Road to Wrestlemania 2020: A Buddy Murphy Fanfiction

Royal Rumble 2020

The reflection in the mirror was beautiful. My long cinnamon-colored hair was styled into a voluminous ponytail. My eyes were surrounded by various shades of green eyeshadow that swirled together masterfully and made my blue eyes even more blue. I was dressed in brand new gear: black skin-tight pants that ran into my boots and had copper detail down the side, and a black cropped top with a copper strap that wound around my neck like a halter. The copper and the green worked together and gave me snake vibes.

"You got this," I whispered to myself. My reflection was the direct opposite of how I felt. I wasn't nervous for the actual Royal Rumble match. I knew I would do fine. But, the Women's Royal Rumble match was an incredibly big deal. Women in WWE (and all of wrestling) were working hard every single day to prove that we deserve the same hype as the guys. One slip from any one of us could hurt us all.

I forced a large breath into my lungs and rolled my neck gently before jumping back up to my feet and heading toward the screening room.

I settled into a seat between Lacey Evans and Alexa Bliss as the pre-show was ending and the actual pay-per-view's intro was rolling. I started wrapping tape around my hands, a habit I picked up after breaking my wrist last year. The room was buzzing with superstars, both, male and female. They were talking, laughing, and giving off all sorts of anxious vibrations. The room was becoming electric as more superstars piled in.

"Hello, Ladies,"

I looked up to Becky Lynch as she sat next to Lacey. Her bright orange hair was on point, and she was in her gear. The Raw Women's Championship lay across her lap.

"It's like midnight on Christmas Eve around here." she said as she took in all of the excitement in the room. "And we're all five years old."

Alexa, Lacey, and I laughed in unison.

"Are you guys excited for the Rumble?" Becky asked, glancing at each of us.

I pushed down the doubt rising in my chest, "Yes, I think." I giggled nervously.

Alexa nodded, but never actually spoke. She looked even more pale than usual. I was in NXT with her and knew her well enough to know that she was nervous. She was always nervous as though she's not a perfect wrestler.

"What numbers are you?" Lacey asked.

"I'm 16." I said. We weren't supposed to tell our entrance numbers until right before the match. Even then most won't tell.

"That's a good number. I hope you win." Lacey said.

I giggled nervously again, "Me too,"

"I'm number one," Alexa said. "So I'm pretty sure I have very little chance of winning."

"In the men's that is a good number. Maybe it is for ours too." I said.

She half-smiled. "Maybe so."

"Lacey, how are you feeling about your match?" I asked.

"Well, Baylee is good. But she isn't as good as me." She said in her exaggerated accent.

"Becky?" I asked. "How ya feeling about Asuka?"

"I'll kick her ass. Go home and do it all over again tomorrow." She said. Her new arrogant persona was working for her.

"Hannah Rae," A man's voice said from behind me as a hand landed gently on my shoulder.

I looked up and my smile fell. It was Brian James aka Road Dogg. He worked on the Creative team now and often spoke to talent about storylines and character development. It was much more common to come from a writer or writer's assistant. When it was Brian in-person it was rarely good news.