2 years. Had it really been 2 years?
I'd grown older, matured and gotten wiser. Things certainly were different from when I first started. I'd gone from being the most hated Diva in the locker room, to one of the most beloved... By a few, at least. I'd beaten everyone on the roster numerous times, had 2 successful championship runs, and was now enjoying my third.
It took me 2 years to get to the top, but I was finally there.

"We're ready for you".
Triple H's voice quickly brought me back to the present moment.

I walked into the office and saw 3 young men sat to the right of Vince McMahon. I flashed them a smile and quickly realised that it was Seth sat in the middle. I last saw him when I had visited NXT down in Florida with CM Punk. That was a few months ago now but we'd kept in touch.
I took my seat opposite them.
"Before we get started, Penny, let me introduce to you Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and I believe you know Seth" he said, signalling to the men opposite.
"Gentlemen, this is Penny".
"You can call me PJ". I hated my name - Penny Olivia James. I get everyone to call me PJ for short and even managed to twist Vince's arm to let me use 'PJ' as my ring name. It took a lot of persuading, but after reminding Vince that I'm not your typical WWE Diva, he reluctantly agreed.

I definitely stood out against the other girls. My hair flowed right down my back and it was dyed red to match my fiery London accent. When I wrestled, my long black leggings were teamed with a studded denim shirt that I ripped the sleeves off of in order to expose my colourful tattoos.

"So, as we've just been discussing, I've called you three up to the RAW roster as a group called 'The Shield'. You're going to be fighting the 'injustice' of the WWE and basically putting right the wrong".
Triple H looked at me and continued for Vince. "We've called you in here PJ because we want to add you to the group. By adding a familiar face, it will get them over a lot quicker. Not only that, but we haven't got many female managers at the moment. Don't worry though, you'll be keeping the Divas championship and still be part of the Divas division. By having a female member in the group, it means that we can give the fans more inter-gender matches too." Triple H smiled at me.
I took a minute to let it all sink in.
"So I get to keep my championship and wrestle the other girls, but at the same time I get to accompany these guys to the ring and help them out from time to time? Sound great!" I said with a slight chuckle.
Vince looked at his son-in-law and nodded.
"Now, we are planning on you four to be together for quite some time, so you're going to have to get to know each other. You will be representing the WWE at all times, so that means that you're going to have to travel together, show up to the arenas together and hit the gym together. If you can't manage to stay as a foursome, we want you working as partners."
We all looked at each other and nodded.
"Excellent! Well, tonight we are going to have you guys do a run-in attack on CM Punk towards the end of his match with John Cena. When Punk is laying flat out, PJ, you're going to introduce our newly promoted superstars to the WWE Universe. We trust you on the mic, so it'll be totally up to you as to what you say exactly".
"If everyone is happy, then you three are free to go" Vince said, pointing to my newly appointed team members.
After they left the room, Triple H & Vince both turned towards me.
"Are you happy with all of this, PJ?"
"It sounds great. I think this could really work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with them".
"Well after all of the positive feedback you and Punk gave us after you visited NXT, we both thought that it was right to bring you in to accompany them".
I thanked them both again and walked out.

As I turned the corner, I saw Seth waiting for me. I grinned at him and he pulled me in for a hug.
"I'm so happy to see you" I exclaimed. "Congratulations on being called up. I told you it wouldn't be long!"
He smiled at me. "I can't believe that we get to work with you. This is gunna be awesome!"
I laughed and we began walking. It was only noon so there weren't many people in the arena.
"Where did the other two go?" I asked.
"They decided to hit the gym. I'm gunna catch them up if you want to join?"
"Yeah, I just need to head back to the hotel and grab my stuff first".
"Sounds good" Seth said as we walked out.

I took out my room key and popped it into the slot. I opened the door and walked in, closely followed by Seth. I threw my bag onto the bed and proceeded to grab my work out clothes from my suitcase. When I was ready, we left and headed to Seth's room, a few doors down. As he began looking for his gym clothes, I took my phone out and decided to text Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn had quickly become one of my closest friends in the Divas locker room when I had signed with the company and we soon became travel buddies. I text her explaining the situation with The Shield and that I wouldn't be travelling with her for a while.
She text me back saying she was sad but that she understood.

