallet was designer brand, but she explained it was another wrestler who gave it to her. The look on her face when she talked about her pets, even a tarantula, was soft. She breezed us down the hallway and into a giant room. Holy crap. I stood frozen, along with Matt and AJ. Again she seemed at home, claiming a bed and getting comfortable. I looked over as she stood in front of the now open doors to the balcony, and my heart stopped before stuttering back to life. She looked over her shoulder, and our eyes met. The smile that touched her lips just about knocked me sideways, and all I could do was grin like an idiot. When her phone broke the silence, I was about to ask her a question. I soon recognized the lyrics as Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne.

"Hang on," She fished the phone out of her pocket, looking at the phone with a smile. "Hello, hello, Tommy!" She answered in a sing-song manner before wandering out onto the balcony. Whoever this Tommy was made her very happy. I pursed my lips as I was unsure what to make of this. The jealousy immediately bubbled up in my stomach, even though I had no right to be. My brother, ever the annoyingly observant older brother, smacked me in the chest. I shook my head to clear it unsuccessfully, and we both went about settling down and getting comfortable.

Rina The phone rang through the picturesque silence; of course, he was calling already. "Hello, hello, Tommy!" I greeted.

"Hello, yourself. Did you get here yet?"

"Of course I did, or my phone wouldn't be on. Staying in Beverly Hills."

"There's this amazing new Italian restaurant I know you would love. We should go; I'd love to take you,"

"Is it fancy?"

"The fanciest, just up your alley."

"The only kind of restaurant I didn't bring clothes for!"

"What do you mean?"

"I just got back from a wrestling trip, Tom. I don't have anything nice with me."

"Well, that sounds like a simple problem, Rina."

"I'd need your wife! She's my fashion consultant."

"What do you mean?" He asked with a laugh.

"I'd need her to go shopping with me; I don't know what looks good on me. I don't think anything looks good on me."

"Well, I think I can serve that role; I know what looks good on you. Think of it as a new bonding experience, I insist."

"Only if you pay for the shoes," I grinned wickedly.

"Christian Louboutin, it is; get ready; I'll pick you up in a couple of hours."

After exchanging I love yous, I hung up and went back into the suite.

"Hey, guys?" They were sprawled out, two on beds and three on the couch. "Would you be okay without me if my friend Tom stole me for a couple of hours?"

"Ooh, the infamous Tom. What's he want?" AJ asked as he walked over to me.

"He wants to take me to this Italian place, but I don't meet the dress code. Chi-chi. So he's gotta take me shopping," I brushed AJ's growing hair from his eyes.

"Hmm, I suppose we can spare you," He drawled out dramatically.

"Good because he's on his way! And I'm getting new shoes. He's paying too."

"Ouch. Tom is not even your husband, and you have him whipped," I giggled at that remark.

"Being the ex-turned-best-friend has its perks," I settled on the couch between Kenny and Nick.

Nick As she explained who this mystery Tom was, my stomach unclenched. She sat beside me, folding her legs up neatly.

"Any uh, special perks?" Kenny asked her, to which she cackled.

"Never. That ship sailed fifteen-plus years ago. Besides, Tom is married to a literal supermodel. You don't trade in a Lamborghini for a Ford," That comparison made my face wrinkle. Did she really somehow think of herself as anything less than a goddess? Did she not see what she could do to people? I reached out and brushed her arm.

"So you're saying you're built Ford Tough?" I tried to make her at least crack a smile at the bad joke.

"Something like that," She mused, half her lips cracking upward. "Why don't we hit the beach before I have to spend all of Thomas' money?" She changed the subject smoothly, resting a hand on her neck. Everyone cheered before splitting off to get ready. I put my hand on her knee and rubbed it gently.

"I think you're beautiful," I said softly. The rush of red to her cheeks was delightful to watch, and then she put her hand on mine.

"Thank you. You're pretty handsome yourself, Nick." She squeezed my hand before getting up and disappearing into her room. The boys stripped down and got into shorts, whereas she emerged later in a one-piece swimsuit and tied a cover-up around her hips.

Rina

The gang hung out enjoying some complimentary snacks while I waited for Tom to arrive to pick me up in the lobby. Once we'd finished at the beach, I changed into some comfortable jeans and a Property of New England cropped t-shirt. I was tucked up in a corner, Nick at my side along with his brother Matt. My phone pinged from its spot on the table. I was only expecting one person to message me since all my other friends were scattered around me at the moment. I pushed up on my legs and saw a simple 'Pulling up now' before hopping to my feet. I looked up at the doors and saw all six feet four inches of the California dream boy that was my best friend breeze into the hotel lobby. Before I knew it, I was taking off across the marbled floors and ran into him at full speed.

He caught me with a laugh and twirled me around. "It's been far too long, Rin."

"I'm glad we agree, Thomas. Now put me down!" I giggled, not caring how loud.

"Shall we?"

"Meet my friends first?" I took his hand and pulled him back towards the guys, frozen in the lounge area.

"Sure," I towed him along back over to the gang.

"Guys, this is Tom. Tom, this is AJ, Kenny, Adam, Matt, and Nick. Guys, this is Tom, one of my very best friends." I pointed each man out, and I couldn't help that my smile got bigger once I got to Nick's name.

"Hey, a pleasure to meet ya," Tom waved with his trademark winning smile. Everyone stared for a good thirty seconds.

"Guys? Are we alive?"

"You're Tom Brady!" Matt exclaimed, to which Tom and I both laughed.

"Excellent observation, Matt. Yes, Mr. Brady is a friend. And soon to be much poorer," I reminded him gleefully. Tom shook his head with a smile as I handed out hugs. "See you guys later, don't have too much fun without me." I saved Nick for last and didn't quite want to let go. Tom cleared his throat. I let go sheepishly, avoiding the eyes of everyone before looping my arm through Tom's and following him out of the lobby. We climbed into the waiting SUV and settled into the backseat.

"So, how long have you liked him?" Tom asked me point-blank.

[g4zdtechtv]

FULL EPISODE: X-Play - Skinny Man & Dead Meat Meet Ted Danson

Includes a Battlefield 1942 Star Wars mod that predated DICE making their own Star Wars Battlefront!

[izzymcfeegles]

Yet another post about Sebastian Stan:

I'm seriously tired of making these posts, but over the past few days, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Sebastian's most recent IG post, and as a result,more things are resurfacing and its become impossible for me to ignore. I'm going to try my best to give a fair assessment, but if I'm being honest, this all appears to be a pretty troublesome pattern of behavior. Before I get into any of that, I think it's important to mention where I stand on cancel culture. As someone who is a longtime fan of wrestling and classic rock, I'm no stranger to seeing some of my favorite artists act in ways that would be considered unacceptable by today's standards. I do think that stan Twitter has a tendency to be a bit harsh when it comes to judging things that people have done in the past. That being said:

Context is important. The reality is that there were many things that were considered to be socially acceptable at one point in time, that we've since learned can be harmful, particularly to those who are marginalized on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. Something that was considered to be acceptable 2005, we later find can be toxic and harmful. Do I think it's productive to cancel for someone for something they did decades ago that was considered to be acceptable at the time? Not necessarily. However, if this person continues to exhibit the same behaviors to this day, then yes, they should be rightfully taken to task.

In Sebastian's case, he has a documented history of saying and doing things that are ignorant and tone-deaf. In the early 2010's he made an comment about playing Bucky as a "transvestite," a word that is considered to be dated and offensive to Trans people. If I'm being honest, if I saw the interview the date it aired, I probably wouldn't have blinked twice as I was not as educated on Trans issues at that time. I now know that the comment was unacceptable and hope Sebastian does too.

Regarding the Jeff!Seb pedo memes, I'd be lying if I said my edgy 2009 self wouldn't have found them funny at one point, however in 2017, my adult self was not amused. And coming from someone who was playing an abuser at the time, liking those memes was a bad look. Same goes for the Kneegate meme, especially when you consider the amount of hatred black NFL players were receiving from people including the President of the United States for kneeling in protest during the national anthem. It was tasteless, tone-deaf, and he should have known better. The fact that his "apology" over the incident was surrounded by quotes, and as some fans speculated, copied and pasted did not help matters. Mind you, many fans were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and forgive him, and for a while things seemed okay.

Fast forward to 2020. After the man made it a point to shame Miami spring breakers for vacationing during the pandemic, he is seen months later vacationing in Ibiza and later Tulum. The fact that he used his money and Romanian passport to go on vacation while many of us were either stuck at home or worse, putting our lives at risk to put food on the table, understandably did not sit well with many people, especially when taking his previous comments about pandemic vacationers into account. The fact that his traveling partner is a socialite who has a history of doing cultural appropriation, including doing brown face and using the word "savage" in reference to her friend doing a native war cry made it sting even more. I'm not going to go into depth about her because she doesn't deserve the attention and this is about holding Sebastian accountable, but the fact that he is still with her and they appear to be inseparable, it's clear that her history of CA is a non-issue for him. Make what you will of that.

Moving to recent actions. The current project Sebastian is working on is controversial in its own right. As someone who has been a Mötley Crüe fan for almost 20 years, I am familiar with the history of that relationship and how toxic is was and will never defend Tommy and the abuse Pamela suffered at his hand. While my issue is mostly with the producers, it doesn't change the fact Sebastian and Lily are still willfully participating in a series that Pamela herself does not wish to be made.

Sebastian's most recent post seems to be catalyst for the most recent wave of Twitter outrage. I am well aware that Tommy is/was a practicing Buddhist and that things like Buddha statues were part of his home decor. That's not the issue. The issue lies in the face Sebastian chose to make in the photo where he appears to be prying to the statue, along with the caption "find your zen fuckerz." Once again, I am aware of Tommy's speech patterns and get that it was "in character," but to use the combination of that photo and that caption as a non-Buddhist, it's understandable why some Buddhist fans were offended and saw it as disrespectful. And as a non-Buddist, I don't think it's right to tell these people what they should and should not be offended by.

So for those of you who hate paragraphs, TL/DR:

Sebastian has a documented history of ignorant behavior and posts and as of now does not seem to be interested in addressing these things and learning about why the aforementioned behaviors are problematic and why some fans are hurt. This is not okay and we should not be defending him.

