Blackheart

Blackheart in 2012

**Blackheart** is a member of the XAWA roster, played by Michael Riley. He is also currently one of the two owners of the organization (along with Cyrus Mason). He was the co-founder of AWA (along with Kitana and Deacon Storm). When the AWA closed down in 2008, Blackheart took a three-year sabbatical in which he moved to Austin, Texas. He returned to the roster in 2012.  He holds two distinct records in the organization: he is the first wrestler to hold all five championships that have been active in the organization and he is the first to simultaneously hold the World Heavyweight, International and Hardcore Championships.

## Career

### HMW & HCW (2002–2005)

In 2002, Kitana formed Hell's Mighty Wrestling out of New Paris, Ohio.  Blackheart joined, along with many other wrestlers.  However, not much is known about this time in the careers of those involved in the HMW.  The organization was renamed Hardcore Championship Wrestling shortly after it's first event in 2003, but not many events were held before the organization was renamed again.

### Anarchy Wrestling Association (2005–2008)

The organization became the Anarchy Wrestling Association shortly before the promotions first taped event, Anarchy Colosseum, an event that was co-promoted with the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance.  At that event, Blackheart was involved in a six-man tag main event, which his team lost.  Several months later, the AWA held their first solo-promoted event, Anarchy Rulz: Extreme Behavior, in October of 2005.  During this event, Blackheart would win a tournament and challenge The Ogre to a match for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, a match which he lost and was immediately beat down by The Ogre, Shawn Havoc, Horn Dog and Kitana.

The promotion started getting more exposure in 2006, when the organization held the first episode of *ShOcK!*.  In this episode, Blackheart would team with James McCloud and Mad Dogg, delivering a defeat to The Ogre, Shawn Havoc and Orion Everest.  Later in that same show, he would defend the AWA Hardcore Championship by defeating Shawn Havoc and Blade in a three-way dance, which ended with Blackheart delivering his Headrush maneuver from the top of a car to Blade.  He then entered into a feud with Kitana that culminated in a 15-minute Ironman match with her at the 2006 Awakening event, which he won to retain the Hardcore Championship, but was chokeslammed from the back of a car afterwards.  Following this, he would defending the championship at the 2005 Deconstruction event, in a triple threat Ironman against both The Ogre and Reverend Christopher.  The Ogre would win the match and the championship.  Blackheart would face The Ogre again in the main event of FireBred in 2006, feuding over the Intercontinental Championship, a match that ended in a draw.  He was scheduled to appear at the second Anarchy Colosseum event, but the season ended before that event could take place.

Blackheart began the 2007 season by winning the AWA Hardcore Championship from Shade at Road 2 Ruin.  He would defend against Blade during the same show, and would end up feuding with Blade most of the rest of that year.  He would face Blade again at the Bad Moon Rising event in a 30-minute Ironman match.  However, the timer was cut short and Blade won the match on a technicality, so they continued feuding the next week, when Blade would make an infamous dive from 15-20 feet up in a tree, straight down on a chair, resulting in Blackheart getting the Hardcore Title back.  Blackheart would set aside his feud with Blade to challenge Cyrus Mason for the first time at Awakening.  The match ended in a draw when Blackheart and Cyrus Mason would go through a table.  Blackheart would start a feud with a returning Kitana the next week, and they would fight to a draw.  She forced Blackheart to face Blade the next week, a match which resulted in a move that has been used over and over again in archive footage, when Blackheart hit a diving elbow drop through a table.  He would face both Kitana and Blade the next week in one many called one of the AWA's best triple threat matches.  The match would end in a triple count-out, the first and only one on record for either organization.  At Slam 'n' Jam, Blackheart would finally lose the Hardcore Championship to Kitana after being chokeslammed through a table.  Blackheart would then challenge Shade for the AWA Grand Slam Championship at Red, White & Bruised, which he lost.  He would finish out the season ending his feud with Blade by having a 30-minute Ironman match, which he lost after overtime.

Blackheart began the 2008 season in huge fashion, by defeating Shade for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, a belt Shade held for a total of 714 days.  He would hold the belt for several weeks, defending it against The Ogre in a Texas Bullrope Match at Red, White & Bruised.  He would lose the belt to Connor Jackson, then known as Stryke, on ShOcK!, but the belt would revert back to him after 30 days.  He was still holding the belt when the organization closed down in October of 2008.  Following the closure of the Anarchy Wrestling Association, Blackheart moved to Austin, Texas, shelving the possibility of the organizations return for the time being.

