:S: All Aboard :S:

RJ Kirkhope could not have thanked WWE enough for this opportunity. He understood that while WWE didn’t have anything planned for May - National Brain Tumor Awareness Month - the fact that they allowed him to have a chance to talk about it made him feel all the more fortunate. His connection to brain cancer was personal and he felt like having this interview would serve as a cathartic experience. RJ was a devoted advocate of brain cancer awareness, after all.

With his long hair tied back into a ponytail, RJ wore a pair of black dress pants and a matching white shirt, the sleeves rolled up. On the right side of his shirt he wore a small grey ribbon for brain cancer awareness.

“Can you tell us a little bit about what this means to you?” The interviewer asked.

“My connection to brain cancer is very personal,” RJ said as the interview started. “My mother lost her life to brain cancer. When it happened, it affected my whole family. I think the reason it struck me the most was because I saw her as more than my mother. She was a teacher, almost like a best friend,” He smiled as he reminisced, “She taught me how to play violin when I was younger; she loved it. I don’t think that I really appreciated that skill until I got older and learning how to play from her… Those are some of my most favorite memories that I have of my mom.”

“She, um,” RJ took a shaky breath as he knew that he was getting into more personal details about his mother. “She was diagnosed around the time I started high school. You could see how it was affecting her, day by day, but she never stopped smiling. She was always there to talk about anything. It didn’t matter how tired she was. Even when her mind was starting to go…” RJ found himself choked up, having to raise his glasses up a bit to wipe his eyes. Nonetheless, he continued in a strained voice, “Even if she didn’t really understand what you were talking about, she would just smile and listen. The fact that she even did that meant the world to me.”

“See, I don’t think people understand just how tough it was when she died,” RJ sniffled. “She was my mom but, like I said, she was almost like my best friend. You,” He lifted his glasses off and hung his head, feeling all of those bottled-up emotions spill out. “You… You don’t want to lose your best friend,” RJ sobbed. “I never failed to tell her that I loved her. Even when I was just going to school one day, it was always, ‘I love you, mom,’ ‘I love you too,’ you know? And it hurts… Because now I won’t have that anymore.”

“I miss my mom,” RJ said as he tried to gather his bearings. “She should still be here. It’s because of her that I support brain cancer awareness and it’s because of her that I try to be a good person each day. Mom, I hope I made you proud.”

-------------------------------

WWE NXT
5/15/14
Full Sail University, Orlando, FL


Despite the fact that NXT General Manager JBL had a number of tasks to account for, he couldn’t take his mind off of his upcoming match at NXT Takeover. The fact that he would have to face Sigma – even with Damien Sandow as JBL’s tag team partner – did not exactly sit well with him and he blamed one individual for this: RJ Burrows. JBL didn’t know how but, in some way or another, he was going to show RJ why no one should cross the boss.

He was in such a foul mood that he did not notice the prancing group approaching him at first. Upon further inspection, he saw the group of Adam Rose and his Rosebuds, a collective group to say the least, approach him. JBL’s eyes narrowed as Rose, who had a lollipop in his mouth, and his group of partiers stopped in front of him.

Taking his lollipop out of his mouth for a moment, Rose asked, “Why the punum, mate?”

JBL’s eyes narrowed as he spoke, “If you spent less time partyin’, you’d know that I’m not too thrilled about what happened last week.”

Rose tilted his head to one side, “You’re a little too wound up, you know? You should spend less time stressing and more time cutting loose! The Exotic Express is for everyone!”

JBL took a deep breath, not in the mood for Rose’s boisterous, free-spirited personality, “Do not get me started, Adam. If it wasn’t for that damn petition… And you,” He pointed at Rose, whose eyes widened ever so lightly while he sucked on his lollipop. “I saw the petition and I know that you signed it. And I saw about a hundred more from your little…” JBL sneered at Rose’s group of Rosebuds. “Your little misfit gang! You all contributed to me forcin’ my hand, havin’ to sign RJ back!”

With a light chuckle, Rose spoke, “Why wouldn’t we want RJ back? He’s a darling little Rosebud!” His Rosebuds cheered in agreement.

“Darlin’, huh?” JBL repeated, to which Rose nodded his head. “Well, I hope that you find my next decision to be ‘darlin’’ as well. Tonight, you’re going to be in tag team action. It’s going to be Damien Sandow teaming up with the gentleman you’ve been having issues with, Camacho… Taking on you and Sigma. What do you say to that?”

Rose nodded his head as he became only slightly more serious, “I say that this match is going to be epic. By the way,” He moved his lollipop from his mouth, “No one,” Rose bopped JBL on the nose with the piece of candy, “Likes,” And another bop. “A party pooper.”

JBL’s jaw clenched as Rose and his group continued on their merry way, unaware of the potential consequences that their party-heavy lifestyles could have on their stays in NXT.

