All-Knighters looking for tag team gold
By JOHN M. MILNER -- For SLAM!
Wrestling
|
The All-Knighters: Joey
Knight, left, and Robin Knightwing.
Courtesy The All-Knighters.
|
For the All-Knighters, a tagteam competing in the Renegade Wrestling
Alliance, "the sky's the limit", according to Robin Knightwing. "We're
aiming our sites high and looking to get up there."
Knightwing is described as powerful and reliable by his partner Joey
Knight. ("If I'm ever in a situation, I always know he's going to be there
for me to bail me out if I'm in trouble"). Knightwing returns the favour by
referring to his partner Knight as "the speed of the team", even going so
far as to call Knight "the better wrestler of the team. I'll give him all
the credit."
Already a top tag team in the Burlington-based organization, the team,
led by manager C.J. Lane, have their sight sets on the RWA Tag team titles,
currently held by the Casanova Cliq, which Knightwing refers to as "an
immediate goal" of the All-Knighters.
When asked what it would take to win the RWA Tag team titles, Lane
declared that "it's going to take the Casanova Cliq to show up to defend
their title. That's the number one problem we're having."
Lane is referring to an incident that occured in Burlington on June
13th, when the Cliq (Chip and Dale, with manager the Parkplace Tycoon)
failed up for a scheduled title defense against the All-Knighters. However,
no-shows have not been the only thing standing in the All-Knighters road to
RWA Tagteam gold. "It has pretty much been outside interference that has
kept them from walking away from the titles."
In one match, held on July 19th in London, it appeared that the
All-Knighters were only moments away from a tag team title victory. The
Casanova Cliq had other ideas. Chip leapt off the top rope with his manager's
cellular phone and hit Robin with it. The Cliq left London with the tag team
titles.
"They don't seem to want to give up their titles, " Lane observed, "and
I don't blame them. When you're a champion, hey, that's great." However,
Lane is confident that "Joey and Robin have got what it takes to get the
titles" but believes that perhaps "we're going to have to put a stipulation
where no one's going to be allowed out there...not even me."
Success in the tag team ranks is nothing new to the team of the
All-Knighters. In 1996, the pair won the tag team title in the
Wisconsin-based Badger State Wrestling organization, during their debut
match. Two years later, you can still hear the joy in Knight's voice as he
talks about that night. "We were just lucky to be wrestling and then, we
ended up tag team champions. It was a good feeling, something to call home
about."
Knightwing credits the name of the team to partner Joey Knight and
manager C.J. Lane. "It's just something we thought of," says Knight. "and
thought it would be a good name for a tag team."
The three of them have known each other since high school, but it would
be Calgary's Hart Brothers Wrestling Camp where the team first took shape.
Knight and Knightwing learned their craft at the institution known for
turning out topnotch grapplers. That fact was not lost on the pair. "It was
definitely different," Knight reflected. "You know great wrestlers have
trained there."
The All-Knighters stay in Calgary (from February to August 1995)
co-incided with that of one such wrestler. "When we were down there, Davey
Boy Smith was spending the summer there," Knight remembers. "so it was
pretty neat. You're out training and then you see Davey Boy Smith walking by
and talking to you."
From Calgary, the team found their way to Wisconsin, competing in the
Mid-American Wrestling organization. A friend from their days in the Hart
camp, Matt Sharpe, alerted them to the promotion.
Their first bout in Mid-American Wrestling was a bunkhouse battle royale,
held in Milwaukee, WI. "It was pretty rough," Knight recalls with a laugh.
"I was getting choked with fur scarves and a guy had a bag over my head so
it was pretty wild for the first time (in the ring)."
The team soon moved on to Badger State Wrestling, another
Wisconsin-based promotion. "They were wrestling more often, and they just
had a better group of wrestlers," Knight explains. "Badger State was always
bringing in new guys, so it was a little better to wrestle for them because
there's always someone new to wrestle."
