Can I Ask You Something?
Summary: Zack Tyler a.k.a. Machetti has been brought in from OVW to compete on Raw. But what happens when he starts to have special feelings for a certain backstage announcer? Story goes parallel to WWE programming, starts at the June 9th addition of Smackdown.
Pairings: OCxMaria
Disclaimer: I don't own the WWE or any of its superstars' trademarks, names or slogans; it all belongs to a great man named Vincent Kennedy McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. But any characters you don't recognize (Zack Tyler) are mine!
Rating: T (Anything that Sandman says will probably include strong language.)
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Chapter 14: Return to ECW
The next morning found Zack and Maria in Zack's rent-a-car driving into New York. Both of them had gotten up relatively early so they were both excited to be heading to ECW. Also spending time in New York together was going to be very enjoyable. But now was different and Maria suddenly felt herself getting restless.
"So are you excited for your match tonight?" asked Maria as she tried to break the silence.
"You bet," said Zack, "it's actually going to be really fun to be back in an ECW ring."
"Do you know what you're going to do?" asked Maria.
"Well I have an idea," said Zack, "but due to regulations we're not allowed to go all out as much as we'd want to."
"What do you mean?" asked Maria.
"Well have you watched Smackdown lately?" asked Zack, "the cruiserweight division is being held back. They rarely have matches and even when they do they don't go all out. I'm not taking anything away from Helms but he isn't allowed to go all out and be as impressive as he could be. The reason he's been the longest reigning cruiserweight champion is because he never defends the title."
"Wow I never noticed that," said Maria.
"Even Paul and Brian can't go all out," said Zack, "I know exactly what they are capable of, but they aren't doing everything they can."
"So are you saying that your match with Phil isn't going to be as good as it could be?" asked Maria.
"Yeah," said Zack, "I've wrestled Phil before and those matches were great in OVW both of us were pushed to the limit."
"So what are you going to do tonight?" asked Maria.
"Well Phil and I still have to put on one hell of a show," said Zack, "I mean Batista vs. Big Show as the main event, the fans are going to eat them alive!"
"What do you mean?" asked Maria.
"Well I'm not taking anything away from Paul (Big Show) and Dave, but they aren't the most 'extreme' wrestlers ever," explained Zack, "the ECW fans like to see the wrestlers wrestle in great matches that are hardcore and seamless. It takes a lot to impress them," said Zack.
"Well that triple threat match you had with Brian and Paul at One Night Stand was pretty good," said Maria, "at least I enjoyed it."
"I enjoyed doing the match, and that's probably why the ECW fans don't boo me out of the building," said Zack.
"Well I hope that doesn't happen tonight," said Maria.
"So do I," said Zack, "I'm the one who has to go out there."
"Well if you're going to use that attitude maybe I should go out there and wrestle," teased Maria.
"No offense but I don't think that's a good idea," said Zack.
"But…" said Zack as a smile spread across his face, "if you want I could show you some holds after the show."
"Actually," said Maria, "I was thinking of doing something else after the show."
"And what would that be?" asked Zack.
"Well we are in New York," said Maria, "so I figured that as long as we're here we could do something."
"What did you have in mind?" asked Zack.
"Well I figured we could go out to a club together or something," said Maria, "it might be fun."
"Alright," said Zack, "I'm game."
"I'm glad," said Maria as she put her hand on Zack's thigh, which almost caused Zack to swerve off of the road."
"Would it kill you to give a guy a little warning?" asked Zack as he avoided crashing.
"Alright," said Maria.
Two seconds later…
"Zack I'm going put my hand on you again!" said Maria, as she did what she just said she would do.
But this time Zack didn't swerve and kept on driving straight, "see I told you, all I needed was a warning."
"Oh really," said Maria as a smirk appeared on her face, "so if I were to say, 'I'm about to lunge at you and kiss you,' you'd be totally ready for it?"
"Well I…" Zack started but was interrupted by Maria lunging over and kissing him.
Zack quickly adapted to the sudden turn of events, and while keeping his eyes on the road kissed Maria back.
