Title Town Titans

**Tank Davis**

**Yazeed** (co-leader)

**Erin Osbourne**

## History

### Early History

Before the Title Town Titans came into being, the separate members made their debuts with varying degrees of success. Sam King would appear first in Season 2, on the All Heart brand, in a losing effort against Barry Taylor IV, also making his debut. Despite the shaky start, King would gain some victories, but ultimately be the one counted out in a Six-Man Tag while teaming with The Dark Room facing A Means To An End at We Stand in AWE: Night 1.

Some time later, JJ Strife and Erica Blaze would make their debuts on Immortals #6, one after the other, with Strife victorious against Taylor Taylor in the One vs. All Championship Open Challenge, albeit by disqualification via a low blow, ensuring Taylor kept the championship. One match later, Erica Blaze would qualify for the Women's F8FUL EIGHT Ladder Match by defeating Crystal VC.

### Formation

Two weeks later, Sam King would make his first appearance on AWE programming since We Stand in AWE, facing El Weaboo. During the match, JJ Strife would interfere on King's behalf, and help him advance to the Men's F8FUL EIGHT Ladder Match, though would not be victorious. Their upbringing in the same training facility, along with respective chips on their shoulders, would bring the group together to form the Title Town Titans. Their first match as a team would be against the Age of Gold team of leader Nethaniel King (who eliminated Strife in the Whims of Fate Battle Royal) and Yazeed (who would shortly be kicked from the group after losing this match.)

### Unity Championship Run

After their second match against the Flyboys, the Notorious Generation, then Unity Champions, attacked the Titans post-match, which would lead to a Four Corners Tornado Tag Match for the Unity Championship between these three teams and Age of Gold, now represented by Big Trav and Stephan Zynda, at Box Office Bombshell. The Titans would actually pick up the win and the titles when Strife pinned BT4. This would prove to be a record-breaking run in the history of the championships, as the Titans held the titles for 195 days, and amassing 5 successful defenses before being dethroned by The Swingers. Erica Blaze would also see success with the Titans, dethroning Alexia Cannon as Women's Champion at Box Office Bombshell, the same show Strife and King became Unity Champions.

### Singles Runs

After losing the Unity Championship, Strife and King decided that they would focus on singles accolades, while representing the Title Town Titans. However, after defeat at the hands of the Titans earlier in the night, and breaking up the team of Give Dewey a Chance, King Caesar put Strife and King against each other to determine who would face Seth Siegel for his Phoenix Rising Championship at We Stand in AWE II. King would beat Strife in his home state at Immortals #33. Because of this, Strife decided to do everything in his power to get himself a shot at the One vs. All Championship, but was denied at every turn, saying there are "other plans" on the table. Frustrated, Strife attacked Florida Man, who was to answer the Open Challenge on Night II, and take the challenge into his own hands, and end Yazeed's historic 9 defense reign, finally winning the same title he went after in his debut 10 months earlier. Later in the night, Sam King would become Phoenix Rising Champion, defeating Seth Siegel, both male Titans holding gold once again, only this time, in the singles divisions.

### Early Rifts

During their time in the singles ranks, both Strife and King had different experiences. Strife, as One vs. All Champion, started his crusade against O.T.T.V. upon the return of Taylor Taylor at the Foolie Awards, successfully defending the title against King Caesar (on Dragon Dojo soil) and Nik Hemmerling, before beating Taylor himself in a Loser Leaves Iron Man Match at Ayleeyuns. On the same card, King would lose the Phoenix Rising Championship against War Bacon in his first defense in mere minutes. Strife would go on to defend the OvA Championship 2 more times after this before losing to his inspiration, Butch Wagner.

### Expansion Franchise

After losing the OvA Championship, Strife stopped an attack by Evan Wagner against his own father, reigniting their tension from back in 2019, and set up a match between the two at F8FUL EIGHT 2020. Just before the match, Wagner's tag partner, Barry Taylor IV, assaulted Sam King in the parking lot, and even throwing him off the top of the production truck. This was enough to get Wagner the win. However, things were far from over, as Wagner tried to bring out BT4 and even the Plague Hearts for a 4-on-1 beatdown, only to be thwarted by Yazeed, Tank Davis & Matt Grey (all of whom had been feuding with the Plague Hearts since Season 3's beginning.) This would bring about the second ever Summer Wars Match between the combined force of the Plague Hearts and Notorious Generation against the Title Town Titans, led by JJ Strife and what he dubbed the Expansion Franchise of Yazeed and the All-Star Team (Tank Davis & Matt Grey.) Yazeed would pick up the final win for the Titans in the Summer Wars Match, and Sam King was brought in to be the team's special guest ring announcer. After this, the Expansion Franchise would find their own troubles against the newest team in AWE, #ICS, along with the returning Seth Siegel, who attacked Yazeed before the All-Star Team's match against the West Brothers at Ballroom Blitz.

