Arriving for a Monday Night Raw event for the first time as a member of the roster was a huge deal for Grace. She had barely slept the night before. She had confidence in herself to nail her performance out in the ring when the time came, it was getting to that point that she was anxious about. As the kind of person who liked to go and get things done, the waiting for a big show or an important match always killed her.
Other than the fact she was going to form a team with Zelina Vega, Grace didn't know what to expect from her debut. She hadn't been told if she would be cutting a promo, having a match, or what the deal was. At least it wouldn't be long before she found out, she thought as she followed the paper signs that were taped to the walls, directing people to the various backstage areas. 'Female talent' were the ones she had to follow. Holy shit, she thought, shaking her head slightly. She was now female talent on the main roster. It was real.
The first person of any importance that Grace encountered was Bobby Roode. He came walking towards her along the hallway dressed in a smart dark grey business suit, carrying a stack of some kind of paperwork. On first instinct, Grace felt nervous. She didn't know Bobby at all. What she did know, as did everyone else, was that he was banging the boss. Indeed, he now lived with Lucy Thorne, or so she had heard. The relationship hadn't done him any harm, that was for sure. He was now semi-retired from wrestling, and worked back at the office as part of the booking/creative team. His move up the ladder had gotten him some heat from the boys in the locker room, according to rumours. Somehow, she doubted Bobby cared about that too much, all things considered.
"Grace, how are you?" Bobby said, giving her a friendly smile.
"I'm good. How are you?" she replied, stopping so that they could talk.
"I'm doing good. Congrats on the call up. I'm into the idea of you and Zel as a team. We've been throwing some names around, and it looks like we might go with The Stone Roses."
"The Stone Roses?" Grace echoed, unsure what the logic behind the Roses part was.
"Think about Zel's ring attire," he prompted. "She wears those roses in her hair when she comes out."
"Oh yeah," Grace said as it clicked in her head. "Yeah, that's not a bad name. I can see imagery with some kind of stone sculpture of a rose, if we get to the point where we have merch. Heck, it could even work as a logo or something to put on the screen for our entrance."
"I like that. I'll pass it along for you and we'll see what we can do."
"Thanks," Grace said. Pleasantly surprised, she flashed him one of her winning smiles.
"You're welcome. Listen, I've got to run," Bobby said, holding up the stack of papers as his reason. "Have a good night. Remember to enjoy it. You only get one debut."
"Thanks, I will," Grace said as he walked away. Remember to enjoy it. At first it seemed a bit patronising, but it actually was good advice, she realised upon reflection. It would be easy to go out there so focused on what she had to do that she didn't really take in the fan's reaction to her call up. That was something she definitely wanted to remember.
Proceeding along the hallway, Grace reached the women's locker room without bumping into any more colleagues or superiors. She was quite early, having wanted to make a good impression on her first day on the main roster. Being one of the last to roll into the locker room wouldn't have been a good look.
Grace took a deep breath for luck and opened the door. She saw that not many people had arrived as yet. Happily for her, Zelina Vega was among the few who had. She was standing on the far side of the room, chatting away to Bayley. Neither of them had apparently noticed the door open.
Lacey Evans, a fairly recent call up herself, was using one of the lockers closest to the door. Contrary to her on-screen persona, she had always been very friendly to Grace during their time together in NXT. In fact their lockers at the Performance Center had been next to each other, which had led to them being referred to as Gracie and Lacey by the trainers down there, in something of a running joke that only really seemed funny if you were there at the time.
"Gracie!" Lacey cried, walking over for a hug.
"Lacey!" Grace cried back. They deliberately made each other's names sounds cringe-worthy for comedic effect.
"I'm so glad you're here at last!" Lacey said while they briefly embraced. "Only you could injure yourself in your goodbye match."
"Tell me about it," Grace said, shaking her head. "One injury during my whole time in NXT, and that's the night it had to happen."
"You're here now, and that's what matters," Lacey said more seriously.
"Thanks," Grace said warmly.
"Girl, over here," Zelina called out in a friendly tone. Her attention had been attracted by Grace's conversation with Lacey.
Grace pulled her travel case over to her new teammate and Bayley. "Hi, guys," she said, giving another of her ever-reliable smiles.
