The final box hits the floor of your new apartment with an emphatic thud. You lean over on the kitchen counter-top, exhausted, but relieved to finally be done. That is, of course, until you have to actually unpack. Your eyes drift towards the barebones set up in your bedroom. A queen sized mattress lays on the carpet. Queen sized. Just got signed and already living in the lap of luxury.
You step into the bathroom and are greeted by your own reflection in the mirror.
"Wait a minute, is that Sexton Cornell!? Here!? On NXT!?"
Mauro Ranallo's distinctive voice narrates the fantasy in your head. You've come a long way for this. The indie wrestling world knows you as Sexton Cornell, and soon enough the name your parents gave you won't matter at all. Sexton Cornell. A name up in lights, on marquees, on posters and billboards. The greatest professional wrestler to ever live. Until then, you're just John Doe. You've missed birthdays. You've burnt bridges. You've ended relationships. You've sacrificed everything to be in this exact place. Orlando, Florida. an apartment 10 minutes from the WWE Performance Center. All that's left standing between you and superstardom is quite possibly a million forward rolls and setting up a lot more rings. but when it comes, it will be so sweet.
Your first day is tomorrow, and as if things couldn't be more nerve-racking, you have a meeting with the boss. Paul Levesque (or Triple H, as pretty much everyone knows him) wants you in his office at noon, and you certainly aren't going to be late to a meeting with the head honcho on your first day.
As you lie down on the mattress, you wonder what working at the PC will be like. You had a decent run on the indies, good enough to cause a small bidding war between WWE and AEW. Your'e coming off good momentum and your signing has good buzz, so will that be taken advantage of immediately? Or will the company feel you need to be humbled before getting a shot? More importantly, what will your coworkers think of you? You've never met anyone signed by WWE. Your mind begins to wander as you think of some of the girls on the NXT roster. It's been a little bit since you had a woman of your own, and if the rumors about how much casual sex goes on behind the scenes is true... But it probably isn't, all kinds of shit gets made up about what it's like working here. A man can dream, however.
Speaking of dreaming... A faint image flickers into your mind as you fall into a deep sleep. The image of a certain NXT superstar...