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Tensions Brew Between MSWA Tag Champs

Posted: Mar 8th 2008 By: CMBurnham

It took the South Side Soul Assassins almost a year to gain the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Titles. And recent events now seem to make it questionable as to how long they can cooperate to hold those belts. While they're still incredibly popular with the fans, Tyson Jaymes & 3rd Rail don't seem to be getting along. And both have pointed the finger of blame at each other.

Everything seemed to be going along well as long as the South Siders dominated their opposition, but on January 20th, the Dynasty took advanatage of an opportunity in a non-title match and scored a pin on the champions. 3rd Rail seemed to blame this on Tyson after the match, but most people didn't think anything about this as Rail has never been the most stable individual in regular times. And 2 weeks later, the champs were back together, issuing a challenge to Dane Griffin & UWF06 Texhoma Champion Les Mayne for the belts. Tyson even went so far as to say that if they didn't show up, he and 3rd Rail would chase them down Chicago-style, to get revenge for their defeat.

On February 17th, the Dynasty got thier title shot, but were unable to capitalise on it. This time, however, the tensions flowed in the other direction, as 3rd Rail was visably upset at some miscommunication with Tyson after the main event.

With all that as a lead in, it was an odd site to see 3rd Rail come out and join MSWA ring announcer Jesse Storm last Sunday. The pair threw some candy out to the audience (something that Tyson used to do on his way to the ring) and then Rail took the mic. He mentioned that he had entered the Lethal Lotto tournament and wanted to earn a shot at the MSWA Mid-South Title, but right now he had some business to discuss with his partner. Tyson joined him in the ring and immediately, the disagreements began. Rail said he'd tried to call Tyson several times that week. Tyson responded that there had been a death in his family. Rail let that pass and said he wanted to wish Tyson good luck in the Lethal Lotts tournament. Tyson got more upset, saying that Rail didn't care about him, he just cared about the titles. He then informed the crowd that this was all just like 6 years ago, when both men were competing for Windy City Wrestling and Rail left him holding the tag team titles so he could come to MSWA. Tyson didn't hear from him for 3 years, until he needed some help. rail had nothing to say in response to this, but again wished Tyson good luck, reminding him that when he's across the ring from his partner, it's not personal, it's all busines. They shook hands and left the ring seperately, resolving nothing.

But that wasn't the end of the issue. Later in the show, MSWA commissioner granted Rail a title shot in a Lumberjack match against Al Farat. Tyson teamed with Seth Allen to advance the Lethal Lotto tournament against Chaz Sharpe & Shane Rawls, certainly making him happy. And Tyson was right there as one of the lumberjacks supporting his partner in his quest for the Heavyweight Title. Farat had defeated Rail in a Lumberjack Match in October to win the belt originally, so would history repeat itself here? Then it was intereference by The New Age Syndicate that derailed the big man. This time, it would be other issues.

As the match progressed, the lumberjacks got more and more agitated with each other. And when things finally broke lose, Farat's manager Jin Soon took advantage of the distraction to throw fire into Rail's eyes. This brought Tyson into the ring to defend his partner, but when he went to spear Farat, Farat sidestepped and Tyson slammed into a blinded Rail. What looked like a simple error in timing became something else alltogether as Tyson did nothing to help his partner after the collision. Instead, he stood over Rail with a slightly crazed look on his face, then turned away, shrugging his shoulders and left the ring while Farat covered the fallen behemoth and retained the title.

Tyson refused to answer any questions about his actions, even those posed by his Lethal Lotto Tag Team partner Seth Allen as Tyson was walking away. Several wrestlers tended to Rail's injuries and, after washing out his eye, Rail was enraged and charged into the backstage area, looking for a confrontation with Tyson.

Like a couple of other federations, the tag team ranks in MSWA are somewhat thin. A team with the size and power of the South Side Soul Assassins should easily retain those belts for a long time. But now with them seemingly on opposite pages, it appears possible that almost any combination could step up and take those belts. More importantly, Tyson has done the one thing he may not have wanted to: he's angered MSWA's giant. And if he can't resolve the problems soon, this war may destroy both men.

Tags: MSWA, South Side Soul Assassins, Tyson James, 3rd Rail, Dynasty, Dane Griffin, Les Mayne, Jesse Storm, Halo, Seth Allen, Al Farat, Jin Soon, Chaz Sharpe, Shane Rawls, New Age Syndicate