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The 2011 Oklafan Mid-Year Report

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 By: CMBurnham

2011 is almost halfway done and we at Oklafan.com are pleased to release The Mid-Year Report. In this report, we'll look at the top 20 wrestlers of 2010 (as listed in the Oklafan Top 50) and see where they stand today, what they've accomplished and where they might be going. With a little less than 6 months left before the end of the year, some performers might need that extra motivation to kick things into gear. So, without further adieu, let's get to it:

1. Shane Morbid: Last year, Morbid hit the mid-year point as a Triple Crown Champion. He achieved that title again this year, holding the TAP, NXW & BYEW Titles simultaneously. This makes him the only peformer to hold 2 Triple Crowns on Oklahoma made of 2 entirely different set of belts. An amazing accomplishment...and pretty much the only reason Morbid still gets ranked in this list. After the first 6 months of this year, Morbid has competed on 7 wrestling shows. That's barely 1 a month. Certainly not up to the level that he had set the previous year. And he's not currently listed as a champion, as 2 of the federations shut down and he lost the BYEW Title in a Last Man Standing Match to Sam Stackhouse this past weekend. If Morbid intends to be listed in the Top 50 this year, he'll need to seriously reconsider his motivation.

Current ranking: 29

2. Kevin Morgan: Circumstances have piled up on Morgan and he's done the best he can to hold up against them. Morgan was one of the mainstays for MSWA, but he put his career on the line in a Fatal 4-Way for the vacant MSWA Title and came up short to Double D. That put Morgan out of that federation. In IZW, his tag team with Xavior was still making appearances, but not really getting anywhere towards capturing the IZW Tag Team Titles for the 3rd time. Morgan began to focus more on his singles career, making a shot for IZW Champion Jermaine Johnson and trying to regain that title. He came up short at their "Evolution" event on June 18. Morgan now seems exclusive to IZW and needs to keep himself in the title picture in order to stay in the Top 10.

Current ranking: 6

3. Dutch Hagen: Like Morbid, Hagen also knew what it was like to be a Triple Crown Champion, holding the MWA Tag Team, TAP Oklahoma Heritage and ComPro Titles at the beginning of the year. And almost like dominoes, all those titles were gone by the beginnig of April, which is also the last time Hagen was seen. His Foreign Legion partner Joe Cothern abandoned him and went back to California, leaving him forced to defend the tag titles with his manager, Stevie Caballero, against Bad Bromance in a losing proposition. He was backed into a Bullrope Match with Tim Rockwell, one of Rockwell's specialites, and lost the TAP Oklahoma Heritage Title. And then 3 months, later, Rockwell again defeated Hagen, this time for the ComPro Title on April 9. Hagen has been absent from the ring since then, as he currently is spending time with his newborn son. It is unknown if he will ever compete again on a regular basis.

Current ranking: unranked

4. Jermaine Johnson: He's the 5th longest reigning champion in Oklahoma, having won the IZW Title on November 6, 2010. He's competed on an almost weekly basis since the beginning of the year. And he's an embarassment to profession. Jermaine Johnson has gone out of his way to duck and avoid putting his title on the line under most circumstances. Of the 28 matches he's had this year, 17 have been singles encounters (if you can call having multiple members of Impact, Inc. at ringside with you a "Singles encounter"). And he's only been victorious in 7 of those, giving him a 25% success ratio in the ring this year. Thouroughly embarassing. Yet he insists on saying that it's all about him and he's the heavyweight champion of the world. Well, not here. Until he changes his attitude and becomes a more upstanding performer, he won't be seeing the light of day in this list.

Current ranking: unranked.

5. Dane Griffin: Also one of the top 5 longest reigning current champions in Oklahoma, holding the NWA-OK Texoma title since September 17, 2010. That title went inactive earlier this year, but with NWA-OK running a show in Springer in June, it's back on the board until at least September. Dane spent the beginning of 2011 accomplishing essentially nothing. He lost his spot in the Future Hall of Famers to Damon Windsor and left IZW towards the end of February. He did appear at the most recent MSWA event, but it's uncertain at this time if that was a one-off thing or if he intends to come in full time. At this point, the man who loves to brag about being the only 2-time #1 in the Oklafan Top 50 isn't making the cut.

Current ranking: unranked

6. Jack Legacy: Legacy suffered a foot injury during the 5-on-5 Elimination match at ComPro's November event and it seems to have put his career on hold. He tried to battle through the pain, but wasn't able to defend the ComPro Tag Team Titles with Dustin Heritage earlier, resulting in Max McGuirk & Cold Blooded Chris winning them. He was also stripped of the MWA Title after reaggravating the injury in a Steel Cage match where he and Dustin teamed up against Michael Barry & Butch Reed. Legacy has not been able to perform since that time.

