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Devil is Dual Champion...For One Day

Posted: Jun 17th 2009 By: CMBurnham

The tournament is over and the very first ComPro Showtime Champion is the Canadian Red Devil. Devil stood proudly as a dual singles champion in Oklahoma, but less than 24 hours later, that status had been removed. And ironically, the members of the Saints of Twilight were involved in both decisions.

The Devil advanced to the finals of the Showtime Title tournament by defeating a wide range of stars. His opening round match was against ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion Goldeneye, whom he had humiliated earlier in the year by defeating 6 consecutive times in one night. Round two saw him facing off against Jesus Rodriguez, whom he had engaged in a violent fued with, culminating in a Tables Match at Night of Champions XIV. But perhaps the strongest test he had was in the semi-finals when he met Current TAP Oklahoma Heritage Champion Shane Morbid. Most fans believed that Morbid was destined to win this tournament, but the Devil didn't allow the lack of faith to get under his skin and after a hard-hitting match where both men completely respected the other, the Devil prevailed over "Mr. Endurance".

Meeting the Devil in the finals was Ignition, one-half of the Saints of Twilight. Ignition had also bested some of the top stars in ComPro, including Kevin Morgan in the opening round, Tyson Armstrong in the second and MWA MAX-Division Champion El Super Colibri in the semi-finals. Unlike the Devil, who came to the ring and faced each opponent one-on-one with only his skill and wits to carry him through, Ignition relied heavily on distraction by his manager, the Shadow of Death, and switching out during the match with his twin brother, Reckless. So it appeared that the Devil was going to face a 3-on-1 situation (for all practical purposes) when he made it to the finals of the tournament.

The finals was the main event of Night of Champions XV. And all the expected issues were in place. The Devil came alone, with just the fans to assist him. Ignition brought his entourage to ringside. Several times during the match, SOD would distract the referee and the Saints would either switch or double team. But the Devil fought through it all and eventually set Ignition up for the Faceplant from Hell. Ignition shoved him off, though and straight into John the Encourager, knocking him out. At that point, chaos ensued as both SoTs hit the ring and began to double team the Devil. But again, the horned Canadian fought them both off, then set Ignition up for the Super Faceplant, which he hit squarely. John had recovered by that point and the three count was made.

At that point, the Devil added the ComPro Showtime Title to the TAP Title he'd held since January 2, 2009. And he became the 2nd wrestler to hold two singles titles simultaneously in Oklahoma this year. But that joy was quickly ended and it didn't even last 24 hours.

The next day, in Muskogee, the Devil defended his TAP Title against Reckless, This match came about when the Devil came to assist a post-match attack by the Saints on Tyson Armstrong at the end of the TAP event in May. The Saints had already beaten the Devil and ComPro Tag Team Champion Michael York in a tag team match, but now it was a chance for one of the Saints to score something they'd never been able to accomplish: singles gold. Again, the frequent switches and distractions were employed and even though the Shadow of Death was not present, it was still enough for Reckless to capitalise on and end the Devil's reign, winning the TAP Title and removing his distinction as a dual champion.

The Devil will have his hands full with the new Showtime Title, as the primary stipulation on it is that it must be defended every show, unless ComPro owner Mike Two declares an exception. That means that, as long as the Devil has that belt, he can't afford to suffer injury or illness and he'll have no more than 7 days to recouperate from anything. Also, TAP management announced that they will not be running another event until September, which means that any hopes the Devil has of regaining the TAP Title must be put off until the fall. However, another opportunity for him to become a dual champion may be just around the corner as Bad Boy was stripped of the MSWA Oklahoma Title this past Sunday for tow months of non-defence and a Battle Royal was announced to fill that vacant title on June 28. The Devil had already advanced in the tournament to determine the #1 contender to the title before it was declared vacant, so he seems a lock to have a spot in that Battle Royal. But with SWCW also running a show that afternoon, the Devil will be in there without his tag team partner, Damien Morte, to watch his back. Still, the Devil has overcome odds like this before and even if he doesn't come out a dual champion again, he'll make a strong showing in the process.

Tags: ComPro, Canadian Red Devil, Saints of Twilight, Goldeneye, Jesus Rodriguez, TAP, Shane Morbid, Kevin Morgan, Tyson Armstrong, MWA, El Super Colibri, Ignition, Reckless, Shadow of Death, John the Encourager, Michael York, Mike York, MSWA, Bad Boy, SWCW, Da