Mentallo Defeated "Showtime" Robby Royce
Won: March 3rd, 2005 -PCW's 3rd Anniversary Spectacular! - The LID Nightclub - Winnipeg, Mb
Lost: July 28th, 2005
How: Lost to Robby Royce
Length: 147 days (12th longest)
Adam Knight made 2004 all about the "Outlaw" as he dominated competition while setting a new longevity record as PCW Heavyweight Champion. Turning back the challenges of Chris Stevens, Darren Dalton, Robby Royce and even a resurgent Chi Chi Cruz, Knight's reign passed from 'great' to 'dominant'.
That resulted in PCW Commissioner Tom Manos wanting to create a scenario for a new number one contender to rise up and earn the opportunity. Therefore, he brought back the unique Quest of the Best challenge!
The Quest of the Best was the brainchild of former PCW Creative Director Mike Davidson, who developed the concept to crown a first-ever PCW Heavyweight Champion in January 2003. The Quest consists of a one night tournament, a WildCard Rumble and then a Best of Seven match series.
On January 30th 2003, Cruz defeated "Mecca" Shane Madison in Match Seven to become the first PCW Champion! Commissioner Manos decided to bring back the unique Quest concept knowing it would enhance competition and create a fierce battle for a title opportunity.
On November 4th 2004 the tournament portion of the Quest began. Rawskillz defeated "Red Hot" Ryan Wood, Mentallo & Kenny Omega en route to winning the tournament.
One week later at PCW's "A Knight to Remember", the WildCard portion took place. It was a Rumble style battle royale involving the entire PCW roster including those that had lost in the tournament portion. The 30 man match saw Mentallo the victor, all the more impressive since he defeated the powerful Darren "The Bomb" Dalton earlier in the evening.
It was now Rawskillz vs Mentallo in the Quest of the Best - Best of Seven Match Series! Both men were well acquainted and highly decorated. Skillz had been the first ever PCW Junior Heavyweight Champion, a title he held a record-setting three times. His second reign had come to an end at the hands of Mentallo who held the title for 77 days.
Both men had also held the PCW Tag Team Championship, Mentallo winning the title with Antonio Scorpio in 2003 and Skillz winning it with Omega in 2004. Rawskills was a former PCW Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Omega in a stunning upset in 2003, but dropping it back 56 days later. The Quest opportunity was the closest he had come to the gold since.
Mentallo had also made history as PCW's first ever Canadian Champion, winning the title in a Premier Rumble on June 24th 2004. Now both men had big plans - Skillz regaining the heavyweight title to prove his first reign was no fluke and Mentallo winning it for the first time to cement his status as one of the best in the business.
Match one took place on November 25 2004. It's fair to say that as the series began, it captured the interest of the PCW audience. But as the weeks passed, the Rawskillz vs Mentallo series became the most popular segment on every show and attendance increased dramatically as a result. Both men put forth phenomenal efforts with unique and revolutionary matches.
Skillz jumped out to a 2-0 match lead before Mentallo stormed back, winning two straight to tie the series heading into the Christmas break. When PCW returned to the LID Nightclub on January 6th 2005, Mentallo was victorious once again, taking a 3-2 series lead. Rawskillz put on a career performance one week later to tie it up.
On January 20th, in the main event, Mentallo beat Rawskillz to win the Quest of the Best and become undisputed number one contender. That earned him a guaranteed shot at the PCW Heavyweight Championship at PCW's 3rd Anniversary Spectacular in March. But beforehand, he departed on a tour across Canada.
When then-PCW Heavyweight Champion Adam Knight successfully defeated Shane Madison, it was expected that Mentallo's title opportunity would come against the "Outlaw". But while Mentallo was away, Knight was defeated by "Showtime" Robby Royce in a surprising match on February 3rd.
It was a shocking end to Knight's record-setting 301 day reign as champion, most surprising because of how dominant he had been for nearly a year including defeating Royce in a very heated and violent feud in the fall of 2004. But perhaps it was the drama and controversy now encircling Knight that left him vulnerable to a renewed challenge from Royce.
When Madison had first challenged Knight it was after rampant speculation that the "Mecca" was considering retirement. He claimed he had accomplished everything he had wanted in his career, but when confronting Knight on December 16th after the champion's successful defense against Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, he admitted the one thing he always wanted to do before ending his wrestling tenure was to become PCW Heavyweight Champion.
Knight initially refused to face Madison and the two engaged in several wild brawls throughout the LID Nightclub that actually resulted in smashed windows and a brief high speed car chase through South Winnipeg. When Madison announced he would put his career on the line, Knight finally accepted the match.
As it approached, Madison actually revealed his intention to retire "win, lose or draw" and wanted a "John Elway send off", referring to the NFL Hall of Famer who retired after winning the Superbowl. But shortly before the match, PCW's Director Andrew Shallcross learned that Madison had no intention of retiring, regardless of the outcome. Instead, he was planning to be a feature performer for Mike Davidson's revived AWE (Action Wrestling Entertainment).
Shallcross was very upset that Madison & Davidson planned to disregard an important match stipulation and highly suspicious that it was another attempt by Davidson to strike back at PCW by wresting away the championship.
