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One Letter, Said Real Loud: The Legacy of D!

There is one name that resonates in the collective consciousness of New Alberta Pro Wrestling fans and competitors above all other.

Or rather, one letter. Said REAL loud.

D!.

In Year One, it is without argument that one wrestler put NAPW on the map. And that man was D!. His interaction with the fans, his talent, his charisma, his showmanship... to say that D! was integral to the growth and initial success of New Alberta Pro is absolutely not hyperbole. D! was NAPW for one year.

And then he was gone.

1. Cure For The Cancer

On October 31, 2005, Edmonton wrestling got their taste of D!. Coming to the ring in blue jeans, a black t-shirt and flame-detailed Harley-Davidson boots, the long-haired kid hardly looked the part of the pro wrestler. Few gave him the untested rookie much of a chance against the world-travelled Viking. Yet D! brought it all. His Rockettes Kick of Doom. The Nyquil Driver. The Stinger Splash. And finally, the BEAT-O-BARRAGE, a wild flurry of chops, punches and kicks designed to pummel an opponent into submission. One three count later and D!, for his second match EVER, would challenge NAPW Champion THE PLAGUE for the title.

Wrestling pundits wrote D!'s victory off as a rookie upset, a fluke. For the few that gave him a shot against Viking, even fewer gave him a chance against the battle-scarred Plague, one of the most decorated and ruthless competitors NAPW would ever see. The odds against D! were 100 to 1...

The Plague has D!, firing away, taking him into the corner! Right right right right! The Champion sends D! across the ring HARD and charges in! D! catapults over top of the champion though! The Plague rams sternum first into the turnbuckle and D! with a huge reverse thrust kick! There's another kick! Strike! Kick! AND! D! is revving up! THE BEAT-O-BARRAGE IS ON! The Plague trying to counter, counters a strike but D! nails with a huge kick! And again! And again! The Plague being peppered with lightning fast kicks until he drops to his knees! D! with a wide stance, looks at the crowd... AND BUZZ KICKS THE PLAGUE RIGHT IN THE BACK OF THE HEADDDD! PLAGUE...flops forward to the canvas and D! hooks the leg! ONE! TWO.....THREEEEE!

D! shocked the wrestling world. And perhaps even more surpisingly, he captivated the hearts and imagination of wrestling fans. He was a dashing Han Solo whispering "Never tell me the odds!" and then beating them. He was "one of us," in the eyes of the fans, a wrestlling fan who said "me too!" and then actually did it.

There is no denying D!'s incredible charisma. Everywhere he went, with merely a glance and a grin, he turned the crowd on their heads. The reactions that followed him were heads and tails louder than any other NAPW wrestler. When D! beat Plague in a Career Match, the pop was deafening. NAPW's hero would not be a veteran deigning to compete in some new Alberta indy; it would not be some typical muscle-bound "superstar." It was the hometown boy, in his jeans and t-shirt, who would put NAPW on the map.

2. Luck of the Draw

Like most highs, the intoxicating glory of D!'s first few months in wrestling would not last.

Terry Brandon waves THE BEAST and STYLIN' KYLE through the curtain and they immediately rush the ring! Brandon follows and hands off his briefcase to KYLE, who tosses it waaaaay up and over into the cage! The Beast is scaling the one side! Kyle now scales the other! Terry Brandon just grabbed the timekeeper and DECKED HIM! He's searching his pockets for the cage door key! Meanwhile, D! has somehow in his anger noticed that D-X is climing the cage! D! climbs the cage and meets The Beast at the top! He's firing away on The Beast, but Kyle is over the top! D! jumps down, leaving The Beast recovering near the top of the cage, and then goes up to meet Kyle! BUT WAIT! CHRIS CASINO IS UP! AND HAS THE STEEL BRIEFCASE! WHAM! RIGHT TO THE BACK OF D! D! drops down and turns around INTO A BRIEFCASE TO THE FACE! Kyle drops down, The Beast drops down, Chris Casino COVERS D!... NOT LIKE THIS. NOT LIKE THIS. ONE! TWO! THREEEEE...EEEEEE!

2005 ended with perhaps one of the most tramautic events in the history. To this day fans remember the night "D! got screwed." Chris Casino was NAPW Champion. And D!, the fans hero...

Disappeared.

