16 years later in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1994)
Darcy swung her fist, missing a punch and got herself a punch in the guts. She coughed up a little, catching herself before swinging a back kick right into her opponent's face.
"Ow! Watch it! I was just taking it easy on you" Owen Hart, her partner in crime, said as he got up to his feet.
"Too bad. I don't feel generous this morning" Darcy said as they both locked up, both striving to get the upper hand. Darcy pushed as hard as she could as Owen matched her energy despite being only a few centimeters taller and almost 60 pounds heavier than her. Still, her strength was no match for him. She was almost as equally as strong as he was.
"That's it. Play time is over. Break it up, you two" Bret Hart walked in, breaking both of them like it was nothing, pushing both of them aside before casually walking to the bench, grabbing a bottle of water.
"Oh come on! I almost had him" Darcy whined, unsatisfied that Bret, whom she considered as like a big brother to her had just interrupted her moment.
"Yeah. I would've kicked Little Miss Andre here right in her butt" Owen complained.
"And you know what would be up if you do that, right Owie?" Bret pointed, chuckling at Owen's reaction as he called his pet name from when they were kids. "You guys better get ready. Our flight is in 2 hours. We gotta move"
Darcy smiled, excited at the thought. She was one step away from her dream. Her dream that she has been working on for her entire life. WCW, here she comes.
***********************
Bret chuckled as he looked at Darcy's reaction who was stunned upon looking at the huge building which was the headquarters to the one and only, World Championship Wrestling or better known as WCW in Atlanta, Georgia. He held her hand, leading her to the back entrance where Ted Turner, the CEO of the company, was pacing around while lighting up a cig, awaiting their arrivals. It was a huge risk what they were doing here.
"Ted" Bret called out, grabbing Ted's attention. Ted immediately dropped his cig, flying his hand over his mouth, attempting to push away the smoke.
"Follow me" Ted said, escorting them both into the building, careful so no one would see them. Being the boss, he sure had his perks, including having a private hallway that only he could walk through and a lift that makes all the way, directly to his office at the top floor.
Darcy couldn't help but admire the interior of the building. It looks so much better inside, with it's latest technology that Darcy had no idea what they were.
"Make yourself comfortable, Bret, Miss Johnson" Ted said, taking a seat on his luxurious chair. He fixed his name card on the table which wrote, "Ted Turner, Chairman of WCW" and crossed his hands over the desk.
Darcy and Bret took a seat across the table, awaiting for Ted to begin.
"Alright, I'll just cut to the chase. I have a show tonight and I'm sorry but I can't stay long. I'll make it short" Ted said, opening the drawers below his desk, taking out some papers. He reached out and took a golden pen that had a golden feather on top. Even from the look at it, Darcy knew it was expensive and that had to be real gold.
"So, Miss Darcy Johnson, am I right?" Ted said, reading through the papers.
"That's right, Mr. Turner" Darcy nodded.
"So, you're Rocky Johnsons's daughter. But you grew up with The Hart family in Calgary and went through your training there" Ted summarized. "I saw your wrestling tapes and I must say, I'm impressed, Miss Johnson"
"Thank you, Mr Turner" Darcy said.
"You have something that our company needs, you know? Your attitude in the ring, it was different. And the punches that you threw, beating up the guys looked far too real, way too good for a female wrestler. Not that I say women can't wrestle. But to have a female wrestler who's that good aside from just, you know, being an eye candy, it was really rare talent. You have spectacular talent, Miss Johnson" Ted said, a warm smile formed underneath the grey moustache.
Darcy looked at Bret and exchanged smiles. To hear a wrestling legend say something like that, it was a really big deal for Darcy.
"You have something new to bring to the table, Miss Johnson. You are something fresh that WCW needs. And that is why I wanted you in here in the first place. You have great talent, Miss Johnson and you have trained from some of the best of the best, The Hart family. A spectacular wrestling dynasty. Not to forget your bloodline of great wrestlers, the Anoa'i family. The Samoan royalty of pro wrestling. You have what it takes. That is why I agreed to take you in even though it is a great risk what Bret has taken here to bring you to WCW" Ted said.
