Michael Morrison Posted July 28, 2014 Posted July 28, 2014 After the announcement, declaring the return of the OCW: Underground (OCW:U) Tournament, some of the top competitors in OCW quickly signed up to demonstrate their in-ring prowess. Competing in a round-robin style tournament, competitors had one month (expanded one week due to venue issues) to collect as many victories as they could, with the promise of a prize that would commemorate such a historic event. The addition of a mystery opponent (later revealed to be the returning OCW veteran: Vincent Valmont) brought a level of intrigue to the tournament, and produced quite the bit of controversy backstage; however, it did not detract from the overall success of the event. When the dust settled, Drago Cesar walked away as the undisputed king of the Underground. He also walked away with a flawless 4-0 record, and a victory over the returning Vincent Valmont / mystery opponent. While such accolades will surely add some light to Drago Cesar's seemingly bright future at OCW, it leaves many to wonder: what of the Underground? After speaking with a founder and promoter of the Underground Tournament, Damian Alexander, here is what he had to say: "The tournament was an overall success, and it gave us a great base, on which to expand. We originally planned on running the tournament annually, or bi-annually -- to allow audiences, and participants, time to build their appetites -- however, it looks like we'll be going another direction. After the tournament was over, we realized we had enough competitors to start a ranking system. Drago Cesar will go from being a tournament winner, to being a legitimate champion -- pending his agreement to our terms, of course. Based on the number of victories, the remaining Underground participants will be ranked -- they will have 90 days to battle one another, in an effort to reach rank of #1 Contender. At the end of the 90 days, whomever is ranked #1 will face the current OCW:U Champion (Drago Cesar). The process continues, every 90 days; thus, 4 scheduled championship matches every fiscal year. This is, obviously, a simplified version of what needs to happen in order to maintain an accurate ranking system, but rest assured, there are rules and regulations in place, that will provide the checks-and-balances required to keep our ranking system from becoming the jumbled mess that represents most other organizations. Popularity won’t get you a title shot. Politics won’t get you a title shot. Money won’t get you a title shot. The only way to get a title shot, is to be the best in the industry -- win to win; be better to be the best. That is the heart of the Underground, and the standard on which we hold our participants. We plan to kick things off at the beginning of August, so get ready for the Underground to rise.” 3
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