The Chris Moeller Archives

November Knockout

I went to high school with a lot of interesting people, but only one grew up to become a professional wrestler. "The Real One" Rory Fox was a year younger than me in high school and a teammate on the baseball team. He was a terrific ballplayer incidently, and it's little surprise that he could build a professional sports career for himself that has now stretched longer than 10 years.

Rory was "Steve Moss" in those days, with at least one fewer persona than he has now, but still a few, including 'obnoxious Cubs fan.' (But aren't they all?) He was terribly likeable in those days, and of course, he's had no problem laying down tracks on a career as one of wrestling's ultimate 'good guys.' He's played the heel as well, I understand, but he's currently enjoying what will hopefully be an extended run as the people's hero as a headliner in the 3X Wrestling Circuit based here in Des Moines. Friday night, I had the pleasure of watching him perform in the ring for the first time.

It was a big night for Rory. He was getting a second shot at the 3XW heavyweight title. At Halloween Horror III in October, he had won an 11-man battle royal for a head-to-head shot at the belt later in the evening against the champ, "The Rebel" Jeremy Wyatt. A more sinister and contemptible character I've rarely come across.

In their late evening bout last month, Rory had Wyatt pinned to the mat, with the champion tapping the canvas multiple times in submission. But the referee didn't see the action. He had been "inadvertently" poked in the eye by Wyatt moments prior, and Rory's efforts went for naught. When Rory attempted to check on the ref's condition, he (unwisely in retrospect) turned his back on Wyatt, then endured a brutal, illegal punch to the Moss family jewels. Rory immediately went down on the canvas, and the unprincipled champion pinned him to retain the champions' belt.

That sets the backdrop for Friday night's one-fall Main Event rematch, part of the 3XW "November Knockout" promotional card. And incidently, I hope everybody finds this all very interesting because this blog is going to be mostly about wrestling from today forward. Friday's match was even more heartbreaking for the fans than the previous. Wyatt entered the ring only after shamefully berating an innocent little girl seated right in front of us. He left the ring, unfortunately, still as champion. It appeared as if Rory Fox had claimed the title upon a pinning of Wyatt, only to have the match ruled a double-pin-- both wrestlers' shoulders down for the count-- and thus, a draw, with the defending champ keeping his crown.

I swear the officiating in these contests has been worse than that in this year's baseball postseason, certainly not to the level that a championship wrestling competition deserves, but the benefit is that all of you have a chance to see a Rory Fox/Jeremy Wyatt showdown one more time at New Year's Revenge, Friday night, January 1st, at the Des Moines Social Club. I would not want to be absent when Rory Fox takes the heavyweight title for the first time-- in his home state-- and gives that creep Jeremey Wyatt just a little bit of what he has coming to him.

posted by CM @ 5:42 PM