Tame

Chapter Eleven

"Welcome to the most must-see WWE talk show in history. Welcome to Miz TV," The Miz announces making the crowd cheer a little. "Please say hello to Mr. Frederic Abramson. He is from the Gullford County sheriff's department."
"I think he mean Gillford," Mr. Cole corrects.
"We got to celebrate the sheriff's department," Miz says. "Come on. Now, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, my guest claims that he had nothing to do with Brad Maddox helping him defeat Ryback inside the Hell in the Cell. And he claims that he had nothing to do with The Shield helping him defeat Ryback and Cena at Survivor Series. Hmm, interesting now, isn't it? But I'll tell you what. Tonight, we are going to get answers through a device that every good talk show uses when they need answers, a lie detector test. So ladies and gentlemen, please welcome at this time, the WWE Champion, CM Punk."
Punk's theme plays and we all walk out onto the stage, my hand nestled in the crook of Punk's arm. The last place I want to be is in the same ring as Miz again, but I already told Punk I'd be here for him and I'm already walking down the ramp. Mr. Heyman's Adam apple keeps bobbing furiously. There's a part of me who doesn't want Punk to be lying, but another wishes he is so that Ryback can have his way with Mr. Heyman. Am I a bad person for hoping that?
Punk widens the middle and bottom ropes to let me in the ring first, following behind with Mr. Heyman bringing up the rear. Mr. Abramson stands to shake Punk's hand, but he blows him off. I slap Punk's arm in scolding.
"Welcome to Miz TV, Punk," Miz greets. "Have a seat, let Mr. Abramson strap you in." Mr. Abramson puts a strap around the top of Punk's ribs. "See, the lie detector test is simple by nature, really. It measures deception through several psychological indicators such as-"
"Yeah, Miz, Miz," Punk interrupts. "I know what a lie detector test is. I know how it works. You know, anything simple around here is your jokes," Mr. Abramson buckles in another strap around Punk's midsection, "yeah, strap me up and ask me if I think it's stupid that his microphone is upside down. Go ahead, tell me. Ask me if I'm lying. Yeah, you sophomoric attempts to try to disparage my character, Miz, you know, you kind of shock me. You're just like everybody else here. Why don't you suck up to them a little bit more, huh? Huh, pal? Why don't you cheer for The Miz a little bit more, you people should be embarrassed of yourselves. You, just like them, see my success and you wear the envy worse than you're wearing that two for one Men's Warehouse job you got on right now."
Miz frowns at Mr. Abramson's computer screen. Does he even hear Punk?
"And it's okay. I understand. Your title reign was completely forgettable so you're just trying to bring me down to you level, I get that, Miz," Punk continues his rant. Rolling my eyes, I sit Indian style on the mat while Punk lowers himself in the chair beside me. "You see 379 days, you see that success and you wish you could be me just like everybody in Greensboro wishes that they could be me."
Mr. Abramson clips small scanners onto the tips of Punk's fingers. "Just like everybody around the world wishes they could be-what are you doing?" He forgets his speech and turns to Mr. Abramson. "What is this? This is ridiculous. Look at this-"
"I'm sorry," Miz simpers.
"Do you have a license?" Punk asks the member of the Gillford County sheriff's department.
"I'm sorry," Miz repeats. "I didn't hear a word you were saying. I wasn't paying attention, I apologize."
"Yeah, you didn't pay attention in wrestling school either, jerk," Punk snaps.
"No, I was pretty good in wrestling school," Miz says. "I was actually-"
I lose track on who's saying what as Punk speaks over Miz while Miz is trying to finish what he was going to say. The only thing I'm really able to catch is Miz saying, "No, he doesn't but your mom does." I cover my mouth with a hand as Miz yells, "Oh!" and the WWE Universe claps.
"Greensboro is a dump, am I telling the truth?" Punk insults. "Greensboro is a dump, am I telling the truth or not?"
"Punk, Punk," Miz says. "Please calm down. We need to get a baseline response from you and basically how we do that, we ask questions that we all know the answers to. Now remember, if you are caught lying, Paul Heyman next week will have to have a match against Ryback."
The fans cheer and start chanting something incoherently. "I think they're calling you a walrus again," Miz tells Mr. Heyman. "Sorry about that. All right, first question: What's your name?"
"CM Punk," Punk mumbles.
"Have you been WWE Champion for 379 days?" Miz asks.
"Yup," Punk replies.
"In 2010, at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, did Rey Mysterio shave your head bald?" Punk takes a minute to answer. "Well?"
"Yes, Rey Mysterio shaved my head bald," Punk confirms, glaring.
"The year I main evented WrestleMania," Miz begins, "did you lose to Randy Orton?"
I can see Punk get defensive. "You know what, I don't got to sit here. I'm gonna leave." He starts rising from his seat.
