Skunk Ape Scores First Title In Professional Career!
His colourful antics have been entertaining Oklahoma wrestling crowds for a little over a year. And now Super Skunk Ape, Jr. can add gold to his orange and black ensemble as he defeated ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion Se7en for that title on May 19th.
Skunk Ape had been a thorn in Se7en's side since the beginning of 2012, when "The NorCal Shooter" walked out on a title defence in January against the orange-furred competitor, knowing that he couldn't lose his title that way.
Se7en redeemed that loss in February with another title defence against Skunk Ape. Again, it was fairly obvious that Se7en was outclassed and his manager, "The Kingpin" Mike Iles jumped up on the apron to try and pass off his shoe to the champion. But Skunk Ape's handler, Sensei Bolo, quickly intercepted that and an argument over the shoe ensued. During this argument (which involved the referee), Iles was able to throw a chain into the ring, which Se7en used to knock out the challenger and get the pin. Not satisfied with that, Se7en gave Skunk Ape a reverse DDT on the title belt after the match and Iles gloatingly proclaimed that that would be the closest that Skunk Ape would ever get to the title.
One month later, Se7en forced Dakota Storm to tap out to the Texas Cloverleaf and notched up another successful title defence, but that wasn't sufficient for him and he locked the cloverleaf in again. Skunk Ape came to the rescue to save the rookie. This wasn't forgotten later in the card when Skunk Ape challenged Steven Sterling for the ComPro Showtime Title. Iles and Se7en arrived at ringside and Iles distracted the referee while Se7en grabbed Skunk Ape's dog collar and hit the hirsute competitor with it. This brought ComPro owner Mike Two out and he said he was tired of the two of them interfering in each other's matches and wanted to resolve the issue. Se7en said all he had done was win since the year started, but Mike Two reminded him of the countout loss he took at the beginning of the year. He ordered Se7en to defend the title against Skunk Ape later that night, but Iles protested, saying that there was a clause in Se7en's contract preventing multiple title defences in one night. After some additional conversation between Iles and Se7en, "The Kingpin" announced that he would agree to the additional title defence if Skunk Ape put his mask on the line as well.
Nothing was resolved in that confrontation, though. Both men battled outside the ring for much of the match and once again, Iles went to hit Skunk Ape with the shoe, but Skunk Ape was schooled in this tactic and grabbed it away from him. Se7en, meanwhile, had been wrestling with Sensei Bolo over the dog collar and also managed to acquire it. Both men then backed away from the corners to the centre of the ring, bumped into each other, turned and hit each other with their respective foreign object, knocking each other out. The result: a double knockout and no resolution. As Iles and Bolo both shed their jackets, Mike Two entered the ring and announced his displeasure with the entire situation. He said that at the next show, he was upping the stakes as Se7en's career would be on the line and it would be a Dog Collar match!!
Two months passed before that match came to fruition, but the wait certainly fueled the fire between the two men. Se7en was reluctant to put the chain at first and practically had to be held down in order for referee Daniel Powers to cinch the collar around his neck. The rules were pretty much tossed away and the chain was brought into play many times. Both men excited the crowd by coming so close to a pinfall. Then, what seemed to be the turning point as the referee was annihilated by the competitors. Mike Iles took that chance to remove the collar from Se7en. He then threw his charge his shoe, which "The Norcal Shooter" used to knock out Skunk Ape. The referee recovered and slowly counted 1...2...and then a kickout. Se7en began to panic and turned to Iles, motioning for the other shoe Sensei Bolo then began a tug of war with Iles over the shoe. Finally Se7en told his manager to "let him have it!". That happened, but not the way Se7en wanted as Bolo released the shoe and Iles hit his own man. Skunk Ape then ascended to the top rope and connected with a splash. But it was still only good for a 2 count as Iles pulled Danny Powers out of the ring to stop the count. In total desperation, Se7en grabbed his title belt and positioned it in the corner. Skunk Ape didn't see this and charged in, but Se7en sidestepped, so Skunk Ape's skull collided with the belt. Sensing his chance, again the champion covered his opponent. And again, it was only good for a two-count. Se7en pressed his advantage though and hoisted Skunk Ape for a brainbuster, but Skunk Ape was able to counter the weight and turn that into a small package for the 3-count!!
Iles tried to get in the ring to stop the count, but his girth prevented him from entering fast enough. And after the bell rang and the announcement was made, both Se7en and Iles could only stare in disbelief. Se7en's time in ComPro was over. Mike Two entered the ring, thanked Se7en for his time and dismissed him. But as Iles started to leave, Mike Two said told him to wait in his office as he had some new plans to discuss with him.
With one match, so much changed on the Oklahoma scene. Skunk Ape's 5 month pursuit had finally resulted in success and he will make his first title defence on June 1st. With Se7en knocked off as champion, the longest current champions in Oklahoma are BMG, who have held the UWF06 Tag Team Titles since November 20, 2011. Se7en concluded his pro wrestling career the following week by tagging with Angel Williams and defeating Maddox Jones & Striker at the SWCW show in Oklahoma City.
