New Recruits

Chapter 33

Wrestlemania week was like nothing else on the WWE calendar. Starting Thursday morning, there were events every day up to and including Tuesday. By the end of it all, the landscape throughout the company would look a lot different. There would be title changes, NXT debutants on the main roster, and even a retirement, after Kurt Angle brought his legendary career to an end at Wrestlemania.

At the opposite end of the scale were Sonya and Mandy, who were just getting started in their careers, and were set to experience being a part of a Wrestlemania weekend for the first time.

"This is going to be a lot of fun," Sonya said to Mandy and Zelina. They were moments away from walking into the main hall of the convention centre where Wrestlemania Axxess was taking place. It would be Sonya and Mandy's first big meet and greet session. As was often the case, Zelina had more experience of the situation than them, but she was still looking forward to it.

A lot of fans flew in for Wrestlemania week on Thursday, arriving in the evening. For that reason, the Thursday Axxess session was the least popular, a relative term, and was therefore the one where some lesser known names were on the line up. The Golden Gloves were one such name, filling a two hour slot on the NXT stage.

"Only if somebody shows up in our line," Mandy said with a laugh.

Sonya knew that people would come to meet them, but the joke was worth a laugh nonetheless.

"Looks like it's time to go," Zelina said as the nearby double doors were opened, and wrestlers started filing through, mingling with the volunteers who were helping with staffing the event. "One day, people might be paying hundreds of bucks for VIP tickets to meet us."

That was worth another laugh from Sonya. "You never know, I guess," she replied, finding it doubtful.

The NXT stage was near the back of the hall, in the same corner as the door that the wrestlers entered from. That gave the Golden Gloves the shortest walk of anyone to reach their station for the next two hours.

Walking around the stage behind Mandy and Zelina, Sonya saw a short line waiting for them. The waiting area was maybe one fifth full, she estimated. One person she did spot was Sarita Lopez, her number one fan. She was fourth in line, presumably having run to the NXT stage as soon as she had been admitted. Sonya saw that she had another custom made t-shirt on. This time it said: Golden Gloves Takeover: New York, and had Sonya, Mandy and Zelina's faces on it. It would make a great collectible once it was signed by the three of them.

"Sonya!" Sarita shouted, waving at her favourite wrestler.

"I see you!" Sonya called, pointing and smiling.

Sarita had a girlfriend with her, and they both went crazy, hugging each other.

"That girl really loves you," Mandy said with a big grin as they climbed up the steps to the stage.

"Yeah, she does. But I'd make a bet you have more fans than me," Sonya replied.

Zelina laughed, casually chewing some gum. "Of course she has. She's much prettier than we are."

All three of them laughed. It was something of a running joke, which Mandy was used to taking in the way it was intended.

"We agreed we would stand, right?" Mandy said.

There was a long table for them to use, with three chairs behind it. But if they sat down, fans had to lean over the table for pictures, making the results not very good. Fans therefore appreciated it greatly when wrestlers opted to stand instead. The Golden Gloves wanted to do everything to gain more fan recognition and support, even though they were heels, so they had gone for the fan-friendly option.