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Campeon Dual!

Posted: May 5th 2011 By: CMBurnham

Like the Spanish conquistadors of his past, Ray Martinez has been on a quest for gold recently. Despite an in-ring career that began in 2006, Martinez hasn't been very lucky in acquiring championships. His 2 reigns as SRPW X Division Champion were memorable in that he never actually pinned anyone for the title either time. As SRPW commissioner, he awarded himself the title the first time after Sonny C refused it. And the second time he was given the title by Beau Dalton after Dalton defended it on his behalf. Last year Martinez teamed with Jesus Rodriguez as the Mexecutioners to win the TAP Tag Team titles, but those belts were stripped from them when they no-showed 2 events in a row.

Martinez now seems to be making up for lost time as he has become the first person in UWE history to hold 2 titles simultaneously. And once again, controversy surrounded both of these title wins. On May 9, Bad Bromance was scheduled to defend the UWE Tag Team Titles against Brett Taylor and ComPro Showtime Champion Brandon Walker. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an easy title defence as Walker has no love for any member of The Commission, but was being forced to team with Taylor or risk being fired by UWE Commissioner Princess Brittani. The odds were put more in favour of the challengers because MSWA Oklahoma Champion Max McGuirk was previously booked at an IZW event and could not be in 2 places at once. And even though Walker is close friends with both McGuirk and Justin Lee, his career forced him to hold nothing back in the 2-on-1 situation. Lee fought a brave battle, but ultimately the numbers game caught up with him and Taylor and Walker emerged as champions.

That wasn't enough for Princess Brittani, though. Perhaps suspecting that Walker would sabotage the championship team, or perhaps just being greedy, Princess Brittani came out and announced that she wanted TOTAL control of the Tag Team Titles. She then stripped Walker of his half of the belts and handed it over to Ray Martinez. Once again, Martinez had won a belt without wrestling for it (or even stepping in the ring).

On that same card, Ryan Reed won a battle royal to become the #1 contender to the UWE United States Title. And on May 30, Reed received his title opportunity against champion Rolling Thunder. The match was also announced as a No DQ match, putting it squarely in the comfort zone of the "Triple R Superstar". Both men battled to the outside, but surprisingly no weapons were brought into play. Thunder used his superior size to beat Reed down and prepare him for the pin, but then Big Smooth appeared. Thunder had interfered during Smooth's Handicap Match against the Jersey Kings in the opening match and Smooth felt that it was time to get some revenge. He walked out and grabbed Thunder's foot as Thunder scooped Reed up for a bodyslam, causing him to lose balance. Smooth then held Thunder as Reed pinned him for the championship. After the match, Smooth and Thunder battled their way to the back. But the battles in the ring weren't over.

Reed hadn't had time to soak in his victory when Princess Brittani arrived again and said that she wanted control of the United States Title for the Commission. She then ordered Reed to defend his title immediately against...UWE Tag Team Champion Ray Martinez. And as if it weren't stacked enough to force Reed to wrestle 2 matches back-to-back, Brittani was going to serve as the special guest referee. In what came as no surprise, when Martinez made covers, Brittani was right in position, quickly making a count. But when Reed made covers or tried submissions, Brittani became extraordinarily obsessed with the cleanliness of her outfit or just about anything EXCEPT the pinfall. Eventually, Reed hit Martinez with a DDT, but again Brittani refused to count the pin. She then executed a Wheelbarrow Bulldog on Reed, allowing Martinez to recover and connect with a Russian Leg Sweep for the 3-count.

The Commission had now accomplished total domination of UWE. With Jon Cross as the Heavyweight Champion, they held every title in the company. With Princess Brittani willing to break the rules (and with no one in position to stop her), their dominance of the company seems certain to continue as long as she wants it to. But perhaps not all hope is lost for the fans. As Martinez's ego overwhelmed him, he ordered Brandon Walker to come out, strap the US belt on him and take pictures of him in his new championship. While Martinez was focused on the shutter, Anarchy 2nd snuck out and crawled to the top rope behind Martinez. He then dove off and connected with the Thrill Kill, laying Martinez out. Walker & Anarchy then took pictures of themselves over the prone champion as the fans cheered the fall of the new dual champion. Martinez's humiliation marks what may be the first crack in the foundation of the Commission, if wrestlers like Reed, Walker and Anarchy can capitalise on their mistakes.