Author note: I don't own anyone from the WWE and while Taika is based on a real New Zealand wrestler I have altered details other than his real name so that apart from his real name everything including his ring name is completely fictional. I would love to know what you think of my work so please r&r.

"Introducing First, Hailing from New Zealand and weighing in at 220 pounds Taika" Justin Roberts said.

I was watching on a monitor backstage as I was curious to see what Taika looked like as I had heard a lot about him in the lead up to his debut but hadn't met him and didn't know what he looked like. I knew he'd been signed to a contract only a few months earlier and had come from New Zealand to wrestle with us. I hadn't had a chance to see any of the vignettes that had been aired to introduce him and needed to satisfy my curiosity. As Taika's music started up I watched closely as he came through the curtains. To my disappointment he was wearing a tiger mask so I couldn't see anything but his mouth and eyes. However I could see he had long blonde hair that fell in ringlets around his shoulders below his mask. After he got in the ring he removed his tiger striped jacket and I could see that he had Maori designs tattooed on his arms. This came as a little bit of a surprise due to him having blonde hair and blue eyes. I could also see that his skin was white not brown.

His ring gear was black with tiger striped chevrons across his trunks, kneepads and kickpads. He had Taika written down the front of his kickpads and across the back of his trunks. "You checking out our new acquisition Barb?" Beth Phoenix said, joining me by the monitor.

"Maybe," I said defensively.

"I bet he's no good," Beth said.

"Check out that body. Man he's hot. I just wish I could see what he looks like," I said.

"Maybe when he comes backstage he'll take his mask off. If he does why don't' you go and introduce yourself to him," Beth said.

"Perhaps I will," I said.

I watched as Taika and Jack Swagger put on a good match my eyes firmly fixed on Taika. He was a very good wrestler and his finishing move was amazing. He used an airplane spin fall away slam which he set up by kicking his opponent in the midsection to double him over then lifted him into a torture rack position. I'd never seen a move like it anywhere before. And he got the pin with it too. I cracked up at Swagger's shocked look. Clearly he didn't expect a complete newcomer to beat him and he wasn't happy about it. I watched as the ref raised Taika's arm and he raised his arms in triumph then posed on the turnbuckle. When he started heading back to the curtains I realized I couldn't talk to him then as I had my own match up straight after his. I had to run to gorilla and as I did so I checked that my pink outfit was on straight and that nothing was poking out. As I entered gorilla Taika was coming through to go backstage. Our eyes met briefly and then he was gone. A few minutes later my music started and Justin was announcing me. As soon as I heard Kelly Kelly I burst through the curtains and my focus switched to my match against Maryse.

At the end of my match after I'd gotten the pinfall I couldn't wait to get backstage. First there were the obligatory poses to do and then I made my way back up the ramp acknowledging the fans. Finally I was through the curtains and able to drop character. When I left gorilla Beth came up to me looking excited.

"Guess who was watching your match on a monitor backstage?" she said.

"You're kidding me," I said.

"Nope. And he was asking me who you were," Beth said.

I smiled softly at that.

"He wants to meet you I think," Beth said.

My heart began to flutter at that and I looked at Beth.

"When?" I asked.

"He didn't say," Beth said.

"You talked to him?" I asked.

"A little," Beth said.

"Did he have his mask on still?" I asked.

"Yeah," Beth said.

"Darn I'd hoped you could tell me what he looked like," I said.

By then we were at the locker rooms. We went inside our locker room and I showered and changed into street clothes. After packing my gear into the bag I'd bought it to the show in I headed out of the women's locker room and down to the carpark.

"Hey great match,"

I looked up hearing an unfamiliar voice and found myself looking into the blue eyes of Taika. He was dressed very casually and wasn't wearing his mask and I couldn't tear my eyes away from his face. He was gorgeous.

"Thanks. Why do you hide yourself under a mask? You're very handsome," I found myself saying.

"It's just part of my gimmick. Taika is Maori for Tiger and my gear is tiger striped as you would have seen if you were watching my match," Taika said.

"So would it matter if the fans saw you without it?" I asked.

"Nah," Taika said.

His New Zealand accent was very sexy.

"Hey where are you staying?" Taika asked me.

I told him the name of the hotel and he smiled.

"I'm staying there too. Maybe you'd like to have a drink with me in the bar after we get back," Taika said.

"Maybe," I said.

"I'd like to get to know you better," Taika said.

He smiled.

"Might see you back at the hotel," I said.

"I hope so," Taika said.

He smiled and I got into the car Beth and I shared to travel between shows.

"I see you've met Taika now. Do you like him?" Beth asked me.

"He's nice but I hardly know him. I don't even know what his real name is," I said.

"Did you tell him yours?" Beth asked as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Nah," I said.

"What were you talking about?" Beth asked.

I told Beth and she grinned.

"Right you and I will be having a drink or two at the bar after we've checked in," Beth said.

I knew what her game was and I smiled softly. It would be nice to see Taika again. This time I would find out his real name and give him mine. I was quiet for the rest of the trip to the hotel which was nearby and after I'd checked in using a pseudonym as I usually did to avoid fans knowing I was staying there I took my luggage to my room and my ring gear to the laundry. After I'd been to the laundry I returned to my room to wait for Beth. She knocked a few minutes later and I let her enter.

"Ready?" she asked me.

