Ashley's POV
Brie and Nikki came and found me after they had left the ring and after I had left AJ at the top of the ramp, hopefully humiliated. It felt good to finally get my hands on her. It felt good to finally get all that bad blood flowing between us. AJ had never really gotten over the fact that me and Phil had gotten back together in the story line. I think outside of the whole storyline itself, AJ actually did like Phil. I think she had fallen for him during the storyline, and from the gossip I'd heard among the diva's, AJ truly believed that something was going on between me and Phil outside of the business. Of course, I found this hilarious because nothing was going on between me and Phil. At least, I didn't think there was.
'Thanks for coming out there and shutting AJ up' Brie said, as she sat on one of the crates and un laced her wrestling boots. Nikki nodded in agreement with what her sister had said.
'It's fine. She deserved what she got, and at Night of Champions she'll get a hell of a lot more' I informed the Bella twins.
'If I'm honest she's probably jealous because it's obvious Punk wants nothing to do with her, and it's pretty clear she hasn't forgot about their storyline they had. Even if it has been two years now' Nikki said, shaking her head.
'Petty jealousy' Brie commented. I nodded. Because of my injury I had been out of wrestling in 2012 just after the Elimination Chamber, leaving Phil to be on his own. Daniel was having a feud with Punk, and AJ had suddenly thrown herself at Phil. She and Punk had a storyline which involved Kane. AJ had been toying with Punk, Kane and Daniel. Although, once she became General Manager and I had returned, she seemed to be giving Punk a bit of heat. I don't think she'd ever truly gotten over the fact that once I had returned that me and Punk were still in a storyline. Even if Punk had become a heel. The WWE universe had loved the whole idea of Punk being a heel and me being face, and the fact there was still a storyline going on between us. AJ had never gotten over that, storyline and real life.
'Brie, Nikki is it okay if we interview about what just happened out there with AJ Lee?' Renee Young was standing behind Nikki, with a cameraman. Nikki and Brie nodded, and Brie hopped down from the crate and stood next to her sister. I stood out of the way and watched Renee interview the Bella's.
'I'm Renee Young and I'm here with the Bella twins - Brie and Nikki Bella. Girls after what just happened with AJ. What is your reaction to what she had to say?' Renee asked moving her microphone in between the girls.
'AJ Lee has ridden on the coat tails of WWE superstars. The list is endless of all the superstars she'd clung onto to try and get herself to the top' Brie spoke.
'She claimed that she got into this business by being the best. She said that she's never sucked up to anyone. Honey, you've desperately thrown yourself at the men in this company. It's actually pretty pathetic' Nikki shook her head as she spoke.
'You've rode on the coat tails of superstars such as Daniel Bryan, John Cena, Kane, Dolph Ziggler and many more. But, now you're trying to ride the coat tails of Total Diva's' Brie noted.
'AJ Lee is nothing more than a jealous, psychotic and crazy lovesick little girl who's let all the attention off the superstars get to her head. She thinks she's saved this diva's division? No, she's ruining it' Nikki spoke looking at Renee.
'At Night of Champion's AJ Lee is going get a dose of reality when she loses her title and has to crawl back to the crazy house she came from with her tail tucked between her legs' Brie smirked.
'Thank you girls' Renee said, as the camera stopped rolling. I walked back over to the Bella's.
'Nicely done' I praised them.
'Well, at Night of Champions you're going to kick her ass. Then maybe one of us can you face you for your title' Nikki challenged, I laughed.
'We shall see. Anyway, I best go I need to go and check on Phil' I told them. I headed back down to the locker room. Phil would be pissed for the simple reason I hadn't stayed in the locker room, I'd come down to help him. Then I told the Doc to tell him I'd be in the locker room waiting for him, but I wasn't. I'd gone to confront AJ. I came to a halt outside the door and braced myself, before opening the door. Phil was sitting on the sofa, watching the TV.
'How are you doing?' I asked, trying to act like nothing had happened.
'I'm fine. A little pissed that you decided to go against my words' Phil started. Here we go.
'I would be more pissed, but after your little stunt with AJ I have to say, I'm impressed' He confessed, looking at me. Well, that took me by surprise.
'Seriously?' I asked him. He nodded and patted the seat next to him. I sat down.
'I taught you well kid. I'm pretty proud of how well you're handling the situation with her. I mean, she's obviously got it out for you' Phil said.
