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Tragedy to Triumph: Excellence Personified Racks Up More Championship Gold

Posted: Feb 24th 2010 By: CMBurnham

The road to the top has turned into a swift assent for the members of Excellence Personified. Manager Mike Iles has assembled what he believes to be the greatest collection of talent in the state and that assertion took another step towards being proven when Jack Legacy & SWCW Luchadore Champion Se7en won the ComPro Tag Team Championship this past Saturday.

EP?s path to the gold wasn?t exactly the straightest, but it got the job done. And it began with Iles and Legacy appearing in the crowd at the February 13th ComPro event. Opening the card that night was ComPro Showtime Champion Ignition defending his title against ComPro & TAP Tag Team Champion Jesus Rodriguez. Rodriguez put up a strong fight to try and make himself a triple champion, but his partner, Dutch Hagen, was absent that night. Ignition had the advice of his manager Boss Campbell as well as his brother, TAP Champion Reckless. As Jesus seemed to have the gold in his hands, Reckless jumped up on the ring apron. Jesus punched him and then went after Boss Campbell, which hallowed Ignition to connect with a Wheelbarrow suplex for the win. As Campbell & the Saints of Twilight left the ring, Iles and Legacy entered from the crowd. Iles took the mic and told the fans that he knew Jesus was there alone. He then went on to state that EP had entered ComPro seven months ago, but had yet to get a tag team title shot. Legacy proceded to beat down Jesus while Iles assured the crowd that EP were friends outside the ring as well as business associates inside. They had each others? backs, which seemed not to be true for Legion 13 that night. Not having a match (and having taken out their aggression for that oversight on Rodriguez), Iles & Legacy left out the front door while Jesus made a slow recovery.

This past Friday, ComPro put on a special benefit show for McKinley Elementary. Again, Excellence Personified were in attendance, this time represented by Iles, Legacy, Dustin Heritage and MWA Champion Michael Barry. It wasn?t the best night for EP as far as their win/loss ratio goes. Barry received a ComPro Title shot against TAP Oklahoma Heritage, MWA MAX-Division, and ComPro Champion Shane Morbid. It was an amazing match, but Barry didn?t take home the gold, thanks to his being on the receiving end of the Barnaby Jones clothesline. Dustin Heritage faced off against newcomer Kurtis Riggs, who had been scouted at one point by Mike Iles as a possible addition to EP, but after Riggs? loss at the TAP show on February 12 to Ignition, Iles officially declared that, while he thought Riggs had great potential and bright future ahead of him, he just wasn?t EP material. This was Riggs? chance to get a little revenge and he didn?t waste it, catching Heritage with a surprise small package in the middle of the ring for the win. The look on Iles? & Legacy?s faces told the whole story as they could not believe Dustin had been pinned by someone they had turned down for membership.

But the highlight of the night for the group was their opening appearance as Legacy faced off against Hagen in a battle of the Handsome gentlemen. Much like 6 days before, Hagen was alone that night while EP were all present for this match. Hagen fought bravely, but continually had to beat back the odds. At one point, Mike Iles jumped up on the apron to distract the referee. Dustin entered the ring and connected with a superkick. Legacy slowly (and overconfidently) made a cover, but only got a two-count. After recovering from that, Dutch eventually caught Legacy unaware with a schoolboy rollup and got the win. Iles was embarrassed that he had lost this 1-on-1 event and ordered the Jet Setters to give Hagen the ?Nosedive? finisher. He then took the microphone and said that, much like with Jesus, they knew Hagen was at the show alone and chose to target him for that reason. Iles then told Hagen to make sure to bring the tag team title belts the next night, as it would be the last night they would be champions.

With Barry & Heritage booked in Missouri the next night, representation for EP came down to Jack Legacy & EP?s newest recruit, Se7en. Rolling off the feeling of having ambushed the champions alone, things were a little different when they faced them in a 2-on-2 situation. Legion 13 knew they could not afford to fight fair and attacked the challengers before their ring entrance was done. It was a brawl from the start and both teams used every tactic they knew to make sure the belts would come home with them. Iles, who was going ballistic at ringside as his men were being cut off and waylayed every chance they got, eventually came up on the ring apron and threw his shoe into the ring. Legacy snatched it and prepared himself while Hagen backed Se7en into a corner. With Se7en incapacitated in the corner, Hagen turned around to prepare to deal with Legacy, but Legacy introduced him to an up-close view of the bottom of the shoe as it collided with Hagen?s head. After a Roaring Elbow from Se7en and a Hot Carl from Legacy, Se7en & Legacy gained their first tag team championship together.

EP certainly seems to be on a roll. Besides Barry being the MWA Champion and Legacy & Se7en being ComPro Tag Team Champions, the Jet Setters continue to have a stranglehold over the Southern Tag Team Championships, which they often wear (but hardly ever defend) at an MWA event. The only disappointment in the roster so far has been Lars Manderson, who never gained a single title belt during his one-year career.

Tags: Excellence Personified, Mike Iles, Jack Legacy, Se7en, SWCW, ComPro, Ignition, TAP, Jesus Rodriguez, Dutch Hagen, Reckless, Boss Campbell, Saints of Twilight, Dustin Hertiage, MWA, Michael Barry, Shane Morbid, Kurtis Riggs, Jet Setters