~With Eddie~

I was given a call from the WWE and it was Triple H, one of my idols growing up and watching wrestling. I was really eager because I wanted to show how well I can do in this sport, but I had a torn ACL, which might make him a bit upset, but it was something that I wanted to focus on before stepping into the ring.

When I picked up, he sounded very optimistic about it all, even if I was injured.

Me: Hello?

Hunter: Is this Eddie Luciano of the Florida Gators?

Me: Yes sir. Who is this?

Hunter: This is Triple H from WWE and I wonder if you have a few minutes to spare.

Me: Of course, fire away.

Hunter: I've watched how athletic and agile you were on the football field before you got hurt. I think you would be a great fit for a program I'm putting together that's for a brand in WWE.

Me: And what is that?

Hunter: It's NXT. I think you would be the perfect developmental talent to build, mold, and sell to our audience. How would you like to be a part of it?

I didn't know he would want to sign me. I thought he was only looking for indie wrestlers to sign to NXT, but I was wrong. I'm willing to give NXT a try, but I gotta focus on my knee and get back into the sports world.

Me: I'd love to sign, but is it okay if I focus on my knee and then come down to Florida? I promise to not forget about contract you offered.

Hunter: Absolutely! Don't worry about the contract. Just focus on your knee, that matters more than anything.

Me: Thank you so much Mr. H.

Hunter: No problem, and you can call me Hunter.

We hung up and I began the process of building up back my knee. I managed to do some exercises to improve my movement, but it was a very long process.

~9 Months Later; Day 1 of Training~

After 9 grueling months, I was finally cleared, and that meant I could travel down to Orlando and train in NXT. This was new to me and while I watched wrestling growing up, I'm gonna be green as baby shit, but I'm willing to learn and work hard to be what kind of wrestler I want to be.

For the time being, I was going to stay in a hotel room until I get an apartment. At the Performance Center, I was in some workout clothes and a towel, but before I could get started, I needed to meet with Hunter about the contract.

Hunter: Eddie!

Me: How are you Hunter?

Hunter: I'm great, how's the knee?

Me: It feels fantastic.

Hunter: That's good. I got the contract here and once you sign this contract, your new career is heading underway.

I signed it and I was going to be trained under Bill DeMott, who doesn't seem like the nicest guy and I already met Matt Bloom, who seems to be the opposite of DeMott, so I think I wanna train under him instead.

The first thing that he spoke was not only respect to the coaches but to the other trainees, which makes sense because that's what it was all about during the training.

You see, when you think of wrestling training, you see clips of the show Tough Enough of trainees tire flipping, jumping through tires to show how strong and agile they are, but it wasn't like that for us wannabe wrestlers.

It really wasn't that bad, except we had to work with weights and learning how the rings work. It was morning right now and the morning session was 2 hours: the first half was weight training and the other was hitting the ropes.

And I guarantee you, just hitting my back with them the first time, the ropes are so real that some fans think that it's just plastic that look like it was ropes, but they really were ropes and it stung my back when I first ran into them.

A drill that we had to do was standing on our hands and then land on our backs to show how much strength we have in our arms and how we land safely on our backs. I had a smile on my face the whole time because I thought I wouldn't make it to WWE, but I was shown that dreams can come true, if I put the work in.

After the two hour morning session, we had a lunch break. I got to talk with some of the trainees and I was surprised by how passionate and determined they were to make it in the WWE. Some of them were passionate about wrestling and willing to put in the work.

We even got to talk about our sports history and what sport we used to play before signing a developmental deal with WWE. They all came up with their own ring names like Peter Maxwell, Bill Kingston or some shit, but my ring name is just going to be Eddie Luciano, which is my real name, even though my full name is Edward Luciano.

I haven't came up with a gimmick yet and there were a lot of ideas that sounded corny, so I wanted to have some ideas of my own and see how Hunter and the team thought.

When lunch was over, we went another three hours of grueling training, according to the other trainees, but I found it really enjoyable. I wanted to gain some weight and look fit while training to be a wrestler.

~With Hunter~

Eddie has to be one of the best signings I've ever done. Many trainees have come and gone and when Eddie was taught to do a hand stand and then land in the middle of the ring, he executed that drill to a T. Not only was he impressing the trainers, he was impressing me.

The smile on his face had shown that he wants to learn about the business rather than be a know-it-all and work hard to prove that he could be more than just a college football player.

~With Eddie; Day 2 of Training~

When I woke up, I was sore. I felt like I couldn't get out of bed and get in the shower to get to the PC. I had to get up, but my back was sore. I learned today we were going to cut promos, which isn't so bad.

When I arrived, I learned I was going to be taught by the legend himself, WWE Hall of Famer, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

(A/N: Miss you every single day Dusty!)

He was one of the best talkers in the history of wrestling and he taught us that 75% of us being wrestlers has to do with cutting a good promo. First of all, I don't know how to cut a promo, and second, I'm learning from The American Dream himself!

I heard he once barked at someone who was nervous about talking in front of the camera by saying, "You look like you're walking to the electric chair!", so I hope I get to make the Dream proud.

Wait, proud? That could be a gimmick. I'm a Newyorcian and I think me doing a pride gimmick based on my heritage is pretty good.

I learned someone used a novelty shirt and sunglasses for a promo on John Cena about winning the WWE Title at MSG. I don't want to make the same mistake and that was wear sunglasses. I had a snapback with the Puerto Rican flag on it so that was what I was gonna do.

My turn was here as I went to the camera and started talking.

Me: Randy Orton, I have a deep amount of respect for what you've done in your career, you have it all: the looks, charisma, and Championship material, but there's one thing that's missing when it comes to a WWE Superstar. And that one thing is heart! You better have the guts to get in the ring with me because I'm not that hard to find! All my life, I've been bullied, made fun of, and I had to suffer racial profiling at one point because of my race and I've proven that it wasn't about the race it was about how I overcame obstacles to get to where I am. The point Randy, I hope you're watching, is that I want you and I want a match for the WWE Title! Hope to see you soon.

My class was impressed and applauded. And Dusty, he was smiling and clapped while walking over to me and I was hoping to hear great feedback and I did.

Dusty: Excellent promo boyo! You had me convinced since the start!

Me: Thank you. I just wanted to make sure I do good when I saw you here.

Dusty: You needn't worry! I only go hard on these young pups when they're monotone or anything. You go sit down, you earned it.

Me: Thank you again, Mr. Rhodes.

Dusty: Hey, call me Dusty.

He and I shared a smile as I sat down with a small grin, but I didn't know I was being watched by someone. I don't know who it is.

~With Some Girl~

The promo that Eddie had done was so good, but I couldn't help but be entranced by his eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes, they're so entrancing. I hope I get to ask him out before the day is done.