World of Hurt: "Coming From Behind" (episode two)
Aired May 8 on The Cave in Canada
Report by Dot Net contributor Chris GST

Episode two opened up with clips of a baldheaded guy, who honestly looked like he could have been a Basham Brother that had a rather perverse gimmick. It clearly showed that some of the other students, especially the French Stallion, were not comfortable with it and that possibly Lance would have issues with it.

The World of Hurt video played and I have to say I’m interested to see where this episode is going to go. We were introduced to Deryck Crosse from Panama City, Fla. I can only describe him as a big bald guy who while is not cut, has a good build to him, and could be someone WWE looks at.

Lance Storm was once again shown sitting on the side of the WOH ring talking about how everyone needs a character that fans can relate to and get behind. He stated that without a fan base the students will not be successful in this business and that it is up to them to come up with a gimmick they feel can get across to the fans.

Deryck is shown entering the locker room and we see the different reactions. T-Bone seemed to be a friend, who says he has known Deryck for a while and really likes him. The French Stallion in typical controversial fashion called out Deryck for being fat and not giving the look of a wrestler. Going as far to say that Deryck and T-Bone shouldn’t be in the business because they "obviously" don’t take their bodies as seriously as he does. Tenille Tayla was also shown again to say that she likes Deryck and has no problem with him.

Day 1 featured mat drills alongside chain wrestling. Lance told the students to bring out their characters. Deryck was paired with friend T-Bone and they have some basic back and forth chaining. Lance stopped them at one point though and said, "Other than you having a beard (T-Bone), I can’t tell you a part."

This brings out some pressure and Deryck decided to do something interesting. He got T-Bone on the mat and grinded into him from behind, which gets a reaction from both T-Bone and Lance. Lance said to walk a fine line and that Deryck should have thought about whether his opponent would have been okay with something like that.

T-Bone was obviously not mad, but a bit annoyed that Deryck didn’t warn him about that type of behavior - saying on camera during an interview that it would have been better to be talked to about this before getting in the ring. The French Stallion took this chance to take shots at Deryck, again stating that Deryck only does that type of behavior because he lacks in-ring ability and has a bad physique say he is a, "fat mess!"

We came back from a break and we were shown that Lance has called for a promo practice. Everyone was bringing out some character and it was clear that Deryck wanted to do more with this. Deryck went a tad overboard bringing some obvious perverse statements that included the other students, though I would say he also showed a flare for being able to come up with such stuff on the fly. Some of the notable quotes were, "I have a dream, a dream to ride the fastest French Stallion, to eat a nice, juicy, blue-rare T Bone…" At the end after many other innuendos he said, "Everyone should lock up their daughters, lock up their wives…actually lock up your sons and husbands too."

Lance, in typical fashion, just got up and said that Deryck should work on his facials and probably lean away from that son and daughter comments and keep it 18 and over. French Stallion, though, was enraged and again and voiced his displeasure with being mentioned in the promo. Deryck said that he feels the promo "kinda worked and kinda didn’t"

After another break, we were on another day of training, where it is says that Deryck firmly wanted to explore this gimmick that Lance described as a perverse stranger type persona. Deryck wanted to show this sexually explicit character to the world.

During training, it was shown that Deryck was rubbing his inner thigh in the ring making some of the other students uncomfortable. T-Bone, who seemed to be his only friend, said that it is not appropriate for training, while Tanille in the kitchen told Deryck that perhaps he is taking it to a weird place.

We were then shown an in-ring clip of Deryck with The French Stallion where Deryck licked the hand during an arm lock, making The French Stallion break away and say WTF.

We were then show short clips in succession of Deryck looking at, um, himself in a window and that he is starting to show what he is calling a "Prince of Perversion" gimmick backstage. He towel whipped the guys in the shower, back humping camera men, and even dropped his towel to showcase a full moon to the audience. Keep in mind they did not blur that image at all, as they did when he was looking at his junk in the window.

Day four was here and it was in-ring practice before the big live show. We had Deryck vs The French Stallion, who from this point on I will be referring to as TFS. Deryck and TFS are locking up and from the get go it seems we are going to get a clean run of a match but then the perversion begins with Deryck humping TFS. At one point, TFS was on the mat and Deryck sat on his face and pulled TFS’s face into his crotch. The breaking point came though when while TFS had him in a belly to back position, Deryck decided to pull down his trunks to expose his butt to TFS’s front crotch. This forced Lance to break them up and say that perhaps Deryck had crossed the line, not only with the crowd but with his opponent as well.

Lance obviously felt the gimmick had merit as he has never said to not use it, but Deryck should find a balance between knowing what the opponent and the crowd will and won’t accept. A crowd might walk out the door and never buy another ticket if they see something they are just too offended at and makes the good point of stating that Deryck should think before he does something in the ring with a guy he knows might not be comfortable with that type of behavior.

TFS, on the other hand, was really pissed and said he does not want to work with Deryck again. At the same time, we were shown that Deryck still thinks that any reaction is better than none, and he is going to do this gimmick at the up coming live show.

A new day came and it was time for the live show. Lance reportedly had paired both TFS and Deryck together to test them both.

TFS was stressing out. He went to find Deryck and asked him to please not do the gimmick in the ring. Deryck, though, stated that he would not pull what he did in the practice and that he is sorry he went to such a length. The professionalism shown by T-Bone and TFS has to be mentioned because they both could have really had issues with Deryck and possibly went to Lance Storm about this to make sure Deryck couldn’t express himself in such a manner. We were given one last clip before the match of Deryck saying he is going to show that this gimmick is money and that he possibly won’t hold up his end of the bargain by not crossing the line.

The match started and we were shown some clips of pretty decent spots between the two opponents. During the match, though, Deryck was given several spots where he could have shown the perverse side of his gimmick. In the end, he did not pull the trigger and the match ended without any showing of character at all. Deryck went backstage and was obviously upset at himself for not doing anything. Dylan Knight was shown commenting to Deryck about where he potentially could have done something to show it off without having to utilize TFS, but Deryck was obviously just distraught and not happy with his performance at all.

Evaluation day arrived, and Deryck was nervous about what Lance had to tell him. Lance began with a quote of, " A jack of all trades, master of none," with how he would describe Deryck’s showcase. Lance said that Deryck could find the balance of his gimmick without crossing the line too much and still have it be a money gimmick within the world of wrestling. Lance doesn’t seem as negative about the gimmick Deryck has chosen, and it seems as the show ended that Deryck was happy that he could possibly have a winner on his hands.

Overall thoughts: This was a better episode than the first show, as we got to see a guy who could potentially have something, but needs to flesh the gimmick out. Lance was never negative, although tentative about where the gimmick could go, but he did not discourage Deryck at all about finding that balance between what fans will want to see and what the boys will accept. The "Prince of Perversion" might live to see another day and I did not see anything about Deryck that screamed he won’t make it. He was able to come up with creative promos on the fly and if he can get over the initial hump of stage fright, he might make it to the major leagues.

Thanks again for reading and you can contact me at my facebook @ http://facebook.com/spawnsyxx9 or email me at cgstong@gmail.com

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