Post by Ryan Hughes on Oct 25, 2011 14:16:26 GMT -5
There is something to be said about having the gift of the gab in this business. Charisma is indeed one of the biggest tools in a champion's arsenal. It can be the thing that alters the foe's mindset the most, and lead to a victory almost every time. The first inductee in to this year's Hall of Fame class is a man who knows all about charisma, and then some. His uncanny ability to talk his way in to an adversarys mind was matched only by his amazing wrestling skill, and his career path is glittered with the gold of many singles and tag team championships he has procured along the way. Yes, this man was one of a rare breed who was as good in singles action as he was in a tandem. That's right. Our first inductee in the the GHW Hall of Fame Class of 2011 is none other than the Man Of Golden Words, Metal Dragon.
In the 5 years Metal Dragon has spent in GHW, he has shown the wrestling world that he is one of the greatest talkers on the planet. But like every great Fighty fighty person, he had a fairly slow start to his life in the land of Glory and Honor. After wrestling in the minor leagues for a year, Dragon made his debut for the company in the fall of 2007, fighting in a losing effort against Ricky Rodriguez in a No-DQ match. Despite the loss, he showed a lot of promise. I mean, who else has the balls to put someone through a flaming table in their first ever match with a company? In the following weeks, MD showed enough promise for his first title shot; a match against Anthony Luciano for the Test of Honor Championship. Again, he lost. But again, he showed potential to be a real power player within GHW. Sadly, that rising potential was stalled as the Nashvillian spent the rest of 2007 out with a concussion. He did eventually return, and it wasn't long before his name was catapulted in to the upper tier of GHW, where it would stay for a long, long time.
At Total Carnage 2008, Metal Dragon fought in a Triple Tables match against Dominik Santiago. On this night, the career of Metal Dragon changed permanently for the better. That night was the birth of Stone Orchard. A group seen to this very day as one of the most dominant factions in the history of wrestling. Metal Dragon, under the influence of Reverend Vortigern, allied himself with Desperado, Matthew Oliveira and Brian Commonwealth on his way to championship gold in GHW. First the Television Championship, and then the Charging Glory Championship- titles which cemented Dragon in the record books. In this year, he also won the H-Games, the tournament that has no rules, and takes everything out of you every week. This more than anything, highlighted his never-say-die attitude.
In 2009, he was more known for his antics in EVPW with Matthew Oliveira as the two continued the legacy of Stone Orchard. It was in April of that year which saw MD and Oliveira win Dragon's first Tag Team Championships (Matt had already won the belts in GHW with Desperado) and become the biggest and most popular tag team the two companies have ever produced. When they weren't kicking ass and taking names, they were goofing it up in their brilliant musical parodies, which gained a wide critical acclaim. Who could forget "GTFO"? Or "I'm On The Card"? How about "Liar"? All timeless classics. The pairing stayed at the top of the EVPW tree for nine months, taking on and defeating the likes of All That Counts, The Family and The Outcasts. In fact, it wasn't until Metal Dragon suffered an injury that they lost the titles through Oliveira losing to Outcast Ryan Hughes, a man who Metal Dragon would be seeing a lot more of over 2010/2011. Nevertheless, their legacy as one of the best tag teams of all time was well and truly cemented.
Returning to (a much weakened) GHW as the new boss of proceedings, he went on to revive the company to something resembling it's glory days; not only fighting big matches, but nurturing talent along with other GHW veterans. Total Carnage 2010 saw GHW's biggest names of the time, Dragon and Hughes, face off for the vacant GHW New Age Championship. After an epic encounter, Metal Dragon would be the one to lift the newly ressurected GHW New Age Championship and become the number one fighter in the company. It was an unfortunate injury that followed, causing him to vacate the title he bled for at Total Carnage. Following that, he was only seen sporadically in GHW, not returning until he did something most men a scared of doing - he called out Vladimir Strife. The match that followed, much like his bout at Total Carnage, would be seen as one of the greatest matches of the new era of GHW. At Full Circle, Vladimir Strife and Metal Dragon fought in an Asylum Cage Match, where Vladimir Strife would only just scrape the win over his almost equal. Again, the Metallic One went in to an almost exile, not returning until the 2011 NeXuS Deathmatch. (Well, there was a Dragon's Dungeon Match where he faced Ryan Hughes at Dawn of Destruction but y'know) Some might say that this moment, albeit in the twilight of his career, was his greatest yet. After nearly an hour of pain, torture and battling 23 other men and women, Metal Dragon came out of the three tiers of terror as the winner of the most controversial NeXuS Deathmatch ever.
