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FWrestling.com - Circuit News and Info
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Killing of the King: Part 6 and Epilogue
I declare war on every government, war against all odds.
CSWA Gold Rush was conceived with two thoughts in mind from Commissioner Stephen Thomas: a punishment for Unified Champion Troy Windham for his refusal to face either his brother Mark Windham, or the former CSWA World Champion and perennial top contender Dan Ryan, and a way to bring the CSWA back to the forefront with a splash. In a nutshell, there would be five rings with battle – royal style matches happening simultaneously. Each outer ring would have a winner and a runner – up; the winner would win either one of the three secondary CSWA championships or an automatic Unified Title shot at any time, and the winner and runner – up would gain access to the center ring, where Troy would be defending the Unified Title itself against them.
To his continued credit, Troy dove into the Gold Rush with abandon, rapidly showing every other wrestler who was involved why he was called The Epitome. As an open challenge, wrestlers who would never have thought to have competed in the CSWA piled in against the Champion, in hopes of adding their names to the immortals who had worn the Unified World Championship.
Among the non – contracted wrestlers who threw their name in the ring, there was a man who last wrestled in the CSWA at CSWA17: Rebirth, the 2005 Anniversary celebration. ‘Total Elimination’ Eli Flair. When asked, Flair would say he didn’t think any of the other wrestlers in the contest knew what it was to go up against Troy Windham, and that he was entered solely to make sure Troy did not leave the Gold Rush event with the Unified Championship.
Both men appeared to take a wide berth of each other during the preliminary build up to the event, presumably because both knew, to take it to the level they had previously gone would have essentially negated both their presences in the Gold Rush. They barely interacted during the center ring itself, as Eli would be eliminated by the runner – up in the official match, Eron the Relentless, and Troy would defy all odds and fulfill his guarantee that he would attain victory in the Gold Rush.
Of course, mere moments after the Gold Rush ended, ‘Ego Buster’ Dan Ryan would cash in his title shot and fulfill Eli’s guarantee, that Troy would not leave CSWA18 with the Unified World Championship. Eli would subsequently walk out of the Merritt Auditorium, his CSWA career officially completed.
Epilogue: The cool remnant of a dream
It’s impossible to predict where each man’s career would have ended up if Troy had not defeated Eli for the CSWA Presidential Championship all the way back in 1997, or if Troy had not added insult to injury with his orchestrated Frat beatdown of the King of Extreme in the moments after the match. That incident and everything that spawned from it put a focus in Eli Flair that turned his never – say – die, shrug – off – all – injury tendancies to an obsession that propelled him to the top of the sport, and it gave Troy Windham the reputation as a man that could never be stopped.
It redefined what it meant for two wrestlers to be in a blood feud. Mike Randalls putting a wooden stake through GUNS’ knee, long the standard bearer for the farthest any man had gone to hurt another in the business, was almost universally shoved aside by the image of Eli standing on Troy’s broken hand, casually snapping his fingers one, two, three.
Professional wrestling, in general, and the CSWA in particular, had seen epic feuds and battles through its entire run – America’s Team, GUNS, Randalls, the Diamond Exchange, the Intruders, the CORPORATION, PLR, and every conceivable combination of opponents contained therein. In every other case, there was a hero and a villain and they were easily identified. Not here. In this case, the “hero” in the loosest possible terms, Eli Flair, inflicted the most grievous, most depraved acts of violence against his opponent, and the “villain” in the same loose terms, Troy Windham proved himself as one of the most resilient, stubborn, and talented men who had ever stepped between the ropes.
Both men were propelled into iconic status despite their best efforts. Troy’s pinup – good looks and Hollywood personality made him a natural spokesman for professional wrestling as legitimate entertainment, and remained on the elusive “A” list despite personal demons and public scandal. Eli, in contrast, was a loner, a private citizen, and an iconic anti – celebrity that made him a reluctant hero to the counterculture of society, the “cool factor in the music videos” that Sammy Benson coined, that gave any attempt at alternative entertainment the legitimacy it – often desperately – sought.
“Culture meets counterculture,” Ivy McGinnis was quoted as saying, in reference to Troy and Eli, “Wherever there’s culture there will be counterculture, and there will always be a natural friction between the two. Add in the professional wrestling – sized egos and it’s a recipe ripe for disaster.”
It’s impossible to measure exactly how this feud altered the course of professional wrestling in and of itself, but the sport, much like the two men involved, has been irrevocably changed from their presence.
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