I understand that for many of you, he has been a source of joy. Bucky is still my comfort character and I will always be grateful to Seb for portraying the him with the nuance and care he deserves. I'm not asking anyone to stop staning Bucky or to take down your Seb x Reader fanfics. Life is short and you're entitled to the things that make you happy. Just understand that his actions have hurt a lot of people and why fans are upset and lashing out. While I do not condone any threats or doxxing aimed at his direction, the same goes to people who criticize him. I've seen people go to some vile lengths to defend him, from going after Pamela, a victim of abuse, to telling Buddhists how they should feel about their own religion, to anons telling the blogs who call him out to go kill themselves. None of this is ok. At the end of the day, Sebastian is a 38-year-old white man who has a great deal of money and influence and has more social capital than the people calling him out. He will be fine regardless of what happens and does not need people to protect him. The same cannot be said about the people he hurt through his actions.

[optimistic-dinosaur-nacho]

My Patriot

*Gif not mine

Chris Evans x Daughter!Reader

Warnings: Slight injury, One curse word Summary: Your high school was able to allow girl’s to join football. Being around a football fan who happens to be your dad, he taught you the ropes in your freshman year, you made it to the Varsity squad your Sophomore year and your last game turned out to be a disaster at first but you made it a win.

A/N: I’ve wanted to join football after being in marching band and hearing from my guy friends (football players) who offered me to join. But I think I rather play in a band than be a low-life football player. Basketball is better along with baseball. Marching band may not be a sport to some but it is to me.

Amazing dividers by @whimsicalrogers​ I guess I lost the fan for 49ers and Raiders, I became a Patriot. 

Senior year was one of the most stressful and overwhelming. The season was at its end and it was gonna be one of your last games before you take on your wrestling season in February. This last game was gonna be one of the most powerful games of all. The last ones should always make it worth. Show that the Boston Reds were no match for the Spartans. 

You took football since you were a freshman.

One of the worst decisions you made but you’ve learned to become the first quarterback as a girl. A woman if you might add. Living in a family who were into football, you were the only oldest grandchild in the family. And only one person out of your family approved it. Your dad, Chris Evans.

Your grandma, Lisa didn’t like the idea and almost slapped the back of her son’s head while Scott came to every game with a box of bandages and water. 

Your dad and Scott were part of the football volunteers. They would stand on the sidelines, help your teammates with water, Gatorade, courage and support. Chris wasn’t your coach, no, but he did coach you at home if you needed it. You two on the weekends would go out jogging, try out new healthy foods, always took you to your school and practice some throws out in the field, since they did allow the field to be a public place at some times.

You loved your dad, more than you loved football. There were times where he wasn’t there, but Scott and your aunts were there to record your touchdowns and take downs. 

You had a couple friends on the team, almost half of them were part of the marching band up in the bleachers.

The boys on your team always supported you. Not only because you were practically Captain America’s daughter, they knew you were the best out of all of them. They treated you as an equal. Which was a good feeling to have. You were tall and strong. You weren’t positive this was gonna be a career after you graduate. It was something to do and have for the rest of your life. Something to have fun with.

Chris didn’t expect you to continue this football thing, he knew you would start something better. He was just proud to see you out in the field doing something to prove anyone could do any sport no matter what they looked like. 

School was just about to end and you pulled out your phone after you felt it buzz. A message sent towards you, you opened it and saw the message.

Dad Few minutes away. 

You grinned while shaking your head. He always wanted to be there for your training just after school. You assumed Uncle Scott would be there before your game starts. Your dad was there early to make sure what the team had and didn’t. He was a volunteer anyway.

The bell rung and you stood up, walking over to your locker. Once you got it open, someone pats your back. A random guy who nods at you, “Good luck at the game!” You smiled softly with a nod and reached in to look for your large water bottle. 

You cursed under your breath. You must’ve left it at home. You closed your locker and made your way to the side building where the footballers were gathering up. Everyone wore their jerseys with their numbers. On a game day, every sport player should wear their jerseys through the school day and you had yours on.

Your coach comes in and claps his hands, “All right, everyone. Let’s get out there fast! The other team is coming in few minutes, take the field. Coach Henderson will be separating groups and I want good spirit out there! Let’s go!” Everyone in the room went their own ways, most of them heading to the locker room for their gear. You went to a separate room and got your things on alone. 

Even for a girl, you couldn’t get ready in the boys locker room, of course. You slipped on your shoulder gear and slipped your jersey on over it. Your skin tight pants with pads over your knees, your cleats on real tight. You put your phone in the locker and closed it, taking your helmet and rushed out to the field. 

“All right ladies! Let’s line up.”

You rushed around the corner and almost bumped into someone, they shout, “Woah. Easy there, hey!” Your dad says with a grin, your eyes widen and you let out a laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t see you.” Your dad takes your helmet by the bars of your facemask and lifts it up to see small strands fall over your face. He grins, “Maybe put on your helmet after you get to the sidelines.” 

You smiled and saw in his hand that he had your water bottle. “You found it!” You said, Chris lifts it up and nods. “That’s not the only reason why I came.” You furrowed your brows, “I thought you had a flight to Los Angeles?”

Chris lifted up his shoulders, “I can’t miss a final game in your lifetime, now could I? Besides even if you did NFL, your grandma would be pulling at our ears.” You smiled and took the bottle from his hand, giving him a large hug as he lets out a huff. He lightly chuckles and hugs you back just as tight. He shakes you a little, “Now, go out there and practice. I’ll be around, Scott will be around before the game. I love you.”

You pulled away and slipped on your helmet, “I love you too.”

Your coach called you in and you made your way over. With a nod of approval, you took that and followed your team onto the field. Warming up your shoulders, tossing your throws and kicks. Chris stood on the sideline, arms crossed as he chatted with your coach. You stretched your legs and slammed into a couple of your teammates to get yourself warmed up for this last game.

The families began to stack the whole bleachers, people with balloons, you knew your whole family will be here. Especially for your last game as a senior. They would start introducing the seniors. Half of your team were seniors and they were really supportive of you.

You thought they just liked your dad around. You saw what looked like your family. Lisa, Scott, and the sisters along with your cousins. They were waving at you from the bottom of the bleachers. You look over to Chris who waves you over from the sidelines and you rushed over to him and walked over to the fam.

“Hey! Sweetheart!” You smile big and hugged Lisa first, who gave you large kisses on your head. You hugged your two aunts, Shanna and Carly, your cousins Ethan, Stella and Miles. They started to admire your gear while Stella held onto you like a koala, ‘cause she loved you. Being her only girl cousin, you always did dolls and makeup while you did football and tag with the boys.

You started to hear the marching band play and you turn around. Chris nods, “You’re up, #4.” You grin and slipped on your helmet while the family waited. Usually on Senior games, they’d always read off what these seniors wrote for their last year and the family follows them down the row with balloons and large posters.

After the short time of the marching bands introduction to the field and the national anthem, the band makes a aisle for the senior families to walk down. They let a couple cheerleaders down the aisle, everyone following behind the senior friend. 

They did that for more students till it was your turn.

Your team were very chaotic so they began to cheer your name. “Evans! Evans!” They shout, you couldn’t help but laugh at them. “Now, quarterback on the football team, number 4 on the field. Y/N Evans.” You feel a couple of your team chant your name as you walked down the aisle with your dad by your side. The man on the speakers began to read your last words for your senior year and you were just lucky to be here.

After they represented every senior, the game was starting. You felt like your dad in Not Another Teen Movie, Jake Wyler, quarterback asshole jock. It was a hilarious movie. Chris stood by the sidelines and watched you stand behind your teammates. 

You hear your teammate yell hut and you run forward to catch the ball i your hand. Guarding it in your arm, you head to the right. Then you feel a harsh jab to your back. The referee blows his whistle and you stand up. Okay, you knew some were quick. 

Your teammate helps you up and you glance across the field, watching your dad give you a thumbs up while shouting, “You okay?” You replied with a pair of thumbs up and he gives you a nod. The team sets up by the yard line where you fell.

The teams began to line up in their positions and you bent your knees. Breathing slowly, you focused on the directions you could go. Maybe throw it to one of your teammates who could be open. “Hut!” You catch the ball and aimed it, your defenders are slamming into the others.

You catch your teammate with his arms open. You imagined him being your dad in your backyard. With a large throw, the ball darts towards your teammate and he catches it smoothly before charging for the end of the field. You see him reach the end and the crowd in the bleachers cheer on. You couldn’t help but grin.

This was gonna be a good game.

Halftime was gone and you were slightly behind the other team. A couple touchdowns, you could make an easy win. A kick to the goal post could do you some good. You were almost close to exhaustion. You hear your coach call you guys in and the referees give you guys two minutes. 

Running over to the coach. He began to explain a plan and you followed every single order. Once he broke the team, your dad hands you your water bottle. “You need to hydrate, sweetheart.”

You grin, lifting up your helmet a bit to pour water into your mouth. You gotten a lot of sips in and slid your helmet back down. The referees call you back in and your team positioned on the field.

You see that the team had slightly larger guys than the last ones. You needed to run pass them. You hear the shout and the ball comes into your hands. Your feet pick up and you took a sharp turn that causes your ankle to lock and you feel someone tackle you to the ground.

A large hit to the ground, your helmet bounces off the ground and you feel the player get off you. You breath in harshly and hear someone say, “Are you okay?” You roll onto your hands and knees, instantly feeling someone’s hands on you. “Hey, hey. Don’t stand up, yet. Take it easy. Honey, are you okay?” You hear your dad ask, you nod your head, not bothering to speak. 

Your arm gets pulled up and Chris helps you onto your feet again. He leans over, “Hey? Look at me? Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah. Can I just sit down for a second?” Your dad didn’t refuse or hesitate. He helps you over to the bench and gives your family a thumbs up to know you were okay. He cups your helmet, “Can I take this off? It’ll help you breath better.” You nod and he slips it off your head. Your coach calls in a replacement onto the field and you lowered your head.

You lift your head up, “Coach, I’m sorry, I-” The coach gently shook his head. “It’s okay, Evans. You did good. You rest.” You felt embarrassed, being a woman and falling on the field made everyone lose hope in you. Your dad puts his hand on your shoulder, “Hey. You did good halfway through. I’m proud of you.”

You smiled up at him and watched as the team struggled to push through. No one scored and it just kept going back and forth. The coach calls out the last break. You needed to jump back in. Taking your helmet, you stand up and run over to the team circle.