Questions and rumours spread like wildfire in the locker room. On the message boards. Some thought that in the wake of his first crushing defeat, D! had simply taken his ball and gone home. "One loss and he bails? Some hero!" Still others, many of them, held out hope that D! would return and right the wrongs of Chris Casino and The New & Improved D-X. But for weeks, there was no trace of D!. As his absence grew longer, worry gripped the fanbase. Was D! injured? Did he indeed quit the business rather than face adversity? His initial months in wrestling, after all, were ones of constant success. He suffered beatdowns, but came out on top every time. In Chris Casino, D! had faced the first challenge he could not surmount.

And then like lightning D! returned.

And he is, in street clothes and a green toque! Lobo gets nailed, rolls out of the ring, and now D! smacks Casino as Predator rolls out of the ring, freed of the chair! D! UNLOADS~! ON CHRIS CASINO, THE CROWD ROARING WITH EVERY PUNCH! Casino staggered, and D! sends him to the ROPES... PLAGUE-LIKE SPINEBUSTER! SPINE ON THE PINE! D! roars to the crowd, raises his arms in a complete adrenaline RUSH! He turns to Casino, preparing to KICK CASINO'S FREAKING HEAD OFF ... LOBO hauls Casino out of the ring! Lobo hauling Casino down the aisle, Casino...staring in mingled shock/awe/surprise/fear. They pause at the curtain, because D!...has the MIC! His voice is full of fire and he leans over the top rope, every word resounding!

D!: Y'see, it's like THIS, peanut. I'M NOT GONE. YOU don't retire people! *I* retire people! Because you've had THREE! WEEKS! to stack the deck in your favour. Now guess what? NOTHING'S CHANGED! You're still nothing without backup, your backup sucks, your ponytail makes you look like a girl, and best of all, D! IS ALIVE! AND! KICKING!

D! was scarred physically, but he showed no mental scares - excepting his need to gain revenge on Chris Casino. At Joker's Wild, in a match still considered one of the greatest, D! defeated Chris Casino inside the same steel cage he lost his title in weeks prior. In a picture-perfect moment, D! delivered the Nyquil Driver from the TOP of the cage to score the pinfall and regain his NAPW title.

But there was a shadow looming on the horizon.

3. Ravager

D!. Ravager.

The two most popular men in NAPW. Impossibly different - one, an everyman, the other, an aloof professional. Two sides of the same liquor bottle. Online, fans would compare them to Batman and the Joker. Could either one exist without the other?

Ravager and D! were easily the two most popular men in NAPW, but D!'s popularity outstripped Ravager's by a wide margin. It seemed inevitable that Ravager's next step after his Provincial title run would be gunning for the NAPW Championship. It was the most anticipated match in NAPW's short history. D! vs Ravager, NAPW title on the line. On February 6th, 2006, it finally happened. After a tremendous contest, it was D! who came out on top with a clean victory thanks to the BEAT-O-BARRAGE.

And then it got ugly.

Two title feuds were rolled up into one. It would be Ravager and the tag champion New & Improved D-X (Stylin' Kyle & The Beast) taking on NAPW champion D! and the Doomriders (Tommy Deathrow & Billy Kryenik) in the so-called "Put Up or Shut Up" match. The winning team would win a title shot for its respective challenger while the champions would get off without having to defend against their rivals again.

On 2/13, Ravager & D-X were victorious. Ravager earned his title shot against D!, and D-X would not have to defend against the Doomriders again. Except that Ravager had manipulated NAPW owner Wahoo Winchell into giving the Doomies another shot at D-X, whom he disliked, REGARDLESS. It seemed that Ravager had out-thought every man in that match. Would he out-think D! when the title was on the line? The hype for the rematch surpassed the first match.

And then Ravager dragon suplexed his manager Tiffany MacIntyre on the concrete. "No distractions." D! was incensed. The intensity of his rivalry with Ravager EXPLODED into unadulterated hatred. D! was filmed in an uncensored rage, screaming across Whyte Avenue at the residence of his opponent. "I AM GOING TO REMEMBER THIS, YOU BASTARD, YOU GIRL-BEATING PSYCHO, I AM GOING TO REMEMBER THIS WHEN I FLAT-OUT PUMMEL YOU!"

02/20/2006:

D! POPS OUT OF THE CURTAIN, rarin' to go --- and is met with a hail of BOOS?! The initial pop suddenly gives way to a mixture of cheers and voracious boos, causing D! to momentarily lose his bearings. He recovers and sprints to the ring, slapping hands with those fans extending their hands, slides in the ring and rips the belt off, holding it above his head. The boos intensify?! D!, clearly thrown, tries not to pay them any heed but hands off his belt to Referee Dick Kiebiech.

