Digging Down Deep
Matt had been thinking about the words Leah had said to him. She and Amy waved at him from catering, while the babies were under the care of Stephanie and Hunter for the rest of the evening. As he waved back at the girls from gorilla, he also took a few deep breaths while waiting for his match with Braun, Roman and Daniel.
Roman: You okay, man?
Matt: Yeah, just thinking...
Daniel: I know how you feel, wrestling for your family. I'm spending a bit of time off after tonight so I can just be myself and spend some time with Brie and Birdie.
Roman: Being away from my family is also difficult for me, but in the end, they want me to do what I do for them, and tonight will be no different.
Braun: Tonight, all 4 of us will make history. This is gonna be one for the ages.
As all 4 of them did their entrances, with Braun going first, then Matt, then Daniel, then finally, the champion, Roman, the bell then rang, and straight away, there was a face off. Braun and Daniel looked each other in the eye, as did Matt and Roman. Blows were exchanged, and brutal hits were being made heavily. Also, as this was a Fatal 4-Way, it was also No DQ, and that immediately fixated into Matt's mind, as with a kendo stick, he wore down both Daniel and Braun, before going face to face with The Big Dog again.
Matt: Bring it. Bring it on. Give me all you've got!
Roman's strikes were enough to daze Matt, but as Roman jumped from the top rope, Matt met him halfway and speared him out of mid-air, with the champion landing on a chair Daniel had brought in. While Matt did sense he could end it here, he wanted to inflict more punishment, especially on Braun and Daniel. He cleared off the announce table, and as Braun had taken out Bryan with a running powerslam onto the steel stairs, Matt threw the Monster Among Men over the barricade and into the crowd, before he then got Bryan and cleared off the table to lay him on it. Matt then climbed up top, and got the crowd all fired up as he launched himself off the ring post with a Shooting Star Press, sending both him and Bryan crashing through the table. As Leah, Lexi, Josh and the kids watched backstage, Leah was just in pure shock.
Leah: Holy crap... I know he's known for doing extreme things, but I didn't expect that...
Lexi: Well, that's Matt for you...
Josh: I've known the guy for a while now, and I can tell you that he actually loves doing this kind of thing. It's in his wheelhouse, I guess you could say.
Leah: I just hope he doesn't get hurt badly.
As Braun and Roman slugged it out over the next few minutes, Matt then gathered himself together and broke up Braun's pin on Roman, much to the annoyance of The Monster Among Men.
Braun: What are you doing? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?
Matt: Keeping this match going. I'm in it too, and I'm in it to win it.
Matt then superkicked Braun, but it had next to no effect as Braun then picked Matt up and then hit 5 consecutive running powerslams. As he went for the pin, Daniel somehow was able to muster enough energy to break the pin up and keep his chances at the title alive, which made Braun absolutely furious.
Braun: Daniel Bryan... you need to get it in your head... After what happened on Smackdown... I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!
As Bryan slid out the ring, he sprinted around it, with Braun in hot persuit. As they turned a corner, Bryan somehow managed to dodge Roman, who was running at full speed, and the champion had enough momentum to absolutely obliterate Braun and spear him through the barricade. But as it took a lot of energy, it took the champion out of play too, leaving just Matt and Daniel. Bryan lined a weary looking Matt up for the running knee out of the corner, but Matt dodged it, and sent Bryan knee first into the turnbuckle. Matt saw his opening and hit a Throwback, a 450 splash and a 630 senton in quick succession, and went for the pin by draping an arm over Bryan as after those three moves, he was absolutely exhausted.
Ref: 1... 2... 3!!!
Greg: Here is your winner and the NEWWW WWE Champion, Matt Watkins!
Matt had done it. He had overcome the first challenge of the night, but now came a test that was just as hard. Aleister then came down the ramp, just as Matt was staggering to his feet, with his title draped around his shoulder. As the bell rang, Aleister waited for Matt to get to his feet. The moment he did, Aleister hit Black Mass and Matt found himself seeing stars again.
Ref: 1... 2... thre--
Matt just about threw a shoulder up and much to the disbelief of Aleister, he was still in the match. As Aleister thought about what he should do next, Matt caught him unawares, grabbed his leg and grapevined it before pulling back hard, mainly on the ankle to lock in a new submission he had learned, calling it the ATL. Matt pulled as hard as he could in the middle of the ring, and Aleister could barely move. But he made it to the bottom rope to break the hold, and as Aleister rolled out of the ring to gather what feeling he had in his left leg, Matt had to think about what he could do now while gathering up his energy. He got the crowd cheering for him as he ran the ropes and hit a suicide dive, before running back inside and going for another one, but the champion saw it coming and hit a vicious right, practically knocking Matt out. And while the ref was checking on him, Braun, who was still out there, decided to give his old partner a hand by hitting a running powerslam on Aleister on the outside before heading back to the locker room, joining the rest of the roster, all of them with their eyes fixated on the match.
Leah: If Matt does win, I guess he'll have you to thank...
Braun: If he does mention me, tell him there's no need to give me a title shot. After what the guy has been through this past year, I say he deserves it.
Leah and Braun had a hug before they both watched the closing stages of the match. Matt summoned enough strength to throw Aleister back in the ring, and then climb to the top and first hit a 450, then a 630, and he knew that if this wasn't it, then he didn't know what else to do.
Ref: 1... 2...
The crowd and the roster watched with baited breath.
