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The 2018 Oklafan Mid-Year Report

Posted: Jul 6th 2018 By: Oklafan Staff

2018 is almost halfway done and we at Oklafan.com are pleased to release The Mid-Year Report. In this report, we'll look at the top 20 wrestlers of 2017 (as listed in the Oklafan Top 50) and see where they stand today, what they've accomplished and where they might be going. With a little less than 6 months left before the end of the year, some performers might need that extra motivation to kick things into gear. So, without further ado, let's get to it:

Drake Gallows: Gallows knows what it takes to be the best competitor in Oklahoma. He just doesn’t seem to be doing it at the moment. He spent much of the beginning of the year as one-half of the WFC Tag Team Champions, but those belts no longer belong to him and he hasn’t been seen in WFC for a couple of months. He was the first ASP Champion, but seems sporadic in his appearances there. He lost the BCW Buzzsaw Title to Abyss back in January and was unable to gain it back recently. Gallows is actually finding more success outside Oklahoma, where he holds two different titles. Good for him, bad for his Oklafan ranking. With his priority in Oklahoma seemingly decreasing, his appearance on the list may fall off as well.
Current ranking: unrated

Prince Mahalli: Another star from last year. There were many who felt that he should have been #1 and it was a very close vote. Mahalli won the MSWA Mid-South Cruiserweight TItle, only to see MSWA Commissioner Mr. Barnes take it away and merge it with the MSWA Oklahoma Title to create the eXpress Title. He won the ASP Title from Tristan Thorne, but lost it two months later in a 5-Way match. Most of Mahalli’s focus has been in IWR/WCR recently and they have yet to run an event in Oklahoma. Like Drake, this means good things for his regional branding, but has removed him from the top of the Oklahoma rankings.
Current ranking: unrated

Riker: Riker suffered a back injury in the first half of the year that kept him off wrestling cards of a month or so. He made a return to UWE after losing the UWE Title at Showdown last year, but only seemed to be there to put Mattt Durden out of action (which he appears to have done). He was unsuccessful in his bid to regain the WFC Hometown Heroes Title from Alex Royal, but did spend much of the first half of the year proudly representing that title. For that reason (and pretty much only that reason), Riker remains in Top 50 contention, though considerably diminished in standing.
Current ranking: #38

Mr. Nasty: Mr. Nasty was put out of action early in the year after a combination of assaults at the hands of Jon Cross and Skyler Fayden. He has not been seen since and is rumoured to be unable to compete again until September at the earliest.
Current ranking: Unrated

Tommy Dean: In many ways, Tommy Dean has shown improvement. He has polished a lot of his skills, has focused on taking advice from veteran wrestlers and he is certainly carving a path for himself as a singles wrestler. The problem for Tommy is that it has now become apparent that much of the success of Tommy and his brother Jerry was a symbiotic thing. They worked well as a tag team, but that tag team appears to have gone their separate ways. Tommy is still learning how to make it in the singles world. He will improve but it is a slow process.
Current ranking: 36

Skyler Fayden: Truth be told, Fayden had a terrible year in 2018. Although he won the UWE Title, he did not win a single match in UWE as champion this year. His tag team with Wesley Crane seemed to be on the path to regaining the WFC Tag Team belts, but then, Fayden abruptly left WFC. Fayden has now relocated outside of Oklahoma and has not set foot in a wrestling ring since doing so.
Current ranking: unrated

Paul Puertorico: It’s been a year of ups and downs for Puertorico. He successfully led Space Age to victory against Mr. Durden’s Sideshow in WFC. He also made serious inroads into MSWA and BPW for both himself and Space Age. But MSWA also saw a horrible situation for him as he lost his Planet Puertorico Title to Xavior. Not that the title was officially recognized by Oklafan, but it was still very symbolic of what Space Age was all about. Puertorico seems vexed between competing as a singles or tag team guy. He’s moderately successful while doing both, but doesn’t seem to have the focus he did when he was WFC Hometown Heroes Champion. As long as he tries to play all sides, Puertorico seems destined to be stuck in the middle.
Current ranking: #35

