The Archetypal Assassin
Darson Grays
Entrance Attire | In-Ring Attire | Backstage/Promo Attire
Ring Name: Darson Grays
Real Name: Kale Keuakepo
Nicknames: The Archetypal Asssassin, The Apostles' Assassin, "Generally Hostile", The Samoan Death Tank
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 290 lbs.
Age: 28
Hometown: American Samoa
Bio:
Dar was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 3rd, 1979. Dar was a happy child, always smiling, and participated in many sports during his childhood, mostly due to his size. Sports like football were his favorites. However, one day when Dar was about ten years old, while flipping through the channels at home, he came upon a broadcast of an old wrestling company by the name of Grand Tournament Wrestling. Dar was captivated by the wrestlers, amazed at their ability to slam each other into the ground, then get right back up and continue fighting. It soon became a staple of Dar's Wednesday nights, and Dar only missed two or three shows in the six years that he watched GTW. After a few years of this, Dar realized there were other wrestling companies, and began to watch other shows, soon becoming an overall wrestling enthusiast. When Dar graduated from highschool in 1996, he decided that he'd like to actively pursue wrestling, and become a wrestler himself.
Dar enrolled in a wrestling school on the nearby island of Maui, run by a local indy legend, "Island Thunder" James Vaan. Dar found being a wrestler was more difficult than he had expected, but he kept at it, and soon learned how to develop his strength into a wrestling style. Dar soon began to compete in the Indy leagues, but quickly found out that his strength was simply not enough to win matches. After taking a hiatus from wrestling and going to college for two years, getting his Bachelor's degree in Game Design, Dar then moved to California, and enrolled in another wrestling school there, one of the most popular in the country. There, Dar learned how to add technical skills to his wrestling, and soon began competing in the Indy leagues again. Dar found himself winning matches much more often this time, and even began to get a reputation for his mix of power moves and uncommon submissions. Eventually, Dar caught the eye of a BTWF talent scout, and was recruited into the federation in late April.
Dar made his presence known early by picking a fight with a then-current fan favorite of the BTWF, Shadow Starr. Their feud carried on for a few weeks, but soon fizzled out as Dar moved on to bigger things at the 2004 June Pay-Per-View, Tournament of Gods, where Dar beat Pohatu, Fox, and Jack Frost all in one night to earn a shot at the BTWF World Heavyweight Championship two weeks later on the first Madness: Night Of Champions. Though Dar lost, he didn't give up, and soon won a small tournament involving Omega, Twilight Tokyo Rose and Victor "The King" Bidwell to earn a shot for the BTWF Title once again at the 2004 July Pay-Per-View, fadetoblack. This time, Dar fought Big Daddy, then the champion, in a well-remembered 60-Minute Ironman match, which came down to the very last seconds. Though Dar lost again, he didn't give up. Two weeks later, he fought Bryan Kutterman in a qualifying match to determine the six competitors that would compete for the World Heavyweight Championship at the August 2004 Pay-Per-View, Ragnarok, in a brutal Garden of Evil match. Dar lost once again, and this time took a month off to train and get some things off his mind. One month later at MaXimum Carnage, BTWF's November Pay-Per-View, Darson Grays was severely injured in a No Disqualification match against The Demon. Dar took some more time off to recuperate.
Dar made a shocking return at Mutual Annihilation, BTWF's December Pay-Per-View, where he stopped an interference in the Gaia title match and helped fellow BTWF roster member Rocky win the championship, along with Seraph, Irvine Kanyon, and Ravena. From there, he went on to win a WarGames match at Absolute Zero, BTWF's January Pay-Per-View, with his team of Hell's Guardian, Maxwell Conners, Victor Bidwell and The Tiger to beat his rival Big Daddy, Raymond Kage, Shady, and the Twins of Death. One month later, Dar was entered into the Civil War match at the February Pay-Per-View of the same name. Dar won the match after coming in at the very beginning and going to the very end, eliminating Riona Langly to win. Dar was scheduled for a title shot against Omega at Legacy of Supremacy, BTWF's March Pay-Per-View and One Year Anniversary, but due to other circumstances, Steve Twist was also given the shot, thus making the match a Triple Threat. Dar won by pinning Omega after delivering the Ruination to the World Heavyweight Champ, and his dream was finally fulfilled after ten long months in the BTWF.
After Legacy of Supremacy, one of the most well-known faces in the BTWF, Maxwell Conners, suddenly took on a mean streak, discovering a sudden hate for the fans. This all started when he attacked his tag team partner and former friend, Stephen Ford, when Ford made a mistake that cost them the tag team titles. Meanwhile, Dar was set to face Omega for his rematch at the World Title at Payback, but it was revealed that Omega, after all the attacks delivered to his neck during the Triple Threat match at Legacy of Supremacy, had slipped a disc, and needed to take time off to get surgery and recover. Due to this, Brian Blade decided to make a match at Payback between Conners and Ford, the winner going on to face Dar later in the night for the World Heavyweight Championship. Conners won this match due to the usage of a steel chair, and went on to fight a hard battle against Dar, ending when Joe Schmoe was knocked out inadvertently, allowing Conners to grab the world title, going to hit Dar in the back of the head with it...
However, The Tiger came down to stop this, but this brought out Bryan Kutterman, an all out brawl ensuing as Stephen Ford also made his way down to the ring. This was all stopped by none other than Anthony Voorhees, however, who destroyed everyone in the ring, including Dar, before holding up the world title, showing his desire for the belt. Two weeks later, after continued tension between the six men, Dar finally announced that he would be defending his title against all five of them at BloodBath '05 in the BTWF's second ever Garden of Evil match...The week before, Dar was crucified by Anthony Voorhees, as were the other four men. This gave Dar a new motivation going into the Garden of Evil, and Dar ended up winning after one of the most brutal matches ever seen in the BTWF (and after getting his revenge on Voorhees by putting him through two flaming tables wrapped in barbed wire via a Factorplex off a ladder).
The next week on the renowned Steve Twist's Tale of the Tape, the "White Phoenix" had Bryan Kutterman, a competitor in the Garden of Evil as his guest. Bryan displayed his want for the title, and after an argument between Twist and Kutterman over the value of hardcore wrestling, Dar came down to stop the insults before a fight broke out. After speaking with Kutterman for a moment, Dar offered him a chance to get a title shot if he could last ten minutes with him in a match one week later. Bryan succeeded, and at the BTWF Tournament of Gods II, Dar managed to retain his title after one of the most hard-fought, brutal striking matches the BTWF had ever seen, putting Bryan away with an Emerald Fusion off the top turnbuckle. At the same Pay-Per-View, Killa K, a Coast-To-Coast Wrestling champion who made his way to the BTWF at BloodBath '05, beat The Demon, Jack Frost and Austin Azure all in one night to earn a shot at Dar's title. However, Kal was unsuccessful in his title shot, and Dar choked him out for a submission victory with a Cobra Clutch and Body Scissors combo.
However, after the match, Anthony Voorhees made a shocking return, decimating everyone in the ring and declaring his want for Dar's title. The next week, he and Killa K fought in a Number One Contender's match that ended with Kal getting distracted by Voorhees' manager, and Voorhees picking up the win with a Tombstone Piledriver. Thus, at fadetoblack, Dar went into his fifth title defense in his fourth month as champion, defending against Voorhees. The match went long and hard, both men pulling out high-impact moves in an attempt to put down the other, but after a series of interferences, Voorhees picked up the win with a stalled Tombstone Piledriver onto a barbed wire chair, ending Dar's reign as World Heavyweight Champion, the longest title reign in BTWF's short history.
