CHANGE IN THE AIR

Evolution is a neccessity behind the growth of any wrestling company, so it's only natural to expect change. However, have the recent series of alterations to the IWC been changes for the good, or for the bad?

This article will examine some of the more recent changes that have hit the company, and decide rather they've had positive or negative effects on our industry. So sit back, relax, and re-live the moments you were just forced to tolerate only a few short weeks ago. Sounds fun doesn't it?

You knew Dan Douglas would be starting out the list. Actually he demanded it. After all, he has to have top billing if we want his involvement in these articles at all. Besides, there was no bigger change than the revelation of Dan Douglas as President of the IWC. For months he tormented us with bitter verbal beratings, skewed perceptions, and bright red letters as he left mysterious message after mysterious message on the website alluding to his identity. When he finally did reveal himself, needless to say many were in shock. Douglas had always been the voice of reason in the IWC and the ULW, serving as the play by play guy, an admirable foil to Bily Mayne's flamboyant personality. But secretly Douglas became more and more resentful of what he dubbed, "lazyness, and selfishness" amongst the roster.

He purchased the company in the hopes that he would elevate it and bring up new talent, but according to him, the only thing he saw were guys like Orlando Cruze and Nathan Creed continuing to hold people down and phone in their performances. He felt types like Cruze were draining the company that he devoted his life to, and not giving anything back. This was why he opted to begin screwing with his career after purchasing the company, through funds believed to be embezzled from the ULW's retirement fund, which he was in charge of. He also began tormenting Johnny Kingdom for the same reason, baiting him to come out of retirment so that he'd have to give something back as well. Douglas felt Kingdom was just like Cruze, taking and taking from the IWC and then retiring before he had to give back to the company that made him a household name.

Since becoming President, Douglas has brought in Krissie and Sallie to serve as his assistants, has hired Christian Savior, Adam Riddick, Axl Evermore, Pat Evans, Max Craven, Jason Wheeler, and a slew of new talent, has forced Johnny Kingdom to come out of retirement, created the Conspiracy, and has embarked on a vendetta to see the World title taken from Orlando Cruze's clutches. We've seen beat downs, controversial decisions, and signs of biasness on every single telecast since his purchase of the company, but are these flaws enough to say that this change is a downgrade to the IWC?

Like it or not the IWC does benefit from having a figure head, especially one with previous business and in ring experience. Also thanks to him, we've got new stars like former 6 time SCW World Champion Jason Wheeler, Submission title holder Pat Evans, former double champion Christian Savior, Fully Loaded, and David Freak on the roster. Plus he's got talent like Riggs and Johnny Kingdom to return, and honestly, who can complain about that?

Poor Billy. After riding comfortably on his high horse for years, Billy Mayne's run as color commentator came to an end. The word "upgrade" comes to mind. No longer will we tolerate the insufferable Alpha Generation support, and a borderline creepy infatuation with Jackson Adams. Well, we will, but in smaller doses as the alcohol impaired announcer now becomes the alcohol impaired backstage correspondant.

This means the very broadcast team that has commented on almost every match in IWC history, and for many years worked together in the ULW, have now been effectively replaced; Douglas occupied abusing his power, and Mayne occupied abusing the bottle. But we'll get to that later.

Since being forced to interview the very individuals he had been verbally disgracing at his commentary boothe, he's already crossed paths with David Freak, Nathan Creed and Orlando Cruze, as well as a host of others. And besides almost defecating in his underpants on many of these occassions, he's shown that his heart just isn't into his job anymore.

What is going to happen next in the saga of Billy Mayne misfortunes? An Elmer's Glue sniffing addiction? A serious of offensive botched suicide attempts? Imprisonment for stalking charges after stealing Jackson Adams' garbage?

Who knows, but the future sure is looking bleak for poor little Billy with more and more changes over the horizon.

Change has effected almost every facet of the IWC, from the head office to the announce table to even the champions. This is depicted by the shocking decision Desolation made just a few short months ago when he handed the Cartel Championship to a ladder, yes, a ladder.

For the first time ever in the ANNALS of IWC history a ladder is officially recognized as champion. And to make matters all the more shocking, Ladder, as it's affectionately come to be dubbed, has successfully defended the Cartel title on a number of occassions. Ladder has overcome a battle royal, Too Magnificent, and a handicap match against Axl Evermore to keep the Cartel Championship tightly in its rungs. Although its met a number of obstacles along the way, including a career threatening injury, Ladder has persevered. But how much longer can it keep up this pace?

This is perhaps the most controversial of all the changes that have struck the IWC as of late, with many getting a good chuckle out of it, and others finding Ladder's title reign to be disrespectful to the history of the Cartel Championship. Regardless of all these contrasting opinions, Ladder remains focused on being a true fighting champion. In fact, Ladder has to work harder than any other champion on the roster to put its naysayers to shame, but with this increased work load, how long can it's flimsy aluminum body hold out? Only time will tell.

