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O’Brien Now the Definition of the #1 Contender to the ASP Title

Posted: Jun 17th 2020 By: Michael Hunt

ASP has a plethora of titles, but the ASP Title is their top prize. And while currently held by Angel Camacho, two other top ASP stars have been circling, making their presence known and trying to gain an opportunity to face Camacho for that title.

One of those men is Double D, a man who has done so much in Oklahoma wrestling. At one point, he held 3 different titles in 3 federations simultaneously. With the constant presence of the ASP Women’s Champion, Erica, by his side, Double D felt that it would be an easy leap up to the #1 contendership and another notch in his belt as he could claim a title he had never held.

But opposing him in that journey was O’Brien. The man who held the title for the better part of 2018 was determined to become the first 2-time ASP Champion. And unlike D, O’Brien didn’t have a physical presence at ringside with him. Instead, he had the support of the fans and their chants of “So Big, So Strong!” Encouraging him all the way.

In March, O’Brien and D met one-on-one for the first time in an ASP ring, but it was hardly a fair situation as ASP Women’s Champion Erica connived her way into the match as a special referee. And with her presence and assistance, D won that match and became #1 contender, a position that D relished, but was unable to capitalize on due to the COVID-19 virus.

When wrestling resumed in Oklahoma towards the end of May, D was ready for his opportunity. But Angel Camacho was not present, as transportation to and from his home area of Puerto Rico was problematic at best. So D found himself once again staring across the ring at O’Brien. This time, Erica was at ringside (though not for long, as she was ejected early in the match) and unable to have the direct effect she did in the previous encounter. And thus the result was rather different, with O’Brien putting down Double D. Which now begged the question: Who really deserved to be recognized as #1 contender?

That question would be answered this past Sunday when D and O’Brien found themselves staring across the ring from each other again, but this time, both men had surprises for the other. O’Brien refused to allow Erica to be the referee in the match, while D objected the referee they had in the last match and did not want him to be involved. And this brought the return of Prince Mahalli to the ring! Mahalli, who had suffered a debilitating back in injury at the beginning of the year, was still not cleared to compete in the ring, but revealed that he had signed as a referee for ASP and volunteered to render services in that manner during this match. D reluctantly agreed, but changed things up, saying that this would not be a singles match, but instead a tag team match. And while D is not known as a tag team competitor, his history in tag team wrestling is a little better than O’Brien’s, as O’Brien had a tendency to betray his tag team partners, such as Jonah Turk. D challenged O’Brien to find a partner and O’Brien wondered if that would be possible for D, but D already had something in mind as he motioned behind O’Brien and brought forth Thorne the Hunter. Thorne immediately locked a chokehold on O’Brien from behind and looked to be on the way to putting O’Brien out for good when Dimitri Alexandrov stormed from the back and made the save. While Alexandrov had never competed in ASP before, his encounters with O’Brien made it clear that they could trust each other and so a bond was formed between the Power Hoss and the Sworn Enemy of Bears Everywhere.

When the time came, everyone had something to prove. O’Brien and D wanted to prove that they were the #1 contender to the ASP Title. Thorne wanted to be looked at a winner again. And Alexandrov hoped to make a strong first impression. Obviously not all of these things could come true, but most important of them is that O’Brien pinned D in the ring to be undeniably proven as #1 contender to the ASP Title.

After that match, and after O’Brien regained his strength, he stood in the middle of the ring and issued a loud, clear challenge to Angel Camacho for that ASP Title. While Camacho did not respond, C. M. Burnham, Camacho’s manager, who was doing commentary on the Twitch Stream of the show for the main event, acknowledged the challenge and swore that there was no way that O’Brien would ever take that belt from Camacho. O’Brien and Camacho have only had one other singles match in ASP history and that one was declared a No-Contest. So the proving ground still stands open. O’Brien has now beaten one of the best to become #1 contender. Can he do the same again to become ASP Champion?