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Corporate Dissolution! Dexter Hardaway Forced to Retire

Posted: Jun 19th 2007 By: CMBurnham

One by one, the pieces fall...

When Corporate America was reformed by Talon approximately 1 year ago, she certainly seemed to have a plan. She also had an eye for talent. She put together her (then) husband Michael James and Terry Pantera. And, in a massive coup, she signed the monstrous 3rd Rail. This 4-some made their intent to run roughshod through AACW known and while they did succeed in putting out commissioner Damien Strange, things went quickly downhill from there. Terry Pantera became more and more unreliable. Talon's brother Dominator returned, but only for 1 event. The same could be said for Tommy St. Charles. Talon tried to regroup and brought in Tommy Smash. But tensions between him and Michael James lead to James firing Smash, which in turn lead to Talon throwing her husband out. After 1 year's time, all that was left of Corporate America was newcomer Matthew Emerald and AACW Mid-American Light Heavyweight Champion Dexter Hardaway, who managed to bring Corporate America some gold in the form of the SWCW Sooner Xtreme Title. With this pair, Talon looked to forge on and possibly recruit more members. But it looks more likely that Talon will have to declare bankrutpcy after the events of June 16 which left her with only 1 charge.

Corporate America made their presence known early in the show when Dexter & Talon came storming down the ramp into the ring. Dexter demanded that SWCW commissioner Mike Iles get in the ring and answer some questions. Iles, who has had a long association with Dexter and was well aware of what it took to handle "Mr. Entertainment", announced that he had been approached by one of the fans prior to the show and asked who he was going to throw out of the building this week. Iles suggested that he could start with Dexter. This seemed to bring Dexter down a level, who turned and motioned to the back. Matthew Emerald brought out SWCW senior referee Rob Justice and Dexter said that there were several times 2 weeks ago, in Dexter's match against Prophet for the SWCW Sooner Xtreme Title, that Justice could have counted 3 for Dexter, but refused to do so. He wanted to Justice to confess to chicanery, but Justice denied any wrong doing and reminded Dexter and everyone else that his glasses allowed him to see things just perfectly. He then slithered out of Emerald's grasp and scurried to the back. Believing the situation dealt with, Iles asked Dexter if there was anything else he wanted to bring up. Dexter went on a rant at this point, claiming that he could beat anyone in the back with both hands tied behind his back and a blindfold on. Iles, who was not impressed with these claims and who knew the crowd was getting tired of Dexter's actions, demanded that if Dexter wanted something, he needed to make it worth his time as commissioner. Dexter then opened his mouth and said that he would take on anyone from the back. If he won, he got a title shot at Prophet in 2 weeks, but if he lost, he would never wrestle again anywhere. This seemed to spark Iles' interest and he made the match with Dexter facing long-time rival Big Daddy Moore.

When the time for the match arrived, Dexter had his game face on and arrived with Talon. Big Daddy came out to tremendous applause and the match was on. As should come to no surprise to anyone, Talon made her presence known in the match, trying to salvage Corporate America, but her interference brought out commissioner Mike Iles on the ramp to watch. However, Iles, who is not a licensed competitor, could do little but watch on as, after referee J. T. Hamilton was knocked out, Matthew Emerald ran down to the ring and Corporate America began a double team on Big Daddy. The odds worked briefly, but Big Daddy rallied, disposed of Emerald, rolled up Dexter and Hamilton recovered to count 3, much to the crowd's pleasure and Talon's horror. Dexter could do little but kneel in the ring after the match and ask "Was it really 3?" before throwing a brief tantrum as realization sank in that he had just competed in his last match ever.

After intermission, Dexter and Talon made one more appearance together as they came out. Dexter was carrying his gear and got in the ring, looking like he might have some final words for the crowd, but SWCW ring announcer Jesse Storm lead the crowd in a rousing chorus of "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye!" and Dexter simply dropped the microphone, took his belongings and left through the front entrance, never glancing back.

Dexter has already made some rumblings about how the odds were stacked against him and a case could be made for that. As previously stated, he and Big Daddy Moore had a long standing feud that stretched back to the beginnings of SRPW, where they fought over the Hardcore Title. That feud culminated in a steel cage match in September, 2003, possibly the most high-profile match that Dexter competed in. Dexter also had issues with Mike Iles, who seemed all too happy to be rid of Dexter again. Iles had previously had the job of firing Dexter and stripping him of the NWA-U X Division Title in 2005 when Iles was NWA-U commissioner.

Ironically, Dexter had just passed the 1-year mark in his reign as AACW Mid-American Light Heavyweight Champion and with his forced retirement, AACW now has 2 titles vacated.

Now, what does the future hold for Corporate America? Matthew Emerald remains the lone charge and did come out victorious against Beau Dalton Saturday. Talon has dabbled in in-ring competition recently, but the losses have far outweighed the wins. At this point, Talon needs to seriously assess some talent (something she has been doing recently in MSWA) and sign some new charges. Otherwise, Corporate America's stock will plunge to nothingness.