Ref: ... thre--
Somehow, Aleister got a shoulder up, to the disbelief of nearly everyone in the stadium, especially Matt himself. And then he remembered the submission he locked in earlier and knew Aleister's leg was weakened, so almost immediately, he locked in the ATL, this time grapevining both legs, practically leaving the champion defenseless in the middle of the ring. Aleister did all he could to reach for the ropes and break it, but Matt was having none of it. He wrenched back with all that he had left, and as Aleister fought through the pain, it eventually became too much and he was left with no other choice but to tap out.
Greg: Here is your winner, by submission, and NEWWW UNDISPUTED WWE Champion, Matt Watkins!!!
At first, Matt just laid on the mat, staring up into the sky, as he had virtually nothing left to give. When he finally came to, he had to use the ropes just to stagger himself onto his feet, before he was then presented with both the Universal and WWE Championships. He was absolutely gobsmacked about how his career had come full circle in just 1 year. Eventually, he was able to stand upright with no help and proudly hold both of the belts above his head. Backstage, everyone who knew Matt cheered for him, Amy was jumping for joy and hugged Josh and Lexi, while Leah couldn't quite believe it. She was in tears of joy as she just stared at the screen, watching her man celebrate with the titles that he had deservedly won. After a few minutes, he hobbled his way backstage, where a majority of the roster who were watching the match cheered for him as he came through the curtain, but the most emotional of them all was Leah. She didn't clap or cheer, she simply went up to her man and hugged him, as she began crying full on.
Leah: That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen you do.
Matt: Even more amazing than my flip off the ladder at the Rumble?
Leah: Winning 2 matches for 2 belts in the same night is even more impressive than doing fancy flips and dives off a ladder to me, regardless of what anyone thinks.
Matt: If you say so.
As Leah refused to let go of the hug, Lexi, Josh, Amy joined in, while Stephanie and Hunter joined them as they were looking after Arianna and Bradley for the night.
Hunter: Undoubtedly the best undisputed title match I have ever seen. You really fought hard.
Matt: Thanks, Hunter. I just cannot thank you enough.
Hunter: So going forward, we obviously know that AJ Styles, having won the triple threat no.1 contenders match, is first in line to have a shot at your title. He'll be interrupting the victory celebration you'll be having on Raw tomorrow night. We plan for you guys to have a feud for the belt until Extreme Rules in June, where we'll work out the next step. Anything you wanna ask?
Matt: As it happens, yeah there is.
He looked at Leah, then Josh, then Lexi and Amy.
Matt: Can us 4 have a few weeks off after Money In The Bank? Cos I dunno about Josh, but I wanna get married to this beautiful woman as soon as possible.
Hunter: Consider it done. I'll speak with creative to see how we can write you off TV for a bit.
Stephanie: And there's one more surprise for you, Matt. You see, we've been planning this for a while now, and it seems like it's the best time. You see, there's a few more people who want to say congratulations as well...
Hunter and Stephanie then parted to reveal Bradley and Arianna being carried by 2 people Matt hadn't seen in what felt like forever to him. At the first sighting of them, as well as a third person, he dropped his belts and teared up a little bit as he ran over to hug them.
Matt: Mum... Dad... Rosie...
His parents, Anya and David, along with his younger sister, Rosie, had seen him for the first time since he moved out.
Matt: Holy crap... What are you guys doing here?
David: Well, did you really think that we would miss seeing our boy on the biggest night of his career thus far?
Hunter: You see, me and Stephanie did a bit of digging, and went through old numbers to help track them down, until we had a breakthrough quite recently.
Matt: Must have been why my original numbers didn't work when I tried to call them these past few months.
Anya: We should have messaged you, I know, but when Stephanie rang us and told us about what they had planned, we kinda had to keep quiet about the whole thing.
Stephanie: And for that, I can't apologise enough to you, Matt.
Matt: It's fine, Steph. Really. I'm good with it.
David: We got backstage passes and tickets to tonight, because we wanted to see our boy on top of the world.
Rosie: And make no mistake, Matty, you certainly have done that. Both in the ring...
They all looked at Amy, the kids, and Leah.
Rosie: ...and out of it.
Matt could not believe it. He invited everyone present for a group hug, and even got all of his opponents for the night, who had dropped in on the celebration and family reunion, together for a picture. After the crew member took it, Matt posted it on all his social media handles to let everyone know the Watkins family would be here to stay.
mattyboy: Dug down deep for this reward. Thanks to every single person who helped me along the way to make this dream come true. I could not have done it without you. #newchamp #truefamily
Leah: So... what do we do now?
Matt: Now?
He looked around at everyone, and then back at Leah, who he just smiled at.
Matt: Now... we become husband and wife. And together... we become one big happy family.
Rosie then took a moment to have a one-on-one word with her brother.
Rosie: This comes from the heart, bro... I'm proud of you. Not just me, but Mum and Dad too. And I'm sure our old grandad and Katie up there would be as well. And now look at you. Reunited with your family, got a family of your own, and the new undisputed WWE Champion.
Matt: You have no idea how much that means to me, lil sis.
They hugged as Matt and Leah went their separate ways, while Anya, David and Rosie took care of the kids.
Leah: You're one hell of a man... and also one hell of a man who's gonna get it tonight...
The two then headed to the car and got back to the hotel room as quick as they could for some very R-rated stuff.
A/N: Just a heads up, the final chapter of this book will also be the last chapter, the epilogue! Little bit sad this book is coming to an end, but I really hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it!
Stuey
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