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O'Brien & Burns Poised To Clash For SRPW Title Soon

Posted: Sep 24th 2011 By: CMBurnham

He's been ducked. He's been beaten. He's been screwed. And he's not going to take it anymore.

Jake O'Brien calls SRPW home. Partially because it's where he got his very first training as a pro wrestler. And partially because they consider Mounds, OK their home territory. As such, he tries to do things the right way and represent the town he holds so dear. But after the events that have happened since SRPW's return, it seems like it's time for O'Brien to start looking after himself and to represent his company better than their current champion.

When SRPW reopened, O'Brien had just spent the better part of 6 months chasing the MERC Patriot Title held by Robbie Awesome. At the last MERC event, he defeated Awesome for that title and carried it over to SRPW. But at the first SRPW event, SRPW managment stripped O'Brien of that belt, making it inactive and replacing it with the SRPW United States Title, which they gave to Ray Martinez due to his having been the SRPW X Division Champion at the time the company shut down in 2006. In consolation, O'Brien did receive a shot against SRPW Champion Bobby Burns at that show, but the wiley veteran came out ahead in that contest. It wasn't easy, though, and that might explain some of Burns' actions in the months that followed.

The next month, O'Brien faced Rolling Thunder, who was making his SRPW debut. Outmatched by 100 pounds and many years of experience, O'Brien had to approach this match very carefully. And he did, targeting Thunder's legs and attempting to negate the size advantage the veteran had. But unexpectedly, Bobby Burns made his presence known at ringside during the match, at first simply observing. It didn't take long for him to interfere, though. When O'Brien locked on a figure-four leglock, Burns entered the ring and stomped on O'Brien, earning him a win via DQ. Both behemoths double-teamed O'Brien until he rallied and chased them to the back.

O'Brien thought he was going to have a much different situation this past Saturday as he was scheduled to face the returning BYEW Champion, Sam Stackhouse. Stackhouse had been a mainstay of MERC, but conflicts with SRPW management had led to his absence for the past few shows. That seemed to be in the past and O'Brien looked forward to the scientific confrontation. It didn't happen as Stackhouse displayed a highly aggressive side, confusing O'Brien to the point where he asked several times what Sam's problem was. Stackhouse never responded, instead, beating relentlessly on O'Brien. After a Black Hole Slam by Stackhouse, he rolled over in an attempt to cover O'Brien, but only got 2. Both men then got back to their feet and met face to face. Slaps were followed by shoves and in an impressive feat, O'Brien was able to pick Sam up for the Sooner Slammer and put the Superheavyweight down for the count.

Meanwhile, Bobby Burns was scheduled to defend his title against SWCW Champion John E. Stone in the main event. Stone ended up having transportation issues (although Burns accused him of being scared to show up and face him), so an unknown newcomer received that title shot. His name was Hado and he was quite simply not up to the task. Burns seemed to have handpicked this opponent and from the quality of competition, it was pretty apparent why. He wanted a night off and he basically got it. But Burns was certainly not prepared for O'Brien to appear after Burns won his match with a power slam. O'Brien asked Burns why he had been ducking his challenge. He said he beat Rolling Thunder, who obviously had an association with Burns, given their actions after the match, and he beat Stackhouse, who he believed was paid off by Burns to try and injure him. He planned to raise a "ginger army" against Burns and at that point single handedly attacked the champion. A violent scuffle brought the locker room out to seperate the combatants and while they were physically put into opposite corners, that didn't stop the talking from going on. O'Brian demanded that Burns put the title on the line against him while Burns claimed that O'Brien wasn't a worthy challenger. On three occasions, O'Brien broke loose from the cluster of wrestlers that held him and charged to the opposite corner in an effort to get his fists on Burns. Each time, it took the effort of all the wrestlers present to keep the rivals away from each other. Finally, Burns and his half of the locker room left the ring, but O'Brien took one las dig, saying the SRPW belt would look much better around his waist.

Frustration can often lead to focus and it seems to have done so with "The Irish Hand Grenade". He feels very confident that if he can just get Burns to sign on the dotted line, the match will go in his favour. He might be right, too. But to prove it, Burns has to cooperate. And Burns is well known as someone who always wants things under his terms. Perhaps at one of the 3 events SRPW has booked for October, the powers that be will finally give O'Brien the chance he's been wanting. And then he'll just have to take advantage of it.