You lean in, “Coach. Put me back in.” Your coach stared at you in disbelief till Chris jumps up. “No, you need to rest-”

“Please, dad. I know I can do this. I’m okay, now.” Chris looks up to the coach who does as well. Silently the two nod and your coach looks over. “All right. Y/N’s back in position. Stay strong and remember the plans.” The team breaks and you slid on your helmet. Standing in position, you breathed in slowly. You felt the memories come flooding into your head.

“You got this,” You hear your dad’s voice.

The shout breaks your position as you dart for the ball and grab it. You turn to the side and see a player in front of you. You realize he’s going to dive. It felt like slow-motion once he began to dive toward you. Your legs lift up and you hop over him like nothing. The crowd screams as you run for the touchdown yard line. 

Your team runs over and almost tackles you to the ground. They chant your name and your dad runs over. “Yes!” He shouts, too proud of a dad, he takes you off your feet and holds the back of your helmet, laughing uncontrollably. You laugh happily as he takes off your helmet and pulls your head to his chest. 

“I’m so fucking proud of you!” He says, you pull away and your team gives you a large hug. The team ended with a win and you were proud to take step back into the field. And your dad was happy to put your trophy on the fireplace.

Official Taglist:

@jtargaryen18​ @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​ @donutloverxo​ @axen-gers​ @captainchrisbaby​ @patzammit​ @bucksgoat​ @la-cey​ @void-hoechlin​ @lovepeacefood​ @stargazingfangirl18​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ @stop-obsessing-over-those-actors​ @star-spangled-beard-burn​​ @nickysurfer28​ @nbarnes​ @mcntsee​​ @adriannajackson​​ @chuckbass-love​​ @sebbystanlover-vk​​ @onetwo3000​​ @captainamerica-is-bae​​ @cheeseburgersstuff​​ @iguessweallcrazyithinktho​​ @rororo06​​ @elliee1497​​ @navybrat817​​ @waywardodysseys​​ @just-one-ordinary-fangirl​​ @chris-evans-indian-fanfic​​ @this-is-a-chilis-drive-thru​​ @what-is-your-plan-today​​ @princess-evans-addict​

[filmforager]

One Night in Miami: Review

Not so hidden figures

There is a scene early on in One Night in Miami that perfectly captures what the film is getting at. Visiting an old friend in the South of America, African-American NFL player Jim Brown (Aldi’s Hodge) is praised for all of his work on the field, but is then left speechless when the same man says he can’t have any black people in his house. This tension between celebrity and race relations is at the heart of Regina King’s powerful directorial debut, which presents a complex portrayal of both its subject and its larger-than-life black icons.

Drawing its story from its critically acclaimed stage play by Kemp Powers, the film quickly gets us acquainted with our main players - NFL star Jim Brown, who is considering a career change to acting, boxer Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), later Muhammad Ali, celebrated jazz singer Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and political activist Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir). After the surprise boxing victory of Cassius over Sonny Liston in 1964, it imagines what might have gone down when the four men came together to celebrate in a motel in Miami, and ended up discussing their different levels of involvement in the civil rights movement.

For a film based on fiction, One Night in Miami feels incredibly authentic. As it was originally a play, the film is essentially one long dialogue set within one space, but the schisms between them are believable and engaging enough to convince you it actually happened. Much of this division comes down to Malcolm X, who encourages his commercially minded friends to use their celebrity to help fight the white man, while he wrestled with his on fateful decision to leave the Nation of Islam.

Given that there is a lot of talking, it helps that King has found a stunning cast - all relative newcomers - who prove more than up to the challenge of bringing these legends to life. Ben-Adir may have had to deal with the shadow of Washington’s Oscar-winning portrayal, but he manages to craft a performance that stands up in its own right. Nailing Malcolm’s speech pattern and sense of righteousness, he also communicates the paranoia, frustration and torment that the man was going through near the end of his life, delivering impassioned speeches that the man himself might have been proud of. As Clay, Goree effortlessly captures the arrogance and swagger of the man before he made his conversion to Islam, so much that at one point he is referred to as a “giant fucking baby”. They might not be as central to the plot, but Odom Jr. also leaves a lasting impression as the smooth-talking Cooke, while Hodge impressed with a quiet yet impactful performance as the more reserved Brown.

There isn’t much in the way of event, and if you are expecting any drama, you might leave feeling slightly short changed. However, as a moment in time that precedes major changes in social attitudes, One Night in Miami remains a truly fascinating watch. King, in her first film as director, shows a strong grasp of the themes of the play, using the differences between these four men to explore the nature of celebrity, and how much responsibility comes with it. It makes for some arresting arguments and squabbles - particularly that between Malcolm and Cooke, who finds himself accused of making music to please white people, rather than helping liberate his own people. However, it also finds time for moments of surprising levity, like when one character interjects a heated discussion with “Malcolm will you please have some damn ice cream?”. Lending a sense of levity to its thought-provoking subject matter, it is a perfect film for our dark times.

Exploring the difficult line between celebrity and social responsibility, King’s directorial debut is as assured as they come - thoughtful, funny and perfectly performed by its leading quartet.

★★★★

[believeitseeitdoit]

Sunday Surprises

Summary: Week one of regular NFL season is always entertaining, but this year is extra special for you and Seb.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Author Notes: Ummmm Hi, this is my first little ‘published’ fic, please be kind (or brutal it’s fine).  I'm only motivated enough to post this because @thebescht and Evan Williams are brave. For reference, the dog here is based on my moose, a 100lb Black English Lab, I might make a moldboard to go with this idk, I might also delete this soooo cool thanks bye. 

You sit on the ottoman, twiddling your phone in your hands waiting for Sebastian to find his coat. Jax bounces around the rest of the grey leather couch, disturbing the abundance of blasted throw pillows your mother insisted you buy when she first visited your’s and Seb’s apartment in Boston. Somehow, Jax hasn’t completely destroyed the merlot and sand throws, just a sprinkle of black fur littering their patterns.  A quick ping rings out from your phone, accompanied by rapid fire vibrations buzzing up your thumbs, notifying you that Chris has sent yet another “are y’all coming yet” text.

“Babe, kick off is in 30 mintues! I will not be late to the first watch party of the season because you can’t find your one pair of Pats socks just to appease Chris!” You holler towards the bedroom where Seb is inevitably wasting time to avoid being in a room with multiple football obsessed humans.

“Y/N, I swear they were in the drawer and now they’re gone! Did you wash them or give them to Jax?” Seb playfully questions back from the depths of his closet. You know full well the socks are already on his feet. Hopping off the ottoman, you grab the dog’s leash and your jacket as motivation to move your boyfriend along. The hardwood floors creak as you walk through the kitchen, narrowly missing the island with your hip bones and whistling to Jax so he can bound to Seb and investigate the slowdown.

“Seb, seriously, can we just go? It’s not like Chris will give two shakes about your socks. He’ll be too busy complaining about my disgrace of a jersey to be disappointed in your not-actually-missing socks,” you sigh as you wander back to the bedroom and lean against the door frame, feigning annoyance.

“Fair point, Y/N. He won’t even get near you in your Seahawks jersey; bad juju or something,” Seb spins around and strides over to the walkway, reaching around your waist and tucking you into his side while he jokes. As you travel back up the hall to the front door, you look at the pictures hanging from the walls, more of your mother’s visiting touches. All perfectly angled and spaced down the walkway and throughout the living room, moments from your lives together and alone. One of you with a client’s daughter back in Seattle brings a fond memory of your time with youngsters and your retired lesson horse to the front of your mind. Determined not to cry, you sniffle and hustle the boys out the door.

Finally ready, supposedly lucky Patriots socks on his feet, Sebastian gathers his sunglasses and car keys while you hook Jax up to his harness and wander down to the car. The oversized labrador flings himself into the backseat of your Xterra. Seb catches you for a kiss on the cheek before starting the car and heading across town to Evans’ place.

“Remind me why we’re going to this again? We could just as easily watch the game in our living room and not have to hear him and Anthony scream at the TV for two hours of the Pats winning… again..” Seb whines.

“Because, A: I’ll be yelling too and you would complain either way. B: Chris always hosts Sunday Night Football, we host Monday, that’s how it’s worked since he learned I love the game, babe. And C: you love me so…. Also you know the sex is always better after a good screaming match between me, Chris, and the TV.”

“That last one is so not a reason but I’ll let it slide because the sex is always great. Did you tell Chris we’re bringing Jax or are you just assuming he and Dodger will leave everyone to mind their own business?” Seb asks as the black moose tries to climb over his arm onto the center console and into your lap.

“I texted him about it last week. He said it was fine. Plus, they’ll make each other tired so we don’t have to take him on a run tonight. More time for activities,” you giggle as you shove the dog back into his territory and wiggle your eyebrows in Seb’s direction.

“You are so smart, you know that? Better knock on wood he doesn’t interrupt again like last week with the damn light up ball.”

“Hey , you bought him that so I take zero blame. Turn up at the corner. There’s a spot to park right there,” pointing to an empty space just a few doors down from Chris’ place.

You climb out and grab Jax while Seb grabs the case of beer from the back and start up the steps, laughing at the obnoxious yells already coming from his stairwell. The door’s unlocked the way it always is when you have watch parties, so Seb turns the knob and Jax goes bounding through the hall in search of the noises after you drop his leash. A resounding “oof” and various yelps of “dammit, Jax” and “hey, buddy!” make you burst into a fit of laughter as you and Seb round into the kitchen. Spying Mackie on the floor with Jax square on top of him, you reach around to help him up, only to have Dodger come bouncing out from behind the island and toppling you over next to him, leading everyone into a second bout of laughter.

“Boys, off! Jesus Chris, teach your kid some manners,” you jokingly chide as you hop up and start greeting the harem standing around the kitchen island.

“You say that like your’s is so trained,” Chris sighs humorously as Jax launches his front paws onto the counter to swipe a piece of cheese. You shove him off and toss a rogue chunk of cheddar in his general vicinity, giggling at Chris’ hand motions toward the dog.

“At least he knows what he wants,” you shrug and grab a cube for yourself and snicker. “What did you expect from oversized bear cub? Seb feeds him off the table all the time.”

“Excuse me, he was your dog first, and you started that. I just can’t be the asshole who denies him!” Seb shouts from inside the fridge while he digs for a beer that didn’t just come out of a roasting car.

“Alright, this is fun, but can we actually turn the game on now? Kick off should be in five and I need to judge this rendition of the National Anthem beforehand,” Anthony interrupts the dog banter while heading to the connected living room.

