"This one is my favorite," Lily cleared her throat to read Instagram comments from her phone. "Finn Balor, how dare you call yourself an Irishman and congratulate the girlfriend who would do that to your fellow countrywoman."
"I'm more offended that he said country...woman," Becky snorted in the locker room.
Tonight was a bittersweet. The shakeup. This may be the last time she shared the locker room with this group of ladies. Over the last few months they'd connected, formed bonds, the good, the bad and the ugly.
"We know for sure who is staying," Dana said, looking over at Lily.
Lily looked at the title on her lap and that's when she thought about it. Her spot on RAW is cemented but what about Finn? Sure, he was the Intercontinental Champion but the title wasn't brand exclusive.
Her worries were eased a little when Finn went out there to face the Raw debuting Andrade. Finn was pinned thanks to multiple distractions by Zelina. Because of this, she assumed a new feud was beginning between him and Andrade.
She approached him when he returned backstage. "We hadn't discussed the draft so for a minute there I was worried that we'd be separated but thankfully that's not the case."
He swallowed, his eyes darting around wildly. "Lilith, I-I...uh, I have to head back to the locker room. This will be your first promo as champ so you need to kill it. I'll be watching."
A producer pulled her aside to fill her in about an impromptu backstage segment she'd be apart of before the commercial break before she went out.
Andrade and Zelina were filmed walking backstage speaking Spanish. Lily approached Zelina.
"You've been doing the hurricanrana spot since NXT, don't you think it's time to try something new?" Lily asked.
"As long as they're still falling for it, like Finn Balor tonight, I'll continue to do it," Zelina sneered.
"Yeah, he did but Finn is a gentleman and wouldn't dare retaliate...but that's why he has me," Lily said, forearming her into the wall before walking away.
They were back from commercial and Lily's theme played. She received mixed reactions which was expected. Since the night she'd won the title fans had been enraged.
As soon as her theme ended, the 'don't deserve it' chants began.
"Who are you people to tell me what I don't deserve. As bad as you've treated me over the last year, I could care less about your opinions. I'm not Becky. I'm not going to cater to you smarks to make you feel like I'm one of you which makes you feel special. Becky 2 Belts, no more. I felt really bad afterwards because they already had those cringy shirts printed and on the merch stands and website before I came out. I guess I'm the new Heartbreak Kid after all," she laughed and that's when the crowd erupted with, 'We want Becky' chants.
"Oh, you want Becky to awkwardly tough guy walk down to the ring with her chin sticking up like she's looking in the mirror to pop a zip to say, 'Oim the man! Blonde, bad. Me, gooud," she said, mimicking Becky's accent and it was received by boos. "What? Was my impression that bad? I practiced it on my Irish boyfriend and he thought it was spot on. Moving on, I am the champ now, therefore Raw will revolve around me and there's nothing any of you people out here or the women back there can do about it."
Becky's theme hit and she began walking down the ramp until Lacey attacked her from behind and they began brawling.
Lily cleared her throat in the mic. "Last I checked, Becky is wearing a blue title around her waist so unless you two have been drafted here tonight, take this crap to Smackdown tomorrow where it belongs. Now, if a RAW challenger wants to step up..."
Now it was Alexa's theme...
Lily sighed. "You've been allegedly injured and running a talk show ever since Ronda kicked your ass and took your title. Now that she's gone you're back in the ring. How convenient."
"At least she kicked my ass. Where were you? Hiding behind Daddy and Hunter? What's even more convenient is that you've never stood in the same room as Ronda but you get an undeserved title opportunity on Becky the night after she's gone. Hmm, did Shawn not want little princess coming home with a broken arm and bloody face?" Alexa shot back.
"The word undeserved shouldn't come out of your mouth, Alexa. Please don't make me run down your undeserved opportunities and accomplishments," Lily scoffed. "You've been out all this time and when returned last week for your match against Bayley, you didn't have anything to show for yourself in the ring. Worry about improving your work rate because it's going to take more than a few punches, one little high flying move and a DDT to take this title from me."
When she made it backstage, Finn was dressed and waiting for her. "You were awesome."
"Thank you! I'm so tired. Let's get back to the hotel so we can prepare for this flight in the morning," she replied.
The corners of Finn's mouth turned down into a sad frown. "Actually, I have to stay in Montreal."
"What? Why?" Lily's heart dropped, her mouth becoming dry. "Please don't tell me..."
He slowly nodded to confirm. "I'm afraid so. I was told when I arrived but I didn't want to upset you before you had to go out to the ring. Remember what happened last time you had to perform when you were emotional?"
That brought her mind back to Evolution when shit hit the fan between Finn and her dad. She still had to go on but ended up leaving the ring abruptly. She shook her head in denial, tears welling in her eyes, not wanting to accept this. "No, this isn't happening. This is a one big rib and before we leave tonight they're going to tell you that they were just trolling."
"Unfortunately, it's true. I've already seen the card for tomorrow night and I'm facing Mustafa," he replied.
