New Recruits

Chapter 1

A/N: This story is very slightly AU in that I've changed the ages of some of the characters. Regular readers of my work might also spot some familiar returning faces.

The WWE Performance Centre didn't look like anything special at all from the outside. In fact it looked like one of the hundreds of thousands of characterless industrial units across America. Sonya Deville knew, however, that inside the bland-looking building was the most state of the art wrestling academy the world had ever seen.

Stopping for a second before entering the facility, Sonya took a deep breath. She was literally moments away from starting a life-changing experience. Having recently signed a developmental contract with WWE, she was now assigned to NXT, and was reporting for her first day of training.

Ahead of time, Sonya had been told that she would be part of a group of five men and five women, all new recruits who were starting out with WWE on the same day. Although she had no idea who any of the others were going to be, she hoped that she would come into the process with a bit of an advantage over at least some of them thanks to the fact that she had experience as an actress, and as an MMA fighter.

Ready to begin the biggest opportunity of her life, Sonya walked through the door into the Performance Centre, carrying a kitbag over her shoulder. A small sign outside had directed new recruits through a door in the side of the building, rather than through the main entrance. She found herself entering the main training hall of the building, where seven wrestling rings were set up.

The group of her fellow new recruits were standing near to the closest of the rings. Sonya counted three men and two women who had arrived before her. At least she wasn't last to show up, she thought. She recognised two of the three staff members who were currently talking to the group: Matt Bloom, NXT's Head Coach, and Paige, the Assistant Head Coach who was in charge of training NXT's women.

Sonya approached the new recruits and immediately felt somewhat downcast. The first person who greeted her was a truly stunning blonde woman with a perfect body, including huge boobs, and a gorgeous face. Her appearance put Sonya totally to shame, in her mind.

"Hi. Mandy," the woman offered, introducing herself with a smile.

"Hi. I'm Sonya," she replied, returning the gesture. "So, do you have any wrestling experience?" she asked, trying to break the ice. It was no secret that WWE were starting to recruit people with no experience in the business, as well as snapping up wrestlers from the independent circuit.

"Nope," Mandy said. "I'm a bodybuilder and a model. How about you?"

"Actress and MMA fighter," Sonya reported. "No wrestling experience at all. I'm looking forward to learning. I assume you don't know anyone else here?"

"No, but I was talking to those three guys over there," Mandy said, gesturing with her head towards three men who were talking to Coach Bloom. "Roman, Seth and Dean. They're all wrestlers. At least, I think they are. Seth said he was."

That left only one of the recruits who had arrived so far without a name, as far as Sonya was concerned. A tall blonde woman was talking to Paige and the other female coach. Never one to act like a shrinking violet, she decided to go over and introduce herself.

As Sonya approached, Paige saw her coming and gave her a welcoming smile. "Morning. Your name?"

"Sonya Deville. Nice to meet you," she said, accepting a handshake.

"Good to meet you. I'm Paige. I'm in charge of training the women in NXT." She gestured to the attractive woman with long dark hair standing beside her, wearing a coach's t-shirt. "This is Coach Purrazzo. You'll get to know her well, as she'll be your primary trainer."