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Who is the most dominant Oklahoma Champion?

Posted: Jul 19th 2006 By: CMBurnham

The Oklahoma Heavyweight Championship is one of the most sought after prizes in this state. It represents the top achievement that many people can get in any federation in our portion of the country and the list of wrestlers to achieve the Oklahoma Title is a list of top talent in the state. But that list is also somewhat confusing as there are currently 2 men who have legitimate claims to being Oklahoma Champion and those 2 men faced off at the IZW show last Saturday in Lawton.

MSWA Oklahoma Champion Michael Faith and NWA Oklahoma Champion (and IZW Cruiserweight Champion) John O'Malley faced each other in a 1-on-1 non-title match at the Boys & Girls Club in Lawton. This was not the first meeting between these 2 men, but it was the first time that both men who hold the 2 recognised Oklahoma Championships had ever met each other in the ring.

The MSWA Oklahoma Title can trace it's lineage back to 1997 and the establishment of Oklahoma Pro Wrestling. The first person to hold this title was Jimmy Kane, but many others followed including Anthony Jackson, Bull Schmitt, Vinnie Valentino and the man who held it more often than anyone else, 7-time champion Rocco Valentino. While OPW would close and be replaced first by OCW and then TPW, the Oklahoma Title maintained a lineage between these federations, linking the heritage of Tulsa-area wrestling from the late 1990s to the present days.

The NWA Oklahoma Title has a shorter history. Established under the auspices of NWA Oklahoma in 2004, it boasts only 3 men in it's short title history: John O'Malley, Michael Barry, who held it 2 times, and Brandon Groom, who is the only man to hold both these titles, laying claim to the OCW Oklahoma Title in 2002. Some websites would have you believe that the NWA Oklahoma title is the same as the TSW Oklahoma Title that Jack Brisco held sometime in the 1960s, but these claims have never been validated.

There are indications of another Oklahoma Title that was part of the title history in NMS, but Oklafan's access to records regarding that federation are sketchy at best.

The match in Lawton was ultimately won by O'Malley, but does that mean he should be considered the dominant Oklahoma Champion? Perhaps O'Malley can assert a challenge to unify these titles as both he and Faith are regular competitors in MSWA. O'Malley will have to wait his turn, though, as Faith is preparing to defend his MSWA Oklahoma title against challengers such as Cody Jones, E-Bone and former OCW Oklahoma Champion Beau Dalton. Dalton currently holds tag team titles in AACW & SRPW. Could he become the 1st wrestler this year to hold gold in 3 federations at the same time, something O'Malley accomplished last year? Only time will tell. And O'Malley must not become greedy and distracted, as he faces a severe challenge to his title reign at the end of this month when he will defend against Oklahoma Old School Champion Rocco Valentino in a First Blood Match in Muskogee.