### Return (2012–2014)

Blackheart made a surprise return to the XAWA in 2012 at the Road 2 Ruin event, wrestling in a tag team match pitting him and The Ogre against Bonkers and Xander, at the time members of the Society of Sin.  He and Ogre would lose that match.  He would continue the year by almost immediately capturing the XAWA Hardcore Championship.  He would lose it to American Hillbilly, but gain it right back after catching him and putting him through a table at Derailed.  He would then feud with the returning Brad Leech, eventually dropping the Hardcore Title to him at Awakening.  His next major feud in 2012 would be with Xander, who he desperately wanted an Ironman match with for the XAWA World Heavyweight Championship.  However, before Xander could get his match with Blackheart, Xander walked out of the Redemption event, dropping the World Heavyweight Championship at Blackheart's feet.  This would result in the belt being awarded to Blackheart for his first World Heavyweight Championship reign.  He would defend that belt against the American Hillbilly at Extreme Behavior in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match.  The next week on *ShOcK!*, he wrestled Havok, at the time, the TCWA World Heavyweight Champion, in a match that ended in a draw.   He would lose the World Heavyweight Championship to Nightmare shortly thereafter at Recoil.  He would finish out the season by using his rematch clause to gain a 30-minute Ironman match with Nightmare at Anarchy Colosseum III.  He lost the match in overtime, but became Commissioner of the XAWA during the same event.

He began his 2013 season by feuding with Will Smith, in a match that Smith would win, forcing Blackheart to share Commissionership with him.  Blackheart would regain the XAWA Hardcore Championship at Radioactive, defeating Deacon Storm in a Texas Death Match.  He would hold on to that championship until Awakening, when he would lose it to Xander following a hellacious Cross Cutter from the top of a ladder.  After this, he would finish his feud with Will Smith, first beating him in a match for 100% of the Commissionership at Red, White & Bruised, and then defeated him at Highway to Hell a month later, causing Smith to be fired.  That same show, Blackheart would turn on his AWA Original friends after delivering a devastating superkick to Deacon Storm.  Blackheart then aligned himself with Nightmare to form Wrath Above Requiem, and declared war on the XAWA.  The angle would, essentially, come to an end following the defeat of The Alien by Blackheart in a Texas Death Match at Bloodbath.  The next week, a match with Cyrus Mason would result in numerous undue stress to the head, resulting in a draw and Blackheart being sent to the hospital.  This new angle found Blackheart attempting to disalign with Nightmare and realign with his friends following a bout with dissociative identity disorder, caused by a similar undue head trauma sustained in June.  His feud with Nightmare ended for the time being with an International Championship victory at Recoil.  He feuded with Deacon Storm, who had turned his back on Blackheart affter being jaded about XAWA's administration, culminating in Storm retaining the XAWA World Heavyweight Championship at Anarchy Colosseum IV.

The 2014 season began with Blackheart still feuding with Storm.  Nightmare had been elevated to co-commissioner, a move Blackheart vehemiently disagreed with, stating "he'll be the end of us all."  Blackheart was set to face Storm for the World Heavyweight Championship at Violence is the Answer on March 30, 2014.  Storm, however, did not appear at the event.  He failed to appear the next week as well, resulting in the match taking place on the April 13, 2014 edition of *LiveWire*, promoted as the 100th episode.  Here, Blackheart finally took his revenge on Storm, defeating him to become the World Heavyweight Champion, as well as the only person to hold both that and the International Championship at the same time.

He would lose the International Championship to Xander, and the World Heavyweight Championship to Nightmare, who vacated it.  A match with Will Smith at Awakening would turn up empty-handed for Blackheart and, by his own words, he would never be allowed to challenge for the belt again while Nightmare was commisisoner.  Blackheart attempted to alleviate this by facing Nightmare at Red, White & Bruised, another fruitless endeavor as he ended up losing the Last Ride match.  Shortly thereafter, Blackheart quit.  During his time off-roster, he would attend a few shows in the audience.  On one particular show, he would get yelled at by Cyrus Mason, left the arena, returned with a hose and proceeded to spray everyone down.

Eventually, because Blackheart was ruining "his show," Nightmare gave Blackheart his job back at Highway to Hell, complete with a World Heavyweight Championship shot.  Blackheart was the special guest referee for the matchup between Nightmare and Cyrus Mason, which Nightmare lost, partially due to Blackheart, but also partially due to the original XWA roster at ringside.  Blackheart again feuded with Nightmare after this, culminating in a stretcher match at Blackout which Nightmare won rather controversially, earning him a World title match.  Blackheart spoiled this by using the very title shot Nightmare gave him, turning it into a triple threat, and eventually (following Deacon Storm being added to the match) a fatal four-way at No Escape. Nightmare would win this match.

Blackheart then became involved in the season finale, originally the series finale, of the XAWA, in which the show was sold and shut down.  During the last month of the XAWA's original run, Blackheart convinced all of the wrestlers on the roster to rebel against the network, essentially turning the entire roster babyface and culiminating in Anarchy Colosseum V, the companies longest supercard to date and the first supercard to not feature any title matches since the 2011 Derailed event.  In the main event, a six-way match for the physical belt, the match ended when Kitana and Blackheart were tagged in together, and they decided, rather than fight, to destroy the set and ring, with the six competitors walking off through Elysian Field, the original location of the AWA and, in later years, XWA.

### Reunion shows (2015–2018)

Blackheart participated in the first reunion show, Reunited We Stand, in 2015. He faced American Hillbilly in a match that was supposed to be for his career. Blackheart lost, but his career continued nevertheless.

Blackheart returned for the second reunion show, Red, White & Bruised on the Highway to Hell, in 2017, to face Kitana one-on-one. Blackheart lost that match as well.