After hitting it hard at the gym, the four of us headed back to the hotel and said our goodbyes before meeting up a few hours later to go over to the arena. Once we got there, the mood was hectic but everyone seemed pleased to see some fresh talent being called up. As the three of them began introducing themselves to the other male superstars, I took off to the Divas locker room. When I walked in, Kaitlyn greeted me with a hug.
"Are you excited about working with the guys from NXT?"
"Yeah, it's gunna be a lot of fun and it's a nice change from just beating you chicks all the time" I chuckled and Alicia laughed with me.
"I can't believe that you have to travel with them though. What am I gunna do without you?" Kaitlyn pouted.
"I think you'll survive. Plus, it means that every time I see you, we'll have more to catch up on!"
We continued chatting as I took out my leggings and Batman shirt and slipped them on. Just as I was about to leave to find the boys, Summer walked in.
"Is it true that we're finally getting rid of you from the Divas division, PJ?" She looked me up and down.
"In your dreams Summer. I'm just moving up the ranks and working with some new talent. I was handpicked by Vince. It does mean that I'll be seeing less of you, which is one good thing though!" I winked at Kaitlyn.
She rolled her eyes and walked off.

Summer was tall, tanned and had a stick-thin figure. She had long blonde hair and always wore short dresses to grab attention from the guys. We have been wrestling each other a lot recently and our feud on-screen soon continued off-screen. She doesn't like how I'm not your typical 'Diva'. She can't stand that someone as different as me, is as loved as I am. She always makes a lot of catty comments and has pulled a lot of so called 'pranks' on me. I try not to retaliate, but she certainly gets my blood boiling.

I found the guys talking to Punk and Cena out by the ring.
"Are you guys going over the plans for later?" I asked.
"Yeah, and we've been told that we are going to come through the crowd when we make our entrance" Dean told me.
"Sounds good to me. I'll stick with the ramp if that's okay?"
The three of them nodded and Triple H made his way down to join us.
As the guys practised their run in, Punk pulled me to the side.
"Are you okay with all of this?"
"Of course! It's nice to have a change. Anyway, I'm not loosing this baby any time soon if that's what you're worried about" I said, rubbing the title on my shoulder.
"Just promise me that you'll be careful?"

Punk was always looking out for me. He'd become a brother to me and done so much to get me into the business. I had just moved to Chicago when I met him for the first time a little over 2 years ago. I was in the gym, running the ropes and practising my wrestling skills, and then before I knew it we were throwing around in the ring and the next day he brought me in for a house show. I helped him practise some moves before the show and unbeknown to me, Vince, Triple H and JR were stood watching me from the top of the ramp. Apparently I'd impressed them enough for them to offer me a contract, although I'm sure Punk pushed my name pretty hard. I'd never wrestled professionally before then, so it was all very new to me. Because I didn't have any experience in the indies, I wasn't well liked backstage. A lot of the other talent wouldn't talk to me and thought that I had to earn their respect. I could see where they were coming from, but it made the early days very difficult for me. After 4 or 5 months, everyone could see how much passion I had for wrestling and how willing I was to learn, so they slowly started helping me out. I know that a few people still don't get on with me, but it doesn't bother me because I have Punk and Kaitlyn that I can rely on.

I was stood at gorilla and the guys had run off to their positions. I was watching the match on the monitor when I saw Punk grab a chair and hit Cena with it. I knew that was our cue.
"Good luck!" Triple H called, as I walked off.

I made my way down the ramp as the boys ran down the stairs, through the crowd. They got in the ring and viciously attacked Punk. I circled the ring and grabbed a microphone from the crew. Cena rolled out and headed to the back as Punk was left flat out in the middle of the ring. Roman picked him up and tossed him over the top rope. I knew that this was my time. The crowd were already going crazy, pleased to see Punk get put in his place.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. We've had enough of CM Punk running around like he owns this place." I walked over to the ropes and looked at Punk lying on the ground.
"You think you're invincible Punk? You think that you're safe because you've made everyone fear you? Well we're here to prove that you're not." The crowd cheered.
"We are here to put the wrongs right. We are here to fight the injustice of WWE." I turned to the three of them.
"Let me introduce to you; Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins." I pointed to each of them respectively.
"You can't run from us. You can't hide from us. We are everywhere. We are watching your every move. And trust us Punk, this is just the beginning. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better."
We all leaned in and shouted "Believe in The Shield".
The crowd were going crazy chanting 'Shield, Shield, Shield'.

I could tell that this was the start of something incredible.