In a promotion of wrestlers loyal to the company, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) has become one of the top promotions in the northeast. It's mix of hardcore, technical and high-flying wrestling has drawn fans to its product and made them come back for more. One of the standouts of CZW is The Messiah.

William Welch grew up in Detroit, MI and had a goal as a kid: to become a professional wrestler. Welch was never known for his size as he stands 6'1" and weighs in at 210 lbs. As soon as he graduated high school, Welch packed up his things and headed to Sun Valley, CA where he enrolled in Slammers Wrestling Federation's (SWF) "Slam U" training school. He received his training from Hombre de'Oro.

Welch made his professional debut in SWF as "Iron" Mike Ernhardt. On November 11, 1996, he entered the ring and lost his first match to El Sprito, who would later move on to Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) as Felony. Ernhardt would compete in SWF for two years before taking a hiatus from the business to attend to personal matters.

After taking care of his business, Welch returned to ring, this time for the California-based upstart promotion known as XPW, which was run by porn mogul Rob Black. He was christened with the current ring name he uses today, The Messiah. While in XPW, The Messiah was pushed to the top fast. He quickly became the XPW champion as well as simultaneously winning the XPW King of the Death Match title. He had high-profile matches against former Extreme Championship Wrestling mainstays Sabu and New Jack.

In August 2001, The Messiah found himself unemployed when XPW fired him. The reason is still unknown. Rumors went around stating The Messiah had an affair with porn star Lizzy Borden, who was married to XPW owner Rob Black. The Messiah claimed the rumors were false and the reason why he was let go was because he missed some bookings. He also later claimed he wasn't comfortable working for XPW's parent XXX company, Extreme Associates.

On January 12, 2002, The Messiah shocked hardcore CZW fans by attacking CZW champion Justice Pain and accepted his challenge for a match later in the night. The Messiah lost the match, but impressively won over the fans. CZW fans had hatred for XPW and its fans, and vice versa.

The Messiah got his first CZW victory the following month at "This Time, It's Personal." He battled popular CZW wrestler "Sick" Nick Mondo. The Messiah got the duke after interference from Adam Flash.

April 2002 was supposed to be The Messiah facing an enemy from his past. That match never took place due to the bad blood between Messiah and Black. Kaos from XPW was booked to face Messiah, but Black pulled him from the CZW show. Because of this, Black threatened any XPW wrestler that if they ever accepted a CZW booking they would be fired from XPW.

On May 8, 2002, CZW saw one of its greatest matches take place. The Messiah faced off against CZW champion Justice Pain, Nick Mondo and CZW Iron Man champion Adam Flash in a 4 Corner's Match that lasted 64 minutes. The match ended in a double pin. Mondo pinned Flash for the Iron Man title while The Messiah upended Justice Pain for the CZW title. Messiah's first reign as CZW champion ended a month later when he lost the CZW Title to Justice Pain in a triple threat match, which also included Iron Man champion Nick Mondo. Because Pain won the match, he walked out with both titles.

A short time after the title loss, The Messiah's career was put on hold when William Welch suffered a brutal attack. Welch was attacked by two men in his apartment. He thought they were friends of his roommate, so he let them in. They locked the door and began to attack Welch, brutalizing him and trying, at one point, to cut off his penis. As proof of the attack, the assailants cut off his thumb and left him for dead. The attack received mainstream coverage, as it was showcased on the September 21, 2002 edition of "America's Most Wanted." The program seemingly pointed the finger to Rob Black, which they thought was revenge for the alleged affair Welch had with Lizzy Borden.

The Messiah made his amazing return to wrestling on August 31, 2002 in Dover, DE. CZW held it's first Tournament of Death, and The Messiah returned and entered himself into the tournament. He defeated CZW Iron Man champion Adam Flash in the first round. His second round opponent was another rival, Nick Mondo. The Messiah lost to Mondo, but won a larger victory that night. He sent a message to his attackers that he came back stronger, physically and mentally.

In one of his first noteworthy matches back, Messiah teamed with longtime nemesis Justice Pain and defeated CZW Tag Team champions Nick Gage & Nate Hatred on November 9, 2002 in a non-title match. The following month on December 2, the rivalry renewed as Messiah beat Justice Pain at "Cage of Death 4" to regain the CZW Title.

December was quickly becoming a lucky month for The Messiah. On December 12, he defeated Adam Flash to win the CZW Iron Man Title. And, unlike the last time he held the CZW title, The Messiah successfully defended it against Nick Cage and Justice Pain on December 28, and looked to begin the New Year with a prosperous reign.

He won a huge honor from the company when he was voted CZW's Wrestler of the Year for 2002. After all the ups and downs he endured and the obstacles he overcame, it was well deserved.

His CZW Iron Man title reign was a forgettable one and lost the title to Nick Mondo on February 8, 2003. In the early part of 2003, The Messiah found himself in title defenses against the likes of Nick Gage and Nate Hatred. He was even apart of CZW's staging of an invasion as The Messiah, The Backseat Boyz, B-Boy, and Nate Hatred jumped owner John Zandig and formed HI-V (High Five).

The Messiah continued to have successful title defenses later in the year, defeating Cpl. Robinson, Brad Bradley and Adam Flash. CZW traveled overseas in the fall and landed in Italy. On October 5, 2003, The Messiah finally lost the CZW Title when he lost to owner John Zandig after a lengthy feud between the two.

As the year closed out and entered 2004, The Messiah found himself competed in several tag team matches with members of HI-V. On March 5, 2004, The Messiah & Adam Flash lost to the duo of Rockin' Rebel & Greg Matthews. However, the following night, The Messiah three-peated as CZW champion as he defeated John Zandig to regain the title in Philadelphia.

William Welch suffered many setbacks throughout his career outside of the ring. In 2003, Welch's mother passed away. Towards the end of 2003, his brother passed on, and in February of this year, his sister passed away.

Despite all the personal and professional setbacks, The Messiah perseveres through it all and is successful for it. He continues to dominate CZW's challengers. Whether it's hit men, opponents, or just bad luck, nothing is going to stop The Messiah.

For more information on CZW, check out http://www.czwwrestling.com/

John Gjoni
johnftw7533@aol.com

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