Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:12:59 -0500
From: ITSMonkeywolfnoz@aol.com
Subject: Hangin' With The Champ - Part 3

Disclaimer: Once again, this story is a work of fiction and is not meant to
reflect the true sexual preferences of any of the characters mentioned
herein. Truthfully, I don't know if any of the WWE superstars are gay,
including John Cena, and even if I did, I would respect them enough to not
go blurting it out in a public forum. Anyway, I'm still kind of new to this
whole creative writing thing, so I hope it's good enough that I've retained
the attention and interest of at least a few of you. Anyways...enjoy!




"You look good," John leaned in, whispering into Jeff's ear--he gave a sly
smile, deriving a sick pleasure out of toying with Jeff.

"I can't believe you made me do this. I feel like a fuckin' tool," Jeff
stated, adorned in his new "gear." The brief, drop-by visit to John's
locker room resulted in an impromptu game of dress-up. Not only had John
grabbed himself another shirt, but he had also picked up a hat, wristbands,
dog tags, and second, non-coffee-stained shirt for Jeff.  Interestingly,
John now had a slightly shorter, not as muscley twin standing to his left
with his arms crossed, feeling shamed, like a cheap whore after a
trick. The pre-show meeting was going on as the two stood toward the back
of the group, whispering and carrying on like a couple of naughty school
boys.

"Maybe that's cause you look like a tool," John retorted, giving Jeff a
little nudge with his elbow.

"Nice--yea, well, you look like this every day..." Jeff shot back.

"Haha, whoa, got ourselves a funny man over here!" John exclaimed,
mockingly giving his knee a slap.

"I didn't know you were gonna whip a fuckin' souvenir stand out of your gym
bag, ok? I feel like I should run out and start myself a clothing line now
just so you can know how ridiculous this feels. I guess bein' a WWE
superstar gets your name and face on all kinds of different shit," Jeff
replied, accented with a nudge of his own, just slightly more forceful.

John chuckled. "What? I bet your boys would be lovin' this shit right
now. Wish I had a camera or somethin'."

"I'm sure they would," Jeff said. "But they already know me well enough to
know I'd beat their asses, so you better just watch yourself."

"You know what I always say," John stated, turning his head to look at Jeff
with a grin on his face, knowing Jeff knew what was coming next. "You want
some? Come get some!"  Jeff just rolled his eyes, eliciting another nudge
from John.

"Excuse me, John. Was there something you wanted to add?" The distinct
voice of Vince McMahon rang clear like a bell. The room immediately went
silent, as the masses parted like the Red Sea, turning to get a look at
what had caused the disruption. Jeff felt his face start to get hot--a
feeling he seemed to be getting all-too-familiar with since he had walked
into the building. He very timidly turned his head away from John to stare
at the floor, giving the brim of his hat a tug.

"No, sir," John responded very calmly and plainly. Jeff, curiously, thought
the whole scene resembled the way a Marine drill instructor might address
his troupes and vice- versa, just with a little less of that 'whoo-rah'
attitude.

"That's good," Vince replied. He diverted his attention back to addressing
the group as a whole. "Now, as you know, we've got Raw's tour of the United
Kingdom coming up next week. After the house show on Saturday afternoon in
Wilkes-Barre, we'll be flying out of Philadelphia and landing in London
what would be sometime late Sunday morning. You then have the rest of the
day Sunday and Monday up until 5 to settle in and hit the gym and do
whatever you have to do before we go live Monday night..."

"Man, now you got me in trouble," John began whispering to Jeff again,
causing him to start chuckling, uncontrollably, to himself. "What?" John
asked, confused.

"Ohh nothin'," Jeff declared after quickly composing himself, not wanting
to create another scene. "This is just too funny. I'm an Ed major, so this
whole talking while the 'teacher' is addressing the 'class' thing just
makes me feel dirty. We're like those two bastard kids in the back of the
class with the disciplinary problems or ADD or some shit that just wait a
few seconds after gettin' yelled at to start talking again. I'm surprised
he doesn't come back here and spank us or somethin'."

"Ohh, don't worry--he might," John replied, with a laugh. "That's cool,
though. So you're in college right now?"

