Smackdown's Agonist

Ringing Idea

*Maryse's POV*

It was now two weeks until Backlash as I was now on commentary during Imigie's match against Mickie James. I was beginning to hope that Mickie would win. Imigie had no use attempting to win because she would get her first step to losing her match against me.

The thought of such a thing happening made me curl my lips into a smile. It was bound to happen sooner or later. At least I was sure of it.

I turned to see The Miz, my husband whose real name was Mike, who was close by, talking to another superstar. He looked to be a bit shorter but rather muscular.

I perked up my ears, thinking that they would talk about possibly going up against each other. Instead, it was about a topic I personally never expected.

"I think your wife has some plans," the man said. "Given how she was the past few weeks. Especially last week on Talking Smack—"

"Hold on a minute, Monty. You know that she's doing everything she can to make sure that the other girl won't take another step in the spotlight."

"I think it was out of the line on Maryse's part, Miz. Imigie has done nothing wrong but show that she's ready. Didn't you and your wife forget that Imigie was in NXT for almost four years? And given that she was very much ready for a title shot at least six months into her NXT run, she didn't even win that title until two years later. Even one of her closest friends, who came to NXT about a year after she did can agree that she went through a lot to build herself up. I think you need to give her credit for it."

"Montague, she is not a must see star in the women's division. Even she believes she didn't totally defeat Asuka, despite winning the title. Her subtle doubts will definitely be something I see some preying on."

"That's usually covered by her willingness to fight, regardless of what happens. Remember past week? She was suppose to face your wife but then she cowered away. That's why Toby had to cover for her."

I almost smirked at the memory. It was one time when inter-gender one-on-one match had to happen. Toby was quite intriguing in the ring. That was a plus that I could give.

I just listened more carefully as both men exchanged words about me and Imigie.

"Hello, that says nothing about what I had said," Mike grumbled. "I overheard that Imigie really doesn't believe that she truly defeated Asuka, despite holding that title until Nikki Cross took it from her two days before she debuted."

"Preying on her doubts is a bad idea. You shouldn't underestimate her and neither should your wife."

"I'm done here, Montague!"

Mike just walked away from the man who he was talking to then was heading towards me. I smiled when I watched him do so.

However, a thought came to my head. Maybe I could actually prey on Imigie's doubts and encourage the other girls to do the same. I could just all the times she had doubted herself.

I already heard about her victory against Asuka which had me thinking why would Imigie think that she hadn't truly beaten Asuka. Was it because of how many times she became really close to losing the match? Or was it because she said it's not about beating Asuka, it's about winning the prize you've fought for for a long time?

Before I could pull these thoughts together, I noticed Mike was already behind me. Now it was time for me to tell him my idea.

"Oh, Mike!" I smiled, hugging him. "I have a good idea."

Mike gave me his undivided attention. I whispered something to his ear, smiling with every word I said. It was going to be something that would only be kept between me and him. No one else would hear such a thing.

Mike seemed rather surprised by what I had said but still quite pleased. This meant that my plan would carry out quite well without any interruptions.
All I had to do was to not say a single word about it to the other girls because if that happened, someone would try to save Imigie which I didn't want to happen. Hell, I didn't even want any of the guys to know, well, probably Montague partially knew about Imigie's doubts and such.

Mike headed down the hall as I followed him close behind, already anxious for my plan.