TITLE CHANGES: NWA NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2001
Welcome back to the Squared Circle Café. Today, I continue to try new categories with my pro-wrestling stories. We have our “Meeting Your Heroes” (check out the Barry Windham and Nikita Koloff stories) and now we have “Title Changes”.
Grab a cup of Squared Circle Café Mr. Wrestling 3’s Espresso blend and hunker in because this story is going to be around 1800 words!
I have held a lot of championships over my career. I think at last count it was either 64 or 68. And although I can’t remember the exact number, I do remember the story that comes with a title change. And there is always a story. Some are fun. Some are frustrating. But all of them are entertaining in their own way. In the upcoming columns we will really break down certain aspects of how a title change occurs.
We start today with the NWA North American championship. According to the amazing Wrestling-Titles.com, there have been quite a few recognized North American champions. The most famous being the Mid-South North American title and the Stampede North American title. The last version (as of 2017) of the NWA North American championship started in 1994 when Greg “The Hammer” Valentine was awarded the title. NWA New Jersey promoter Dennis Coraluzzo acquired the rights to the title after the Texas promotion went out of business in 1995. Great young wrestlers of the time like Reckless Youth, Simon (then Lance) Diamond, and Ace Darling held the title. All peers of mine who I held, and hold, tremendous respect for.
In 1997, the NWA scored a deal with the World Wrestling Federation to have their brand on national television for the first time since the NWA and WCW had their last falling out in 1993. The title was quickly vacated and filled by Jeff Jarrett for the sake of the angle. When the WWF dropped the NWA story, the North American crown went to Tennessee for the most part with future NWA World’s champion Mike Rapada winning it a record five times. Rapada vacated the title for the last time on September 20, 2000 after winning the World’s title the night before.
This is a lot of information to get to my part of the story. Well, here it is. It’s April of 2001 and I know that the NWA World’s title is coming to me in Tampa on April 24. A few weeks before Tampa, I was informed that I would be winning the NWA North American championship near Dallas, TX on April 13 in a decision match with Redd Dogg and then vacating it the day after I win the NWA World’s title from Rapada. Now reading about Rapada vacating the NWA North American title the day after his World’s title win and then planning on me doing the same seems weird. Lucky for us, we have this story.
Since I’m taking you back 19 plus years about this title change, let me take you back 28 more years. 1973. A future World heavyweight champion and coffee peddler, was born in Grace General Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. That was me. I eventually moved to the States when I was young, but we would return to Canada as much as we could. When I was 12, my grandparents took me to Winnipeg for part of the summer. It was a great trip. It was also the last trip I ever took with my Grandfather, as he would pass away in November of 1985. So, when I became a professional wrestler in 1994, I had goals like everyone else. But one of my main goals was to be able to perform in front of a “hometown” crowd in Winnipeg. After seven years as a pro-wrestler, that was about to come true.
There is no secret that my era of the National Wrestling Alliance was plagued by a few different factors. More than anything it was disorganization and selfishness. But that it could have been like that in 1948, but history tends to be kind to the people that write the history. This story is not about complaining about ANYTHING.
Part of my journey to the NWA World’s title was to visit a few NWA promotions beforehand, which in theory, would create built-in angles when I would come back defending the title. Very old school. A surprise thrown in was that I was set to win the NWA North American championship on April 13 in Dallas. It was told to me that I would win the title and then vacate it after I won the World’s title on the 24th. Seemed weird, but I am more of a play ball type of wrestler and will try to make every situation work. The match in Dallas was good. Redd Dogg was always a good, but very tough, wrestler and he liked me. At least I hope he did! In the few times we tangled in ECW, he was always willing to sell for me (I wrestled him right at my babyface turn) even at the expense of his own character. He was that type of wrestler. He could eat you up any time HE wanted to, but he was a pro and only did it if the situation called for it. I miss that guy.
Now I am the NWA North American champion. I was kinda excited about it because just four years before I watched Reckless, Simon, and Ace fight over the title and I wanted to work my way into a top position like that. Now I was that guy. Don’t think I wasn’t putting together scenarios in my head where I could face them in NWA New Jersey when I had the World’s title.
It’s time to go to Winnipeg. Like I wrote a few paragraphs before, I hadn’t been home since 1985. There were relatives I wanted to see. There were places I remembered as a kid that I wanted to visit, including my first house in St. James. Although I was a few days from being the World’s champion, my family was excited to take pictures with the NWA North American title belt. Yep, it’s okay to do stuff like that young wrestlers. At the end of the day, if you don’t do that stuff, you will regret it. Side bar: The ECWA tag team titles in 1995 were so ugly. Like ugly. But I have a picture of me and my father after I won the tag titles and the picture always makes me smile. Take your pictures.
My opponent for the night was Robby Royce. This is 2001 and you couldn’t just punch “Robby Royce” into YouTube and get his last 12 matches or his 50 best moves. But I had heard of him. Being the mark for the business that I am, I still read Pro Wrestling Illustrated and always looked for results from Winnipeg and I would see Robby’s name. I met Robby and I instantly like him. He was enthusiastic about the match and has ideas. I met the locker room and everyone, except for the promoter, has that Canadian charm and humor. I’m excited. Then Robby sits down with me and asks how I want to switch the belt. Wait. What? I was floored. He could tell right away that I was taken back because I was told something totally different by the NWA President.
I take the “promoter” aside and ask him to explain this to me. I’m not mad, but this guy immediately gets defensive. I instantly don’t like him. I ask him if he has talked with Howard Brody because I am leaving Winnipeg and headed to Tampa, Florida, and as of this week, I was expected to hand in the NWA North American title after I won the World’s title. In 2001, we couldn’t just text the NWA President for clarification. I couldn’t just show up in Tampa without the belt. But I have always come to realize at this point that the truth is not the important thing when it comes to promoters. I take this promoter at his word and figure that it’s his fight with Howard Brody if the decision was wrong. My job was to entertain my hometown fans. And, knowing the plan for me to take the NWA World’s title all around the world, I knew I could design this match to set up the perfect rematch in September when I returned as World’s champion. Now, I’m excited but I have to see if Robby and I are on the same page.
And we were.
The more we put together the nuts and bolts of the match, the more excited I became about not only the match we were about to put on, but the little subtle flashbacks we could put in our September match. Robby and I were excited. With me being fresh off an ECW run, we were expected to throw some bells and whistles from “the Extreme” in the match. Then we, as people love to throw around the term, “overbooked” the finishing sequence. I love to overbook a finish when it’s called for. There were run ins, ref bumps, ridiculous false finishes, and all in out drama. A true dog and pony show. Which I LOVE. There was a point about five minutes in the match before we really even got cooking where I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. Almost 20 years later, it is still on the Top 10 of my favorite matches I have ever been in. The crowd, the timing, the atmosphere, and Robby Royce made it special.
I wish I could tell you that the September rematch doubled the house and I successfully defended the NWA World’s title against Robby Royce and got my revenge. But it was not meant to be. I’m sure both Robby and I could tell you hours of stories of why it didn’t happen, but this story isn’t about this. A few years later, Robby and I clashed in Winnipeg’s PCW, but the magic of the story we created wasn’t there. And that’s okay. On April 21, 2001, we got to create real magic for almost 35 minutes. No regrets.
Thank you Robby Royce. I am forever grateful that you were my dance partner in my Winnipeg debut in front of my family and friends that hadn’t seen me in 16 years. Even in defeat, you made me look like Superman, and it was a night I will never forget.
2020
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