"Yup, yup. I actually go to school right down the road from here. Pretty
convenient for me, I guess. I dunno what's gonna happen though if this
thing takes off..." Jeff mused.

"Yea, I hear ya, man."

"...So, I think that pretty much covers everything. Any questions?" Vince
asked, pausing to give the superstars and other WWE employees time to
respond, if they wished. After a few silent moments, weak headshakes, and
barely-audible 'no's, he continued. "Well, alright then. Good luck
tonight--let's have a great show!" Suddenly, in contrast to the weak
reaction just displayed, the group burst into excitement. There was quite a
bit of clapping and 'woo's and various other inspirational cheers, before
the crowd slowly started to disburse.

"Well that's that," John said, as the two turned to face each other. "So
you think you're ready for this?"

"No!" Jeff stated, emphatically, causing him to laugh at himself. "I'm as
ready as I can be, I guess...just still really fuckin' nervous." John
smiled.

"Nah, man--don't be. I know you're gonna be awesome. Just be yourself out
there and have fun. Don't worry about all the other shit that's goin'
through your head. Just let it flow, and it'll happen. The fact you're even
here proves that they already seen somethin' in you," John paused for a
second, switching gears into a more casual, light-hearted tone.  Giving
Jeff a gentile, backhanded slap to the chest, he continued. "But hey, if
you feel like you're starting to freak out, just think of the boys up in
the crowd bein' their jackass selves. No doubt they'll be screamin' their
asses off for ya and givin' you all the support they can. I'll be back here
watchin' ya too, just on some shitty TV monitor, so you won't hear me
screamin' or nothin'." John shot Jeff another one of those warm smiles,
making Jeff's stomach all fuzzy again.

Jeff shyly broke eye contact, glancing at the floor and rubbing the hair on
the back of his head not covered by the hat. "I really appreciate it, man,"
he said. "That means a whole hell of a lot comin' from you. Definitely
makes me feel better, too."

John smiled and laughed, playfully smacking Jeff in the arm again. "Good,"
he said. "I can already tell you're a good kid. I'm glad I ran into ya,
even if you had to bring the hot coffee into it. But hey, if that's how you
go about meeting people, then again, I won't judge."

Jeff laughed again, flattered, getting all shy again. He felt like John was
being really affectionate, but he just dismissed the idea, knowing there
was no chance in hell that his actions and words were meant in a
flirtatious kind of way. John was just, obviously, one of those extremely
extroverted, touchy/feely types. He could feel himself becoming drawn to
John, though--at least he could see them becoming good friends. Jeff might
have fantasized about other things but knew to keep himself in check for
the sake of his possible new career. He was about to respond before he
heard a voice come from behind him.

"Hey, are you Jeff?" The voice was deep and sounded hunky. Jeff turned
around to come face-to-face with whom he recognized as Val Venis.

John brought his hands down on Jeff's shoulders and shook him a little
bit. "Yup, Sean, he's your man!" John declared.

"Awesome,' he replied. "I just wanted to talk with you a little bit about
how things are supposed to run tonight with our match."

"Hey," John interrupted, sliding to Jeff's left but retaining his right
hand on his shoulder.  "I'll let you fellas get to it; I gotta go n' grab
Orton myself. But hey, I'll catch you later on?" John removed his hand and
took a couple steps backwards toward where some of the other guys were
gathered, pausing for Jeff's response (it looked like Orton was over where
he was headed, chatting-it-up with Mr. Kennedy and Carlito).

Jeff was saddened that John had to go, but he knew he couldn't be there
with him 24/7-- he wasn't exactly going to hold his hand to the ring or
anything like that. "Sure, bud.  Good luck out there tonight!"

"Back at ya, sir! Go out there and tear that house down!" John shouted,
pointing toward the entrance to the area in a very exaggerated manner. Jeff
couldn't help but smile--he thought it was so cute the way that John's
character sometimes came through, even when he wasn't performing.

Jeff watched for a few moments as John walked away, seeing him move-in on
the trio, grabbing Orton's attention--Kennedy and Carlito took their leave,
saying their good byes and allowing the two rivals to their business.

Sean gently cleared his throat. "So, anyway..."

