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Up From The Trenches! Blythe Retires Umbra to End Dark Forces Grip On WAH!

Posted: Jun 29th 2023 By: CMBurnham

A new force has burst on the scene here in Oklahoma this year. Well, not COMPLETELY new. But one that is reborn, reinvigorated and dedicated to fighting against all the evil things in Oklahoma wrestling.

Trench Blythe has competed in many different federations this year, but calls WAH home. It's his main promotion and has been since he returned to pro wrestling in February.

Returned? Yes. But you may not recognise him. Because it's been many years and lots of issues since he was around. But for a brief time in 2016, he competed under the name Lucid in SRPW. It was only a handful of matches and then he disappeared. And unfortunately, the disappearance was due to a combination of many personal demons that overwhelmed him.

And that's where Trench Blythe began to be born. Because he struggled. He persevered. He overcame. And he promised himself that he would return to pro wrestling. It took 7 years and a lot of effort, but that promise was fulfilled in February.

Returning at that time and specifically returning to WAH meant Blythe came into WAH at one of its darkest periods. The faction known as Dark Forces had sunk their talons deep into the company, corrupting as high as WAH Founder Pastor Brent. Blythe knew what it was like to be overwhelmed by outside forces. To have to give up everything and fight to get it back. And as such, he had something of a personal armour against the evils that Dark Forces brought to the table.

So it was no surprise that he stood beside Pastor Brent and Dove Puro and WAH Living Hope Champion Eddie LeVaughn to counter the assembled masses of Dark Forces in the Apocalypse Match. It was the most violent match conceived of by WAH commissioner Toney Marcus Jones. And the stipulations could not be higher. If Dark Forces won, they would get full and complete control of WAH forever. But if Team WAH won, Dark Forces had to disband.

The rules of the match saw the match split into two parts. The first part was known as the Doomsday Clock. One member from each team would start and compete for 5 minutes. After that, Dark Forces, who had won a Best-of-5 Series on June 10th, had the advantage and would send another member in for 2 minutes before a member of Team WAH could join. This would go back and forth until all 8 men were in the ring. During this time, pinfalls and submissions did not count. So any and all brutality could be enacted by each team. But once all 8 men were in the ring, Apocalypse reigned down!

Prior to the match, a video was shown of an encounter in the back between Blythe and Umbra. Umbra was so confident in Dark Forces' ability to win that he offered something of a side bet. If Dark Forces won, Blythe would have to join the faction. But if Team WAH won, Umbra would retire from wrestling. So now even MORE was at stake. But that only inspired Trench more.

And that inspiration was going to be needed as Trench was the first representative for his team in the Doomsday Clock segment countered by Reese. And Trench took quite a beating at the hands of Reese and BPW Lion Heart Champion San La Muerte until Dove Puro came to even things up. Umbra arrived to make it 3-on-2 for another 2 minutes before Pastor Brent brought things even again. And finally Dr. Corvus arrived for Dark Forces followed 2 minutes later by Eddie LeVaughn, who entered through the crowd. And then Apocalypse began.

Dr. Corvus was the first to eliminated, followed quickly by Dove Puro who was put through a table prior to being pinned. Next out was Levaughn and it seemed like Pastor Brent was soon to follow, but a miscommunication led to the elimination of San La Muerte instead and he was not happy as he left. But Pastor Brent soon was felled leaving Blythe against Umbra and Reese. Blythe was exhausted. He had fought and fought and it appeared that the odds were just not going to pay off for him. But knowing that he would have to sell his soul to Dark Forces and knowing that he would have let all the WAH fans down and handed the company to the likes of Dark Order was too much. Mustering every bit of energy he could, Blythe disposed of Reese and turned his attention to the man who stood in his way. The only obstacle left to pry WAH out of the clutches of Dark Forces.

And Blythe used that motivation to pin Umbra's shoulders to the mat, winning the match, saving WAH, disbanding Dark Forces and saving WAH.

Blythe considers himself a self-made man. Others would call him a hero at this point. And as his music blared after the victory, the locker room poured out to the ring and hoisted him on their shoulders as he had done what many thought was impossible. It was a huge moment, hopefully the first of many, for the man who once had no home, no hope and no idea who he was.