Bret is a top talent at the World Wrestling Federation, or better known as the WWF, which is WCW's greatest rival. So is Owen and his other brothers. WCW and WWF has gone toe-to-toe every week and has competed to be the best wrestling promotion there is. If only someone knows that Bret is in the building of WCW Headquarters, it could mean the downfall of Bret in WWF and the upcoming of WCW. But Ted, an understanding man, has agreed to keep this quiet since Bret's heritage used to be one of Ted's best talents in WCW. Bret's father, Stu Hart was one of Ted's best friends. They've known Ted for ages, so it was the least Ted could do for Bret.
"I will not let you down, Mr Turner" Darcy said.
"I know you wouldn't, Miss Johnson. And I'm sure you may have seen the letter I sent you and I hope you agree with the basic salary we have to offer. We'll give it a go and if it works and it gets better, we'll get right back at it again" Ted said, referring to her salary.
Darcy was more than happy to hear that. It wasn't the money that was her concern. It was never the money. It was the fact that she is just one sign away from being a wrestler. A professional wrestler in the big leagues.
"If you have no objections, you can go ahead and sign this agreement" Ted turned the papers around, placing his golden pen on top of it and pushing it towards Darcy. "You can read the agreement if you want to"
"We trust you, Ted" Bret said which Ted smiled. Bret turned to Darcy who looked at him, waiting for his approval to sign the contract. "You can sign the contract, Darcy"
Darcy smiled, signing the contract.
"You'll start tomorrow. You need to be in Florida by noon tomorrow. I will explain to you tomorrow what you need to do" Ted said to which Darcy nodded.
Ted stood up, followed by Bret and Darcy. He shook their hands, and brought Darcy into a warm welcome hug before leading them out of the building, careful so no one would see them. Darcy was beaming in joy. Finally, she is officially professional wrestler!
Darcy was quiet the entire ride in the car, not because she was sad, it was because she was imagining how her career was gonna be hereafter, imagining the success that she is gonna have hereafter.
Darcy know that she was one of a kind. Given her physical condition of 5'9 and weighing in around 155 pounds, she was a relatively huge woman for her age. Her muscular body was one of a kind, not the usual ones you could spot at ease. Although she was no match with the other wrestlers as she is quite small compared to the guys we're used to seeing on TV, but a woman that muscular? Not in this era.
Bret stopped by in front of another arena, which Darcy knew where it was. It was the arena that the WWF will be having their Monday Night RAW. WWF is in Atlanta this weekend and Bret will be wrestling tomorrow night, en route to his championship match next month. Bret was rumored to win the championship next month at WrestleMania, the grandest stage of all of sports entertainment.
"Just wait here. I gotta go and grab some stuff" Bret said.
"Can I come?" Darcy said. "Pretty please?"
Bret sighed. "You're in WCW now, my love. It's best if you don't"
Darcy pouted to which Bret simply smiled and ruffled her hair, walking out of the car. Darcy crossed her arms. Bret never brings her to his WWF matches. Let alone to backstage. Bret and Owen never lets her to the WWF. She has no idea why but she wasn't gonna fight back. After all, they are her best friends. Her brothers. She knows that whatever they do, they do it for her best.
Bret walked in the arena through the backstage entrance. Monday Night RAW was tomorrow, so they came here a day earlier. The arena was rather empty, only a few technicians working on setting up the ring. He walked down the hallway, stopping to ask for directions from a technician and made his way to his boss's office.
Bret knocked on the door, a grumpy voice telling him to come in. Bret pushed the door open, surprised to not only see his boss in the office, but also the guy whom he hated with every nerve.
"Bret" Vincent Kennedy McMahon, or better known as Vince, the CEO of the WWF, greeted his soon-to-be champion with a smile.
"Vince" Bret nodded, walking into the office.
"Good, both of you are here" Vince said. "Have a seat, Bret"
Bret reluctantly sat beside his eternal rival, trying his best not to feel hot and bickering this morning.
"So, as of next week, you both know that we'll be having our Monday Night RAW before the Royal Rumble, so I was thinking of an unsanctioned match between you both" Vince said, his face was all serious.
Bret's eyebrows furrowed. "Unsanctioned? Why?"