After this, however, Dar had to take some time off to nurse the injury from that ending move. Many thought he had left the BTWF for good, but when the BTWF finished its reformation and put on its Re:Birth show, Dar was there, taking up the open challenge that Iron had put out to a huge reaction from the fans. Dar won the match with a Foldover Tigerbomb. Due to duties to some other areas, Dar wasn't available for most of the next month, but he was called in for the MaXimum Carnage Pay-Per-View by none other than Jack Frost, who was attempting to get revenge on Anthony Voorhees. Voorhees had recently burned Brian Blade's longtime girlfriend, Dana Davis, alive, and Frost was looking for help to go against Voorhees in a six-man tag. Dar accepted, as he certainly was no friend of Voorhees, not to mention his former rival, Shadow Starr, had recently joined up with the dark lord, and Dar was excited at the chance to test himself against Shadow once again. Along with Jack Frost and Riona Langly, Dar and his team managed to defeat the team of Anthony Voorhees, Shadow Starr and Hika Lai, Riona winning the match by making Hika tap out to the Painkiller. After the match, Brian Blade made a shocking, violent entrance, injuring Shadow in his attempts to get at Voorhees.
Despite Dar's victory, things would not stay happy.
The BTWF had been loosing talent and viewers over the past several months, and finally, the board of directors decided to close down the company. One last Pay-Per-View would be shown: The Final Chapter. On that final night of the BTWF, Dar was booked against Shadow Starr in a 2/3 Falls match. In what was possibly one of the most exhausting matches of his career, Dar managed to pull out the win with two straight pinfall attempts on Shadow following a Foldover Tigerbomb, and then the X-Driller. Afterwards, Shadow repented for his ways, and the two ended their careers in the BTWF as friends once again.
Of course, once word that the BTWF was going to be shut down had begun going around, many wrestling promoters began to make calls to the BTWF roster members. One of these promoters happened to be Brianna Rach of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance. Dar had been watching this federation ever since they had done the inter-fed show at Absolute Zero (though at that time they were known as GEWE), and had found himself interested with the new direction the fed had taken lately, going back to its indy roots. After a week or so of deliberation over the various offers that had been made to him by wrestling federations from Gaia and various other countries, Dar decided to stay in his local environment, and started off to a new career at GWA.
In his first show at the Gambino Wrestling Alliance, Brave New World, Dar was slated into a match against Rocker. The match went for a fairly long amount of time, with Rocker attempting to take Dar down via working his legs and neck to set him up for the Rocked Out, but Dar's repeated, brutal strikes and head-drops finally forced Rocker into a submission win with the Koji Clutch. At the end of the night, Dar came back out to give a short speech to the GWA fans in attendance, only to have the lights cut out on him as he began. When they came back on, a figure in a white trench coat attacked him from behind with a sledgehammer. When all was said and done, the assailant was revealed to be none other than Dante Cabrell, formerly known as Big Daddy, Dar's old rival having followed him to the GWA. After cutting a promo stating his intentions to take over the GWA, Dante left Dar in the ring to be taken out by officials.
The Samoan was not present at the next GWA show, GWA On Ice, where Dante had a victorious match with Darkfyre. However, Dar did make a surprise appearence after the end of the match to attack Dante, showing that he wanted revenge. On the next show, Beginning of the End, Dar was again not slated for any matches, while Dante had another singles match against Craig Morgan. Before this match even started, Dar was on his way out, and demanded that he face Dante in the ring tonight. Dante, trying to back out of the fight, insisted that Morgan should have his match, since he was booked for it. Accepting this, Dar decided on a tag match, and called out anyone from the locker room who wished to help him. His response came from Darkfyre, coming out to possibly avenge his loss last week to the Cocky Canadian. After some deliberation, Brianna Rach decided to authorize the match, which led to the first meeting in a ring together with these two men since Absolute Zero. The match ended with Dar taking Dante to the outside while Darkfyre managed to pin Morgan with his Flare Driver V2. After the match, Dar dropped a figurative bomb on Dante when he challenged him to a match at the next show for his BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship. Dante accepted.
And so it came to One Shot at Glory, where Dar and Dante met in the main event for their title match. This would be the first time the two were in a singles match against each other since all the way back at fadetoblack '04. The match heated up after the long feeling-out process, with many near falls, including a Haas of Pain from Dante that Dar barely managed to reach the ropes on, and a Save the Queen that was only met with knees. Finally, as Dar managed to hit the X-Driller II, time ran out, ending the match and allowing Dante to keep his title by default. It seemed as though Dar had lost his only chance to finally achieve the win he'd been fighting so long for, torn away from him by a time limit. But, while down, Dar was not out.
At the next show, Above All Expectations, Dar faced a young up-and-comer in the GWA, one Kale Amoh, a member of the Samurai Army along with the current Openweight Champion, Cody Bogard. The young upstart fought surprisingly well against the veteran Samoan, even getting some near falls with a Tombstone Piledriver and a surprise Backslide. However, despite the will shown by the young man, he could not stand up to a final onslaught from Dar, consisting of a Foldover Tigerbomb, Roaring Elbow and Dangerous Backdrop, all finished off by an elbow flurry ended with a Roaring Back Elbow. Dar showed his respect to Kale after the match, but then dropped a bomb on the GWA crowd by challenging Dante to one more match for the title, with no time limit, stating the fact that he had not actually been beat by Dante in the last match as an incentive. Dante accepted.
Moving on to the next show, Night of Conclusion, Dar was scheduled for a tag match along with Killa K against Dante as well as the GWA Grand Champion, Steve Twist, who had recently turned against the GWA crowd and started a feud with Kal. The match was a particularly intense one, with a lot of effort coming from both sides as they fought to defeat their respective rivals. Dante and Twist's less-than-savory tactics helped them along in the match, but some great moments were scattered throughout, including a memorable strike exchange between Twist and Dar. Finally, the end came after Dar knocked Dante to the outside with a Clothesline, allowing Kal to put Steve down with his devastating Khidori piledriver, while Dar prevented Dante from breaking the pin by catching him from behind with a Dangerous Backdrop. It seemed the stage was set for the one year anniversary show, with Dar and Kal victorious and looking to take their titles.
The One Year Anniversary show came. The main event began without much of a feeling-out process, the two men having known each other pretty well by now, and ready to end this competition once and for all. While Dar dominated the early portions of the match, Dante came back and went after Dar's knee, working it repeatedly and leaving it weak for the rest of the match. Each time it seemed one man was on the brink of victory, the other would fight back to gain an advantage in the match. It all seemed over when Dante took Dar down with three Jumping Knee Strikes, then hit the amazing Save the Queen. But somehow, Dar managed to get a shoulder up from the pin, and fought back, even throwing out a Twister, one of Steve Twist's signature moves, the one man who had been able to defeat Dante for his title in the BTWF. But it wasn't enough. Finally, though, as Dar hit Dante with a final Roaring Back Elbow, the end came as the Samoan lifted Dante up and drove his head down into the mat with an Inverted Cradle Northern Lights Bomb. The feud was finally over, as Dar won the match and the title.
The aftermath was almost as shocking as the victory, however, as Dar refused to take the BTWF Gaia title, saying that he had no part in the belt's legacy. Just afterwards, a mysterious figure came out of the crowd to steal the belt away. Before anyone could chase after him, Steve Twist, who had just managed to keep his title in the earlier ladder match, came out. At first talking like he was going to put Dar out of commission in order to keep his title safe, the Aphotic Rose instead shocked everyone by extending his hand to Dar in partnership. In response, the Samoan threw a Roaring Back Elbow...only to miss Steve completely, and then take his hand. In a complete shock to the crowd, Steve declared the two of them the Apostles of Amaranthine, and proclaimed that they were the "end of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance".