Jeremy nods and lifts his beer in agreement from the barstool to your left, adding, “Just turn it up and we can watch from here. Y/N, grab yourself something and lets catch up for a minute. Tell me about the ways you plan to ensure the Seahawks somehow take it all this year.”

You lift your Yeti and aim the straw at Seb in response, “I’ll stick to water, gotta be functional enough to get this lightweight home tonight. Russell’s got a better O-line this year starting out. If he can whip his runners into shape for the long passing game we’ll be knocking on the playoff door easy. So long as Pete has mustered up a good, fresh defensive line, they can block anything and everything from here to New England.”

Seb makes his way around the kitchen to you and reaches around to bear hug you. “Babe, you’ve never denied yourself at least one beer at a game. What did I miss? I am also not a lightweight. It was Jaeger and it was ONE TIME!” He leans into your back and continues to hold you with one arm and reaches for a chip. “And, we were all drunk. It wasn’t just me. Chris was puking for hours when we got home that night. Mackie was passed out on the couch. Downey had to play sorority sister and hold Chris up. At least I was responsible enough to call you to come get me!”

“Actually, Robert had already called me and I was on my way, Honey, but whatever you say. I’m fine, really, just a little nauseated from your terrible driving skills. Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be golden.” You turn around in Seb’s arms and soak in his warmth while reassuring him you aren’t reaching imminent death. “Now, let’s go watch shitty football!” You slip under his arm and drag him toward the leather sectional where Chris and Anthony were trying to convince Jax and Dodger to not wrestle in front of the game.

“I heard that! Oh, c’mon! Boys, out! Go play in my room. I need to see what BS call the ref has made already,” Chris yelled as he launched a squeaky ball down the hallway towards his master bedroom for the dogs to chase. You jump to the side so you don’t get taken out again at the knees and Seb pulls you down to curl up into his lap in the long corner of the couch.

“You just assume it’s bull because you think every ref has it out for Tom Brady since ‘deflategate’. The tight end was clearly over the line of scrimmage before the ball moved!” You shoot a playful slap at his arm as you shout agreeance with the ref’s call.

First quarter turns to second and as half time creeps closer, you still feel queasy. It comes in random waves that are just enough to make you curl into yourself tighter and feel a small spark of fear for Chris’ upholstery, but not enough to leave.

Seb notices you shift your hands into you stomach and prods for answers.“Babe, seriously, you have a body of steel. You didn’t eat anything crazier than usual yesterday and you actually haven’t eaten much today from what I’ve seen. Are you okay? Do you need anything? Do you want to go home? No -- I know that’s a dumb question. I just don’t want you getting sicker here cuz you hate being sick in front of people.”

“I’m fine, just -- jimminy christmas trees what did you eat? It fricken smells Seb. Get away, go get some listerine or something, please,” you shove him off of you as whatever forsaken food wafts into your nose, throwing you over the edge. By luck, you make it to the spare bathroom in time to dry heave and throw up whatever water and miniscule amount of crackers were in your system.

“Ungh, shit. This is going to be a long season,” you mutter into the porcelain throne of misery. Adding a grunt of effort, you lift yourself up to rinse your mouth out and splash some water onto your face. “Maybe this was a one time thing. Maybe I won’t be riddled with this for three months or so. I’m 100% going to be fine,” you tell yourself while staring into the mirror, trying hard to convince yourself that it was a fluke and morning sickness wasn’t real.

“Y/N, you ok? I’m sorry the chips smelled weird. I think Mackie switched them out. Hey, you look a little pale. You need to go lay down?” Seb rattles off concerns and gives you a visual once over when you open the bathroom door and make your way back into the kitchen.

“Seriously, Y/N, you look like you might fall over on us. Please, the guest room is clean and open. Ma made sure it was done when she visited last week. Just go lay down and take a break for a bit. You can’t tell us this is a fluke. You’re a vet assistant. Strange smells don’t do shit to you…” Chris came over and aimed you toward his spare room while Seb grabbed your water.

“Dear God, everyone chill I’m fine! And I refuse to lay down in that guest room where I know for a fact that your teenage boy style New England Patriots bed sheets are currently laid out. I can’t defile a Seahawks jersey in that way. It’s straight up blasphemous,” you grumble at the boys who are trying too hard to take care of you. You think your grumbling works until you see a few black dots and grab Seb’s arm to steady yourself.

“Ok, fine. I’ll go lay down but only because that room probably doesn’t have whatever mystery dip stench is coming from the kitchen, NOT because I am dizzy and tired and kinda still nauseous,” you state matter-of-factly at both Seb and Chris.

“Your grip’s awful tight for someone who’s just getting away from a smell. Okay, okay, point taken, c’mon.” Seb guides you to the back of the apartment while simultaneously avoiding your half-assed slap to the back of his head.

You pitifully look down at the bed and Sebastian stifles a laugh. You were right about the sheets, but also too out of energy to resist the calling of a nap, even if it meant sleeping on Patriots logos. He tucks you in, kissing the top of your head and telling you he’ll check on you after half time. You don’t register him shut the light off and let the dogs in to cuddle with you. You’re too busy rolling over into the pillows.

Somewhere after halftime, you wake up with Jax next to your arm and Dodger on your opposite leg, both dogs dead to the world. You revel in the moment of peace, smiling down at your not super flat stomach currently covered by the jersey you won’t be able to wear by the Super Bowl. You hear a dull set of hurrahs and cheers from the hall, assuming the Patriots got an impressive first down or a touchdown, and giggle. “Well, I ain’t cheering em on, but those stupid sheets seemed to calm you down I guess. At least we know Chris will like ya.” You rub along your stomach, joking about your baby’s future in football. As the cheering dies down, you continue to think about the million little things that will happen from this point on. You only found out about your pregnancy a couple days ago, haven’t even told Seb, yet.

“Waitin’ on the right moment, huh, baby?” You whisper to your stomach as you think of the perfect way to tell your boyfriend. Kids weren’t in the plans yet, but your birth control had other plans. Damn that .01 percent. With a smile and last sigh of peace, you throw the sheets back with a plan.

Just as you work your way out of the bed, feeling alive and functional again, the dogs leap up and run out to alert the boys of your movement. You make your way down the hall and into Seb who meets you halfway with a kiss.

“Feeling better? You look much less dead, Babe.” Seb smiles at you and embraces you tightly.

“Mhmm, much better. Your badmhmm….” You nod and mumble into his chest while soaking in his warmth.

“Didn’t catch that last part. Hmm?” Seb looks down at you with a quizzical eyebrow. You look up with a smile and press a kiss to his lips.

“I said, your baby likes the Patriots. They finally settled when I laid down and bundled in those stupid sheets.” You turn your lips up into a smirk waiting for the words to settle in and his reaction to launch.

“Wait, what baby? Jax doesn’t give a shit about the Patriots. I’m los…..” Seb’s confused expression turns into a bright smile when he registers you putting a hand to your stomach and your telling smirk. “You mean, our baby? As in one currently growing as in your gonna be a mom? I’m gonna be a father? No shit? Baby you’re shitting me? HOLY SHIT!” Seb rattles off curses of excitement in happy tears and litters you with kisses and pulls you back into a tight hug.

“What are we yelling about?”

“Why are you two crying?”

“What did we miss?”

The guys all ask in one quick sweep while staring at your exchange. You look at them from in Seb’s arms and ask if they should know.

“What do you think, Seb, tell ‘em? Leave ‘em guessing? Or be kind?”

“Baby please, we can’t be cruel after this little moment.”

“Ok fine. Only cuz we both suck at secrets. I was just telling Seb that his baby really likes the Patriots because they only calmed down once i was laying down on Chris’ blasted sheets. So I am assuming this kiddo’s gonna be a big fan of uncle Chris in a few years,” you retell the tale and walk over to the guys while they all start smiling wildly.

“Baby?! What the hell Y/N!? Shit so happy for you, Smalls!”

“Seb, man you’re so done for.”

“Dude, I am so happy for you. “

“You two are going to be amazing parents.”

“I call dibs on buying baby’s first jersey!”

The congratulations and hugs fly in the kitchen, week one game completely abandoned in favor of your news. As it dies down and the fourth quarter timer is heard from the living room, everyone saunters back to catch the last two minutes and other game recaps. Seb wanders away to his coat and calls the dogs over to help him with his own surprise. You turn around to call him over only to see Jax trotting at you with a strange collar attached to him.

“Where did this bowtie come from, huh, Bubs?” You reach down to inspect the adorable black and white tuxedo bowtie collar and find a box attached at the buckle. As you unbuckle the collar and separate the box, you stand up and see Seb coming out from the hall with a sweaty, nervous smile.

“Babe, what’s this collar? And did you forget to take this weird magnetic tag off?” You toss the cardboard back at him, only to underestimate its weight and lob it at his head.

Seb catches it and pulls you closer. “It’s for him to wear if you say ‘yes’. But you have to look inside the weird box first, Y/N.” Seb returns the box to your hand and lets you inspect it.

You open the taped slit and find a black velvet box, immediately you have to wipe tears from your eyes so you can look at Seb’s cerulean ones.

“I’m only gonna ask this once baby. You’re my best girl, closest friend, fiercest supporter, my rock. And now the mother of my child. I don’t ever want to spend another day without knowing we will come home to each other. So, Y/N L/N, will you marry me?”

You can barely form the words, but a choked “yes” and the happiest sob of your life come out as you launch yourself into Seb’s arms. A slough of hoops hollars and more congratulations come from the vicinity of the couch, along with howls and barks from the dogs at your knees. You wrap your hand up to Seb’s neck and pull him down for another kiss. “I love every Sunday night of fall. But this is the best Sunday night ever, Baby.”

[blackkudos]

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman, retired professional wrestler, and former professional football player. He was a professional wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing box-office stars of all time.

Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, with whom he won a national championship in 1991. He initially aspired for a professional career in football and entered the 1995 NFL Draft, but he went undrafted. As a result, Johnson signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), but was cut from the team in the middle of his first season. Shortly after, he began training as a professional wrestler.

