When Kristian Harloff announced that he would be taking a break from the Schmoedown in late 2017, speculation was rife as to who would be the Interim Commissioner in his absence. With many expecting Mark “Baby Carrots” Ellis or Ken “The Pitboss” Napzok to take over (and a number of people campaigning for “Tricky” Tom Dagnino). I think pretty much everyone was caught out with the announcement that Thadd “The Warlord” Williams would be taking the reigns and it certainly caused a stir, with Napzok citing Harloff overlooking him as one of the events that led to him joining the Lion’s Den.
With a number of calls during Harloff’s revenge tour and climb to the singles title leading to calls of the game being rigged in his favour, the decision to keep The Warlord in charge until Darth Harloff lost the title seemed a smart one, but things didn’t quite go to plan for “The Commissioner”. Following Kristian’s loss at Schmoedown Spectacular II to “The Inglorious One” Samm Levine, he was in for a rude awakening as Thadd announced that the contract Kristian had signed named him Commissioner for a whole 6 months!
It was no surprise that Kristian immediately called to settle the dispute with a match for the title of Commissioner, but this was turned down by Thadd. Though we may not have seen Kristian push hard for this match since, there have been moments that suggest he is not accepting the decision lying down. From heckling Thadd at the Schmoedown Awards to introducing himself as “the true Commissioner” when replacing Mark Reilly at the desk for McWeeny v Bibbiani, it certainly looks like Kristian is keen to get his role back.
Things have not all been hunky-dory during Thadd’s reign. While we may have seen the rise of the Fyffe Club and the Shirewolves, plus Sam Witwer winning the Star Wars belt in one of the most stunning matches ever, but we have also seen the first instance of physical violence with Andrew Ghai’s tackle on John Rocha and a number of controversies. Thadd’s decision to create a contract for each match was used to benefit the Lion’s Den during Kylo Ken’s betrayal of Rachel Cushing, as his failure to turn up for their match against Blofeld’s Cat meant that “The Crusher” was forced to play 2v1 or forfeit. The Patriots also benefited from a highly controversial re-spin in their recent title defence against Top 10 and Dagnino was also allowed a new question in Round 3 of his and Napzok’s match against the Shirewolves after picking the wrong Charlie’s Angels movie.
In the build-up to the Live Schmoedown match between The Wildberries and the Reel Rejects we saw that Kristian has been pushing for the Rules to be cleared up for competitors and announcers but Thadd has been pushing back on this, instead planning to reduce Kristian’s time at the desk. Thadd also took this moment to announce that the contract Kristian signed also had a clause that would keep Thadd in power if there were too many complaints… suddenly the controversies make sense! Surely we have now reached the point where Kristian will act and being to make his move to win back his role as Commissioner. But will this lead to the Schmoedown Civil War? How could this go down?
Team Harloff
If Harloff calls out Thadd again he will certainly have support. Mark Ellis has been vocal in his calls that Kristian had the role of Commissioner stolen from him by Thadd and I would be shocked if he and Mark Reilly were not involved in calling Thadd out. Top 10 made it clear in their interview following their loss to the Patriots that they think Thadd is benefiting the Lions Den, so I can see the also being extremely vocal in their support of the one true Commissioner should he call out The Warlord, especially now that they are unable to challenge The Patriots for the title again. Samm Levine and “The Godfather” Drew McWeeny were put together by Harloff and both have thrived since they became Above The Line, so I can also see them being firmly on Team Harloff, who will also likely have the support of the Shriewolves as Kristian has already shown himself to be a fan of them. In fact, I can see the entire Fyffe Club joining up against Team Thadd. The list of current and former champions in Team Harloff could expand even further as I wouldn’t be surprised to see Innergeekdom Champion Jason Inman joining many of his fellow faces in the team.
Team Thadd
Thadd’s Deep Cuts teammate Aaron Wilhelm will surely side with his partner in crime, but beyond that there is nobody that you could clearly say is a firm supporter. The Lion’s Den have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Thadd’s reign and will want to use any tumult in the league to create an opportunity for Dagnino to run the Schmoedown, so I can see them (including prospective new recruit Mark “The Enforcer” Donica) supporting Thadd and pushing him towards accepting Harloff’s challenge. With Top 10 and Jason Inman both joining Team Harloff, I can imagine Team Action also wanting to cause chaos and choosing to support Thadd, especially if Ben Batemen can come to an agreement with Thadd that sees him take on Inman in a match. Robert Meyer Burnett has been quiet in the Schmoedown since he was thrown out of the Den, but if Thadd were to offer him a shot at an Innergeekdom Number 1 Contender’s match (or perhaps even a rematch against Hector Navarro) then he could also join The Warlord’s side in the Civil War.
The Wildcards
In the past, I would have expected Mike Kalinowski to be a part of Team Harloff, but since he joined up with “Miss Movies” Brianne Chandler it has been less clear who “K.O.” would choose to support – if anyone! If her were to join Team Harloff, then I can see Jay Washington’s Viper Squad joining Team Thadd as a chance to front up against the two of them.
The Growling Commandos don’t have any clear allegiance either way but the chance of finally taking on “The Outlaw” could see Bibbiani align with Team Thadd and bring the rest of his faction with him.
And the Wildberries? Well they’ll probably be too drunk to realise what’s going on!
The match
The match itself could go a couple of different ways, depending in part on where The Warlord’s loyalties lie. Maybe Top 10 were more right than they thought when they said about Thadd working against them and he is in fact an undercover member of the Lion’s Den and another part of Dagnino’s plan to take over the Schmoedown. If this turns out to be the case then I can see a team match, where Thadd and Dagnino join up to take on Team Schmoes. If the Schmoes win then Kristian gets his role as Commissioner back, if Thadd and Dagnino win then all hell breaks loose as the reign of Tom Dagnino begins.
Perhaps Thadd is a neutral party and it has just been coincidence that most of the controversies have benefited the Den. In this case I can see the opportunity for either a singles match between Harloff and Thadd or a team match between Team Schmoes and Deep Cuts. In this case I can guarantee Dagnino finds some way to be involved, either as a third singles competitor or by joining forces with The Pitboss again to face off against Depp Cuts and Team Schmoes.
As to the result, I would expect Kristian (whether on his own or teamed with Ellis) to be strong enough to win back control of the Schmoedown, however one bad spin of the wheel could easily change the outcome of the match. And if Thadd or Dagnino were to win, who knows what could happen…
Obviously as you can see this is just a fictional suggestion of how the Commissioner story line could play out. I very much doubt that the Schmoedown will go down this route, though it could lead to some great matches like Bateman v Inman, Burnett v Navarro and Rocha v Bibbiani, but it would take a lot of effort to involve so many competitors who may not always be readily available. I will be shocked though if we don’t see more to the story over the next month or so as we build towards Collider Collision, which would be the perfect event at which to stage the fight for Commissioner.
Eyes on the Ball 