"Congrats on the call up. You deserve it," Bayley said kindly.
"Thanks, Bayley," Grace said.
Zelina picked Grace's travel case up and firmly placed it in the locker next to her own. "We've got a locker for you right here. Make yourself at home."
It was a simple gesture, but it meant the world to Grace. It showed her in very simple terms that she was welcomed by Zelina as a part of the locker room, and as a tag team partner. She knew in that moment that she wouldn't forget it in a hurry. "Thanks, Zelina, that means a lot," she said.
"Sure," Zelina said easily. "We've all been there on our first day on the main roster, wondering if we're going to fit in and all the rest of it. It's bullshit that people have to feel like that, and in any event we're partners, so we'll change together."
"Sounds good," Grace said appreciatively.
"Do you have anyone to travel with?" Bayley asked.
"Actually, no," Grace admitted. Having at least one person to be on the road with was pretty much vital on the main roster, firstly to split travel expenses, and secondly for the sake of sanity. Somehow, it was something Grace hadn't put any thought into yet.
"There's a space going on our bus," Zelina said. "We talked it over as a group, and we want to offer it to you. No pressure," she added.
Wow, Grace thought. Everyone had seen the fancy tour bus that Zelina, Seth, Bayley and Roman rode around in, with their own hired driver, who also happened to be Bayley's fiancée, to get them from place to place. It seemed like a great way to get around, and it wouldn't even involve driving. What could be better? "I mean, if you're sure?" she said cautiously, looking from Zelina to Bayley and back again.
"We like to have a full crew," Bayley said, smiling.
"Yeah, and we've been one light for a while," Zelina added. "I thought that since you were coming up, we were going to be a team, and you might not have anyone to travel with, I'd put it to the group. Everyone voted yes, so you're in if you want to be. Obviously you'd have to pay a share of expenses. We divide it up equally between us, which is another reason we like a full crew."
Grace smiled humbly. "I don't have a problem with that. Seth and Roman voted yes to me? I don't even know them."
"No, but they know what kind of person you are. Everyone has a rep in the locker room, you know that. You're good to people. You train your ass off. You give everything you have in the ring. Shit, I sound like I'm your trainer. What I'm trying to say is you have respect. So, yeah, everyone voted yes to you joining us."
"Then absolutely I'm in," Grace said gratefully.
"Alright!" Bayley exclaimed happily.
"Your bunk will be below Roman's, so be warned there might be some farts seeping down your way," Zelina said with an evil grin on her face.
Bayley laughed. "Don't think she's joking, either."
"Can I back out?" Grace replied with a chuckle.
"Nope. You're committed now; Roman's farts, Daga's swearing at other drivers, the whole nine," Zelina said.
"Daga?" Grace asked. It was obvious they were talking about the driver, but the nickname didn't mean anything to her.
"That's Elena's nickname," Bayley said. "She's our driver, and my partner," she added proudly.
Grace nodded her understanding, not wanting to sound like a smart ass by saying she already knew the second part.
"Her surname is D'Agostino. She doesn't like being called Elena, so it's Daga."
"Got it," Grace replied.
"Alright, let's talk about tonight," Zelina said. "We're in a match against Billie and Peyton. They're putting us over. I was told that we're to come up with a double team finish to use."
All three of them sat down on the bench in front of the lockers.
"Let's throw some ideas together," Grace said.
"I'm happy to help out, if you like?" Bayley offered.
"The more brains on it the better," Grace said, wanting to do her best to fit in with her new group of friends from minute one.
Grace had wondered if nerves might trouble her when the time came for her debut. Thankfully, all she felt as she waited in Gorilla was excitement. Out in the ring, The IIconics were cutting a promo, ridiculing Lucy Thorne's promo from earlier in the night, during which she had challenged the women's roster to find partners for themselves and make the Tag Team Championship mean something, if that was what they wanted.
Billie and Peyton whined that they had already made the championships relevant when they had held them, despite it blatantly not being true, largely thanks to the raw deal they had gotten with their booking.
Zelina's music hit, interrupting Billie in full flow. The fans booed, since Zelina and Seth had recently been on a heel run, with her acting as his manager.
