Heart Of A Warrior

Chapter 1: Changes Need To Be Made

Every little girl has a dream to become something when they get older. Whether it be a princess, cowgirl, singer, actress, or gymnast we all strive to become something big. For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to be a wrestler. Growing up people always told me that it was a pipe dream. Yet, I managed to become one of the youngest and biggest WWE divas ever to enter the company. My name is Stephanie Skye and here I am.

I travel 300 day out of the year to perform in front of huge crowds all round the world. Tonight is no different as Paige and I are set to take on the Bella Twins for Smackdown, which is taped Tuesdays and aired on Thursdays.

The bell rings and the match starts. I step out on the apron as Paige starts off against Brie. I look out to the crowd for a second when I feel someone hit my back, knocking me off the apron and onto the floor. I hear a thud coming from the ring followed by a three count and the bell again. I look up to see the Bella Twins have won the match

Just like recent matches, we've always had to end it quickly without any commercial breaks. I've expressed my concerns about it but we've still been put down. It's ridiculous considering that the show is three hours long and they can't spare fifteen minutes for a divas match.

Tonight will be the last night that it happens like this. Backstage I look for Mark. He's the senior of talent relations. So he's in charge of almost everything talent related. Duh.

"Hey Mark," I call to him, more hostile than I wanted it to come out. "Can I talk to you about the match, like why was it so short tonight?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "I'm sorry, Steph but final decisions are made with Vince."

"Then I'll just have to take this up with him then."

"He's not here tonight so you're gonna have to wait until next week to take it up with him."

I try to contain the biggest growl that's stuck in my throat when I watch Mark walk down the hall.

Somehow I managed to keep my cool long enough to pack my stuff and get to the next town last night. Wednesday is our day off from doing a show. Since last night's talk with Mark I've chosen to stay in my hotel room and relax until tomorrows show. For some odd reason one of the things that relaxes me is channel surfing.

After a few minutes of flipping through channels I find something that really sparks interest which is wrestling. Even being a wrestler myself I still feel like a fan so everything wrestling related I like to watch. I had to wait until commercial to find out the name of the show along with all its social media outlets.

"Lucha Underground." I whisper to myself.

I watch the show in its entirety and I have to admit that I am impressed with the show including the intergender match between Sexy Star and Son of Havoc. She got beat up most of the time but she still ended up coming back with such ambition which got her the win. Son of Havoc's manager/girlfriend, Ivelisse was not happy about the loss but she and Sexy Star are the only female wresters I've seen so far. The show's only an hour so they only get to book three matches to fit the time frame so maybe there are more women on the roster.

In the middle of thinking about the show, my phone rings. I answer after reading the name on the caller ID.

"What's up, Demi?"

"Can you put me in a sleeper hold but never let go?"

Demi has been my friend since sophomore year of high school. She went with me to my first wrestling class because I was intimidated by the guys that were ten years older than me. She's not a big fan of wrestling but she does find it interesting enough to ask me what's gonna happen next in the storyline and what is and isn't real. She's into wrestling but her passion is fashion.

"What's wrong now?"

She takes a big sigh, "Okay, cool thing is I get a month off from school. Shitty thing is I have to use that month to create a unique design which is gonna be a huge part of the grade so if I screw up then I might fail."

"I'm sure you'll come up with the best one. You got the fashion sense." Demi used to draw designs for my ring gear and give it to the local seamstress to be made before I made it into the WWE.

"I'm gonna stress out about this the entire time."

"I wish I could help but I've got my own problem to deal with."

There's a pause before she responds, "Is it with a storyline feud or real problem?"

"It's a real problem with work."

I explain the whole issue about us, women, getting less TV time each week. "That's so stupid. Guys doing that stuff is hard work but girls wrestling is more badass because your actually fighting out there, sorta, and it's basically same thing different gender."

"I know and all of us girls know that we can put on a good show IF given the chance but everyone is afraid to say anything in fear of crossing a line with the boss."

"So it's gonna have to be a miracle to get it to happen?"

I start the think about how much longer we're gonna have to be put down like this and I know I'm young and still have a long way until I retire but I don't want to retire knowing that I never had an OMG moment in the WWE like past divas like Lita and Trish Stratus. I refuse to go out like that.

"No, something is gonna be done about it."