Independent wrestling can be quite an interesting place when it comes to finding shows, wrestlers or rivalries, in this case. Recently, Big Time Wrestling launched a YouTube page dedicated to their video library dubbed, BTW Vault. Back in 2007, I first came aware of BTW via their internet TV show that was way ahead of its time. Over the past decade they’ve had countless legends and future legends compete on their shows and have had some intriguing matches take place.
One of the more random rivalries that I stumbled upon occurred between Justin Credible and John Walters in 2008 and 2009. At the time, Justin Credible had been off mainstream TV since his WWE release in late 2006 and had actively competed on the Northeast indies since that time. Of course, Credible being an ECW alumni always connected with the indie audience and he was regularly appearing on BTW shows.
John Walters had been wrestling for nearly ten years and was part of Ring of Honor in their early years, but by 2008 had stopped appearing for ROH for about two years and mainly competed on independent shows including Chaotic, and 2CW aside from being on BTW shows.
Now, is there any significance to this feud? Honestly, I’m sure there isn’t. However, I like to write about completely random things and this feud is completely random. What caught my interest, I guess, is that their styles are very, very different. Credible being more of a brawler and Walters is one of the better technical wrestlers. It’s an interesting dynamic to see how they mesh together. I’ve not watched any of the matches prior to this column. So, the matches will either be shockingly good, or shockingly average, or even potentially bad.
BTW Heavyweight Champion John Walters vs. Justin Credible — Hardcore Match; Mick Foley special referee — BTW Chicopee Crunch — October 10th, 2008
Walters has Johnny Fabulous (John Cena Sr.) as his manager and appears to be the clear heel in this bout. Walters arm drags Credible and taunts the fans while Credible regroups in the corner. Walters hip tosses Credible and backs off to the corner to taunt Credible some more. Walters controls Credible with a headlock for a moment and delivers a shoulder block. Credible takes Walters over with a hip toss and they have a standoff. Walters kicks Credible followed by a few strikes. Credible backdrops Walters out of the corner and drops Walters with strikes. Credible throws Walters over the ropes to the floor. Credible strikes Walters around ringside to gain the advantage. Credible uses a fans kendo stick before returning to the ring where Credible gets a two count. Walters fights back with strikes in the corner, but misses a splash in the corner. Credible chops Walters in the corner, but Walters sends Credible upside down into the corner and decks Credible off the apron to the floor. Walters works over Credible at ringside as the fans are heavily behind Credible. Credible sends Walters over the railing into the crowd.
Credible has grabbed a chair, but Walters drop toe holds Credible onto the chair face first. Walters goes for a cover and manages a two count. Walters puts Credible in the corner and hits a running dropkick to the knee. Walters focuses his attack on the left knee of Credible. Walters locks in an Indian death lock, but doesn’t get a submission out of Credible. Walters clotheslines Credible over the top to the floor. Walters tries for a suicide dive, but Credible strikes Walters in midair. Credible avoids a baseball slide attempt and hits Walters with a ladder. Credible stomps Walters on the mat and delivers a chop in the corner. Walters sends Credible into the ladder back first in the corner. Walters wedges the chair in the corner and strikes Credible. Walters hooks Credible to hit a snap suplex for a two count. Walters keeps Credible on the mat with a chin lock. Walters gets a rollup on Credible, but is sent into the corner and Credible gets a near fall. Credible misses a baseball slide and hits the post. Walters keeps Credible on the mat and grabs a ladder to setup. Walters leaps off missing a leg drop attempt.
Credible strikes Walters several times to the mat, but Credible fights back with a forearm strike. Credible plants Walters with a spinning DDT. Credible tries for That’s Incredible, but Walters counters and tries for a rollup, but Credible holds onto the ropes and superkicks Walters for a two count. Credible grabs Fabulous on the apron, but Walters has the kendo stick and whacks Credible. Walters covers and pins Credible for the win. After the match, Foley plants Walters with a DDT to send the fans home happy. (**. For the first encounter that is available on YouTube, this was mostly by the book. Foley didn’t add much to this match, at all. The hardcore aspect of the match was mostly non-existent aside from a couple of spots, but it didn’t feel like the hardcore kind of match you may have expected.)