In 1996, Johnson secured a contract with the WWF and was promoted as the first third-generation wrestler in the company's history, as he is the son of Rocky Johnson and grandson of Peter Maivia. He rose to prominence after developing a charismatic persona of a boastful trash-talking wrestler named The Rock. He subsequently won his first WWF Championship in 1998 and helped usher the WWF into the "Attitude Era", a boom period in the company's business in the latter 1990s and early 2000s which still hold professional wrestling records for television ratings. In 2004, he left the WWE to pursue an acting career and went on a seven-year hiatus before returning in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013, before wholly retiring in 2019.

Considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers and biggest draws of all-time, The Rock headlined the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view event ever, WrestleMania XXVIII, and was featured in among the most watched episodes of WWE's television shows, WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown. He has won several championships, being a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time tag team champion, and a ten-time world champion. He was also a Royal Rumble match winner and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion.

Johnson had his first acting role in The Mummy Returns (2001), and played his first lead role in The Scorpion King (2002). He has since starred in numerous successful films, including The Game Plan (2007), Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), San Andreas (2015), Central Intelligence (2016), Moana (2016), Rampage (2018), and Skyscraper (2018). Johnson's most successful box office role has been Luke Hobbs in The Fast Saga films. He first appeared as the character in Fast Five (2011) and helped catapult the film series into one of the top-grossing movie franchises in history. He starred in the sequels, Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), and The Fate of the Furious (2017), as well as the spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Another notable franchise starring Johnson is Jumanji, and he has appeared in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and its sequel Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).

Johnson starred in the HBO series Ballers, on which he was also a producer, starting in 2015. The show ran for five seasons and was ranked as HBO's most watched comedy in six years. He has also attained success as a television host, author, and producer. In 2000, he released an autobiography titled The Rock Says... which debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2012, he founded the entertainment production company Seven Bucks Productions, which has since produced several films. Consistently ranked among the world's highest paid actors, Johnson made the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list in both 2016 and 2019.

Early life

Dwayne Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California, to Ata Johnson (née Maivia; born 1948) and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; 1944–2020). Growing up, Johnson briefly lived in New Zealand with his mother's family, where he attended Richmond Road Primary School in Grey Lynn before returning to the United States. He then attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Hamden, Connecticut, where he spent a couple of years at Shepherd Glen Elementary School and Hamden Middle School. Johnson spent his high school years at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Glencliff High School and McGavock High School in Nashville, Tennessee, and Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was arrested multiple times for fighting, theft, and check fraud before the age of 17. Johnson also began playing sports, joining his high schools' gridiron football, track and field and wrestling teams.

Johnson is half-Black (African) and half-Samoan. His father was a Black Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and part of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history along with Tony Atlas. His mother is Samoan and the daughter of Peter Maivia, who was also a pro wrestler. Maivia's wife, Lia, was the first female pro wrestling promoter, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982, until 1988. Through his grandfather Maivia, Johnson is considered a non-blood relative to the Anoa'i wrestling family. In 2008, Johnson inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Football career

Johnson was a promising football prospect and received offers from many Division I collegiate programs. He decided on a full scholarship from the University of Miami where he mostly played defensive tackle. In 1991, he was on the Miami Hurricanes' national championship team. After suffering a number of injuries, he was later replaced in the starting lineup by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

After Johnson graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies in criminology and physiology, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League as a linebacker. He was assigned to the practice roster but was cut two months into the season.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1996)

After his football career, Johnson decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. Veteran wrestler Pat Patterson got Johnson several tryout matches with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996. Under his real name, he defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10. and lost matches to Chris Candido and Owen Hart. After wrestling at Jerry Lawler's United States Wrestling Association as Flex Kavana and winning the USWA World Tag Team Championship twice with Bart Sawyer in the summer of 1996, Johnson signed a WWF contract. He received additional training from Tom Prichard, alongside Achim Albrecht and Mark Henry.

World Wrestling Federation/EntertainmentDebut and Intercontinental Champion (1996–1997)

Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names, although his real name was acknowledged by the announcers. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross. He was given the nickname "The Blue Chipper" and his lineage was played to on TV, where he was hyped as the WWF's first third-generation wrestler. Maivia, a clean-cut face character, was pushed heavily from the start despite his wrestling inexperience. He debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero's entourage on November 4, 1996. His first match came at Survivor Series, on November 17, in an eight-man elimination tag match; he was the sole survivor and eliminated the final two members of the opposing team, Crush and Goldust. On February 13, 1997, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on Monday Night Raw. Maivia then successfully defended the title against Helmsley at In Your House 13: Final Four. He had his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania 13 where he was victorious in his Intercontinental Championship defense against The Sultan. WWF fans started to reject his character and push from the company. He defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31 episode of Raw is War. Behind the scenes, Hart mentored Johnson for his first year in WWF and refused to be booked to take the title from him. On April 20, at In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, he lost to Savio Vega by countout but retained the title. Audiences became increasingly hostile toward Maivia, with chants of "die, Rocky, die" and "Rocky sucks" being heard during his matches.

The Nation of Domination (1997–1998)

After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28, 1997 episode of Raw Is War and suffering a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind, Maivia returned in August 1997 and turned heel for the first time in his career by lashing out at fans who had been booing him and joining Faarooq, D'Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination. He then refused to acknowledge the Rocky Maivia name, instead referring to himself in the third person as The Rock, though he would still be billed as "The Rock" Rocky Maivia until 1998. The Rock would then regularly insult the audience, WWF performers, and interviewers in his promos.

At D-Generation X: In Your House, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock in under six minutes to retain the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw Is War, Austin was ordered by Mr. McMahon to defend the title in a rematch, but forfeited it to The Rock instead, handing him the title belt before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner. The Rock feuded with Austin and Ken Shamrock through the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998. On January 19, 1998, at Royal Rumble, The Rock defeated Shamrock by disqualification to retain the Intercontinental title. Later that night, he entered the Royal Rumble match and lasted until the final two before he was eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. On March 29, at WrestleMania XIV, he defeated Shamrock by disqualification once again to retain the title. The next night, on Raw is War, The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design and would later overthrow Faarooq as leader of the Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two. He then successfully defended the Intercontinental title against Faarooq at Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31. The stable would then refer to themselves as simply "The Nation".

The Rock and The Nation then feuded with Triple H and D-Generation X, with the two stable leaders first meeting in the quarter-final of the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, which The Rock won. At King of the Ring, The Rock defeated Dan Severn in the semi-final match and lost to rival Ken Shamrock in the final. The Rock then resumed his feud with Triple H, as the two had a two out of three falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House for the Intercontinental title, which The Rock retained in controversial fashion. This led to a ladder match at SummerSlam, where The Rock lost the title.

The Rock saw a big uptick in fan support during this time, causing him to be booked in a feud with fellow Nation members Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, turning babyface in the process. Henry defeated him at Judgment Day: In Your House, after interference from Brown, effectively breaking up the stable.

WWF Champion and rise to superstardom (1998–2000)

The Rock was then entered into the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The finals occurred at Survivor Series, where The Rock defeated Vince McMahon's associate, Mankind, to win his first WWF Championship. A "double turn" then occurred as The Rock turned heel again after allying with Vince and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of their stable, The Corporation, after the McMahons betrayed Mankind. On December 13, 1998, at the pay-per-view named after him, Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Rock had a rematch with Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind appeared to win the match when The Rock passed out to the Mandible Claw submission move, but Vince McMahon ruled that since The Rock did not tap out, he retained his title.

The Rock continued to feud with Mankind over the WWF Championship, which was traded back and forth between them. First, in the main event of the January 4, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, Mankind defeated The Rock after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin. Then at the Royal Rumble on January 24, The Rock regained the title in a brutal “I Quit” match, a type of match that only ends if one of the combatants says “I quit” on a microphone. Intended to show a vicious mean streak in The Rock's character, this match went horribly wrong as at the end of the match The Rock hit Mankind in the head with a steel chair eleven times instead of the scripted five- five shots already being a risky amount (most wrestling matches in the Attitude Era involving steel chairs had at most 2 or 3 shots to the head). After the 5th shot, Mankind was still at ringside instead of being two-thirds up the entrance ramp where he was supposed to be, and after the eleventh shot which knocked a bloodied Mankind out, a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview was played over the PA system. On January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat, The Rock and Mankind participated in an Empty Arena match, a match that took place in an arena with 22,000 empty seats where any part of the facility could be used to contest the match. After 20 minutes of chaotic brawling in the ring, the stands, a kitchen, the catering area, an office, the arena corridors and finally a basement loading area, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck to win the WWF title. This match was referred to as "Halftime Heat" as it was televised during halftime of that year's Super Bowl. The two faced off again, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, in a Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw, meaning Mankind retained the title. Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War, when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after Big Show interfered on his behalf. The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV.

The Rock's popularity continued to grow and audiences still cheered for him even though he was a heel. He then lost the title rematch against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Backlash: In Your House after he was betrayed by Shane McMahon, turning him face again and starting a feud with Triple H, The Undertaker and The Corporate Ministry. On April 29, 1999, WWF aired the pilot episode of SmackDown!, a term derived from one of The Rock's catchphrases. In the episode, The Rock continued his feud with The Corporate Ministry. This led to a match with Triple H, at Over the Edge, which The Rock won, and a match for the WWF Championship against The Undertaker, at King of the Ring, which The Rock lost. The Rock then lost a number one contender's match to Triple H, at Fully Loaded, after interference from "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn. The Rock then defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass match at SummerSlam.

Shortly after SummerSlam, The Rock began teaming with former opponent Mankind and the two became known as The Rock 'n' Sock Connection. They became WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time after defeating The Undertaker and Big Show for the titles on the August 30, 1999 episode of Raw is War. The two performed a number of critically acclaimed comedic skits together, including one called "This Is Your Life", which saw Mankind bring parody versions of people from The Rock's past on television, such as his high school girlfriend and his high school football coach, only to have The Rock insult them. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen rating, one of the highest ratings ever for a Raw segment. The two lost the titles back to Undertaker and Big Show on the September 7, 1999 episode of SmackDown! and won them back from them on the September 20, 1999 episode of Raw is War. Rock and Mankind then lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws on the very next episode SmackDown!. Rock and Mankind would win the tag titles for the third and final time after beating the New Age Outlaws on the October 12, 1999 episode of SmackDown! before losing the titles to The Holly Cousins on the October 18, 1999 episode of Raw is War.

