GENERAL INFORMATION
Ring Name: Rezin
Nicknames: The Escape Artist; The Goat Bastard
Government Name: Erik Bartholomew Black
Alter Egos: Dopesmoker; “The Druid” Erik Black; “The Sickle” Erik Black; El Cabrón; Pan
Gimmick: Mad scientist, self-destructive nihilist, and intoxicated Kung-Fu master all rolled into one. Also could be considered the Dark Side of the Dopesmoker.
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 228 lbs.
Handedness: Left
Billed From: The Bottom of the Barrel
Birthplace: Lebanon, Indiana, United States
Currently Resides: Unknown (believed to be transient)
Alignment: Diabolical Bastard Heel
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Appearance: Caucasian male of mixed European ethnicity. His skin is pale from many days hiding from the sunlight and scarred from many a stunt gone awry, and his head carries a nasty and unkempt mane of a hobo beard melded into a mop of thick dark brown hair, except where it’s thinning on the top. Ample body hair on the torso and limbs completes a somewhat ridiculously repulsive and haggard appearance. Hands and feet are noticeably filthy and stained. His body also bears a number of tattoos that have accrued over the years, notably ones being a Russian mafia-style sickle across the left forearm, Sleep’s “Holy Mountain” logo on the left shoulder, and a large goat-head Baphomet across his back.
Ring Attire: Black pants, black wrist bands. No boots... wrestles barefoot. The pants are loose and almost always slipping, forcing him to go through many matches with plumber’s crack.
Entrance Attire: Beat-up black duster that looks like it’s about to fall apart at the seams and jet black shades.
Entrance Music: “Master of Alchemy” by Electric Wizard
Entrance Description: Feedback pierces the PA as the lights flicker. Rezin’s video package plays on the EmpireTron through the guitar intro. Pillars of fire burst forth from the sides of the stage as the song hits its first riff, and Rezin emerges and makes his way to the ring. His demeanor, which is often flippant, can either be completely and nauseatingly cocky, disinterested or bored, or just plain lucid and ready to eat somebody’s face. He likes to soak heat from the crowd... often coughing or dispensing a loogey onto some poor kid’s face in the front row. He doesn’t just rip unflattering signs apart -- he literally wipes his ass with them before crumbling them up and throwing them back. Regardless of how he’s feeling, his very disgusting nature and crude antics get the crowd screaming for his blood before the bell even rings.
HISTORY
Title Accomplishments:
- MCW Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the Crimson Calling) - 2003
- EPW Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the Crimson Calling) - 2004
- A1E Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the CHRONIC COLLIZION~!!) - 2007
- TEAM Dupree Cup Finalist (w/ Team A1E) - 2008
- NEW Television Championship - 2010
Bio:
Erik Black was born on April Fool’s Day in the year 1983 to mother Louise Black and an unknown father in the city of Lebanon, Indiana, USA. Growing up as a poor, scrawny bastard son of a gas station attendant in a small, rather unremarkable hick town, he was frequently singled out on the schoolyard by other children of middle class families. It is perhaps of no surprise then that his childhood was often marred by poor academic progress and various misdemeanors. At age 15, he had his first of what would be many run-ins with the law when he was sent to juvenile detention for possession of marijuana.
Though a troubled youth, Erik managed to pick out a single glimmering thread from the dull tapestry that was his unfulfilled and insignificant life in Indiana when he fell upon the hobby of professional wrestling. The seed was planted as a child, glued in front of his television set watching weekly broadcasts of orange-skinned heroes going to battle with ‘roided-out monsters in the squared circle before capacity crowds. It blossomed as he became a young adult and fell in with a meager crowd of friends, mostly other impoverished kids, Juggalo hoodlums, and other low-lifes who weren’t strangers to finding entertainment through beating the hell out of each other with light tubes and barbed wire in their backyards.
In these early backyard wrestling stints, Erik created the first of his many alter egos in EL CABRON, a masked luchadore that imitated his own goatish features. Though undersized, he had a knack for high-flying feats and daredevil stunts. Over the course of his teen years, he developed a resistance to pain and punishment through a number of disastrous leaps off of garages through tables and chairs. Over time, he built up a reputation as being a dynamic aerial maestro without reservations.
After (barely) graduating high school, Black made the conscience decision to pursue a life of professional wrestling, seeing no other place in the world where he would better off. Due to his inferior size, he made an exodus to Japan to further craft his skill. Even as a stranger in a strange land, with no money and no guidance, Erik managed to persevere in the Asian professional wrestling industry, making paltry earnings from numerous indie shows. It was at some point there where he gained discipline of martial arts, and further honed his high-flying abilities to compliment the puro style of the territory.
