Chapter 2: Debut

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016 - Buffalo, New York - SummerSlam 2016: 26 Days Away

Tonight was the night that will put the WWE Universe on notice. Tonight was the night that would make the entire WWE Universe never forget the name, Zack Mercer.

Although the wrestler, Zack Mercer was excited, the man, Andrew James McGrady was nervous about the debut and he couldn't understand why he was nervous. He had stepped foot in the ring so many times in his life and had performed in front of crowds before but there was something about this time that was making him nervous. He had been preparing for his debut for several days now but he still couldn't shake his nervousness. James sighed as he found himself sitting in the male locker room dressed in his ring gear.

His ring gear which consisted of black tights with tiger scratches on the sides in white. Around the waist of the tights, there was a black band around the waist with a white line outlining the band. In the middle of the tights, there was ZM in white. He wore black knee pads on both knees with ZM on the right pad in white with black kickpads with a white outlining the padding of the kick pads with straps on the sides of the kick pads. On his wrist he had black wrist.

James had his black hair down his shoulder with oil making his hair appear wet and shiny. He had his hands together as he stared down at the ground stomping his feet trying to clear his nerves.

"First night, huh?" said a voice making James look up to see the WWE Champion, Jon Good in his typical blue jeans with grey tank top and WWE Title resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Is it obvious?"

"Well, yeah. I've never seen you around here." James chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm Jon."

"James." The two shook hands exchanging a friendly smile to one another.

"So how long have you been doing this?"

"A long time since I was 16. You?"

"Since-" Jon was saying but was cut off when they heard a knock on the door making them both turn to look at the door opening.

"Mr. McGrady?" asked a stage crew member while James stood up from his seat and looked at the man.

"What is it?" James asked.

"Shane McMahon would like to see you sir." said the stage crew member.

"Tell him I'll be there soon." James replied to the stage crew member.

"I think he would like to see you now. If I have any experience with McMahon's they don't like waiting for long." said the stage crew member in a tone of voice letting James know that he was trying to teach him something.

"Lead the way sir." James said as he grabbed a plain black tank top and put it on. James followed the man out of the locker room.

GM's Office - Minutes Later

James stopped in front of the GM's office and let out a nervous sigh before he walked through the doors of the GM's office and entered the office. He saw the Smackdown Live Commissioner, Shane McMahon and the Smackdown Live General Manager, Bryan Danielson AKA Daniel Bryan.

"There he is. The man who's gonna lead SmackDown Live into the future. I'm Shane McMahon." said Shane McMahon said as he got up to his feet to greet James with a handshake. James shook his hand with a greeting smile.

"I'm Bryan Danielson." said Bryan as he stood up from his desk and held out a hand. James walked over to him and shook his hand with that same smile.

"Please take a seat Mr. McGrady." said Shane as he pointed to the seat in front of Bryan's desk while Shane McMahon sat down on the sofa. James followed the orders while he silently prayed in his head that everything would go well.

"We just wanted to say that we're excited for your debut here tonight and we're watching you." Shane said.

"Yeah, It's supposed to be some motivation for you and another thing we wanted to talk to you about was the plan for you tonight." Bryan said.

"Plan?" James asked confused as he ran his hands over his stubble.

"Yeah it's to spice your debut up a little." Shane then went on to explain the events for tonight's show with James and Bryan.

Smackdown Live Arena - Hours Later

Shane and Daniel Bryan both stood in the ring with a microphone in hand while damn-near all of SmackDown's roster stood on the ring apron listening to the announcements that the commissioner and GM were making.

"As Daniel was saying, SmackDown is all about opportunity but more importantly it's about seizing an opportunity and that's why September 11th we're gonna start doing SmackDown only Pay-Per-Views and we're gonna have our first one title Backlash exclusively live on the WWE Network. But I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. We're gonna be talking about SummerSlam. And since SmackDown is the exclusive home to the one and only WWE Champion." Shane said on the mic as the fans cheered while several members on the ring apron clapped.

"We need to find an opponent for Mr. Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam. So without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen,, the undisputed WWE Champion, Dean Ambrose!" Shane said on the mic as the fans cheered while his music hit the PA System.

"Retaliation" Hits

Dean Ambrose walked out onto the stage with the title on his shoulder. He looked around the arena before he walked down the ramp. He walked to the steps and walked up the steps onto the ring apron raising his title before he stepped into the ring walking towards Shane and Daniel with a mic as his music faded.

"Hey, that sounds like a plan to me, Shane-O-Mac. After defending the WWE Championship at Battleground, I feel like I'm ready for a new challenge, and I got the SmackDown Live fever. Look around this ring right now, I know that everybody wants what I got, so my only question is who's gonna step up? Who's first?" Dean said on the mic looking around the ring while the fans cheered.

