It's Not Over
Usual disclaimer - see Chapter 1 for the full details, but I own nothing, all the people own themselves, WWE owns the trademark names, I'm doing this to exercise my creativity and for the sheer pleasure of writing. Ask my therapist!
Chapter 2
She was in love with OVW within the first week. She was basically on a scholarship, doing the advanced classes without paying fees, and being paid basic living expenses as well. She met with a local gym and arranged to run some classes for them to supplement her income. It also helped her maintain her trainers qualification. She was well aware that few wrestlers ever made a really good living out of the business, so she wanted to make sure that she would continue to have a back-up profession.
She worked hard, and learned everything she could. She developed Luana's in-ring character to a point where she was asked to do house shows as part of the OVW tour, and found herself with a television spot after four months.
Danny Davis, the head of the school, started giving her matches against the men, as she found little serious competition in the women's division. She had had years more training than most of them, and her physical prowess was impressive because of her work as a personal trainer. She held her own and began making real inroads. The physical trainers worked with her to continue to build her strength, and some wits dubbed her "Little Chyna".
Dacey was far from unhappy with that. Chyna was her role model - a woman who wrestled the men at their own game. Dacey resisted any efforts to get her into skimpier ring attire. The best she would offer was to wear lower cut tights to show off her navel piercing, and move more into colour than her original black and white. She even added some blonde streaks to her long red hair, making her look more like the Viking warrior queen Luana was meant to be. She also added wrist gauntlets, held in place with a loop over her middle finger.
On a regular visit to OVW, Danny had specifically asked Jim Ross to watch one of Dacey's matches. Jim was impressed, and the germ of an idea began to form in his mind. Dacey continued to get regular TV time, and a small but devoted following of fans.
A reporter passing through Louisville one night happened to catch the show, and sensing a story, stayed in town to catch the next house show. She spoke to some of Luana's fans, and found out why they thought she was so good. The resulting article on women in wrestling compared Luana with the Divas, stressing her prowess as a wrestler without the need for the skimpy outfits the Divas wore, and the positive role model she was providing for the young women who admired her. The story was picked up by a few newspapers, and mentioned on talk shows, and the WWE took notice.
The Divas, being coached by Fit Findlay, were doing better as wrestlers, but their costuming was still designed to appeal to the male demographic. The story about Luana's less provocative attire and the more positive female feedback to it garnered some attention, and there started to be changes suggested for women's wardrobe. Some of the women happily went back to less revealing in-ring attire, while others enjoyed the things they currently wore.
Finally, Jim Ross and Danny Davis had a discussion about moving Dacey up to the WWE.
"She's ready Jim, as ready as I can make her. She works damned hard, and she's good at it. Give her a run, see what you can make of her."
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Dacey was stunned to be moving to the "show". She had been enjoying the learning experience at OVW, and had to remember that she'd still have the opportunity to learn in the big league. So she flew to Stamford for discussions on how to get her into the storylines.
There was the opportunity to bring her in as Luana, but Jim resisted that. He wanted to give her a real workout, see if she could develop a new character quickly. They were toying with the idea of a new version of a group like DX, to be called the Brat Pack - an alliance of wrestlers wanting to have fun and wreak havoc. Currently, Shawn Michaels was going to be heading the faction, but he needed a buddy to begin the core group. They had been hoping to have Adam Copeland join in, and Jeff Hardy. But the idea of making his "buddy" a woman was appealing. There had been a push to use a Diva, but with the recent changes in attitudes to the Divas as simply window dressing, they thought of using Dacey in the character role.
They were looking for someone a little light hearted. Dacey would be a kick ass with a sense of fun. A female version of Triple H during his days with DX. Shawn liked the idea, and they set up a meeting to discuss it with Dacey.
Dacey was astonished to find the three superstars in the room at a meeting she was assuming would be with Jim Ross and the writers.
"So," Shawn asked, "what kind of name is Dacey?"
"It's Irish, and it means southerner," she said, a little overawed by the company. "It's what happens when a nice Irish girl marries a redneck Texan and has a baby girl - their compromise between Bridget and Sue-Ellen."
They discussed Dacey's style, and she was a little discomfited to learn they had been reviewing tapes of her TV appearances. The plan was that Shawn would bring Dacey in as an old friend from Texas, who would kick ass when guys tried anything sleazy, but who would also pull pranks with Shawn. Then they would "recruit" Adam and Jeff as fellow pranksters, and provide more lighthearted moments to intersperse with some of the darker storylines currently running successfully.
Dacey said hardly a word during all of this. She had the feeling that this was all happening too fast. Sure, she had been training and working sporadically for eight years or more, but there were people at OVW who had been working just as long, and here she was being given a major chance. She just couldn't bring herself to contribute anything to the discussion, feeling she had no right to do so with her lack of experience.
Jim Ross noticed her silence, and finally she had to admit why she didn't feel she could put forth any ideas. She was assured that her input was as valued as anyone else's, and she tentatively began to make comments.
The discussion turned to a new in-ring name. Shawn liked using Dacey, but she resisted. She felt that having a separate character name would help her keep the work separate from who she was as a person. They tossed around ideas like Jade, for her green eyes, and Spice, for her pep, but then Adam had a suggestion.
"How about Ginger?"
"Ginger?" Shawn looked at Adam. "Like in the Spice Girls?"