During his stay in Japan, Black met two people who were very influential in his development and later rise to fame. The first was Ivan Dalkichev, a Russian sambo master and seven-foot tall giant, who Erik met at an indie show in Osaka. The two formed an immediate bond over their foreign status, despite language barriers, and as PAN and ATLAS, Black and Dalkichev competed as a remarkably functioning tag team of polar opposites. The second was Nathan Fear, a retired wrestler from the Pacific Northwest who was at the time scouting for talent in the Land of the Rising Sun, when he caught sight of the duo at a show in Kyoto.
Fear took the pair of Black and Dalkichev under his wing. With his guidance and knowledge of the sport, Erik gained a technical discipline that he could have never had back in the scrap yards back home. Fear brought his team back to the states and rechristened them as THE SICKLE and THE HAMMER -- together, the CRIMSON CALLING. With Fear as their manager, the duo competed under the gimmick of Communist revolutionaries.
The Crimson Calling had some work in Jason Reeves' Insanity Wrestling Federation as Fear accepted the Vice President position, and recruited his prized twosome as security enforcers. When the company folded, they migrated to the short-lived Major Championship Wrestling, where they won their first Tag Team Championships.
Black's big break came when Fear took the Crimson Calling to the then up-and-coming Empire Pro Wrestling shortly after the closure of MCW. The duo made an immediate impact in the federation's budding tag team division, and made history as they became the first-ever EPW Tag Team Champions. But while things were going well for the Crimson Calling in the ring, the same could not be said backstage, as Nathan Fear made increasing demands to the front office. This culminated to Fear leaving Empire Pro out of frustration, forcing his team to vacate the EPW Tag Team Titles and walk out on the federation.
Fear's nepotism would come back to haunt him as his actions inevitably blacklisted him and his team from several promotions in the coming years. Outside of random appearances at indie shows, the Crimson Calling had spent little time in the ring. To support himself, Black took up a job as a talent representative at Las Vegas Wrestling, where he met "The Butt-Dominator" Olvir Arsvinnar. All the same, it was becoming clear that Nathan Fear's leadership was waning. In 2006, the manager suffered a nervous breakdown that resulted in his being committed to an asylum. Without his direction, Black and Dalkichev squandered their EPW earnings on copious amounts of marijuana and vodka, respectively.
The duo's second chance came when in 2007, A-1 Entertainment announced an open invitational tag team tournament to find worthy competitors to the nearly unstoppable A1E Tag Team Champions of the time, Dan Ryan and Big Dog. Without Fear as their manager, the duo renamed themselves the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! Though heavily abusive of drugs and alcohol at the time, the Escape Artist and the Raging Russian surprised many as they flawlessly performed throughout the tournament without incurring a single loss, and capped off their triumphant return with a victory over Ryan and Big Dog to gain the A1E Tag Team Titles.
The tides shifted as the dubious pair sided with Dan Ryan in his EPW invasion of A1E. With Ryan's ultimate demise at the hands of his former tag partner, Big Dog, the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! were yet again without a leader and without direction. Ostracized by the locker room, Black and Dalkichev assumed masks as referred to themselves as the CTHULHU CULT, but failed to regain any momentum in the ring. They parted ways with the company shortly after.
With their stint in A1E finished, the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! returned to EPW after four years of separation and made a bold attempt to reclaim the EPW Tag Team Titles. Ultimately, they were vanquished reigning champions the First and Felix Red, known as the Forsaken. Before a second effort could be made, Nathan Fear made a surprise return and re-assumed control of the team, citing the two were still bound to their former manager by their IWF contracts. Fear made attempts to restore the teams long gone elite image as the Crimson Calling, but his constant meddling only worked against their efforts, and for a long while, the team languished in constant failures and short-comings.
Black and Dalkichev ultimately regained their freedom when Fear, under the influence of LSD (which may or may not have been put in his drink that night), made a bizarre in-ring showing during a Pay Per View broadcast that resulted in his untimely departure and return to the asylum. Black celebrated his liberation that night by boldly smoking a joint in the ring in front of a sold out arena and millions watching at home. As a result, the Crimson Calling officially dissolved, and Erik Black assumed the new identity DOPESMOKER.
As Dopesmoker, Black found moderate success as a singles competitor, flaunting his amazing high-flying abilities and his penchant for thinking outside the box to find alternate means of victory. In the wake of the HOPE and Anthology rivalry, Dopesmoker aligned himself with Stalker and Omega to form the Fallen.
The alliance was short-lived as Stalker soon turned on Dopesmoker in response to his success in the annual King of the Cage tournament. Despite severing tides, Black gained the support of the fans and made an insurmountable rise through the KotC tournament by escaping the cage. Despite his success, the DEA ended his winning streak when they busted him at the end of a match with the reigning World Champion and former tag rival, the First. Black only escaped longstanding charges due to the legal professionals provided by Dan Ryan at the time.
Dopesmoker returned to the ring after the passage of several months, but failed to regain his previous momentum. No longer a main event contender, Black's mental deterioration became apparent following the arrest of his regular dealer. No longer without dope to smoke, Black exhibited increasingly erratic behavior in the ring, culminating in his betrayal and unwarranted attack on his former partner Dalkichev.