At Royal Rumble, on January 23, 2000, The Rock entered the Royal Rumble match and was one of the final two remaining, along with Big Show; In an attempt at a "false finish", Big Show intended to throw The Rock over the top rope in a running powerslam-like position, before The Rock countered the move on the ring apron, sending Big Show to the floor before re-entering the ring as the winner. However, The Rock's feet accidentally hit the floor during the reversal attempt although those watching the event on TV did not see that. This was played up in the storyline as Big Show provided additional video footage showing this fact, and claimed to be the rightful winner. The Rock's number one contendership for the WWF Championship was then put on the line against Big Show at No Way Out, which Big Show won after Shane McMahon interfered. The Rock then defeated Big Show, on the March 13 episode of Raw Is War, to regain the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 in a Fatal Four-way elimination match, also including Big Show and Mick Foley. Each wrestler had a McMahon in his corner: Triple H had his wife, Stephanie, Foley had Linda, The Rock had Vince and Big Show had Shane. The Rock lasted until the final two but was eliminated by then-reigning champion Triple H after Vince betrayed him by hitting him with a chair.

Record-breaking world champion (2000–2002)

In the following weeks, The Rock continued his feud with Triple H and eventually won his fourth WWF Championship, which he won on April 30, at Backlash, after Stone Cold Steve Austin intervened on his behalf. The following night on Raw, he successfully defended his title against Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match. On May 21, at Judgment Day, The Rock faced Triple H in an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. With the score tied at five falls each, and with seconds left on the time limit, The Rock was disqualified when The Undertaker attacked Triple H, thus giving Triple H the 6–5 win and the title. The Rock won the WWF Championship for a fifth time at King of the Ring on June 25 by scoring the winning pin in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Kane and The Undertaker against Shane McMahon, Triple H and Vince McMahon, whom he pinned. The Rock successfully defended the championship against Chris Benoit, on July 23, at Fully Loaded. The next month, he successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle and Triple H at SummerSlam. The Rock had another successful title defense against Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker, on September 24, at Unforgiven.

The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Kurt Angle, at No Mercy, in October. The next month, The Rock feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at Survivor Series. The Rock wrestled a six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship, at Armageddon, which Angle won to retain the title. On the December 18 episode of Raw, The Rock won the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker, defeating Edge and Christian, before losing it back to them the next night at a SmackDown! taping. In 2001, The Rock continued to feud with Angle over the WWF Championship, culminating at No Way Out in February, where he pinned Angle to win the WWF Championship for a sixth time. The Rock then feuded with the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin, whom he lost the title to at WrestleMania X-Seven after Austin allied with Vince McMahon, who interfered on his behalf. On the next night's Raw Is War, during a steel cage title rematch, Triple H attacked The Rock, allying with McMahon and Austin and helping Austin retain the championship. Austin and Triple H then formed a tag team called The Power Trip, while The Rock was indefinitely suspended in storyline. Johnson used this time off to act in The Scorpion King.

The Rock returned in late July 2001, when the WWF was feuding with rival promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), during what's known as The Invasion storyline. In reality, WCW and ECW were purchased by Vince McMahon and the WWF. Many former WCW and ECW wrestlers were then brought onto WWF television and formed The Alliance to compete with WWF in storyline. The Alliance and Vince McMahon then both attempted to persuade The Rock to join their team. The Rock then aligned with McMahon and the WWF. The next month, The Rock defeated Booker T, at SummerSlam, to win the WCW Championship for the first time. He later lost the title to Chris Jericho at No Mercy. The next night on Raw, he teamed with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz. The two then lost the tag titles to Booker T and Test on the November 1, 2001 episode of SmackDown!. The Rock defeated Jericho on the November 5 episode of Raw for his second WCW Championship.

As part of the WWF's battle against The Alliance, The Rock wrestled in a "winner takes all" five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series where the losing team's company would be dissolved in storyline. He was a member of Team WWF along with Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. The Alliance's team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon. In the end, it came down to a one-on-one between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock seemed to have the upper hand, until his teammate Jericho entered the ring and attacked The Rock. Austin tried to capitalize on this by pinning The Rock, but Kurt Angle revealed his true allegiance by attacking Austin. The Rock then pinned Austin, giving Team WWF the victory and forcing The Alliance to disband. The Rock's WCW Championship was renamed the unbranded "World Championship" following the Alliance's loss. At the next pay-per-view, Vengeance, The Rock lost the World Championship to Jericho, who would then unify the WWF and World titles later that night. The Rock then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the now Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble.

At the next pay-per-view, No Way Out, The Rock defeated The Undertaker in a singles match. The event also saw the WWF debut of the famed WCW faction New World Order, which at the time consisted of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. This later led to a match between The Rock and Hogan at WrestleMania X8. The match was billed as "icon versus icon", with both men representing the top tier of two generations of wrestling; ultimately The Rock pinned Hogan at WrestleMania X8. Despite The Rock portraying a heroic character and Hogan a villain, a portion of the crowd attending the SkyDome was rooting heavily for Hogan. In an interview in 2013, Hogan said he and The Rock changed the style of the match on the fly based on the crowd's response. After the introduction of the first-ever brand extension, the WWF held a "draft lottery" on the March 25, 2002, episode of Raw. The Rock was the number one overall pick, going to the SmackDown brand before taking a sabbatical from wrestling.

The Rock made a surprise return on a June episode of Raw before going to his assigned brand of SmackDown. There, he was named the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which he won for a record-setting seventh time at Vengeance, on July 21, by defeating Kurt Angle and then-champion The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match. The Rock successfully defended the title at the Global Warning event in Melbourne, Australia, against Triple H and Brock Lesnar after pinning Triple H. On August 25, at SummerSlam, after interference from Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman, The Rock lost the WWE Undisputed Championship to Lesnar along with the record for the youngest WWE Champion, which he had set in 1998. In 2018, writing for ESPN.com, Sean Coyle noted in a retrospective review of the event, that following his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, The Rock "started to see a dip in fan support" and "that dip turned into a plunge" by the time Rock had his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam because fans knew he was leaving WWE to pursue an acting career. This was evident by the fact that he was met with a negative crowd response during his match against Lesnar. After the event ended, The Rock was visibly angry at the crowd reaction. When he tried to do a post-show speech for the crowd, the fans attending the Nassau Coliseum would still boo him. The Rock then took time off to kickstart his acting career.

Final feuds and first retirement (2003–2004)

The Rock returned on the January 30, 2003 episode of SmackDown! to set up another match with Hulk Hogan at No Way Out. Because of negative fan reaction during his previous couple of matches as a result of his budding acting career, The Rock turned heel again. The Rock then defeated Hogan at No Way Out before assigning himself to the Raw brand. There, he had various small feuds, including one with The Hurricane. He also began performing "Rock Concerts", segments in which he played the guitar and mocked WWE performers and fans in song.

After failing to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship, The Rock went into another program with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to a match at WrestleMania XIX, which called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, both of which Austin had won. The Rock won after delivering three consecutive Rock Bottoms, ending their long-running rivalry in what turned out to be Austin's final match. The next night, Raw was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg. At Backlash, Goldberg defeated The Rock, who then briefly left WWE to film Walking Tall.

Throughout the rest of the year, The Rock made occasional appearances, reverting to a face character. In 2004, The Rock aided Mick Foley in his feud against Evolution, leading to a reunion of The Rock 'n' Sock Connection. They lost against Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista in a handicap match at WrestleMania XX, when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO. This would be Johnson's final wrestling match until November 2011. The Rock appeared in WWE sporadically following WrestleMania XX. He made returns to provide support for Eugene against Jonathan Coachman, made a cameo in his hometown of Miami and helped Mick Foley against La Résistance. Later in 2004, he hosted a pie-eating contest, as part of the WWE Diva Search, and ended the segment by giving Coachman a People's Elbow. The Rock's contract with WWE then ended and he started his full-time acting career.

Return to WWENon-wrestling appearances (2007–2009)

On March 12, 2007, The Rock appeared on a WWE show after nearly three years, via a pre-taped promo shown during Raw. He correctly predicted that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump and Vince McMahon's "Battle of the Billionaires" Hair vs Hair match. On March 29, 2008, Johnson appeared to induct his father and grandfather Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson into the WWE Hall of Fame. Johnson's next appearance was via a pre-taped promo on October 2, 2009, during the Decade of SmackDown.

Feud with John Cena (2011–2013)

On February 14, 2011, The Rock was revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, appearing live on Raw for the first time in almost seven years. During a lengthy promo, he addressed the fans and started a feud with John Cena. After numerous appearances via satellite, The Rock appeared live on the Raw before WrestleMania XXVII to confront Cena. After he and Cena exchanged insults, The Miz and Alex Riley appeared and attacked The Rock; he fended off Miz and Riley, only for Cena to blindside him with an Attitude Adjustment.

On April 3, at WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock opened the show by cutting a promo. After appearing in numerous backstage segments, The Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a draw. As revenge for the Attitude Adjustment Cena had given him on Raw, Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom, allowing The Miz to pin him and retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Rock attacked Miz and hit him with the People's Elbow. The following night on Raw, The Rock and Cena agreed to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII the next year. They then worked together to fend off an attack by The Corre, which at the time consisted of Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Ezekiel Jackson.

The Rock appeared live on Raw in his hometown of Miami to celebrate his 39th birthday. On September 16, WWE announced The Rock would wrestle in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series tag team match, teaming with Cena at Survivor Series in November. However, on the October 24 episode of Raw, Cena instead suggested The Rock be his partner in a standard tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth, a team called Awesome Truth, which Rock agreed to the following week. On November 14, during the special Raw Gets Rocked, The Rock appeared live, delivering Rock Bottoms to Mick Foley, who had been hosting a "This Is Your Life"-style segment for Cena, and later both members of Awesome Truth. The Rock and Cena defeated Awesome Truth on November 20 at Survivor Series, when The Rock pinned The Miz. After the match, The Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom.

Leading up to WrestleMania, The Rock and Cena had several verbal confrontations on Raw. On the March 12, 2012 episode of Raw, The Rock hosted his first "Rock Concert" segment since 2004, mocking Cena in his songs. On April 1, at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock beat Cena in the main event after countering Cena's attempt at a People's Elbow into a Rock Bottom. This event broke the record for biggest professional wrestling pay-per-view buyrate. The following night on Raw, The Rock praised Cena, calling their match "an honor". He then vowed to once again become WWE Champion.

