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Always On The Line!

Posted: Aug 16th 2019 By: Michael Hunt

The recent resurgence of the 24/7 Title in WWE has brought that concept's popularity back to the independent scene as well. Locally, BPW was introduced to the 365 Title and while current champion Karnage has made himself a 3x 365 Champion, it has not been without its share of controversy.

Karnage introduced the concept of the 365 Title in a video that was shown before the BPW event on June 1st. The implication seemed to be that Karnage would be walking in as champion, but that did not sit well with BPW commissioner C. M. Burnham and the BPW Board of Directors. Instead, the title would be put up for grabs and Karnage would have to face a worthy contender to become the champion.

But prior to the event on July 27th, Karnage was not cleared for in-ring action and instead, Pastor Brent faced off against Murder Squirrel to become the inaugural champion. Brent really wanted to cement the opportunity for his first singles title but it was not to be this night as Murder Squirrel was able to protect his nuts and pin Brent to become the first-ever BPW 365 Champion. Squirrel would not get the opportunity to enjoy his title reign very much as he rolled out of the ring and was quickly schoolboyed from behind by Karnage!!! Even though the Juggalo warrior had not been cleared to compete IN ring, the 365 Title is always on the line, so Karnage walked out (or more appropriately, RAN out) as the new champion!

The next time Karnage competed in-ring, it wasn't at a BPW event, but again, the 365 Title is always on the line, even at other shows. On August 10th, Karnage arrived at EmpCW and faced off against EmpCW Tag Team Champion Shawn Sanders at the Empire Championship Wrestling event in Spencer, OK. Sanders was accompanied by C. M. Burnham, who obviously had a double stake in this match: sanctioning a BPW Title to be on the line and bringing more singles gold to his charges. Sanders dominated the match-up, clearly overpowering the smaller Karnage. A brief rally by Karnage after two misfired charges into the corner prompted Burnham to grab hold of Karnage's leg. This allowed a distraction for the referee and the champion and when Karnage turned around, Sanders connected with the Sick Kick and rolled up the clown for the 3-count! Sanders rejoiced in his victory after having the belt given to him, but Karnage was not out of the picture. As Sanders stepped to the second rope in the corner to bask in the glory of being the new champion, Karnage snuck in behind, schoolboyed him off the second rope and referee J. T. Hamilton III made a fast 3-count, putting the belt back in Karnage's posession. Karnage quickly escaped the back while the Saints of Pro Wrestling confronted Hamilton, with Burnham having to play peacemaker and prevent his tag team champions from getting suspended by reminding Shawn Sanders that he was commissioner at BPW and a rematch could easily be made.

Perhaps Karnage thought that was the end for the night and if so, he was far from correct. After intermission, Karnage was at the autograph table selling merchandise and The Canadian Red Devil went to the ring and called him up. He quickly clarified the stipulation on the 365 Title, then kicked Karnage in the mid-section and pinned him to become champion! While he was celebrating his title win, Ryan the Ripper made his way to the ring, struck CRD with his baseball bat and pinned him to win the title in only his 3rd professional match! Then, Ryan's real opponent, MSWA Mid-South Tag Team, ASP Tag Team, BPW Oklahoma Tag Team & BCW Buzzsaw Champion Drake Gallows came out and things became very interesting. The match between Gallows and Ryan was already signed for the BCW Buzzsaw Title but because the BPW 365 Title is always on the line, it became a de facto Title-vs-Title match which Gallows was victorious in. Again, there wasn't much time for him to appreciate the victory that had him holding 5 Oklahoma Titles simultaneously (which is more than any other wrestler is documented as ever doing) because in a video posted on Drake's YouTube channel, when Drake got to the back and was in the middle of a conversation with Revan, Karnage snuck out from the nearby bathroom and schoolboyed Drake, regaining the title and becoming a 3-time champion.

However amidst all these title changes is a cloud of controversy as Naomi Sanders, Karnage's wife, is claiming that the title defences at the EmpCW show were completely illegal and that SHE is the rightful BPW 365 Champion! She claims to have pinned Karnage for the belt at the recent Gathering of the Juggalos event. However, no video of that has been released, nor has any official result been posted. And even if she did pin him, he was in possession of the title upon arriving at the EmpCW show, which seems to indicate that at some point he regained the title. Until documentation of said title changes is found, Oklafan will not officially recognise them. And there certainly seems to be plenty of other opportunities for Naomi and any other potential challengers to step up and try to get that belt away. After all, 365 days a year is not an easy schedule to maintain, no matter how much Faygo you have powering you.