Layton's The Ties that Bind Challenge

June 13, 2006

Well we're now less than a week away from "The Ties That Bind," MEWL's return to the Alliance Armory on June 17th, and we're finally getting some answers as to what we can expect from the night's main event.

For those of you who don't participate in our MEWL forum, and shame on you if you don't, "The Pure One" Justin Diaz finally stopped beating around the bush in regards to "Big Guns" Jeff Cannon's challenge to a Dog Collar Match. In Diaz's own inimitable words:

"I fear no mortal on this Earth...therefore, I accept your challenge, Cannon! There will be a Dog Collar match and the MEWL World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line on June 17th in Alliance, Ohio!

"You will never learn will you? It doesn't matter what type of match you face me in. I have been in them all....AND WON! You lack the ability to defeat me...maybe you should learn from Vaughn and come to the Light!"

So the good news for MEWL fans is that they will see the Dog Collar Match, and it should be one hell of a brutal, bloody fight. Diaz and Cannon hate each other as it is, and have pushed one another to classic confrontations. Now throw a chain into the mix – a legal chain both men will be using! – and the result is sure to be a masterpiece of violence.

The bad news for MEWL fans is that it probably won't matter. Diaz will almost certainly walk away, or be carried away, as the winner and still the World Champion. After all, chain or no chain, dog collar or no dog collar, Cannon won't have to beat just Diaz. He'll have to beat Diaz AND "The Reject" Richard Friar AND "The Natural" Christian Vaughn. And no matter how good Cannon is, and he is damn good, no one is that good.

I guess maybe I'm getting fatalistic here, but I've pretty much given up hope of anyone other than that S.O.B. holding the MEWL World Title. At this point it would take a miracle... or John Orlando.

You see, General Manager John Orlando could ban Friar and Vaughn from ringside for Diaz's title defense, and while Diaz could appeal that decision to the Championship Committee, they probably wouldn't convene to hear that appeal until after the match. Meaning Diaz would have to face Cannon one-on-one. In a Dog Collar Match. With the World Title on the line. Meaning we just might have – FINALLY– a new champ.

So here is my challenge to the MEWL fans out there: take to the forum, and let Orlando hear what you think. Tell him that Vaughn and Friar should be banned from ringside. If enough of you speak up, I'm sure the G.M. will listen.

Speaking of the forum once again, it seems that it's a good place to END grudges, not just a place for them to continue. Logan Scott, the referee I once dubbed "The Tool," offered to end our ongoing feud if I stopped referring to him by that nickname. While I think Logan has irrefutably been tool-like at times, and has made some awful decisions, and occasionally performed horribly as a referee, I had to agree that it was unprofessional of me to refer to him that way. One, referees have a horribly difficult job. Until you've walked a mile in their stripes, you can only imagine how hard it is to enforce the rules in a ring full of professional wrestlers, notoriously rebellious people. If he has botched a call or two, who am I to judge it? Besides, as a ring announcer it is my job to simply announce, not to give my opinion. So I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Logan. Mr. Scott, I am sorry for my unprofessional behavior, and from now on you are no longer The Tool as far as I'm concerned.

OK, that's it for this time. I hope to see all of you on the forum and at the Alliance Armory June 17th!