At the next show, Solumn Sorrow, Twist and Dar introduced the third member of the Apostles: Killa Kal, after dominating a few jobbers. They later interfered with a match containing Sparco and Hated, the Unholy Meatpuppet coming to their aid and leading to a six-man tag which the Apostles won, solidifying their presence. Upon the next show, Dar and Kal, coming to be known as the AoA Death Squad, took out Hated and Puppet in a tag match before coming out at the end of their partner Twist's title match against Sparco to join in a group beatdown. Well-known cruiserweight Revision made his debut at the same time, joining up with the Apostles and helping with the beat-down. Afterwards, Twist made the Apostles' vision known to the world: A wrestling paradise, where they would be in control and would promote their own form of competitive atmosphere.
This led to a No DQ match at the next show for Dar versus Hated, a destructive, bloody battle that finally ended with Hated getting the win after battering Dar into unconsciousness with a steel chair. Immediately afterwards, a huge brawl brook out with the Apostles and the GWA veterans, showing how heated the situation had become, but also demonstrating the GWA's willingness to band together. At High Times, Dar decimated rookie Steven Cain, breaking his neck on a steel chair. Dar was entered into the Soul Survivor cage match at the next show, a one-hour long event. The winner would become the #1 contender for the Grand championship, but Dar wasn't interested in that, instead focusing on softening up whoever was in the lead for Twist. Along with a mysterious run-in on the behalf of Dante Cabrell by Riona Langly, the match ended with a tie in points between Cabrell and Ice after Dar was Speared by the young wrestler.
At Five More Minutes, Dar and Revision teamed up to take on tag team champions The Rejects in a non-title match, taking a solid win over them with a Full Circle/Exploder '98 combo. This won them a tag title shot at Derailed, but their chance was broken by interference from the newly formed team of Dante Cabrell and Riona Langly, dubbed Chaos Affinity. Taking a neutral stance in the war between the GWA and the Apostles, only wanting to cause mayhem, they attacked Dar and Revision, allowing the Rejects to retain their titles. At one of the GWA's biggest shows that year, Ouroboros, the Death Squad of Kal and Dar teamed up once again to take on Hated and Ice, ending with a win by Dar over Hated in the final few minutes of the match after a long, epic battle.
At the next show, Dar went into a Four Corner Survival match with Hated, Riona Langly and Danny Daemon, representing all sides of the conflict. The match ended with Hated pinning Danny, taking a win for the GWA while the Apostles and Chaos Affinity were left in the dust. Finally, the war had to come to an end. At The Final Countdown, a six-man tag was assembled, with the GWA team of Cody Bogard, Sparco and Hated facing off against Dar, Killa Kal and Revision, with the stipulation that the losing faction would split-up for good. After a long, destructive battle, Bogard pulled out the win for his team by taking Kal down with the Galaxian Explosion. It seemed that the Apostles were done for...Until the end of the following match, where Twist retained his title against Ice, then proceeded to bring out Brianna Rach, owner of the GWA.
It seemed that the GWA had been under financial stress for some time, and Twist had offered to buy the company from her. Rach, having no choice, accepted. This left Steve Twist in control of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance, and his first act was to re-form the Apostles. Now the faction had full control, but chose not to simply fire their rivals, instead simply taking over the booking. However, things were not all perfect for the Apostles. Twist's egotistical comments seemed to grate at Dar, who took the microphone from his leader to say something...Only to be interrupted by a full-scale riot from the fans in attendance. Many a fan's s**t was ruined, but the Apostles came out alive, and in full control of the company they had been attempting to change for the past several months.
At the next show, Dar came out after a victory by Steve Twist and Killa Kal over Sparco and Ice. A tense moment followed, with Twist asking Dar what he wanted, growing angrier at the Samoan's silence, but he was finally answered by a SPEAR! Dar announced that he was tired of Twist's ego and tyranny, and would be breaking off from the Apostles. Along with it, he told Steve that he was gunning for his title, already booked in a No. 1 contender's match against Riona Langly that night. The Samoan punctuated his message by throwing Twist down through a table. Dar proceeded to win his match that night, defeating Riona Langly in a hard-fought match, and earning his right to a title shot at the next show, the first of 2007, M J O L N I R.
The next night, Dar came out after Ice's triple threat match against Sparco and Hated, and announced that he would give his first title shot to the Silver Flame, the announcement met with a great reaction from the crowd. A dream match followed, full of epic moments worthy of the hype behind Twist vs Dar. Finally, it seemed Dar had everything wrapped up, destroying Twist's neck with his ultimate move and with a full fifteen seconds left on the clock. However, Dar merely sat there, allowing it to run down, a grin on his face the whole time. Afterwards, he helped Twist up to a shocked crowd, and the two men revealed that the whole thing had been a farce, and Dar had never left the Apostles. It was just a tactic to ruin the morale of the GWA, and to increase ticket sales. The Apostles were still together, and just as evil.
Ice, bitter and angry about the lie Dar had told him at the last show, challenged him to a match, and the two met for the first time at Empty Pride. Ice put up a valiant fight, coming much closer to victory than anyone expected, but Dar was able to put him away in the end. Still, the Samoan was obviously shaken. At the next show, a tag match was booked with the Death Squad facing off against Ice and Hated in a rematch from Ouroboros. The Apostles came out on top once again, but Ice came even closer to a victory over Dar this time, with the Samoan having to pull out a surprise pin to beat the younger and smaller wrestler. Though the victory went to the Death Squad, Dar seemed to know that Ice was getting closer and closer to victory with each match they had.
Finally, Dar faced off against Ice a second time at Man Up, C'mon, and against all odds, Ice was able to finally get his victory, even breaking Dar's nose in the process. This shot him right up to the top of the ranks, earning a fourth title shot against Twist. The Dragonslayer lived up to his namesake, ending Twist's reign of terror and becoming the second GWA Grand Champion. At the same show, Dar met up with Hated in a singles match for the second time in their career. While this one was a normal singles match, it was nearly as brutal as their No DQ meeting, and ended in a Double Knock Out after a headbutt flurry from Hated. It seemed that the Apostles' power was quickly slipping, despite having control of the GWA.
Two shows later, the Apostles demonstrated their power once again, making a main event out of Dar's second destruction of Steven Cain, leaving him broken a second time and sending him out of the GWA for good. At the show introducing GWA's Inaugural Guardian of the Threshold trophy, the Death Squad went up against Cody Bogard and Hated. Cody and Dar in particular seemed to go hard against one another, though the match ended in an Apostles win. At The Crimson Icon, Cody and Dar were booked in a match against one another, and the King of Hearts put up a surprisingly difficult fight against the huge Samoan, despite their size difference. In the end, though, Dar came out on top, putting Cody away with a Todoroke Tenken.
This led to another tag match, this time with the Death Squad against Cody and Ice. Again, Cody and Ice went up against one another hard, taking themselves out towards the end with an Exploder Suplex off the top to the outside. Meanwhile, Ice resisted the efforts of being pinned by Kal, even keeping himself from tapping out to the Gambino Royale as the final seconds ticked away in the time limit, leading to a time limit draw. Things obviously weren't done between Dar and Cody's growing rivalry. At the next show, Dar was booked in a match with Kid Chaos, but neither man showed. Later, however, they both appeared - to interfere with the Openweight championship match, where Danny Daemon was defending his title against Cody Bogard. Dar beat down Cody while KC took out Danny, the GWA veterans not being able to fight back due to the toll the match had already taken on them. It seems that this rivalry has become serious now, and who knows whether Dar or Cody will come out on top...?