Current ranking: unranked

7. Ky-ote Joe: No matter the odds, Joe always found his way into the Top 10 over the past couple of years. This time it seems different. Things looked great for Joe on the tag team front as he and Eric Rose had captured the IZW Tag Team Titles for the 2nd time at "Violent Valentine", but the next week they were put out of action by Nemesis and stripped of the titles due to injury. They returned as surprise partners for Double D on April 23, but then Rose left IZW and Joe was left without anyone to back him up. He went to his original Aerial Assault partner (with whom he holds the NWA-OK Oklahoma Tag Team Titles, which they won on September 17, 2010) Montego Seeka and brought that version of AA to IZW. Hopefully Joe can get things back on track for the 2nd half of 2011 since the first half wasn't beneficial to him

Current ranking: unranked

8. Dustin Heritage: The longest reigning current champion in Oklahoma, having held the MWA MAX-Division Title since May 7, 2010. And, like Jermaine Johnson, another huge disappointment. He started the year great with a classic title-vs-career match against Blake Albright, but it all seemed to go downhill from there. He can't seem to buy a win in IZW and he isn't much better off in MWA. If it weren't for the tornado ripping through Joplin and destroying his home, he probably would have lost his title to Michael Barry in a Ladder Match. It seemed like Dustin had so much promise just last year and could be regarded as one of the top guys, despite his size. That just isn't the case anymore.

Current ranking: unranked

9. Bernie D: He fought his former best friend and tag team partner Johnny Z in a feud that saw him taken out of the Impact Zone in an ambulance. This year has been a lot less focused. He was part of Impact, Inc. in MSWA, but was forced to leave after losing the 3-on-3 Elimination Tag Team match on March 6. He reentered IZW on March 19, forming a team with Angel Williams and clashed with the Future Hall of Famers. But when Williams got injured, D sought out Max McGuirk and the pair upended Nemesis for the IZW Tag Team Titles. The FHoF also injured McGuirk, leaving Bernie on his own. He held out for a while, but was forced into a tag team title defence without his partner. Aaron Neil tried to take his place, but it wasn no use and John O'Malley & Brad Michaels took the IZW Tag Team Titles away. Bernie needs some stability if he's going to climb back into the Top 50 this year.

Current ranking: unranked

10. Double D: One of the few people on the list to improve themselves. It's been a stellar year for D. He holds victories over Jermaine Johnson & Johnny Z, both of which liberated his girlfriend Erica from their respective clutches. He captured his first title, the MSWA Mid-South Title, winning a 4-Way Elimination match over Kevin Morgan, 3rd Rail and Xavior. But he also got fired from MSWA by Shawn McKeaigg while champion and had to vacate the belt without ever getting to defend it. Now exclusive to IZW, D seems to have gained the respect of Johnny Z, which will lead to a whole other chapter in their relationship. Plus, he holds victories over Jermaine Johnson, which should put him in line for a title shot (should Johnson deign to defend that title anytime soon.)

Current ranking: 3

11. Xavior: It's been said in every tag team, there's a Shawn Michaels and there's a Marty Janetty. Xavior certainly seems to be the latter from the team of Awesome X. He began the year as 1/2 of the IZW Tag Team Champions and the MSWA Oklahoma Champion, but by the middle of February those title belts were gone and so was any momentum he had. He's not appeared in a wrestling ring since May 14 and may be gone from wrestling for good at this point.

Current ranking: 48.

12. Max McGuirk: Accolades so far this year: MWA Tag Team Champion, UWE Tag Team Champion, ComPro Tag Team Champion, IZW Tag Team Champion. BYEW Caution Champion, MSWA Oklahoma Champion. Max is the one man in this state who seems determined to make himself known in all the areas. The time he spent in Florida for WWE's developmental has paid off as he brings a star quality with him that wasn't present before he left. He is excitement and passion personified and for all these reasons, he is Oklafan's current choice as the best wrestler in the state. The year is only half done, so it will be interesting to see if he can stay here, but at this point, the name McGuirk is proudly worn all over the Sooner state by this young man.

Current ranking: 1

13. Aaron Neil: Personal issues have kept Neil from ascending back to the top of IZW. Near the beginning of the year he had his arm broken by Michael Barry, resulting in a fued that lasted until Violent Valentine. He was then part of the Team Double D, but came out on the losing end at March Mayhem. Most recently, he's let Randy Price get to him, resulting in a Strap Match at Evolution. He did manage to become the 2011 Impact Player of the Year for the second time, guaranteeing him a shot at the IZW Title and he has yet to cash that chance in. He needs to capture some gold in order to regain some footing in the rankings, since he remains exclusive to IZW.