*~*~*

As NXT came back from commercial break, the team of Camacho and Damien Sandow was already in the ring, Camacho in his street gear and Sandow in a pair of black trunks, kneepads, and white boots. While Camacho had his problems with a certain party animal who recent debuted on Monday Night RAW, Sandow’s focus was on another entity entirely. As requested by backstage interviewer RJ Burrows, Sandow would be teaming up with NXT General Manager JBL to take Sigma in an elimination match at NXT Takeover.

Sandow’s music faded, the sounds of ‘Crystallize’ played throughout the arena as the NXT faithful responded positively to the resident superhero. “And their opponents…. Introducing first,” Eden Stiles spoke. “Weighing 207 lbs… Sigma!”

“To say that Sigma has a challenge to overcome at NXT Takeover would be an understatement,” Rich Brennan spoke on commentary. “He’s going up against not only the Intellectual Savior of the Masses but a former WWE Champion! The longest-reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history, mind you. This could be a make-or-break moment for the masked man of NXT.

Out from behind the curtain emerged Sigma, who was dressed to fight. He wore a pair of long, black tights featuring diamonds of pink and grey – the latter being the color for National Brain Tumor Awareness Month – along with matching armbands, black boots, elbow pads, and his signature mask. He crouched down a bit as he leered at Sandow, who wore a scowl on his face as well. Sigma climbed upon the turnbuckle from the outside and held his arms out to the sides, looking out into the supportive Full Sail audience.

Sigma leaped down from the turnbuckle, landing in the ring on his corner. He awaited his partner, who would perhaps be the most unique tag team comrade anyone could imagine.

The violins and dubstep of ‘Crystallize’ ceased and it was then replaced by the upbeat, dance-worthy song of ‘Break Away.’ The lights in the arena began to strobe as a group of eclectic partiers gathered onto the stage in order to dance. They began to part ways, though, in order to create a path. Down that path walked the long-haired, leather vest-wearing partier known as Adam Rose, who earned a tremendous ovation from the fans.

“And his partner,” Stiles announced as Rose leaped onto the apron, climbing onto the ropes before landing on his mosh pit of partiers on the outside, “From Musha Cay, Bahamas, weighing 221 lbs… Adam Rose!”

Sandow and Camacho watched in disgust as Rose’s partiers carried him to the apron while Sigma viewed the spectacle with a simple head tilt. After Rose stepped into the ring, prancing around all the while. Once ‘Break Away’ stopped, the crowd was still humming along to the song, which caused Sigma to crack a smirk.

“It’s always a party with Adam Rose, guys!” Jason Albert exclaimed. “This guy’s energy is infectious!”

As much fun as Rose was, though, there was a match to wrestle. Sandow did not waste any time in mouthing off to Sigma from the opposite corner. With a scowl, Sigma approached but Rose held out his arms, attempting to calm the irritable masked man. “Now, now,” Rose took a deep breath for Sigma to emulate. “You don’t want to be a lemon… Don’t be a lemon, mate.”

Sigma wasn’t quite sure what Rose meant by that and he wondered if he was the only one. Nonetheless, Sigma stepped out onto the apron and Sandow did the same, the match starting off between Rose and Camacho. After the opening bell, Rose locked up with Camacho, who went behind right away. Rose brought Camacho to the canvas and performed a few mat wrestling techniques, moving in quick arcs so that Camacho would have little time to react.

Rose quickly stood up and started to dance around the ring, feeding off of the perpetual humming of the always vocal Full Sail crowd. Camacho scowled as he stomped towards Rose, who backed up against the ropes. Sitting on the middle rope, Rose leaned back and performed a bicycle kick, which only made Camacho more irate.

“Are you serious right now!?” Camacho exclaimed. “Somethin’ wrong with you?!”

Camacho charged for a clothesline but Rose ducked underneath it, only to get struck with a vicious shoulder block from the former tag team partner of Hunico. Camacho went for the pin as the referee counted, only for Rose to get the shoulder up at one. The crowd booed as Rose’s energy came to a halt, Camacho cinching Rose in a headlock. Camacho soon backed into his corner and Sandow made the tag.

Holding Rose in place, Camacho watched as Sandow nailed the leader of the Exotic Express with a toe kick to the abdomen. Sandow grabbed Rose by the hair and began to lay into him with several elevated knees to the chest. “Watch and learn, Sigma!” Sandow directed his ire towards the masked man on the apron. “This will be you at Takeover!”

Sigma’s jaw clenched in anger as Sandow hit Rose with a scoop slam. Sandow rolled his elbow pad up slightly before bringing his arm out to the side. He moved it in a theatric motion and nailed Rose with the Cubito Aequet elbow drop. Sandow hooked the leg of Rose, who kicked out just at the count of two.

Sneering at the ref, Sandow exclaimed, “Where did you learn to count?! Where?!” He then lifted Rose in a sitting position, taking him into a front face lock to keep him grounded. Sigma held his arm out for a tag, despite the fact that he and Rose were nowhere near close enough to meet.

“Fight out of this, Rose!” Sigma tried to will Rose on. “Dig deep!”

