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Texas, Inc. Stirs Up Trouble All Over The State

Posted: Jun 3rd 2009 By: CMBurnham

MWA Tag Team Champions Texas, Inc. have always been used to getting their own way. After all, when you're considered one the greatest tag teams (if not THE greatest) to ever set foot in the state, you might think you can be afforded certain exceptions to the rules. Combine that with a natural tendency to dispose of said rules whenever you feel like it and the personalities of Tim Rockwell and Bernard Funk, along with their manager Stevie Caballero, shouldn't be difficult to determine. Since their formation, they've left a trail of broken necks, aborted title reigns and general distruction in their path. But it seems that, with their state-wide reputation well known, wrestling promoters are finally stepping up to cry "Foul" when Texas attempts their shenanigans.

Last month in Spavinaw, Funk & Rockwell tried to pull the wool over everyone's eyes when it came to a pre-show attack on Jake Boulder. The specifics of that situation were detailed in another article on this site, but to recap, Jason Jones demanded an MWA Title shot for the Old School Express. MWA Commissioner Raymon Downey agreed to let it happen, but warned Jones that if his partner (who Jones didn't know the whereabouts of) didn't show up, it would be a handicap match. That seemed to be the situation when the match started, but eventually Boulder stumbled into the arena, his head heavily wrapped in bandages, and tagged himself in. He didn't last long as he soon found himself on the receiving end of a Spike Piledriver and was pinned. But as the Texas champions celebrated their victory, Boulder pulled out his cell phone and showed Downey footage of the attack. That same footage can be viewed on the front page of www.maximumwrestlingalliance.com. It clearly showed that two masked men attacked Boulder before the show, but one of those men was identifiable as Bernard Funk. As a result, Funk was suspended from the June show and Rockwell was ordered to defend the MWA Tag Team TItles without him at that show.

Stevie Caballero saved his man from having to participate in a handicap match by getting a legal injunction to allow him to name a temporary partner, but the first strike had been made. And strike two would come on May 23. Funk and Rockwell ventured down to SWCW and made a challenge for the Tag Team Titles against the Good Ol' Boys. Without the managerial guidance of Big Stevie, the Texas duo had to rely on cunning to get their way. And they almost didn't accomplish that. Moonshine hit "The Last Drop" on one of the challengers and appeared to be on the way to scoring the pin when Bernard Funk's cowbell was thrown in the ring. Moonshine caught it and at that point, the referee chose to turn around. He caught Moonshine red-handed and DQed the champions. Even though this meant Texas wouldn't get the belts, they were OK with that because it meant they didn't suffer a loss, which would take them out of contention. But what they didn't count on was SWCW commissioner Miss Sheila marching down to the ring, having witnessed everything that happened backstage on the monitors. While she couldn't overturn the decision of the referee, she decided that Texas would not be getting another title shot anytime soon, because she suspended both men without pay for 30 days!

Then the clincher came on Saturday as Texas, Inc. faced Dawn of Extreme to determine the #1 contender to the ComPro Tag Team Championships. Both teams know each other very well and Texas recently put DOX down in a Hardcore Rules match at the last Night of Champions. Going in, DOX knew they had the most to prove, as they were the rookie team. Texas, though, knew that they had to make it past this match in order to have a chance of fulfilling the dream of once again being Triple Crown Tag Team Champions. Both teams fought hard and after a hot tag, Ty Thunder and Bernard Funk hit the ring. Thunder quickly executed a sunset flip, carrying Funk over and pinning him near the ropes, earning the title shot at NOC XV. And that was when all hell broke loose.

Funk, who had been muttering "Violence" under his breath throughout the match,stormed over to Generic Referee One and complained about the count. GR1 stated that it was a fair count and he had done his job. This didn't sit well with the grizzled veteran, who turned GR1 over and executed a Texakazie. All this was done while Caballero & Rockwell stared on in amazement. They both knew what would come of this and neither man was happy, but it seemed like Funk didn't care. He just wanted to hurt someone.

Sure enough, the next day, ComPro owner Mike Two issued a statement on the ComPro message board that Bernard Funk was on an indefinite leave of absence (aka suspension) without pay. Rockwell also posted on that thread and while he didn't go so far as to admit guilt over the situation, he did imply that perhaps his uncle hadn't taken his medication recently and that might be the cause of the outburst.

Whatever the reason, Rockwell now finds himself out of contention in 2 federations and forced to defend tag team titles in two other federations with irregular partners. Will Texas learn a lesson from any of this? Thier past history suggests it's unlikely, But if Stevie doesn't get his boys under control, they may find themselves having to look outside the state for work.

Tags: MWA, Texas, Inc., Tim Rockwell, Bernard Funk, Stevie Caballero, Old School Express, Jason Jones, Raymon Downey, Jake Boulder, SWCW, Good Ol' Boys, Moonshine, Miss Sheila, Dawn of Extreme, Ty Thunder, Generic Referee One, Mike Two