After a few more minutes of kissing and driving, Zack and Maria finally found the Hammerstein Ballroom and pulled into the superstar parking lot. On their way into the building, Zack and Maria came across none other than, Jim 'the Sandman' Fullington, who was outside smoking a cigarette.
"Zack is that you?" asked Jim, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I'm here to do Punk's debut match," said Zack.
"Bull shit! I though Polaco (Justin Credible) was going to do it," said Jim.
"Well last night on Raw Phil came up to me and asked me to do it," said Zack, "so to make a long story short, here I am."
"Well no shit Sherlock," said Jim, "and from the looks of it you brought the lovely Miss. Kanellis with you."
"Of course he did," said Maria, "he offered to bring me along and I jumped at the opportunity."
"And I never go anywhere without my Maria," said Zack, "except maybe in the ring."
"You fucking softy," said Jim, "I haven't had a chance to break out the booze yet but after your match I should have some around so if you want to celebrate just give me a fucking shout."
"Well I'll keep that in mind," said Zack, "alright I've got to get inside, I'll see you later."
"See you Zack," said Jim, as he shook Zack's hand, "bye Maria."
"He's a nice guy," said Maria as she and Zack entered the building.
"Yeah Jim's pretty cool," said Zack, "but back to business, we need to find Heyman and Phil."
After finding Heyman, Zack went to the locker room to find Phil and get changed, while Maria waited outside. But soon enough both Zack and Phil emerged from the locker room wearing their wrestling gear, Zack wearing the orange shorts, black knee pads and his chain vest, Phil wearing his black and yellow trunks and a black ECW t-shirt.
"Maria how are you doing?" asked Phil as soon as he saw her.
"I'm doing good," said Maria, "I'm here to watch my boy beat the snot out of you."
"Ha-ha, you wish," said Phil.
"Well actually Phil we need to talk about the end of our match," said Zack, "I was thinking that we could try to do something controversial, this way we could have a rematch further down the road, and maybe even escalate into a rivalry."
"Oh really what did you have in mind?" asked Phil.
"Well which of your finishers are you going to use the Pepsi Plunge or the Anaconda Vice?" asked Zack.
"The board of directors told me that I'm should use 'the vice' instead of 'the plunge' for safety reasons," said Phil.
"Alright," said Zack, "what we could do is…"
Zack and Phil talked about what they were going to do with their match until the show started. Then Zack, Phil, and Maria, went and found a television backstage to watch the 'extreme rules' tag team match.
"Okay now we need to get going," said Phil, "I have my interview segment after Heyman's confrontation with Sabu."
"Alright," said Zack, "just let me go get something."
Phil waited a few minutes and Zack came back holding his pipe.
"What's that for?" asked Phil, "its not extreme rules."
"It's a surprise," said Zack, "now I need to get out there, you do your thing."
With that Zack left for the ring entrance while Phil got to his spot for his interview, and took off his ECW shirt. Punk's interview started by showing him backstage.
"I am a man of discipline," said Punk, "the key, the key is to quell my passion before the battle, release my passion in the battle, and tonight there's no more quelling of my passion for competition Waiting is over, I've got the opportunity of a life time. Tonight I debut in ECW, the time is now, and I'm going to make the most of this opportunity."
In the arena…
"That's right," said Joey Styles, "tonight is the debut of C.M. Punk and its next."
ECW then faded to a commercial while, Machetti snuck down to ringside and hid under the ring.
Back from the commercial…
Justin Credible was standing in the ring, ready to take on C.M. Punk. Then Punk's music hit as he made his way down to the ring to a nice ovation from the crowd. There was a large amount of C.M. Punk signs out in the crowd.
But before the bell could ring, Machetti appear from under the ring and attacked Credible with his pipe. Machetti ended up finishing him off with The Amputator then rolled the unconscious Justin Credible out of the ring. Machetti then got back in the middle of the ring and faced off against Punk.
"What the hell is going on here?" asked Tazz.
"It looks to me like Machetti wants to wrestle C.M. Punk," said Styles.
"Well Machetti is an honorary ECW superstar," said Tazz, "I say let 'em go at it, this looks like a rocket-buster."