At Aggression 61, Erik Black re-identified himself as REZIN, pronouncing his intentions to bring about the demise of Empire Pro.
WRESTLING STRATEGY
Wrestling Style: Aerial and Striking
Technique: A blend of Japanese puroresu and Mexican lucha libre, with a discipline in American kickboxing. His offense relies mostly on stiff martial arts kicking combinations and spontaneous high-flying acrobatics, but also finds support in stealth attacks and timely counters.
Strengths:
1 - Kung-Fu Master - Rezin’s legs are fast and deadly; he can chain series of kicks with blinding speed and surprising balance. His uncanny kickboxing technique also serves the benefit of keeping an opponent from getting in too close. The spinning heel kick (“Damascus Heel”) is his go-to knock out strike, and usually works well as a counter.
2 - Skywalker - Rezin boasts a mental encyclopedia of various high-flying maneuvers (including rare and as-yet-unheard stunts he keeps threatening to whip out if provoked). He’s also remarkably capable of pulling them off within a moment’s notice and an arm’s length distance from the ropes or the turnbuckles. It could be said that an out-of-nowhere Dragonrana (“Rezin-rana”) is his signature spot for every match.
3 - Escape Artist - Rezin is a wrestling cockroach... and as soon as the tides shifts against him in the match, he bails from the ring the soonest chance he can get to kill his opponent’s momentum. His vexing ability to slip, squeeze, and squirm out of practically any hold or move has earned him the Houdini-inspired nickname of “the Escape Artist”.
Weaknesses:
1 - Lightweight - Against any opponent with a significant advantage in size and strength, Rezin’s obviously going to have problems grappling. He also tends to make a fitting human lawn dart for larger athletes. He epitomizes the smaller guy who gets tossed around a lot.
2 - Reckless Abandon - Either through intoxication or insanity, Rezin typically takes Wile E. Coyote-esque risks in the ring, particularly with high-flying. As is often the case, his lust for destruction may end up spelling his demise as he tries to go all out, but ultimately just ends up throwing himself off something high and landing awkward.
3 - The Heel Effect - Rezin’s your typical bad apple... refs and fans hate him alike, and it usually plays on his psychology. He might lose focus on an opponent to taunt the fans, or interrupt his momentum by trying to cheat or wrestling dirty in sight of the ref.
MOVE-SET
Basic Strikes:
- Kicking combinations (almost any and all varieties)
- Muay Thai Knee Strike
- Buzzsaw kick
- Leg lariat
- Judo chop
Basic Aerial Techniques:
- Missile Dropkick
- Plancha
- Senton splash
- Suicide Dive
- Diving legdrop (with a chair, if he can get away with it)
Basic Submission Holds:
- Armbar
- Sleeperhold (with body scissors)
- Bostom crab
- Side Leg-Scissor (usually following a Dragon Screw)
- Pentagram Choke (usually following a snapmare)
Basic Counter-Attacks:
- Enziguri
- Sit-out Jawbreaker
- Roll-up Pin (often with rope assistance)
- Skin the Cat (often botched, getting his head stuck between the ropes)
- Eye gouge, low blow, or any other variety of dirty tricks
Basic Power Moves:
- One-handed bulldog
- Scoop-slam piledriver (weight dependent)
- Bridged Northern Lights Suplex pin (ditto)
- Rolling Fireman’s Carry slam (once again, ditto)
- Facebuster DDT
Signature Moves:
- Rezinrana - Diving front-flip head-scissor takedown, or more popularly known as the Dragonrana. Seldom goes for the pin, but rather whips this out to just to hurl the opponent to the mat as a set-up for a finisher.
- Damascus Heel - Stiff roundhouse spinning heel kick to the face, Chuck Norris style. His go-to KO strike when the situation calls for it. Almost always a counter-attack to an opponent’s attempt at a strike, and on occasion, he might throw the opponent off with a feint followed by a buzzsaw kick or devastating 540 tornado kick.
- Dark Side of the Moonsault - Diving, springboard, chair-assisted, table-assisted, ladder-assisted, opponent’s-shoulders-assisted, standing, seated... Rezin eats, sleeps, breaths, and jacks off to the bread and butter moonsault any chance he can get. He can pull it off wherever, whenever, and however he sees fit. He always tries to bust out at least one in every match he’s involved in.
- Black Hole Bomb - Powerbomb lift to sit-out facebuster. Only manageable on opponents within reasonable weight limitations. Usually the devastating exclamation point to a period of being in control of the match, but seldom a game-winner.
- Resinous Mist - Adapted (err, stolen?) from the First, Rezin may at any point spit a black and repugnant mist into his opponent’s face. This almost exclusively happens while the referee has his back turned, and can usually act as the turning point of the match. The opponent is temporarily blinded and stunned by the nasty stench, but it could just as easily be wiped away in a moment of recovery.