For whatever reason, right or wrong, the NAPW fans felt that it was D!'s words and actions which led to Tiffany McIntyre's injury. The fans, apparently, believed Ravager when he stated that he wasn't the monster D! needed him to be. Jack Jones put it best, saying "It's just business for Ravager. It's D! who's made this one personal! D! who's done everything he can to make Ravager a "monster" for him to fight, because D!...can't handle the fact that the fans don't seem to want to boo Ravager for doing things D! considers to be "wrong." I don't like the fans much, but you know what? They pay their money, they can cheer and boo whomever the hell they want!"

Bill Hewson disagreed. The match went on, a bizarro-world version of D! and Ravager's first encounter. Some fans never doubted their hero. But many, too many, hated D! that night. For the first time in his career, D! was not beloved, he was not the fan-favorite, he was not the conquering hero. And yet in the end, it was D!'s prediction which came true...

BILL HEWSON: TIFFANY MACINTYRE JUST LOW BLOWED D! FROM BEHIND! TIFFANY HAS LOW BLOWED THE CHAMPION! NO! DRAGON SUPLEX! NOT LIKE THIS! ONE! TWO! TH----D! KICKED OUT! D! KICKED OUT!
And now the crowd is uncomfortable, still booing D!'s kick-out but clearly shocked and confused by Tiffany Macintyre! BUT D!! HAS! KICKED OUT OF THE DRAGON SUPLEX! THE CHAMPION STILL HAS GAS LEFT IN THE TANK! Ravager swears and yanks D! up roughly by the hair...WAITAMINUTE. TIFFANY HAS PUT THE NAPW TITLE BELT ON THE TOP TURNBUCKLE. Ravager hoists D! up and follows, Tiffany holding the belt in place. Ravager---no nonsense---no TIME WASTED --- HITS THE SUPERBRAINBUSTER ON THE TITLE BELT! GOOD LORD! D! may have a broken neck! And now Ravager COVERS... THE CROWD COUNTING ALONG! ONE! TWOOOOOO! ... ... ... THREEEEEEEEEE!

4. Now What?

The title loss itself did not shake D!. What shook him was the reaction of the crowd. In one fell swoop, they turned on him. It was D!'s first exposure to the fickle nature of wrestling fans. The next week he came out and cut a promo, expressing his confusion, even apologizing for perhaps indeed crossing a line in his zealousness to defend the line against Ravager. The fans welcomed D! back with open arms and all was well.

D! wanted back into the NAPW title scene. The shortest route to that was the Sole Survivor match. D! chose to enter #1, to prove something to himself more than anybody else. He would last til the very end only to get eliminated by Devastation, who would go on to win the NAPW title. D! was still on the outside looking in.

The springtime of 2006 saw D! recover from an injury at the hands of Stein's deadly "Vitiator" maneuver while becoming involved in the ongoing war between Devastation's "Charitable Trust" group and the top faces in NAPW. Ironically, the threat of the Charitable Trust would lead to D! teaming with Static, Rex Caliber and his hated foe Ravager to engage the Trust in a War Games match at Complete Control. The team seemed to put aside all their various personal issues (Ravager/Rex, Ravager/Static, Ravager/D!... well Ravager and all his teammates, basically) and came out on top. D! and Static would form a loose tag team and battle Trust members, including Devastation and Pit Boss, throughout April and May. It seemed that perhaps D! was done as the top dog in NAPW, as Rex Caliber came onto the scene and defeated Devastation for the NAPW Title at Epic.

5. Back In The Saddle

The post-Epic period of NAPW, going into June, saw dramatic changes. Static betrayed his partner Rex Caliber in brutal fashion and then took the NAPW title from him. The Delivery Men upended D-X for the NAPW title. New talent swarmed into NAPW looking to make their names. And in this element of unpredictability and even chaos, D! would emerge once again as the leader of NAPW. He earned the #1 contendership and would challenge the demented Static on July 18th for the title at NAPW's first outdoor event, Get The Hell Off Our Lawn. While the event would be marred by a riot (caused, coincidentally, by Ravager) and D!'s match postponed one night, the result was nonetheless one he wanted...