BTW Heavyweight Champion John Walters vs. Justin Credible — BTW — November 8th , 2008
Walters attacks Credible before the bell delivering right hands in the corner as the fans chant for ECW. Credible comes off the ropes to forearm Walters followed by a right hand and rams Walters into the corner. Credible strikes Walters into the corner and tosses Walters through the ropes to the outside. Walters asks for a timeout before returning to the ring. Credible backs Walters into a corner and delivers several chops before keeping headlock control on the mat. Credible gets a two count after a shoulder block and locks in a headlock again. Credible keeps Walters on the mat with a headlock. Walters forearms Credible, but Credible hip tosses Walters before getting headlock control. Walters breaks free with strikes in the corner and chops Credible. Walters continues by ramming Walters into the corner and delivers chops. Credible counters with stomps in the corner. Credible misses a running baseball slide and hits the ring post groin first. Walters taunts the fans while Ox Baker chokes Credible at ringside.
Walters sends Credible hard into the corner and gets a two count before controlling Credible on the mat with a chin lock. Credible sunset flips Walters, but Walters breaks free and elbows Credible to the mat for a two count. Walters right hands Credible in the corner. Walters dropkicks Credible off the apron to the floor. Ox Baker strikes Credible on the floor to assist Walters. Walters chops Credible at ringside and they trade strikes on the floor. Walters back rakes Credible before returning to the ring, Walters hits a slingshot elbow drop into the ring for a two count. Walters controls Credible on the mat, but doesn’t get a submission. Walters controls Credible with a hammerlock and switches to an arm bar. Walters wrenches on Credible’s arm, but doesn’t get a submission. Credible gets the crowd to rally behind him and fights free with strikes. Walters scoop slams Credible and heads to the top rope. Walters misses an elbow drop attempt. Credible strikes Walters several times dropping Walters to the mat. Credible dropkicks Walters coming off the ropes. Credible suplexs Walters and hits a northern lights suplex for a two count.
Credible plants Walters with a spinning DDT for a near fall. Credible plays to the crowd before heading to the top rope. Credible is stopped by Walters and Walters hits a hurricanrana. Walters dives off the top hitting an elbow drop for a two count. Walters splashes Credible in the corner. Walters misses a splash in the corner and crashes to the mat. Credible nearly collides with the referee, but Walters does. Credible superkicks Walters, but the referee is knocked out. Credible tries for a tombstone, but Walters counters by hitting a backstabber. Walters covers, but there’s no referee still. Walters grabs a chair from the floor and slides it into the ring. Johnny Fabulous gets in the ring to take the chair away. Fabulous decks Credible allowing Walters to hit a cutter for the win. (**. I’m not entirely sure the context as to why Johnny Fabulous would be wanting to turn on Walters after a month, but the finish here obviously protects Credible and allows them to do another match. Judging by the lack of attendance in the upper deck of the venue may mean that the feud between Credible and Walters isn’t a major draw at the moment.)
BTW Heavyweight Champion John Walters vs. Justin Credible — Extreme Rules— BTW — December 6th, 2008
Walters slides a chair into the ring and Credible sits down in the middle of the ring. Despite this being an extreme rules match, the referee threatens to count Walters out. Danny Davis, former WWF referee, is in Walters corner, along with Johnny Fabulous. Walters slaps Credible’s hand away and they trade right hands. Credible gets the advantage and chops Walters in the corner. Credible punches Walters into the corner and continues with stomps. Credible chokes Walters in the corner for a moment. Credible throws Walters through the ropes to the floor. Credible strikes Walters around ringside to keep the advantage and rams Walters onto the apron face first. Credible grabs a ladder from under the ring and tosses it into the ring. Credible lays the ladder over the middle rope in the corner and chops Walters. Walters sends Credible into the ladder back first to gain the advantage and stomps Credible on the mat. Walters punches Credible several times in the corner. Walters elbows Credible coming off the ropes leading to a near fall. Walters punches Credible to the floor and hits a suicide dive! Credible throws a chair into the ring seemingly recovered before Walters. Credible brings Walters into the crowd to continue brawling, but the camera loses them. It looks like they’ve gone either outside or into the hallway brawling.