### Broken Foundation

After an unsuccessful bid for the Unity Championships against FTL's Vandy Kirigaya and Jamie Houlding, the new Undisputed Champion, Daniel Foolhardy, would take advantage of Strife's quick temper by making his first challenger Sam King, prompting Strife to come out to make his own challenge. This would lead to a rematch between the two Titans, which would end in a No Contest after the debut of Evocation at the command of Mithra Maenad, also drawing in the attention of former champion, Macabre Denton. A Gates of Hades Match was made, with Daniel last beating King and then Strife to retain the title. People began to think, much like when they first formed, that cracks were starting to show within the foundation of the Titans. A third match between the two founders was made at AWEvangeleon 2.22: You Can (Not) Retain, with Strife getting the win, making the record between the two 1-1-1, but also netting Strife #1 contendership for the Undisputed Championship.

### We Stand In AWE III

Much like the year before, one Titan was guaranteed a championship opportunity at We Stand in AWE, but one didn't know his future. This time, it's reversed, with Strife going after Foolhardy's Undisputed World Title, and King trying to find his place on the card. He would find it, being challenged by the Coven's Fantasma. While this is going on, Yazeed would meet Seth Siegel in a match whose history stems back to Dragon Dojo, with Seth being Yazeed's behind-the-scenes hitman. The Titans did not fare well at We Stand, with Erica Blaze losing the Women's Box Office Rumble, Sam King losing to Fantasma, the All-Star Team getting eliminated in the Tag Team Turmoil, but Yazeed getting the win over Seth. By the time of the main event, the Titans were 1-3, but worse was to come. Before the match's end, Sam King came out, and not only attacked Strife, causing a disqualification, but attacked Foolhardy as well, not joining The Cause as Foolhardy had anticipated. Instead, after all members of Titans and The Cause were attacked backstage, King's allegiance became clear: He would join the Cage Collection, at the expense of everything he and the rest of his team had built in the last year.

### Rebuilding the Dynasty

After the events that shook the foundation of both the Titans and AWE at large, there would be a rebuilding period within the remainder of the team. With Strife taking time away after the betrayal by someone he thought was his best friend, leadership of the group would be handed off to the only other founding member remaining, Erica Blaze, with Yazeed taking up a leadership in the ring. Erica's first match back since the event was during the Colors Flying High tournament, taking a place in a Women's Four Way Match, after publicly revealing her orientation to the world. Though she came up short in the match, this was a first step in not just her own personal growth, but showing that the Titans Dynasty is not yet done.

### Fall of an Empire

Despite this, however, fortunes would continue a downward trend for the Titans. Yazeed, as the sole victor at We Stand (besides the absent JJ Strife) would be Foolhardy's next challenger for the Undisputed Championship, but would come up short. Post-match, Sam King, who expressed his irritation at not being in the title picture at the start of the show, and had defeated Tank Davis, would take this ire out on Foolhardy and Yazeed, injuring the latter with his infamous kick to the rear end.

Cracks would also begin to form in the All-Star Team after a loss to the King and Jack Cage at Per Aspera Ad Astra. The two would argue after the match, with Matt Grey leaving Tank in the ring. Despite some singles match success on the road to F8FUL EIGHT, they again could not get the job done in a tag match against the former Unity Championship-winning duo of #TheCause, ZAM and Brad Epic. In another sign of the failing unity, both members of the All-Star Team would make separate entrances going into this match, but the final nail would come when Matt attacked Tank with a ladder, seemingly breaking the partnership.

Even a new member of the team was overshadowed by the growing failure of the group. With Erica Blaze suffering a loss to her We Stand attacker, King's Road Superookie Tomo Bushida, Erin Osbourne would make the save from a post-match beatdown, only to be defeated all the same at F8FUL EIGHT.

