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Jermaine Johnson: It Seems The Odds Are Never In His Favour

Posted: Dec 23rd 2014 By: CMBurnham

There is little doubt that Jermaine Johnson has been a man who has faced much adversity in his wrestling career. But he's never let that adversity get him down.

The man who calls himself "The Leader of the Hype Section" knows what it's like to face overwhelming odds. As a former member of Impact, Inc., there were many times that he used those odds in an effort to ensure victory for himself or his fellow faction members. But since returning to Oklahoma in June, Johnson has done everything he can to ensure that it is understood he wants a level playing field.

This has put Johnson with his back to the wall on quite a few occasions and it almost seems as if this is what he wants. Upon declaring his independence from Impact, Inc., Johnson was immediately beaten down by Impact, Inc. And that certainly sent the message that things were not going to go quite the way he wanted them to. When Johnson faced off against IZW Champion Johnny Z at Redemption in September, Double D made his return to IZW and laid both men out without explanation. Again, Johnson found himself facing unexpected odds that he had to overcome and he fought on to persevere.

Even outside his regular areas of competition, Johnson seems to run into this problem. October 26, Johnson was booked into the main event of the NWA-TXO event in Wynnewood. The problem was, it was in what was announced as a Triple Threat Match, but was really a Handicap Match as his opponents were Apoc and NWA North American Champion Tim Storm, who often team together as the Dark Circle. Johnson knew he would be in for a long match, but probably didn't expect to have to face 2-on-1 odds, but as usual, he did not let that get him down. After enduring a Triple Sleeper and a Double Submission, Johnson overcame the odds and went on to get the pin, certainly putting him in line for a shot at the NWA North American Title.

Sometimes the odds are put against him shortly before a match. Since firing Mark Wilson and reforming What Wrestling Should Be with Jordan Jacobs in WFC, Johnson has found himself at odds with Wilson's Impact, Inc. teammates, Team Bull. On December 7th, Team Bull and WWSB were set to face each other, hopefully to resolve the issues between the two teams. But before that match began, Wilson came to the ring and began to run his mouth about Johnson and Jacobs. That brought WWSB out, but unbeknownst to them, Team Bull was quickly behind them and used a baton that Wilson provided to take out the knee of Jacobs. This left Johnson without a partner for their match later in the card. And while other men would have begged off from the match to give themselves time to find a replacement or to let their partner heal, Johnson did neither. Instead, he stepped up to take on The Bronze Bull and IZW Impact Division Champion Bobby Starr on his own. In effect, it was a 3-on-1 situation as the presence of Mark Wilson at ringside was certainly influential. Despite all of that, Johnson appeared to be on his way to once again surmounting the odds when once again, the baton made it's way into the match to take Johnson down and allow Team Bull a tainted win, putting them in position to demand a title match against WFC Tag Team Champions The K. C. Wolves.

But the biggest challenges that Johnson has faced has been his ongoing issues with Double D and Johnny Z for the IZW Title. As mentioned before, D upset Johnson's opportunity to regain the IZW Title in September, which prompted some very bitter feelings between them. At Halloween Hangover, D was forced to be the special referee in a rematch between the two, but once again, he laid both men out, resulting in no winner. Johnson was fighting de facto Handicap matches in both of these situations, but then, one of the most bizarre occurences happened when D and Johnson were forced to tag together and face IZW Tag Team Champions The Old School Studs for the titles. Thanks to interference from Luke Langley, D & Johnson found themselves the winners of the match and new tag team champions, but neither man really seemed thrilled and the pair were unable to cooperate the next week when Randy Price and Gary Tool cashed in their title rematch, resulting in a one-week title reign for the two. The next week, Johnson expected to face Z 1-on-1 in preparation for the Triple Threat Steel Cage Match at Chaotic Christmas. But Johnny Z declared that, with Chaotic Christmas only a couple of weeks away, it wasn't the right time for a 1-on-1 match with Johnson. Instead, there would be a tag team match, but while Z had a tag team partner in the form of IZW Tag Team Champion Randy Price, Johnson once again found himself looking at a Handicap situation. That was, until towards the end of the match, when for reasons known only to himself, Double D came down and stood in Johnson's corner, allowing him to make a tag and bring home a victory in this impromptu tag team situation.

Then, when Chaotic Christmas finally arrived, Johnson faced the ultimate in odds. Johnson wanted to get his hands on Z and regain the IZW Title for the third time. Johnson wanted to get his hands on Double D and try to knock some sense into him as well as deliver some payback for all the problems D had caused Z since D's return. And obviously, D had the same desire to get his hands on Z that Johnson did. Wrap all that inside a Steel Cage and Johnson had incredible odds to face. When Johnson and D came out and entered the cage, it was apparent that their issues with each other were still prevalent as they locked eyes and did not break that stare except to acknowledge the crowd during the introductions. But after the bell rang, both men began to turn their attention to Johnny Z, operating together and setting him up for a brief Handicap Match. Taking turns, they rammed Z's head into all 4 corners of the cage. Johnson then went to work on Double D. D reversed a Powerbomb and made the first pinfall attempt of the match, only getting a two-count.

Johnson decided to show his Power and Strength early, but D used some swift knee strikes to get out of that predicament. Z then connected with a Big Boot to Johnson. Pinfall attempts on both Johnson and D resulted in two counts and the match continued. Z was sure he could win the match after a Floatover DDT, but again, it was only good enough for two. Z followed that up with a Powerbomb on D and another two count was his reward. Johnson then took control with a Energy Shot, but still was only able to keep the champion down for 2. Johnson then demonstrated that he still had lots of fuel in his tank by Gorilla-Pressing both Z and D individually and throwing them into the cage. Johnson went to press D for a second time, but D scaled the cage and came off with a Crossbody on Johnson, but was unable to make a pinfall attempt.

At that point, Johnny Z perhaps realised that it was not going to be as easy to defeat these men as he hoped and went for Plan B: Escape the cage. This was an option in securing victory, but after climbing up in the corner, he was pursued by Double D, who brought him back to earth with a Hurancanrana. Double D then tried to make his way up and over, but was intercepted by Johnson. As Johnson set D for a Superplex, Z snuck underneath to bring Johnson down with a Powerbomb, laying all three competitors out in the ring Once again, Z attempted to capitalise by pinning both men and once again, all he could get were two-counts.

As the frustration mounted, the viciousness began to increase. All three competitors delivered brutal chops the chest of each other, hoping to cause some blood loss and instill agony. Z caught D unaware with a Big Boot, but then received an Energy Shot from Johnson. Following Z's lead, Johnson attempted pinfalls on both Z and D individually, but could not pick up a victory An attempt at an ES2 by Johnson was blocked by both the other men and D then hit a Crossbody on Z, but could not keep him down for 3. D turned his attention to Johnson and connected with a D-Facer, but still couldn't pick up the victory. With both men seemingly down, D sensed a perfect opportunity to scale the cage and make his way out. He got up and over, but Johnny Z was quickly up to the top rope to meet him. But Johnson grabbed a handful of tights and yanked Z back down, As D dropped to the floor, Johnson pinned Z and referee George Knight counted 3. Once again, despite the odds, Johnson had overcome and regained the title he had not held for over two-and-a-half years.

Johnson's victory is slightly controversial, as several people believe that D hit the floor before the 3-count was made and referee Chris Smith was not in position to see that. But that is an issue to deal with in upcoming weeks. For now, Johnson can celebrate that all the times he has been faced with overwhelming adversity, he has come through. Johnson now stands at the mountaintop in one federation and seems poised to assume that position in others in 2015.