'Well, she's not exactly over you. She thinks something's going on with you and me... and I don't mean in the storyline' I told him. Phil raised his eyebrows.
'Really? Interesting' He mumbled. I was about to ask him what was interesting, but there was a knock on the door. I got up and opened the door. Brad Maddox appeared in front of me, looking rather timid. He glanced behind me and swallowed as he saw Phil.
'Uh, Ashley you need to get ready to be in The Shield's corner' He breathed out, and then shot off as Phil's head snapped up and looked at him. I shook my head.
'I'm going to have to learn to give people that look, you just gave Brad' I said. But Phil was in no joking mood. I sighed.
'I'll be fine, I've told you. I'm a big girl' I assured him, as I waved a hand at myself.
'There's nothing I can say to convince you not to go out there?' He asked, even though he knew the answer. I had no choice but to go out there.
'Nope'
'You're stubborn' He scowled.
'Learned from the best' I told him, before getting on my tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek.
'I'll be fine' I told him again, before leaving him. I took a deep breath and headed down to the curtain. I was incredibly nervous. My whole confidence level had slipped since my confrontation with AJ. This was different than my feud with AJ. Being out there with The Shield was incredibly risky. I mean, of course I wasn't going to let them know I was scared of them. Never let your guard slip, and never reveal your true feelings. That's what Phil had told me. I stood by the curtain and something caught my eye. The whole of the Raw roster were walking out of the curtain. I caught the eyes of Zack Ryder, Dolph Zigger, The Miz and Big Show. They all shared the same sympathetic look. It looked like Triple H wanted everyone to witness what was going to happen to Daniel Bryan. I had a horrible, twisted feeling in my stomach. My eyes widened as I saw Phil. I grabbed his arm before he walked out of the curtain.
'Behave yourself. Do not go down to that ring on any circumstances, you hear me?' I whispered into his ear. I knew he would get himself involved, especially if Ambrose came anywhere near me. He looked me in the eyes, gritted his teeth and nodded before I let go of his arm and he walked through the curtain. I saw the diva's walk out too, and there was a pained look on Brie's face. God, this was going to be awful for her.
'Nervous?' A voice came from behind me, and I turned to see Daniel tightening up his knee pads.
'How can you be so calm?' I asked him. He looked at me and stroked his beard.
'Because, I'm confident in myself' He replied. He was really was amazing, I thought to myself.
'To answer your question, yes I'm nervous. I'm terrified to go out there, because Phil's out there too and you know what he's like' I fretted, running a hand through my hair.
'It'll be fine, I promise. I won't let The Shield touch you' Daniel promised. I smiled and gave him a quick hug, before his music played. He took a deep breath, before storming through the curtain. I heard the crowd erupt into cheers,
'This match is a gauntlet match. Approaching the ring from Aberdeen, Washington. Weighing 210 pounds... Daniel Bryan!' Justin announced, and Daniel made his way down to the ring chanting 'YES' along with the crowd. Daniel made his way into the ring, and resumed the 'YES' chant, before removing his t-shirt and waiting for his first opponent from The Shield. I stood nervously on the other side of the curtain.
Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta. Shield...
As soon as the music hit I heard the crowd boo as loud as they could. I took deep breaths as I heard Justin announce Seth Rollins.
'And representing The Shield, weighing 217 pounds he is one half of the WWE tag team champions... Seth Rollins!' The music faded out and the arena was filled with boo's before the WWE universe started chanting 'YES' showing their appreciation towards Daniel Bryan. I took a deep breath, because The Shield's music had stopped and that meant one thing.
I hear voices in my head, they council me, they understand, they talk to me...
I closed my eyes and then pulled back the curtain and saw the superstars and diva's part to make way for me.
'Making her way to the ring, standing in the corner of The Shield... Ashley Orton!' I just could just make out the cheers for me. I clenched my jaw as I walked to the ramp. I stood there for a second, and refused eye contact with Phil. I made my way down the ramp, and glanced at Daniel who gave me a nod. I walked around the ring and saw Ambrose and Reign's beckoning me over. I stood a little way off from them, and stood by the announce table. Reign's chuckled at my distance and then let his gaze slide back over to Seth and Daniel in the ring. The bell rang and I felt myself tense as I watched the match. They locked forearms and Daniel pushed Seth into the corner of the ring, and held him there until the referee called the count of four and Daniel backed off. Bryan hit a drop kick to Seth, causing him to fall to the floor, and then hit with kicks to the chest. I nodded my head, keeping my eyes on Daniel. If he kept Seth down and stayed in control, he may just win the match. But then I realized, if he won the match he then would have to face Ambrose. Daniel grabbed Seth, and put him into the Romero Special submission, which I personally prefer to call it The Crab submission. Phil always laughs at that. I wanted nothing more than Seth to tap out to Daniel. Seth fought out of it and I shook my head. Daniel hit him with some roundhouse kicks to the back, before hitting him with a spinning heel kick.