With that confirmation, her sadness turned into anger. She stormed away. Lily burst into Hunter's office without knocking and slammed the door behind her. "Why did you do this?"
Hunter's head snapped up. "Do what?"
"Send Fergal to Smackdown!" she yelled. "You have to send me with him."
"Lily, you are the Raw Women's Champion," he pointed out.
Lily gasped, that's when it clicked. "Is that why my dad did this? He knew if I was the Raw champ I'd be stuck. Finn can't go to Smackdown, keep him on Raw."
"I'm not in charge of any picks besides the ones from NXT. Everything else was Vince and he said it was final. My hands are tied," Hunter stated. "Vince is trying to stack Smackdown thanks to the FOX move and Finn is popular, good looking and sells merch. Of course he's going to the new A-show. I'm sure you would've gone too if you weren't champ."
"Vince, this is Vince's doing a week after he had a meeting with my dad" Lily grabbed her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she found her father.
"Hello," he answered.
"Smooth, Shawn, very smooth," Lily responded.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"You told Vince to put the Raw title on me and to send Fergal to Smackdown!"
"Wait, he's going to Smackdown?!" Shawn voice pitched, with surprise in his tone.
"Don't play dumb," Lily hissed. "Just admit it, okay?"
"I'm not playing. As much as I would love to take credit for this plan, I can't. I wish I could but I can't," Shawn replied.
"Well you must've mentioned something negative about us that would make Vince do this," she accused.
"No, I did not. His name didn't come up. I try not to remind people that I allowed an almost 40 year old man snatch my daughter up right under my nose. Speaking of Vince, he's a 73 year old man with a billion dollar empire and a million different things on his plate. I doubt he even remembered or made the connection between you two before making his decision," at least it sounded like he was telling the truth and she was inclined to believe him. Shawn continued. "But you two are soooooooooooo in love so being on separate brands shouldn't change anything."
"Bye, Dad," she detested how giddy he sounded. Now it was time to turn her attention back to Hunter. "You have to take this title off of me."
"No, I will do no such thing!"
"No?"
"That's what I said. Lily, you're spoiled. You snap your fingers and Shawn gives you what you want and so far I've been doing the same. We didn't derail the biggest women's angle of all time for your title reign just to end it in a week. You're going to have a proper title reign and it'll be defended at Money in the Bank. Whether you lose it there or not is to be determined," he firmly told her.
"Are you serious right now?" Lily stared at her.
"Yes. You aren't the first couple to be separated and you won't be the last. Hell, just tonight we brought Andrade over to Raw while Charlotte will remain on Smackdown. They'll make it work and so will you, for now," he emphasized.
"So you're saying there's a chance I'll be sent to Smackdown eventually," she questioned with a hopeful turn to her voice.
"Maybe, but for now you have to put your big girl panties on and do your job!" he insisted.
"Okay," she sighed in defeat knowing there was nothing she could do to change his mind. She also knew she wouldn't be able to approach Vince the way she approached Hunter.
Lily: Where r u?
Ferg: Lockerroom, packing up.
Lily: I'm about to do the same.
Ferg: Any luck?
Lily: :-(
Ferg: Yeah, I tried to talk to Vince but he wasn't hearing it.
Lily: Smh
Ferg: I'll be waiting for you in the car.
They drove in silence on their way to the hotel with Lily curled up in the passenger seat with her legs under her.
Finn broke the ice. "We've gotten over every obstacle thrown our way thus far. Nothing is going to change between us. In fact I'll love you even more now because they always say, absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Do you realize how much absence it'll be? I'm trying to do the math. Raw's schedule is Friday through Monday. Smackdown's schedule is Saturday through Tuesday. We'll only see each other on Wednesday and Thursday. We'll be going from spending every single day together to only 2 days a week," her voice broke. "And wait, Hunter said I can move to Smackdown eventually but what if eventually doesn't come before the FOX move in October? The schedule will be Thursday through Sunday because the show will be live on Fridays. That means you'll have Monday through Wednesday off. I'll be on the road Monday and my flight won't make it home on Tuesdays until noon depending on what city Raw was in so we'll only have a day and a half together because you'll be gone Thursday morning!"
"Wow, that is..." he blew a sharp breath out, not able to finish the sentence. "Smackdown will be here tomorrow so you stay and we'll spend every second together for the rest of the week before trying to get adjusted to our new schedules."
"That's it!" she sat up in her seat, excited that she'd found a solution. "I can just go to Smackdown every week instead of going home on Tuesdays! That way we can have an extra day together."
"No, babe, that's not going to work," he shook his head. "Road life is hard enough on one schedule. You're the champ now which means you're going to have to wrestle at every live event, you're going to have to go to interviews and promote it, you'll have to be on RAW every week. You're going to need your rest and it would be selfish of me to allow you to get in a car or on a flight to come to Smackdown's location when you could be home resting up."
Neither of them could sleep that night. They silently stared up into the darkness for what seemed like hours listening to each other breathe.