They eventually return to the ring where Walters gets a two count. Walters wedges a chair into the corner. Walters tries for a rollup out of the corner, but Credible kicks out and sends Walters into the corner, but the chair fell down. Credible drop toe holds Walters onto a chair and plays to the crowd before getting a two count. Credible lays a ladder onto Walters and leaps off the middle rope to leg drop Walters for a two count. Credible puts the ladder around his head and whacks Walters after spinning around. Credible heads to the top rope and drops the ladder onto Walters for a two count. Credible chops Walters in the corner, but Walters sends Credible sliding into the corner and Credible hits the post. Walters baseball slides a chair into Credible’s face. Walters strikes Credible at ringside a few times. Walters sends Credible into the post and Credible fights back with a flurry on the floor. Walters sends Credible into the guard railing. Fabulous strikes Credible on the floor, but is held back by Davis, who I guess is with Credible.
Walters strikes Credible before returning to the ring. Walters scoop slams Credible. Walters sets up a ladder near the corner and climbs to the top rope. Walters leaps over the ladder, but misses a splash attempt. Credible fires up in the corner and decks Walters. Credible clotheslines Walters and hits a spinning DDT for a two count. Credible signals for a superkick as Walters staggers and Credible hits the superkick for a near fall. Credible signals for the end, but Walters breaks free. Credible counters a suplex for an inside cradle, but Danny Davis shoves Walters onto Credible and counts the falls for Walters to retain the title. (**1/2. BTW clearly going for the slow burn to give Credible the championship, right? Another creative finish, but these constant fake outs could piss off the crowd to the point of not coming back for the eventual title change, assuming they’re aiming to give Credible a title run. It’s a decent match with a lot of brawling around ringside. I was figuring there would be a big spot, but there wasn’t. Thus, this is just a mostly standard hardcore match.)
In January, they had a tag team tables matches where Justin Credible teamed with Spike Dudley to defeat Danny Davis and John Walters. It’s announced that Credible gets another shot on March 29th against Walters. They are teasing a special referee and Johnny Fabulous says he can pay anyone off and if Credible loses then he’s fired. The special referee is revealed to be Ric Flair.
So, there’s an in-ring segment before the title match on March 29th where Johnny Fabulous reveals paperwork that Flair isn’t cleared to wrestle, which also means he’s unable to referee the title match. Personally, I never could imagine Flair refereeing a title match for BTW. Also, it’s worth noting that the venue they are in, Webster Town Hall, is packed due to Flair’s appearance.
BTW Heavyweight Champion John Walters vs. Justin Credible — BTW — March 29th, 2009
Walters arm drags Credible to kickoff the match and they have a standoff. Credible gains control with a wrist lock. Walters knee lifts Credible followed by a forearm strike. Walters avoids Credible in the corner, but Credible hits a back suplex. Walters bails to the floor to regroup. Credible gets headlock control in the middle of the ring. Credible shoulder blocks Walters for a two count. Credible shoulder blocks Walters again and arm drags Walters to keep arm control. Walters knee lifts Credible in the corner, but Credible backdrops Walters to the floor. Walters regroups in the crowd. Credible keeps wrist control for a few moments. Fabulous grabs Credible boot while he’s running the ropes and Walters hits a TKO for a two count. Walters sends Credible upside down in the corner and delivers a clothesline. Walters sends Credible hard into the corner for a near fall. Walters keeps Credible on the mat with a sleeper.