Finishers:
- The Rezin Hit - Standing shiranui, or more popularly known as the Asai DDT. In the standard set-up, typically following a Rezinrana, he stands with his feet apart, fists clenched to his sides, and back facing the opponent... then a devilish grin spreads on his face as he senses the opponent rising to his feet, moments away from stumbling blindly into a trap. Alternatively, it makes a great desperation counter on an opponent trying to grab him from behind.
- The Cottonmouth - Similar to Foley’s Mandible Claw, only applied from behind, with the index and ring fingers pinching a nerve on the roof of the mouth while simultaneously pulling the head back. The traditional form comes with an arm locked into a chickenwing and the body painfully contorted backwards in a seated surfboard stretch, but he’s known to get creative with this hold, sometimes applying the Cottonmouth in conjunction with body scissors, a camel clutch, a cobra clutch, a crossface, or even a Boston Crab. Sometimes this will follow the execution of the Resin Hit, but more likely, he’ll just surprise the opponent with a couple nasty fingers jammed into their mouth when they least expect it.
MATCHWRITING GUIDE
Rezin is a heat magnet. He does everything in a match you’d expect out of a natural chicken-shit heel: sneaky, dirty, dishonest, and perhaps most of all, apathetic. He cheats whenever he can, he stalls for irritating lengths of time, he gloats when he’s doing well, he begs for mercy and tries to get away when things go sour... all the good and gravy stuff that gets the fans screaming for blood. He equally draws the ire of the collective Empire Pro officiating crew by constantly and unapologetically crossing the line on a regular basis.
He seldom engages another competitor head-on (especially if there’s a clear size and strength disadvantage), but when it comes to it, he’ll put his trust in his legs and kickboxing ability before he takes the plunge into a full-on lock-up. A few swift kicks is often all that’s needed to keep a would-be grappler at a safe distance. His offensive gains instead rely more on timely counters, opportunistic strikes, submission escapes, stealthy blindsides, and a somewhat inhuman ability to pull off a high-flying manuever on a moment’s notice. It could be said that in lieu of being an active competitor, he instead defines his niche in wrestling by being a reactive one.
When in control of a match, Rezin stalks his opponent like a predator to prey. Precise timing is everything. Often, while the other guy is peeling himself on the mat, the Goat Bastard slips behind his field of vision to lay in a crippling sneak attack the moment he gets to his feet. In this mode, Rezin’s dangerous and lightning-fast strikes become almost surgical in the way they dismantle the other competitor piece by piece. When he’s really rolling, he’ll set up a flashy high-flying maneuver just to rub his self-perceived awesomeness in the fans’ collective faces. His hot streaks typically unravel as crowd reactions and unsuccessful pin attempts provoke him into acting cocky to get the fans good and pissed.
When NOT in control of a match, Rezin makes a very good subject for heavy slams, sickening spots, and booming crowd reactions. He oversells his hits in a quite comic and exaggerated manner, giving John Q. Ticketbuyer out in the seats that extra peace of mind knowing one more rat-bastard in the world is getting some comeuppance. As a defense mechanism, he sometimes rolls to the bottom rope or out of the ring altogether to break the flow of a match, especially when momentum is clearly working against him. Though he probably doesn’t leave a single match without taking an ass-kicking in some form or another, his ability to scrape out of sticky situations by the skin of his teeth cannot be underestimated.
There’s a basic routine to his matches: he starts off stalling for time, getting the crowd riled up. When it gets time to get to business, he’ll typically start out with his legs to prevent an out-right grapple. Eventually, the opponent gets fed up, grabs him, and drills him into the mat for a few times, and the fans systematically approve. Then Rezin somehow manages to turn the tables, usually in some sneaky fashion. With the match in his control, he stalks the opponent for a while and taunts the crowd while laying in some painful strikes to pressure points and managing a few take-downs and/or aerial attacks. The frustration sets in as the opponent refuses to stay down for the count and the fans continue to jeer. Impatient with their reaction, Rezin takes a questionable risk, which typically backfires. Opponent rallies and either finishes him off, or Rezin manages a desperate counter or flash pin to pick up a sneaky win. Basic stuff, but there’s also room to be creative.
I consider Rezin the equivalent of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy crossed together: hugely talented and budding with potential, but tragically self-destructive and bound by drug abuse. There’s also elements of Mick Foley (daredevil spots and split personalities), Jake “The Snake” Roberts (psychological warfare and drunken-style wrestling), the Great Muta (wrestling style and mysterious ninja gimmick), Ultimo Dragon (high-flying move set), Sean Waltman (crowd heat and martial arts abilities), Sabu (suicidal feats and hardcore presence), and Al Snow (a deranged jobber gone postal).