'Come on Daniel!' I blurted out, which caused the crowd to cheer. Reigns and Ambrose both glared at me. I might be in the corner of The Shield, but I could cheer for Daniel. I flashed them a grin. Someone's getting brave, I could physically hear Phil's voice in my head. Daniel hit Seth with a close line over the top rope, and I jumped down off the apron and went after Seth. Although, I saw Dean head one side and Roman head the other, both of them approaching Daniel. I decided to take their attention of Daniel.
'YES! YES! YES!' I started shouting, raising my arms high and within the seconds the whole arena was chanting yes. I saw the grin spread onto Daniel's lips as this caused Ambrose and Reigns to glare at me, letting Daniel roll Seth back into the ring. Seth hit Daniel with a kick to the gut and tried a quick pin, but Daniel kicked out. Out the corner of the eye I saw Ambrose approaching me. I turned my full attention on him.
'You're pushing your luck darling' He sneered, referring to my 'Yes' chant distraction. I shrugged and turned back to focus on the match. Still aware he was a lot closer to me than I wanted him to be. I took my eyes off the match just for a second, and scouted the stage for Phil. His eyes were burning into Ambrose. I was hoping he remained calm and didn't flip. Seth was now in control of the match. He backed Daniel into the corner and started hitting him with punches. Rollins flung Daniel into the other corner and went to hit him again, but Daniel flipped over him and hit him with a close line. The crowd cheered, whilst Ambrose cursed and Roman shook his head. Daniel started to get fired up. He hit Rollins in the chest with roundhouse kicks, and with each kick he shouted 'YES' and the crowd joined in. I had a glare from Reign's, which sent the message 'don't you dare join in chanting' I held my hands up. Daniel went to give another kick to Seth, but he rolled out of the ring. Daniel caught him though and pulled him back into the ring, before putting him into the half crab submission, but Rollins grabbed the rope. Daniel kicked Seth out of the ring, and he landed at my feet. I restrained myself from kicking him repeatedly. I looked up at Daniel, who gave me a look and I side stepped Seth as Daniel flying out the ring and hit Seth who flew over the announce table. Daniel stood up, flashed me a grin and turned to face the other two members of The Shield who were shouting abuse at him. Daniel ignored them, and walked over Seth who lying on the floor. He threw Seth into the barrier, before dragging him back into the ring.
'Come on Seth! Put him away!' Ambrose yelled, hitting the apron with his fists. Reigns paced behind Ambrose, he looked like a caged animal. I wanted Daniel to win, I wanted him to put Seth away but I didn't want him to face Ambrose. Seth got up and took Daniel down, before throwing him into the corner.
'All you have to do, is stay down! Stay down! It's that easy!' Seth snarled at Daniel, before hitting him with a few slaps to the face. The crowd booed at Seth's actions. Seth started chanting 'YES' and received a deafening boo from the crowd. He looked at me and carried on chanting 'YES' before turning back to Daniel. Ambrose and Reigns chuckled at Rollins imitation of Daniel. That was until Daniel hit Seth with a kick to the face and they suddenly stopped laughing. The crowd were going wild. Chanting Yes and cheering. Daniel was feeling the energy and getting more and more pumped up. He jumped up and faced Seth, was getting back to his feet. They exchanged punches and kicks to each other, and then Daniel rolled Seth up but Seth countered it, and rolled Daniel up who rolled out of it. Seth hit Daniel with a kick to the back of head, before grabbing and putting him into a side suplex. I cringed as I watched Daniel hit the mat. Seth pinned him. 1..2.. Daniel kicked out. I breathed out a sign of relief. Once again they exchanged punches and kicks and Daniel was thrown into the corner. The crowd once again started with the YES chants, spurring Daniel on. He ran from the corner and jumped and hit Seth with a high knee to the face. Seth went down and Daniel covered him. 1..2..3! Daniel had beat Seth. But, before Daniel could even realized what had happened Dean had got into the ring and started stomping away at him. Daniel managed to get Dean off him, before dragging him down and putting him into the YES lock. I'd never been so happy to see someone being put into a submission. I inched closer to the apron and watched Dean struggle. Dean was just about to tap when Roman Reigns got into the ring, and broke it up. The match ended in disqualification. The Shield started to attack Daniel and I couldn't take it. I couldn't stand there and watch him be destroyed. I grabbed a steel chair from the time keepers corner and slid into the ring. The crowd erupted into cheers and YES chants. All three members of The Shield turned and saw me. Roman chuckled.