It is fair to say that this man has had a storied career. But unlike most, his has been hugely successful- almost legendary. It is for that reason that Metal Dragon is inducted in to the GHW Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2011.
Congratulations.
OOC: There are two more names to come. The next will be revealed to you next Tuesday, with the third and final one the Tuesday after. Also, spent four hours on this piece, I'd like to think of it as a nice repayment for what you have done for this site. Thank you, Rob.
In the 5 years Metal Dragon has spent in GHW, he has shown the wrestling world that he is one of the greatest talkers on the planet. But like every great Fighty fighty person, he had a fairly slow start to his life in the land of Glory and Honor. After wrestling in the minor leagues for a year, Dragon made his debut for the company in the fall of 2007, fighting in a losing effort against Ricky Rodriguez in a No-DQ match. Despite the loss, he showed a lot of promise. I mean, who else has the balls to put someone through a flaming table in their first ever match with a company? In the following weeks, MD showed enough promise for his first title shot; a match against Anthony Luciano for the Test of Honor Championship. Again, he lost. But again, he showed potential to be a real power player within GHW. Sadly, that rising potential was stalled as the Nashvillian spent the rest of 2007 out with a concussion. He did eventually return, and it wasn't long before his name was catapulted in to the upper tier of GHW, where it would stay for a long, long time.
At Total Carnage 2008, Metal Dragon fought in a Triple Tables match against Dominik Santiago. On this night, the career of Metal Dragon changed permanently for the better. That night was the birth of Stone Orchard. A group seen to this very day as one of the most dominant factions in the history of wrestling. Metal Dragon, under the influence of Reverend Vortigern, allied himself with Desperado, Matthew Oliveira and Brian Commonwealth on his way to championship gold in GHW. First the Television Championship, and then the Charging Glory Championship- titles which cemented Dragon in the record books. In this year, he also won the H-Games, the tournament that has no rules, and takes everything out of you every week. This more than anything, highlighted his never-say-die attitude.
In 2009, he was more known for his antics in EVPW with Matthew Oliveira as the two continued the legacy of Stone Orchard. It was in April of that year which saw MD and Oliveira win Dragon's first Tag Team Championships (Matt had already won the belts in GHW with Desperado) and become the biggest and most popular tag team the two companies have ever produced. When they weren't kicking ass and taking names, they were goofing it up in their brilliant musical parodies, which gained a wide critical acclaim. Who could forget "GTFO"? Or "I'm On The Card"? How about "Liar"? All timeless classics. The pairing stayed at the top of the EVPW tree for nine months, taking on and defeating the likes of All That Counts, The Family and The Outcasts. In fact, it wasn't until Metal Dragon suffered an injury that they lost the titles through Oliveira losing to Outcast Ryan Hughes, a man who Metal Dragon would be seeing a lot more of over 2010/2011. Nevertheless, their legacy as one of the best tag teams of all time was well and truly cemented.
Returning to (a much weakened) GHW as the new boss of proceedings, he went on to revive the company to something resembling it's glory days; not only fighting big matches, but nurturing talent along with other GHW veterans. Total Carnage 2010 saw GHW's biggest names of the time, Dragon and Hughes, face off for the vacant GHW New Age Championship. After an epic encounter, Metal Dragon would be the one to lift the newly ressurected GHW New Age Championship and become the number one fighter in the company. It was an unfortunate injury that followed, causing him to vacate the title he bled for at Total Carnage. Following that, he was only seen sporadically in GHW, not returning until he did something most men a scared of doing - he called out Vladimir Strife. The match that followed, much like his bout at Total Carnage, would be seen as one of the greatest matches of the new era of GHW. At Full Circle, Vladimir Strife and Metal Dragon fought in an Asylum Cage Match, where Vladimir Strife would only just scrape the win over his almost equal. Again, the Metallic One went in to an almost exile, not returning until the 2011 NeXuS Deathmatch. (Well, there was a Dragon's Dungeon Match where he faced Ryan Hughes at Dawn of Destruction but y'know) Some might say that this moment, albeit in the twilight of his career, was his greatest yet. After nearly an hour of pain, torture and battling 23 other men and women, Metal Dragon came out of the three tiers of terror as the winner of the most controversial NeXuS Deathmatch ever.
It is fair to say that this man has had a storied career. But unlike most, his has been hugely successful- almost legendary. It is for that reason that Metal Dragon is inducted in to the GHW Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2011.
Congratulations.
OOC: There are two more names to come. The next will be revealed to you next Tuesday, with the third and final one the Tuesday after. Also, spent four hours on this piece, I'd like to think of it as a nice repayment for what you have done for this site. Thank you, Rob.
