Mercer

Chapter 1: NXT!

The television set in the room lit up the entire room eliminating the darkness within the room. On that TV was a sport. A sport that many people would argue wasn't a sport. They say it was more entertainment than sport, so they dubbed it Sports Entertainment. But to others, it was wrestling, Professional Wrestling. And at the time, 1997, there were 3 big promotions that ruled the industry: ECW, WCW and WWF. Each company had their own unique style and while the 9 year old kid watching the TV favored the WWF, there was one man that brought him to WCW. That one man: Sting. Sting was his hero. Sting gave him hope that one day he could escape the tragedy that was his life. And right now, his escape was in the form of Starrcade 1997 where "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan was taking on Sting for Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

"James!" He heard his sister shout, making him turn his head and see her walking into the living room with a plate of oreos and a glass of milk.

"I brought you a snack. Since you did good on your report card, I'm gonna get you that new Sting shirt you wanted." His older sister said placing the plate down on the coffee table before ruffling his jet black hair. His older sister, Elizabeth McGrady was his caretaker ever since their father passed from a drug overdose. Their father was a mess. Especially after their mother died giving both to the younger child, James. Their father Andrew, who James was named after, cited his son Andrew James McGrady Jr as the source of all his problems. He cited that James was the cause of him turning to drugs. He claimed that if James was never born, he never would have to cope using drugs. That type of verbal and mental abuse was something a child should never be exposed to. James' sister was his caretaker throughout his life. And when their father passed 3 years ago after she turned 18, she became his legal guardian. They were lucky that the house was left to them as well as fund their mother left, without the father knowing. Elizabeth used that to go to a community college while also working and taking care of James.

There was no question that Elizabeth was one of the hardest working women that James knew even at a young age or may ever know in his entire life time.

"Thanks but I don't want you to get it." He said in a sorrow tone as he took one of the cookies off the plate and dipped it into his milk. This made Elizabeth look at him with worry in her eyes.

"Why? You've been talking about that shirt for weeks." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I know but I don't want you to spend money on something unimportant. I don't want to add more stress to your life." She appreciated him thinking of her but it wasn't his job to take care of her. It was her job to take care of him and she at least owed it to him to make sure he had the best life possible.

"Hey, don't worry about that. What do I always say?"

"Well you always say Fuc-" He was about to say but she quickly placed a hand over his mouth cutting off his speech.

"Not that. The other."

"You always say that God's got his hands on us and that he'll take care of us."

"Exactly. Now look at the TV, Sting's got him." James quickly turned to look at the TV set seeing Sting lock on the Scorpion Deathlock as "Hollywood" Hogan screamed out in pain while Bret Hart was the active referee checking on Hogan seeing if he was gonna tap. Hogan nodded as Bret Hart called for the bell while the WCW fans in attendance started to cheer as Sting was the new WCW World Champion. This brought a smile to his face as he looked at the wrestler embrace Sting who held up the Big Gold Belt.

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like Sting!" James said as he jumped up while his sister stared into his electric blue orbs with hers.

"Andrew James McGrady, you can be anything you want. As long as you work hard and keep believing." She said ruffling his hair once again making him chuckle. She chuckled as well reaching down grabbing a oreo off the plate and stuffing it into her mouth.

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 - Winter Park, FL

It's been 15 years since that day and Andrew McGrady made due on his promise to become a professional wrestler. He had been wrestling on the indy scene for quite some time under the alias of Zane Marx and he was mostly known for his time in ROH and his brief stint in TNA. Throughout his career he was a 1-time ROH World Champion, 1-time ROH Tag Team Champion and 1-time ROH World Television Champion, becoming the second ROH Triple Crown Winner and in TNA, he was a 1-time TNA X-Division Champion. Quickly, he was making a name for himself and it earned him a chance in the WWE, more specifically NXT but still the WWE nonetheless.

The 5'11, 220 pounder pulled out right outside of Full Sail University in his shiny black 1970 Ford Mustang GT. He stepped out of his car looking around the venue that he would soon call his home. He was a lot older than before. He grew out his hair reaching down to the middle of his back with a faded undercut. He even grew out a beard in that time. He had even gotten a few tattoos. He had a small decepticon logo tattooed behind his left ear. On the underside of his left forearm he had Power is Beauty written in cursive with a rose branch placed across the underside of his forearm. On his left bicep, he had a heart tattooed with wings next to it. On his right hand had the name Elizabeth tattooed in cursive as a dedication to his sister.