HANDLER INFO
Name: R. Ryan Strawsma, Lord and Master of the Gigglebush
Email: rrstrawsma@gmail.com
AIM: Rocko The Otter
Website: www.resinhitrecords.com
Ring Name: Rezin
Nicknames: The Escape Artist; The Goat Bastard
Government Name: Erik Bartholomew Black
Alter Egos: Dopesmoker; “The Druid” Erik Black; “The Sickle” Erik Black; El Cabrón; Pan
Gimmick: Mad scientist, self-destructive nihilist, and intoxicated Kung-Fu master all rolled into one. Also could be considered the Dark Side of the Dopesmoker.
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 228 lbs.
Handedness: Left
Billed From: The Bottom of the Barrel
Birthplace: Lebanon, Indiana, United States
Currently Resides: Unknown (believed to be transient)
Alignment: Diabolical Bastard Heel
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Appearance: Caucasian male of mixed European ethnicity. His skin is pale from many days hiding from the sunlight and scarred from many a stunt gone awry, and his head carries a nasty and unkempt mane of a hobo beard melded into a mop of thick dark brown hair, except where it’s thinning on the top. Ample body hair on the torso and limbs completes a somewhat ridiculously repulsive and haggard appearance. Hands and feet are noticeably filthy and stained. His body also bears a number of tattoos that have accrued over the years, notably ones being a Russian mafia-style sickle across the left forearm, Sleep’s “Holy Mountain” logo on the left shoulder, and a large goat-head Baphomet across his back.
Ring Attire: Black pants, black wrist bands. No boots... wrestles barefoot. The pants are loose and almost always slipping, forcing him to go through many matches with plumber’s crack.
Entrance Attire: Beat-up black duster that looks like it’s about to fall apart at the seams and jet black shades.
Entrance Music: “Master of Alchemy” by Electric Wizard
Entrance Description: Feedback pierces the PA as the lights flicker. Rezin’s video package plays on the EmpireTron through the guitar intro. Pillars of fire burst forth from the sides of the stage as the song hits its first riff, and Rezin emerges and makes his way to the ring. His demeanor, which is often flippant, can either be completely and nauseatingly cocky, disinterested or bored, or just plain lucid and ready to eat somebody’s face. He likes to soak heat from the crowd... often coughing or dispensing a loogey onto some poor kid’s face in the front row. He doesn’t just rip unflattering signs apart -- he literally wipes his ass with them before crumbling them up and throwing them back. Regardless of how he’s feeling, his very disgusting nature and crude antics get the crowd screaming for his blood before the bell even rings.
HISTORY
Title Accomplishments:
- MCW Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the Crimson Calling) - 2003
- EPW Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the Crimson Calling) - 2004
- A1E Tag Team Championship (w/ Ivan Dalkichev, as the CHRONIC COLLIZION~!!) - 2007
- TEAM Dupree Cup Finalist (w/ Team A1E) - 2008
- NEW Television Championship - 2010
Bio:
Erik Black was born on April Fool’s Day in the year 1983 to mother Louise Black and an unknown father in the city of Lebanon, Indiana, USA. Growing up as a poor, scrawny bastard son of a gas station attendant in a small, rather unremarkable hick town, he was frequently singled out on the schoolyard by other children of middle class families. It is perhaps of no surprise then that his childhood was often marred by poor academic progress and various misdemeanors. At age 15, he had his first of what would be many run-ins with the law when he was sent to juvenile detention for possession of marijuana.
Though a troubled youth, Erik managed to pick out a single glimmering thread from the dull tapestry that was his unfulfilled and insignificant life in Indiana when he fell upon the hobby of professional wrestling. The seed was planted as a child, glued in front of his television set watching weekly broadcasts of orange-skinned heroes going to battle with ‘roided-out monsters in the squared circle before capacity crowds. It blossomed as he became a young adult and fell in with a meager crowd of friends, mostly other impoverished kids, Juggalo hoodlums, and other low-lifes who weren’t strangers to finding entertainment through beating the hell out of each other with light tubes and barbed wire in their backyards.
In these early backyard wrestling stints, Erik created the first of his many alter egos in EL CABRON, a masked luchadore that imitated his own goatish features. Though undersized, he had a knack for high-flying feats and daredevil stunts. Over the course of his teen years, he developed a resistance to pain and punishment through a number of disastrous leaps off of garages through tables and chairs. Over time, he built up a reputation as being a dynamic aerial maestro without reservations.
After (barely) graduating high school, Black made the conscience decision to pursue a life of professional wrestling, seeing no other place in the world where he would better off. Due to his inferior size, he made an exodus to Japan to further craft his skill. Even as a stranger in a strange land, with no money and no guidance, Erik managed to persevere in the Asian professional wrestling industry, making paltry earnings from numerous indie shows. It was at some point there where he gained discipline of martial arts, and further honed his high-flying abilities to compliment the puro style of the territory.
