Connor McGrath
This week’s Wrestling On Fire show was pre-empted on WPXT (The MyNetwork TV affiliate the show airs on in the Portland, Maine area) by a Jillian Michaels workout DVD infomercial. But since I’m already here and you surely can’t go a full week without enjoying my pithy observations about small time independent wrestling, I’m going to do something a little different this week. I’m going to take a closer look at the current landscape of Wrestling On Fire. If you’re just joining us, welcome aboard! You could not be coming to the party at a more interesting and uncertain time. Like any independent professional wrestling promotion, WOF has always been wildly unpredictable but the past few months have seen developments that have shaken its foundation to the core.
Recently, WOF ended their affiliation with the long stagnant, antiquated wrestling body known as The National Wrestling Alliance. This move, in my opinion, has little relevance because the NWA’s name/reputation has had little relevance for the past twenty years. It means nothing to any wrestling fan under the age of 30 outside of some vague recollections of mentions on WWE DVD anthologies. With NWA 0ut of the picture, WOF aligned themselves with the New Jersey based independent promotion, East Coast Professional Wrestling. Now ECPW isn’t nearly as recognizable of a name as NWA but it does a massive roster (which helps the always undermanned WOF) and does actually book shows all across the East Coast! ECPW won’t win any awards for Best Promotion of the Year but from the clips of the promotion I’ve watched on WOF over the past few months, it does provide the solid, kid friendly entertainment that aligns itself nicely with its new ally. Perhaps not coincidentally, shortly after the alliance was announced, the WOF titles scene was shaken up drastically. Let’s do a rundown of the current champs.
WOF Championship: Vacant. After being held by Brian Fury for 636 days, the belt was held up after Fury’s controversial match with Former Champ and longtime WOF favorite (and former TNA and Puerto Rican star) Apolo that saw the interference of various members of the Savoldi Family. Though Fury’s reign was impressive, it was hardly as outstanding as it seems on paper. For the past year (especially the past six months), he seemed like a secondary character taking a backseat to whatever was going on in the tag team division, the latest freak show attraction (The Giant Pharaoh is back…no, he’s gone again), and the new ECPW stars. So it’s not a super surprise that his reign ended in such weak fashion. At the same time, Apolo hardly looked like a superstar during the match since he needed help from the promoter’s kid to win the match. In a perfect world, this could plant the seed for a heel turn. Apolo does have a vaguely condescending, smug vibe about him that could make him a cross between a poor man’s Batista and a poor man’s Alberto Del Rio. But as of the last time I saw WOF, they were still portraying him as the powerhouse face and Fury as a whiny, no good heel.
Obviously, Apolo would be my first prediction for who becomes the next champion. He’s their most recognizable/most charismatic regular and popular babyface over the past five years. Though he’s bounced in and out of the promotion over the years, he seems somewhat more grounded this go around. Perhaps he’s realizing as he pushes 40 (and his odds at another run in WWE or TNA dwindle), he’s become more humble. I haven’t always been a huge fan of his but no matter how hard the company tries pushing somebody else as its top face (Julian Starr, Makua), nobody else has captured the imagination of the WOF Universe like Apolo except maybe Tony Atlas during one of his runs in the company.
Second prediction would be “The Re-Enforcer” Andrew Anderson, who even after the controversial Fury match, is being pegged as Apolo’s main rival. A long time indy veteran heel (who really looks more like Big John Studd than his name sake), Anderson has supplanted Fury (who seems more interested in his work as a wrestling trainer these days) as the company’s top heel. Anderson is a former ECPW Champion who probably has some of the best mic skills in the company. IE He’s one of four or five guys on the roster who can speak at length without sounding like they’ve just had a stroke. Anderson lives up to his nickname with a no flash, meat and potatoes working style. Which is not to say he’s a thousandth as good as Arn but he’s going to provide solid, workmanlike matches.
Wild Card Prediction for next WOF Champion is Current ECPW Champ Jumbo Joe Gunns. I really doubt they’re going this route unless they’re intent on unifying the titles. I’m not sure I quite get the appeal of Gunns, from the 2 or 3 matches, I’ve seen he’s very old, very slow and generally unexciting but very popular with the ECPW fans. Either there’s some great promos that just don’t make the 30 minute version of the show we get up here or he’s really good at getting his friends and family to come out to support him. He’s hardly the worst guy they’ve had or even the worst guy they’ve centered the promotion around (that’d be the aforementioned Giant Pharaoh) but I can’t quite grasp his popularity.
WOF Tag Team Champions: VACANT. It’s hard to imagine now but seven months ago, the tag team scene in WOF was incredibly active. While teams like the Samoan Warriors, Da Hoodz, and Da M1nutemen weren’t exactly the Midnight Express (0r even up to the standards of some past NWA On Fire Champs), they had matches and feuds that the fanbase (whatever was left of it anyway) seemed to legitimately care about. Then the titles ping ponged back and forth a bit too much and ended up on a new tag team named Da House Party (Another complaint about the recent tag titles scene…to many damn teams named “Da…” I guess the Savoldis were just really taken by Da Baldies back in the waning days of ECW). Shortly after, like so many WOF stars of the past, The Warriors, Hoodz, and M1nutement sort of just disappeared from the show. Then after barely defending the titles for six months, Da House Party were stripped of the belts on September 21st after no showing a WOF TV taping. My best guess here is they’re just going to consolidate and have ECPW Tag Team Champs Frankie Flow and Bandido Jr be the next champs. They make for an OK big man/little man team and are really one of the only tag teams that’s been put over in the past few weeks.
WOF Television Champion: Ricky Reyes. I’ve never really saw the point of having a WOF Television title. ECPW alliance notwithstanding, the WOF roster is awfully thin. Right now, their website lists seventeen wrestlers. One is Ray Ray Marz, who has been the color commentator for WOF and a part time competitor at best for the past few months. Da House Party are on there and they might not even still be with the company. Then there are a few wrestlers who I haven’t seen in months (Papadon, Ash Rubinsky, Makua, Josef Von Schmidt) and one that I don’t recall seeing at all. That leaves nine roster members regularly featured on TV. Which is only an hour long show (half hour if you’re like me and live in Maine). Those kind of numbers don’t justify having a secondary title!
However, whether it was the intention or not, The TV Title division has been the most stable in the company in 2013. Weaselly heel Scotty Slade held the belt for the first eight months before dropping it to former ROH Tag Team Champion Ricky Reyes on Labor Day Weekend. Having followed this company for four years and knowing how they generally run, I bet Reyes will hold the belt for the rest of 2013 and well into 2014 and perhaps beyond. This is a smart move. Reyes is probably the best worker in the company and maybe the second most popular guy behind Apolo. His veteran experience will help whatever green heel he’s paired with in feuds over the belt. I still don’t know if a WOF TV Title is necessary but they’ve done a pretty damn good job of booking it throughout the past year if that makes any sense whatsoever.
I think it’s fitting that we close with that kind of confusing contradiction. Hopefully, we’ll be back with some brand new WOF action next week and I’m looking forward to seeing what unfolds in the company in the last three months of 2013. So until next time, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. Also, remember not to feed your dogs chocolate.
