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The love story between Otis and Mandy Rose has been one of WWE's best storylines in 2020. Starting with just a few short interactions between the pair, the angle has progressed over time to involve several other Superstars. However, it also signalled the end of Fire & Desire.
Undoubtedly, the storyline has raised the stock of all who have played a part in it. Aside from the story's key players, Otis' Heavy Machinery partner Tucker, Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville have each had vital roles in helping the plot progress.
The romantic tale, though, has not meant a happy ending for Rose and Deville's tag team partnership. The duo, known collectively as Fire & Desire, have experienced a bitter split in recent weeks - after a jealous Deville turned heel, having attempted to sabotage Rose's new relationship.
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Fire & Desire may never have held the WWE Women's tag team championships during their run as a pairing, but they still had several noteworthy moments as a team.
With Rose and Deville set to meet one-on-one on this week's edition of SmackDown, we take a look back at five moments that defined the run of Fire & Desire.
#5 Becoming best friends after meeting on Tough Enough
Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville met for the first time while participating in WWE's Tough Enough reality show in 2015 which sow the seeds for the formation of Fire & Desire. Rose (competing under her real name of Amanda Saccomanno) made it to the final of the competition, finishing second to eventual winner, Sara Lee.
Deville (Daria Berenato) fared less well, suffering elimination in week 3 of the show, and finishing 11th overall. Despite neither winning the competition, both women were offered WWE developmental contracts after filming concluded.
While speaking to Sports Illustrated in 2019, Rose talked about the close friendship the pair struck up during their time on the show.
“Our bond was created the day we met on Tough Enough, and it’s even stronger now...We’re best friends, we’re inseparable. We lived together when we were in NXT, and then we were called up together. It’s been an amazing journey, and it’s been so nice that we’ve been able to do it together. It’s a true friendship.”
If it were not for both applying to be a part of the reality contest, then there may never have been a Fire & Desire.
Rose also remains the highest-placed finisher in that year's competition that is currently under a WWE contract. It is fair to say that not winning Tough Enough did Rose and Deville little harm in the end and the WWE Universe got Fire & Desire.
#4 Debuting on RAW with Paige in Absolution
After each spending a short period in NXT, Rose and Deville made their first appearances on the WWE main roster during the 20 November 2017 edition of RAW, but not as Fire & Desire.
The pair debuted alongside Paige, interrupting a fatal-four-way match between Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox and Mickie James. The match was thrown out, but Rose, Deville and Paige continued their assault - leaving each participant seeing stars. Later in the evening, they also attacked the then-RAW women's champion, Alexa Bliss, backstage.
The following week, Paige announced that her, Rose and Deville were to be known collectively as Absolution.
Deville recalled her excitement during the group's debut, while speaking to Fox News, earlier this year.
“We actually got to run in through the crowd and it was obviously a surprise that we were debuting...So that's one of my favorite moments of all time. And I think I'll always remember that feeling of butterflies and just the excitement and adrenaline we had before that.”
Although the group made a strong impression in their first few weeks on RAW, their progress as a unit slowed when Paige suffered a severe neck injury at a house show on 27 December. Unfortunately, the injury would end Paige's career as an in-ring performer, and she took up a managerial-style role for Rose and Deville in the months that followed.
While they were far from the top female performers on RAW, Rose and Deville were still regularly featured on the brand. Fire & Desire took part in both the first-ever women's Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches in 2018, although neither enjoyed much success in the bouts.
When Paige left RAW to become SmackDown general manager in April of the same year, Absolution lost a lot of steam. Rose and Deville made plenty of appearances on television, but Fire & Desire rarely made it into the win column.
#3 Moving to SmackDown pays dividends
It was a move to SmackDown in the 2018 Superstar Shakeup that helped ignite the WWE careers of Fire & Desire.
In particular, Rose caught the eye of Smackdown announcer Corey Graves, who developed an on-screen fascination with her. Nicknaming Rose "God's Greatest Creation", Graves' keen support helped her stand out as a character.
During an appearance on Graves' After The Bell podcast, Rose thanked him for coining the name - acknowledging that it had caught on with fans.
"God’s Greatest Creation... thanks to you, by the way. Seriously, I have to give you credit for that because people always mention it. They’re like, ‘You know, that’s Corey Graves.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ I’ll have to give you my royalties if I ever get it on a shirt.”
Fire & Desire, undoubtedly, benefitted from this increased focus. The duo found themselves in contention to become the first-ever WWE Women's tag team champions at Elimination Chamber 2019.
Fire & Desire entered the six-team chamber match at number two, lasting the whole match, before being defeated by Sasha Banks and Bayley after 33 minutes of action.