During his stay in Japan, Black met two people who were very influential in his development and later rise to fame. The first was Ivan Dalkichev, a Russian sambo master and seven-foot tall giant, who Erik met at an indie show in Osaka. The two formed an immediate bond over their foreign status, despite language barriers, and as PAN and ATLAS, Black and Dalkichev competed as a remarkably functioning tag team of polar opposites. The second was Nathan Fear, a retired wrestler from the Pacific Northwest who was at the time scouting for talent in the Land of the Rising Sun, when he caught sight of the duo at a show in Kyoto.
Fear took the pair of Black and Dalkichev under his wing. With his guidance and knowledge of the sport, Erik gained a technical discipline that he could have never had back in the scrap yards back home. Fear brought his team back to the states and rechristened them as THE SICKLE and THE HAMMER -- together, the CRIMSON CALLING. With Fear as their manager, the duo competed under the gimmick of Communist revolutionaries.
The Crimson Calling had some work in Jason Reeves' Insanity Wrestling Federation as Fear accepted the Vice President position, and recruited his prized twosome as security enforcers. When the company folded, they migrated to the short-lived Major Championship Wrestling, where they won their first Tag Team Championships.
Black's big break came when Fear took the Crimson Calling to the then up-and-coming Empire Pro Wrestling shortly after the closure of MCW. The duo made an immediate impact in the federation's budding tag team division, and made history as they became the first-ever EPW Tag Team Champions. But while things were going well for the Crimson Calling in the ring, the same could not be said backstage, as Nathan Fear made increasing demands to the front office. This culminated to Fear leaving Empire Pro out of frustration, forcing his team to vacate the EPW Tag Team Titles and walk out on the federation.
Fear's nepotism would come back to haunt him as his actions inevitably blacklisted him and his team from several promotions in the coming years. Outside of random appearances at indie shows, the Crimson Calling had spent little time in the ring. To support himself, Black took up a job as a talent representative at Las Vegas Wrestling, where he met "The Butt-Dominator" Olvir Arsvinnar. All the same, it was becoming clear that Nathan Fear's leadership was waning. In 2006, the manager suffered a nervous breakdown that resulted in his being committed to an asylum. Without his direction, Black and Dalkichev squandered their EPW earnings on copious amounts of marijuana and vodka, respectively.
The duo's second chance came when in 2007, A-1 Entertainment announced an open invitational tag team tournament to find worthy competitors to the nearly unstoppable A1E Tag Team Champions of the time, Dan Ryan and Big Dog. Without Fear as their manager, the duo renamed themselves the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! Though heavily abusive of drugs and alcohol at the time, the Escape Artist and the Raging Russian surprised many as they flawlessly performed throughout the tournament without incurring a single loss, and capped off their triumphant return with a victory over Ryan and Big Dog to gain the A1E Tag Team Titles.
The tides shifted as the dubious pair sided with Dan Ryan in his EPW invasion of A1E. With Ryan's ultimate demise at the hands of his former tag partner, Big Dog, the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! were yet again without a leader and without direction. Ostracized by the locker room, Black and Dalkichev assumed masks as referred to themselves as the CTHULHU CULT, but failed to regain any momentum in the ring. They parted ways with the company shortly after.
With their stint in A1E finished, the CHRONIC COLLIZION!! returned to EPW after four years of separation and made a bold attempt to reclaim the EPW Tag Team Titles. Ultimately, they were vanquished reigning champions the First and Felix Red, known as the Forsaken. Before a second effort could be made, Nathan Fear made a surprise return and re-assumed control of the team, citing the two were still bound to their former manager by their IWF contracts. Fear made attempts to restore the teams long gone elite image as the Crimson Calling, but his constant meddling only worked against their efforts, and for a long while, the team languished in constant failures and short-comings.
Black and Dalkichev ultimately regained their freedom when Fear, under the influence of LSD (which may or may not have been put in his drink that night), made a bizarre in-ring showing during a Pay Per View broadcast that resulted in his untimely departure and return to the asylum. Black celebrated his liberation that night by boldly smoking a joint in the ring in front of a sold out arena and millions watching at home. As a result, the Crimson Calling officially dissolved, and Erik Black assumed the new identity DOPESMOKER.
As Dopesmoker, Black found moderate success as a singles competitor, flaunting his amazing high-flying abilities and his penchant for thinking outside the box to find alternate means of victory. In the wake of the HOPE and Anthology rivalry, Dopesmoker aligned himself with Stalker and Omega to form the Fallen.
The alliance was short-lived as Stalker soon turned on Dopesmoker in response to his success in the annual King of the Cage tournament. Despite severing tides, Black gained the support of the fans and made an insurmountable rise through the KotC tournament by escaping the cage. Despite his success, the DEA ended his winning streak when they busted him at the end of a match with the reigning World Champion and former tag rival, the First. Black only escaped longstanding charges due to the legal professionals provided by Dan Ryan at the time.
Dopesmoker returned to the ring after the passage of several months, but failed to regain his previous momentum. No longer a main event contender, Black's mental deterioration became apparent following the arrest of his regular dealer. No longer without dope to smoke, Black exhibited increasingly erratic behavior in the ring, culminating in his betrayal and unwarranted attack on his former partner Dalkichev.
