It could never be said that Rosa Mendes was shy when it came to love.
The Latina had engaged in many relationships during her time in WWE, from The Long Island Iced Z, Zack Ryder, right up to the Mexican Aristocrat, Alberto Del Rio.
Well, almost.
Her budding romance with the latter had mostly fizzled out after he had won the World Heavyweight Championship. He retained his charming persona, but it seemed like the title, and his ring announcer had become more of a deal than her.
Tonight, though, that sort of thing was bottom of her priority list. Her good friends, Primo and Epico Colon, were having a tag match on WWE's home of developmental talent, NXT, and by the fans' demand, she had been drafted to accompany them at ringside.
At present, she was in the locker room, mingling with the other Divas and Superstars. They were excited, a little more than usual, and Rosa decided to ask why.
"You haven't heard?" Sasha Banks asked, raising her eyebrows.
Rosa shook her head, slightly annoyed at how she'd been kept out of the loop again.
Sasha sighed, before turning to where Primo and Epico were sitting, and calling them over.
"Seems like your girl hasn't heard the news."
"Oh, really? Gosh, I kept forgetting to tell you over the week…here, let me explain." Primo offered. "There's this new guy on the NXT roster, and oh my god, you wouldn't believe the hype he's got. Almost ten years on the independent circuit."
Rosa couldn't help but be impressed, as Primo produced a picture of the new guy.
"A luchador…Mexican, I'm guessing?"
"Probably." Primo replied. "Why do you think he'd be any other nationality?"
"I don't know," Rosa mused, "but he just looks a little different from all the other luchadors I've seen…"
About to elaborate on why she was so drawn to this man, a member of the production team came into the locker room, relaying that the show was about to start.
The theme music sounded from inside the arena, and the usual Florida crowd went as crazy as they could.
Whatever questions she had on the newest NXT roster member could wait. Right now, there was a show to get on the road.
"Alright, Primo, Epico, Rosa, you're up."
The two cousins and their female confidante got up, the former doing some final stretches.
It was a few seconds before they heard their entrance music hit, and they entered from the side.
The male fans in the audience cheered wildly as Rosa danced and shimmied her way to ringside. Wow, they really do like me!
Their match against Michael McGillicutty and Bo Dallas went by with another loss to the third generation duo, and although it was another brilliant match, they could tell that that wasn't the main focus of tonight.
"This next match is set for one fall!"
Gathered around the monitor in the back, the NXT stars perked up as soon as they heard the bouncy Mexican-inspired tune that accompanied the entrance of the new wrestler.
"Ole!" he exclaimed, as he slapped several fan's hands.
"He looks even sillier in real life!" Rosa giggled.
"Entering the ring, from Tijuana, Canada, making his highly-anticipated WWE debut, El Generico!"
"Wait a second," Epico asked. "Isn't Tijuana in Mexico?"
Once he had entered the ring, everyone got a proper look at him. Black mask with red and white detailing, ginger beard, and an accent that had clearly been faked.
"El Gen-eri-co!" the crowd chanted enthusiastically, clapping three times afterwards. "El Gen-eri-co!"
He was clearly humbled by the response. "Ah, thank you, mi amigos. It is so great to be here in the WWE!"
The crowd cheered again.
"Just before we start, I'd like to give a big shout-out to all the orphan children in Mexico! All the money I gain from this will go to you!" He pointed at the camera, exclaiming "Ole!" once more, before NXT veteran Bray Wyatt entered, cutting another bizarre promo before walking down.
"It seems like we have a battle of eccentricity going on here." William Regal commented bemusedly.
The bell rung and they were off. Immediately, Bray went into using his more roughness-based offence to wear Generico down, but he was a little too quick. From there, it was your usual back-and-forth match, until, drawing on the energy of the crowd, Generico began a flurry of punches and kicks, eventually chopping Wyatt down. What followed after that was a swift running kick, before he dragged his opponent into the centre of the ring, lifting his body high above his head.
"Oh no." Seth Rollins said in awe. "Don't tell me he's gonna-"
Before he could finish, the room filled with awestruck gasps as Generico laid Wyatt out with a thunderous brainbuster, before covering him for a 3-count.
The crowd erupted once again, but the locker room remained silent, until they heard him entering their midst.
Again, he had a humbled look about him. Rosa noticed that, as he looked around, his gaze seemed to be zoned in on her for a little longer, and asked her friends about this, but they brushed this off, saying that too much dancing had made her delusional.
"Man, that was brilliant!" Seth exclaimed. "I've never seen someone do so well in their first WWE match!"
Generico shrugged, sitting down beside him. "I don't know mi amigo. Ten years on the independents teaches you a lot."
