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Little Man Hits The Big Time!

Posted: Aug 10th 2015 By: Michael Hunt

Some would say that there could not possibly be any ego in the family of Brock Landers because he obviously got it all.

Anyone who refers to themselves as Great obviously has no problem with confidence. But nicknames are one thing. Titles are another. And that is what has eluded Brock Landers for so much of his time as a competitor.

Sure, he is a former SWCW All-American and Hardcore Champion. And he fought hard matches to win those titles. But SWCW is gone. Now, Landers stands as one of the preeminent competitors in the Cruiserweight division in MSWA.

Amusingly enough, it was not Landers who proposed the idea of a Cruiserweight Division for MSWA. It was Special K. And after he announced it, many other names bean to speak up, proclaiming interest. El Fuego, Paul Puertorico, Sonic, Fuel, even Sam Stackhouse attempted to qualify as a cruiserweight. All with the understanding that they would be bringing back a title with a prestigious heritage that had not been active for 8 years.

Many of those potential contenders fell by the wayside. Stackhouse was defeated by Puertorico who was then eliminated from the tournament by Landers. Doberman 2nd, Special K and Sonic disappeared from the MSWA roster. Fuel never actually competed in the tournament.

There came a point where MSWA commissioner C. M. Burnham had enough. With tournaments ongoing for both the Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Titles, and with inconsistency amongst the competitors, it was too much for him to handle. So, since MSWA was putting on a special free fan appreciation event on July 31st, he decided to make it a truly special card by crowning a new Cruiserweight Champion that night. But who should be allowed to be a contender? Obviously Landers deserved a shot, as the only person to successfully compete in the tournament. Also, since the revitalisation of MSWA, the biggest thorn in the side of Landers had been El Fugeo, so he was also included. Since Burnham is also commissioner for ComPro in Tulsa, he had the opportunity to scout talent up there as well and decided to include Seth Angel in this match. And rounding out the foursome, to make up for the elimination of Paul Puertorico, Burnham slotted his tag team partner, Vinnie Pacheco as the final participant in this fatal 4-way Match (after confirming that he did meet weight requirements, which he did...by half a pound.)

Obviously Landers felt pressured knowing that he was in the ring with 3 of the most up and coming cruiserweights that Oklahoma had to offer and when the match began, he was the first person to bail out of the ring. From that point on, most of his time was spent picking his moments, trying to capitalise on some cheap pin attempts and mostly making efforts to avoid the hih-flying action of the other competitors. Landers did execute a cross body from the corner post onto Angel and Pacheco and, in perhaps the most memorable moment of the match, Landers snuck into the bottom of a Tower of Doom, bringing all 3 of the other crashing down into the ring. Despite that success, Landers executed pin attempts on all 3 and was denied victory from all 3.

After about 10 minutes of action, the participants were beinning to show signs of fatigue. But El Fuego vowed to continue fighting and went to the top, connecting with a perfect 450 splash on Vinnie Pacheco. But Landers, who had been thrown to the outside, reentered the ring and threw Fuego out, then hooked both of the legs of Pacheco and picked up the scraps that Fuego had prepared. It was a cheap victory, but a victory none-the-less, for Brock Landers, who now stands as the biest of the little men in the Oklahoma wrestling scene.