Jeff broke himself out of his trance and jerked his head to face Sean. "Ohh
hey, sorry. I guess I'm still just kinda star struck seeing all you
guys..."

"It's ok," Sean said, reassuringly. "I was the new guy once...some time
ago..."

Jeff chuckled. "Nah, it's all good. So, what ideas did you have in mind?"

Sean started, "Well, I'm actually going to be 'putting you over'
tonight. It is a dark match, but, hopefully, it will still manage to get
some attention from the crowd and stir- up some talk. The match is going to
be pretty brief--maybe like 5 minutes. Ideally, the officials that will be
watching you tonight want make sure you can handle a little bit of a
beating...sorry to say. Taking bumps and shots, making them look real and
believable, are really important to these guys. That, and still being an
unknown, the crowd might get kind of confused if you walk in there and
start kicking my ass--no offense."

"Ohh no, not at all," Jeff offered. "I can totally understand how that
would work."

"But, anyway," Sean continued. "Toward the end, you'll get your chance;
either you'll take control or you'll just whip-out something crazy at the
last second to get the win, like a schoolboy or a backslide or something
like that, ya know?"

"Sure, sure," Jeff replied.

"Wait, actually...what's this move of yours I've been hearing about?" Sean
asked.

Jeff beamed. "Ohh, you mean the Whipwreck?!" He had gotten to show it off
at his audition, but he didn't know people were actually talking about
it--this got him all excited and giddy.

Sean laughed. "Well, if that's what you call it. What is it? Maybe we could
give it a shot.  That would definitely get a nice crowd reaction."

"You might think it sounds kinda crazy, so I could understand if you might
not be all about it..." John stated, coyly. "What I do is prep while you're
comin' toward me, bend down, and launch you into the air as if for a
free-fall drop. You'd then fall for a second or two, as if you were going
to land flat on your stomach, but I grab you really quick in a front face
lock when you're at about shoulder level and twist it around into a
neckbreaker. It's really quick and snappy-like, and the impact of it is
really dramatic. Ya just gotta be quick and precise about it. I don't think
it would be dangerous or anything like that, but I'd leave that up to you."

Sean grinned and stoked his goatee for a second, contemplating the idea,
while Jeff chewed on his lip, wondering if Sean thought he was just totally
fucking nuts to come up with something like that. "I say we go for it!"
Sean suddenly exclaimed, much to the shock of Jeff.

"Really?!" Jeff gasped. "You wanna go for it?"

"Hell yea--I think it sounds awesome! This is your audition, kid. If that
means taking a risk, you've got to do it. Leave 'em with something to talk
about; make 'em want to see more." Jeff was pleasantly surprised that he
was so willing to go out of his way to help him out and get him noticed. He
had just assumed that all the established guys could really give a shit
what happened to some new guy that had just waltzed in the building, trying
to make a name for himself. These guys probably dealt will Jeff's type all
the time, so Sean tolerance to the idea, especially having been with the
company for a while, was very encouraging to him. As nuts as it would
probably be out there in the ring, he knew he was in good hands.

"Thanks, man," Jeff said, giving a small, polite smile.

"Hey, like I said, I've been there before. I know what it's like to be
incredibly nervous and wishing you knew that you had somebody watching your
back. Aside from that though, I know from talking to the recruiters that
they definitely saw something they liked in you--they're definitely
expecting you to deliver. I can already tell that John likes you too, and
that's got to mean something. I mean, he did give you like all of his
clothes to wear..." Jeff giggled, looking down at himself, having forgotten
all about that fact that he was dressed as he was. Sean went on. "I know
he's got to want you to succeed as well.  A lot of the guys, too, look up
to him as a leader, so to have his endorsement means you've got a hell of a
lot of support backing you here. You've got nothing holding you back--just
go out there and show 'em what you've got."

Jeff began to feel himself becoming overwhelmed. All of Sean's kind words
and revelations almost made him want to cry, but he knew better than to let
himself get all emotional right now, right before they were due to go
out. Coming from a seasoned guy like Sean, the words were even more
impactful, as if being spoken by a father-figure or some other kind of
mentor. He had an air about him that was both very intelligent and wise,
from his years with this business. "I can't thank you enough," Jeff managed
to squeeze out, extending his hand to Sean.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'd probably do the same thing for
the next guy."  Sean smiled, accepting the handshake. He then bent and
raised his left arm toward his face, so he could glance at his watch. "Well
damn, it's 6:50 already! The show is going to start in 10 minutes. We're
not on 'til fourth, but we should probably get going so we can warm up and
stuff. Just head back here during the third match, and I'll meet you in the
entranceway."

