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Kove Wins Battlerite Gauntlet, Will Face ASP Champion in February.

Posted: Jan 11th 2019 By: Michael Hunt

The Battlerite Gauntlet Match has quickly become a staple of ASP in determining the focus on the ASP Title towards the beginning of the year. Last year, O'Brien def. Tristan Thorne in the last round of the match, earning the right to go to the anniversary event and challenge the ASP Champion. Ironically, but that point, Thorne had defeated Prince Mahalli in the "Odd Man Out" match and walked in as champion. He was not so lucky against O'Brien, who then began his nearly year-long reign as ASP Champion.

This year, Thorne was once again one of the entrants in the Battlerite Gauntlet Match. Entrants are chosen by random to determine the order they will enter. Earlier entrants face the hardest task of all as they must "run the gauntlet" in order to earn the opportunity. The last man in (as with O'Brien last year) have a serious advantage. But no matter the order, the excitement peaks as each entrant makes their way through the curtain.

This year's Gauntlet began with an unknown competitor in the form of Chaotico facing off against Mascara La Parka. Parka has held titles in MSWA, so his experience edge seemed to give him the advantage, but the completely unknown qualities of Chaotico allowed him to pick up the victory over the luchadore.

Next, Adam Patrick entered. But as the bell rang, Patrick had trouble getting his coat off, with the zipper apparently getting stuck. As Patrick tried to pull the coat over his head, Chaotico schoolboyed him afor the win and advanced to the next round.

Out next was the ASP debut for Revan, who is certainly building up a cult following around the Oklahoma City area. Possessing superior size over Chaotico and obviously fresher in the match, Revan was able to dispose of Chaotico, ending the unknown masked man's surprise streak and taking over.

The challenger for Revan turned out to be Karnage, who hit the ring and began assaulting Chaotico. Perhaps there are some unknown issues between the two of them? No one really could be sure as Revan took over and gave a pounding to Karnage, but the man from Juggalo Island rebounded and picked up a victory to advance towards a title shot.

Another newcomer arrived next in the form of Jay Sanchez. While it is unknown if he is related to the other Sanchez siblings who often competed in the Oklahoma City area, this Sanchez wasted no time in disposing of Karnage. One swift spear and it was over and done with.

Sanchez then faced off against Johnny Kove. Kove's martial arts background was in steep contrast to Sanchez's barroom brawl tactics, but again, with Sanchez being a near-complete unknown, it was difficult for Kove to plot a strategy against him. Nonetheless, the man who calls himself "The Best Around" was able to pick up the victory and forge onward in battle.

The ASP Oklahoma Tag Team Champions Something Special arrived out together and there was some brief concern that maybe this was going to be a Handicap Match. But it turned out that they had just had their numbers drawn back-to-back. Shawn Shields would be the first person to challenge Kove, but it was for all intents 2-on-1 as the presence of Rob Cabella at ringside kept Kove's attention split. Even after gaining a victory over Shields, Kove was in essentially the same position, just with the opponent switched. But Kove proved himself the consumate fighter by taking out both tag team champions individually.

And the final entrant in was Tristan Thorne. Kove, who had been through 3 grueling matches, was now faced with his former tag team partner. The man who had turned his back on him in the summer. A man who he had a serious issue with. This actually seemed to revitalise Kove as he found all kinds of new energy to fight Thorne with. Kove knew that he didn't want the last three matches to all end up for nothing. Thorne wanted to make history repeat itself from last year, albeit with him in O'Brien's place. Only one man could get their wish and that man was Johnny Kove, who scored not only an important physical victory to earn an ASP Title shot, but a moral victory by upending his former partner for it.

Post-Match, O'Brien came out to congratulate Kove. While confident in his speech to the new #1 contender, O'Brien knew that he had a very motivated challenger to face. Kove has never held a singles championship and wants to change that in 2019. The obvious path to that goal is through O'Brien. But that is a path full of pitfalls and deadends. Kove will have to be at his absolute best if he intends to make champion toast him.