Post by ipwgreg on Sept 19, 2010 21:22:13 GMT -5
The Mid-American championship has always held a special place in my heart. I believe it was the first title established in IPW ( That or the jr-Heavyweight title was) and to be honest it has at times been the most hotly contested title in the company.
The very idea of a “ Secondary” title is to test someone to see if they have what it takes to carry the load of being champion. It also creates interest and competition for something when that Main Event spot is tied up. The other school of thought is that your heavyweight, Grand , or World Champion should be such a high profile and in demand talent he just might not be able to make every show because of outside bookings and therefore the Mid-American title would still be there to create the interest of a major title match. In fact, look at the different people who were former Mid-American champions that went on to win the World/Grand championship. Dave Davidson, Hillbilly Jedd , Scotty Vortekz, Jon Moxley, P.T. Hustla, Carlton Kaz, Apollo Starr and David Arquette to name a few. ( No David Arquette did not actually win the Mid-American title)
The thing is, with a hotly contested title like this, I am sure I am going to miss some of the champions, and some of the really exciting matches that have happened.
I honestly don’t remember the matches that set it up for Dave Davidson “ Simply Spectacular” himself to win the Mid-American championship. I know he was the first man to ever hold that title, and I believe he has held it a record of four or even five times. Even though he has gone on to win a t least two Grand Championships that Mid-American belt has always been special to him. At the time, the heavyweight championship was defended in more “ Hardcore” style matches so we thought of the Mid-American title as the more “wrestling” based belt. I would say that Dave did a great job of setting the pace of that championship. Having both competitive matches and showing that IPW had not only the best High-Flyers around but also the best Wrestlers in the Midwest.
I would say that the first series of matches for that belt revolved around Dave Davidson and HBJ himself. These were the matches where people first took notice of the Big man, realizing he moved like a cat and hit like a bull. This was at a time where people really didn’t take HBJ as seriously as they should, in fact before IPW I don’t think anyone took either Dave or Jedd seriously. But man the matches they put on opened up some eyes. It was not easy for guys like Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, E.Z. Cruz or even Pondo to follow these matches. They traded this belt back and forth at least one time , that is until a brash , hard talking and equally talented man stepped into the title picture.
“Poison” Apollo Starr. Yes I did not include Apollo in my write up about the World Championship. That was an unfortunate oversite on my part and I apologize for that. However his greatest impact was on this title. At this time, Apollo was the best interview in the Midwest and his wrestling skills were as sharp as anyones. Apollo was the first guy in wrestling that I saw using MMA Jui-Jitsu submissions for his finish with his Toxic Shock ( a Triangle Choke) I believe it was Apollo who took the title from Dave Davidson because at this point in time he was a Baby for our company and wrestling Heel for ICW down the road. There were in fact nights when he was wrestling for both companies. He carried himself like a champion.
At some point, Ric Ravage had inserted himself into the Mid-American title picture. This is an example of someone we tried the belt out on who wasn’t able to carry it as high as our expectations . I remember he had one phenomenal match with Dave Davidson that had us very high on Ric, but after that we realized that Dave had the unique ability of making his opponents look as good as himself. The championship made it’s way through these four men while we were still in the K.o.C. building and it was a hot property.
When we moved to Indy Sports, this title became very hot, as Apollo Starr really started to shine. He had what until recently was my favorite match in IPW history when Nigel Mcguiness ( Desmonde Wolf ) challenged him for the belt. Side note. As I came to say goodbye to Nigel after the show and thank him for his hard work, I went to shake his hand and he politely informed me in that British Accent that in Wrestling we shake with our left hands. This was news to me, but not wanting to look like an idiot I switched hands and shook his hand with my left hand. At this point I found myself on my knees in front of him in some odd wrist lock while Nigel taunted me laughing and told me to reverse the hold. After pleading for my life, I was let up and did the only respectable thing I could. I found OMG and scolded him for not seeking out Nigel and shaking his hand and saying goodbye. As I walked away, I heard Nigel say in that impeccable British accent to OMG “ no Mate, we shake with our left….. Arghhhhh” The scream was from OMG… fun times.
Apollo also had one of the most memorable runs during this time as one night he did a gauntlet match, where the top five contenders to his title came out to wrestle him. I don’t remember who they were, but one by one he defeated them, until at last out came Necro Butcher !!! Contrary to what many people believe, Necro can wrestle really well. But at the end of the night , as it looked like Apollo was about to lose, his training partner Dave Cropht made the save only to receive a vicious Necro Headbutt that actually did leave a goose egg on his forehead for at least a week. I believe that was also the night when Dave Cropht received an injury that I believe cut short a promising independent wrestling career.
I honestly believe Dave Cropht was a future Mid-American champion before this. He did continue to wrestle for a while after the injury, but he did so in pain. While wrestling with Violent Ed Flesh , in what I believe was Ed’s last GOOD match, Dave took a Pedigree. When coming down, I don’t know if Dave tucked his chin, or if Ed accidentally put too much weight on Dave or if it was just some freak accident. Dave took the full weight of his own upper body as well as Ed’s body and the distance of the fall on the top of his head. This type of harsh jarring snap did considerable damage to his neck. VERY similar to how Tazz broke his neck in ECW. In fact I still maintain that if he were to have X-Rays today it would show scarring and possibly healed fractures in his neck. To this day, Dave is VERY much an integral and valuable part of IPW. He has a sharp mind about wrestling and is the best eye for talent we have. But it took him months before his neck felt better and I don’t know if it feels right today.