Entrance Theme: "Slayer of Light (Hatred Intro Mix)" by Ensiferum and DJ Ark Type - Listen.
Entrance Description:
A bright light flashes over the arena three times along with the beat of the drums as a verse from "Hatred" kicks in, the lighting slowly fading afterwards to an ice blue glow around the ring and the entrance aisle. Some crowd members begin to boo, others cheering instead and pounding the barrier or clapping slowly along with the beat.
I crush your bones
I kill your face
I rip your flesh
I AM THE CHASE!
You meet with terror
You draw the ace
I rule the world
The rats that race
Muahahaha...
As Eric Adams' sinister laugh fades into the background, the crowd is met with silence for a few short moments. The silence is then shattered by a thrash riff, strobe lights rapidly flashing over the entrance aisle as it continues. Fans generally meet this opening with boos, but some loyal fans to the Samoan begin to rapidly pound the barriers as they try to keep tempo with the riff, a few banging their heads as the song calms down for one brief second...
Only to explode again with fury and the first verse as Dar throws open the curtains, walking out into the aisle as the crowd's reactions intensify once again, showing their admiration or disrespect towards the Samoan. Dar doesn't seem to care much either way, slowly flexing his fingers into fists and back out again as he observes the arena, then calmly starts to make his way down to the ring, signature white trenchcoat flicking around his legs.
I have come to unfold your mind
In my veins runs the poison wild
In the streams of mountains, I flow
The Samoan knocks away the hands of those who try to lean over the rail to pat him on the back, but doesn't seem too bothered by it, as if he doesn't even care what these peons do. Standing at the end of the aisle, he looks up into the ring for a few moments, then walks around towards the other side of the ring, climbing up the steel steps there and walking across the apron to glance out over the crowd for a moment or two.
I have opened the doors for unleashed and endless hate
It will burn like the raging green flames
Inside a man dwells secrets so cold
At the beginning of the chorus, Dar turns and steps through the middle and top rope, walking into the middle of the ring and standing there for a few moments before reaching down to pull the metal clasp apart at his waist, shrugging his shoulders back to let the trenchcoat fall off his arms before he grabs it and tosses it out of the ring to an official.
Through the dreadful storms, across the frozen oceans
I have come from the dark lands with sorrow in my hands
The firewind rages in the sky...
And my luminous sword hungers for more
I will leave no one alive!
FOR I AM THE SLAYER OF LIGHT!
Walking over to his corner from there, Dar climbs up onto the middle turnbuckle, looking over the crowd again for a few moments before reaching down to grab the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head and throwing it over at another official before pointing out towards the entrance curtain or his opponent (without turning toward them) before bringing his hand back and drawing his thumb across his throat, flexing menacingly afterwards.
I...I will break your will
I...I will crush your fate
I...I will slay your dreams
I will reclaim the stars...
AND I WILL TEAR YOUR PRECIOUS WORLD APART!!!
Dar then hops down from the turnbuckle, turning around to face the ring and leaning back against the corner as the lights come back and the last furious scream fades out.
Movelist
General Moves (Grapples): German Suplex, STO Backbreaker, Gutbuster, Brainbuster, Northern Lights Suplex, Samoan Drop, Released Uranage, Powerbomb, Exploder Suplex, Half Nelson Suplex, DDT variations, Sharp Piledriver, Spinebuster, Senton, Saito Suplex, Snap Powerslam
Submission Moves: Jujigatame Armbar, Half Crab (with SAMOAN CRANK), Stretch Muffler, Cross-Knee Backbreaker Hold, Cobra Clutch w/ Body Scissors, Dragon Sleeper, SIDE HEADLOCK OF DEATH
Aerial Moves: Flying Leg Drop, Tope Suicida, Elbow Suicida
Signature Strikes (used fairly often in matches, listed in weakest to strongest)
1. Elbow Strike: A simple elbow strike, usually performed to the side of the head of the person Dar is facing, typically hitting most of the impact on their jaw. Dar's matches are filled with these, as they're his transition strikes, helping soften up the head of the person he's facing for one of Dar's many head-drops. [1/10]
2. Burning Elbow Smash: An elbow strike with a wind-up beforehand. While this move isn't all that much more powerful than a typical elbow strike, the force behind it is usually enough to knock someone down, or at least send them stumbling back. Not to mention that this move usually connects to the face, rather than the side of the head. [2/10]
3. Roaring Elbow: A spinning elbow strike. This is where things start to get heavy. When Dar wants to do some serious damage to his opponent through strikes, this is usually the first one he'll go for. The spinning motion beforehand builds up the momentum of this move, and Dar's opponent has to be particularly hardy not to go down to one of these. Again, it connects to the face. [4/10]
4. Charging Elbow: A running elbow strike. Rather than the traditional Lariat, this is usually Dar's preferred running move. With his arm cocked in to perform an elbow strike, Dar will dash forward and nail his opponent right in the face with it. Almost no one can stay up after getting hit with one of these. The run beforehand puts even more momentum behind it than the spin for the Roaring Elbow. [5/10]
5. FIERCE KNEES: Dar's only signature strike that doesn't involve an elbow, these are a flurry of knee strikes thrown to the face and head of a grounded opponent. Dar usually doesn't use these unless he's tired, and both he and his opponent are down on the mat, for whatever reason. Typically, four is enough, but Dar has been known to throw more out. Each of these knees has the strength of about a roaring elbow, but because Dar tends to hit a few of them in a row, they are placed here. [7/10]
6. Roaring Back Elbow: Dar's ultimate strike, a spinning back elbow. The main reason why this move is so powerful is that, because of the fact that all of Dar's other elbow strikes impact with most of the forearm, spreading the impact out. With a Back Elbow, all the force is concentrated directly on the tip of the elbow itself, and with the spin beforehand, Dar has effectively concentrated all the force of the spin into that one point on his elbow. Not to mention that Dar usually hits this move to the face or even the throat. [9/10]
Trademark Moves (often-used moves that aren't as powerful as finishers)
Foldover Tigerbomb: It's...um...a Foldover Tigerbomb. Your basic Double Underhook Powerbomb with Dar leaning over his opponent in a Prawn Hold for a pin afterwards. If the opponent has the audacity to kick out from this, Dar will usually grab their leg and roll them into a Half Crab. And then see if he can touch their heel to the back of their head.
Nodowa Otoshi: A slightly-modified Chokeslam. This move is a lot quicker than most Chokeslams, and rather than getting its power from the height Dar lifts his opponent up to, it comes from momentum. The Samoan grabs the opponent by the throat, then lifts them up only enough to get their feet off the mat before pulling backwards and stepping back at the same time, then brings the opponent down right on the back of their head and neck with the slam.
Hostileplex: A Cross-Arm Choke Suplex. Dar grabs each of his opponent's arms from behind and crosses them around their neck in a choke, then flexes back to drop his opponent on their head. This move is particularly jarring due to the fact that the opponent's own arms keep their neck from bending with the impact.
Senton Bomb: Your typical Flip Senton off the top rope. There is nothing "swanton" about this move; besides not delaying the flip at all, Dar also usually manages to land the move fairly well, with his back on the opponent's midsection. Not with the back of his head hitting the edge of the opponent's thigh.
Dai Bosou: A Rolling Senton Corner Splash. Dar gets his opponent in the corner, then knocks them down with strikes to a seated position. Running back out towards the opposite side of the ring, he then charges forward at full speed to roll forward into a somersault, slamming his back and hip directly into the opponent's torso and face.