James was wearing black jeans with black boot with a white v-neck and black leather jacket over it. He had a silver chain around his neck with silver hoop earrings in his ear. He grabbed his leather duffle bag from the passenger side and carried it as he started walking into the venue. Walking into the venue, he could see several people giving several looks at him. Mostly because he was the new guy. And some of it probably had to do with his looks. Luckily for James, he was blessed with looks and a body that made him a good draw not just in wrestling but also in the dating scene.

As he walked through the halls he could see the posters of various WWE Pay-Per-Views. Those posters were the one thing that truly made him realize where he was. This was WWE. This was the Mecca of the business. This was the promotion that had produced so many great legends in the business. This was the big leagues. But there was one poster that caught his attention, the WrestleMania 29 poster featuring John Cena, The Rock and Brock Lesnar all as the cover stars. That poster lit a fire within him. James knews he had the ability to be on one of these posters. He wanted to be an icon in the business. He wanted to be one of the best and he was determined to do so.

"Ir's amazing huh?"

"What?" He said as he turned around to face the speaker. The speaker was none other than the former 3-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

"It's amazing. To be up under the bright lights of this business."

"It is amazing. James." James said as he held his hand out to Dusty for a handshake.

"I know who you are. Dus-" Dusty was saying as he shook James' hand as a sign of respect.

"I know who you are sir. Everybody does. You're a legend." James replied making the legend chuckle.

"Or so they say. You ready for tonight?"

"Yes sir. I'm excited."

"You should be. It's not everyday that a young star like you has the chance of competing in the big leagues. WWE usually waits a little bit before they sign young stars like yourself but you, you're special."

"Thank you sir. That means a lot coming from you."

"Your welcome. Now I don't know how long they plan on keeping you down here in NXT but we're gonna make the best of it and starting tonight, we're gonna have you debuting in a big way."

"Okay, lay it on me."

NXT - Minutes Later

The NXT Universe was ecstatic as Bo Dallas and Big E Langstoon stood face-to-face while E raised up the NXT Championship proudly as they were gearing up for their NXT Championship title match next week. While the crowd chanted "5!" "5!" "5!" "5"! "5!"

"Bully" by Three Days Grace Hits

The NXT Universe were tearing the roof off the place hearing the music of a brand new superstar in NXT. The titantron on the stage was black and the lights were dim as a man walked onto the stage looking down at the stage floor. He bent down letting the anticipation build before he stood back up raising his index and middle finger in the air as the lights in the arena started to go around in a white in a frenzy while the fans gave him a light cheer.

Both men turned to look at the new superstar standing on the NXT stage. He pointed at both Big E and Bo Dallas before making a title motion around his waist.

"I'm coming for that!" He shouted loudly over his music with a smirk on his face. Bo Dallas turned around talking trash while Big E placed the title on the table and stood behind Bo Dallas. Bo turned around and was placed onto Big E's shoulders before E dropped him with the Big Ending. The new star took his chance and ran into the ring under the bottom rope.

He ran towards Big E Langston who went for a clothesline but he ducked under it and waited for Langston to turn around and get caught with a Superkick laying him out in the ring as he rolled under the bottom rope, dropping down to the outside as the NXT Universe cheered.

He smiled as he walked towards the table picking up a mic and putting it under his mouth to speak.

"NXT, How you doin?" He said on the mic getting the fans to cheer a bit more.

"My name is Zack Mercer. And I am the guy who is going to take over NXT. Starting with the NXT Championship." The man they call Zack Mercer picked the Championship title from the table and raised it up in the air getting more cheers from the fans while he smirked.

A/N: So I hope you guys liked it. I'm trying something new with Zack Mercer. I briefly contemplated retirement from this but I owe it to you all and to myself to try one more time. Even if certain individuals don't like my story and place me in their Hall of Shame and talk about me. So I decided that I would put him in NXT since I say that Mercer was a intricate part of NXT, why not explore that. And just so you guys know there will be some changes to the WWE timeline and the NXT timeline just to fit my story and I'm wondering should the pairing for the story still be Zack Mercer and Alexa Bliss or should it be Zack Mercer and Paige. Or if you have any other suggestions, let me know.

And I tried to explain some parts of Mercer's backstory because that's something I usually don't go in depth into but I need to start.

Until next time...

This is the ZackAttack signing out!

Peace!