• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

Who Was That Masked Man?

Posted: Jun 13th 2007 By: CMBurnham

Another step in the ever growing war between MSWA and IZW took place Sunday. And another level in the feud between MSWA Mid-South Champion Brad Michaels and IZW Impact Division Champion John O'Malley was reached when "The Irish Phenom" used one of Impact, Inc.'s own tactics against them.

Two weeks ago, O'Malley was named the #1 contender to the MSWA Mid-South Title. This week, O'Malley came out to the ring and demanded 2 things: his title match and the main event slot, which had been given to Impact, Inc. earlier in the show when they would receive a title shot against Bad Boy & Outlaw for the MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Titles. After making his demand, Brad Michaels & John Zorthos appeared on the ZorthoTron 420 and declared that O'Malley would never receive a title shot. Instead, Michaels stated that he was already slated to defend his title against another worthy contender: Mr. Mid-South 3. The camera then panned over to Bernie Donderwitz, who has Mr. Mid-South 3's mask on his head. A quick bit of panic overcame Zorthos and Michaels as they told Donderwitz to pull the mask down. Zorthos and Michaels reiterate their stance and the screen then went blank. The crowd then looked to O'Malley, expecting him to be irate and run back to the dressing area. Instead, O'Malley calmly agreed that Mr. Mid-South 3 should be the one to get the title shot. This caught everyone off guard. O'Malley left the ring, but before going to the back, he reached under the ring apron and grabbed a roll of duct tape, which he took to the back with him.

After intermission, Brad Michaels came out for his "title defence". Mr. Mid-South 3 followed. Things didn't seem to go as expected for Michaels, though, as Mr. Mid-South 3 was much more aggressive than Michaels was expecting and on a few occassions, Michaels clearly yelled at him, saying "What are you doing, Bernie?" or "Remember what your role is!". Halfway through the match, the 2 "competitors" seemed to arrive at a better understanding, but what followed was almost surreal. Both men put on a sham of a "contest" with punches that came nowhere near connecting and moves that were in complete slow-motion.

Then, from the dressing area, Bernie Donderwitz came hopping out. His legs and hands were bound with duct tape and his pants were around his knees. Upon seeing this, Michaels became very confused. If Donderwitz was out there, who was in the ring with him? The crowd figured it out long before Michaels and thus it was no surprise to them when Mr. Mid-South 3 pulled his mask off and revealed that he was John O'Malley!. Michaels, not prepared to face off with the big Irishman in a fair contest, scooted out of the ring, took his champioship belt, and retreated to the back, giving O'Malley the victory by countout. But titles can not change hands on countouts, so Michaels kep the Mid-South title in Impact, Inc's control.

Again, it seems that karma is coming back to strike at Brad Michaels (and Impact, Inc. in general). On October 8, 2006, Michaels disguised himself as Mr. Mid-South 2 in a match against then MSWA Champion Ryan Davidson. And 2 weeks ago, Gary Tool donned the mask of Mr. Mid-South 3 in a tag team match against Zorthos and Donderwitz. While things were all fun and games on those occassions, it's doesn't seem to be as much fun when Impact, Inc. is on the wrong side of the mask.