"No man!" Adam laughed. "As in Ginger on Gilligan's Island!"
Dacey looked confused, but Shawn laughed. "Why not Mary-Anne?"
"Look, Mary-Anne was the one who wore the little short shorts and stuff, but she was real wholesome. Ginger was the one who wore evening gowns, but she was the sexier one, because she wasn't showing it all off. She had all the guys panting after her, and she was the one who got everyone to do stuff for her. Isn't that what we want this character to be like?"
Dacey began to smile. "I see where this is going. A character like that could be elegant as all hell, but kick ass when she has to. And she'd get a kick out of making fun of people. Gorgeous but haughty. But can I pull that off?" She looked worried.
"Dacey, of course you can pull it off!" said Shawn. "You're plenty gorgeous, and it's attitude more than anything, believe me."
Dacey smiled, but still doubted. She wasn't model pretty, having an average face. She did have pretty hair, but that wasn't enough to be "gorgeous". She had another concern though. "I can't exactly wrestle in evening gowns. What kind of costume can we use?"
Shawn wasn't the only one to notice the use of "we" by Dacey - it seemed she had realised she was now part of the team.
Julie from Wardrobe had been sketching as they spoke, and turned her pad around to show them. The outfit consisted of long pants, with a flare at the hem, and a wrap-around sleeveless top. A pair of elbow length gauntlets, similar to the ones she had worn at OVW, which suggested elbow length gloves completed the ensemble. "And I'm thinking something with a slight spangle to it, perhaps in gold? Or green?
Dacey looked at the sketch in appreciation. It showed very little skin, but would make a definite statement about a glamorous female persona. And she was sure she could wrestle in it. "So long as that wrap part won't come loose," she said to Julie.
"No, we'll make it a mock wrap," Julie reassured her.
Jim Ross recalled the discussions they had had with Dacey about her contract with the WWE. She had been adamant about not taking part in any bra and panties or lingerie matches or "other such foolishness", as she put it, and she wanted it in her contract. Given the recent press over Divas perhaps not being such positive female role models, Jim had assured her they could accommodate that.
The discussion continued, and Dacey felt a frisson of excitement - she was actually going to be a part of the WWE!
She sold the Winnebago and rented a small apartment. And she upgraded her Sportster to her dream baby, the 100th anniversary Softail Night Train. Gunmetal pearl. Even though the bike would have to be locked away while she was on the road, she figured she'd have fun riding it while she was in town.
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Dacey, in wardrobe and makeup as "Ginger", paced nervously. She felt slightly unreal. Her hair had been streaked with a little more blonde, and set in rollers to give it a wavy mane effect. She knew it would last about five seconds in the ring, but the other female wrestlers assured her it was okay, that it happened to all of them.
The first vignette they were doing was being taped, to give them a chance to get the characters working well. She and Shawn were to walk in together, she wearing kind of a street clothes version of Ginger's outfit, and they were to be greeted by Paul Heyman. "Ginger" would regard him with distaste and then throw a headlock on him and get him on the ground, hit him with a knee drop, and then get up and walk on with Shawn as if nothing had happened.
They ran through the bit once, with Paul Heyman giving her good advice on how to get the best headlock on him for the camera, and then they tried it for tape. Dacey couldn't believe it - once they said "Action", she found herself thinking like Ginger, regarding Paul with real distaste and enjoying throwing him down and beating on him. As she stood up and walked out of camera range with Shawn, she heard them yell "Cut!" and there was loud applause.
"If that looks as good on camera as it did live, we are on a roll here!" the director congratulated Dacey. "That was amazing, you were perfect."
Dacey took his praise with a grain of salt, but she had been pleased with her performance, and so had Shawn and Paul.
Over the coming weeks, Dacey and Shawn worked together more often, doing little vignettes where Ginger would help Shawn pull stupid pranks, or get propositioned by wresters only to kick their asses. They also worked mixed tag team matches, and recruited more wrestlers to the alliance. It was time for her to do her first solo match, and it was against Victoria, who had taken exception to Ginger's abuse of Steven Richards.
Victoria had been very helpful as they blocked out the main moves of the match, which Ginger was supposed to win. It was on Smackdown, which meant that while the match was live, there was the opportunity to edit the footage to show it to best advantage on TV. Dacey had been very nervous backstage, listening as Victoria's entrance music played.
They had discussed whether Dacey should go with the Brat Pack's entrance music, or have a theme of her own. She had pushed to use the Brat Pack theme, Pink's "Feel Good Time", and they went ahead with that. She was bouncing on her toes at the gorilla position, ready, when the theme started blasting through the sound system, and she moved out through the curtain at the floor director's touch.
Once she was through the curtain, Dacey was Ginger. She had the lazy hip-shot swagger, the look of disdain. She climbed into the ring and faced off with Victoria.
Jim Ross sat watching the match. He'd had an idea to move Dacey on from the Brat Pack, and wanted to see if it was workable. When Dacey exploded into action against Victoria, unleashing her Luana warrior woman wrestling style, he knew it was possible.
Dacey and Victoria threw everything into the match, and it got huge audience reaction. When Ginger pinned Victoria, she stood and looked down at her, and smiled - a wild, feral look. Jim smiled - that was the look that was going to make it possible for Ginger to turn heel and bring his plan to life.