On July 23, at Raw 1000, The Rock announced he would wrestle for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. During the show, he encountered then-reigning WWE Champion CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena, all of whom expressed a desire to face him. The Rock later saved Cena from an assault by Big Show, only to be laid out by CM Punk. On the January 7, 2013 episode of Raw, The Rock returned to confront his Rumble opponent CM Punk. On January 11, he made his first SmackDown appearance in ten years, getting into an altercation with Team Rhodes Scholars, resulting in him delivering a Rock Bottom to Damien Sandow and a People's Elbow to Cody Rhodes. The Rock closed out the 20th-anniversary episode of Raw, on January 14, with one of his "Rock Concerts", leading to a brawl with CM Punk. The following week on Raw, The Rock was attacked by The Shield. Vince McMahon then asserted that if The Shield attacked The Rock in his title match with CM Punk, Punk would be stripped of the WWE Championship.

On January 27, at Royal Rumble, CM Punk would seemingly defeat The Rock after the arena lights went out and someone attacked The Rock. Vince McMahon then came out and was about to strip Punk of the championship, however, at The Rock's request, he instead restarted the match. This culminated in The Rock defeating Punk to win his eighth WWE Championship. Punk received a title rematch with The Rock, at Elimination Chamber, with the added stipulation that if The Rock was disqualified or counted out, he would still lose the WWE Championship. The Rock would pin Punk to retain the championship. The following night on Raw, The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship design, with a different center plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his "Brahma Bull" logo. The Rock then resumed his rivalry with John Cena, who won that year's Royal Rumble to set up a rematch of the previous WrestleMania match between the two at WrestleMania 29, only this time with the WWE Championship on the line.

On April 7, at WrestleMania 29, Rock lost the WWE Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 70 days. Despite being advertised for the Raw after WrestleMania, where it was stated that The Rock was still entitled a rematch for the WWE Championship, The Rock did not appear because of a legitimate injury sustained during his match with Cena, in which his abdominal and adductor tendons tore from his pelvis. Johnson underwent surgery on April 23 to reattach the torn tendons.

Sporadic appearances (2014–present)

In April 2014, The Rock appeared in the opening segment of WrestleMania XXX along with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. On the October 6 episode of Raw, The Rock made a surprise appearance to confront Rusev and Lana; this resulted in the Rock clearing Rusev from the ring.

The Rock appeared at the 2015 Royal Rumble event during the main event match, where he helped his relative Roman Reigns fend off Big Show and Kane after Reigns eliminated them from the match. Reigns then won the match and The Rock endorsed him in the ring. The Rock appeared at WrestleMania 31 alongside Ronda Rousey, getting into an in-ring altercation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Rock and Rousey prevailed after he attacked Triple H and she overpowered McMahon. On June 27, The Rock appeared at a live event in Boston where he confronted Bo Dallas and gave him a Rock Bottom.

On the January 25, 2016, episode of Raw, The Rock was in a segment that saw him converse with The Miz, Big Show, Lana and Rusev before he and his relatives, The Usos, got into an altercation with then-WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day. The Rock appeared at WrestleMania 32 where he announced that WWE had broken the all-time WrestleMania attendance record before being interrupted by The Wyatt Family. The Rock got into a verbal back-and-forth with Bray Wyatt before having an impromptu match with Wyatt Family member Erick Rowan. The Rock won after giving Rowan a Rock Bottom and pinning him in six seconds, which set the record for the fastest win in WrestleMania history. The Rock was then aided by a returning John Cena to fend off Wyatt, Rowan and Braun Strowman. On the February 20, 2017 episode of Raw, The Rock made an untelevised appearance after the broadcast had gone off the air, where he promoted and filmed a scene for his then-upcoming film Fighting with My Family.

On August 3, 2019, The Rock officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling. On September 30, 2019, after weeks of speculation, The Rock announced that he would be making an appearance on SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, marking his first appearance on SmackDown since October 2014 and his first televised appearance since April 2016. At the event, he would cut a promo with Becky Lynch before they were interrupted by King Corbin. After attacking Corbin, The Rock and Lynch celebrated in the ring.

Independent circuit (2009)

On September 30, 2009, The Rock appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show to support the pro wrestling debut of Sarona Snuka, the daughter of his long-time friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka.

Mainstream crossover

The Rock appeared on Wyclef Jean's 2000 single "It Doesn't Matter" and in its music video. He also recorded "Pie" with Slick Rick for WWF The Music, Vol. 5.

In 1999, Johnson appeared on That '70s Show as his father, Rocky Johnson. The next year, he was on Star Trek: Voyager as an alien wrestler that used The Rock's famous moves.

In 2000, he hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time. Fellow wrestlers Triple H, The Big Show, and Mick Foley also appeared on the show. Johnson has stated the success of that episode is the reason he began receiving offers from Hollywood studios. He has since hosted SNL another four times.

In 1999, The Rock was listed No. 5 on Entertainment Weekly's Top 12 Entertainers of the Year. In 2000, Access Hollywood ranked him number six in their list of the Top 10 Celebrities of 2000. That year, Rock was also listed in the Forbes Celebrity 100 and People Magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People.

The Rock was listed Entertainment Weekly's 101 Most Influential People in both 2000 and 2001. In 2001, he was also listed on E!'s 20 Top Entertainers. In 2002, The Rock was listed on E!'s 25 Toughest Stars. In 2003, he was listed in VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons and was No. 13 in People Magazine's 50 Favorite TV Stars.

The Rock made a surprise appearance at the official Xbox unveiling during Bill Gates's keynote speech at the ongoing Computer Electronics Show in 2001.

Johnson's motion picture debut was as The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns (2001). The movie broke a two-year record for the highest-grossing single day in film history by earning US$28,594,667. The movie's financial success led to Johnson's first leading role, in the spin-off The Scorpion King (2002). He received US$5.5 million for the role and Guinness World Records named him the record-holder for highest-paid actor in their first leading role.

The Rock has appeared on the covers of many magazines, including Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, and TV Guide. He has also appeared in, and been the cover athlete for, several video games.

As of September 2019, his Instagram account is the fourth most-followed in the world.

Legacy in pro wrestling

The Rock has been listed as one of the all-time greatest professional wrestlers as well as one of the top draws in wrestling history. Many have placed The Rock on their "Mount Rushmore of Pro Wrestling", including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and John Cena. In "Cable Visions: Television Beyond Broadcasting", The Rock was described as "for a long time, the WWE's biggest star and probably held the greatest international appeal". R. D. Reynolds stated in his book "The WrestleCrap Book of Lists" that The Rock was "the biggest star for WWE from 1999 until 2004".

The Rock main-evented the most bought pay-per-view worldwide in WWE history (WrestleMania XXVIII), the most bought pay-per-view domestically in WWE history (WrestleMania X-Seven), the highest rated Raw in history, the highest rated SmackDown in history, and was part of the highest rated segment in WWE history. His return in 2001 did a 7.1 rating which was the highest rated segment of the entire year. The Rock was also part of the highest rated match of the 21st century. His WWF Championship defense, on May 1, 2000, against Shane McMahon did an 8.3 rating on the regular time and a 9.1 on the overrun making this match the second most watched professional wrestling match in the United States of this millennium, only behind a 12 minute long match between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin which drew a rating of 9.5 which is the highest rated segment in Raw history.

In 2011, The Rock's return to an episode of Raw generated an average of 4.7 million viewers in the United States, with 7.4 million tuning in during his promo. Raw 1000 was the highest rated Raw episode of 2012 and his segment with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was the highest rated segment of the show. In 2013, the night after The Rock won the WWE Championship for the first time in over a decade, at Royal Rumble, Raw got its highest rating of that year.

Derived from one of his catchphrases "lay the smackdown", WWE introduced its second flagship program WWE SmackDown in 1999 which later became television's second longest-running weekly episodic program in history. The term "smackdown" was instituted in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since 2007.

The Rock holds the record for most Raw shows main-evented in one year (38 in 2000), most SmackDown shows main-evented in one year (36 in 2000) and tied with Stone Cold Steve Austin (in 2001) for most PPV shows main evented in one year (12 in 2000).

Film career

Johnson entered Hollywood and the film industry, becoming a star initially through his wrestling popularity and noted work ethic. Over his acting career, he has become one of the highest paid and most successful actors in Hollywood. He began his acting career on television while wrestling. In his first television acting job, in 1999, he played his own father in an episode of That '70s Show called "That Wrestling Show". Nearly a year later, he appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tsunkatse" as an alien wrestler who fought popular character Seven of Nine. While Johnson was away from WWE, the company continued to sell "The Rock" merchandise, and he continued to be featured prominently in the opening montages of their television shows.

Johnson began his theatrical career in The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002) the action-comedy The Rundown (2003) and the Walking Tall (2004). He played a supporting role in Be Cool (2005) and was the primary antagonist in Doom (2005). Roles in Gridiron Gang (2006) Reno 911!: Miami (2007) Southland Tales (2007). He played a cocky famous American football player in The Game Plan (2007) and Agent 23 in Get Smart (2008). He presented the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards.

Johnson became known for reinvigorating film franchises after portraying Marvin F. Hinton / Roadblock in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and reprising his role as Luke Hobbs in Fast & Furious 6; while also starring in true-story films Pain & Gain and Empire State (all released in 2013). That same year, he hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero, and won the Favorite Male Buttkicker Award at the 2013 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. In May 2013, it was announced that he would executiveproduce and star in Ballers, an HBO comedy-drama series about NFL players living in Miami, Florida. By December of that year, Forbes named Johnson the top-grossing actor of 2013, with his films bringing in $1.3 billion worldwide for the year. Forbes credited the success of Fast & Furious 6, which grossed $789 million globally, and Johnson's frequent acting work as primary reasons for topping the list.

Johnson starred as the title character in Hercules (2014) and reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in Furious 7 (2015). He hosted another reality series for TNT in 2014, entitled Wake Up Call, which saw him "lending a helping hand to everyday people who were facing enormous challenges in their lives" alongside guest experts such as Rocco DiSpirito, Jillian Michaels, and Josh Shipp. It was announced that he would executive produce and star in the horror film Seal Team 666, and is set to play Nick Schuyler in the drama film Not Without Hope. In 2016, Johnson co-starred with Kevin Hart in the action-comedy Central Intelligence and had a lead voice role in the Disney animated film Moana, in which he voiced the Polynesian demigod Maui. He reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fate of the Furious, which was released in 2017. Johnson starred in two other blockbuster movies that year, Baywatch and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as Mitchell "Mitch" Buchannon and Dr. Smolder Bravestone, respectively. In 2018, he starred in two action films, Rampage and Skyscraper.