Dusty Gold: Great year for Dusty as he won the UWE United States TItle from Wesley Crane in an outstanding match. He also recaptured the NAW Title, though he then lost it to Big Smooth and so far has been unsuccessful in getting that back. WFC was very frustrating to him as he spent much of the beginning of the year in a bit of a drought, win-wise, but the recent Ryder Herring Memorial Cup Tournament put that fire back under him and while he didn’t win, he showed the fire that fans were accustomed to seeing. Perhaps that excitement can bring him to championship gold in WFC. It certainly has helped him move up the ladder here.
Current ranking: #4

Erica: Last year, I bemoaned the status of women’s wrestling in Oklahoma, mentioning that there were several female wrestlers, but they were getting more bookings outside Oklahoma than in. Still true today. Erica holds both the MSWA and ASP Ladies Titles, but has trouble finding opponents that she has not already defeated. It’s fine to be one of the best wrestlers in the state, but you still have to be able to SHOW that and Erica is having more success in that area in Texas right now than she is in Oklahoma.
Current ranking: unrated

Fuel: Without going into too much detail, last year Fuel’s personal life suffered some serious blows and there were those who wondered if he was going to hang it up for good. Thankfully, he did not. And while he still only tends to compete in UWE And NAW, both those places have seen him a prominent feature in the show. UWE saw Fuel engage in a feud with Alex Royal prior to Royal becoming UWE Champion. It was one of the few unsuccessful ventures he had in wrestling this year. Over in NAW, Fuel remembrances the fans and has targeted the NAW Lightweight TItle held by Garrett Murphy. Few people know how to inspire a crowd the way that Fuel does and even after 15 years in the business, he is still willing to put his body on the line. This may be the year that Fuel finally “lights it up” and becomes a dual champion.
Current ranking: #2

J. D.: You would think that winning a tournament would be a big deal for you. And it was for J. D. Make no mistake, being the 2018 Ryder Herring Memorial Cup Tournament winner is probably the biggest singles accomplishment that he has had in his brief career. And that’s kind of the frustrating thing about J. D. When he was part of S. T. F., it looked like they were going to take the tag team scene in Oklahoma, with regular appearances in UWE as well as inroads to BPPW and MSWA. But after that split, J. D, seemed to focus exclusively on WFC and there are only so many options available there. This year, he was the surprise Pick-Your-Poison opponent for Alex Royal in UWE, but that was the only appearance outside WFC this year. Being a big fish in a small pond is great...until you outgrow the pond.
Current ranking: #47

Jerry Dean: As mentioned with Tommy Dean, so much of Jerry’s success came through the partnership of Team Dean Machine. And credit to Jerry, he has captured singles gold while Tommy has yet to do that. But Tommy also gets more opportunities in wrestling federations than Jerry does. Jerry appears to be another 1-hit wonder and BPW is where he will be a star. He may need to make the best of it, as he may not have many other chances in this business.
Current ranking: #41

Brandon Groom: Together with Paul Puertorico, Groom is a long-term veteran of Oklahoma wrestling. But unlike Paul, Groom is happy to swim in his pool in BPW. Too bad, as so much of that experience, combined with his opportunities at WWE, ROH and other places, would be great to pass on in other places. But except for wrestling in Texas, Groom seems content to let others come to him. And on one hand, it has paid off for him, as he will receive an opportunity for the NWA World Title on July 7th. If he wins that, Oklahoma will certainly be a distant memory as long as he is champion. But if he is unable to claim that title, what will be his next move?
Current ranking: #44

Steven Cruze: I’ve always felt that Cruze needed guidance, either through a manager or a tag team partner. He has that as part of the Villains in WFC and is current one-half of the WFC Tag Team Champions. He has formed a different partnership of Villains with Tim Rockwell in UWE and they may be victorious later this month in winning the UWE Tag Team Titles. But even then, Cruze still seems like so much of a background player. Unwilling to assert himself, Cruze prefers to play the “Enforcer” role in the Villains. Strong and silent. But if he wants to be looked at better, he needs to find some way to stand out. He doesn’t want to get lost in the shuffle.
Current ranking: #30.

