Layla, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio
WWE personalities discuss dating, Michael Vick, and cellphone etiquette during a lunch at Sel de la Terre.
 Rey Mysterio keeps his trademark mask firmly in place while greeting fan Gavin Monico, 9, of Saugus. (Zara Tzanev for the Boston Globe ) |
Layla, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio hop into a limo after an hour manning the Globe Santa donation table in front of Quincy Market.
On this recent Tuesday afternoon, just before their "Smackdown" and "ECW" gig at the TD Banknorth Garden, they're having a quick lunch break at Sel de la Terre, a French restaurant in the Financial District.
The brawny and tatooed Punk, 29, bobs his head to the car stereo, which is playing Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
"Punk can dance," Layla says. "He can do the Lindy hop."
"I can't dance," he responds, shaking his head.
"You have rhythm," she says, pushing him playfully.
"Having rhythm doesn't mean you can dance. I've been in bands my entire life. That's where the rhythm comes from."
When the limo pulls up to Sel de la Terre, the trio's handler, longtime
"Which one is he?" the hostess asks.
"The little one coming in," Aitchison says.
Mysterio is, in fact, little.
At about 5 feet tall, he's the smallest member of the WWE to earn a heavyweight title. One of his signature moves is the Mysterio-Rana, which involves him leaping onto his opponent's shoulders.
Punk and Layla say they plan to splurge and order the restaurant's three-course prix fixe lunch.
"Then I'm going to have to wear a full top tonight, not a stomach top," says the 30-year-old Layla, a former Miami Heat dancer, who was picked by fans to be a WWE "diva" in a contest last year. The job has her revealing her mid-section more often than not, so she says she tries not to eat too much before performances.
Mysterio, who seems naked without his trademark wrestling mask (he kept it on for fans during the Globe Santa volunteer hour), says he's leaning toward the mussels. "Wait, what are mussels?" he asks.
"It's like a clam, but not," Punk says. Then he flexes to show mussels versus muscles.
Punk likes to tease his companions. He calls them his "road family."
Layla fiddles with her T-Mobile Sidekick, which prompts Punk to mess around with his. Layla pulls out a second phone, checking to see her missed calls.
"Why do you have two phones?" Punk asks.
Layla answers that she likes to be able to talk and text message at the same time. Punk rolls his eyes.
"One of them is for boys," he says, "and one of them is for boys no one is supposed to know about."
"I'm sorry," Layla responds. "I never wanted to be one of those people who's always on the phone."
Punk says he's on the phone more than he would like to be, to keep in touch with people while he's on the road. It used to bother his ex-girlfriend.
"You don't seem to be lucky in love," Aitchison says, smiling. She's referring to a few jokes made by Punk earlier in the afternoon about bad dates and past relationships. "What are you going to be, a monk? Punk the monk."
"Just alone," he says. "Dating's overrated."
Layla, who is single, says she's made a recent decision to stop dwelling so much on failed relationships. She's going to try to get herself a few first dates.
"It's just hard to meet people," she says. "Most of my time is at work. I can't date people at work. Since I moved to L.A., I haven't been on a date. That was seven or eight months ago. I'm a young, successful woman. Maybe I'm intimidated."
"You mean intimidating?"' asks Punk.
"No, you're intimidating," she responds. "I used to be scared of Punk. I never talked to him."
"That's ridiculous," Punk says. "I'm like a big teddy bear."
With that, lunch is served. Mysterio offers a mussel to his WWE pals, who are snacking on lamb and cous cous.
Conversation turns to Michael Vick, who Layla and Punk believe was sentenced too lightly in the dogfighting case. Mysterio isn't sure he agrees. He asks Layla if dogfighting is any different than wearing a fur coat.
"This is different," she says. "He tortured them."
"I do believe in second chances," Mysterio says. "And when he came out and apologized ..."
"He wasn't being sincere," Layla says, cutting him off.
Changing the subject, Layla points to Mysterio's drink, a Tom Collins. She says it was her cocktail of choice when she was working as an entertainer on a cruise line when she first moved from London to the US to try to make it big.
She asks what Punk and Mysterio did before they were wrestlers.
Mysterio answers that he worked in a pizza shop, folding boxes and then making pies. Punk says he worked at a comic book store, a gas station, and at the Body Shop in a mall.
"I'd have the happy massager in my hand and I'd just stand there," he said.
Just then, the waitress comes out with a creme caramel that holds a candle for Mysterio. He grins, embarrassed, as his road family sings "Happy Birthday." He closes his eyes and makes a wish.
Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com.