Signature Moves (doubly as powerful as trademark moves, these could end a match)
DANGEROUS BACKDROPPAH: A spiked Back Suplex. Dar gets behind an opponent and tucks his head under their arm before hooking their leg and wrapping his other arm around their waist, flexing backwards to drop the opponent directly down on their head. Dar either then bridges or lets the opponent roll through. This has been a staple in Dar's moveset since he joined the GWA, and is feared by all.
Koji Clutch: Dar's trademark submission maneuver. Usually, Dar uses an Implant DDT as a set-up. Dar lays on his back next to a face-down opponent, then swings his far leg up to hook the back of his knee across the near side of their head. Dar then hooks one arm around their throat and one aross the back of their neck, clutching his wrist and then pulling their head up against his leg, compressing their neck between his leg and forearm, cutting off the blood flow to their brain in a sleeper type maneuver. Dar tends to use this move when a match has gone on for a long time and an opponent just doesn't seem to be staying down from impact moves. Dar tries harder to go for it if the opponent is busted open as well.
Wake Up Screaming: A Falcon Arrow Driver. Dar sets his opponent up for a suplex, but grabs their far leg, lifting them up and turning them around to face him in mid-air. The Samoan then drops to a seated position, bringing the opponent down on the back of their neck with a Falcon Arrow. Top-rope variations can also take place.
Acheron Bomb: A Straightjacket Awesome Bomb. Dar sets his opponent up in a Standing Head Scissors, then pulls their arms across their body in the straightjacket position before rolling them up onto one shoulder. From there, Dar usually runs forward to gain some power with the move before falling to his knees and bringing the opponent down hard with the Powerbomb. The opponent can be thrown into many different things besides the canvas with this move - the turnbuckles, a table, ladder, pretty much anything Dar wants.
EXPLODERDEATH: The umbrella term for any Exploder Suplex Dar does off an elevated surface. Top-rope, the apron, a ladder, whatever. This goes for Wrist-Clutch variations off of elevated surfaces, too. Since Dar is going to land you on your head no matter where he's doing the move from, it's always going to end in lots of pain.
Finishers (they finish matches...9 times out of 10)
Primary Finisher - X-Driller: A Thunder Fire Driver. Dar puts his opponent in a Standing Head Scissors, then flips them up like he was going for a Powerbomb, but sets them on one shoulder. He then lets their body hang down across his body diagonally before wrapping an arm around their neck and dropping to a seated position, smashing their head and neck directly down into the mat. This is all performed in one quick, fluid motion.
Rare Finisher 1 - Todoroke Tenken: A Pumphandle Piledriver, or Psycho Driver II/Super Natural Driver. Dar stands slightly behind and to the side of his opponent, then pulls one of their arms down through their legs in the pumphandle position. From there, Dar bends them over sideways a bit, enough to sling their other arm back behind his head, then lifts them up to land the Piledriver with no protection to their head, just like Super Dragon would want. This could also be performed off the top, in which case it is referred to the Avichi Tengen Myo'o.
Rare Finisher 2 - Love Lies Bleeding: Your typical Kudo Driver/Vertebreaker. Nothing fancy about this one. Dar sets it up the usual way, with a back-to-back underhook before turning around to tuck the opponent's legs under his shoulders to lift them up in the Reverse Gory Special. From there, he simply drops to a seated position to drop them on their head. This move can be done in a quick, fluid motion, or stalled once they're in the Reverse Gory Special to show off. Either way, it's doubtful the opponent will kick out from this move.
DANGEROOOOOOUUUUUUUSSSSSSS Finisher - In the Arms of the Death God: A Lightning Spiral. Dar sets his opponent up in a Fireman's Carry position, usually with his body bent forward a ways. Twisting his body to one side to gain momentum, Dar then flings himself over the opposite way to land on his back, landing the opponent in a Burning Hammer-type move. There's a huge amount of velocity behind this move, making it particularly DANGEROOOUUUUSSSS.
Gimmick: Dar's still the big Samoan guy who's really really strong. His wrestling style is still focused around vicious strikes and head-drops. He's just more intimidating and less friendly now.
Face/Heel: Heel
Titles Held: BTWF World Heavyweight Championship (137 days, longest BTWF title reign in history for the first reign), BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship, GWA Openweight Championship
Title History:
arrow BTWF World Heavyweight Championship
vs Omega and Steve Twist
At: BTWF Legacy of Supremacy
Finished With: Ruination on Omega (won title)
vs Maxwell Conners
At: BTWF Payback '05
Finished With: No contest due to repeated interference
vs Maxwell Conners, Stephen Ford, Bryan Kutterman, The Tiger and Anthony Voorhees (Garden of Evil II)
At: BTWF BloodBath '05
Finished With: Removed belt from suspended holder above ladder.
vs Bryan Kutterman
At: BTWF Tournament of Gods II
Finished With: Avalanche Emerald Fusion
vs Killa K
At: BTWF Madness: Night of Champions IV
Finished With: Cobra Clutch w/ Body Scissors
vs Anthony Voorhees
At: BTWF fadetoblack '05
Finished With: Dead of Night Tombstone Piledriver onto barbed wire chair (lost title)
arrow BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship
vs Dante Cabrell
At: GWA One Year Anniversary Show
Finished With: MDK Driver (won title)
arrow GWA Openweight Championship
vs Kid Chaos
At: GWA Seaking Splendor: Road to El Durado II
Finished With: Love Lies Bleeding (won title)
Alliances: The Apostles of Amaranthine (Steve Twist, Killa Kal, Revision)
Debut: BTWF Madness April 27th, 2004 against Royce G.
Wrestling Style: Traditional Japanese strong-style. Dar mixes wrestling with MMA stylings, vicious strikes and submission holds working their way into his arsenal along with all the head-dropping he does. Not to mention he's strong as an ox.
Favorite Weapon: Tables
Notable BTWF Matches (listed chronologically)
1. Tournament of Gods I (winner) [Tournament of Gods]
2. vs Big Daddy (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Night of Champions I]
3. vs Big Daddy (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, Ironman) [fadetoblack '04]
4. Garden of Evil I (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Ragnarok]
5. WARGAMES~! [BTWF/GEWE/EGW Absolute Zero]
6. Civil War (winner) [Civil War]
7. vs Steve Twist vs Omega (c) (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, won title) [Legacy of Supremacy]
8. Garden of Evil II [BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [BloodBath '05]
9. vs Bryan Kutterman (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Tournament of Gods II]
10. vs Killa Kal (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Night of Champions IV]
11. vs Anthony Voorhees (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, lost title) [fadetoblack '05)
12. vs Shadow Starr (2/3 falls, final BTWF match) [The Final Chapter]
Notable GWA Matches (listed chronologically)
1. vs Rick "Rocker" Shaddock (debut match) [Brave New World]
2. vs Dante Cabrell (BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship) [One Shot at Glory]
3. vs Dante Cabrell (BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship, won title) [1 Year Anniversary]
4. vs Hated (No DQ) [Taking a Stand]
5. Soul Survivor [Soul Survivor]
6. vs Steve Twist (GWA Grand Championship) [M J O L N I R]
7-9. vs Ice series [Empty Pride, A Memorable Return Revisited, Man Up, C'Mon]
10. vs Hated [2nd Year Anniversary]
Previous Alliances: w/ Rocky, The Heat, Ravena, Seraph and Irvine Kanyon as the Archetypes of eXcellence
Known Allies: Steve Twist, Killa Kal, Revision
Previous Enemies: Shadow Starr, The Demon, Anthony Voorhees, Maxwell Conners, Bryan Kutterman, Dante Cabrell
Current Enemies: Hated, Ice, Cody Bogard, Sparco, Danny Demonstar (The GWA)
Previous Entrance Themes
1. "Live for the Moment" by Monster Magnet (April '04 - September '04)
2. "Remember" by Disturbed (October '04 to December '04)
3. "Revolution Man" by The Union Underground (January '05 - March '05)
4. "Cochise" by Audioslave (April '05 - June '05)
5. "Another Body Murdered" by Faith No More and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (July '05 - August '05)
6. "10,000 Fists" by Disturbed (September '05 - November '05)
7. "Blessed Are You" by Iced Earth (BTWF Final Chapter)
8. "Guerilla Radio (ABM Intro Mix)" by Rage Against the Machine and DJ Ark-Type (January '06 - April '06)
9. "Bullet Train (Hatred Intro Mix)" by Judas Priest and DJ Ark Type (June '06 - January '07)
10. "Noble Savage" by Virgin Steele (GWA M J O L N I R)
Awards
-Winner - Best All-Time BTWF Face
-Winner - Best All-Time BTWF Gimmick Match: Garden of Evil II
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Feud: Big Daddy vs Darson Grays (3rd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Wrestler (2nd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Faction: Archetypes of eXcellence (2nd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Madness: Night of Champions Match: Darson Grays vs Killa K (3rd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Normal Rules Match: Darson Grays vs Big Daddy Ironman (3rd place), Darson Grays vs Steve Twist vs Omega; Darson Grays vs Bryan Kutterman (tied for 4th place)
-It should be noted that, while an open vote category, Darson Grays did win the award for Best All-Time BTWF Catchphrase with "And that's crystal...CRYSTAL clear."
