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Riker Has Lockdown On SRPW Title Opportunity

Posted: Jan 9th 2015 By: CMBurnham

It's been a couple of months now since the fallout from the break up of The Rising and it''s probably fair to say that Riker came out of the breakup in the best position. He has a new manager in Jameson Thadeous Doggins III. He has aligned himself with a new faction in the 3rd Dimension of Wrestling. And he is once again a champion. But it seems likely that Riker wants more, which is where a certain briefcase may come into play before long.

It appeared that the issue at first would just confine itself between Riker and Abel. Abel seemed to be intent on making Riker's life hell, interrupting a match with Spyder on November 8th and making it clear that he wanted to do whatever it took to get his hands on Riker. When Riker bailed after that surprise, Abel begged SRPW Commissioner Bobby Burns for a match and Burns agreed. But it seems unlikely that either man received what they were really expecting in that situation.

November 22nd saw the 2nd-ever Lockdown Match. This match puts six combatants against each other, but the first four to enter the ring are blindfolded and tied to a cornerpost. Only the final two begin competition. After the match begins, competitors are unlocked at 2 minute intervals in a random order. Both Riker and Abel were entered into the match, thanks to an earlier confrontation between Abel and JTDIII. Riker would start out the match against the third former member of The Rising, Rob Davis. Then Abel was the first person released and all 3 former members stood in the ring together. Sensing overwhelming odds, Riker stops the action and tries to reform The Rising at that point, but neither of the other men would have anything to do with that. While Abel focused on Riker, Sam Stackhouse, who was not entered in the match, appeared and clobbered Davis with a cookie sheet. Immediately after that, Ray Martinez was released. He hit Davis with a Codebreaker and Davis was the first man to be eliminated.

As of the carnage of this match was not enough, JTDIII decided to up the stakes by providing weaponry to Riker. He handed Riker a chain, which Riker promptly used on Kyle Everlast to put him down and pin him. In an act that seemed odd on the surface, Riker prevented Martinez and his associate, MSWA Oklahoma Champion Spike Lopez, from pinning Abel, making it clear that he wanted to be the one to put his former partner out of the match and powerbombed Spike for his problems, pinning him. This allowed Abel to recover and hit a Scorpion Death Drop on Martinez to eliminate him.

So now, it was down to Riker and Abel. Abel grabbed a couple of chairs and prepared to connect with a Con-Chair-To on Riker, but JTDIII jumped up and grabbed the chairs. Abel shoved him off the apron and went for a Scorpion Death Drop on Riker. Riker reversed, hit a low blow and then connected with a Tiger Bomb on a chair in the ring, enabling him to pin his former tag team partner.

By virtue of winning the match, Riker won a briefcase that contained a contract valid for an opportunity at any title, any time. But there was a catch: If the briefcase was not cashed in immediately, Riker would have to defend it at every SRPW event at least once. It seemed that Riker didn't want to leave anything to chance as he called out SRPW Champion Psycho Sawyer. But when Sawyer promptly answered (albeit in his street clothes), JTDIII & Riker had a change of heart, announcing that it was obvious that Sawyer wasn't prepared to compete. Since Riker had just won the "biggest match of his career", JTDIII felt he needed to rest and they would have this match another time,.

On December 20th, things took a turn for the confusing, at least on the surface. Riker and Aaron Anders faced Matt Majestic & Mayhem in an elimination match. Things looked bleak for Riker as he was pinned, which meant that the briefcase would go to a new owner when the match was over. That owner turned out to be Riker's partner, Anders. Riker fully expected Anders to think of the greater good for the 3rd Dimension of Wrestling, but Anders was ecstatic because he now had a shot at any title he wished. There seemed to be cracks in the foundation of the 3rd Degree before they had ever gotten started as a group.

But it was all a ploy. At the first SRPW event of 2015, Anders and Riker faced off against each other with the briefcase on the line. Riker seemed desperate to take the briefcase back and was preparing himself for a long battle, but after a brief match, Anders lay down. Riker moved in quickly pinned his supposed partner. It had a all been a ploy,. And Jameson Thaddous Doggins celebrated like a child on Christmas morning because he had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. The 3rd Degree wasn't done with. It had barely begun,

This brought out SRPW Tag Team Champions The Bash Brothers. The wars between the Rising and the Bash Brothers had stretched over the summer and now looked to reignite here in 2015. The Coles both felt that Anders & Riker were mocking SRPW and demanded a match with them. Riker said that was not going to happen as there was nothing in it for them. The Bashes promised to put the tag team titles on the line. The Bashes agreed, which turned out to be a very bad decision for them as Trey Cole suffered a horrendous injury and the Bash Brothers had their tag tam titles.

So after all of that, Riker is once again a tag team champion. But he still has the briefcase. And he still has plenty of opportunity to double his gold if he ever chooses to cash in on SRPW. With the tag team titles now as a priority it remains uncertain how long it might be before Riker cashes on that briefcase. Or, he may do it at the next SRPW event and become the first person to ever hold two titles simultaneously in SRPW. One thing is for certain: Riker will certainly go to whatever lengths he needs to in order to walk away as SRPW Champion. As far as he is concerned, it is just a matter of time.