"See you in a sec," Zelina said, giving Grace a wink before she walked through the curtain and out onto the stage. Befitting what was going to be their new team name, Zelina had two dark red roses in her hair, the colour perfectly matching her ring attire.
"My god, don't you two ever shut the hell up?" Zelina asked after her music faded out. She actually received something of a cheer, which showed putting her against a heel team for the strange decision that it was. "All you ever do is talk, talk, talk, talk, talk! Earlier tonight, Lucy Thorne told everyone in the women's locker room to team up and come for the tag titles. That's exactly what I'm out here to do right now, starting with kicking with both of your asses."
"Aww, little Zelina is going to kick our asses," Peyton said, mocking her as if she was talking to an annoying kid who was sulking about not getting her own way.
"I don't know if you realise it, but you need a partner for a tag team match," Billie said in a similar tone.
"Yes, I'm aware I need a partner," Zelina said, rolling her eyes. "That's why I was glad I ran into someone backstage." It was her cue for Grace to come out.
Behind the curtain, Grace heard the noise in the arena rise slightly in anticipation. Zelina had built it up nicely. Her music hit, drawing quite a loud ovation. It was both a return and a debut, so the pop was no real surprise. It sure felt good though. Grace would have liked to run through the curtain and start celebrating her comeback on the stage. That wasn't the right image for a heel, though, and that was what she was supposed to be now.
With that in mind, she walked through the curtain, making sure to move in a slower and cockier way than people would have been used to seeing from her on NXT. On her way down to the ring, she took in the cheers as she ignored the hands that the fans either side of the aisle stretched out towards her. There was going to be no acknowledgement for them anymore. She imagined the commentary team hyping up her main roster debut, hoping that they were doing a good job of it.
When Grace reached her new partner halfway down the entrance ramp, Zelina fell in-step beside her. They entered the ring together and posed facing the hard camera, each forming half of a heart shape with a hand and joining them together to form a full heart. It was a gesture they had agreed upon earlier in the day, and it would tie in with their finishing move later on.
What followed was a run of the mill squash match, with The IIconics getting in pretty much no offense as Zelina and Grace took turns to tag each other in and show what they could do. It was important that they appeared to be a serious threat to the rest of the division, and that they demonstrated good teamwork. For that reason, they had been instructed to use a double team finish to get the three count.
The move that they had come up with, with help from Bayley, involved Grace being the legal competitor. Zelina hit a spike DDT on Peyton, then got her legs under Peyton's chest as Grace grabbed her in a waist lock. With a helping push from Zelina's feet, Grace throw Peyton backwards with a German suplex, maintaining a bridge for the pin.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
There was a muted cheer in response to the victory, telling Grace that she and Zelina needed to put some work into establishing their heel status in the coming weeks. For now, what mattered was that they had won a strong victory with the move that Zelina had requested Corey Graves to refer to as Heart of Stone. They topped it off by celebrating the victory with a repeat of the heart pose that they had debuted before the match.
Grace noticed that her music was playing. It wasn't particularly suitable for a heel team, she thought. That was something to mention when they got to the back. A new theme for The Stone Roses was going to be required, ideally as soon as possible.
In what felt like no time to Grace, the lights above the ring were turned off and the music stopped. Just like that, her debut segment was over. Raw had gone to commercial.
"I think that went well," Zelina said as they exited the ring together.
"Definitely. I really enjoyed it," Grace said positively. "We need music though. Mine doesn't work for our team, and neither does yours."
"True. I'd imagine they're on that already, but we'll mention it."
When they walked through the curtain into Gorilla, Lucy Thorne called out from her seat at behind production desk. "Nice job. I like the Heart of Stone."
That praise rounded off Grace's first night perfectly. It hadn't exactly been monumental in terms of its scale, but she had made the most of what she had been given to do. It was something to build on for the future.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.
What did you make of The Stone Roses' debut?
Next time, we will be seeing Grace's introduction to the rest of the people she is going to be traveling with. How do you think she will hit it off with Daga, Seth and Roman?
Those who read La Arquitecta can also expect an update on what has been going on with the original tour bus crew!