The bell rang signaling that C.M. Punk vs. Machetti was about to go under way. Machetti and Punk circled around the ring and then locked up in the middle. Punk was the larger of the two but Machetti was slightly faster. Punk used his strength and back Machetti up against a turnbuckle, then broke apart for a clean break. Punk backed into the middle of the ring, while Machetti smirked at Punk.
Machetti and Punk then locked up again, but when Punk started coming out on top, Machetti, slipped behind Punk for a take down, but before he could get Punk off of his feet, Punk started elbowing Machetti in the face, causing Machetti to break his grip on Punk. Punk then spun around and connected with a knife edge chop, which echoed through the arena.
Punk then stepped back and hit Machetti in the stomach with a strong kick. But Machetti fired back with a kick of his own. But Punk wasn't about to down yet, Punk spun around and nailed Machetti with a spinning kick, but Machetti came right back with a kick of his own. Punk stumbled back and Machetti took this moment to capitalize, Machetti delivered a side kick right to Punk's stomach, but Punk caught Machetti's foot, but Machetti swung his other leg around and connected with the back of Punk's head for an ensuguri. Punk went crashing down to the mat causing Machetti to fall down on top of him, but Machetti managed to pull himself free, Punk was still holding one of his feet, and got to his feet.
Punk got back up to a vertical base, but Machetti was already starting something and ran to the ropes and jumped one to the middle rope. Punk ran to confront Machetti but, but Machetti spring-boarded off of the rope, and grabbed Punk as he approached and drove his head down to the mat for a springboard DDT. Machetti then got up and ran to the ropes, and came off with a split legged summersault, which he nailed.
Machetti got up and lifted Punk to his feet, Machetti then whipped Punk into the corner, and ran at him looking for a turnbuckle crossbody. But Punk had the crossbody scouted and moved out of the way, causing Machetti to collide with the turnbuckle and stumble backwards. Punk then went through the ropes onto the ring apron and waited for Machetti to turn around, before he hoisted himself onto the top rope, Punk then lunged at Machetti and nailed him with a springboard clothesline, sending both of the crashing down to the mat.
Punk got to his feet first, but Machetti got up shortly after, and charged at Punk, but as Machetti approached Punk grabbed him by the arm and flipped Machetti over his head for an arm drag, then Punk locked in an arm lock, while Machetti was still on the ground. But as Punk continued to work on Machetti's arm, Machetti started fighting his way to his feet. Machetti started delivering elbow after elbow to Punk's chest, before he managed to free himself from the arm lock.
But Punk managed to stay in control and locked in a headlock, and immediately started applying pressure. Machetti tried desperately to free himself from the headlock but he couldn't seem to break the hold. Machetti attempted to whip Punk into the ropes, but Punk slid down to the ground and never broke the hold.
Machetti then fought to his feet again, by now his face was bright red and again attempted to throw Punk off of him. But this time Punk ran forward and drove Machetti's head into the ground for a bulldog.
Once they were on the ground Punk locked in the headlock again. Machetti's face had not been given time to fade and was once again back to its red color. Machetti once again, struggled to his feet by hitting Punk in the chest with a series of elbow's and punches. Finally Machetti was back on his feet and he managed to break the headlock with one final elbow.
Machetti then ran backwards and bounced off of the ropes, and came back with a corkscrew dropkick, which sent Punk rolling out of the ring. Machetti then backed against the ropes, and bounced back causing him to run clean across the ring. Machetti then jumped over the top rope and connected with Punk, who had just gotten to his feet and knocked both of them over the guard rail and into the fans.
Machetti and Punk managed to pull themselves up to their feet a relatively the same time. But Machetti struck first and slapped Punk across the chest. But Punk came back with a series of knife edge chops, and punches before he ran at Machetti and rammed him into the guard rail. Punk then grabbed Machetti and attempted to whip him over the guard rail, but Machetti reversed and instead sent Punk over the rail and back to ring side. Machetti then jumped up on top of the guard rail and jumped off of it, and hit Punk with a leg drop.
Machetti then rolled Punk into the ring but made it so that Punk's head was hanging over the apron. Machetti then climbed up onto the top rope and came off with a guillotine leg drop, right on Punk's head, practically decapitating him. The fans started chanting 'holy shit!' as Punk rolled over and pulled himself into the ring while clutching his face, while Machetti pulled himself to his feet on the outside.