That issue seemingly became moot with Knight defeated Madison and retained the title. But days later, Shallcross was sent an anonymous e-mail that contained instructions from Davidson to several of his "inner circle", including Knight & Madison, with details of their plans for AWE. It was clear Davidson's earlier insistence that he wanted to revive AWE "in conjunction" with PCW to their mutual benefit was not true.
Madison was being tasked with "getting in the ear of everyone in the PCW locker room" to prepare them to quit en mass and jump to AWE at a moment's notice. And Knight was tasked with using his positive relationship with Ring Masters Entertainment (RME), another rival promotion, to use their equipment for AWE.
Ever since Davidson had abruptly quit PCW in August 2003, his plans called for defeating PCW, luring away their talent and embarrassing them by having the PCW Championship end up in AWE. His first two attempts were foiled but now, in early 2005, he seemed poised to succeed.
It was an unlikely hero that saved PCW from the dastardly plot - Robby Royce.
Though he had lost his violent feud with Knight in 2004, he had re-focused his efforts on regaining his top tier status. For Royce, it was all about power, control and cementing his own legacy. Everywhere he had wrestled, he had risen to the top and won the championship. That not only signaled he was the best, it provided him the power, as all top champions possessed, of a de facto management position.
Royce was determined to prove that he was still the standard bearer of professional wrestling in Canada and could not stand the thought of PCW being the only promotion in which he didn't capture their top title.
On February 3rd 2005, on what was originally scheduled as only a promotional appearance by Knight to announce his impending title defense against Mentallo on March 3rd, Royce confronted him. The veteran goaded the "Outlaw" into facing him that very night, with the title on the line and Royce defeated Knight to capture the PCW Heavyweight Championship.
For Shallcross, Commissioner Manos and other members of PCW, it was a joyous outcome, ensuring Knight, one of Davidson's most trusted lieutenants, could not take the PCW Championship to rival AWE. But if they thought Royce was going to be a company man, they were sadly mistaken.
Royce's victory made him the only man to have held the PCW, TRCW (Top Rope Championship Wrestling) & CWF (Canadian Wrestling Federation) championships, a significant accomplishment as those companies had been the main promotions in Manitoba for years. It gave Royce leverage and he intended to use it.
One week after winning the championship, he threatened to "jump ship" to a rival promotion and "toss the PCW title in the trash". On February 17th, Royce announced he would not give number one contender Mentallo his contractually obligated championship match at the Third Anniversary Spectacular...he would give him the shot this very night just to screw up PCW's plans and show them who was really pulling the strings.
But during their main event championship match, Antonio Scorpio, Rawskillz & Donny Dicaprio interfered on Royce's behalf and attacked Mentallo. Royce revealed they were now a group called "The Elite".
On February 24th, Royce agreed to defend the PCW Championship against Mentallo at the Third Anniversary Spectacular but only if PCW capitulated to his demands and granted Scorpio a PCW Canadian title shot and Skillz & Dicaprio a PCW Tag Team title shot. Commissioner Manos reluctantly agreed but demanded Royce & Scorpio face Mentallo & Canadian Champion Chris Raine in the night's main event.
During that match, Adam Knight made a shocking return, attacking Mentallo. He claimed he only lost the PCW Championship "due to bullshit politics" and was owed a contractually obligated re-match. He further said Royce didnt deserve the championship either and announced he'd be at the Third Anniversary Spectacular the following week to regain "what's rightfully mine".
Knight met with Commissioner Manos and made no bones about it - he intended to win the PCW Championship and take it to AWE and lay it at the feet of Mike Davidson. That was something that Manos & Shallcross would not stand for, but as per PCW's standard talent contracts, Knight, as former champion, was owed a re-match.
A compromise was hastily arranged. Mentallo would be dropped down from his guaranteed title shot to a Number One Contender's match against Knight at the Third Anniversary Spectacular. The winner would then face Royce for the title in the main event.
On March 3rd, the fans were solidly behind Mentallo as he defeated Knight by submission. By the time the main event was to start, it had already been a great night for Royce and his allies. Scorpio had defeated Raine to capture the PCW Canadian Championship while Rawskillz & Donny Dicaprio had defeated Shaun Houston & Raine to win the PCW Tag Team Championship.
And ofcourse, Royce had watched while Knight & Mentallo engaged in an intense battle, pushing both potential challengers to the brink of exhaustion.
"The Elite" Squad flanked Royce as he entered the ring for the main event, the four men cutting an impressive image with their four championship belts. They were truly the elite of the wrestling industry. But the euphoria would not last as Mentallo defeated Royce to capture his first PCW Heavyweight Championship!
It was such a sweet moment for Mentallo as he had long been respected by his peers and fans as perhaps the best wrestler in the country, but often poorly treated by promotions who considered him too small or that he wrestled a style not "American" enough. Mentallo shattered the glass ceiling having clawed his way to contention and earning every thing he had achieved. Truly, he had earned the number one contendership twice en route to the championship.
Mentallo's reign proved to be an eventful one and he was a fighting champion. But Royce would not go quietly as his "Elite Squad" expanded and he hatched a plan to unite the entire wrestling world with him as leader!
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