The crowd is going BALLISTIC... and then in the ring, Static is legitimately UNCONSCIOUS. D!... D! is up, enough. He looks at Static, he looks at the steel chair, he looks in the aisle at The Man In Black hauling ass to the entrance way, looks at Joseph Winchell, looks at Dick Kiebiech shaking the cobwebs loose in his forehead... D! looks at the crowd...
And covers Static, hooking the leg.

BILL HEWSON: Wait a minute, D! is covering Static --- I don't believe it --- Kiebiech is counting!
ONE!

JACK JONES: NOT LIKE THIS!

BILL HEWSON: TWO!

A heartbeat.

CROWD: THREEEEEEEEE!

It was the Summer of D!.

In extra-curricular activities, D! would win a massive tournament in the TEAM promotion, becoming the first-ever Champion of Champions. On the homefront, D! would defeat Static in a rematch, and then move onto the man he wanted most of all. D! and Ravager renewed their rivalry and this time there was no question about who was the fan favorite. Ravager had become one of the most hated men in NAPW, and D! was back in his position as the hero. The beloved. He defeated Ravager with a WHAMMA-JAMMA ELBOW HAMMA in convincing fashion. If that wasn't enough, D! gained the ultimate victory over his nemesis one week later in a "Loser Leaves Whyte Avenue" match. Fans brought the weapons, and D! and Ravager went at it not for a title, but the right to live in their chosen area of Edmonton. Once again, D! emerged victorious, forcing his defeated rival to relocate.

By August, it seemed clear that this time, D! would engage on the epic title run so many had expected his second should have been. The kid had come into his own. Sure he still had less than a year of experience, but he seemed to learn exponentially - he was better than wrestlers with five years under their belt. That was a fact.

D! had experienced adversity; he had overcome it. He had spent time out of the spotlight; he came through it with humility and earned his way back to the top. He even was finding love outside of the ring. In these circumstances, even the red-hot Provincial Champion, "The Lemondrop Kid" Lloyd Rees seemed like a longshot to upend him. And D! indeed fended the future "LDK" off...

The future was looking bright.

Which is why it was so shocking when Rees actually won the NAPW title in a 30-minute Iron Man match, three falls to two... with the aid of a steel chair. A shocked D! took his frustration out on Rees and his shenanigans by delivering a flying elbow drop to Rees through the announce table! But even though D! had seemingly gone nuts, the fans loved it. The hero had been robbed, Rees got his just desserts. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

6. With A Kiss

Anniversary Assault. October 31st, 2006. The one year anniversary of New Alberta Pro Wrestling. And to commemorate the occasion, the five men remaining in the promotion from the first show were placed into a single match. The "Hallowe'en House of Horrors" it was called, a cage match where the object was to handcuff each of your opponents to the side of the cage. The winner, no doubt, would be in line for an NAPW title shot.

Five men entered. D!. Ravager. "The Moose" Mark Millar. And both members of The New & Improved D-X, Stylin' Kyle Roberts and Bruce "The Beast" Richards. And from the get-go, D! was on a mission! He dominated his opponents, and seemed well on his way to victory when Ravager shattered his kneecap.

To the fans utter disappointment, D! was removed from the cage, seemingly unable to finish the match-up. Ravager would go on to win...

And then all hell would break loose.

The lights went out. When they came up, The Plague was in the ring, his first NAPW appearance since D! retired him in December 2005. He attacked Ravager. The Dudes, fan-favorites who earlier that night were inducted into the "Ring of Prestige," attacked D-X. The Moose was helpless, handcuffed to the cage.

But the fans knew there was one man who could save the day.

One man who could turn back The Plague and the turncoat Dudes.

One man.

One letter.

Said real loud.

This is the scene.

Tiffany Macintyre is prone. Bruce Richards is half-conscious, his free arm draped over Tiffany in an attempt to shield her. Plague has a steel chair raised high above his head. A glassy-eyed Ravager is on his knees, hands cuffed behind his back. The Celtic Assassins are down and out, The Moose choking and stomping them. Mike Johnston is trying to break Kyle Roberts in half, Cameron Scott jeering Kyle. Bill Fleming is down after bravely trying to help his team. Rod Hardway and Dutch Flanagan have made their way out to help, taking revenge on the Celtic Assassins with their comrade Moose. There is no hope. Little light.

Until D! comes out.

D! rushes the ring, adrenaline pumping his bad leg. He has a steel chair. Three hits. Three members of Stiff Competition crashing to the canvas. The Dudes scatter, exiting the ring in a hurry as D! bangs the chair off the top rope in an attempt to nail Johnston. D! smashes the cage with the chair. The crowd goes banana. Orange. Apple. Bonzo gonzo. Coconut. COCONUT, dammit.

