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What's Holding Shane Morbid Back?

Posted: Jun 2nd 2009 By: CMBurnham

Last year, fans voted Shane Morbid the Wrestler of the Year for 2008 in the Oklafan.com Year-End polls. They also voted him 1/2 of the tag team of the year, making him the only wrestler to ever win both awards in the same year. In the Oklafan.com Top 50, Shane ranked #8 for the second year in a row. It seemed like Shane was on the fast track to becoming Heavyweight Champion and top star for 2009.

But so far, it seems like Morbid's year isn't turing out the way people thought. To be fair, Shane has had to deal with some pretty severe feuds against his former partner, Cast-Iron Cothern and Dexter Hardaway. While both of these feuds culminated in matches that seem assured to be nominated for Match of the Year, neither were about titles, something that means more money and prestige in pro wrestling.

This is not to say that Morbid hasn't been chasing after gold. He is one of the final four in the ongoing tournament for the newly created ComPro Showtime Title. He's also made it clear that he wants to take the TAP Oklahoma Heritage Title away from Jon Cross and will have a chance to do so on June 14. But it seems like neither of these titles are the ones that Shane should be chasing. Instead, he should be concentrating on the Heavyweight Titles in any fed he's in.

Shane Morbid's title history is pretty impressive. He's the only 2x SRPW Champion in that company's history (and was the youngest wrestler to hold that title as well). While not the visual definition of an X Division wrestler, he nevertheless held X Division Titles in SRPW, NWA-U and ComPro. Combine that with his 5 reigns as SRPW Hardcore Champion and it's easy to see that Shane can dominate whatever field of wrestling he wants to: Heavyweight, X Division or Hardcore. And with the right partner, he can also be tag team champion, like he was as part of the Gentlemen Thugs.

But while it's good to be in the chase for a title, it's also important to be doing important things. And perhaps nowhere does it seem like Shane is underperforming than in MWA. He's undefeated in MWA this year. How can someone undefeated be underperforming? Simple. What do his matches mean? Sure, he teamed with El Super Colibri and forced X-Cal and Cast-Iron Cothern to leave the federation for 90 days back in February. Sure, he's defeated El Famoso on consecutive shows. But is he in contention to the MWA Title? No. Is he in the Ladder match to determine the 1st MWA Max-Division Champion? No. Did he have a personal issue with Famoso like he did with Cothern or Hardaway? No. So all those matches have gained him is...nothing.

Sadly, it seems like this pattern of behaviour is continuing at the recent ComPro shows. On Saturday, ComPro ran a special show at Will Rogers Methodist Church and the show opened with Morbid being interviewed by :"The Oklahoma Legend" Rocco Valentino. Before Morbid could speak, members of the Popped Collar Posse (including Cold Blooded Chris, ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion Goldeneye and ComPro Tag Team Champion Michael York) attacked Shane in the ring. While their motivation was unclear (since Shane was not actively pursuing an issue with any of them), the message they sent obvious: they wanted to take Morbid out to prove they could. And they failed. They failed mightily. Later that card, Morbid faced Goldeneye in a non-title match. He overcame the presence of the other Posse members and came away with a victory. And he did the same thing in the show's main event when he was faced with the PCP members at the end of a 13-man Battle Royal and eliminated them to win the match.

That night, at the regular ComPro event, Morbid was the first wrestler to anticipate what the Saints of Twilight have been doing for months. Anytime the SOTs wrestle singles matches, they switch members in the middle of the match. While the fans see this, the referee and their opponent generally doesn't, making for handicap match conditions. And Reckless thought he could do the same when he faced off against Morbid that night. Reckless went to work on Morbid's left knee, attempting to ground the big man the negate the strength he has. Then, when Morbid began to retaliate, they attempted the switch. But Morbid saw it and took Ignition, throwing him over the top rope, then went on to put Reckless away for another victory.

That made 3 wins for Shane Morbid in one day. But did that accomplish anything for him? Sadly, the answer seems to be no. While he did defeat Goldeneye, that was a non-title match, which should promise him a title match in the future. But does Shane really want to go chase the X Division Title for a 3rd time? Sources indicate that Shane is really wanting to challenge for the Heavyweight Title against Draven Cross. But if that's the case, he hasn't made that feeling known. Instead, he's slowly and calmly been working his way through the competition in ComPro. And perhaps that's the strategy. Maybe, after he's defeated everyone else, he'll point at the only person left for him to face and say, "I want you...and I want the ComPro Heavyweight Title"

Tags: Shane Morbid, Cast-Iron Cothern, Dexter Hardaway, ComPro, TAP, Jon Cross, SRPW, NWA-U, Gentlemen Thugs, El Super Colibri, X-Cal, El Famoso, Rocco Valentino, Popped Collar Posse, Cold Blooded Chris, Goldeneye, Michael York , Saints of Twilight, Reckless, I