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MSN Drops EP Like A Bad Habit

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 By: CMBurnham

The unstoppable juggernaut that is Excellence Personified might be derailing thanks to tension surrounding the MWA Title held by Jack Legacy.

Legacy has been sidelined with a nagging foot injury since December, but is still the MWA Champion. And thanks to Michael Barry winning a Triple Threat Match against current BYEW Caution and TAP Oklahoma Heritage Champion Tim Rockwell and Jeff Starchild, EP was facing an internal dispute. Things had been tense between Barry and Legacy since the final show in Vinita where they lost to the team of Starchild and current UWE Tag Team, MWA Tag Team & MSWA Oklahoma Champion Max McGuirk. Legacy accidentally punched Barry in that match, causing Barry to be pinned by Starchild. Barry was irate afterwards and called Legacy back into the ring, complaining about how there were several times that Barry had matches won, but EP managed to mess it up. Heated words were exchanged before Barry walked to the back alone.

Both Legacy and confidant Mike Iles were absent at the January MWA event, but Barry's win still brought controversy to the group. Most of the match was Starchild vs. Rockwell with Barry egging them on. The end came when Rockwell made his 3rd attempt for a Grapevine DDT and Barry reversed it into a Saturday Night Special for the win. Starchild offered his hand to Barry to congratulate him and at first Barry refused, but with Starchild encouraging the "Barry!" chants, "Mr. Saturday Night" soon embraced "The Human Action Figure" and raised his hand.

This past Friday, Jack Legacy debuted a new talk segment called The Heartbreak Lounge and his first guest was EP manager (and his best friend) Mike Iles. Iles said that he and Legacy were unable to be present in January, but saw the tapes and needed to ask Michael Barry some questions. Barry came out and Iles said 2 months ago, Barry won a Triple Threat Match for the #1 contendership to the MWA Title, then shook Starchild's hand. Iles began to become irate, calling Starchild a piece of crap. He acknowledged that Barry should still be the MWA Champion, but said that was Max McGuirk's fault (as McGuirk was the special referee in the match). As a result, "Plan B" had to be put into effect.

Iles then really dug the knife in deep when he pointed out that Legacy was a champion and Dustin Heritage was a champion (holding the MWA MAX-Division Title) and that it was time for Barry to take a back seat! As far as Iles was concerned, this was all about teamwork and it was time for Barry to back Legacy up. Iles was fine with Barry being the #1 contender, but if he cashed that in, he was out of EP and that seemed to be fine with Barry after a brief consideration because he announced he was cashing in the shot that night.

Barry was pumped for the main event, but when Legacy arrived, he wasn't dressed to compete and Legacy said that the title shot Barry would be receiving wasn't for the MWA Title, it was for the MAX-Division Title. So student (Heritage) faced teacher (Barry) in a 20-minute classic that saw many near falls. Barry delivered the 10-punch in three separate corners of the ring and even kissed Heritage's new valet, Sandy Partlow, on the mouth in the middle of the match after she tripped him.

Barry would eventually charge into a corner where Mark Wilson was pulled in between the combatants by Heritage and rendered unconscious. Heritage then superkicked Barry, knocking him out, but there was no referee to cover when Heritage made the pin for at least a 10-count. Finally, referee Jeremy Evans slid in the ring and started to count the fall, but only made it to 2 before Barry kicked out. Heritage again went for the Superkick, but Barry caught him, spun him around and put him down with the Saturday Night Special for the win. Or so it seemed. Because after the decision had been announced, Mark Wilson revived and told ring announcer Lars Manderson that he was overturning the decision and throwing the match out, as he was uncertain who caused him to be knocked out. Therefore there was no winner and Heritage retained the title. While that satisfied Heritage, Barry stood as a man alone, shed of the weight of EP and ready to try and reclaim the title that he believes he never fairly lost.

Unfortunately, Barry is still tied to EP as he is 1/4 of the TAP Tag Team Champions with Legacy, Heritage and ComPro Oklahoma X Division Champion Se7en. TAP has not announced the date for their next event, but with the Freebird rule in effect for the faction, it's possible that the belts could be retained without having Barry team with another member to do so.