RCW Revolutionary Championship Wrestling

During every fledgling wrestler’s career there has to come a time where that person must be affiliated with an independent promotion to polish he or she’s craft of professional wrestling.

Most independent wrestling promotions offer more experience than money; however, it’s dedication that the wrestler’s learn the most, and with it may influx a golden opportunity to showcase the potential wrestler’s skills and craft in major wrestling companies such as TNA, WWE, and even in Japan.

A regional wrestling company has been burgeoning tremendously, that company is known as Revolutionary Championship Wrestling, or RCW. It’s unfortunate that only the tri-state of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, are able to witness RCW, because the talent of RCW would make any wrestling fan do a double-take to see if this was in fact an indy promotion or a company trying to make it to the big time. RCW already has a television deal with the WQCW (formerly WHCP) in Portsmouth, Ohio every Saturday at 4 p.m. RCW has already had major wrestling legends such as Demolition Ax, Big Van Vader, Ivan Koloff, and Jerry “the King” Lawler.

Portsmouth, Ohio and RCW have been catalysts for some of professional wrestling’s big time players such as TNA’s Chris Harris, Abyss, and WWE’s lovely valet Jillian Hall.

RCW’s roster is an impressive group of potential superstars trying to make it in RCW, entertaining the fans, and polishing their craft to possibly transcend to the WWE or TNA. While most indy wrestlers show their callow nature, the RCW wrestlers are more proficient thanks to trainer and “American Idol,” Dirk Extreme.

RCW's elite consist of:

Judas Thorn: Personally, this is my favorite RCW wrestler. Consider this, a 6-foot 4, 265 pound juggernaut wearing face paint and having an ominous attitude to match. This is Judas Thorn, a colossus with paralleled power. Not only is Judas deft with wrestling skills, but his timing is accurate, and he’s agile for a big wrestler. Judas Thorn reminds me of Vader or Bam Bam Bigelow, quick and tough. For a young guy he has already established the look, skills, charisma, and commitment to extend his skills onto the main promotions such as WWE and TNA. Very little is known about Judas Thorn except he is now under the tutelage of Lord Arion, a former manager known as “Exotic E” has now converted to the “dark side” of the occult and together with Ricochet, Nadja, and Teijo Kahn, they formed the anomalous group known as, “the Coven.” Judas is also the current RCW World Heavyweight Champion.

Nadja: The dark witch of RCW, Nadja is the stoic seductress of the Coven. Nadja has impressed me by her appearance alone. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s captivating to where she doesn’t need to reveal much skin to capture the audience’s attention, or the wrestler’s attention, unlike the WWE in which they have to have their female prospects revealing everything that is legal on basic cable. What impresses me about Nadja is how she presents herself, she’s mysterious and it leaves the audience wondering about her background as a character. However, just like Roddy Piper once said, "Just when you think you have the answers, I change the questions," only in this case, Nadja is the one that changes the questions. Obviously, Nadja is a part of the dark side, but what subculture is she a part of? In wrestling, imagination runs wild. Nadja could be a vampire, which would make sense since there is a vampire movie titled “Nadja.” My personal favorite, and idea for Nadja, would be that Nadja is a succubus; in other words, she’s a female demon that lurks in the dreams of men. Makes perfect sense to me; after all, what man wouldn’t dream about Nadja only to have her snatch their soul?

Nikki Tyler Not only has Nikki Tyler impressed me with his technical skills, but with his high-flying arsenal as well. Nikki Tyler reminds me a lot of Billy Kidman, not only does he resemble him with his looks, but also with his moves. The first time I watched Nikki wrestle was a hardcore tag-team match with he and Flash Fury against the Juggulator and Mad Man Pondo, whom some fans may know from the video game “Backyard Wrestling.” I have to say I was overly impressed with Nikki Tyler, because not only did he take some heavy shots that would make Paul Heyman proud, but he came out of that match in good health and was even nice enough to take a couple of pictures with some fans. It’s no secret that Nikki Tyler will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in professional wrestling. He’s committed, intelligent, and if he plays his cards right, maybe one day we will see him vying for TNA’s X-Division belt.

Slammin’ Sammy: When you first think of Slammin Sammy, you would probably think he’s a ripoff of the WWE character, Eugene; however, there’s one difference; Slammin’ Sammy is more believable as a “special” character. Not only does Slammin’ Sammy wear a bicycle helmet, but his tights have the word “Slow” imprinted on them. While it may seem like a twisted joke, it is funny nonetheless. Sammy is the type of character that the children can enjoy and adults can laugh at. Slammin’ Sammy may be a funny performer, but don’t be fooled, he can out wrestle the best, and it proves as he is the current RCW Television Champion. On a fan’s perspective, I believe Sammy’s theme song should be the theme song for the Benny Hill show, because for some odd reason, it fits.

