May 2001

Hello and welcome to the start of my first colum here in the EWCL magazine. First, let me introduce myself to the world wide audiance that watches and keeps track of the EWCL. My name is David King, former wrestler and now colum writer. You see, when Cazzo contacted me a while back about doing a colum, he knew that I had just retired and that I couldn't sit still for long. This dog still had some bark, even if years of ring wars have taken their toll on his bite. You see, I've been in this buisness for a long time and watching the EWCL I'm getting a chance to watch alot of young talent flow into it. What do I think of this talent? What do I think of the current champions? Who are my picks for what matches? Well rest assured that the king of chain wrestling has some things to say about a great number of people. So I suggest you grab your seat belt, strap yourself in and hold on. I'm probably going to get some heat for shooting, but thats alright, some heat is better than no heat at all I guess.

Current Hardcore Champion: As of this writing, Joe Johnson was the reigning hardcore champion. Did I say hardcore champion? Let me rephrase that. Joe Johnson is the reigning hardcore god. Who can touch him? Dan Prohibition has done nothing but mire himself down into a fued that has cost him win after win. Dawg Face wasn't able to hang, and the only man who looked to give him a run for his money in that division, Chris "The Flash" Bowen , joined the Royal Family. Let me make one thing clear, Joe Johnson has done everything he can in the hardcore division. Who is he gonna beat? Ex-Terminator is even the Internet champion. Consider that for a moment, Ex-Terminator beat Joe Johnson to a title with more prestige. Johnson had better get his head out of the clouds and start looking for higher profile matches, otherwise, he's going to ruin a brilliant career. I've seen it happen before and he's making mistakes. Why rush for the gold? Because that is what every damn person in this buisness is after. Hardcore gold is nice, but wouldn't Johnson like to prove himself in the ring against real competitors? Imagine him matching Alexander Glory hold for hold in a thrilling submission match. Imagine him taking it to the extreme with a daring high flying match against Kritical Kondition. Joe Johnson has that talent, but the division he's in has run dry. It's time for Johnson to move on.

Current Prime Time Champion: Shane Johnson, brother to Joe and favorite of millions of fans everywhere. This guy skipped the hardcore division altogether, a good idea too, and went straight for the prime time title. Matches with Bull Dozer have pushed him to the limit, while we saw a glimpse of what this young man is capable of when he faced off against Universal champion, Alexander Glory. While there weren't alot of "smarts" out there predicting a win, what we saw was Shane try and prove himself, and push the reigning champion to the limit. Since then, Shane has become the Prime Time champion and has been a near unstopable force. However, he is still making some rookie mistakes in his matches, something that will come to hurt him should he attempt to do what his brother needs to do and make a main event run.

Current Internet Champion: Ex-Terminator has had alot of ups and downs as of late. His fiancee left him, or should I say was taken, or should I say left? It would seem to me that all these men bringing women to ringside are causing themselves alot of problems. Ex-Terminator and Amy had a normal relationship until she became a prize in a match. That broke Ex-Terminator and forced him to loose his morals. Oh well, big deal. The guy needed to start winning matches. I'm not a big fan women having much to do with wrestling, as they always seem to cause trouble, but maybe losing his old lady was the best thing for him. Since losing the so called love of his life, Ex-Terminator has stepped his game up and done something he hadn't done in quite a while, won a title. Now he has defended that title against a former friend in Invader and seems poised to hold off all opposition unless his former rival, Kritical Kondition, fails when he makes his bid for Alexander Glorys title. If that happens expect their fued to be reignited and more wars to be fought over the Internet title. Hopefully Amy will be left in the back with whomever she has come to the arena with that day.

Current Tag Team Champions: Sociatys Rejection has alot going for them. Joe Johnson has already heard what I had to say, though I think it must be mentioned that he and Kritical Kondition make a hell of a team. Their finishing manuever, the Royal Divide, has got to be one of the most inovative moves since the Dudleys brought out the 3-D. I mean, lets face it, most Tag Team comprised of only wrestlers that mostly wrestle in singles matches simply use their singles finishers. Not these two, they have taken their Tag Team win seriously and were straight about winning the gold. They even invinted the Royal Divide, showing that they care about being the Tag Team champions. While we're talking about Tag Teams however, where are they? Did the EWCL president Cazzo fire them all? These men are good, but how good would they be if they faced real competition? Imagine them facing off against the old Legion of Doom. What about a thrilling bout with the Minnesota wrecking crew or the Horsemens best of Anderson and Blanchard. Lets not forget the Midnight Express, the Harlem Heat or even, dare I say it, The Steiners. These guys are good, but not because they have earned it, because they don't have any competition. When they start beating top notch teams, I'll take notice. Till then, those belts only collect dust on their trophy cases as there seems to be little chance they will be defending them against a worthy team any time soon.

Current Universal Champion: Alexander Glory has done more to make himself the most hated man in the EWCL than anyone else in recent memory. Played all the right games and put himself in a position of backstage power and up for a Universal title shot. Took that title and then proved to be even more devious than everyone thought. Took the bounty for hire bit with Cazzo simply to hurt Exile even more. This guy has some serious screws loose. Kritical Kondition pushed him to the limit and he walked out cause of interfearance. He should have covered Kritical right there. He wanted a clean win, so what, everyone in this buisness gets a damn dirty win sometimes. Now that has given Kritical some backstage power and he managed to get himself into the main event for Family Values. Glory seems more obsessed with destroying the Legion than holding on to his Universal title, something I think will hurt Glory in the long run. Though he seems poised to try and raise the bar yet again with Kritical Kondition, there is a good chance he'll lose his title. If he does, I won't say it is a 100% Kritical because of the Legion. However, if Kritical managed to take the gold, it would prove what I said all along, Glory has taken his eyes off the real prize, holding onto that strap around his waist. Glory may very well be one of the best Universal champions ever, but if he hopes to be able to defeat Kritical Kondition, he's going to have to put out a hell of alot more than he's showing. Perhaps I'm wrong and Glory is prepard, we won't know until Family Values, personally, I can't wait.

Alright, the old timer is going to step away from the word pad program now and enjoy not being a wrestler, yay. As always, the views of this colum are mine and mine alone, you can't have them or borrow them so don't even try. If you need to talk to the old dog, send the stuff to Cazzo, cause I don't wanna hear it. Next week I'll probably stir the pot even more, so if you don't wanna hear my thoughts, I suggest you don't read my colum. Anything else, well that will remain to be seen, don't you think.

The "King of Chain Wrestling"

David King