Then.

It is The Plague staring across the ring at the man who put him out of NAPW one year ago. D!. D!. The Plague. D!. The Plague. The crowd is begging for D! to kill Plague, they want his blood.
And then their whole world is destroyed.

And nobody was spared the fury D! rained down. Not Ravager. Not Wayne Wright. Not Bill Hewson. Not Frank Warburton.

This is how Anniversary Assault ends. The biggest night in NAPW history. The celebration of one full year of accomplishment.

With D!, it's very face, it's poster boy, it's franchise standing atop the announce table, laughing sickly, holding a blood-stained steel chair.

The savior of NAPW...

Has delivered us unto evil.

7. And Then, Silence

The world didn't make sense.

Nothing made sense.

And with that atmosphere permeating NAPW fandom, the crowd packed The Palace in Calgary Alberta in the hopes that they would be given an explanation. That it would all prove to be a bad dream. That D! would come out and say "SURPRISE! It's all a joke!"

Nobody really believed that. Rather, they feared what would happen to NAPW with a seemingly insane D! on the roster. Some even feared it would be the destruction of the promotion.

It didn't quite happen that way.

D!: And I knew that no matter what I'd ever do... you'd always be out there. Watching me. To love me. To cheer me.

Gingerly, he reaches up to his head and grabs hold of his toque, pulling it slowly back. The long, jagged scar running across his forehead screams out, a white centipede against a face slowly turning pinker.

D!:You sure as Hell would never PROTECT me when the going got rough, but Oh Lord, would you CHEER me. That is, unless... you'd rather HATE me. February Twentieth. The epic re-match between yours truly, and that low-down, worthless excuse of a man called RAVAGER.

With this, a "RAV-A-GER" chant starts up. D! screws his face up, rolls his eyes.

D!: Jesus, this never ends with you people. See, it's that damn match all over again. We watched--we ALL watched that sick mental patient attack Tiffany MacIntyre, Dragon Suplex her onto CONCRETE. That... that act... you know what? Violence against women... is NEVER. ACCEPTABLE. He injured Tiffany to get into MY head and I LOST IT. I know you wanted me to be the happy-go-lucky, burger-chompin' good guy, but he crossed a REAL (BLEEP) line and I did everything in my power to STICK it to him. And you all saw what I saw. You all knew what I knew. And YET.

AND YET.

YOU ALL TURNED ON ME.

You all saw something that you didn't LIKE, even if it was as real for me as anything else. You... you SAW that psychopath... and you CHEERED him. I'd been HONEST to you since DAY ONE... and you sided with a violent lunatic... because it was the COOL thing to do.
Yeah, I lost to Ravager that day, lost my second Championship, too, and do you know what I did the VERY next week? I came out the VERY next show... I stood in this VERY spot... and I asked to be let back into your hearts.

It worked. And so I NEVER trusted you again. Hey, here's an idea--you all saw me nearly kill D-X and some announcers last Tuesday--why don't y'all forgive me? One more time! Come on, for D!

YOU CAN PROTEST ALL YOU GUYS WANT, BUT THE NAPW IS DEAD! AND I KILLED IT! DO YOU HEAR ME? I MADE--I CREATED THE NAPW! IT IS NOTHING WITHOUT ME! I MADE IT NATIONAL! I MADE IT THE NUMBER ONE PROMOTION IN CANADA! I BROUGHT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION HERE! AND JUST LIKE I MADE IT, I CAN TAKE IT OUT, AND THERE'S NOT A (BLEEP) THING YOU OR ANYONE ELSE CAN--

D!'s mad rant was interrupted by a young upstart, one much like D!. The Pure Honor champion Simply Beautiful crashed the horror and told D! what was what. He made it clear that NAPW would survive without D!, that it was bigger than D!. The crowd cheered SB like they once cheered D!. With every word from SB's lips, they got louder and louder and louder. D!'s rage grew. Finally he snapped.

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL: NEW ALBERTA PRO IS MY HOME, AND I'M GONNA DEFEND MY HOME NO MATTER WHAT! IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA LEAVE, I'LL MAKE YOU, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!

The fans are chanting SB's name! THIS IS INSANITY!

D!: You wanna know what I think... peanut?