In 2019, he produced and appeared as himself in Fighting with My Family, a comedy drama about WWE superstar Paige and her family, who are also professional wrestlers. Johnson's role within The Fast and the Furious franchise continued with Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, co-starring Johnson and Jason Statham. David Leitch directed the project from a script co-written by franchise-writer Chris Morgan, and Drew Pearce. The film began principal photography in September 2018, and was released on July 26, 2019. Though initially believed to be a part of Fast & Furious 9, Johnson has since stated that he will not appear in the film; instead, opting to begin developmen on a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson reprised his role as Bravestone, in Jumanji: The Next Level. With the critical and financial success of Welcome to the Jungle, production on the movie began in early-2019, with a scheduled release on December 25, 2019.

Johnson will star in Netflix's upcoming Red Notice, written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. It will be the third time the two collaborate, following Central Intelligence and Skyscraper. The film co-starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, will begin production in fall of 2019. Production on Black Adam is slated to follow thereafter, in mid-to-late 2020. A film centered around Teth-Adam / Black Adam, a part of the DC Extended Universe, was announced to be in development January 2017. Originally cast in the role as early as September 2014 as the antagonist, in a film centered around the superhero Billy Batson / Shazam, his villainous role for Shazam! was re-worked into two separate films. Though Johnson would not appear in Shazam!, he served as a producer and his likeness was used through special effects in flashback scenes. Johnson will co-star with Emily Blunt in The Walt Disney Company's Jungle Cruise, as Frank and Lily Houghton, respectively. Cast in the role in August 2015, the film was announced to be based on the themepark ride of the same name. Jaume Collet-Serra serves as director, with a script by Michael Green from a previous co-written by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. In addition to his work on the film, Johnson assisted with re-designing the titular ride for all Disney theme parks. Jungle Cruise is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2020.

Noted for his busy schedule and for developing multiple projects at once, a sequel to the box-office hit San Andreas was announced to be in the pre-production stage with director of the first film, Brad Peyton returning as director along with the main cast (marking the fourth collaboration between the actor and filmmaker following Journey 2, San Andreas, and Rampage respectively). Though originally attached as producer and star, Johnson will now serve solely as the former on a film adaptation of The Janson Directive. John Cena will fill the leading role, with Akiva Goldsman attached as screenwriter. Additionally, he will produce and star in a Netflix exclusive film titled John Henry & The Statesmen, as the titular folklore hero. The film will be directed by Jake Kasdan, from a script co-written by Kasdan and Tom Wheeler. With the first official teaser trailer released in October 2018, the project marks Kasdan and Johnson's third collaboration, following Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level.

Johnson will co-produce and star in The King, a film about king Kamehameha Kūnuiākea, founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. The project will be directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script written by Randall Wallace. The movie will be comparable to Braveheart in tone, given Wallace's work on both films, and will depict the king's role in resolving the wars among the islands of Hawai'i. The King will begin production in 2020. Johnson is also attached to produce/star in a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China, as well as project under development with Shane Black focusing on a new interpretation of Doc Savage. In April 2018, he announced that he is working on a film that will include Chris Pratt as his co-star. On November 14, 2019, Johnson announced a December 22, 2021 release date for the standalone Black Adam film.

Other work

In 2000, Johnson published his autobiography, titled The Rock Says..., which he co-wrote with Joe Layden. It debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and remained on the list for several weeks. In 2012, Johnson founded his production company, Seven Bucks Productions.

In 2013, Johnson hosted and produced the TNT reality competition series The Hero. In 2014, he hosted another TNT reality series entitled Wake Up Call. In 2019, Johnson started hosting an NBC competition series called The Titan Games.

In March 2016, Johnson partnered with the American fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour to release "Project Rock". The first item in his partnership with Under Armour, a gym bag, sold out in a couple of days. His second item, a black T-shirt sporting his signature "Brahma bull" sold out after being worn at WrestleMania 32. Johnson also released an alarm clock app as part of "Project Rock" that received more than one million downloads in its first week of release. Since then, they have released sneakers, headphones, and other apparel.

In 2016, Johnson started a YouTube channel titled "The Rock" with the help of online personality Lilly Singh. His first video was called "The YouTube Factory" and featured several internet stars.

In 2019, Johnson announced he would be launching his own competitive bodybuilding show, alongside business partner and ex-wife Dany Garcia, called "Athleticon" set to rival other long-standing bodybuilding shows such as The Arnold Classic and Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia. The show is set to debut October 9–11, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Personal life

Johnson married Dany Garcia on May 3, 1997. Their daughter Simone was born on August 14, 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. Johnson then began dating Lauren Hashian, daughter of Boston drummer Sib Hashian. They first met in 2006 while Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Hashian and Johnson were married on August 18, 2019, in Hawaii. They have two children.

As of 2014, Johnson has a home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, as well as Los Angeles, California. He also owns a farm in Virginia. In 2009, he gained Canadian citizenship through his father. Though he was previously registered as a Republican, he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections. He did not vote in the 2016 U.S. election, and is an independent voter as of 2017.

In recognition of his service to the Samoan people, and because he is a descendant of Samoan chiefs, Johnson had the noble title of Seiuli bestowed upon him by Malietoa Tanumafili II during his visit there in July 2004. He received a partial Samoan pe'a tattoo on his left side in 2003, and, in 2017, had the small "Brahma bull" tattoo on his right arm covered with a larger half-sleeve tattoo of a bull's skull.

In February 2020, the WWE announced that Johnson's daughter Simone had begun training at the WWE Performance Center, making her the first-ever fourth-generation WWE Superstar.

Activism and philanthropy

Johnson attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention as part of WWE's non-partisan "Smackdown Your Vote" campaign, which aimed to influence young people to vote. He also had a speaking role at the 2000 Republican National Convention that same year.

In 2006, Johnson founded the Dwayne Johnson Rock Foundation, a charity working with at-risk and terminally ill children. On October 2, 2007, he and his ex-wife donated $1 million to the University of Miami to support the renovation of its football facilities. The University of Miami renamed the Hurricanes' locker room in Johnson's honor. In 2015, Johnson donated $1,500 to a GoFundMe to pay for an abandoned dog's surgery. In 2017, he donated $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. In 2018, Johnson donated a gym to a military base in Oahu, Hawaii. After the 2018 Hawaii floods, he worked with Malama Kauai, a nonprofit organization, to help repair damages caused by the floods. Johnson has also worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation on a number of occasions.

Championships and accomplishments

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

United States Wrestling Association

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation

Match of the Year (1999) vs. Mankind in an "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble

Match of the Year (2002) vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8

Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (1999, 2000)

Wrestler of the Year (2000)

Ranked No. 2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000

USWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bart Sawyer

Best Box Office Draw (2000, 2011, 2012)

Best Gimmick (1999)

Best on Interviews (1999, 2000)

Most Charismatic (1999–2002, 2011, 2012)

Most Improved (1998)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)

WCW Championship (2 times)

WWE Championship (8 times)

WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWF Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Mankind (3), The Undertaker (1), and Chris Jericho (1)

Royal Rumble (2000)

Sixth Triple Crown Champion

Deadly Games WWF Championship Tournament (1998)

Slammy Award (9 times)

Best Actor (2014)

Game Changer of the Year (2011) – with John Cena

Guess Who's Back or: Return of the Year (2011)

LOL! Moment of the Year (2012, 2013) – insulting John Cena using the history of Boston, Massachusetts, Rock Concert on the 20th anniversary episode of Raw

Match of the Year (2013) – vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 29

New Sensation (1997)

"Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That" Insult of the Year (2014) – insulting Rusev and Lana

"This is Awesome" Moment of the Year (2015) – with Ronda Rousey

[ssojack]

pointless soul rider headcanons #1

anne:

she’s the tallest of the soul riders, standing at 5’9”!

she freckles very easily, and new freckles will appear on her face even with only a few hours in the sun.

she’s very passionate about campaigning for lgbtq+ rights.

anne’s generally patient and tolerant, but when she holds grudges she has serious difficulty letting them go.

she’s very attracted to smells, and loves soft fragrances like vanilla and lavender.

she’s the only soul rider with a driver’s license.

she loves christmas and always goes out of her way to buy or make heartfelt gifts for her friends.

alex:

she’s the second tallest soul rider at 5’7”!

she’s a dog person through and through! even though she’s never owned a dog, alex will never hesitate to say hi to a cute pup on the street (with owner’s permission ofc).

despite how little she understands them, she’s fascinated by runes.

alex can’t like anyone casually or have small crushes; she always ends up infatuated and falls too hard too quickly.

she’s that one person who clicks her pen or bounces her leg in social settings.

before she got wrapped up in soul rider duties, alex was on the girls’ wrestling team in high school.

seems tough but is 100% babie

linda:

she’s the second shortest soul rider at 5’6”!

she hates dog-earing her book pages and tries to keep a bookmark on her at all times.

when it comes to writing fanfiction, linda started out on ff.net but after years she finally moved to ao3. her favorite ship to write is knights of unistria’s azura x pearl.

she’s a huge cat person and fostered kittens when she was younger.

linda is bilingual, and even when she moved to jorvik, she’s always spoken solely punjabi with her parents.

she learned to play piano when she was younger and now uses it as a way to destress.

she often accidentally photobombs without even noticing.

lisa:

she’s the shortest of the soul riders at 5’3”!

because of her height, the other girls call lisa ‘hedgehog’ since she’s small and prickly and used to have short hair that stuck up in all directions.

she learned spanish growing up in texas and was fluent at one point, but now her grasp of the language is conversational at best. she can still speak it in a pinch, though!

lisa is a traveler at heart and has a massive bucket list of countries to visit.

she really likes anime but only ever watches english dubs.

she loves watching NFL football and will turn on a game when she needs to relax.

110% babie

[mrawkweird]

The XFL started, I completely forgot it was a thing.

And if you play your cards right like I have it’ll continue to not be a thing.

When a wrestling/sports entertainment promoter starts a football company you expect Blitz: The League but instead you get just basic-ass football and I ain’t about watching some basic-ass football. If I wanted that I’d watch the NFL. Until they start inserting promos, story lines and choreographed violence on the field to progress the story the X is just there for decoration.