How You Remind Me

Chapter 11

In the wake of her half brother Vinnie's interview with Renee Young on the Today show, Kristie spent the next week in Las Vegas working out & getting herself ready to get her revenge on Nikki & win back the Smackdown women's title.

Once she received the official all-clear from both her doctor & a top WWE doctor at a follow-up appointment, Kristie was ready to head back into the ring & get back what she felt rightfully belonged to her.

The first step towards getting her revenge took her to Dean's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio where Smackdown Live was taking place that Tuesday night.

Once inside U.S. Bank Arena, the first person Kristie decided to look for was Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan.

As soon as she spotted him, she yelled out to him.

"DB!!!" she yelled. He looked over at her, & she could tell from the miserable look on his face. She knew.

Daniel had just had a talk with Shane McMahon, & the conversation hadn't gone well. Kristie decided to find out.

So she went up to him & gave him a piece of her mind.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you let Nikki do what she did? Tell me, you fucking son of a bitch!" yelled Kristie. Daniel just looked down.

She then grabbed him by the shirt. "Tell me right now, motherfucker!" she growled. He then sighed.

"Come with me," he said after she had let go of him. He then took her to a private office.

"All right, here it is," said Daniel. "Nikki forced me to. She had been begging me for months to set up a match where she would win, & you would lose, but I refused to do it because Shane & I have so much faith in you, Kristie. You have helped make Smackdown's women's division so great. People love seeing you feud with Alexa, Naomi, & others. They love seeing you as champion. Fans seem to relate to you on such a strong level. You are super popular, & Nikki can't handle that. She's jealous. She wants to be the 'Queen of Smackdown'."

Kristie stared at Daniel in disbelief. She could understand the jealous part, but that still left her wondering as to how Nikki forced her own brother-in-law to set up the Ambush Match.

"How did Nikki force you to make that match happen?" asked Kristie. Daniel just looked at her.

He knew that his answer was going to shock her.

"She went right to the top," he said. "Vince McMahon?" asked Kristie in disbelief. Daniel nodded.

"She wanted that match, & he made it happen. Shane & I couldn't stop him. In fact, Shane didn't find out about it until after you had lost," said Daniel.

Now it all made sense. However, there was one thing that Kristie needed to know.

"Have you talked to Shane about this?" asked Kristie. "Yeah. I had just came out of a meeting with him when you came in to confront me," said Daniel.

"What did he say?" asked Kristie. "He's going to Connecticut tomorrow to visit his father & talk to him about this," said Daniel. She just nodded.

Then Daniel had something else that he wanted to say to her.

"I watched that interview Renee Young did with your brother," said Daniel. "Yeah?" asked Kristie. He smiled at her.

"I don't believe him. I know who you are, & I'm proud to call you my friend. He's just a loser," said Daniel. Kristie just smiled.

After they had hugged, Kristie went to the locker room to get herself dressed for tonight's Smackdown Live.

It was a pretty eventful show despite John Cena & AJ Styles both being out with injuries they had each sustained at two WWE Live shows in Columbus, Ohio a couple of days ago.

First up, the Wyatt Family lost their tag team titles to the Usos. Then Randy Orton turned on Bray Wyatt & RKO'd him, which caused people to talk on social media.

Then came the interesting part of the show.

Kristie went on Miz TV & was surprised by how sympathetic the Miz & Maryse were towards her. She got along well with them outside the ring, but to see them break character a bit surprised her.

"I just want to say one thing & one thing only. Go to hell, Nikki," said the Miz with a smirk. Maryse looked at him adoringly. Kristie couldn't help but smile.

However, things changed when Nikki herself came out.

Seeing her with the Smackdown women's belt on her shoulder caused Kristie to want to jump at her & start beating her senseless. The Miz, however, had other ideas.

"Take back what you said, Miz," said Nikki. Miz looked around at the crowd for a bit & said simply, "No."

Kristie could see the anger on Nikki's face. The Miz wasn't done with her yet.

"You see, Nikki, you are a fake champion. As fake as your boobs. Kristie V here is a real, honest to goodness, fighting champion," said the Miz. "I'd rather she'd be champion then you because she can kick ass better then anybody!"

The crowd exploded as Nikki started making her way to the ring to fight Kristie.

However, the words "Here comes the money!" rang out.

Shane McMahon came out, & he looked angry.

"Don't even try, Nikki!" he said. He then looked at Kristie.

"You two will get your chance for that title," said Shane. "I will decide when & where it will happen."

Meanwhile, in the locker room, Dean & Becky were watching & applauding.

"Great move by our boss, right, Dean?" asked Becky. "Yup," he said.

However, Dean knew that something else needed to be addressed before Kristie could face Nikki for the title again.

Her brother Vinnie's interview with Renee.