Wrestler of the (5/12) Week: LAX!
Our resident philosopher, Jay Shannon, celebrates the new TNA tag team champions. This changing group of latin superstars regained the tag team titles at Sunday’s Sacrifice Pay-Per-View. The team is this week’s Pro Wrestling Daily: Wrestler(s) of the Week.The Latino Nation reigned supreme in Sunday’s Sacrifice Pay-Per-View. LAX overcome the legendary Team 3D in the finals to take the win. LAX has been a team that has undergone multiple team members changes over the years. The central characters have always been Hernandez and Homicide. LAX is my choice for this week’s Pro Wrestling Daily’s: Wrestlers of the Week.
Looking for a new Kru
Konnan had been a part of a team known as 3LiveKru. When the man now known as Kip James came to TNA, BG James recruited him as a member of the group. The group became known as 4LiveKru. Konnan took exception to Kip’s inclusion in the group and began to pull away from BG, Kip and Ron Killings.
Konnan aligned himself with (Gran) Apollo and Homicide. The new group feuded with Kip and BG James, as well as BG’s father, “Bullet” Bob Armstrong. Ron Killings distanced himself from both factions and restarted his singles career.
Growing Pains
On February 12, 2006, Apollo called TNA management to report that his flight to Orlando was cancelled. The truth was that Apollo refused to come to Orlando, because he knew he was scheduled to lose against the James Gang. When TNA management learned of the lie, they released Apollo.
Konnan then searched for a replacement for Apollo. He was introduced to Ricky Vega, who had been trained by Johnny Rodz. Rodz suggested his sturdent and Konnan agreed. Vega adopted the identity of Machete. Machete’s initial stay would only last about a month. After losing to the James Gang, Homicide and Konnan turned on Machete and booted him from the group.
Konnan and Homicide joined forces with Texas native, “Hotstuff” Hernandez. Hernandez had spent some time as the Texas champion before returning to TNA. Hernandez had worked dark matches with TNA and the WWE, both as “Hotstuff Hernandez” and Shawn Hernandez (his given name). The trio of Hernandez, Homicide and Konnan were the most dominant of all the LAX groupings. They traded the TNA Tag Titles several times during the Summer/Fall of 2006.
LAX went through another dramatic change when Konnan left to undergo hip replacement surgery in Mexico. Doctors discovered that Konnan’s kidneys were severely damaged and initially refused to do the surgery. Konnan eventually convinced the doctors to do the hip replacement. The surgery was a complete success. After his surgery, Konnan returned, in a wheelchair, to aid his men in their battles against Team 3D.
Konnan left TNA, suddenly, to go back to Mexico and the AAA promotion. Konnan has since been extremely critical of US wrestling in the post-Benoit era. He has also filed racism and discrimination lawsuits against TNA and head writer, Vince Russo. Konnan had filed suit against Russo and WCW for similar reason during his time with that company.
The Leaderless LAX
After Konnan’s sudden departure, LAX continued to feud with various teams. The team seemed somewhat lost without a manager. LAX went back and forth between heels and faces during the next few months. They challenged Styles and Tomko for the tag titles, but came up short.
LAX also worked with numerous individuals and teams in larger matches. LAX also journeyed over to Jersey All-Pro to defeat Samoa Joe and Low-Ki (Senshi) to win that group’s tag team title.
Expanding LAX
LAX found themselves in a feud against the Rock and Rave Infection (Jimmy Rave, Lance Hoyt and Christy Hemme). A mysterious figure joined LAX to counter-act Christy. Hemme and her men began to complain to Jim Cornette about this Mystery Man attacking Christy. TNA had been promoting a no intergender attacks. The mystery latino turned out to be a latina. It was Shelley Martinez, who had recently left ECW (where she was the vampiric Ariel). After failing to become the new Elvira (Yes, seriously.), Shelley took a spot in TNA as Salinas. The name came from a town in Southern California. It was also somewhat of a combination of her first and last names.
During the same time, LAX began a love/hate relationship with Hector Guerrero. Guerrero took over at the announce desk when Konnan left the company. Guerrero and LAX crossed swords, several times. Homicide and Hernandez would eventually look to Guerrero to be an adviser. During a episode of Impact, Homicide called Guerrero to ring after LAX qualified for the Deuces Wild Tag Tournament. Homicide cut a heart-touching promo where the latinos should massive respect to the Guerrero family. Homicide asked Hector to assist them in their quest for the tag titles. Hector agreed and began to motivate the team.
Back to Glory
Hector brought his new charges to Sacrifice to fight for the tag titles. LAX dispatched Matt Morgan and Kip James in the opening round. LAX then surprised the crowd by taking out the team of Super Eric and A.J. Styles. The final match was between LAX and Team 3D. In one of the best tag matches in recent history, Hernandez and Homicide overcame the 20 time tag champions to become the new TNA World Tag Team Champions. This began the third reign for the Latino Nation.
In Conclusion:
LAX has had its problems over the years. The team lost their leader and floundered in the tag division. LAX has recently re-invented themselves with Salinas and Hector in their corner. LAX is now the top team in TNA. LAX may well be the top team in all of wrestling, right now. For gaining their third tag team title, as well as adding Hector to their group, LAX is this week’s Pro Wrestling Daily: Wrestlers of the Week.
–Jay Shannon
JayofPWD@SBCGlobal.net
(5/12/08)
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