Joining in Sigma’s efforts, the NXT Universe began to support Rose by starting a chant of ‘Be a Rosebud,’ followed by five claps. Sandow glared at the crowd, tightening his hold on Rose further. However, Rose was able to utilize the energy from his Rosebuds in the crowd, standing up straight. He struck Sandow back with several elbows to the abdomen before running at the ropes. Rose ducked underneath a clothesline and came back at the Intellectual Savior with a clothesline.

That’s when both men fell to the canvas, both of them fatigued, Rose more so than Sandow. Nonetheless, Sigma held his arm out for Rose, who slowly crawled towards him for the tag. Sandow tagged in Camacho and Rose performed a forward roll before slapping Sigma’s hand.

“And here we go!” Renee Young announced as Sigma leaped onto the top turnbuckle with a single bound, nailing Camacho with a graceful flying cross body. Sigma ran the ropes and leaped up to hit Camacho with a headscissors, his luchadore-like style coming into effect. “Look at Sigma go! He’s like a comic book character that sprung from the pages!”

“He’s a real-life superhero, Renee! Don’t forget it!” Jason exclaimed, the both of them sharing playful banter on commentary.

Camacho went for a clothesline but Sigma took hold of his arm. With Sigma’s hand around Camacho’s wrist, the masked man of NXT scaled the turnbuckle like a cat before leaping off of the rope, bringing Camacho to the mat with an arm takedown.

Sigma looked to the crowd, proud to see that they were behind his fast-paced offense. He struck his finale battle pose, signaling for his finishing maneuver known as the Receptor Kick. However, Sandow, who rolled out of the ring, took hold of Sigma’s leg and tripped him up before pulling him to the outside.

Sandow grabbed onto Sigma’s wrist and nailed him with a stiff clothesline, a maneuver elicited jeers from the crowd. Sandow then rolled Sigma back into the ring and Camacho saw an opportunity. Camacho quickly hooked the leg of Sigma as the referee made the count. 1… 2… Rose breaks up the pin!

“Nice save by Rose,” Albert commented. Sandow went for Rose, who was able to dump the Intellectual Savior over the top rope. Camacho stood up in order to confront Rose, who made his way back to the apron.

While Camacho mouthed off to him, Rose pointed behind him, a slight grin on his face all the while. When Camacho turned around, he was met with a stiff Receptor Kick by Sigma, which knocked him to the mat with authority. Sigma then turned to Rose and tagged him in, the crowd on their feet for the leader of the Exotic Express.

Rose’s focus was on Camacho as he stayed in the corner. The party animal’s eyes were locked on his opponent, who was attempting to recover from the Receptor Kick. With his arm up in the air, Rose pumped it a few times, letting out a, “Choo choo!” Once it was said, Camacho was floored with Rose’s signature lariat.

Hooking the leg of Camacho, Rose heard the referee make the count. 1.. 2…3!

“Here are your winners,” Stiles proclaimed as ‘Break Away’ played throughout the Full Sail venue, “The team of Sigma and Adam Rose!”

“Looks like this unique tag team worked well together!” Brennan spoke as the official raised both the arm of Sigma and Rose. “And you better believe that Sandow is going to be even more heated come Takeover.”

“It’s going to be something,” Young replied before she noted, “But now we have a party! The Rosebuds are flooding the ring!” It was true, as Rose’s posse entered the ring, dancing along with their leader. Sigma watched this scene unfold with a tilt of his head, scratching his chin a bit.

“I don’t think Sigma knows what to make of this,” Albert commented with a chuckle. Ultimately, Sigma made his way towards the ropes. However, Rose – now with a microphone in hand – jogged over and took the superheroic NXT high-flyer by the arm.

“Wait a tick,” Rose said as Sigma’s attention was locked on him. “Hear me out now, Sigma… JBL’s got a problem with you and that… That’s just not cool, you get what I mean?” As Sigma’s eyes narrowed behind his mask, Rose continued, “Here’s how it is: on the Exotic Express, it’s good vibes and good times! Don’t be a lemon!” The crowd finished with an emphatic, “Be a Rosebud!”

Rose held his arms out as the crowd cheered for his words. Another ‘Be a Rosebud’ chant was heard throughout the Full Sail venue. Sigma turned to look at the audience, his expression one that could only be described as a hybrid of intrigue and confusion. ‘Break Away’ played again as the partiers danced on, Sigma being approached by one female Rosebud in masquerade and another one that looked like a bowtie-wearing Slender Man of sorts. Sigma was hesitant but allowed them to lead him into the middle of the ring.

The female masquerader set her hands on Sigma’s shoulders and began to lead him along into a conga line, Sigma placing his hands on Rose’s shoulders as he commanded the conga line in question. Before long, more and more of the partiers joined in until there was a unified line circling the ring to the music. The energy in the air was so infectious that even Sigma was getting into it.

“I guess Sigma is an honorary Rosebud now,” Young concluded. “I dig it!”

“He may be partying now,” Brennan added. “But on the 29th, at NXT Takeover, Sigma faces his greatest challenge in JBL and Damien Sandow!”