That’s all for today on the Mid-American title front and I will do research on who all were champions for that belt.
The very idea of a “ Secondary” title is to test someone to see if they have what it takes to carry the load of being champion. It also creates interest and competition for something when that Main Event spot is tied up. The other school of thought is that your heavyweight, Grand , or World Champion should be such a high profile and in demand talent he just might not be able to make every show because of outside bookings and therefore the Mid-American title would still be there to create the interest of a major title match. In fact, look at the different people who were former Mid-American champions that went on to win the World/Grand championship. Dave Davidson, Hillbilly Jedd , Scotty Vortekz, Jon Moxley, P.T. Hustla, Carlton Kaz, Apollo Starr and David Arquette to name a few. ( No David Arquette did not actually win the Mid-American title)
The thing is, with a hotly contested title like this, I am sure I am going to miss some of the champions, and some of the really exciting matches that have happened.
I honestly don’t remember the matches that set it up for Dave Davidson “ Simply Spectacular” himself to win the Mid-American championship. I know he was the first man to ever hold that title, and I believe he has held it a record of four or even five times. Even though he has gone on to win a t least two Grand Championships that Mid-American belt has always been special to him. At the time, the heavyweight championship was defended in more “ Hardcore” style matches so we thought of the Mid-American title as the more “wrestling” based belt. I would say that Dave did a great job of setting the pace of that championship. Having both competitive matches and showing that IPW had not only the best High-Flyers around but also the best Wrestlers in the Midwest.
I would say that the first series of matches for that belt revolved around Dave Davidson and HBJ himself. These were the matches where people first took notice of the Big man, realizing he moved like a cat and hit like a bull. This was at a time where people really didn’t take HBJ as seriously as they should, in fact before IPW I don’t think anyone took either Dave or Jedd seriously. But man the matches they put on opened up some eyes. It was not easy for guys like Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, E.Z. Cruz or even Pondo to follow these matches. They traded this belt back and forth at least one time , that is until a brash , hard talking and equally talented man stepped into the title picture.
“Poison” Apollo Starr. Yes I did not include Apollo in my write up about the World Championship. That was an unfortunate oversite on my part and I apologize for that. However his greatest impact was on this title. At this time, Apollo was the best interview in the Midwest and his wrestling skills were as sharp as anyones. Apollo was the first guy in wrestling that I saw using MMA Jui-Jitsu submissions for his finish with his Toxic Shock ( a Triangle Choke) I believe it was Apollo who took the title from Dave Davidson because at this point in time he was a Baby for our company and wrestling Heel for ICW down the road. There were in fact nights when he was wrestling for both companies. He carried himself like a champion.
At some point, Ric Ravage had inserted himself into the Mid-American title picture. This is an example of someone we tried the belt out on who wasn’t able to carry it as high as our expectations . I remember he had one phenomenal match with Dave Davidson that had us very high on Ric, but after that we realized that Dave had the unique ability of making his opponents look as good as himself. The championship made it’s way through these four men while we were still in the K.o.C. building and it was a hot property.
When we moved to Indy Sports, this title became very hot, as Apollo Starr really started to shine. He had what until recently was my favorite match in IPW history when Nigel Mcguiness ( Desmonde Wolf ) challenged him for the belt. Side note. As I came to say goodbye to Nigel after the show and thank him for his hard work, I went to shake his hand and he politely informed me in that British Accent that in Wrestling we shake with our left hands. This was news to me, but not wanting to look like an idiot I switched hands and shook his hand with my left hand. At this point I found myself on my knees in front of him in some odd wrist lock while Nigel taunted me laughing and told me to reverse the hold. After pleading for my life, I was let up and did the only respectable thing I could. I found OMG and scolded him for not seeking out Nigel and shaking his hand and saying goodbye. As I walked away, I heard Nigel say in that impeccable British accent to OMG “ no Mate, we shake with our left….. Arghhhhh” The scream was from OMG… fun times.
Apollo also had one of the most memorable runs during this time as one night he did a gauntlet match, where the top five contenders to his title came out to wrestle him. I don’t remember who they were, but one by one he defeated them, until at last out came Necro Butcher !!! Contrary to what many people believe, Necro can wrestle really well. But at the end of the night , as it looked like Apollo was about to lose, his training partner Dave Cropht made the save only to receive a vicious Necro Headbutt that actually did leave a goose egg on his forehead for at least a week. I believe that was also the night when Dave Cropht received an injury that I believe cut short a promising independent wrestling career.
I honestly believe Dave Cropht was a future Mid-American champion before this. He did continue to wrestle for a while after the injury, but he did so in pain. While wrestling with Violent Ed Flesh , in what I believe was Ed’s last GOOD match, Dave took a Pedigree. When coming down, I don’t know if Dave tucked his chin, or if Ed accidentally put too much weight on Dave or if it was just some freak accident. Dave took the full weight of his own upper body as well as Ed’s body and the distance of the fall on the top of his head. This type of harsh jarring snap did considerable damage to his neck. VERY similar to how Tazz broke his neck in ECW. In fact I still maintain that if he were to have X-Rays today it would show scarring and possibly healed fractures in his neck. To this day, Dave is VERY much an integral and valuable part of IPW. He has a sharp mind about wrestling and is the best eye for talent we have. But it took him months before his neck felt better and I don’t know if it feels right today.
That’s all for today on the Mid-American title front and I will do research on who all were champions for that belt.