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It happened right before the introduction of the Wyatt Sicks and the massacre on RAW. Howdy had just beaten Chad Gable unconscious, and now he was waiting for the signal. Right after tonight's main event, the lights will go off and The Wyatt Sicks will make their grand introduction to the WWE.
Howdy had almost everything planned. The other Wyatts were wreaking havoc in the gorilla, piling body after body.
What he didn’t plan for though, was a woman to wander past the curtains into the hallway that leads to the gorilla. Right where Howdy was waiting. Luckily since it was dark in there, and Chad was hidden behind a maintenance box from her angle, she couldn’t see Chad. She could, over, see Howdy clear as day.
Howdy didn’t panic, he never did. Though he was a bit worried she might ruin the grand introduction, she did something that caught him off guard.
“I like your hat!” She said, pointing to Howdy’s top hat. Howdy couldn’t help but grin at the compliment.
“Thank you.” He said in his deep, southern drawn voice. “You appear to be lost though. The last match of the night is happening right now.”
“Oh, I know! I was looking for catering.” She chuckled. “I stuck cutting promos and taking pictures all night, I only now got the chance to grab dinner. But I have no idea where it is back here.” She sighed.
“Ah, a lost little lamb.” Howdy laughed, “Lucky for you, I stopped by there earlier.” He lifted his arm and pointed to the left. “Go back, down the left hall, and you should see a sign leading to it.”
The woman beamed, “Thank you so much! Oh! I’m Des by the way.” She said, offering her hand for him to shake. Howdy gladly took her hand, and kissed the back of it. Though it was dark, he could clearly see the faint blush on Des’ cheeks.
Now Howdy already knew all about Des. He did his homework on everyone in the RAW roster. She hadn’t been here long, only around 2 years. She used to be in a tag team in NXT, but her tag team partner used and abused her, throwing her to the side once they got to the main roster. Only for Des to join the Judgement Day. She was very close to all the other members. But when Summerslam 2024 happened, she was heartbroken. Though she was still close to Rhea and Damian, the betrayal of Dom and Finn still hurt her deeply.
She would be perfect for his family.
“Charmed.” He said after kissing her hand. “Howdy.”
“Hello!” She said with a grin, making Howdy laugh again.
“Apologize, I should clarify. My name is Howdy.”
“Oh! Well, howdy Howdy!” She joked, both of them laughing along with it.
Hearing someone clear their throat, Howdy turned his head to see Joe Gacy’s head popping out from behind the gorilla curtain. Since Howdy was quite a big man, Des couldn’t see him. Howdy knew what he was signalling. It was almost show time. He nodded and turned back to Des.
“You best get going. Don’t want you missing out on the rest of dinner.” He said, adjusting his coat.
Des nodded, “You’re right. I hope to see you later Howdy! Or next Monday. I’ll sneak you a brownie or something as a thanks.”
“It was my pleasure.” Howdy said. Des gave him a small wave before running off backstage. Howdy let out a dream sigh once he was alone. He heard the lights go out in the arena, the first note of Shatter starting to play. And the Wyatts all getting into place.
As he stood in the hallway, prepared to show the WWE Universe that the Wyatt Sicks were here, that they wouldn’t and couldn't be ignored, he thought to himself how he expected a lot of things to come out of this night. But what he didn’t expect was to fall in love at first sight.