Xavior: The Current MSWA Mid-South Champion has been his normal obnoxious self since winning that belt at the beginning of the year. He has surrounded himself with friends like Killer Cross and Korvin Sage to help protect the title. And he has found ways (usually underhanded) to hold on to that belt for almost 6 months. He also added the Planet Puertorico Title to the mix, though that was more of an emotional victory rather than actual accomplishment. Frustratingly, Xavior is only appearing at MSWA and there are two (soon to be three) active federations in Oklahoma City alone. There is so much more he can do. Maybe when the demands of being champion are no longer on him, he will venture back out to other places on a regular basis.
Currnet ranking: #18

Gavin Dixon: Dixon won the BCW title in May and has defended it once against Tommy Dean at a BPW event. Aside from that, he has made no wrestling appearances and therefore cannot reasonably expect to be ranked due to near total inactivity.
Current ranking: Unrated

Double D: D expressed some unhappiness at his ranking last year (and Erica expressed unhappiness at D’s ranking as well), so hopefully they will be happier this time around. It seemed like, with the collapse of IZW, D was going to make some inroads outside of Oklahoma and to some extent he has. But he has also refocused his attention on many places inside the state. He is currently the ASP 5-Star Champion. He is the #1 contender to the MSWA eXpress Title. He was a finalist in the 2018 Ryder Herring Memorial Cup Tournament. And earlier this year, he made his debut in UWE and may be returning this soon as well. But more importantly, in all these places, D has shown the same level of dominance that he had in IZW. People know who he is (whether they like him or not is a different issue, of course) and he is certainly in demand. That type of willingness to go out every night and demand the best from yourself is what made D the only 3-time consecutive #1 in the Top 50 and he may be about to be the first 4-time #1 if he can continue to do what he is currently doing through the end of the year.
Current ranking: #1

Duke Swellington: Another individual who has chosen to remain primarily content where he is, Duke has parted ways with Excellence Personified and has struck out on his own. This year saw him win the ComPro Tag Team Titles with Rex Andrews, only to see Andrews turn his back on his just minutes after winning the belts. Each man then chose a partner, with Duke choosing former WCW Star Glacier and Andrews partnering up with Ryan Davidson, to gain full control of the titles. It was a battle that Duke ultimately lost. But those losses are still fairly rare occurrences. The one thing left for Duke to do in ComPro is win the Heayweight Title. If he chooses to remain isolated there, he must do that before the end of the year or he will have just been spinning his wheels.
Current ranking: #20

Nathan Estrada: Nathan and Latrell Upton lost the ComPro Tag Team Titles to Duke Swellington & Rex Andrews earlier this year. Shortly after that, they two seemed to part ways. Estrada made a couple of appearances including one in WFC, but has been absent from the wrestling area as he and his wife, Skylar Slice, prepare for the arrival of their first child.
Current ranking: unrated

Wesley Crane: Currently the other half of the WFC Tag Team Champions with Steven Cruze, Crane has seen an interesting mix of success and failure this year. He won the titles with Cruze after partner Skyler Fayden disappeared. He maintained control of the UWE United States Title for almost 9 months before losing it to Dusty Gold. He has one of the most recognisable entrances in wrestling and has become another in demand star in BPW as well as in Texas. But like others, he seems a bit directionless. Being part of the Villains gets him to a certain point, but it would be better for him if he were to set his eyes on loftier goals. And the openings he has created for himself in Texas may force him to put Oklahoma on the back burner.
Current ranking: #24.