Rose then, unsuccessfully, challenged Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Championship a month later at Fastlane.
Later in the year, Fire & Desire played a key part in the women's Money In The Bank ladder match. Deville, herself, was not officially entered in the match, having insisted that Rose compete when the two partners were asked to choose between themselves as to who would take the last remaining spot.
Deville would make her presence felt, though. With Rose struggling mid-way through the contest, Deville entered the ring. Realising that Rose was in no condition to win the match alone, Deville attempted to carry her partner up a ladder on her shoulders.
The plot, ultimately, failed - as Bayley won the match. However, Fire & Desire, once again, had their moments to shine in the match.
Their "Fire & Desire" team name became official on the September 3 edition of SmackDown - with the duo now a regular fixture on the Blue brand.
#2 Mandy and Otis
The romantic storyline involving Fire & Desire's Mandy Rose and Otis was pitched directly to Vince McMahon by Rose herself.
The pair had worked together in NXT and had become friends. Rose felt that the two could play off their real-life chemistry and create an engaging story for the audience.
"Otis always was around in NXT and posting pics of me and talking about how much he liked me. In a cute way, not a creepy way. This continued on and I thought it would be great if this became a storyline, especially once Otis entered Wrestlemania. I actually went to Vince McMahon myself and pitched the idea and he loved it."
The angle kicked off over the Christmas period of 2019, when Rose revealed she was Otis' Secret Santa. Rose gifted Otis a ham and kissed him on the cheek.
The following week, a smitten Otis presented Rose with a homemade cake made by his mother. Shortly after, Dolph Ziggler deliberately destroyed the cake. Otis would then find its remains splattered across the floor backstage. The seeds for an eventual Otis Vs. Ziggler feud had been planted.
Segments teasing a romance between Rose and Otis continued to air each week on Smackdown. These never ran to more than a few minutes each, but perfectly told the story of its two featured performers.
The focus during this period, though, was on Rose and Otis - as opposed to Fire & Desire. Subtle hints were occasionally dropped as to Deville's annoyance at the budding relationship, but Fire & Desire continued to team as usual.
The story picked up pace when Rose agreed to go to dinner with Otis on Valentine's Day. Otis could barely contain his excitement over the prospect of finally spending some quality time with Rose.
However, the big man would receive a text, allegedly from Rose, saying that she was running late - prompting Otis to delay his arrival at the restaurant.
When he did arrive, though, Otis found Rose sat down to dinner with his arch-rival Ziggler. He was crushed. Rose would later deny having texted Otis, insisting that she had bumped into Ziggler at the restaurant - after Otis failed to show up on time.
Following their dinner, Rose would enter into an on-screen relationship with Ziggler. A heartbroken Otis firmly believed that Ziggler had sent the misleading text to try and sabotage his date with Rose - and challenged The Showoff to a match at WrestleMania.
It was not until the SmackDown before Wrestlemania that the truth about what occurred on Valentine's Day was heard - as a mysterious individual played footage of the night in question.
In this footage, it emerged that Sonya Deville had sent the anonymous text message, having hatched a plan with Ziggler to ruin Rose's date with Otis.
Deville tried to explain her actions to Rose, but Mandy simply walked away from her. The team of Fire & Desire was on extremely shaky ground heading into the biggest show of the year.
#1 The implosion of Fire & Desire
The writing was on the wall for Fire & Desire as soon as Sonya Deville chose to accompany Dolph Ziggler to the ring for his WrestleMania match with Otis. Deville opting to align herself with Ziggler solidified her heel turn.
A big exclamation mark was put on the breakup of Fire & Desire, though, when Mandy Rose strode to the ring towards the end of the match and nailed Deville with a huge slap.
Rose would then enter the ring and deliver a low blow to Ziggler, helping Otis pick up the victory. Then, in one of the feelgood highlights of WrestleMania, Rose would kiss Otis, before leaving in his arms.
Two weeks after the Showcase Of Immortals, Deville appeared on SmackDown, promising to explain herself to Rose.
However, far from issuing an apology, Deville launched a scathing verbal assault on Rose, labeling her "selfish" and complaining that she was tired of living in Rose's shadow. This is started the end for Fire & Desire.
Things got physical between the pair following Rose's defeat in a Money In The Bank qualifying match with Carmella this past week on SmackDown.
Deville came out during the bout to remind Rose that she had given up her spot in the ladder match for her last year, again accusing Mandy of being selfish.
After her distraction finally caused Rose to lose the match, Deville would launch a brutal attack on her former tag team partner - ramming her headfirst into the steel steps at ringside.
Fire & Desire is officially over. It is now time to see how Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville fare as singles competitors - beginning with their grudge match on SmackDown this week.