ROUNDHOUSE! D! just punched SB! The fans are booing like crazy, and D! is all over the Pure Honor Champion. Rights and lefts, and SB is dazed. D! smirks... SPINEBUSTER! The Pure Honor champion is down, and D! is just getting started. He waits for Simply Beautiful to get up, then wraps a sleeper ---NYQUIL DRIVER --- SB COUNTERS behind! EXPLOOOOODER BACK SUPLEX! This place has OFFICIALLY come unglued!

Simply Beautiful and D! both to their feet, SB is first... D! fires! BLOCKED! SB IS A HOUSE'A'FAR, tearing apart the Golden Boy! Rights, lefts, D!'s busted wide open! The former champion leaning against the top ropes, dazed, disbelieving... and here's SB with a clothesline to send D! right over the top rope! The man who has carried NAPW for a year has just been sent flying out on his ass! The crowd is ballistic, they're chanting SB's name as D! limps up the ramp, clutching his leg as he slinks out of the arena. Simply Beautiful wants more, he's begging for more, but D! looks at the fans --- he spits on the rampway! D! waves his hands, he doesn't want anything to do with Simply Beautiful... and with that, the face of NAPW for a year slinks through the curtain.

And that was the only "match" Simply Beautiful and D! would ever have. That was the last anybody would ever see of D! in an NAPW ring.

Days later, revelations came out. D!'s ex-lover revealed the truth about the "leaked" internet chat transcripts between D! and a mysterious correspondent known only as "Camus Had It Easy" (later changed to "I Of The Dragon"). Most speculation assumed the correspondent to be The Plague. The events of Anniversary Assault seemed to confirm that.

Jean revealed how wrong everybody was. About the correspondent. About everything.

JC: I step out of the bedroom, somehow don't make a sound, and there, in the middle of his darkened apartment, he's sitting there, writing at his computer, and talking to himself. And he's writing a script, it looks like. And then he highlights a sentence he'd write, and shade it red.

PWI: Uh...

JC: Yeah.

PWI: Wow.

JC: I know.

PWI: So he was faking chat transcripts?

JC: Because he was "Camus" or "Dragon" or whoever. And he probably sent in those document files himself, too.

PWI: That doesn't sound like something D! would do--

JC: Like hire an actress to play Ravager's daughter? Or fake his suicide off of the cruise ship? Or try to take off Frank Warburton's head? (Grimaces.) Why did people fail to understand that he was always crazy?

Days later, the final videotape of D! was found along with a badly beaten, but thankfully unharmed in any permanent way, NAPW cameraman.

And that was the last anybody has seen or heard of D!.

Epilogue

The subject of D! is a complex one, with no easy answers. For one year, he was the face of NAPW. The poster boy. The beloved hero and hometown boy. Yet a mere two weeks have soured even the best memories.

As a wrestling fan, watching old D! matches is a surreal experience. No matter how positive the crowd reacts, in the back of one's mind is the knowledge of how it ended. Of the revelations of D!'s seeming insanity well before his public "snapping."

D! had problems. Problems he shared with not a living soul. How could he have been helped? Who knew he even had such mental issues?

Yet at the same time, it is impossible to not recognize the contributions D! made to New Alberta Pro. Some wonder if the promotion would have survived more than a handful of shows if D! had not captivated the fans in Alberta and elsewhere. D! and NAPW, for one year, were inexorably linked. D! truly was the face of NAPW. He brought the promotion to world-wide attention when he won the Tournament of Champions in TEAM. He caused fans to check out an unknown independent from Alberta, Canada through whatever means they could. He sold DVDs. He sold tickets. He sold merchandise.

It is futile to speculate on what NAPW would have been like in 2007 if D! had remained in the promotion, whether as a beloved star or the most hated man in the promotion. For some, D!'s disappearance was a blessing. Simply Beautiful was catapulted into the stratosphere, adopted by the fans as their new hero, even doing what D! couldn't do - win Sole Survivor.

Perhaps most strikingly, it allowed Ravager to move out from the shadow of the man, to become more than just Joker to D!'s "Batman." Perhaps Ravager's epic title run over six months of 2007 would never have happened with D! present. If not because D! would beat him, but because Ravager and D! seemed obsessed with one another to no end.

Ironically, in the end, it would be Ravager the hero... and D! the villain.

Where are you, D!?

LINK: D!'s Final NAPW Promo

LINK: D!'s Outrage Towards Ravager

LINK: FRIDAY NIGHT WHYTE: D! and The Plague

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