"Okay, Sean, sounds good. I'll see you in a bit!"

"See ya!" Sean smiled, nodding to Jeff. Turning to walk off, Jeff's eyes
followed him for a second, until he noticed that John and Randy were still
standing there, engaged in conversation. Just as he glanced over at the
two, he noticed John gesture toward Jeff with his thumb, not actually
turning to look at whom he was pointing at--Jeff guessed he was talking to
Randy about him. On cue, Randy turned toward Jeff and saw him looking back
at him, causing Randy to give Jeff a small, polite wave. Noticing this,
John then turned and saw Jeff as well, eliciting a slightly more excitable
wave from him. He nodded, giving a small smile and returning a quick wave
directed to the two of them. Next, he pointed to John and mouthed the
words, "I'll catch your ass later."

"Good luck," John mouthed back. Jeff then nodded to Randy once more and
turned to begin the short journey back to the locker room. The halls were a
little crowded, packed mostly with crewmembers, as there was a lot of
tension/excitement in the air about the start of the show. He guessed that
a lot of the wrestlers probably also liked to retreat to their locker rooms
for a little while before the show to warm-up and prepare themselves
mentally. After a couple minutes, he was once again standing at the door
with the sign that said, so plainly, 'Locker Room.' Upon entering, he
immediately noticed the guy Matt that he had run into earlier was back
already, doing some squats. There were a few other guys in the room now
that he didn't recognize, but they seemed too wrapped-up in what they were
doing to even notice that someone had entered the room. Matt did look up
quickly, however, as if he were awaiting Jeff's return; he shot up and
bounded over to him. "Hey buddy! Looks like I'm on right before you, so I
figured I'd come back a little early and do some warm-ups. Did you wanna
join me?"

"Sure man! Just give me a sec to put some of this stuff away." Matt nodded,
acceptingly.  With that, Jeff jogged the few feet over to his locker,
quickly stripping off all of the John Cena gear and propping his left foot
up on the bench so he could carefully take out his iPhone and stash it in a
safe place. After securing all of his things, he bolted over to the
bathroom area, clad only in his wrestling gear now, to give himself a once
over in the mirror. The damn hat John shoved on his head had matted his
hair a little bit, so Jeff just ran his hands through it a few times to try
and work some volume back into it. Not exactly satisfied, but figuring
there wasn't much else he could do at this point, he just grunted and ran
back out into the main area to join Matt. "Okay, sorry, I'm ready!"

"It's all good. Should we start with the squats? Maybe like 200 or
something like that?"  Matt asked.

"Sure, let's do it," Jeff agreed. And so, the two began cranking out the
set, counting off as they went. Around '100' or so, Jeff could start to
feel it in his legs, as his heart rate began to pick up as
well. Determined, and knowing this was absolutely necessary, he kept
going. Toward the end, the numbers began coming out much more forcibly,
accompanied by grunts and other guttural
sounds. "...197...198...199...200," the two cheered.

"Whoo," Jeff elated, slightly out of breath. "What's next?"

"How's about some bicycle exercises for the abs? Just keep goin' as quick
as you can for a few minutes." On cue, Jeff dropped to the floor, lying
flat on his back, joined by Matt a couple of feet to his right. The two got
into position, placing their hands behind their heads, raising their
shoulders, and wrapping their elbows around their ears. "Okay, ready?" Matt
turned, looking for confirmation before he continued--Jeff nodded. "Go!"

This went on for a few more minutes, accompanied by some other exercises
like jumping jacks, push-ups, and a whole assortment of different
stretches. The whole time, Jeff noticed some of the other guys coming and
going, having their matches before Matt and himself. "Alright man, I better
get my ass out of here!" Matt practically shouted, glancing over at the
monitor that showed the second match was going on. He immediately dropped
his left leg that he had pulled behind his back, gunning for the door. "It
was definitely good meetin' ya! Break a leg out there!" And with that, he
was out the door, before Jeff could even really respond.

