Sidewinder (RLS CAS)

Robin Verkoelen (born 16th April 1986 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to Wrestling upLOUD!, who also performed for PRIZE Wrestling League, under his trademark Sidewinder gimmick.
Despite debuting as a fairly generic grappler under the name Rob V, Verkoelen has carved out a niche as the frenetic, spot-happy Sidewinder character.
== Career ==
=== Debut, upLOUD! Opener (2005-2007) ===
Debuting in Wrestling upLOUD!, after his training, as Rob V, Verkoelen was largely used as an opener wrestling up-and-comers in short, losing efforts. Squared Circle Insider voted him the Least Pushed Wrestler on the alternative wrestling scene in 2006, a year where he phenomenally managed to lose the openers (one of either the first or second matches at an upLOUD! live event) on every upLOUD! show to names like Martin Burg, Infinite and Q-Nique. 
He barely appeared on upLOUD! programming in 2007, and as a result left the promotion in mid-June.
=== BoBWrestling Success (2008-2009) ===
He joined Best of British Wrestling in early 2008, now as the "Flying Dutchman" Sidewinder, an energetic and foolhardy performer used to whip up the crowd with high octane- and usually dangerous- spots. This earned him little acclaim in the back, but plenty of fans in the crowd, and after pressure from upLOUD!'s audiences for months they finally caved and signed him back in January 2009.
=== Return to upLOUD! (2009-present) ===
His return to upLOUD!, as Sidewinder, led to several lengthy Ultraviolent Championship reigns. The exact number is mostly conjecture, as the promotion was entirely live-only from 2010 to 2011, and many of their records and archives from this period haven't survived.
He also held the World of Pain Championship (their main title) from May to December 2012, as a heel for the first time, having five star matches during this time- the first the violent promotion had ever received- with Angelo Iaquinta and Ji-Ang Park. In one such match, in August 2012, Iaquinta put Sidewinder through a table with such force that it also broke through the floorboards of the gallery the promotion were wrestling in, sending them tumbling to the basement. Luckily, neither man was hurt.1
Sidewinder remained in the title picture from 2013 onwards as an enhancer for whoever the champion was at the time. He would, during this time, adjust his alignment depending on who the champion was, which he later stated hurt his mystique. He took a sabbatical in 2015 as a result of this, not returning until 2016's Anarchy in the uK! show for the Bloody Warfare Battle Royal, which he shockingly won. He chose to use this as a springboard to take the World of Pain Championship from Backstab at Bedlam 2016.
He reverted to much the same role as before following his loss of the title back to Backstab in early 2017, albeit with his alignment being more protected by a general murkiness of where he actually was on the face/heel scale to begin with.
=== PRIZE Wrestling League (2018-2019) ===
Sidewinder was confirmed to be one of the guests from other promotions joining PRIZE Wrestling League to compete for their newly-created PRIZE Elite Championship, at the PRIZE June Special 2018 in Birmingham. He was unable to win, however, after being powerbombed onto the apron at ringside by eventual winner Pete Hook. At the post-show, Hook seemed to indicate a preference for facing Sidewinder in his first defence of the title, enraging fellow loser Chris Wayland, who savagely beat down the Flying Dutchman.
This set up a Grudge Match at the PRIZE July Special 2018 in Hamburg, Germany, which ended in a draw when both men were counted out, as Wayland laid waste to the Flying Dutchman outside the ring. This led to Sidewinder being hospitalised, with Wayland claiming to be the only man left to stand against Hook.
He debuted on PRIZE Fights in November 2018, in a losing effort in the opening match against Nick Logan. Both men were reportedly still nursing knocks when they were called back, which PRIZE initially denied. By December, however, Sidewinder was considered fit to fight, and took on Joe Smoke, again on PRIZE Fights, again in a losing effort. He also debuted on PRIZE Live around this time, losing the main event to Nova Champion Mikey Ace.
Despite his losing run, he'd be entered into the Contendership Match for the Elite Championship at Walk The Talk 2018, due to roster shortages. He would lose the match, which also featured Brent Blake, to Logan. He'd appear only sporadically between January and May 2019, due to commitments with upLOUD!, and WCE's efforts to sign him full-time during this period were reportedly rebuked by the Dutchman. After his last appearance in June 2019, he confirmed his deal with the promotion had ended.
=== UNION Wrestling (2020-2021) ===
Sidewinder shockingly signed for UNION Wrestling in 2020, though his appearances were severely limited by the pandemic. He was rumoured to have asked for his release in early 2021, but there's some confusion as to whether this is the case2.
== In-Wrestling ==
=== Signatures ===
Standing Sea Fire
Back/Corkscrew Elbow Combo
=== Finishers ===
Sidewinder (Diving Moonsault)
Sunsetter (Sunset Flip Powerbomb)
=== Nicknames ===
The Flying Dutchman
== Accomplishments ==
upLOUD! World of Pain Championship (x2)
upLOUD! UltraViolent Championship (at least 5 times)
upLOUD! Bloody Warfare Battle Royal Winner (2016)
== Trivia ==
* Verkoelen cites his idol as being Rob Van Dam, which is made apparent in his mannerisms and attire.3 In 2018, he began vocally suggesting that PRIZE Wrestling League get Van Dam in to wrestle him at one of their specials.4
* He got his ring name from the Smyth Sidewinder aircraft and not, as many might assume, from either the pit-viper or adder species bearing that name.
== Behind-the-Scenes/Notes ==
# This, in actuality, resulted from a glitch in Wrestling Mpire Remix where both characters plummeted through the floor of the arena, crashing the game. It looked pretty cool at the time, though, and I merely treated it while immersed in the story of it as them taking a technical break to ensure both performers were okay.
#This is because I love the "Flying Dutchman" gimmick, but I'm not yet sure I'll have room for him on any UNION reboot.
# This is true out-of-universe. Many of his mannerisms (entrance, move-set, etc.) were based around Van Dam, and his attire has always shown that, too.
# I was toying with the idea of having Van Dam appear in the final special of 2K18 in September, to either fight against or team with Sidewinder... depending on a couple of factors. It never panned out, however.
Category:CAWs