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Alex Royal Wins 2023 Ryder Cup in Must-Win Scenario for HTH Title opportunity!

Posted: Jun 27th 2023 By: CMBurnham

For Alex Royal, it was a Must-Win situation.

The UWE Tag Team Champion had set his eyes on more championship gold after returning to WFC full time towards the end of 2022. Specifically, the WFC Hometown Heroes Title, which he had not held for 5 years. Royal was a two-time HTH Champion, trading that belt back and forth with his S.T.F. Tag Team Partner, J. D. And that belt meant a lot to Royal, since it was the first singles gold he held. So when he came back, he wanted to once again put that title on his mantleplace.

Standing in his way, though, was a man who, in many ways, was what Royal used to be during those previous title reigns. The Unbreakable Bad Boy, Justin Lee. Lee captured the HTH Title at the 11th Anniversary event in October, 2022, defeating Koko after Dan Webber turned in Koko and joined with Justin. After that, Justin formed The Dojo, a group of individuals that Justin saw as the future of wrestling in Oklahoma as long as they followed his guidance. After beating Tommy Dean, current BCW Champion Sam Stackhouse and Barrett Brown in a Fatal 4-Way Match to become #1 contender to the HTH Title, Royal faced Lee one month later for the belt. But that match ended in controversy as Lee utitlised a spare turnbuckle to knock Royal out and win the match.

Not one to let bygones by bygones, Royal interrupted an interview being done for WFC Social media and confronted Lee, then attacked him, injuring reporter C. M. Burnham in the process. This gained Royal a suspension for a month, and when Royal returned, he manipulated Justin into a Tables Match for the HTH Title. Unfortunately, Royal could not counter the Dojo, but perhaps most unfortunate is that he could not count on his own brother Zac. The night of the Tables match, Zac was seen talking to Alex backstage, offering his presence and support at ringside if needed. But Alex wanted to do this on his own. And initially he was successful at that, but the numbers (and no disqualification stipulation) allowed to Dojo to make its presence known on multiple occasions. And with noone like Rockwell, J. D. or even current UWE Tag Team Champion Mr. Nasty present, Royal seemed to have no back up. Until Zac came out, seemingly to his defence, only to hit him with a lowblow and then a chair shot. Royal then helped the other wrestlers to position Royal amidst the rubble of a table that Alex had put Justin through (but the referee had been knocked unconscious and had seen none of this). That ref was then revived and Lee was declared the winner. More importantly, a stipulation had been agreed to that this would be Royal's one and only opportunity for the title. If he did not win, he could not challenge Lee for the title again.

So it seemed like Royal's dreams were all shattered. With Lee still in possession of the belt and with him having an undefeated record as a singles competitor in WFC, the likelihood of Royal getting another opportunity at the belt seemed very distant. But then came the Ryder Cup. Established in 2015, the Ryder Herring Memorial Cup was a tribute to Ryder Herring, the child who inspired Tim Rockwell to start WFC in the first place. More importantly in this instance, the winner of the Ryder Cup had a guaranteed opportunity for the HTH title whenever he wanted it. Royal had never won the tournament and was not even supposed to have a spot in the tournament, but Tim Rockwell sacrificed his spot to Royal, allowing Royal to have a way around the stipulation and achieve the goal he so desperately wished to get.

To get through the tournament, any competitor had ton win 3 matches in one night. Royal's path was not going to be easy. Round 1 saw Royal face off against current WFC Prime Champion Dustin Tibbs. Tibbs was the only entrant in the tournament for Snowman Enterprises, but was also the least experienced member of the team and while he held his own for a while, Royal was quickly able to connect with the Brainbuster and leave Tibbs in the middle of the ring, advancing to round two.

Round two, things amped up considerably as Royal found himself standing across the ring from UWE Champion Dan Webber. Webber was basically Justin Lee's right-hand man and it was clear that Justin expected Dan to win the match and the tournament thus preventing anyone from challenging Lee for the title.This match was everything one could hope for from two of the star performers in this state and it looked like Webber was going to make it to round two as he locked Royal in a sleeper hold. But Royal put that experience advantage to good work and ran up the corner, flipping over backwards and pinning Webber under him. Royal advanced and a highly disappointed Justin stared at his fallen soldier, knowing that Plan A had failed him and he had to move on to Plan B.

This led Royal to his final match of the night against WFC Tag Team Champion Johnny Lightning. And while these two had faced off against each other in tag team competition and more recently had worked together at the 11th Anniversary event, the situation was very different this time. Lightning got the finals by beating Wrangler Rhett in the first round. Lightning then got by the other member of the Cowboy Cartel, Gary Gram, in the second round. But after that victory, Snowman Enterprises attacked Lightning and Jack Davenport grabbed the ring bell, taking it to the ring area and slamming it across Lightning's knee repeatedly. So when Lightning made his way out to the ring for the finals, it was clear that he was not at 100 percent. But Lightning was not going to quit, so he and Royal faced off and there were moments where Lightning, despite the overwhelming pain, looked like he might be able to pull out a miracle. But it just was not his night and Alex Royal pinned Lightning to win the 2023 Ryder Herring Memorial Cup.

At that point, Justin Lee came to the ring. As was typical of Justin since October, even though the moment was supposed to be Royal's, Justin made it all about himself. And Alex took that attitude and gave it back to him by making the moment all about Justin. And more specifically, all about Justin's HTH title. Royal did what he was legally allowed to do, challenge for the HTH Title at any time. And that time was right then. This made Justin irate. He grabbed the microphone and loudly protested, saying he was not dressed to compete, he was not warmed up and whatever other excuses he could come up with. But none of that mattered as Alex Royal made it clear he was taking his opportunity right then and the bell rang. To his credit, while Justin was not expecting a match, 20-plus years of wrestling experience allowed him to think swiftly on his feet and keep Alex at bay for a while. And the presence of Dojo members Zac Royal and WAH Living Hope Champion Eddie LeVaughn at ringside helped to some extent. But ultimately they backfired on Justin as, while Eddie had the referee distracted, Zac tried to throw a spanner in to the ring, but Alex caught it and used it to knock Justin out, much like Justin had done with the spare turnbuckle 6 months before, and pinned him to win his third WFC Hometown Heroes Title!

Royal calls himself "The Showcase" and that nickname was certainly true here as he showcased his skills, his mentality and his determination to win that 3rd championship. Justin Lee has sworn to protest this match in all forms (including how it should never have happened due to the stipulation of the Tables Match), but for the most part, WFC has followed a "Referee's Decision is Final" policy and that is expected in this situation as well. So Royal now proudly hopes to restore some prestige to the title since Justin held it. And more importantly, he hopes to become what the name of the title proclaims: A hero in whatever hometown he goes to.