Machetti then climbed up onto the ring apron and saw Punk in the middle of the ring clutching his head, a smirk came across Machetti's face as he hoisted himself onto the top rope, the spring boarded across the ring looking for the springboard body splash. But Punk had the move scouted and just managed to roll out of the way, causing Machetti to crash and burn.
Both wrestlers now struggled to their feet, and stared across the ring at each other. Machetti ran at Punk and slid between his legs, then jumped onto the middle rope while Punk turned around. Machetti then spring-boarded off of the middle rope and attempted the over-castle take-over. But Punk jumped in the air and caught Machetti while he was still in the air. Punk then nailed put Machetti on the ground so he was standing then held one arm to Machetti's throat while he held the other one to Machetti's back, then Punk lifted Machetti up into the air and brought him down hard on the mat.
Punk then locked in an armbar/chin lock (the Anaconda Vice), and started applying pressure to the hold, causing Machetti to scream out in pain. The referee move around and got on the ground and asked Machetti if he wanted to give up, but only got a scream in response. Punk continued apply pressure but soon realized that this wasn't working, so Punk started pushing down harder and managed to pin Machetti's shoulders to the mat.
The referee then noticed Machetti's shoulders on the ground and started to count, the referee continued to count seeing that Machetti's shoulders weren't moving and finally made the three count and awarded the match to C.M. Punk. But what the referee didn't notice was while he was counting was that Machetti had managed to get his right foot on the bottom rope. Had the referee seen that, it would have counted as a rope break, the pin would have been stopped and Punk would have had to break the hold.
But that wasn't the case, Punk's music was now playing throughout the arena as the fans cheered, or booed. Punk released the hold and got off of Machetti and started celebrating his debut win. Machetti just continued to lie on the mat with his foot on the rope. The referee eventually saw Machetti's foot but could not do anything to reverse the decision. Punk continued to celebrate in the ring before finally rolling to the outside and heading to he back.
Machetti eventually managed to pull himself to his feet and stood in the ring shaking his head for a few minutes. But eventually Machetti got out of the ring and made his way to the back, all the while the fans cheered as he left the ring.
Once Zack went to the back he suddenly attacked by a certain brown haired diva who jumped up and wrapped her legs around Zack's waist, all the while giving him a warm hug.
"That was a great match Zack," said Maria.
"Thanks," said Zack, as he gave Maria a quick kiss.
"Yeah dude I can't thank you enough for doing that for me," said Phil who was standing nearby.
"Well Machetti doesn't take a dive for anyone," said Zack, "so you can expect a rematch."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Phil.
"You know, you're not so bad Brooks," said Zack, as Maria finally climbed off of him, "let's go celebrate your successful debut."
"Alright man," said Phil, "but remember I'm straight edge so no beer for me."
"That's alright dude," said Zack, "we'll just have to avoid Jim so he doesn't force beer down our throats."
Phil, Zack, and Maria eventually ended up backstage watching the main event, which as Zack predicted didn't go over too well with the fans. Phil and Zack were stopped from watching the match by the arrival of Paul Heyman.
"Guys what can I say," said Paul, "that match was great. I definitely need to book a rematch between the two of you a little bit down the road, and who knows maybe you guys will be facing each other at SummerSlam."
"That would be awesome," said Zack.
"Yeah," said Phil, "I'll be looking forward to that."
"Alright I'll see you guys later," said Paul, "I need to go have a few words with Kurt."
Eventually ECW ended, Zack and Maria said goodbye to everyone before heading out to a club. While they were there they really enjoyed themselves and at three in the morning remembered that they didn't even have a hotel room.
After a while of driving they finally found a place that was opened. Unfortunately the only rooms that were left had one bed. Zack and Maria ended up taking the room, and charged it to Vince, of course. But that night in the room Maria stopped any of Zack's thoughts of sleeping on the floor by making him sleep in the bed with her. Once they were in the bed together Zack felt Maria cuddle up against him and wrapped his arms around her. The two of them eventually fell asleep with huge smiles on their faces.
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Well there you go, that's C.M. Punk's Debut, what's going to happen next?
Peace!