At Aggression 61, Erik Black re-identified himself as REZIN, pronouncing his intentions to bring about the demise of Empire Pro.
WRESTLING STRATEGY
Wrestling Style: Aerial and Striking
Technique: A blend of Japanese puroresu and Mexican lucha libre, with a discipline in American kickboxing. His offense relies mostly on stiff martial arts kicking combinations and spontaneous high-flying acrobatics, but also finds support in stealth attacks and timely counters.
Strengths:
1 - Kung-Fu Master - Rezin’s legs are fast and deadly; he can chain series of kicks with blinding speed and surprising balance. His uncanny kickboxing technique also serves the benefit of keeping an opponent from getting in too close. The spinning heel kick (“Damascus Heel”) is his go-to knock out strike, and usually works well as a counter.
2 - Skywalker - Rezin boasts a mental encyclopedia of various high-flying maneuvers (including rare and as-yet-unheard stunts he keeps threatening to whip out if provoked). He’s also remarkably capable of pulling them off within a moment’s notice and an arm’s length distance from the ropes or the turnbuckles. It could be said that an out-of-nowhere Dragonrana (“Rezin-rana”) is his signature spot for every match.
3 - Escape Artist - Rezin is a wrestling cockroach... and as soon as the tides shifts against him in the match, he bails from the ring the soonest chance he can get to kill his opponent’s momentum. His vexing ability to slip, squeeze, and squirm out of practically any hold or move has earned him the Houdini-inspired nickname of “the Escape Artist”.
Weaknesses:
1 - Lightweight - Against any opponent with a significant advantage in size and strength, Rezin’s obviously going to have problems grappling. He also tends to make a fitting human lawn dart for larger athletes. He epitomizes the smaller guy who gets tossed around a lot.
2 - Reckless Abandon - Either through intoxication or insanity, Rezin typically takes Wile E. Coyote-esque risks in the ring, particularly with high-flying. As is often the case, his lust for destruction may end up spelling his demise as he tries to go all out, but ultimately just ends up throwing himself off something high and landing awkward.
3 - The Heel Effect - Rezin’s your typical bad apple... refs and fans hate him alike, and it usually plays on his psychology. He might lose focus on an opponent to taunt the fans, or interrupt his momentum by trying to cheat or wrestling dirty in sight of the ref.
MOVE-SET
Basic Strikes:
- Kicking combinations (almost any and all varieties)
- Muay Thai Knee Strike
- Buzzsaw kick
- Leg lariat
- Judo chop
Basic Aerial Techniques:
- Missile Dropkick
- Plancha
- Senton splash
- Suicide Dive
- Diving legdrop (with a chair, if he can get away with it)
Basic Submission Holds:
- Armbar
- Sleeperhold (with body scissors)
- Bostom crab
- Side Leg-Scissor (usually following a Dragon Screw)
- Pentagram Choke (usually following a snapmare)
Basic Counter-Attacks:
- Enziguri
- Sit-out Jawbreaker
- Roll-up Pin (often with rope assistance)
- Skin the Cat (often botched, getting his head stuck between the ropes)
- Eye gouge, low blow, or any other variety of dirty tricks
Basic Power Moves:
- One-handed bulldog
- Scoop-slam piledriver (weight dependent)
- Bridged Northern Lights Suplex pin (ditto)
- Rolling Fireman’s Carry slam (once again, ditto)
- Facebuster DDT
Signature Moves:
- Rezinrana - Diving front-flip head-scissor takedown, or more popularly known as the Dragonrana. Seldom goes for the pin, but rather whips this out to just to hurl the opponent to the mat as a set-up for a finisher.
- Damascus Heel - Stiff roundhouse spinning heel kick to the face, Chuck Norris style. His go-to KO strike when the situation calls for it. Almost always a counter-attack to an opponent’s attempt at a strike, and on occasion, he might throw the opponent off with a feint followed by a buzzsaw kick or devastating 540 tornado kick.
- Dark Side of the Moonsault - Diving, springboard, chair-assisted, table-assisted, ladder-assisted, opponent’s-shoulders-assisted, standing, seated... Rezin eats, sleeps, breaths, and jacks off to the bread and butter moonsault any chance he can get. He can pull it off wherever, whenever, and however he sees fit. He always tries to bust out at least one in every match he’s involved in.
- Black Hole Bomb - Powerbomb lift to sit-out facebuster. Only manageable on opponents within reasonable weight limitations. Usually the devastating exclamation point to a period of being in control of the match, but seldom a game-winner.
- Resinous Mist - Adapted (err, stolen?) from the First, Rezin may at any point spit a black and repugnant mist into his opponent’s face. This almost exclusively happens while the referee has his back turned, and can usually act as the turning point of the match. The opponent is temporarily blinded and stunned by the nasty stench, but it could just as easily be wiped away in a moment of recovery.