"Thanks," Jeff said quietly to himself. Recovering from the quick but
intense workout, he paced slowly back over to his locker to grab his bag,
toting it into bathroom area. The few remaining guys were either still
engaged in their own workouts or just chatting quietly amongst themselves.

Jeff looked in the mirror again, taking a deep breath and exhaling
sharply. "You got this," was all he said. Obsessively, he whipped out a jar
of product, fiddling with his hair a little more, now that he had an extra
minute or two to himself. Satisfied, he put the container away, retrieved a
towel, and washed his hands and face. Drying off, he then entered his bag
again in search of the baby oil--he hated the feeling of it, but he knew it
helped with all the friction of the ropes and the mat and everything...he'd
at least put a little on.  Lathering up his hands, he started running his
hands up his arms first, followed by his chest and stomach, which were
covered in a light, well-maintained coating of light brown hair. Adding a
little more to his hands, he finished up with his back, reaching over his
shoulders on arm at a time to do his upper back. Finally, he bent his arms
under, rubbing up and down from just below his shoulder blades to the top
of his tights. Deciding his legs weren't all that important, he closed up
the bottle and tossed it back in the bag.

Feeling icky, he washed the excess off of his hands and blotted himself
with the towel.  Looking up once more, he smiled to himself in the mirror
and collected all of his stuff, taking it back to his locker.

At this point, the guys ad wrapped up their workouts and were gathered
around the monitor, glued to it. They were checking out the action, but
they were mostly paranoid about not missing their respective cues. Jeff
walked up behind the crew, standing up on his tippy toes to peer over their
shoulders for a second. He could see Matt on the monitor, having his
introduction read by the ring announcer. Taking this as his cue, he plopped
back down on his heels and headed for the door. The hallway was
significantly less crowded, as most of the crew was off in their assigned
positions for the show. Jeff decided to slowly jog down to the gathering
area, passing a few different people along the way, greeting them with
nods, smiles, and 'how ya doin's. He quickly reached the entranceway, which
was also sparsely populated, aside from a couple crew guys there to cue the
wrestlers--Sean was already there as well. He leaned in toward Jeff as he
approached, whispering into his ear. "Hey, you ready?"

"Yea, I think so," Jeff whispered back. "Not that I really have much of a
choice at this point."

Sean quietly laughed. "Yea, that's true. You're gonna head out first, and
then I'll make my entrance after you've entered the ring. You won't really
have any lighting or music or anything like that, but you'll be announced
after they announce me. Lillian will say something like, 'And, in the ring,
from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jeff Johnson!" At which point, you can
like raise you're arms up or whatever you feel like doing; just acknowledge
yourself to the crowd. Don't get discouraged if there isn't much of a
reaction--just go with it."

Suddenly, the two were interrupted as Matt emerged back through the
curtain, having just finished up his match. He spotted Jeff standing there
in the dark, his face slightly illuminated by the white rope lights hanging
above their heads. Sean retracted, seeing Matt approach. Leaning in, he
then whispered to Jeff, "Have fun, man!" And, with a quick pat on the back,
he was gone.

Turning his attention back to Sean, Jeff whispered, "I think I'm ready."
Sean pleasantly smiled, conceding that he too felt Jeff was ready. Lifting
his hand, Sean gestured for Jeff to head over to the curtain. Hesitantly,
he did so, taking a few slow, forced steps over to the entrance, which was
marked by two white footprints painted on the floor. Staring at the floor,
Jeff took a couple of deep breaths, shaking out his arms and hands while
rolling his neck around a few time. Looking up once again, he focused on
the curtain, as if studying how he would even walk through it--he felt the
need to be very meticulous, not wanting to screw up even the slightest of
mundane details. Before his mind could wander even further, however, he
heard the voice of one of the crewmen call out to him.

"Alright, kid. You're on!"




So everybody--hope you liked this latest chapter. This is Jeff's big
moment! How will it go? Stay tuned to find out soon! :o) As always, send
your questions, comments, and concerns out to
ITSMonkeywolfnoz@aol.com. Have a nice day! :o)