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The Old School Express: Mad As Hell And Not Gonna Take It Anymore

Posted: Aug 12th 2009 By: CMBurnham

Southern Tag Team Champions The Old School Express felt sure that they finally had the MWA Tag Team Titles in their grasp. On June 5th, they were promised that if they & TAP Oklahoma Heritage Champion Shane Morbid could defeat the Foreign Legion, then they would receive a tag team title shot in a steel cage to prevent any outside interference by Stevie Caballero. Only July 10th, that 6-man extravaganza occurred and although Morbid was heavily isolated by the Legion members, he finally made the tag and the match came down to a superkick to get the pinfall. Jason Jones and Jake Boulder now had what they wanted. And it only got better when MWA commissioner Raymon Downey stipulated that if any of the Foreign Legion interfered, the OSE would automatically get the belts. Plus, Downey had a HUGE surprise for Caballero waiting in Pryor.

24 hours later, everything was a much different picture. Caballero's surprise was a penalty box, which he was encased in for the duration of the match. But that didn't prevent a masked man (looking suspiciously similar to the one that distracted Blake Albright during his title match against Michael Barry) from entering the cage and helping MWA & TAP Tag Team Champions Texas, Inc. to lay out the popular challengers. With Texas retaining the belts, a different stipulation now took hold: The Old School Express would not receive another title shot for the MWA Tag Team Titles for 90 days.

So when the OSE arrived in Spavinaw on August 7, they were understandably upset. Jason Jones said that they'd been together for 5 years and Spavinaw was one of his favourite places to wrestle, but in all the time they'd known each other, they'd never been able to beat Texas, Inc. Raymon Downey once again entered the ring and Jason begged him to make this situation right. Downey said that he watched the tape of the match, since he was not present at the event. He saw the interference and declares that Texas, Inc. cheated to win. But the OSE signed a contract which clearly stated that if they lost, no matter what the circumstances, they would not receive a title shot for 90 days. Jones said that was a "crapload", but Downey calmed him down by saying he had an idea that he wanted to discuss with the OSE in the back.

Before they could leave, The Jet Setters proudly strutted to the ring and Jack Legacy quickly congratulated the OSE on "another loss". Downey turned the tide and said that Legacy & Dustin Heritage had no match that night, but he had one in mind. It only needed one of them though. Since Dustin was wearing flip-flops, Legacy decided to step up. Downey then turned to the OSE and said he needed one of them. Jones was dressed, so he volunteered. Downey then proclaimed that next month, there would be a match between the Jet Setters and the Old School Express. If the OSE won, they would get one last title shot, despite the 90 day rule. In the meantime, there would be this captain's match for the tag team event in September.

The match didn't go the way Jones wanted it to, although he almost got a second chance to fix things. Dustin Heritage ended up hitting Jones in the head with the Coastal Commonwealth National Wrestling Heritage Title belt, but the referee saw an illegality in the pin and refused to call it. This gave Jones a second chance to try and rally to victory, but again, Heritage brought the belt into play and the referee finally counted to three. Things looked grim for the Old School Express. But they weren't out of the picture yet.

Despite being seemingly bested by the Jet Setters on one side and Texas, Inc. on the other, there was one more trick up the OSE's sleeve. When Tim Rockwell & Bernard Funk arrived for their title defence against the El Matadors, Downey once more arrived to proclaim that he had a surprise. For this title defence, he needed a special referee and that referee was none other than Jake Boulder! Boulder's first experience in Oklahoma was as a referee in NWA-U and Downey knew he could count on him to keep order in the match. Funk, Rockwell & Caballero were outraged, but Boulder wouldn't back down. He promised to throw the match out if there were any outside interference and begged Texas to get physical with him so he could send them home with the loser's share of the purse. With that understanding in place, Texas set about trying to do whatever they needed to to counter the unique offence of Uno & Dos. The masked luchadores certainly had the champions on edge as far as strategy went and the watchful eyes of Boulder kept Caballero at bay for most of the time as well. But the experience of Funk & Rockwell soon looked to prove the deciding factor until Jason Jones appeared at ringside. Jones calmly and deliberately climbed into the ring, going right up to Tim Rockwell and standing nose-to-nose with him. Then he reached over and slapped one of the Matadors! Jake Boulder called for the bell and declared the El Matadors the winners due to outside interference. Jones just smiled, then joined with his partner and a brawl between Texas, Inc. and The Old School Express broked out. Both teams battled all over the ring area. Rockwell even jumped the rail and ran to the curtained side entrance, while Jones grabbed a steel chair and pursued him, threatening to throw it at him.

The moral of the situation seems simple: The Old School Express may go down, but not without a fight. Jones & Boulder are determined to unseat Texas, Inc. for those titles, no matter who stands in their way. At this point, it's the Jet Setters, but if they can get past them, the next stop should be a championship match. The OSE have proven before that they will make the best use of the situations given to them. Funk & Rockwell might want to have pictures taken with those belts now, as they might not be around their waists by the end of the year.

Tags: The Old School Express, MWA, TAP, Shane Morbid, Foreign Legion, Stevie Caballero, Jason Jones, Jake Boulder, Raymon Downey, Blake Albright, Michael Barry, Texas, Inc., Jack Legacy, Dustin Heritage, Tim Rockwell, Bernard Funk, El Matadors, Uno, NWA-U