Tommy Chill: If there is ever an inspiration in professional wrestling, it would have to consist of Tommy Chill’s willful commitment of losing weight. The first time I saw Tommy Chill he had a slender physique; however, when I was watching one of RCW’s DVD’s, he was huge. From a blog I read about Tommy, he weighed close to 460 pounds, and at that time, lost 201 pounds. Tommy’s career with RCW has already been laced with gold; former RCW Television Champion, and former RCW Tag-Team Champion with Slammin’ Sammy (yes, he couldn’t believe it either.) Tommy has been an inspiration to both fans and the roster, because of his commitment to get better not only in the ring, and in health, but in life.

C.O. Hustler: My second favorite wrestler in RCW is C.O. Hustler. Hustler, in my opinion, has the total package. He can wrestle any style of match, he can talk on the mic, he can work the crowd, he has the look, he can work a character, and he’s so committed to RCW that he has bled for it, what is there not to love about C.O. Hustler? Hustler is a former 2-time RCW Television Champion, and is probably one of the most hated heels in RCW, which proves how well he does his job. Hopefully this won’t discourage C.O. Hustler, but in some ways he reminds me of an amalgamation between hardcore wrestler, New Jack, and WWE’s the Rock. His look is very “street” like New Jack while his promos are derogatory yet funny, like the Rock’s. Hustler insulting someone on the microphone is entertaining alone, and combined that with his wrestling just makes C.O. Hustler worth the price of admission.

Tyson Rogers: Like Judas Thorn, Tyson Rogers is one of those “big men” that can wrestle proficiently and move quickly. There is a reason why Tyson Rogers has been a former RCW Internet Champion, because he’s that damn good. I’ve seen 4 matches of Tyson’s and they have easily been my top 3 match of that particular card. A former fan-favorite, now Tyson has aligned himself with the heel Chuck Chronic and daunting a turban, despite he’s billed from Kansas City, go figure. Tyson plays an old-school heel in which he plays to the crowd, cheats, lies, and tends to become a craven. Tyson has always been a joy to watch and to antagonize, because he is so easy to irritate.

Ace Gigolo: Every now and then there comes the influx of a “cool heel,” and while Ace may not seem “cool” in the ring, his commentating is downright hilarious. If you purchase RCW’s Full Circle III, Ace Gigolo and Dirk Extreme, formerly known as Excalibur, seemed to have a good time degrading the babyfaces of RCW, and with it came some entertaining commentating that emulated the likes of Bobby Hennan and Kevin Nash. During a wrestling match between Randy “the King” Allen and Dirk Extreme in an “I Quit” match both Randy and Dirk were in the concession kitchen vying to see who would quit, and Ace said along the lines of “The only thing Randy Allen won’t quit at is eating.” After that was said I had to pause the video and catch my breath, because I was laughing hysterically. If there was any reason to purchase RCW videos it has to be the commentating, because when Dirk Extreme was a heel, he was hysterically funny, and Ace Gigolo is no different. I would love to hear more of Ace Gigolo’s commentating, at least on a heel’s perspective, in future RCW DVD’s. As far as Ace’s wrestling, it’s just as crisp as his commentating, he reminds me of Jeff Jarrett, arrogant, hubris, and will do anything to win. Ace is very entertaining in every way.

Chuck Chronic: Don’t be fooled by his size, Chuck Chronic is one tough son of a “gun.” Chuck is very agile, quick, and deft in wrestling skills, and he proved to me that he is definitely committed to wrestling. After an accidental botched move that resulted in a busted nose with blood profusely gushing out, Chuck ignored the pain and continued the match until the very end in which he came out the winner. Chuck is very smart when it comes to being a heel, he and Tyson work the crowd magnificently, and with it came the reward of hundreds of fans hating them. Good job, guys, you earned it!

Tank Runyon: Every wrestling promotion has its blue collar wrestler. WWE had Stone Cold Steve Austin, WCW had Dusty Rhodes, and ECW had Taz; RCW has their blue collar wrestler in Tank Runyon. He and C.O. Hustler had many battles including a first blood match, in which both men bled. Tank Runyon has been the only man to win any RCW championship three times, despite the now defunct RCW Extreme championship converted into the RCW TV championship, its history is still enriched by that same title, and Tank Runyon has won that title three times. Former 3 times TV champion, a former tag-team champion with Trik Nasty, and had the honor of being Demolition Ax’s tag-team partner, Tank Runyon’s career in the RCW has been a successful one; however, time will tell when Tank will get the opportunity in becoming RCW World Heavyweight Champion. My personal opinion, it’s just a matter of time before Tank will wear that coveted title.