The third reunion show, Redemption on the Road 2 Ruin, finally saw Blackheart score a big win, as he defeated Nightmare in a one-on-one match following The Ogre chokeslamming Nightmare.

### Relaunch (2018–present)

Blackheart began the abbreviated 2018 season by losing the XAWA Hardcore Championship to The Ogre, though he would get it right back from Deacon Storm, who pinned The Ogre, by slamming him through a table. Blackheart then moved on to focus on defending the Hardcore Championship against Will Smith at Highway to Hell. He would be successful in this defense.

Blackheart would then call out Sgt. Dowell on an episode of *Worldwide* the next week. Dowell would respond by showing up at Lethal Lottery and costing Blackheart an International Championship match with Cyrus Mason by throwing him in the trunk of a car (it was a Last Ride match). In response, Dowell answered Blackheart's challenge for an I Quit match at Anarchy Colosseum VI. Dowell defeated Blackheart at the event after seven steel chair shots to the back forced Blackheart to say "I quit."

Blackheart was on a major losing streak at this point and had lost his Hardcore Championship earlier in the night at Anarchy Colosseum VI thanks to Sgt. Dowell. He faced Chaos Zero in a Tangled Web match at Laid to Rest, but was unsuccessful then, leading to him frustratingly striking a chair with a metal pipe. Blackheart's losing ways continued, albeit to a lesser extent, at the XCW tri-branded event Ground Zero: Redemption, where Blackheart lost to Hazard and Psycho Wolf in a match for Hazard's XCW International Championship. Blackheart, however, was not involved in the decision.

Blackheart's 2019 season finally started with progress: a defeat of The Alien on the first episode of *Worldwide* in the first match. Later that same episode, Blackheart claimed some redemption by defeating The Ogre in a hard-hitting, brutal match to claim his record 19th Hardcore Championship. He would then defend that title against Cyrus Mason at Awakening, defeating him and continuing his reign. Blackheart went on a short winning streak with the title. He would defeat a Huskified Trinity Parker at Recoil, but then be left off the card at Thunderstruck. He finally got his rematch with Sgt. Dowell at Highway to Hell, in which he successfully defended the title thanks in part to the debut of Mint Dragon.

In August on *Worldwide*, Blackheart would issue an open challenge to anyone on XAWA, XCW or FWL's rosters for the Hardcore Championship. XCW's Corey Lee would answer and, shockingly, won the title from Blackheart, becoming the first person not on the roster to win the title. Lee would defend the title throughout August and September, depsite Blackheart's efforts to interfere. Blackheart eventually challenged Corey Lee at *Ground Zero: Enemy Lines* and would win back the title for the 20th time. Blackheart would also join the XCW roster shortly before winning the belt back.

Following that, Blackheart would lose the belt to Taven on *Worldwide*. Blackheart would immediately challenge for a rematch in a Texas Death Match. This match occured at Laid to Rest, and would see Blackheart overcome Taven to be champion for the 21st time.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Headrush* (swinging reverse STO)
	+ *Heartbreaker* (Superkick)
	+ *Assassination/Assassination Kick* (step-up combination of a Shining Wizard and Big Boot) – *used from 2012–2014*
	+ *Blackheart Clutch* (Koji Clutch) – *used sparingly*
* **Signature moves**
	+ Senton splash
	+ Sitout piledriver
	+ *Classic Headrush* (Twist of Fate)
* **Entrance music**
	+ "The Angle" by Core (October 5, 2005 – February 11, 2006; March 10, 2013 – November 24, 2013) – used as classic AWA theme
	+ "The End of Heartache" by Killswitch Engage (March 10, 2006 – August 1, 2006)
	+ "Erase the Doubt" by Mushroomhead (March 17, 2007 – September 18, 2007)
	+ "Wake Up" by KJ-52 (June 4, 2008 – August 7, 2008)
	+ "Renegade" by (hed) P.E. (March 11, 2012 – July 14, 2013; September 22, 2013 – present)
	+ "Super Villain" by Powerman 5000 (July 21, 2013 – September 15, 2013)
	+ "War In Me" by Hellyeah (July 28, 2013 – September 15, 2013) – used as a part of Wrath Above Requiem

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Anarchy Wrestling Association**
	+ AWA World Heavyweight Champion (2 times; final champion)
	+ AWA Hardcore Champion (5 times; inaugural champion)
	+ AWA Tag Team Champion (1 time) – with Shawn Havoc
	+ AWA Television Champion (1 time)
	+ AWA Grand Slam Champion (1 time)
	+ AWA No Limits Champion (1 time; final champion)
	+ AWA Hall of Fame Inductee (2007)
* **eXtreme Anarchy Wrestling Association**
	+ XAWA World Heavyweight Champion (2 times)
	+ XAWA Hardcore Champion (21 times; current champion)
	+ XAWA International Champion (1 time)
	+ XAWA Television Champion (1 time; inagural champion)
	+ XAWA Tag Team Champion (2 times) – with Nightmare
* **Xplosive Championship Wrestling**
	+ XCW Tag Team Champion (1 time; current champion) – with Deacon Storm