Vince sighed, crossing his hands on his table. "Look, the recent events you both has gone really overboard. With the brawls in the arena and the constant cheap shots even in the ring, it is not a healthy thing, not for you both as well as for the company. If you guys keep going at each other, it could do some real damage to the WWF's welfare. You both are top guys in the WWF, you both are our top talents. You guys are supposed to be setting an example for the other talents. You guys are supposed to set a standard for what the WWF is to the audience. If you guys keep getting at each other's faces, it is-"
"Vinman. Vinman. Vinman" The deep rough voice that Bret so deeply despises with every inch of his life echoes through the room as he interrupted Vince.
Vince sighed as he simply looked at one of his top talents, the pretty boy with long golden silky hair and hazel green eyes, crosses his feet on top his desk, leaning further back onto his chair.
"Vinman, enough with the preaching. God damn it hurts my expensive pretty ears" Vince rolled his eyes as Shawn Michaels threw his cocky remark.
Bret sniggered. There's that cocky attitude.
"You want to do an unsanctioned match, just say so, alright? You know me, I'm Shawn Michaels, the Heart Break Kid, the Main Event. I can do absolutely anything, alright? You need a brutal ass kicking match, I'll give it to you" Shawn said, shaking his feet that rested well on the desk, moving the desk along that made cranky sounds which pretty much irritated Bret.
"No, Shawn. You don't get it. We're doing this unsanctioned match because we know that you both have differences and we want you both to settle things once and for all. No more arguments. I need you both on the same page here. I need you to get along" Vince said, trying to reason with Shawn.
Shawn smirked. "Differences? Oh that, I know. Me and the Hitman right here certainly have differences but to get along? At-tat-tat. Not gonna happen, Vinny" Shawn sassed, his thick Texan accent made it a lot more sassy than it was supposed to.
Vince looked at Bret, as though asking for some help.
"You heard him, Vince. There's no way the two of us are getting along. Not as long as he continues to be this cocky ass that he is" Bret shot, irritated by the cranky noise that the desk was making from Shawn's feet shaking.
Shawn laughed, more of in a sarcastic way. "Oh, nice try, Hitman. Bet you could use that in your next promo and it will be the best promo you've ever did in your entire career"
Bret's hand formed a fist, his face became red from controlling his anger. He was just a rung away from swinging his fist onto Shawn's sorry face.
"Shawn. Please. I need you to co-operate" Vince said, almost pleading. He can't afford to lose both of these guys. With WCW giving a really tight competition every week, he needs both of his top talents that are sitting before him. They are his only chance of getting their ratings back up.
Shawn huffed, his lips made a motorboat sound in boredom. He got up, grabbing his cowboy hat that sat at the middle of Vince's table from the very beginning he came to Vince's office.
"Look, Vinny-man" Shawn sighed. "You want an unsanctioned match, you go it. But to get along? Never happening as long as there are two top talents in this company. It's either him or me, Vinman"
Shawn kicked the chair, making his way out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Bret let out a big sigh, letting go of all the anger in him. In a way, he sympathized Vince. Vince had to deal with Shawn's stubborn attitude everyday. He can't even fire Shawn or else Vince is gonna lose a whole lot. As much as Bret hated to admit, WWF really did need Shawn as much as they need Bret himself.
But to Bret, Shawn was just a cocky, arrogant and ungrateful person. He can't stand Shawn, not even one bit. As much as he acknowledges Shawn's talent, he can never acknowledge him as a person. Shawn is the kind of person whom he would never let the women of his house anywhere near him. And that includes Darcy. In one way, Bret is so thankful that he threw away WWF's letter for Darcy and only showed her the WCW's letter. At least, she will be much safer there. Safe from the evil hands of Shawn Michaels.
*************************
Author's note:
Hey my loved ones! So we got a glimpse of Darcy's background. She is trained by the Harts and is now currently signed to WCW as a wrestler. With Bret in WWF, how do you think Darcy is gonna handle on her own in WCW?
Let me know in the comments.
P/S... If you're new here, do read my book Ayla as well as it is in the same universe. Hope y'all like it. Thank youuuuu!!!!!
Signing out,
Veena
(Date: 16/04/2024)
(Word count : 2576)