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Texas, Inc. Rides Again!

Posted: Dec 16th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Amazingly, many fans already considered them a distant memory. The former Oklahoma Triple Crown Tag Team Champions, Texas, Inc., were over and done with in most people's opinions at the end of 2007.

2006 & 2007 were the years of Texas, Inc. They won tag team titles in ComPro, SWCW & NWA-U. They were the face of tag team wrestling across the state. They were ranked #1 and 2 in the 2007 Oklafan Top 50. And then, it all came crashing to a halt. NWA-U shut down. They no-showed an SWCW event and were stripped of their tag team titles. And in ComPro, their home for most of the 2nd half of 2007, they lost the ComPro Tag Team titles to Sudden Impact and began to bicker amongst themselves. Eventually, they dumped their manager Stevie Caballero and tried to carry on by themselves. While TAP Oklahoma Heritage Champion Tim Rockwell persevered in his singles career, Bernard Funk, though successful at first, appeared to lose the drive. Both men held the ComPro Oklahoma X Division Title, but Funk became less and less of a regular. Rockwell formed Team Super Terrific with El Super Colibri and took back Caballero as his manager, then turned on Colibri and returned to his rule-breaking ways. Texas, Inc. seemed over and done with.

Rockwell & Funk reunited once in June for NWA-OK to compete in the NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Title tournament, but lost in the first round to the LONRs. And that was the only tag team competition for the duo in 2008. It seemed like it might be a one-time thing. Then, in September, MWA opened their doors. Rockwell & Funk both began competing for MWA...but seperately, not as Texas, Inc. And they had opposite philosophies. Rockwell, with Caballero by his side, continued to be one of the most underhanded men in wrestling, while Funk fought the good fight and tried to do the right thing.

In November, during the Old School Butt Whoopin' Match between The Gentlemen Thugs and the then-Southern Tag Team Champions The Old School Express, a masked man (who was later identified as the Longhorn Assassin) came to the ring to assist Shane Morbid against Jake Boulder while TAP Champion Cast-Iron Cothern had battled Jason Jones up the ramp. That assistance, all perfectly legal under the Butt Whoopin' Rules, led to the Gentlemen Thugs winning the Southern Tag Team Titles. But what was most interesting was that under the hoodie that the Longhorn Assassin was wearing, the distinctive tights of a member of Texas, Inc. could be seen. At that time, only MWA Champion Tim Rockwell wore those tights, so the question then became one of why Rockwell was assisting the Thugs.

That question changed in December. Due to Blake Albright winning a match against Rockwell in November, the title defence that Rockwell was originally set to make against Max McGuirk was changed to a Triple Threat Match also involving Albright. Rockwell had tried a little intimidation earlier, coming out during Max's interview time, but he was confronted by Albright and ultimately decided to retreat.

With nowhere to go this time, the match didn't favour Rockwell at first. Lots of double teaming on the champion certainly put him at an early disadvantage. But one two seperate occasions, when Rockwell was beaten and rolled to the outside, the two contenders, knowing that the champion didn't have to be pinned to lose the title, began beating on each other to try and take the championship. Rockwell, would use that opportunity to rest and recover, then re-enter the match. And this kept him alive for quite a while. But things came down to a point where it appeared that Rockwell was going to be beaten by one (or both) of his opponents.

And then help came from the back in the form of the Longhorn Assassin, who came barrelling down the ring, entered and slammed a chair into the back of Blake Albright. While the referee motioned to the ringside area to declare the match a no-contest, the Assassin removed his mask and revealed himself to the crowd as Bernard Funk! He said he was tired of seeing his nephew getting double teamed and was back to his side to protect him and keep the MWA title in the hands of Tim Rockwell.

Texas, Inc. stood reunited in the ring, but the celebration didn't last too long. While Rockwell, Funk & Caballero were having their reunion in the ring, a note was delivered to MWA ring announcer Mike Iles. He then announced to the crowd that, at the January show, there would once again be a Triple Threat Match for the MWA Title involving the same 3 men. But this time, it would be a Triple Bullrope Match! We at Oklafan believe that this is the first Triple Bullrope Match in professional wrestling history as we can find no evidence of another one ever taking place. This will most certainly settle the issue between these three men once and for all. The Bullrope has been one of the symbols of Texas, Inc since their inception. On January 9, it could be a symbol of their return to greatness...or the sign of their failure.

Tags: Texas, Inc., ComPro, SWCW, NWA-U, Sudden Impact, Stevie Caballero, TAP, Tim Rockwell, Bernard Funk, Team Super Terrific, El Super Colibri, LONRs, MWA, Gentlemen Thugs, Old School Assassins, Shane Morbid, Jake Boulder, Cast-Iron Cothern, Jason Jones, Blake