'I wouldn't do that if I were you sweetheart' Seth advised.
'It would be very bad for you, if you did that baby girl' Roman said, still chuckling. I gripped onto the chair, the whole universe chanting my name. Where had all this new found confidence come from?
'I dare you to do it' Dean encouraged me, his eyes twinkling. I gritted my teeth as he goaded me.
It's all about the game and how you play it...
Triple H's music boomed through the arena and the whole entire crowd booed. I still clutched onto the chair, not once taking my eyes off The Shield.
'Ashley, that would be very bad for you if you did that. You'd be entering very dangerous territory if you used that chair against The Shield' Triple H warned me. The crowd chanted my name again. I didn't care about the consequences, I raised the chair much to the WWE universe's pleasure.
'Ashley Orton don't you dare! You do that and I'll fire CM Punk right here, right now on the spot and make sure he never gets to work in this company ever again!' Triple H yelled. My eyes widened and I instantly lowered the chair. I couldn't let them fire Phil.
'That's it darling' Ambrose smirked as I lowered the chair. I dropped the chair and looked at Daniel who trying to recover from his attack.
'Get out of that ring Ashley' Triple demanded. The crowd booed. I gritted my teeth and slowly jumped out of the ring. I saw Triple H nod to The Shield and they proceeded to attack Daniel. They lifted Daniel into their signature Triple power bomb move and I was about to slide back into the ring, but it was too lately. They hit it and Daniel lay flat out in the middle of the ring. Ambrose looked straight at me, and licked his lips.
'That was just for you' He smirked. I glared at him, clenching my fists. They'd be damned for using Phil against me. All the superstars at the top of the stage just looked on. I was furious. I knew there would be one person who would be dying to do something, but I already just put his job in jeopardy.
I hear voices in my head, they council me, they understand, they talk to me...
The whole arena booed and I felt the anger mount up in me. Randy made is way down to the ramp, and then stopped just in front of the ring, before looking at me. He signaled for me to get into the ring.
'No' I hissed at him. I saw The Shield approach to get out of the ring, but I got into the ring with every inch of me fuming. Randy surveyed Daniel Bryan, before telling The Shield to lift him up.
'Now you watch this, and you learn from his mistakes. You're either with us or you're against us' Dad spoke into the mic, watching me. He dropped the mic as The Shield let go of Daniel and hit him with an RKO. I shook my head and turned away from the aftermath of Daniel Bryan's destruction. I got out of the ring, and stormed up the stage, barging past Triple H and through the curtain. I had choices to make and I was sure the choices I was going to make were going to be extremely bad for everyone else. They'd learn just how stupid they were for using Phil against me.
After the show.
I'd grabbed my bags out of the locker room and headed straight to Phil's tour bus. I was absolutely livid. I was sure that Brie would be pissed at me for watching them destroy Daniel and I did nothing. If they hadn't had used Phil I wouldn't have had a problem giving The Shield what they deserve. I didn't like being putting in a position like that. The tour bus door opened and Phil walked in.
'Daniel's okay' Phil said through tight lips. I just nodded. We were both silent.
'They've crossed a line now Phil. They don't use you against me and they don't put me in a situation like that' I told him, my voice bitter.
'Ashley, don't get yourself into anymore trouble. Ryder had to restrain me tonight because I was going to go down to that ring and kick the crap out of The Shield' He told me.
'Phil I'm not just going to sit back and let them walk all over me and make them think they own me! I blurted out.
'Yes you are, if it means you don't get hurt. Believe me Ashley, I get that you hate them and I'm all for sticking to the man. But, not when it involves you. So, that's it. Let it go and drop it' Phil said, before heading to the bedroom. I shook my head and clenched my fists. No, I wasn't going to drop it. They'd made an enemy and they were going to regret it.