Finishers:
- The Rezin Hit - Standing shiranui, or more popularly known as the Asai DDT. In the standard set-up, typically following a Rezinrana, he stands with his feet apart, fists clenched to his sides, and back facing the opponent... then a devilish grin spreads on his face as he senses the opponent rising to his feet, moments away from stumbling blindly into a trap. Alternatively, it makes a great desperation counter on an opponent trying to grab him from behind.
- The Cottonmouth - Similar to Foley’s Mandible Claw, only applied from behind, with the index and ring fingers pinching a nerve on the roof of the mouth while simultaneously pulling the head back. The traditional form comes with an arm locked into a chickenwing and the body painfully contorted backwards in a seated surfboard stretch, but he’s known to get creative with this hold, sometimes applying the Cottonmouth in conjunction with body scissors, a camel clutch, a cobra clutch, a crossface, or even a Boston Crab. Sometimes this will follow the execution of the Resin Hit, but more likely, he’ll just surprise the opponent with a couple nasty fingers jammed into their mouth when they least expect it.
MATCHWRITING GUIDE
Rezin is a heat magnet. He does everything in a match you’d expect out of a natural chicken-shit heel: sneaky, dirty, dishonest, and perhaps most of all, apathetic. He cheats whenever he can, he stalls for irritating lengths of time, he gloats when he’s doing well, he begs for mercy and tries to get away when things go sour... all the good and gravy stuff that gets the fans screaming for blood. He equally draws the ire of the collective Empire Pro officiating crew by constantly and unapologetically crossing the line on a regular basis.
He seldom engages another competitor head-on (especially if there’s a clear size and strength disadvantage), but when it comes to it, he’ll put his trust in his legs and kickboxing ability before he takes the plunge into a full-on lock-up. A few swift kicks is often all that’s needed to keep a would-be grappler at a safe distance. His offensive gains instead rely more on timely counters, opportunistic strikes, submission escapes, stealthy blindsides, and a somewhat inhuman ability to pull off a high-flying manuever on a moment’s notice. It could be said that in lieu of being an active competitor, he instead defines his niche in wrestling by being a reactive one.
When in control of a match, Rezin stalks his opponent like a predator to prey. Precise timing is everything. Often, while the other guy is peeling himself on the mat, the Goat Bastard slips behind his field of vision to lay in a crippling sneak attack the moment he gets to his feet. In this mode, Rezin’s dangerous and lightning-fast strikes become almost surgical in the way they dismantle the other competitor piece by piece. When he’s really rolling, he’ll set up a flashy high-flying maneuver just to rub his self-perceived awesomeness in the fans’ collective faces. His hot streaks typically unravel as crowd reactions and unsuccessful pin attempts provoke him into acting cocky to get the fans good and pissed.
When NOT in control of a match, Rezin makes a very good subject for heavy slams, sickening spots, and booming crowd reactions. He oversells his hits in a quite comic and exaggerated manner, giving John Q. Ticketbuyer out in the seats that extra peace of mind knowing one more rat-bastard in the world is getting some comeuppance. As a defense mechanism, he sometimes rolls to the bottom rope or out of the ring altogether to break the flow of a match, especially when momentum is clearly working against him. Though he probably doesn’t leave a single match without taking an ass-kicking in some form or another, his ability to scrape out of sticky situations by the skin of his teeth cannot be underestimated.
There’s a basic routine to his matches: he starts off stalling for time, getting the crowd riled up. When it gets time to get to business, he’ll typically start out with his legs to prevent an out-right grapple. Eventually, the opponent gets fed up, grabs him, and drills him into the mat for a few times, and the fans systematically approve. Then Rezin somehow manages to turn the tables, usually in some sneaky fashion. With the match in his control, he stalks the opponent for a while and taunts the crowd while laying in some painful strikes to pressure points and managing a few take-downs and/or aerial attacks. The frustration sets in as the opponent refuses to stay down for the count and the fans continue to jeer. Impatient with their reaction, Rezin takes a questionable risk, which typically backfires. Opponent rallies and either finishes him off, or Rezin manages a desperate counter or flash pin to pick up a sneaky win. Basic stuff, but there’s also room to be creative.
I consider Rezin the equivalent of CM Punk and Jeff Hardy crossed together: hugely talented and budding with potential, but tragically self-destructive and bound by drug abuse. There’s also elements of Mick Foley (daredevil spots and split personalities), Jake “The Snake” Roberts (psychological warfare and drunken-style wrestling), the Great Muta (wrestling style and mysterious ninja gimmick), Ultimo Dragon (high-flying move set), Sean Waltman (crowd heat and martial arts abilities), Sabu (suicidal feats and hardcore presence), and Al Snow (a deranged jobber gone postal).
HANDLER INFO
Name: R. Ryan Strawsma, Lord and Master of the Gigglebush
Email: rrstrawsma@gmail.com
AIM: Rocko The Otter
Website: www.resinhitrecords.com