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Johnny Z in striking distance of first singles title

Posted: Jan 29th 2010 By: mikeiles

The gangland tactics of Impact, Inc. have always served a purpose. Since reentering MSWA, Johnny Z has had his eyes focused on the MSWA Mid-South Title. It would provide the capstone on his career, giving him the one thing he has never had: a singles title reign. So, together with MSWA Oklahoma Champion Aaron Neil, Johnny Z has used every tactic he can to get that Heavyweight Title shot.

As long as Jermaine Johnson and the plentiful amount of Impact, Inc. security have been present, things seemed to go right for Johnny. But when those factors were eliminated, things couldn?t have gone more wrong. Case in point: at the final MSWA event of 2009, Johnny Z was forced to participate in a handicap match against Kevin Morgan and MSWA Mid-South Champion Aaron Neil. The end result was Johnny laying, beaten and battered, in the middle of the ring while Morgan and Neil stood triumphant in front of the crowd.

On January 10, when MSWA opened its 2010 year, Impact, Inc. was back to full strength and prepared to return to their bully tactics. Johnny publicly berated one of his own security members, Sean Stevens, although this proved to be a ruse. Meanwhile, Jermaine Johnson acknowledged a challenge from Kevin Morgan for the Oklahoma Title, which set up the main event for the evening. When time came for that main event, as usual it was a 1-on-many match, with Jermaine accompanied by Johnny and the throngs of Impact, Inc. security. Morgan stood alone in his challenge, needing only the fans to back him up. However the fans could do nothing to prevent the constant interference from the people stationed outside the ring and Morgan had to fight from behind for most of the match. Impressively, Morgan overcame much of the adversity and it seemed like he was about to wrest the title away when Johnny Z entered the ring and gave him a low blow, earning Morgan a win by DQ. That didn?t matter to Johnny & Jermaine, as they kept the title in that situation. They were more concerned with hurting people. Impact, Inc. grabbed some chairs and reentered the ring. One member would beat down Morgan while the other would take care of anyone from the back that tried to save him. And try they did. Dustin Daniels, Jason Kirby, Bud Barnes, Tyson Jaymes, Rick Russo and MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion Ky-ote Joe all came out to try and rescue Morgan and all met with the sharp sting of a steel chair. Finally, La Reina de Corazones, who seems to have some sort of relationship with Morgan, flung herself into the ring and across Morgan?s body. This tactic had worked before, but this time, things were different. Johnny, with an evil gleam in his eye, raised the chair and appeared prepared to slam it across the petite body of Reina, but Johnson had a better idea and stopped his boss. He then yanked Reina up by the hair and kissed her in front of everyone. Impact, Inc. then left the ring, satisfied with the chaos they had created.

Pumped up from those events, Impact, Inc. returned triumphant at the beginning of the show this past Sunday. Johnny Z declared Kevin Morgan a coward and said that no one can stop them. But that just brought out MSWA owner Bad Boy. Cocky as ever, Johnny inquired what they had done to earn his presence at a show for the first time in something like 3 months. Bad Boy said the fans can?t do anything about Impact, Inc., but he can. He followed that up by saying that up by saying that Johnny had been running a circus at MSWA for the past 3 months, with Jermaine Johnson as the monkey. Johnson flipped out at this comment, and can barely be restrained by Johnny and Impact, Inc. security. Johnny took the mic and reminded Bad Boy that Johnson was the man who was bringing ?honour, prestige, respect, mystique and pizzazz? back to the Oklahoma title. Bad Boy said he was also bringing ?bananas?, which only served to anger Johnson further. After calming the Oklahoma Champion down, Johnny got serious and said that in two weeks, he was getting his MSWA Title shot. He called Aaron Neil a paper champion and said that when he finally became MSWA Champion, Impact, Inc. would be unstoppable. But Bad Boy dropped a bombshell by saying that Johnny was NOT the #1 contender. This point was true, as Kevin Morgan had won both a Battle Royal and a 1-on-1 match with Johnny Z to be declared the #1 contender to the MSWA Title. But Bad Boy proposed a tag team match for the main event, pitting Impact, Inc. against Kevin Morgan and Aaron Neil. If Impact, Inc. won that match, then Johnny Z would get his title shot. Johnny agreed to this and said that he wanted Bad Boy in the ring to raise his hand when he won the MSWA Title. Bad Boy simply told Johnny to ?take his pet monkey and get out.?

The fans hadn?t forgotten the primate comparison for Jermaine Johnson when he arrived for the main event and some had even managed to find some bananas to wave in his face. The taunting went even further when Aaron Neil grabbed Johnson during the match and press-slammed him over his head, then out of the ring. Aaron got the mic and said that he thought it was ironic since that move is sometimes called a ?gorilla slam?, but he proposed renaming it the ?flying monkey?. Morgan and Neil had strong control of the match until Johnson lured Morgan outside and back through the curtain. This allowed Johnny to sneak attack Aaron and take control for Impact, Inc. That control continued as Aaron and Johnson battled to the outside. This allowed Impact, Inc. security to join in on the beatdown of the MSWA Champion. Then, Johnny connected with a suicide plancha on the entire group. After recollecting themselves, the entirety of Impact, Inc. continued to pummel Neil until Kevin Morgan dove over the top rope onto the assembled masses outside! The brawl continued at the ringside area, but Aaron Neil managed to get back in the ring, climb to the top rope and dive onto the group. Eventually, the action moved back into the ring and Impact, Inc. were able to isolate Morgan. For a long time, they beat down the massive superstar, but finally, he made the tag to Aaron Neil. This put Aaron against Jermaine Johnson inside the ring while Johnny Z went to battle Morgan outside the ring. Morgan had Johnny leaned up against the corner post and dived in with a splash, but Johnny moved and Kevin knocked himself out on the impact. That provided the opening for the 2-on-1 situation and Johnny moved swiftly back into the ring, connecting with a reverse neckbreaker. Jermaine then covered Aaron for the pin.

Johnny had done it. He had earned the title shot, albeit under controversial circumstances. As he stood over the fallen MSWA Champion, Johnny simply said that he would see Aaron in two weeks.

Although he?s confident now, it?s important to note that Johnny spent a good deal of time last year trying to defeat Aaron Neil for the IZW Title. He never achieved that goal. But Johnny is no dummy and in all likelihood, he learned some things about Neil from those confrontations. Neil is swiftly closing in on a one-year title reign as MSWA Champion. Could Johnny be the man to spoil that potential accomplishment? If so, Johnny might prove to be just as unstoppable as he brags about being. And then the question would arise as to who would save MSWA from him.

Tags: MSWA, Johnny Z, Aaron Neil, Jermanine Johnson, Impact, Inc., Kevin Morgan, Sean Stevens, Dustin Daniels, Jason Kirby, Bud Barnes, Tyson Jaymes, Rick Russo, Ky-ote Joe, La Reina de Corazones, Bad Boy, IZW