The Prestige of the Championship Title from Stephen Platinum
- from Stephen Platinum of Platinum Championship Wrestling
It is an intriguing title for a post. Great Championship Wrestling (GCW) has made the claim that their title is the “richest prize in the Southeast region.” It makes for a great starting point for a debate. I’ll bite.
Let me say right off the bat that I’m not sure that the Platinum Championship Wrestling World Title is, indeed, that “richest prize.” But I’ll make my claim.
With 2010 as the standard, GCW awarded their vacant title to Kyle Matthews, a wonderful wrestler who nonetheless didn’t win the belt from anyone. All of Platinum Championship Wrestling initially was in contention for the PCW title from January 15th until March 19th. During those weekly shows (and monthly shows at other locations) every match counted towards the rankings. In the end, six undefeated wrestlers faced one another leading to March 26th when then “The Natural” Shane Marx faced off with Nemesis (ranked #1 and #2, respectively) to determine the first PCW World Champion. At what was then the best match in PCW’s young history, Shane Marx won and began his reign.
While Kyle was unable to retain the title in his first defense of the GCW title, Shane Marx’s first PCW defense was against then “Consequences” Creed of TNA fame, now Xavier Woods, who had attacked Marx during their match the month before, correctly guessing that Marx would win the PCW title and offer him a title shot. However, for all of Creed’s planning, in the end Marx not only defeated the young superstar, he made him tap out.
During the initial PCW events, Shane Marx was, indeed, undefeated, leading to his #1 ranking. However, one of his wins was by disqualification as the Reverend Grimm had attacked him with a baseball bat, and this did not satisfy the new champion, so that was his next defense. Marx defeated Grimm cleanly, and Grimm hasn’t been seen since.
From there, Shane Marx engaged in a series of title defenses against challengers that worked their way up the rankings (Mason, The Phantom), wrestling an incredible 30-minute draw (Scott Steele, a former GCW champion) before defeating him in a two-of-three falls match. Marx wrestled his first non-standard title match (a hardcore match), playing into the maniacal Jamie Holmes hands…but managed to win anyway and retain the title.
Marx defended against fan favorites (The Phantom, Michael Cannon) as well as those that the crowd disliked (Nemesis, Mason)…whomever had earned a shot, or that Marx himself went after got a title shot. No non-title affairs. No endless series of tag matches featuring Marx. Whenever he wrestled, it was a title match and whomever he was wrestling brought their A-game to try and unseat Marx. The matches were never 3-minute matches, but brutal affairs where Marx fended off the very best.
In the middle of the summer, The Violent Majority (Dwight Power and Jamie Holmes) and the Konkrete Gorillaz (Nemesis, Jay Fury and Brian Blaze) formed an unlikely alliance for one reason and one reason only – to unseat and destroy Shane Marx. A series of attacks injured Marx, who nonetheless managed to defeat Dwight Power and Brian Blaze in two other title defenses. In defeating the hated Dwight Power and gaining the upper hand in his war against the Violent Majority/Konkrete Gorillas alliance, Marx declared that he was now “The Revelation” Shane Marx, bringing with it an even more determined and forthright wrestling style. Marx had survived his greatest tests to date, leading to Sacred Ground: Chapter One, Platinum Championship Wrestling’s biggest show to date.
On that show, PCW World Champion “The Revelation” Shane Marx faced off against National Wrestling Alliance World Champion “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce in one of the matches of the night in a title-versus-title affair. Both men fought hard, but Pearce in frustration, or perhaps desperation, attacked Marx with the PCW title, leading to his disqualification and Marx’s victory. In the end, Marx left Pearce laying and held aloft both titles, further adding to the prestige of the PCW World Title.
From there, did Marx relax? Not quite. His next title defense was a first ever for PCW – a four way elimination match for the PCW World Title. His challengers? Rising star “Do Or Die” Chip Day, the last of the warring faction he had yet to beat, Jay Fury, and arguably the greatest wrestler of our time, Davey Richards. The four men went at it, tooth and nail. Day was eliminated by Fury, who was in turn eliminated by Richards, setting the stage for Davey Richards against Shane Marx. After a blistering 20 more minutes of action, Shane Marx scored the pin on Davey Richards, cementing his status as a great champion and adding more honor to the Platinum Championship Wrestling title…that he had yet to lose. The day after this win by Marx, Nation (who had made his debut in GCW right around the time Marx won the PCW title) upset Johnny Swinger in an open challenge to begin his reign.
Marx has defended the PCW since then in a series of matches against the amazing Jay Fury, finally beating back the challenge of the Violent Majority and the Konkrete Gorillaz. Last week, he defended the PCW title against the first Platinum Classic tournament winner, The Vandal in a stellar match.
What’s ahead for Marx until the end of the year? Geter, winner of the Platinum Royal at Sacred Ground: Chapter One has been clamoring for his title match. Mason has been on a tear as of late in PCW, putting down everyone with his feared Occam’s Razor submission hold that has yet to be broken…and he’s got a title shot against Marx, in PCW’s first ever cage match title defense at The Masquerade (www.masq.com) on December 23rd.
Is the GCW title the “richest prize in the Southeast region”? I would argue no. The Platinum Championship Wrestling World Title was claimed after over two months and ten shows where every match counted, and led to a match between the two best wrestlers in PCW at that time. The title was defended against all worthy contenders, no matter what their reaction was from fans. Marx held the belt, as of this writing, the whole year. He beat NWA World Champion Adam Pearce, Davey Richards, and Xavier Woods. He won his matches by pinfall or submission. He defended the title on average twice a month.
In fact, I would challenge champions from other promotions to step up to PCW and try our champion. I attended a MGCW event last week, and while I thought their champion, Andy Anderson, did a great job and defended his title well, I just can’t see where he measures up to “The Revelation” Shane Marx either. When Marx’s title reign finally ends, there is no doubt that he was a great first PCW champion. He beat former GCW champions, current NWA champions, and a guy that’s destined for any number of titles in Davey Richards. I would challenge MGCW, or any other promotion to send their champions along, or have an invitation to Shane Marx to come to their promotions. He is unafraid, confident, and a stellar talent on the wrestling scene. Whether at the monthly Masquerade shows, or our weekly Friday shows at the Academy Theater, Shane Marx and PCW will be there to continue to do great wrestling shows and show that the Platinum Championship Wrestling title is a great beacon for the promotion.
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