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Armstrong Ready To Grab Championship Gold

Posted: Jan 6th 2009 By: CMBurnham

One of the more recent additions to the Oklahoma rosters is a young man named Tyson Armstrong. Armstrong competed primarily for SPW in Arkansas as well as SECW, but came to the attention of northeast Oklahoma wrestling fans when he began in TAP. From there, it was only a short hop over to ComPro, where he was voted Newcomer of the Year by the fans.

When Tyson burst onto the scene in TAP, he partnered with Brett Taylor and the duo immediately made the TAP Tag Team Titles their top priority. At the TAP event in August, Armstrong & Taylor faced off against TAP Tag Team Champions The Innovators, but the match went to a Double DQ. A rematch was scheduled for the show in September, but when that show was cancelled, Armstrong & Taylor's title dreams were put on hold.

At the first Oklahoma wrestling event of 2009, Tyson Armstrong was present, but Brett Taylor was nowhere to be found, apparently feeling under the weather. Their scheduled rematch was again postponed and Armstrong found himself with no partner and no immediate opportunity for gold. So he entered himself into the 12-man Battle Royal to earn a shot at the TAP Title in Febuary. Normally, a guy Tyson's size would be right at home in a Battle Royal...except the rules on this one were different. First of all, eliminations would only occur by pinfall. Secondly, it was a Gauntlet Battle Royal, which meant that part of the success depended on the luck of the draw. And Tyson's luck seemed out to lunch when he entered the ring #1 in the match. The other competitors soon began to come out in the form of such wrestlers as Pork Chop, Brandon Groom, Michael York, Jake McCoy and OECW Southwestern Champion El Hoto. Tyson knew he couldn't match most of their size, so he took a somewhat cowardly approach and left the ring, dwelling on the outside while the other competitors battled each other. As the numbers dwindled, Tyson would reenter the ring, make a few quick hits, then scurry to the outside again. This guerilla-style warfare served him well as the match came down to him, Pork Chop, Brandon Groom & Jake McCoy. Groom was the first of the foursome to be pinned and then McCoy & Pork Chop faced off. When McCoy eventually pinned Pork Chop, he thought he had won the event and the title shot, but Armstrong reentered the ring and attacked McCoy from behind. The unsuspecting star was not able to properly defend himself and Armstrong made quick work of "Blue Collar" to win the Battle Royal.

Later that night, during the TAP Title match between Cast-Iron Cothern and The Canadian Red Devil, Armstrong brought his stool to the ring and sat near the announce table. He made no effort to interfere in the match, simply scouting both men so as to be prepared for whoever he would face in February. When the Devil regained the TAP Title from Cothern, Armstrong entered the ring and a staredown occurred as both men looked straight at each other, neither one blinking. The Devil then held his newly won title belt high above his head and it looked for a moment like the fight between the two wasn't going to wait until next month. But cooler heads prevailed and Armstrong left the ring to prepare for his title opportunity.

The next night, Tyson couldn't get his hands on the Devil, as he was banned from the building at ComPro until the end of the show. But Tyson had other issues to worry about as he was scheduled to face Michael York. And in York's corner...Armstrong's former associate, Brett Taylor. While he was "too sick" to show up and wrestle in Muskogee, he had no problem showing up in Tulsa and guiding Tyson's opponent. It's pretty apparent that this is simply revenge for Taylor's ankle was broken during a match against Tyson on August 23. Although Tyson did not interact with Taylor to break the ankle, Taylor blamed his former partner none-the-less. So, with his former partner now across the ring from him, Armstrong had to be extra careful during his match against the somewhat crazy York. Armstrong held his own for quite a while until York pulled the referee to the corner, allowing Taylor to enter the ring, hit the Collar-Popper on Armstrong, then roll out so that York could get the pin for the win. Armstrong was understandably upset at these occurances and Taylor had gained what he felt was a small measure of revenge.

Armstrong's loss, fortunately for him, did nothing to threaten his title shot. He will receive that on February 20. In the meantime, he'll have plenty of opportunities to scout his opponent at ComPro events. But when the time for the match comes, will he be facing one opponent or two? While Brett Taylor got the upper hand now, it seems unlikely that he would be satisfied with that. He'd love nothing better than to humiliate the potential champion. Armstrong's success in this business hinges on his ability to pick better associates than this, as he can't afford any distractions in his quest for championship gold.

Tags: Tyson Armstrong, SPW, SECW, TAP, ComPro, Brett Taylor, The Innovators, Pork Chop, Brandon Groom, Michael York, Jake McCoy, OECW, El Hoto, Cast-Iron Cothern, The Canadian Red Devil