By Patrick Brandmeyer

No more trophies…Ken Kasa is the official SICW Classic Wrestling Champion.

In the early years of his career, the wrestler known as Ian Storm had the support of the fans but never quite reached championship status. After a sabbatical from the ring wars, he decided a change was in order…and “Ironman” Ken Kasa made his re-debut in the spring of 2012.

Kasa wore a spiked “gas mask” to the ring and brought a new aggression to his wrestling style…and his performances caught the eye of several notable people on the local scene. One of those was manager Travis Cook, who had already recruited former protégé Dave Vaughn to his side…with Kasa added to the fold, the “Travis Cook Organization” had two tough contenders for whatever belt they targeted.

It didn’t take long for the bulls eye to land on SICW Classic Wrestling Champion Ricky Cruz. Over the course of Cruz’s year-plus reign as champion, many nights were spent dealing with the headaches provided by Cook’s stable AND his mouth. Despite the hardships, Cruz assembled an impressive streak as champion, prompting the fan chant of “Cruz Can’t Lose!”…Cook was dead-set on proving the fans wrong and it was last December when he seemingly achieved that goal.

In a tag match pitting Kasa and former champion Ron Powers against Cruz and Sean Vincent, Vincent was injured and Ricky was left in a two-on-one situation. Vincent gallantly tried to rejoin the battle but it was too late…Kasa took advantage of the situation and scored the shocking pinfall over the titleholder!

On the heels of that win, Kasa earned a title shot in January…Cook interfered several times in the bout and Kasa used several foreign objects to his advantage. In the end, Cruz hit Kasa with a chair that Kasa had brought into the ring…resulting in Kasa getting the win by disqualification(but not winning the title).

Despite the ever-present rule in wrestling that titles do NOT change hands on a DQ, Travis latched onto Kasa’s two wins over Cruz as proof that The Ironman was the “true” champion of SICW. He even presented an “engraved crystal trophy” to Kasa to commemorate his claim to the championship! With Cruz wrestling all over the country, he was absent from a few SICW shows and unable to immediately respond to Cook’s slated point of view.

The situation came to a head earlier this month. Travis Cook was irate about Cruz NOT defending his title against Ken Kasa on that night and vowed that his organization would “make a statement” that night. After Kasa & Vaughn defeated Gary Jackson & Shorty Biggs, The Big Texan joined the duo in dishing out a post-match beat down. Travis Cook brought out hair trimmers and threatened to shave Gary Jackson‘s head…and when Commissioner Keith Smith intervened, HE was assaulted and partially shaved!

The champion finally hit the ring to put an end to Cook’s actions, but that was just what Cook wanted. He forced the hand of both Cruz and promoter Herb Simmons by demanding that Kasa get the next title shot after Cruz’s defense against Ron Powers later in the night. Ricky was angry about Travis’ insults(he had claimed that Ricky and Savio Vega were “stealing hubcaps” down in Puerto Rico) and agreed to the terms…something that would come back to haunt him.

Ricky already had a tough task ahead of him in the form of Ron Powers. The previous titleholder tried to win through underhanded means, pulling special guest referee Danny Boy Hawkins in the way of Cruz’s superkick.

Powers then delivered a low blow and piledriver, but Danny Boy called for the disqualification instead of counting a pin. At that point, Kasa and Cook re-entered the picture…they demanded their promised title shot right then and there. Cruz was bloody and hurt…but he was also ticked off and ready to shut Travis Cook’s mouth. Challenge accepted…the match was on.

Unfortunately, while both men had already wrestled that night, Kasa was in a tag match about an hour earlier while Cruz had just completed a tough title defense.

Cruz took his frustrations out on Travis Cook…even shattering a hubcup over Cook’s head!

However, the loss of focus proved to be his undoing as Kasa connected with his trademark flying dropkick, then locked on a cravate hold. Cruz struggled to escape the move but, risking serious injury, he finally had no choice but to tap out!

Question his methods, but the outcome was exactly what he and his manager wanted: The SICW Classic Wrestling Championship belt now resides around the waist of Ken Kasa. Of course, now that he’s the champion, the target is on The Ironman’s back…Ricky Cruz will want a rematch. Chris Hargas still has a score to settle with his former friend. How do Ron Powers and Flash Flanagan feel about Kasa jumping ahead of them in line? How does Dave Vaughn feel about his partner getting the glory that Cook had once promised him?

Those questions will be answered down the line…but for now, Kasa has the gold and he is the man to beat in Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling.

7/20/2013 SICW East Carondelet Illinois 823 State St East Carondelet. Il 62240 –$9 Doors at 7 PM; Bell Time at 8 PM