Walters clotheslines Credible and sends Credible to the floor where Fabulous cheap shots Credible. The fans are chanting for ECW while Walters keeps an arm bar on Credible. Credible strikes Walters a few times and delivers a chop into the corner. Credible takes Walters down with a rolling single leg Boston Crab, but doesn’t get a submission as Walters reaches the ropes. Credible is rammed into the corner and Walters delivers a chop. Walters sends Credible groin first into the ring post. Walters rams Credible groin first into the post. They trade strikes until Walters drop toe holds Credible followed by an elbow drop. Walters climbs to the top rope, but is met with a superkick in midair. Credible decks Walters a few times and hits a DDT for a two count. Credible waits for Walters to get up, but accidentally superkicks the referee. Walters tries for a suplex, but Credible counters with an inside cradle after decking Fabulous off the apron and a second referee counts a near fall. Walters and Credible trade strikes. Credible tries for a slam, but Walters counters. Walters accidentally decks the second referee. Credible plants Walters with That’s Incredible. Ric Flair slowly comes down to the ring and counts a slow three to give Credible the win and title. After the match, Flair low blows Fabulous and puts the figure four on Fabulous. (**1/2. A fine match if not a little bit for a formula match. Flair counting the fall I guess can mean they avoided false promotion. It kind of blows my mind that Flair was booked to referee a Justin Credible title match and they seemingly sold it out. Credible finally winning the title seemed to pop the crowd, but now that the chase is over I’m curious if their battles will be presented differently.)
Terry Funk is the special enforcer for the August encounter.
BTW Heavyweight Champion Justin Credible vs. John Walters — BTW — August 1st, 2009
Walters controls Credible with a headlock and delivers a shoulder block. Walters shoulder rams Credible in the corner, but Credible fights back with hip tosses. Walters bails to the floor to regroup. Credible kicks Walters followed by chops. Credible clotheslines Walters to the floor. They proceed to brawl in the crowd. They brawl into the bleachers where Credible keeps the advantage striking Walters. Credible dumps Walters over the railing in the bleachers and jumps down onto Walters in the crowd. Walters sends Credible into the bleachers. Walters works over Credible with strikes at ringside. Walters works over Credible in the corner and sends Credible sliding into the ring post groin first. Walters nails Credible with a baseball slide dropkick in the corner. Walters strikes Credible around ringside, but Credible fights back with a series of strikes to knock Walters down on the floor. Walters sends Credible into the ring post face first. Walters strikes Credible a few more times at ringside. Walters rolls Credible into the ring and climbs to the top missing a leg drop attempt. The crowd begins to rally behind Credible.
Credible decks Walters to the mat and hits a leaping forearm smash off the ropes. Credible delivers a DDT, but Walters kicks out at two. Credible pummels Walters in the corner with right hands. Credible chops Walters in the corner. Walters avoids colliding with the referee. Credible plants Walters with That’s Incredible for a two count. Credible is tripped by Fabulous and that prompts Funk to deck Fabulous. Walters decks Funk from behind to save his manager. Funk is double teamed by Fabulous and Walters. Fabulous gets in the ring and helps Walters beat down Credible in the corner. However…
The NWO music plays and Scott Hall comes out riding in a car since this is an outdoor event. Hall is in the ring and whacks Walters over the back with a kendo stick. Hall slaps the back of Walters back. Hall sets Walters up for a superkick by Credible. Funk rolls into the ring and makes the count to give Credible the win. (*1/2. It’s honestly remarkable how every single match in this rivalry had some kind of silly finish and not a simple clean finish. Someone outside of the match had to get involved each time. They did the same spots they’ve done in all their singles matches and there wasn’t anything here to standout from the previous matches.)
So, that wraps up the random look at the rivalry between Justin Credible and John Walters. As I said before, there was no other reason to write this other than I thought it was completely random and odd that these two had a series of matches in BTW. There aren’t any standout matches by any means and it’s mostly average wrestling that followed the same routine. The feud didn’t appear to draw much of an audience as their big crowd were likely due to Ric Flair, Terry Funk and Scott Hall appearances, respectively. I had hoped for some surprisingly good wrestling, but this was a risk that didn’t have much of a reward.
Thanks for reading.