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Who's It All About?

Posted: Oct 2nd 2010 By: CMBurnham

Ego. Most have it. Some keep it in check. Some use it to make themselves better without letting it overwhelm them. And some simply can't keep control of theirs.

When you own one of the most succesful wrestling federations in Oklahoma, you can allow yourself to have some ego. But MSWA Mid-South Champion Johnny Z takes that to an extreme as one of the most self-centred, arrogant stars in the state.

When you've won 4 Year-End awards and been ranked one of the top 10 wrestlers in the state while only having competed for 2 years, you can allow yourself to have some ego. But Jermaine Johnson takes that to an extreme, alienating all the fans who brought him to that position and focusing simply on himself.

When you only weigh 175 lbs., but you've taken the Heavyweight Champion of a Federation (who has about 70 lbs. on you) to the limit, so much so that he practically puts a hit on you, putting you out of wrestling for about a month, you could allow yourself to have some ego. But Dustin Daniels won't do that. He's humble, appreciative and works hard for every opportunity that comes his way, knowing that they won't be very frequent.

These 3 men, along with NWA-OK Oklahoma Women's Champion La Reina de Corazones, have been tangled together in both IZW and MSWA. And while Dustin had to deal with Johnny & Jermaine's egos in front of the live crowds in both areas, now it's going to get even worse with the introduction of iMPACT TV.

Since the announcement was made that IZW was going on the air every Friday night at 12:05AM, right after Jimmy Kimmel, Jermaine Johnson seems to have been positioning himself as IZW's next big TV star. He even forced IZW ring announcer Bill Lebeaux to announce him that way. Last week, he thought he had finished the issue with his former tag team partner, NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Champion Montego Seeka, by defeating him in a Steel Cage Match. As if Jermaine needed any more fuel to add to his overinflated opinion of himself. This past Saturday, Johnson interrupted Lebeaux's announcement of the first match and came out to address the audience. At first, it appeared that maybe something had gotten through to Johnson's head. He seemed humble and softspoken, saying that he had not been on the best behaviour in recent months. He admitted to being disrespectful and decided that he should pay respect to who got him where he was and supported him. He then announced that he was thanking everyone who got him there and "everyone" meant HIM! The crowd then realised that Johnson had not changed and was still the obnoxious arrogant person that he had revealed months before. Johnson said it was all about him and that he had proven that the previous week when he escaped a cage to defeat Seeka. He acknowledged being a 4-time IZW Tag Team Champion, but said he did that all by himself. He also said he would have been the Impact Player of the year in 2010, if not for Montego. For too long, he felt he'd been held down, but not he was rid of Montego and it was time to move on. The fans by that point were almost deafening with their chant of "Crybaby!!", but Johnson said he had nothing to cry about except that he wasn't the IZW Champion. But he knew that the winner of the Monster's Bash Battle Royal would receive an automatic title shot and so he announced that he was going to be the first entrant into that event.

Johnson's ramblings were unappreciated by the crowd, but he left satisfied that he'd said his piece and could now focus on more important things (probably concerning himself again.). But if the IZW fans thought they were safe from overwhelming ego, they were sadly mistaken as a few segments later, Johnny Z arrived (complete with new music and Zorthotron video) to meet Dustin Daniels in the ring. Bill Lebeaux had told the crowd that Daniels and Z were to meet in a match that night, but Johnny arrived in his street clothes and did not appear ready to compete. He said that he saw the same perplexed look on all the fans' faces. None of them knew him and that was the way he liked it. That way no one knew what to expect.

Johnny then kicked the egomania into overdrive, saying that everything about IZW was his and what he wanted to happen was what happened. And that, he said, was the problem. For too long, things had needed to be done his way and they hadn't because he put his faith in others. Last week, he fired Steve O and "kicked (his) dentures into the last row" because of his failure to protect Impact, Inc. and the control of IZW. Now, IZW needed a new co-commissioner and Johnny had found one. This new co-commissioner had known Johnny for a long time and knew exactly what Johnny wanted for IZW. The new co-commissioner was...Johnny Z! Again, the fans reigned down the boos as the ego boiled over in the ring and Daniels got more and more agitated. Johnny went on to boast about how he was more accomplished that anyone else in his locker room, running down his list of titles. But he noted that the only thing that had stood in his way before when it came to being Co-Commissioner was that it meant he would have to stop wrestling. That wasn't acceptable previously, but now, he was willing to make that "sacrifice". This meant that Daniels had no chance to get his hands on Johnny and if he did put his hands on him, he would be fired immediately. Daniels was irate, wanting revenge for having to be taken out of the arena in an ambulance one month prior. But Johnny simply carried on about his new position, comparing the IZW locker room to children in his care, saying they needed to be spanked by their father (him) when they did something wrong.

Daniels' rage reached a boiling point and he got right up in Johnny's face, but Johnny simply begged Daniels to touch him so he could fire him on the spot. Barely keeping his composure, Daniels was forced to back down and Johnny saw an opportunity to do even more damage to Daniels' psyche. Johnny said he would not wrestle in IZW again until he had "saved" IZW from Sam Helton, but he promised to keep Daniels in the main event position he had earned. He then assured Daniels that he would never have the opportunity to shove someone's head up an "anal cavity" again (as Daniels had done to Johnny, using Al Snow's rear end as the target, at September Slam.) Johnny then said that since he could not wrestle, he had chosen a replancement for himself to face Daniels. That replacement was Jermaine Johnson, which put Johnson in close proximity to La Reina. Although Johnson hasn't had much of a chance to pursue La Reina (or Erica, as she's known in IZW) in Lawton, she's been his obsession in MSWA and any time that he got close to her, potentially bad things could happen. Daniels prepared to defend his girl from what most would call a stalker while Johnson simply wanted everyone to pay attention to him.

During the match, Johnson locked on an abdominal stretch and postitioned himself so that referee Jimmy Deen could not see that he was using the ropes to apply extra leverage. On the third time that he did so, Erica jumped up on the apron and bit Johnson's knuckles! This infuriated Johnson, but did break the hold and put things back on the straight and narrow. Later in the match. Johnson tried to pin Daniels while putting his feet on the ropes for extra leverage, but Erica shoved them off. At that point, an arguement ensued between Erica and Johnson outside the ring. Johnny Z arrived down the ramp and moved around so that Erica was trapped between them, but Daniels planched over the top rope onto Johnson as Erica shoved Z out of the way. Daniels almost turned his aggression on Johnny, but Johnny reminded "Double D" that he needed to focus on Johnson. Daniels went back into the ring and up on the second rope, still arguing with Johnny Z and that was all the distraction Johnson needed to sneak up from behind and hit the Energy Shot off the top rope for the win.

Johnson and Z stood united in the ring, much as they did when they entered MSWA as Impact, Inc. Though not officially a member of the group in IZW, the comraderie is still there and both men mockingly saluted the crowd on their way up the ramp, concerned about nothing but themselves. With that much power and that much ego bonded together, it might not be possible for television to contain all of it. Both men believe they are the best thing Oklahoma wrestling has to offer. And this alliance may be all it takes to prove that to hundreds of thousands of households in the soutwest region of the state.

Tags: MSWA, Johnny Z, Jermaine Johnson, Dustin Daniels, NWA-OK, La Reina de Corazones, Bill Lebeaux, Montego Seeka, Al Snow, Erica, Steve O, Jimmy Deen, Impact, Inc.