La Arquitecta

Chapter 76

WWE Elimination Chamber – February 24th 2019

Standing behind the curtain in Gorilla with Cesaro and Sami Zayn, Zelina listened to the promo package for their match playing in the arena. The audio mostly consisted of snippets of commentary and her voice, since she had been given most of the build work to do, with Sami out of action with his kayfabe rib and knee injuries.

While reverting to role of managing had been seen by many as a demotion, the fact that she had been given almost sole responsibility for building Cesaro's first rivalry as her client indicated how much faith Lucy Thorne had in her abilities. It was a nice vote of confidence to get, and it bode well for the future. A lot of dirt sheet websites were already talking about Cesaro as a future Universal Champion now that Zelina Vega was adding the missing to his game – good promo work.

But even if that was on the agenda at some point, it was a way off. The job at hand was a match for the Intercontinental Championship. As Cesaro's music hit, Zelina got her head in the game. It was time for their first pay-per-view appearance together.

"Here he comes, Renee," Corey Graves said on commentary as the challenger and his manager entered the arena. "My pick to end Sami Zayn's almost seven month undefeated streak and leave tonight with the Intercontinental Championship, Cesaro."

"There can be no doubt about it, Cesaro has a great chance tonight," Renee conceded. "But don't ever count out Sami Zayn. We've seen him overcome the odds so many times to keep the Intercontinental title around his waist. I'm not going to bet against him now, even after what we've seen in recent weeks."

Cesaro and Zelina stood at the top of the entrance ramp, both delivering the trademark double-fisted pose.

"One thing we can both agree on," Renee went on, "is that Zelina Vega has been a game changer for Cesaro. Under her leadership, he has shown more determination, more ruthlessness. Whether you like it or not, and I personally don't to be honest, you have to admit it makes him much more of a threat."

"Sami Zayn would certainly agree," Graves said. "We haven't seen him in three weeks, thanks to two brutal attacks from Cesaro, masterminded by Vega. Sami was left with rib and knee injuries, and we don't even know what condition he's going to be in here tonight, if he even shows up."

"Sami will show up. I have no doubt about that," Renee insisted as Zelina led Cesaro into the ring. They made their pose again for the crowd, standing next to the ropes. Some boos came their way, but they were not yet close to being hated as much as The Vega Cartel had once been. It took time to build up that kind of animosity.

After Cesaro's theme faded out, there was a short pause before Sami's music replaced it. He received quite a generous ovation. When he walked out onto the stage, the most noticeable thing was the considerable bandaging wrapped around his ribs.

"Well, Sami Zayn is here," Graves said. "But looking at him, I don't know how good of a condition he's in. It might not be the best course of action for him to go through with this match. It might be better if he forfeited the title to Cesaro and came back to fight another day."

"That's not going to happen," Renee said dismissively. "If Zayn is going to go down tonight, he'll go down fighting. That's just the kind of guy he is."

The fans sang along to Sami's music as he made his way to the ring. Selling the injuries, he refrained from his usually enthusiastic style of entrance.

"You can tell Sami Zayn is in pain here," Graves said. "And of course the first thing Cesaro is going to do when the bell rings is go after those ribs."

With both competitors in the ring, Greg Hamilton stood ready to make his announcements. "This contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the WWE Intercontinental Championship! Introducing first, the challenger..."