"See this is what I love about Dean Ambrose. He will fight anyone at any time." Daniel said The crowd cheered once more as Dean Ambrose looked around the arena.

"Which is good because we have a plan for your opponent at SummerSlam. Tonight we are going to have a six pack challenge for the #1 Contender spot. Where 6 superstars will have the opportunity to compete for the #1 Contendership to wrestle Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship." The Crowd cheered as Daniel looked around the arena.

"The first entrant in the 6-pack challenge is…" Daniel said, looking around letting the cheers of anticipation build.

"The face that runs the place! John Cena!" The crowd cheered as the 15-time WWE Champion stepped into the ring.

"And the second entrant into the 6-pack challenge is "The Eater of Worlds" Bray Wyatt!" Bray stepped into the ring as the WWE Universe gave him a mixed reaction.

"And the next entrant is "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler!" Dolph stepped into the ring to cheers while Dean looked at his competition with a smirk.

"Continuing on, we're gonna bring in Baron Corbin!" Shane said on the mic as the fans booed while Baron stepped into the ring.

"And the final entrant we're choosing for the 6-pack challenge is "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles." AJ smiled as he stepped into the ring and arrogantly took his place amongst the challengers.

"And I can see that some of you are a little bit upset. But you'll also notice there's only 5 of them. Because the 6th spot is open to everyone. This where we give you an opportunity. The 6th person in the 6 pack challenge will be the winner of a battle royal." The crowd cheered as many members on the ring apron smiled.

"Gentlemen, get ready because that's next." Shane said as the SmackDown theme music played on the PA System while "Yes" chants went around the arena.

Minutes Later

SmackDown was just coming off the commercial break as several SmackDown Superstars stood in the ring including the new SmackDown star, Zack Mercer.

Ding-Ding-Ding!

And as soon as the bell rang, everyone went after the two biggest stars: Kane and Erick Rowan. Kane took all the shots that the stars were giving him but managed to push everyone off of him using his strength and size. Kane walked around rocking anyone in his way with a right hand sending them down the mat. Erick Rowan managed to get out of the corner and was rocking anyone in his way.

The new SmackDown Star, Zack Mercer was rocked with a right hand by Kane sending him into the corner. Kane continued his assault on Mercer in the corner with stomps to the midsection. The Vaudevillians were in the wrong place at the wrong time and both attacked Kane, enraging "The Big Red Machine". Kane turned around to damn near took their heads off with a clothesline to both of them. Kane bent down picking but Simon Gotch by the throat lifting him up to his feet with a hand around his throat. Kane pushed Gotch to the ropes and pushed him over the top rope to the arena floor eliminating him from the match. Kane turned back and was taken down with a flying forearm from Zack Mercer sending him down to the mat. Mercer back up to a vertical base ran to Konnor of the ascension trading blows with him. This got the attention of Viktor who stopped his assault on Zack Ryder to focus on Mercer.

Viktor with a clubbing blow to the back of Zack Mercer making him drop down to his knees. Connor with the well-placed knee to the face of Zack Mercer making him fall onto his back. Connor picked Mercer up off the ground and sent him across the ring into a big boot by Kane. Kane looked down at Mercer before looking up and running full speed like a freight train knocking Connor and Viktor over the top rope eliminating them from the match. And with those eliminations, Kane had 3 on the match.

Kane turned around getting dropped with a dropkick by Kalisto. During this time, Zack had crawled over to the ropes and was getting stomped down by Alberto Del Rio. Multiple superstars in the ring were brawling and trying to eliminate each other for the opportunity to get the last entrance into the 6-pack challenge. And Jey Uso was handing out Superkicks like it was nothing. Striking Fandango and Tyler Breeze. Aiden English quickly ran over to Jey kicking him in the gut and attempting to throw him over the top rope but Jey reversed it sending him over instead but English held on to the ropes. Apollo Crews with a dropkick making sending Jey to the ropes English pulled Jey over the top rope eliminating him from the match. English rose up to his feet still on the apron and was taken by surprise when Kalisto ran towards him and took him down with an enziguri eliminating him from the match.

And the other big man in the match was clotheslined over the top rope by Mojo eliminating him. And Del Rio took the chance turning his attentions away from Zack Mercer onto Mojo dumping him over the top rope. This provided Zack Mercer with the opportunity he needed to get Del Rio with a Backstabber making Del Rio hold onto his back in pain as he rose up. Mercer waited for Del Rio to turn around to get him with a Double Knee Facebreaker, a combination he liked to call Closing Time. Del Rio leaned up against the ropes setting Ryder up to run towards Del Rio clotheslining him over the top rope getting revenge for his partner.