"I think so," I said.

"Let's go then," Beth said.

I nodded and we headed down to the bar pausing so I could lock my hotel room door.

"I saw Taika when I was going to my room. His room isn't far from yours," Beth told me.

"We're probably all fairly close to each other so I'm not surprised," I said.

When we reached the bar we made our way inside and I scanned the room. Taika wasn't there so I wondered just how serious he'd been about wanting to have a drink with me. Beth and I each bought ourselves a drink from the bar and sat down at a table. As we were hungry we also ordered some food from the restaurant which was open and when it arrived we began eating.

"So much for Taika coming to the bar," I said.

He still hadn't shown.

"Um actually I think he's just walked through the door," Beth said.

I looked over at the door and she was right. He smiled and waved and I waved back then returned to my food as he headed to the bar.

"He's coming over here," Beth said a few minutes later.

I looked up and smiled as Taika joined us.

"Can I join you ladies?" he asked.

"I was just leaving but sure," Beth said.

I looked at her and she winked at me then got up from the table and left. Taika sat down at the table and smiled at me.

"Hello again," Taika said

"Hi Taika," I said.

"What did you think of my match?" Taika asked.

"You were very impressive. By the way my name is Barbara or Barb for short," I said.

"And I'm Dallas but everyone calls me Dal for short," Taika said.

We chatted for awhile and I learnt that Taika had wrestled in New Zealand before he'd gotten his deal with the WWE. He'd been in FCW for a few months before he'd been called up to the main roster and as he'd been wrestling for quite a while was going to be getting a big push.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Taika asked me.

"No I'm not. I haven't wanted to see anyone since Andrew died. You probably would have seen him on TV as Test. We were together for 2 and a half years and I was devastated when he died," I said.

I choked up and had to stop talking.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that," Taika said.

"It's ok," I said.

I wiped the tears away from my face and smiled at him.

"How about you?" I asked.

"Nah. I was but it ended when I got the deal with the WWE as she didn't want to come to America. We hadn't been together all that long so it wasn't all that serious," Taika said.

"Ouch," I said.

"So you're not looking at the moment," Taika asked me.

"I wasn't but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't be interested if I was to meet someone really nice," I said.

I smiled at Taika.

By the time we'd finished our drinks and our food it felt like we'd known each other for ages.

"Want to dance?" Taika asked me.

"Sure I'd like that?" I said.

A slow song was just starting so we stood and I let Taika lead me onto the dance floor. There he gently drew me into his arms and we drifted around the room. As we swayed to the beat of the music Taika smiled at me.

"How about we go up to my room after this?" he asked.

I was enjoying being in his arms and found myself saying yes. Looking at him I tried to work out how old he was. I was 24 and I knew he had to be older than me but I wasn't sure how much older. I hoped it wasn't too much older.

"So how long have you been wrestling?" I asked.

"I started wrestling in 2003 so it will be 8 years this June," Taika said; "I was 21 when I started and I'm turning 29 this year" he ended.

"I'm 24. I've already had my birthday back in January. When's yours?" I asked.

"Mine isn't until August," Taika said.

So he was 28. But as he was turning 29 that meant he was 5 years older than me. Not that I minded as age was just a number to me and in my opinion if two people were in love age didn't matter. And Andrew had been 12 years older than me.

"So when did you start wrestling?" Taika asked me, breaking into my thoughts

"I got my WWE contract in 2006 after being spotted while modeling," I said.

Taika smiled at me and then the song ended so we headed out of the bar and up to Taika's room talking quietly as we went.

"Who are you travelling with between shows?" I asked.

"Cody and Ted," Dal said.

"Oh right," I said.

"But I wouldn't mind travelling with you," Taika told me.

I blushed at that and he grinned.

"I travel with Beth as you may have already gathered," I said.

"Yeah I saw her in the car you got into," Taika said.

"I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other as we're on the same brand so will be appearing at the same shows," I said.

"Yeah and I'm liking that a lot," Taika said.

"So how are you finding it in the WWE so far?' I asked.

"Well for one thing I am wrestling much much more than I did in New Zealand and in front of much bigger crowds. And the money is awesome. I've never earnt this much money before," Taika said.

"What did you earn back in New Zealand?" I asked.

"A pittance really. They couldn't afford to pay us much as the crowds were so much smaller so the company got much less coming in. They had to pay their expenses before they could pay us," Taika said.

I learnt that the promotion he'd been in was similar to our Indy promotions and crowd numbers really fluctuated. They'd average 500-600 per show and only did one show a week. I could understand why Taika was enjoying himself in the WWE. Wrestling was our life and we did it full time.

"It's brilliant to be wrestling full time. And I'm learning heaps. I can't believe how much I didn't know before coming here," Taika said.

"Do you like the other stuff we do like the photo sessions and appearances and things?" I asked.

"I have to admit it's going to be a little weird to see myself in WWE magazine whenever that happens. I've never been in a magazine before. And if I ever make the cover that will be huge for me," Taika said.

"You'll soon get used to all the hoopla that we go through," I predicted.

"I can't wait to do my first PPV. I've always dreamt of appearing on the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. I hope to achieve that dream. And my dream of being WWE champion," Taika said.

"I hope you get to do both those things," I said.

I smiled at Taika and he smiled back at me. We'd reached his room and as Beth had said it was just down the hall from mine.