If anyone tuned into the last edition of Riot! you would have witnessed the wedding of the century. Yes, we realize we're overhyping it terribly but exaggeration is part of our job qualifications. The wedding certainly changed things for not only David Freak and Aurora Rose, but the entire roster as well.

The marriage was originally slated to take place between Krissie McMorris and her unwilling groom Nathan Creed, but things changed when Nathan didn't show up for the wedding. Therefore, Krissie opted to ruin the lives of two individuals who had gotten under her skin for quite some time by forcing rivals Aurora and David to marry each other. Shocking, YES, convoluted, OF COURSE.

This outrageous action showed that absolutely no one was immune to the diabolically twisted decisions of management, and that there was no limit on what they are willing to do to their enemies. Who next will feel the wrath of management? Will the insanity stop at just a forced marriage, or will it go much, much further?

Most importantly, how are Aurora and Freak going to deal with being a married couple when they spend most their time trying to inflict physical and mental damage on each other? Wait, then they actually have a jump on most married couples already.

The creation of the Conspiracy led to a number of huge ramifications and alterations to the landscape of the IWC.

It was revealed that while Dan Douglas was toying with people's minds through the website, all the while hiding his name, that there were some members of the roster who were in on his plot and aware of his secret identity. Three men have thus far come forth, Christian Savior, Pat Evans, and Silencer, who revealed their twisted ties to Douglas by decimating both Johnny Kingdom and Jon Rich in the center of the ring.

Since revealing their affiliation with the owner the Conspiracy has become the enemies of almost the entire roster. They pushed the Alpha Generation out of their comfort spot as the top stable in the IWC, and due to Pat Evans refusing to join Hurse and the AG, the two groups now find themselves feuding.

Christian Savior has made a number of enemies, including his own brother Jason Wheeler, who he betrayed upon joining the Conspiracy. These two siblings continue to wage war amongst each other while Savior also sets his sights on Orlando Cruze and more importantly the World Heavyweight Championship. This had made the Icon quite the marked man as he tries to keep his grasp on the title.

What makes the Conspiracy so threatening is that they are not only backed by Dan Douglas, but that there are still yet to be revealed members amongst the roster. Yes, there are still those with the company who were aware of Douglas' identity and assisted him in his scheme, but they've yet to come forward. This means that absolutely anybody could be a member of the group, even some of the most well respected members of the IWC roster. Ewwwww..

I'm sure the majority of you know what happens when two giant egoes try to exist in the same space at the same time, it creates quite the theoretical impossibility. Or it leads to one of the longest, most bitter feuds in the annals of the IWC.

Look back to almost the creation of the ULW and you'll find cruel verbal exchanges and brutal in ring battles between Johnny Kingdom and Orlando Cruze. Yes, this battle has waged for as long as anybody can remember, which now makes it so stunning to see them co-existing as tag team champions. Or at least coming as close to co-existing as the two possibly can without giving into their desire to kill each other.

Sure it's a classic tale, two gentlemen embroiled in a feud being forced to team together as Tag Team Champions, in fact it's quite the cliche, yet seeing Orlando and Kingdom willingly tag each other into a match and being dependent on one another never ceases being a stunning, shocking sight.

Sure, they've hit one or two snags since becoming tag champs, but surprisingly they've worked together to overcome the waves upon waves of competition sent at them by Douglas. It may be a forgone conclusion that one of the two will eventually turn on the other over that coveted World Heavyweight Championship, but it's going to be a wild ride up until that point.

How long will the two be tag champions before their lust over the World title overcomes them? It's a question everyone has been asking, and with the upcoming "Quest for the Crowns" Tag Team Tournament, we could be close to getting an answer.

As mentioned earlier the commentary team suffered a huge shake up, with Dan Douglas moving onto bigger things and Billy Mayne forced to toil away as backstage interviewer. So what suitable replacements have been found for them after this major change?

Mark Comeau slides into the commentary booth and brings with him years of in ring knowledge. Mark also understands the inner workings of the business side of wrestling, after being ULW General Manager for almost two years. On top of that he started out his ULW career as a commentator. With his extensive wrestling, commentating and business knowledge Comeau truly elevates the commentary team, and marks a significant improvement over individuals like Billy Mayne.

The complete opposite can be said for Susie Moore, who after years of interviewing, if you can call it that, people backstage was finally promoted to commentator by Douglas. It's obvious that Dan didn't put her in that high profile position because of her sharp wit, brilliant way with words, and vast wrestling move knowledge. Instead Susie serves as yet another shot at the fans, who are forced to endure her ditzy, at times deliberately dimwitted commentary. At the very least she's better to look at than Billy Mayne.

As you can see the IWC as a whole has been drastically shook up by what can only be considered wacky decision making. There have been numerous shocks and surprises over the past year, with many more promised over the horizon. Will there be more forced weddings and forced partnerships? Will there be more inanimate champions? Will we see new alliances forged and old alliances crumble? Who knows what is yet to come, but at the very least you can expect CHANGE in the future.