Seth nodded, tossing him a bottle of water he had nearby, before he, along with his Shield teammates Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, were called up for the final segment of the night, which, although ending in a brutal-looking brawl, was agreed by everyone to be a great ender to the show.
All, that was, except Generico. He seemed to lose his happy mood as time went on, not being as talkative as he was just after his match.
At first, Rosa ignored this off, thinking of it only as beginners' nerves.
But, he kept them even as he walked to change into his normal clothing. She understood then that something had to be done, and so lingered casually around his locker.
"Senorita?" Generico asked, slightly bewildered, after he exited. "Don't you want to be somewhere else?"
"No." she told him politely. "Oh, and, my name's Rosa, by the way."
"Well then, Rosa…why are you here? You have your two…friends to be chasing after, right?"
She smiled briefly. "I guess they can be a handful sometimes." she admitted, "but they're not who I'm after at the moment." She tried to ignore the pause he'd put between the word "friends."
Generico, his face turning a deep red, was now backing away slightly.
"I noticed how withdrawn you were acting after your match, and I'm just wondering if something's up, that's all. I mean, WWE wouldn't like it if one of their biggest signings to date wasn't able to wrestle to his full ability because of another issue, right?"
He nodded slowly. "I don't know, Rosa, it's just…standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all this American talent, I'm worried I'll get lost in the shuffle as just another luchador-"
"Even though you're not?" Rosa interrupted.
There was a sudden silence.
"No, I-I didn't mean it in that way…" she stuttered.
"No, Rosa, I understand." he reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm actually…"
He cleared his throat.
"I'm actually not Mexican at all." he confessed, his accent now morphing into that of a Canadian, his true nationality.
Needless to say, Rosa was slightly taken aback by this, but a characteristic grin from Generico caused her to smile too.
"See? Completely different. Completely you."
She was sure she could see blushing under his mask, a sign which prompted her to move onto a different, but still very important, question.
"Generico, can I ask you another question?"
"Fire when ready." he replied.
The smile returned to both their faces again.
"Do you like me?" Rosa asked.
"Well, um, I…"
The nervous stammering continued for a bit longer, until he sighed, coming out with a definitive, one word answer.
"Yes."
Rosa was hardly shocked about him being so upfront.
"You see, as well as being a wrestler, I'm also a big wrestling fan, and I watch WWE a lot." he elaborated. "So, one day I'm watching RAW, and I see four people- this giant man in red…"
"The Great Khali." Rosa answered.
"…this tiny man in green, with Muppet tattoos…"
"Hornswoggle."
"…another man in a suit, with a Spanish accent…"
"Alberto Del Rio." Rosa breathed, brief flashes of their almost-relationship dancing before her eyes.
"…and the most beautiful ebony-haired Latina girl, dressed in the most flattering shade of blue."
That snapped Rosa back to reality quickly. "That'd be me." she confirmed, having to look downwards to hide the bigger smile, nearly a grin, which was crossing her face.
"And when she wrestled every once in a while, when she danced, when she spoke, when she did anything, she simply captured my heart."
Rosa's hand was now covering her mouth.
"But, I knew that she'd never find me. She was too busy falling for the aristocrat, and those two Puerto Rican boys were probably next on her list." He chuckled, shaking his head sadly.
"We're not an item any more." she explained quickly. "Our relationship never actually got off the ground, in real life or otherwise. And as for Primo and Epico, well, we're just friends. To be honest, if I did go into a relationship with one of them, I bet the other would just start bickering over me." She giggled.
Now it was Generico's turn to be stunned.
"So, that must mean…"
"Yep, I'm completely single." she reiterated, still smiling.
The emotions on Generico's face were mixed as he took a step forward. "So, that means I can…"
He leant forward, looking to kiss Rosa, but she had had practice in this sort of thing many times before, and knew that he needed to correct himself before the moment could happen.
"No, that's not the way you kiss a girl." she said mischievously. "It's more like this."
And so, she bent forward, and did it her way. Needless to say, Generico adapted pretty quickly.
"So, does this make us a couple now?" Generico asked, hardly keeping the smile from his face.
Even though Rosa's next sentence was easy to say in theory, she thought long and hard about how to phrase it.
"Si, senor."
Bursting out in laughter, they linked hands, ready to show the world that from now on, they wouldn't hide in the shadows.
By each others' side, they would be generic no longer.
A/N: …I honestly have no idea how this came about.
All I have to say is, to paraphrase Comic Book Guy: RAREST. PAIRING. EVER.
Fire at will, reviewers.
Wishing you a happy life,
Blaze xox