Darson Grays
Entrance Attire | In-Ring Attire | Backstage/Promo Attire
Ring Name: Darson Grays
Real Name: Kale Keuakepo
Nicknames: The Archetypal Asssassin, The Apostles' Assassin, "Generally Hostile", The Samoan Death Tank
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 290 lbs.
Age: 28
Hometown: American Samoa
Bio:
Dar was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 3rd, 1979. Dar was a happy child, always smiling, and participated in many sports during his childhood, mostly due to his size. Sports like football were his favorites. However, one day when Dar was about ten years old, while flipping through the channels at home, he came upon a broadcast of an old wrestling company by the name of Grand Tournament Wrestling. Dar was captivated by the wrestlers, amazed at their ability to slam each other into the ground, then get right back up and continue fighting. It soon became a staple of Dar's Wednesday nights, and Dar only missed two or three shows in the six years that he watched GTW. After a few years of this, Dar realized there were other wrestling companies, and began to watch other shows, soon becoming an overall wrestling enthusiast. When Dar graduated from highschool in 1996, he decided that he'd like to actively pursue wrestling, and become a wrestler himself.
Dar enrolled in a wrestling school on the nearby island of Maui, run by a local indy legend, "Island Thunder" James Vaan. Dar found being a wrestler was more difficult than he had expected, but he kept at it, and soon learned how to develop his strength into a wrestling style. Dar soon began to compete in the Indy leagues, but quickly found out that his strength was simply not enough to win matches. After taking a hiatus from wrestling and going to college for two years, getting his Bachelor's degree in Game Design, Dar then moved to California, and enrolled in another wrestling school there, one of the most popular in the country. There, Dar learned how to add technical skills to his wrestling, and soon began competing in the Indy leagues again. Dar found himself winning matches much more often this time, and even began to get a reputation for his mix of power moves and uncommon submissions. Eventually, Dar caught the eye of a BTWF talent scout, and was recruited into the federation in late April.
Dar made his presence known early by picking a fight with a then-current fan favorite of the BTWF, Shadow Starr. Their feud carried on for a few weeks, but soon fizzled out as Dar moved on to bigger things at the 2004 June Pay-Per-View, Tournament of Gods, where Dar beat Pohatu, Fox, and Jack Frost all in one night to earn a shot at the BTWF World Heavyweight Championship two weeks later on the first Madness: Night Of Champions. Though Dar lost, he didn't give up, and soon won a small tournament involving Omega, Twilight Tokyo Rose and Victor "The King" Bidwell to earn a shot for the BTWF Title once again at the 2004 July Pay-Per-View, fadetoblack. This time, Dar fought Big Daddy, then the champion, in a well-remembered 60-Minute Ironman match, which came down to the very last seconds. Though Dar lost again, he didn't give up. Two weeks later, he fought Bryan Kutterman in a qualifying match to determine the six competitors that would compete for the World Heavyweight Championship at the August 2004 Pay-Per-View, Ragnarok, in a brutal Garden of Evil match. Dar lost once again, and this time took a month off to train and get some things off his mind. One month later at MaXimum Carnage, BTWF's November Pay-Per-View, Darson Grays was severely injured in a No Disqualification match against The Demon. Dar took some more time off to recuperate.
Dar made a shocking return at Mutual Annihilation, BTWF's December Pay-Per-View, where he stopped an interference in the Gaia title match and helped fellow BTWF roster member Rocky win the championship, along with Seraph, Irvine Kanyon, and Ravena. From there, he went on to win a WarGames match at Absolute Zero, BTWF's January Pay-Per-View, with his team of Hell's Guardian, Maxwell Conners, Victor Bidwell and The Tiger to beat his rival Big Daddy, Raymond Kage, Shady, and the Twins of Death. One month later, Dar was entered into the Civil War match at the February Pay-Per-View of the same name. Dar won the match after coming in at the very beginning and going to the very end, eliminating Riona Langly to win. Dar was scheduled for a title shot against Omega at Legacy of Supremacy, BTWF's March Pay-Per-View and One Year Anniversary, but due to other circumstances, Steve Twist was also given the shot, thus making the match a Triple Threat. Dar won by pinning Omega after delivering the Ruination to the World Heavyweight Champ, and his dream was finally fulfilled after ten long months in the BTWF.
After Legacy of Supremacy, one of the most well-known faces in the BTWF, Maxwell Conners, suddenly took on a mean streak, discovering a sudden hate for the fans. This all started when he attacked his tag team partner and former friend, Stephen Ford, when Ford made a mistake that cost them the tag team titles. Meanwhile, Dar was set to face Omega for his rematch at the World Title at Payback, but it was revealed that Omega, after all the attacks delivered to his neck during the Triple Threat match at Legacy of Supremacy, had slipped a disc, and needed to take time off to get surgery and recover. Due to this, Brian Blade decided to make a match at Payback between Conners and Ford, the winner going on to face Dar later in the night for the World Heavyweight Championship. Conners won this match due to the usage of a steel chair, and went on to fight a hard battle against Dar, ending when Joe Schmoe was knocked out inadvertently, allowing Conners to grab the world title, going to hit Dar in the back of the head with it...
However, The Tiger came down to stop this, but this brought out Bryan Kutterman, an all out brawl ensuing as Stephen Ford also made his way down to the ring. This was all stopped by none other than Anthony Voorhees, however, who destroyed everyone in the ring, including Dar, before holding up the world title, showing his desire for the belt. Two weeks later, after continued tension between the six men, Dar finally announced that he would be defending his title against all five of them at BloodBath '05 in the BTWF's second ever Garden of Evil match...The week before, Dar was crucified by Anthony Voorhees, as were the other four men. This gave Dar a new motivation going into the Garden of Evil, and Dar ended up winning after one of the most brutal matches ever seen in the BTWF (and after getting his revenge on Voorhees by putting him through two flaming tables wrapped in barbed wire via a Factorplex off a ladder).
