BIG E. For 2013 Rookie of The Year.
BIG E. For 2013 Rookie of The Year.
Don't worry, AJ. In due time, you will have your happy ending.
The day she wins the Divas Title (AS A FACE) will be on the best days ad moments of my wrestling fandomness.
COMMON THREAD, 6:56 p.m.
As Titus ONeil chats in the corner with WWE Hall of Famer Ron Simmons, Chris Jericho speeds by on the back of a golf cart, his thumbs vigorously tapping the conclusion of a pointed text message. A flock of sequined dancers floats by, preparing to herald the WrestleMania arrival of Fandango. There is nothing quite like the atmosphere backstage at The Showcase of the Immortals especially in the moments before the show is about to begin.
AJ rushes from the Divas locker room to the seamstress station, requesting some late-in-the-game alterations to her custom T-shirt. Its artfully ripped apart and pieced together in a crisscross pattern resembling a spiders web, and for the young woman who was christened the Black Widow for her life-ruining relationship tendencies, the design is apropos. Ex-boyfriends beware.
RAMPED UP, 7:45 p.m.
AJs pre-WrestleMania jitters melt away as she joins Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston on the entrance ramp, a spring in her step all the way down to the ring. Just minutes away from Union City, where she could barely afford bus fare as a child, AJ has brought full-circle her Show of Shows saga that began with her father taking her to the uppermost level of Madison Square Garden at WrestleMania XX.
Now, nine years later, AJ has the best seat in the house as Dolph & Big E seize championship glory on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Before the match, Ziggler passes to the unhinged Diva his long-held Money in the Bank briefcase an insurance policy for The Showoff that could pay dividends tonight in more ways than one.
ANGERED MANAGEMENT, 7:34 p.m.
WWEs most unpredictable Diva is part Miss Elizabeth, part Sensational Sherri and 100 percent AJ Lee as she directs her boyfriend and platonic powerhouse in their WWE Tag Team Title clash with Kane & Daniel Bryan.
After a good luck kiss for Ziggy that salts any and all of Daniel Bryans lingering WrestleMania XXVIII wounds, its only a matter of time, it seems, until the pint-sized powder keg erupts in a major way.
Sliding Dolphs battered blue briefcase into the ring, eliciting an uproarious reaction from more than 80,000 WrestleMania attendees, AJ orchestrates a referee distraction while Dolph lunges at Kane with his Money in the Bank prize. It backfires. The ring bell chimes, but not for Dolph & Big E
DOWNBEAT DENOUMENT, 8:10 p.m.
AJs five-day WrestleMania journey comes to a close as she shuffles backstage no skipping, this time with the would-be WWE Tag Team Champions.
Its bittersweet, AJ says dolefully following her home state defeat. She watches as Dolph & Big E retire to the Superstar locker room, the briefcase holding The Showoffs Money in the Bank contract dangling loosely from Zigglers fingertips. Everything kind of comes back all at once. Its amazing how far Ive come. Its so much bigger than you think its going to be. But I wanted to come home happy, and thats not the case right now.
Perhaps AJs ideal New Jersey triumph will come tomorrow night at the IZOD Center on Raw, or maybe her Show of Shows odyssey was always meant to end this way. After all, hardship has long been this wily young womans strength; the fuel by which she has traversed even the most treacherous terrains.