Ed Crowza: Without question the hardest working man in the indy circuit is Ed Crowza. Not only does Crowza work for RCW, but he works for other independent companies around the tri-state area. Crowza in RCW is a manager for the tag-team champions, Project Ego: the Juggulator and Aaron Draven, he is also the manager of Mad Man Pondo. Being a heel manager, Crowza does his job very well. Crowza reminds me of WWE champion Edge with his mic skills, hubris, cocky, and yet cowardly all at the same time. Think of Crowza’s character as “all blow and no show.” With Crowza’s long blonde hair and cockiness, the fans have been outraged by Crowza on many occasions, whether it would be helping his clients out, or agitating the fans, Crowza, in my opinion, is one of the best heel managers, not only in RCW, but in wrestling.

Randy “the King” Allen: Randy Allen has been the most celebrated wrestler on the RCW roster. Randy Allen has been wrestling for years around the tri-state area, and he’s been very successful. Randy has had the distinct pleasure of wrestling some of wrestling’s best such as Jerry Lawler, and the Honky Tonk Man, and having an even more distinct pleasure tagging with an up and coming wrestler by the name of Prince Justice, whom fans now know as TNA’s Abyss. Randy Allen has actually been tag-team champions, and I’m jealous of him because of this, with Jillian Hall. Randy Allen has been a champion in every organization he’s ever been in, and it shows, Randy has that “it factor.” Randy can play a convincing babyface, as well as play a convincing heel. Before Randy was in RCW, I remember watching Randy feuding with a local wrestler named Andy Runyon, and during the feud Randy Allen was building heat by “brainwashing” Andy Runyon’s wife in turning on him and siding with Randy. Personally, I think it was a brilliant storyline, because it had that Raven/Sandman/Tyler storyline in which the heel was coercing family into the storylines, and at the same time playing to the crowd by setting the babyface in a mentally unstable condition. It was brilliant!

Dirk Extreme: The Al Snow of RCW. The Roddy Piper of RCW. The Paul Heyman of RCW. Dirk Extreme is the editor, a performer, a commentator, and the trainer of RCW. Dirk is known as the “American Idol,” because he usually sings before wrestling, which entertains the fans, and irritates the heel. Dirk’s character has transcended from arrogant member of Excaliber, to a fun babyface that entertains the fans. Dirk Extreme has the total package, he can wrestle proficiently, he has great timing, he is comfortable on the mic, he can commentate, he can book the matches, and it seems like Dirk can do no wrong. I remember watching a “falls count anywhere” match with Dirk and Flash Fury, and the result of the match ended with Dirk pinning Flash on the street outside the arena, and if that wasn’t bad enough, a car was coming down that street! Dirk’s last name basically describes him, extreme. Like a Roddy Piper, you either love Dirk, or you hate his guts, and the result depends how Dirk wants you to feel. Very few wrestlers in history actually have that gift of manipulating the crowd’s feelings into whatever the wrestler wants the crowd to feel, Dirk Extreme is one of those wrestlers. While I enjoy him as a babyface, I believe Dirk Extreme as a heel has been much more entertaining, especially when he commentates as a heel. Dirk has also trained most of the wrestlers, and it must feel good seeing your disciples grow into potential superstars, and it must feel really good one day when one of those disciples reaches the apex of professional wrestling.

Revolutionary Championship Wrestling is one of those indy promotions that has surprised me, because usually indy promoters have wrestlers that are green and not deft in wrestling prowess; however, RCW, not only has wrestlers that have the skills to put on a good match, but actually know the psychology of manipulating the crowd into a frenzy. RCW is a fun promotion with potential talent and great wrestling as well.

If you live in the Ohio, Kentucky, or West Virginia area and have WQCW (WHCP-WB), RCW is on every Saturday at 4pm, and if you also live around the Ashland, Kentucky area, Portsmouth, Ohio area, West Union, Ohio area, Jackson, Ohio area, or the Otway, Ohio area, I encourage anyone who is a wrestling fan to check out RCW when it comes to those areas, you will not be disappointed.

For more on RCW please go to www.rcwonline.com for upcoming events, info on the roster, talk with the stars on their fan forum, merchandise, purchase tickets, and updates on RCW.