In the olden days, when wishing was still of some use, there lived King Vince. He had several beautiful female wrestlers, but the his very own (semi)wrestler daughter, Princess Stephanie, was so fair that even the sun, who sees so many wonders, could not help marveling every time he looked into her face.
Near the King�s Tower lay a large, dark forest, and there, under an old linden tree, was a well. When the day was very warm, Princess Stephanie would go off into this forest and sit at the rim of the cool well. There she would play with her golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball, tossing it up and catching it deftly in her hands. This was her favourite game and she never tired of it.
Now it happened one day that, as Princess Stephanie tossed her golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball into the air, it did not fall into her uplifted hands as usual. Instead, it fell to the ground, rolled to the rim of the well and then into the water. Plunk, splash! The golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball was gone.
The well was deep and Princess Stephanie knew it. She felt sure that she would never see her beautiful ball again, so she cried and cried and could not stop.
�What is the matter, Princess?� said a voice behind her. �You are crying so that even a tough and hard heel would have pity on you?�
Princess Stephanie looked around and there she saw a Frog. He was in the well and stretching his fat, ugly head out of the water. �Oh, it�s you � you old water splasher!� said Princess Stephanie. �I�m crying over my golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball. It has fallen into the well.�
�Oh, as to that,� said the Frog, �I can bring your ball back to you. But what will you give me if I do?�
�Whatever you wish, dear old Frog,� said Princess Stephanie. �I�ll give you my dresses, my beads and all my jewels � even the golden crown on my head.�
�Your dresses, your beads and jewels, even the golden crown on your head, I don�t want them,� the Frog answered. �But if you can find it in your heart to like me and take me for you wrestling partner, if you will let me sit beside you at the table, eat from your little golden plate and drink from your little golden cup, and if you are willing to let me sleep in your own bed besides, if you promise me all this, Princess Stephanie, then I will gladly go down to the bottom of the well and bring back your golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball.�
�How about settling for the number one contender for the WWF Championship Ball?� Princess Stephanie counter-offered, disgusted at having to share her food and bed with such an ugly creature.
�No,� the Frog replied simply.
�Fine,� said Princess Stephanie. �I�ll promise anything you say if you�ll only bring back my WWF Women�s Championship Ball to me.�
As soon as the Frog had heard her promise, he disappeared into the well. Down, down, down, he sank; but soon came up again, holding the WWF Women�s Championship Ball in his mouth. He dropped it on the grass at the feet of Princess Stephanie, who was wild with joy when she saw her favourite plaything once more. She picked up the ball and skipped away, thinking no more about the little creature who had returned it to her.
�Wait!� cried the Frog. �Take me with you, I can�t run that fast!�
But what good did it do him to cry out his �Quark! Quark!� after her as loud as he could? She didn�t listen to him but hurried home, where she soon forgot the poor Frog, who now had to go back to his well again.
The next evening, Princess Stephanie was eating her dinner at the royal table when � plitch, plotch, plitch, plotch � something came hopping down the Tower driveway. When it reached the front door, it knocked and cried:
Youngest wrestler, and also daughter, of the King,
Open the door for me!
Princess Stephanie rose from the table and ran to see who was calling her. When she opened the door, there sat the Frog, wet and green and cold! Quickly she slammed the door and sat down at the table again.
King Vince could see well enough that she was frightened and worried, and he said, �My child, what are you afraid of? Is Undertaker out there again, wanting to carry you away and make a bridal sacrifice of you? If he is, it wasn�t my idea this time.�
�Oh, no,� said Princess Stephanie. �It�s not Undertaker, but a horrid old Frog!�
�And what does he want of you?� asked King Vince.
�Oh, dear Father, as I was playing under the linden tree by the well, my golden WWF Women�s Championship Ball fell into the water. And because I cried so hard, the Frog brought it back to me, and because he insisted so much, I promised him that he could be my wrestling partner. But I never, never thought he would ever leave his well. Now he is out there and wants to come in and eat from my plate and drink from my cup and sleep in my bed. But I couldn�t bear that, Daddy, he�s so wet and ugly and his eyes bulge out!�
While she was talking, the Frog knocked at the door once more and said:
Youngest wrestler, and also daughter, of the King,
Open the door for me.
Mind your words at the old well spring;
Open the door for me!
At that King Vince said, �If we make promises, Daughter, we must keep them. Until they piss you off majorly, and then you screw them out of a title. So, you had better go and open the door.�
Princess Stephanie still did not want to do it but she had to obey. When she opened the door, the Frog hopped in and followed her until she reached her chair. Then he sat on the floor and said, �Lift me up beside you.�
She hesitated � the Frog was so cold and clammy � but her father looked at her sternly and said, �You must keep your promise. For now.�
After the Frog was on her chair, he wanted to be put on the table. When he was there, he said, �Now shove your plate a little closer so we can eat together like real wrestling partners.�
Princess Stephanie shuddered, but she had to do it. The Frog enjoyed the meal and ate heartily, but the poor girl could not swallow a single bite. At last the Frog said, �Now I�ve eaten enough and I feel tired. Carry me to your room so I can go to sleep.�
Princess Stephanie began to cry. It had been hard enough to touch the cold, fat Frog, but to have him beside her in her bed was more than she could bear.
�I want to go to bed,� repeated the Frog. �Take me there and tuck me in.�
Princess Stephanie shuddered again and looked at her father, but he only said, �He helped you in your trouble. Is it fair to scorn him now? Just remember what I said. There is always later.�
There was nothing for her to do but pick up the creature and carry him up into her room, where she dropped him in a corner in the floor, hoping he would be satisfied. But after she had gone to bed, she heard something she didn�t like.
Ploppety, plop! Ploppety, plop!
It was the Frog, hopping across the floor, and when he reached her bed he said, �I�m tired and the floor is much too hard. I have as much right as you to sleep in a good soft bed. Lift me up or I will tell your father.�
At this Princess Stephanie was bitterly angry, but she picked the Frog up and put him at the foot of her bed. There he stayed all night, but when the dark was graying into daylight, the Frog jumped down from the bed, out of the door and away, she knew not where.
The next night it was the same. The Frog came back, knocked at the door and said:
Youngest wrestler, and also daughter, of the King,
Open the door for me.
Mind your words at the old well spring;
Open the door for me!
The only thing Princess Stephanie could do was let him in. Again he ate out of golden plate, sipped out of her golden cup, and again he slept at the foot of her bed. In the morning he went away as before.
The third night he came again. But this time he was not content to sleep at her feet. �I want to sleep under your pillow,� he said. �I�d like it better there.�
Princess Stephanie thought she would never be able to sleep with a horrid, damp, goggle-eyed Frog under her pillow. She began to weep softly to herself and couldn�t stop until at last she cried herself to sleep.
When the night was over and the morning sunlight burst in at the window, the Frog crept out from under her pillow and hopped off the bed. But as soon as his feet touched the floor something happened to him. In that moment he was no longer a cold, fat goggle-eyed Frog � he had turned into Prince Jericho.
�You see,� he said, �I wasn�t what I seemed to be! A wicked old woman bewitched me. No one but you could break the spell, Princess Stephanie, and I waited and waited at the well for you to help me.�
Princess Stephanie was speechless with surprise, but her eyes sparked. Oh, did they ever!
�And will you let me be your wrestling partner now?� asked Prince Jericho, laughing. �Mind your words at the old well spring!�
At this Princess Stephanie laughed too, and she was ever so glad that she had listened to her father. She also heeded his advice, and much later they were married and lived happily ever after. Princess Stephanie did indeed screw Prince Jericho, but it wasn�t out of a title!