The All-Knighters would win two tag team titles in Badger State
Wrestling. Ironically, both came on July 4th, first in 1996, the second in
1997.
Their second title reign would end with an injury to Robin's ankle in
August 1997. "It happened off something fairly easy," Knightwing recalls, "I took a big backdrop and ended up landing with my feet hitting the rope
before making it to the canvas. My legs got under me, and I landed over top
of (my ankle)." Despite the injury, Knightwing managed to finish the match,
which lasted another ten minutes and helped the All-Knighters retain the BSW
tag team titles.
Knightwing concedes that the injury is an on-going concern. "There is a
metal plate in it right now. Sometimes it gives on me." One of those times
included a match against Stunning Sean this past June. "It's been doing all
right since that match but it's still something I have to be careful of, and
leery of."
Stripped of the tag team titles due to Knightwing's injury, the
All-Knighters left Badger State Wrestling to compete in the Brantford-based
Renegade Wrestling Alliance, debuting on March 17, 1998. "It's great to be
in front of the hometown crowd," Knightwing says. "We have the people behind
us a lot more here in Canada."
When asked who their toughest opponents thus far have been, both team
members agree that it was the Gen-X Crew from the NWA. The two teams met in
a inter-federation match on June 28th, 1998 in Fort Erie, Ontario with the
All-Knighters emerging victorious after a hard-fought match.
The All-Knighters have their hands full with other tag teams in the RWA,
battling the likes of the Royal Canadian Mayhem Patrol, the Hollywood Hunks
and RWA Tag team Champions, the Casanova Clique.
The RCMP, a fairly new team to the RWA, has made their presence
known to the All-Knighters. "From what we've seen in Welland," Knightwing
says, "I can see that they're going to be a challenge for us." (On the July
24th RWA card in Welland Knightwing defeated RCMP member Eric Dawson in a
singles match.) Knightwing believes "They seem to be after us," but added, "I
think they'll be a good challenging tag team and we're looking forward to
their challenge."
The All-Knighters have also crossed paths with the Hollywood Hunks,
and the feud has grown to involve Lane and the Hunks' valet, Raquel. The two
had an altercation during the RWA's July 19th show in London. Lane came to
ringside during a match pitting Stunning Sean and "Sexy Baby" Jamie Jackson
(with Raquel in their corner) against Tito Santana and RWA Champion Pete
Rokk. The two women soon found themselves brawling outside the ring.
"It wasn't supposed to be a fight." Lane counters. "I was a little
irritated. She'd been interfering in every single match. Nobody'd been
telling her to stop, so I figured 'Well, I think I should tell her to stop.'
and then it kinda got into a little bit of a shoving match after that."
They will cross paths again in the future, as will their respective
tag teams. On August 7th, the All-Knighters will wrestle the Hunks at
Wrestlemusicfest at the Opera House in Toronto, and Lane will join forces
with the All-Knighters on August 15th in Hamilton, in a mixed tag team event
against Raquel and the Hollywood Hunks. The three are very excited about
these upcoming contests.
While the two men are primarily interested in tag team success, they have
had a few singles matches, including the Welland card. In addition to
Knightwing's match against Dawson, Knight defeated Loveable Larry Flowers.
There may be more singles bouts in the future, but Lane is quick to point
out, however, that "it's not really what they're focusing on right now. They
want to do their tag team thing and work their way to the gold."
In addition to Lane, the All-Knighters also have the support of their
fans, collectively known as "The Knight Shift". "We know they're there. We
seem them wearing All-Knighter shirts or they send letters and stuff. "
Knight acknowledges. "We know we're actually doing it for someone else
besides ourselves. It helps us out."
"Keep the fan mail coming" Knightwing
adds.
In addition to settling their feud with the Hollywood Hunks and gaining
the RWA tag team titles, Knightwing says that the team is "looking to go all
the way to the top, maybe the WWF. Hopefully, that's the long-term goal but
the short-term goal is the RWA Champions."
For more on The All-Knighters, visit their web site at
www.allknighters.ca
