Layton's League Lowdown

Who is getting left behind?

June 10, 2007

MEWL is at it again.

At our next show, June 23rd in Canton, Ohio, another all-time great will be making the scene: Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Add that to the other legends who have worked MEWL, the current national stars, like Sharkboy, who have plied their trade under our banner, and the way we just keep running shows, month in and month out, and you can come to no other conclusion but this:

MEWL is the best damn indy around.

No one can touch as for consistency. No one can touch our talent pool. No one can touch us. Period. End of the story.

And we know why we have been so successful; it's because show after show, you fans keep coming back. Thanks to you, we're growing by leaps and bounds. We're already the best indy in Ohio, and I'd bet it won't be long until were one of the best in the Midwest. Then the nation. Then… well, who knows how far we can go?

But one of the things that bothers me about where we're going is thinking about who we're going to leave behind. We have the potential to go straight to the top, but not everyone who works here is living up to their own personal potential.

So I'm issuing a challenge to the people I think have been good, but should be great. This is Eric's Top Five Underachievers.

5) Shane Sensation: Sure, Shane is the cruiserweight champion, and he is one half of my former all-time favorite tag team, but he just hasn't been as consistent as he should be. That team, which consisted of Shane and "Killer" Chris Kole, has for the most part been supplanted by Kole and Jazin Blaze. This duo has been steadily improving show after show, while Shane, plagued by injuries and scheduling conflicts, just hasn't delivered like we all know he can. Sure, Blaze and Kole just dropped the Tag Titles, and it appears there is some friction between them, but they are both better wrestlers today than they were a year ago. I just don't think you can say the same for Shane.

4) Durty the Clown: Durty has been on a major losing streak as of late, and because the former Hardcore Champ is contractually obligated to wear a dress until he gets a win, we've been, uh, treated to show after show of Durty in drag. This clown needs to get his act together, because we all know he has the potential to...umm... you know, I'm not sure how Durty made it on this list.

3) Wilbur Whitlock: Sure, Wilbur is the North American champ, but he is underachieving. He has been racking up wins by being a lowdown, dirty cheat, when he could be getting by on being one of the best wrestlers in the business. And the North American Title? Well, it's awfully prestigious, but that man is World Title-caliber. Wilbur should step up his game, or he is likely to slip into another losing streak like he endured last year.
2) Justin Diaz: When the "San Francisco Treat" stopped his amusing antics to become "The Pure One," I was, like everyone else, highly disappointed. A Diaz match was always an entertaining spectacle, combining great wrestling with great laughs. Suddenly he became some sort of cult leader, and all the laughs went right out of his matches.

But laughs or no laughs, a funny thing happened: Diaz became the World Champion.

Folks, being the champ is a whole lot better than being loved. Or laughed at.

Well Diaz is back to his old self, getting love and getting laughs, and even getting wins, including one over "Hot Commodity" Matt Mason in a Paddle on a Pole match. But you know what? I highly doubt the MEWL Championship Committee is likely to move Diaz too far up the rankings just because he paddled some guy.

Diaz needs to get his head out of his ass and his mind off of other guys' asses. We know he can be the champ – we've seen it! Now he needs to get back into the game. There's no reason Diaz can't be amusing and wear gold, but he can't keep getting distracted by feuds with guys he has a crush on.

And the biggest underachiever in MEWL...

1) Team Pain: Yep, Team Pain. Sure, Lones Oaks has been the Hardcore and North American Champ. And yes, "The Natural" Christian Vaughn has been a Hardcore Champion. And yes, "Sexy" Lexi Lane is a hell of a wrestler in her own right.

But when Oaks and Vaughn had a shot at putting long-time rival Wilbur Whitlock out for the count, they blew it, and Vaughn ended up losing his Hardcore Title in the process. And then Oaks gave up a guaranteed North American Title shot to face "The Upgrade" Tyrone Evans in a match that, if he had won it, would have meant he got a shot at the World Title. In other words, he gave up a title shot for a shot at a title shot. Sure, you have to applaud him for aiming at the World Title, but when BET interfered and caused the match to be thrown out, he ended up with nothing.

As for Lexi, she has been so distracted with running the team that she has seriously cut back on her wrestling, and the newly-returned Jessyka Havok looks like she is set to become the most dominant lady in MEWL.

Oaks, you should be working in the World Title scene on a regular basis. Vaughn, that goes for you, too. You're both that good. Lexi, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that you're the best woman in MEWL. You've got that much ability. You've all got so much potential.

But you're wasting it.

MEWL is going right to the top. Are you going to be there when we arrive?