The next week on the renowned Steve Twist's Tale of the Tape, the "White Phoenix" had Bryan Kutterman, a competitor in the Garden of Evil as his guest. Bryan displayed his want for the title, and after an argument between Twist and Kutterman over the value of hardcore wrestling, Dar came down to stop the insults before a fight broke out. After speaking with Kutterman for a moment, Dar offered him a chance to get a title shot if he could last ten minutes with him in a match one week later. Bryan succeeded, and at the BTWF Tournament of Gods II, Dar managed to retain his title after one of the most hard-fought, brutal striking matches the BTWF had ever seen, putting Bryan away with an Emerald Fusion off the top turnbuckle. At the same Pay-Per-View, Killa K, a Coast-To-Coast Wrestling champion who made his way to the BTWF at BloodBath '05, beat The Demon, Jack Frost and Austin Azure all in one night to earn a shot at Dar's title. However, Kal was unsuccessful in his title shot, and Dar choked him out for a submission victory with a Cobra Clutch and Body Scissors combo.
However, after the match, Anthony Voorhees made a shocking return, decimating everyone in the ring and declaring his want for Dar's title. The next week, he and Killa K fought in a Number One Contender's match that ended with Kal getting distracted by Voorhees' manager, and Voorhees picking up the win with a Tombstone Piledriver. Thus, at fadetoblack, Dar went into his fifth title defense in his fourth month as champion, defending against Voorhees. The match went long and hard, both men pulling out high-impact moves in an attempt to put down the other, but after a series of interferences, Voorhees picked up the win with a stalled Tombstone Piledriver onto a barbed wire chair, ending Dar's reign as World Heavyweight Champion, the longest title reign in BTWF's short history.
After this, however, Dar had to take some time off to nurse the injury from that ending move. Many thought he had left the BTWF for good, but when the BTWF finished its reformation and put on its Re:Birth show, Dar was there, taking up the open challenge that Iron had put out to a huge reaction from the fans. Dar won the match with a Foldover Tigerbomb. Due to duties to some other areas, Dar wasn't available for most of the next month, but he was called in for the MaXimum Carnage Pay-Per-View by none other than Jack Frost, who was attempting to get revenge on Anthony Voorhees. Voorhees had recently burned Brian Blade's longtime girlfriend, Dana Davis, alive, and Frost was looking for help to go against Voorhees in a six-man tag. Dar accepted, as he certainly was no friend of Voorhees, not to mention his former rival, Shadow Starr, had recently joined up with the dark lord, and Dar was excited at the chance to test himself against Shadow once again. Along with Jack Frost and Riona Langly, Dar and his team managed to defeat the team of Anthony Voorhees, Shadow Starr and Hika Lai, Riona winning the match by making Hika tap out to the Painkiller. After the match, Brian Blade made a shocking, violent entrance, injuring Shadow in his attempts to get at Voorhees.
Despite Dar's victory, things would not stay happy.
The BTWF had been loosing talent and viewers over the past several months, and finally, the board of directors decided to close down the company. One last Pay-Per-View would be shown: The Final Chapter. On that final night of the BTWF, Dar was booked against Shadow Starr in a 2/3 Falls match. In what was possibly one of the most exhausting matches of his career, Dar managed to pull out the win with two straight pinfall attempts on Shadow following a Foldover Tigerbomb, and then the X-Driller. Afterwards, Shadow repented for his ways, and the two ended their careers in the BTWF as friends once again.
Of course, once word that the BTWF was going to be shut down had begun going around, many wrestling promoters began to make calls to the BTWF roster members. One of these promoters happened to be Brianna Rach of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance. Dar had been watching this federation ever since they had done the inter-fed show at Absolute Zero (though at that time they were known as GEWE), and had found himself interested with the new direction the fed had taken lately, going back to its indy roots. After a week or so of deliberation over the various offers that had been made to him by wrestling federations from Gaia and various other countries, Dar decided to stay in his local environment, and started off to a new career at GWA.
In his first show at the Gambino Wrestling Alliance, Brave New World, Dar was slated into a match against Rocker. The match went for a fairly long amount of time, with Rocker attempting to take Dar down via working his legs and neck to set him up for the Rocked Out, but Dar's repeated, brutal strikes and head-drops finally forced Rocker into a submission win with the Koji Clutch. At the end of the night, Dar came back out to give a short speech to the GWA fans in attendance, only to have the lights cut out on him as he began. When they came back on, a figure in a white trench coat attacked him from behind with a sledgehammer. When all was said and done, the assailant was revealed to be none other than Dante Cabrell, formerly known as Big Daddy, Dar's old rival having followed him to the GWA. After cutting a promo stating his intentions to take over the GWA, Dante left Dar in the ring to be taken out by officials.
The Samoan was not present at the next GWA show, GWA On Ice, where Dante had a victorious match with Darkfyre. However, Dar did make a surprise appearence after the end of the match to attack Dante, showing that he wanted revenge. On the next show, Beginning of the End, Dar was again not slated for any matches, while Dante had another singles match against Craig Morgan. Before this match even started, Dar was on his way out, and demanded that he face Dante in the ring tonight. Dante, trying to back out of the fight, insisted that Morgan should have his match, since he was booked for it. Accepting this, Dar decided on a tag match, and called out anyone from the locker room who wished to help him. His response came from Darkfyre, coming out to possibly avenge his loss last week to the Cocky Canadian. After some deliberation, Brianna Rach decided to authorize the match, which led to the first meeting in a ring together with these two men since Absolute Zero. The match ended with Dar taking Dante to the outside while Darkfyre managed to pin Morgan with his Flare Driver V2. After the match, Dar dropped a figurative bomb on Dante when he challenged him to a match at the next show for his BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship. Dante accepted.
And so it came to One Shot at Glory, where Dar and Dante met in the main event for their title match. This would be the first time the two were in a singles match against each other since all the way back at fadetoblack '04. The match heated up after the long feeling-out process, with many near falls, including a Haas of Pain from Dante that Dar barely managed to reach the ropes on, and a Save the Queen that was only met with knees. Finally, as Dar managed to hit the X-Driller II, time ran out, ending the match and allowing Dante to keep his title by default. It seemed as though Dar had lost his only chance to finally achieve the win he'd been fighting so long for, torn away from him by a time limit. But, while down, Dar was not out.
At the next show, Above All Expectations, Dar faced a young up-and-comer in the GWA, one Kale Amoh, a member of the Samurai Army along with the current Openweight Champion, Cody Bogard. The young upstart fought surprisingly well against the veteran Samoan, even getting some near falls with a Tombstone Piledriver and a surprise Backslide. However, despite the will shown by the young man, he could not stand up to a final onslaught from Dar, consisting of a Foldover Tigerbomb, Roaring Elbow and Dangerous Backdrop, all finished off by an elbow flurry ended with a Roaring Back Elbow. Dar showed his respect to Kale after the match, but then dropped a bomb on the GWA crowd by challenging Dante to one more match for the title, with no time limit, stating the fact that he had not actually been beat by Dante in the last match as an incentive. Dante accepted.
Moving on to the next show, Night of Conclusion, Dar was scheduled for a tag match along with Killa K against Dante as well as the GWA Grand Champion, Steve Twist, who had recently turned against the GWA crowd and started a feud with Kal. The match was a particularly intense one, with a lot of effort coming from both sides as they fought to defeat their respective rivals. Dante and Twist's less-than-savory tactics helped them along in the match, but some great moments were scattered throughout, including a memorable strike exchange between Twist and Dar. Finally, the end came after Dar knocked Dante to the outside with a Clothesline, allowing Kal to put Steve down with his devastating Khidori piledriver, while Dar prevented Dante from breaking the pin by catching him from behind with a Dangerous Backdrop. It seemed the stage was set for the one year anniversary show, with Dar and Kal victorious and looking to take their titles.
