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Medicine Hat Screwjob!

Posted: Nov 21st 2007 By: CMBurnham

Professional wrestling referees are a strange breed. They are frequently divided into 2 camps: those who used to be wrestlers and bring knowledge of the tricks that wrestlers might pull and those who were too small to be effective wrestlers, but still want to be involved the business.

Above anything else, referees have to be fair and, with only a small group of exceptions (such as Teddy Long or Danny Davis), most referees who are well known come to be respected because of their willingness to put themselves in dangerous positions no matter their size.

Since beginning his career a year ago, Tommy 3 Count has demonstrated those qualities most desired in a referee. He was fair, consistent and he had the respect of the fans and most of the referees. Those qualities got him opportunities with most of the federations in northeast Oklahoma, including ComPro, FCW & NWA-U.

That reputation may now be under scrutiny, given the actions of Tommy and FCW Champion The Canadian Red Devil over the past 2 weeks. In reality, the issue began 3 weeks ago when the Devil was unable to wrest away the ComPro title from Anthony Jackson. This ended a 12 week undefeated streak that the Devil had amassed on his way to the title shot. The Devil was upset at this loss and had every reason to be, as it was interference on the part of The Greatest Bolo that cost him the match.

But while the fustration from that event was bad, it was simply compounded the next week. The Devil was in the main event facing off against El Super Colibri. Things were going well until the Devil tried to apply the Sharpshooter. Colibri attempted to counter this by latching onto Tommmy 3 Count's leg. While Tommy tried to force Colibri to let go, the Devil yanked and Tommy was knocked into the corner unconscious. With the referee down, the Devil applied the Sharpshooter and waited for the referee to signal for the bell. But even though Colibri was tapping out in the submission hold, Tommy 3 Count was unable to see this. The Devil broke the hold to go and revive the referee. This gave Colibri time to recover and pin the Devil, but what Tommy 3 Count didn't see was that while he was counting the pin, the Devil's foot was over the rope. After the match, the Devil nearly lost his cool. He was visable irate over the decision and became physical with Tommy, even going so far as to put him in position for the Face Plant From Hell. But he thought better of it and backed off, going over and raising Colibri's hand in a sign of good sportsmanship.

And it seemed that karma played well for the Devil and his sportsmanship. Tim Rockwell had to pull out of the tournament for the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title and the Devil, who had orginally been a participant, was chosen to replace him. His first round opponent was the debuting Blake Albright, the younger brother of Brent Albright and cousin of Rocco Valentino. And again, the referee was Tommy 3 Count. Tommy had been somewhat vocal about the physical altercation from the previous week's match on the ComPro message board, but, being a professional, he put aside his feelings because he knew the importance of the tournament.

The match went as expected until the Devil attempted to get Tommy to hold Blake's arm while he delivered a double ax handle off the top rope. Tommy refused and a brief shoving match occurred between the two, with Tommy reminding the Devil that he is a referee and needs to be respected. The match then resumed, with the Devil scoring a couple of close 2 counts on Blake. Again, there was an verbal altercation between the Devil and Tommy and the Devil could clearly be heard to tell Tommy to "Count faster!". At that point, Albright schoolboyed the Devil and Tommy 3 Count delivered an incredibly fast 3 count, eliminating the Devil from the tournament!

This single action by Tommy has now drawn severe criticism from the ComPro fans, including message board threads titled "Tommy Sucks!" Just a few weeks earlier, fans had looked on with great concern when Tommy was severely injured by ICF, to the point that he suffered some internal injuries and bleeding. Now, every time he appeared for the rest of the tournament, chants of "Tommy Sucks!" filled the arena.

Tommy has defended his actions on the ComPro message board and, when asked if he wished to issue a statement here, wasted no time in delivering the following: "My track record as a fair and unbiased official speaks for itself in this matter. The Canadian Red Devil clearly blames me for his inability to win a match since Anthony Jackson ended his winning streak at Night of Champions II, and that's sad. What's worse is that his cult-like hold over the fans of Compound has turned them against me, a fair-minded referee, as they choose to support a rule-breaking, cheating masked man who has repeatedly forced referees to do his dirty work for him in the past. When the Canadian Red Devil shoved me in his match with Blake Albright, tried to make me hold the young blue chipper in place for an attack, and STILL had the audacity to question the cadence of my count, he pushed me too far. I did what I felt I had to do, and I stand by that. I refuse to fold to public pressure on this matter, no matter how unpopular that may make me."

The Devil is known to be a man of few words, preferring to let his actions speak for themselves in the ring, and has not granted Oklafan a statement. He did express curiosity about this article in a thread on the ComPro message board, though.

ComPro commissioner Kitty's official stance on the issue is that referees have the final authourity in the matches and, as such, she will not take any action against Tommy based on his performance.