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Every Day Man Hopes To Become Hometown Hero

Posted: Jun 21st 2018 By: Michael Hunt

This past weekend, for the very first time, WFC presented a 2-night event surrounding the Ryder Herring Memorial Cup. This annual tournament, done in the honour of the child the very first WFC event was held for, featured 16 of the top athletes in the Oklahoma area, all vying for a prestigious trophy and a shot at the WFC Hometown Heroes Title.

Night 1 saw 8 first-round matches, which established 2 brackets in the second-round. Then, in something never really seen in tournament action before, each of those 2nd round brackets would compete in a Fatal 4-Way Match to establish one winner to advance to the finals. That final 1-on-1 match would determine the winner.

Those two finalists were J. D. and ASP 5-Star Champion Double D. Each had their own unique way of getting to the finals. Double D’s 1st round match was against Tommy Dean, who showed a fire and youthful enthusiasm which had never really come out of him before. On several occassions, Dean appeared to be on the verge of overcoming the Wiley veteran D, but the presence of D’s girlfriend, ASP & MSWA Ladies Champion Erica, made all the difference as her distraction of the referee (following a near catastrophic collision between her and D) allowed D to set up Dean for the D-Facer and advance to the second round. That second round saw D competing against Luke Langley, Paul Puertorico and UWE United States Dusty Gold. Fatal 4-Way Matches are always difficult due to the number of competitors in the ring and finishers that work in a 1-on-1 match are often not as effective in these. This was one of those times, as Dusty Gold had put down Luke Langley, but D tossed Gold from the ring and stole the pin for himself.

J. D.’s advancement was fraught with a little more controversy, as his first round opponent was Lance Osburn. Osburn’s partner, Colt Killbane, had already advanced over the Mathmagician and their manager, Coach Doggins, certainly seemed to be favouring Killbane to win the whole thing. This dissension would be enough, but then add in the factor of WFC Champion, Tim Rockwell, coming out halfway through the match to observe. Rockwell never interfered, but kept a close eye on the events and provided something of a distraction. Couple that with miscommunication between Osburn and Doggins in the form of a misplaced clipboard shot and Delta Delta Theta found itself one member short of where it wanted to be. Following the match, Rockwell, who had proudly proclaimed that this would be the night that J. D. joined the Villains, entered he ring, but was rebuked by J. D. The next night, things got even more difficult for J. D. as his Fatal 4-Way bracket saw competition from Dimitri Alexandrov, Colt Killbane and Malico. But J. D. is no stranger to overcoming great odds and once again, his self-determination and homebred work ethic saw him get the pinfall and go to the finals.

So it was quite the contrast of styles between J. D. and Double D in the finals. One a high-flying technician (when he wants to be) and the other a straight-ahead brawler. Both with huge things to prove in WFC. Both wanting this shining moment to be forever remembered as theirs. The battle took place inside AND outside the ring, almost upsetting the announcer’s area and, as always, Erica saw fit to interject herself into the scenario. Thankfully, referee Chance Snodgrass would take no more of that and ejected her from the match, forcing Double D to handle things on his own (which he said he did all the time anyway, but that was far from the truth). Things looked perilous as J. D. hoisted Double D up for the JD-KO and accidentally collided with Snodgrass. This gave Erica the opening to come back to the ring and attempt a high-cross body on J.D., but J. D. intercepted that and caught her, putting her AND Double D on his shoudlers and executing the JD-KO on both! One quick move later and J. D. got the pinfall and the tournament win!

J. D. was overcome with emotion as he stood with Ryder’s family and Dustin McGowan in the ring after the match. And McGowan could not help but force the question everyone was wondering anyway: was J. D. going to join the Villains? With the entire Villain roster at ringside, J. D stated that they were talented and had done everything in wrestling, but he was not going to wait like others had done. He declared that at the next WFC show, he was cashing in his opportunity for the WFC Hometown Heroes TItle against Alex Royal. Former partners, now in each other’s sites. Next month, the Every Day Man hopes to become what so few men have in this business: a Champion!