Current ranking: 17

14. Sam Stackhouse: The jovial man from Golden Corral, TX has a little more to be happy about since he won his first heavyweight title on June 25, by beating BYEW Champion Shane Morbid in a Last Man Standing Match. Aside from that, Stackhouse has also been part of a major fued with the members of the New Era 2nd against the Clockwork Clique, but that's been put on hold since ComPro went on hiatus. He also was the final man who Morbid beat for the NXW Title at their one event in February. Sam seems to fit in wherever he goes and could benefit from some more exposure in federations that haven't seen him yet.

Current ranking: 19

15. Michael Barry: It's almost a joke. For the past 3 years, Barry has been ranked #14 or #15. It just seems like that's his glass ceiling, although he did get up to #9 in 2007. Barry is one fo the more travelled stars this year, but it hasn't really paid off for him much. He left Excellence Personified in MWA and was supposed to receive an MWA Title shot in May, but due to Jack Legacy's injury, he was given a shot for the MWA MAX-Division Title instead. That was supposed to lead to a Ladder match for the belt (since thier initial encounter resulted in a Double Countout), but due to the tornado in Joplin, that didn't happen and Barry was left to face Brad Michaels. Down in IZW, he was embroiled in a feud with Aaron Neil, then was part of Team Johnny Z, winning the Impact Chamber at "March Mayhem". At Evolution, he won the IZW Impact Division Title for the first time. It's all the time in between that costs him. He's only competed 21 times this year, most notably taking almost the entire month of February off. If he doesn't compete more, he won't be a top 20 guy this year.

Current ranking: 32 (which, ironically, is what his first Top 50 ranking was back in 2005)

16. Richie Adams Still something of a rookie, the former ComPro Champion hasn't bounced back since losing that title. He, Sam Stackhouse & Crossfire Morrison feuded with the Clockwork Clique and that has engulfed almost everything he's done so far this year. He's making strides into MWA, but his partnership with Morrison up there seems on the rocks. One has to wonder if that will carry over into ComPro when they start running shows again. Adams needs outside guidance like Stevie Caballero gives him, otherwise he easily loses focus and could be out of consideration for any title quickly.

Current ranking: 28

Johnny Z: As usual, no one stirs up more controversy than the owner of IZW. He took himself off the active roster of IZW just so he could be co-commissioner and mess with Double D for almost a year. Meanwhile, he was still MSWA Champion, but reduced his activities there due to a knee injury. Ultimately, he was forced to leave MSWA while still champion after losing a 3-on-3 Elimination match and he suffered the humiliation of being the first person eliminated from the match, less than a minute after it started. While not competing in IZW, he was still involved as he created the "Catching Some Zs" talk segment. He returned to the ring at March Mayhem and lead his team to victory in the Impact Chamber event. That sparked a return to the ring, but it's not been a very successful one as he only has 1 singles victory since that point (March 26, over Angel Williams) and only a couple of tag team victories. But even with all that, the most interesting thing with Johnny happens when his mouth is moving (or at least when it's supposed to). This past week saw him give a sign of respect to Double D, which lead to him being kicked out of Impact, Inc., the group he established all those years ago. Johnny couldn't get many wins with them backing him up this year, how will he fare with them gone?

Current ranking: unranked

18: Michael H. He competed in one match at the NXW event in February. The rest of the time has been spent in Arkansas for NCW and the Hillbilly Wrestling Federation, where he is the champion.

Current ranking: unranked

19. Ignition. Oddly, Ignition is one of only 4 people who have been ranked every year in the Top 50. I say "oddly" because he's thought of primarily as a tag team competitor and is currently 1/2 of the ComPro Tag Team Champions with his brother Reckless. But he also captured the TAP Adrenaline title at the beginning of the year, although he never got to defend the belt since they shut down after that show. Two ComPro Tag Team Titles is a good to add to the resume, but he's pretty much a ComPro exclusive and really needs to spread his wings to gain some experience and recognition.

Current ranking: 31

20. Tim Rockwell. Another one of only 3 people in last year's top 20 to have bettered themselves. Rockwell seems to have found some new fire. He was another wrestler to achieve a Triple crown, holding the BYEW Caution, TAP Oklahoma Heritage and Compro Titles simultaneously. In the process, he became the 1st-ever ComPro Grand Slam Champion, holding all 4 ComPro Titles. He ended the family issues between himself and his uncle Bernard Funk by forcing Funk to retire in a Hair-vs-Career match at MWA. He's making overtures to return to SWCW as well, possibly to focus on the All-American Title there. Rockwell was a #1 guy once before when people thought he was "just" a tag team competitor. He can certainly go there again, especially with the mindset he has now.

Current ranking: 8