### Duel of F8s

F8FUL EIGHT was the ground zero for the formation of the Titans. In 2019, it was JJ Strife costing El Weeaboo against Sam King to qualify for the event, and after that, the team's first tag team match together. 2 years later, it appeared the team reached its zenith. All members suffering defeat, Matt Grey stabbing his friend Tank Davis in the back, all looked bleak. However, one moment would see some hope for the group. In the main event, the men's F8FUL EIGHT Ladder Match, as Sam King was about to get the briefcase, a ghost from his past would haunt him. Making his intentions first felt at Per Aspera, one year from the event that sparked everything, JJ Strife would make his return to AWE, suddenly appearing from darkness on the ladder. Looking more crazed than the year prior, Strife superplexed King off the top of the ladder, costing him the match, disappearing in the darkness as quick as he first appeared to begin with, opening the door for Cedric Young to claim the prize.

### Ballroom Blitz

Heading into Ballroom Blitz, a lot had changed with the dynamic of the Titans. Yazeed was out with an injury, Tank Davis was out in similar fashion to JJ Strife at We Stand III, Matt Grey went to Japan to spend some time in the Garden of Eden, Erica Blaze and Erin Osbourne had been beaten by Tomo Bushida, and a new member had been introduced to the group. In a match with Sam King, Tyler Elison, personally brought in by fellow Michigan native Osbourne, got a win with the help of Strife distracting Sam King.

By the time the two founders met in one-on-one action for the fourth time at Ballroom Blitz, the dynamic had changed: Sam King had become arrogant, cocky, and arguably the most hated competitor in AWE. JJ Strife, however, after over a year away, was now no longer the loud-mouthed, proud Masshole everyone had come to expect, now disheveled and crazed, with the goal of destroying his former friend. This tunnel vision would cost Strife, as Jack Cage would help Sam King win the match, making the record 2 for Sam King, 1 for JJ Strife, and a No Contest.

### The Royal 48

The second ever Royal 48 would follow, with JJ Strife, Tyler Elison, and Matt Grey all entered representing the Titans. This comes as a shock for some, as Matt Grey had taken out Tank Davis earlier in the season, and had seemingly left the group off of that. However, entering his match, Matt was still accompanied by the Titans logo on the jumbo tron, showing that his problems were more with a part of the team rather than the whole.

When the Titans were only represented by Strife and King when the first Royal 48 came around, JJ Strife was only able to get past the first round of his bracket (#1) defeating Iblis before losing to eventual winner, Mithra Maenad. Sam King, however, would fair even better, defeating last minute entry King Caesar in the first round, Spike Kelly in the second, advance to the Bracket 3 Final with an upset against Matt Grey, and advance to the Final 3 against Krush. King would even be the runner-up, outlasting Bracket 2 Winner Jamie Houlding before falling to Mithra Maenad.

In the first round of the second tournament, JJ Strife (Bracket 1) would defeat Jack Cage, as a measure of revenge for Ballroom Blitz. Matt Grey (Bracket 2) making his return to AWE since betraying Tank Davis and fighting in the Garden of Eden, defeated Rabid of #TheCause. However, Tyler Elison (Bracket 3) would lose to the One vs. All Champion, Crimson in the first round.

JJ Strife's tournament run would continue in Night 4 (Rounds 2 & 3 of Bracket 1) with a second round win over Imperio's Daas Wheedon, before punching his ticket to Finals Night by toppling another Cage Collection member in War Bacon. Matt Grey would also make it to Finals Night with wins in his bracket over the likes of Brandon Ace and Nick Callaway.

On the night of the Finals, JJ Strife would advance by defeating the reigning AWE Phoenix Rising Champion, Argus Gore, but Matt Grey would be stopped by Sam King. However, after the match, Tank Davis would return to attack the former Titan with a kendo stick as a measure of revenge for all of his transgressions the past season. In the Grand Final, it would be JJ Strife who would win the tournament, eliminating both Sam King and Bracket 3 winner Nick Black, thus giving him another opportunity at the Undisputed World Championship, once again against Daniel Foolhardy, at We Stand in AWE IV.

## In Wrestling

### Team Finishers

* Silver Scepter (Thunder Valley) (Strife & King)
* Dynasty's Fall (Grand Amplitude) (Davis & Grey)

### Theme Songs

* "Hyrule Castle" by Malcolm Robinson Music (Strife & King)

## Championships & Accomplishments

* 1x Unity Champions (JJ Strife & Sam King)
* 1x One vs. All Champion (JJ Strife)
* 1x Women's Champion (Erica Blaze)
* 1x Phoenix Rising Champion (Sam King)
* Royal 48 Bracket #3 Winner (Sam King)
* Royal 48 Runner-Up (Sam King)
* 2x 2020 Foolie Award Winners (Tag Team of the Year & Moment of the Year)
* 2020 Summer Wars Winners (JJ Strife, Tank Davis, Matt Grey & Yazeed)