It’s rare to see a man step into the CSWA in his first match and get a UNIFIED Title shot, but hey, these are strange times, right? Awarded the title shot by virtue of his “final three” finish in the GOLD RUSH match, the former jOlt World Champion stepped into the ring apparently reinvigorated. But so did his opponent, the newly-crowned Dan Ryan – having outplayed “The Epitome” Troy Windham and finally taken back the top title.

Each man stepped in with a clear game plan: Ryan went to his power game early, using the size advantage he’s so used to -- in this case, an extra seventy pounds and three inches. An early belly-to-belly suplex shook the ring, with some fans apparently surprised that Eron hadn’t gone through the ring. A subsequent release german suplex literally sent the former fWo International Champion bouncing across and out of the ring for a quick breather.

But Eron’s strategy was clear as well – go for the legs – simple yet elegant. As Ryan went to pull him back into the ring, Eron thrust upward, jaw-jacking Ryan and sending him flailing. Eron rolled in, dodging the swinging Ryan and getting behind him to catch him with a chop block, then dropping an elbow right down on the left knee.

Brought down from his “vertical base,” Ryan retaliated, catching Eron with a sideswipe boot to the face, sending him reeling and into the corner. Ryan followed with a shoulder block, but missed as the Relentless One rolled out of the way. Eron dropped to the mat, then rolled to the floor, grabbing Ryan’s left leg and wrapping it around the outside ringpost, once, twice, then three times before referee Patrick Young physically rolled out of the ring and began to pull him away.

Barely dodging a disqualification after ‘bumping’ the referee during the separation, Eron rolled back inside to find a one-legged UNIFIED Champion. Charging Ryan with his shoulder, Eron forced him into the corner and repeatedly rammed his shoulder into the midsection of the champion before grabbing both his legs. Ryan grabbed the ropes for leverage, only to find his 6’7” frame yanked out of the corner and to land on the back of his head. Eron got a quick two-count on the dazed champion, then quickly cinched in a Texas Cloverleaf, sending Ryan into writhing agony as his already-hurting left leg was twisted and torqued.

Ryan finally got a finger hooked around the rope, but Eron refused to release the hold, leading to another near-shoving match between he and referee Patrick Young. The altercation with the referee allowed Ryan to use his massive upper body strength to pull up on the ropes – as Eron turned his attention back to the UNFIIED Champ, Ryan used his good right leg to catch Eron under the jaw with a superkick.

Unable to capitalize on the big kick, Ryan used the corner to take some of the weight off his hyperextended left knee. With Eron still down in the middle of the ring, Ryan finally went to drop an elbow, only to find Mr. Relentless playing possum, and able to catch Ryan with a dragon screw and a subsequent two-count. While going for another leglock, this time a Figure Four, Ryan was able to use his reach to catch Eron with an inside cradle and a three-count, barely leaving with the title, and leaving Eron arguing with the referee over the speed of the count.

WINNER: Dan Ryan