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Langley's Frustrations Over Tag Team Gold Mount

Posted: Sep 8th 2012 By: CMBurnham

In any group dynamic, when one member seems to be missing something, it tends to grate on that person's nerves. Sometimes they're perceived as not fitting into the group. Sometimes they're thought of as the weak link.

The Golden Alliance has asserted itself as the strongest faction in SRPW and that is reflected in the FACT that it controls 2 of the 3 SRPW Titles. Sam Stackhouse has been SRPW Champion for 2 months now and Graham Bell recently ended Kyle Everlast's SRPW United States Title reign.

Luke Langley has made it clear that he wants to join his fellow Alliance members as a champion, but his recent forays towards securing the SRPW Tag Team Titles from The Extreme Avengers have proven frustrating.

On August 11, Langley was announced to be facing Kid Krazy & Jake O'Brien for the titles with a mystery partner. When that partner was announced, it turned out to be Jon Cross and the duo made a strong challenge for the titles. The Extreme Avengers controlled the action in the opening portion of the match until Krazy was isolated. Langley & Cross were then able to take over and keep Krazy from his corner. Krazy finally made his tag and quickly all four men were in the ring. All 4 men executed super kicks on each other with O'Brien delivering the last one, followed by a rolling slam and an elbow drop from the top rope to retain the titles.

Langley was obviously upset and it appeared that his contention that Jon Cross was the problem might have had some validity to it, as the Extreme Avengers turned away the challenge of Cross and Christopher Fury at the next SRPW show. When Langley returned for the show last week, Langley's vicious side was even more pronounced. After participating in a gang-style beatdown with the rest of the Alliance on Nate Martinez, Langley revealed his new partner to challenge for the tag team titles, K. C. King. Although something of an unknown factor in SRPW, as he'd only made one other appearance there, King & Langley brought everything they had against the Tag Team Champions. When King was dumped outside the ring, Kid Krazy connected with a splash from the top onto him. Langley tried to rally for his team with a corner splash, but was caught by O'Brien and given a Tiger Driver for his efforts (and for the pin).

Embarrassed beyond understanding, Langley returned after intermission and called out anyone in the locker room for a match. His challenge was answered by Keith Knight and an impromptu singles match followed. Knight showed some amazing agility for a man of his size, especially with Langley concentrating on Knight's leg for the duration of the match. Knight attempted a 2nd rope dropkick and missed, leading Langley to lock in a modified ankle lock and force Knight to submit. Langley left feeling slightly vindicated after the earlier loss, but he still had no championship gold around his waist.

One of the oddest issues surrounding this situation is that the seemingly obvious choice for Langley as a partner is right there in the Golden Alliance with him: Graham Bell. As the K. C. Wolves (or the Interplanetary Alliance), the duo have competed in many places in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas, even hold tag titles in the latter. Perhaps Langley is unwilling to put too much pressure on Bell by potentially making him a dual champion. But the pair did participate in an attack during intermission on the Extreme Avengers. SRPW had advertised that there would be a free cake at this show and that was given to the audience during the break. B-Arthur was none too pleased at this turn of events, protesting that the cake was meant for Sam Stackhouse as a celebration of his championship reign. With the Extreme Avengers handing out the cake, they didn't notice that the K. C. Wolves had snuck up behind O'Brien in the ring while Stackhouse powerbombed Krazy into the remains of the cake on the outside. It was only due to the assistance of SWCW Hardcore Champion Drake Gallows that O'Brien & Krazy didn't suffer serious injury. But they were able to get some shots in on O'Brien before tossing him from the ring.

Langley's motivations are certainly clear. He just needs a reliable partner if he's going to achieve the goal he has set for himself. Until that partner is found, the Extreme Avengers will continue to deny Langley (and the Golden Alliance) the final puzzle piece in the championship domination of SRPW.