On the other side of the ring, Kane had a hand on both Fandango and Tyler Breeze's throats. He pushed them both over the top rope eliminating them both from the match. This left only 5 superstars left in the ring: Kane, Kalisto, Zack Ryder, Apollo Crews and Zack Mercer. They all looked around the ring at each other nodding along. And just like the beginning of the match everyone jumped onto the biggest star who in this case was Kane. "The Big Red Machine" with his amazing strength pushed everyone away and grabbed at the first superstar near him which in this case was Zack Ryder. He grabbed Ryder and lifted him up before chokeslamming him over the top rope with a chokeslam. Apollo Crews quickly got up and ran towards Kane trying to send him over the top rope but Kane held onto the ropes. Kaliso and Mercer quickly hopped up and ran toward Kane using their strength as well to help tip Kane over the top rope eliminating him from the match. Everyone stumbled back getting some separation as Zack leaned on the ropes. All 3 superstars looked among each other nodding along as the WWE Universe cheered.

Apollo Crews, Kalisto and Zack Mercer circled around the ring. Crews and Mercer looked at each other nodding before they both ran towards Kalisto attacking him. Crews and Mercer both stomped him down before they bent down and picked him up before sending him to the ropes. When Kalisto came off the ropes he hopped up taking both Apollo and Zack down with a single leg dropkick to both. Apollo was the first one to pop back up and was caught with a hurricanrana putting him between the top and middle rope. Kalisto ran to the ropes and attempted to pay tribute to one of the greatest in the industry with a 619 but Apollo Crews grabbed the legs and held onto them. This allowed Mercer to come running, hitting Kaliso with a dropkick to the exposed body while Apollo released the feet allowing Kalisto to fall off to the floor eliminating him.

And now there were just 2. The rookie making his in-ring debut in a battle royal and the young star on the rise, Apollo Crews. Mercer and Crews backed up staring each other down. Mercer ran a hand through his hair as the fans cheered them both on. Mercer and Crews both ran towards each other hitting each other with blows with Crews getting the advantage getting Mercer into a corner. Crews with several stomps to the gut. Crews backed up a bit looking for a clothesline but Mercer mustered up enough strength to attempt to dumb Crews over the ropes but Crews landed on his feet and caught Mercer with a Enziguri to the back of the head making Mercer stumble out of the corner. Crews quickly stepped into the ring and ran towards Mercer putting Mercer flat on his back with a jumping clothesline. Crews rolled over onto his back and kipped up getting the fans to cheer as he looked around the arena.

He bent down grabbed Mercer and attempted to throw him over the top rope but Mercer held onto the top rope while Apollo Crews had his back turned raising his arms as if he won the match. The WWE Universe cheered loud as Zack Mercer skinned the cat back into the ring. He waited for Apollo to turn around and attempt to hit him with the Ace of Spades (Superkick). Apollo ducked it and hit Mercer with a dropkick when Mercer turned around. This sent Zack stumbling over to the ropes. Apollo ran towards Zack and clotheslined him over the top rope punching his spot into the 6-pack challenge!

Ding-Ding-Ding!

"Cruise Control" Hits

"Here is your winner: Apollo Crews!" Greg Hamilton announced as Apollo stood in the ring raising his arms in victory. Apollo Crews just got the opportunity of a lifetime for the WWE's biggest prize.

Zack Mercer leaned against the announce table as he looked on watching Apollo Crews celebrate. He was so close to a shot at the WWE Championship and he just blew it in the last few seconds of the match.

Backstage - Minutes Later

James sat on a crate in the back with a towel around his neck and a bottle of water beside him. He had his wrist tape cut off beside him while he ran a finger over the name Elizabeth on his right hand.

"Hey Drew." said Lexi as she walked towards him. He looked up at her with a friendly smile.

"Hey Lexi." He said as he jumped off the crate and gave her a big hug while he lifted her up. She giggled when he put her down on her feet.

"I saw your match. It was nice might I add." She said as she jumped up next to him on the crate.

"It would've been nice if I could've won but it wasn't my time. Better luck next time."

"Hey but at least, you tried. You got the very end and that's something no one can take away from you."

"Yeah, whatever.I'm gonna go shower and grab some catering if you want to join me, you're welcome to do so." James said hopping down and walking off to the locker room leaving his best friend there to watch as he walked away.

A/N: Alright so I got the debut chapter out, I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm changing a lot of things for this story. And the SummerSlam match will be changed as well as the push that Mercer will be getting. Until next time…

This is the ZackAttack signing out!

Peace!