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The Sins of the Past Continue To Haunt The Devil

Posted: Jun 21st 2017 By: Michael Hunt

Without getting religious, the sins of the past often haunt those who committed them in the present.

Some would say that the Devil’s temptations are irresistable. But what if it is the Devil himself (or someone with his likeness) that is finding it difficult to repent for past misgivings?

Last September, at the Compound 10th anniversary show, The Canadian Red Devil aligned himself with Richard Pierce and became a 4-time ComPro Champion. This led to the rise of Pierce, Inc. as the most dominant faction in the company’s history, holding every title available. And all the whlie, CRD and Pierce engaged in a war of wills and wits with ComPro co-commissioners Mike Iles and C. M. Burnham.

This war resulted in CRD being forced to defend his tilte against Nathan Estrada on December 31st, 2016. Additionally, the loser of the match would have to retire. All this was set up by the drastic change of attitude from CRD and the sense of betrayal that Burnham felt. At one point, Burnham and CRD were close personal friends, but that all went to the wayside with CRD’s association with Pierce.

The match saw Nathan win the ComPro Ttile and CRD gave a heartfelt farewell. A new era was dawning on Northeast Oklahoma wrestling.

By the end of 6 weeks’ time, some of the most drastic changes in ComPro history were felt. Estrada was defeated for the ComPro Title by Brian Breaker at the first ComPro event of 2017. Burnham and Iles announced that ComPro management had changed hands and the new management had no use for commissioners. The night of that announcement, Iles would restart Excellence Personified by stripping Legion of the ComPro Tag Team Titles and awarding them to Duke Swellington. And Burnham essentially faded into ComPro history, a relic of a time gone by.

Burnham was not one to sit around and mope. Immediately upon his departure from ComPro, he signed with BPPW and was put in the position of co-commissioner there. And under his regime several former ComPro talents were brought into BPPW. No one expected CRD to be one of those.

But a few weeks ago, CRD appeared unannounced and produced a contract that had his signature as well as BPPW Co-Commissioner Dave Donovan. It just needed Burnham’s. But Burnham could not help but be leary. 4 months worth of arguing, deception and selfishness on the part of CRD would make just about anyone concerned. So Burnham laid it out for CRD that there would have be some sort of proof that he DESERVED a contract and a spot on the roster. He would have to EARN it. And CRD promised to do just that.

So the next week, CRD faced off against former ComPro Oklahoma X Division and ComPro Tag Team Champion Goldeneye. And he was dominant in victory. The following week, believing that was all that reqhired, CRD once again showed up requesting that Burnham sign the contract. But Burnham was not impressed with the victory, stating that just about anyone including himself, the woman who ran the concession stand or even ring announcer Tuck Davion could have beaten Goldeneye. But Burnham did appreciate the effort made by CRD and promised to find him something to do on the show. As luck would have it, that opportunity came up during the match between Wesley Crane and BCW Buzzsaw Champion Sam Stackhouse. Stackhouse head butted referee Crazy Charlie before the bell was rung and rendeared unconscious. Shortly after that, Burnham appeared, waving CRD in and ordering him to be the special guest referee (much to the protest of Stackhouse). At the end of that match, Legion appeared and abducted Stackhouse’s wife Chelsea. CRD could not have foreseen this, nor was it likely that, on his own, he was going to try and hold off Legion on his own. Nonetheless, Burnham saw this as a fault and declared that CRD had not fulfilled his job, thus he could not justify signing the contract.

But again, because he seemingly wanted to give CRD an opportunity to prove himself, Burnham again capitalized on a need he had. With Tuck Davion in Memphis that night, Burnham needed a ring announcer. He promised that if CRD fulfilled his duties successfully that night, he would sign the contract in the ring before the end of the show. CRD, though not a trained speaker, handled himself well. But after the semi-main event, when Mr. Nasty def. Graham Bell, Nasty decided that victory was not enough and proceeded to dish out a little extra physical punishment. CRD stepped up and interceded. Nasty seemingly backed down, but as CRD tended to Bell, Nasty grabbed his pimp stick and when CRD stood up and turned around, Nasty walloped him and laid him out, forcing CRD to be assisted to the back and leaving Burnham to announce the main event himself.

Again, this was obviously not CRD’s fault. But when Oklafan reporters contacted Burnham for a statement regarding this event, the BPPW co-commissioner had this to say:

“As much as it pains me to say this, I cannot justify CRD receiving a contract because of his actions at the end of the match between Graham Bell and Mr. Nasty. CRD obviously meant well, but his role was to be a ring announcer and as such, he needed to maintain a distanced state and a sense of neutrality. I have told CRD to take the week off and reassess his position and approach. CRD insists that he wishes to wrestle on June 30th. While I am reluctant to allow this, I suppose it will provide me with an opportunity to validate a contract for him, if he is successful in his job. CRD, please take this week to rest up and come back on June 30th prepared to impress me.”

Sometimes it is best to gain some distance and look at problems from a new perspective. The Canadian Red Devil has certainly done plenty of bad things in the recent past. But he also seems very sincere in his desire to do the right thing now. Maybe this week away will allow CRD to get his head together and finally find a way to do what he needs to do to atone for the sins of his past.