"It's a simple question," Miz states, "just answer it."
Punk sinks back into the chair. "Yes, Miz," Punk sighs. "You know that the answer is yes. And you know why you won your match at WrestleMania? It's because Dwayne ran out and attacked John Cena, while yes, I lost to Randy Orton in spectacular fashion. And that's funny because that's what everybody remembers, the classic between Randy Orton and CM Punk and how it ended in a fantastic RKO. The ironic thing is you're the one who doesn't remember wrestling at WrestleMania because you had a concussion and we all wish we could forget you were in the main event at WrestleMania, but no, we have to suffer-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Punk," Miz soothes. "We're trying to establish a baseline. You wouldn't want a faulty reading now, would you?"
"No, no, God forbid no. That's be horrible," Punk says.
"Yes, we wouldn't," Miz agrees. "Neither would Paul Heyman, would you, Mr. Walrus?" The crowd laughs as Mr. Heyman glares at Miz.
"But you want harder questions," Miz says. "That is fine and dandy, okay? How about this, do you think you can beat Ryback by yourself?"
Punk chuckles as he says, "Yes."
The WWE Universe starts talking, pointing to the titantron. I turn and see that Punk has one long spike among the short ones on his test. I drop my jaw.
"What are you pointing at? What?" Punk as Miz and Mr. Abramson as they talk in hushed tones over the computer screen. Punk turns toward the titantron. "I didn't even know that was up there. That doesn't mean anything."
"Actually, it does," Miz agues. "Mr. Abramson said you could be lying."
"How can I be lying? It's an opinion, you idiot."
"You're right it is an opinion," Miz agrees. "Why don't we get something more concrete."
"This is a set up," Punk accuses.
"Why don't we get something more concrete," Miz repeats loudly, his face turning red. "Did you work with Brad Maddox at Hell in the Cell? Did you work with The Shield to win at Survivor Series?" When Punk doesn't answer right away, Miz gets frustrated, screaming, "Did you?! Answer it! Answer it!"
I look up at Punk, but he's looking at everything else except me. I frown. Why is it taking him so long to say no? We finally make eye contact as he raises the mic to his lips. I can't help but notice the bags under his eyes.
Next thing you know, Seth pulls Miz out of the ring and punches him in the face as Dean and Roman rush in, flipping chairs and swiping everything off the table. I get to my feet and quickly back away. Dean and Roman each take an end of the table and flip it over the top rope onto the floor in front of the commentary table while Seth stomps on Miz. Dean and I lock eyes, Roman kicking wires out of the ring, and approaches, grabbing ahold of one of my wrists. I immediately slap him and it seems like the sound bounces around the area.
"That was hot," Dean whispers. Angry and grossly turned on, Dean hooks his hands under my armpits and roughly lifts me over the top rope onto the apron. "Get down!"
I do, but not because he ordered me to. Seth tosses Miz into the ring so that all three men can join in on the mugging. Arms draped over Dean and Seth's shoulders, legs resting on Roman's shoulders, The Shield easily lifts Miz up and throws him down. I catch sight of Kane and Daniel stalking down to the ring.
"Yes," I say. "Get them."
Dean smirks at me as the guys slip into the ring. Team Hell No are going good for a few moments but the numbers game quickly gets to them. Ryback's theme plays and I dive out of his way-not riding that road again-as he storms into the ring. Dean charges at him, but gets knocked down followed by Roman then Seth. Dean jumps up again and throws a punch making Ryback stumble into a corner. Dean runs at him again but gets flipped out of the ring. Ryback follows, tossing him over the barricade before crossing the border himself. I quickly lose sight of them in the sea of fans and now it's the remaining two members against Kane and Daniel who've gotten their second wind. It's complete chaos as Daniel knocks Seth over the barricade. They too disappear into the WWE Universe. Roman's the last to go over and before long I don't see anyone.
Punk slips into the ring and starts taunting a fallen Miz, kicking him in the chest a couple of times before pushing him out of the ring. I shake my head as I hear his theme play through hidden speakers. He gets on the second rope and flexes his biceps.
"Miz TV completely destroyed by The Shield," Cole says.
I shake my head at Punk. I don't know what to make of him anymore. He jumps down and turns around, getting met with a kick in the gut and a Shell Shock by Ryback. Ryback climbs out of the ring and grabs a chair and a ladder. Ladder in hand, Ryback waits for Punk to get to his feet to hit him in the stomach. Withering around on the floor, Punk takes a fatal looking chair shot to the back. Ryback throws the weapon away and set up a table in the ring.
"No Shield to save him now," Cole states. Ryback sets Punk up for a power bomb and plants him through the table. "Tables, ladders, and chairs."
"CM Punk felt them all tonight," Jerry says.
"Ryback got some semblance of revenge right here on Monday Night Raw."