The One Year Anniversary show came. The main event began without much of a feeling-out process, the two men having known each other pretty well by now, and ready to end this competition once and for all. While Dar dominated the early portions of the match, Dante came back and went after Dar's knee, working it repeatedly and leaving it weak for the rest of the match. Each time it seemed one man was on the brink of victory, the other would fight back to gain an advantage in the match. It all seemed over when Dante took Dar down with three Jumping Knee Strikes, then hit the amazing Save the Queen. But somehow, Dar managed to get a shoulder up from the pin, and fought back, even throwing out a Twister, one of Steve Twist's signature moves, the one man who had been able to defeat Dante for his title in the BTWF. But it wasn't enough. Finally, though, as Dar hit Dante with a final Roaring Back Elbow, the end came as the Samoan lifted Dante up and drove his head down into the mat with an Inverted Cradle Northern Lights Bomb. The feud was finally over, as Dar won the match and the title.
The aftermath was almost as shocking as the victory, however, as Dar refused to take the BTWF Gaia title, saying that he had no part in the belt's legacy. Just afterwards, a mysterious figure came out of the crowd to steal the belt away. Before anyone could chase after him, Steve Twist, who had just managed to keep his title in the earlier ladder match, came out. At first talking like he was going to put Dar out of commission in order to keep his title safe, the Aphotic Rose instead shocked everyone by extending his hand to Dar in partnership. In response, the Samoan threw a Roaring Back Elbow...only to miss Steve completely, and then take his hand. In a complete shock to the crowd, Steve declared the two of them the Apostles of Amaranthine, and proclaimed that they were the "end of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance".
At the next show, Solumn Sorrow, Twist and Dar introduced the third member of the Apostles: Killa Kal, after dominating a few jobbers. They later interfered with a match containing Sparco and Hated, the Unholy Meatpuppet coming to their aid and leading to a six-man tag which the Apostles won, solidifying their presence. Upon the next show, Dar and Kal, coming to be known as the AoA Death Squad, took out Hated and Puppet in a tag match before coming out at the end of their partner Twist's title match against Sparco to join in a group beatdown. Well-known cruiserweight Revision made his debut at the same time, joining up with the Apostles and helping with the beat-down. Afterwards, Twist made the Apostles' vision known to the world: A wrestling paradise, where they would be in control and would promote their own form of competitive atmosphere.
This led to a No DQ match at the next show for Dar versus Hated, a destructive, bloody battle that finally ended with Hated getting the win after battering Dar into unconsciousness with a steel chair. Immediately afterwards, a huge brawl brook out with the Apostles and the GWA veterans, showing how heated the situation had become, but also demonstrating the GWA's willingness to band together. At High Times, Dar decimated rookie Steven Cain, breaking his neck on a steel chair. Dar was entered into the Soul Survivor cage match at the next show, a one-hour long event. The winner would become the #1 contender for the Grand championship, but Dar wasn't interested in that, instead focusing on softening up whoever was in the lead for Twist. Along with a mysterious run-in on the behalf of Dante Cabrell by Riona Langly, the match ended with a tie in points between Cabrell and Ice after Dar was Speared by the young wrestler.
At Five More Minutes, Dar and Revision teamed up to take on tag team champions The Rejects in a non-title match, taking a solid win over them with a Full Circle/Exploder '98 combo. This won them a tag title shot at Derailed, but their chance was broken by interference from the newly formed team of Dante Cabrell and Riona Langly, dubbed Chaos Affinity. Taking a neutral stance in the war between the GWA and the Apostles, only wanting to cause mayhem, they attacked Dar and Revision, allowing the Rejects to retain their titles. At one of the GWA's biggest shows that year, Ouroboros, the Death Squad of Kal and Dar teamed up once again to take on Hated and Ice, ending with a win by Dar over Hated in the final few minutes of the match after a long, epic battle.
At the next show, Dar went into a Four Corner Survival match with Hated, Riona Langly and Danny Daemon, representing all sides of the conflict. The match ended with Hated pinning Danny, taking a win for the GWA while the Apostles and Chaos Affinity were left in the dust. Finally, the war had to come to an end. At The Final Countdown, a six-man tag was assembled, with the GWA team of Cody Bogard, Sparco and Hated facing off against Dar, Killa Kal and Revision, with the stipulation that the losing faction would split-up for good. After a long, destructive battle, Bogard pulled out the win for his team by taking Kal down with the Galaxian Explosion. It seemed that the Apostles were done for...Until the end of the following match, where Twist retained his title against Ice, then proceeded to bring out Brianna Rach, owner of the GWA.
It seemed that the GWA had been under financial stress for some time, and Twist had offered to buy the company from her. Rach, having no choice, accepted. This left Steve Twist in control of the Gambino Wrestling Alliance, and his first act was to re-form the Apostles. Now the faction had full control, but chose not to simply fire their rivals, instead simply taking over the booking. However, things were not all perfect for the Apostles. Twist's egotistical comments seemed to grate at Dar, who took the microphone from his leader to say something...Only to be interrupted by a full-scale riot from the fans in attendance. Many a fan's s**t was ruined, but the Apostles came out alive, and in full control of the company they had been attempting to change for the past several months.
At the next show, Dar came out after a victory by Steve Twist and Killa Kal over Sparco and Ice. A tense moment followed, with Twist asking Dar what he wanted, growing angrier at the Samoan's silence, but he was finally answered by a SPEAR! Dar announced that he was tired of Twist's ego and tyranny, and would be breaking off from the Apostles. Along with it, he told Steve that he was gunning for his title, already booked in a No. 1 contender's match against Riona Langly that night. The Samoan punctuated his message by throwing Twist down through a table. Dar proceeded to win his match that night, defeating Riona Langly in a hard-fought match, and earning his right to a title shot at the next show, the first of 2007, M J O L N I R.
The next night, Dar came out after Ice's triple threat match against Sparco and Hated, and announced that he would give his first title shot to the Silver Flame, the announcement met with a great reaction from the crowd. A dream match followed, full of epic moments worthy of the hype behind Twist vs Dar. Finally, it seemed Dar had everything wrapped up, destroying Twist's neck with his ultimate move and with a full fifteen seconds left on the clock. However, Dar merely sat there, allowing it to run down, a grin on his face the whole time. Afterwards, he helped Twist up to a shocked crowd, and the two men revealed that the whole thing had been a farce, and Dar had never left the Apostles. It was just a tactic to ruin the morale of the GWA, and to increase ticket sales. The Apostles were still together, and just as evil.
Ice, bitter and angry about the lie Dar had told him at the last show, challenged him to a match, and the two met for the first time at Empty Pride. Ice put up a valiant fight, coming much closer to victory than anyone expected, but Dar was able to put him away in the end. Still, the Samoan was obviously shaken. At the next show, a tag match was booked with the Death Squad facing off against Ice and Hated in a rematch from Ouroboros. The Apostles came out on top once again, but Ice came even closer to a victory over Dar this time, with the Samoan having to pull out a surprise pin to beat the younger and smaller wrestler. Though the victory went to the Death Squad, Dar seemed to know that Ice was getting closer and closer to victory with each match they had.
Finally, Dar faced off against Ice a second time at Man Up, C'mon, and against all odds, Ice was able to finally get his victory, even breaking Dar's nose in the process. This shot him right up to the top of the ranks, earning a fourth title shot against Twist. The Dragonslayer lived up to his namesake, ending Twist's reign of terror and becoming the second GWA Grand Champion. At the same show, Dar met up with Hated in a singles match for the second time in their career. While this one was a normal singles match, it was nearly as brutal as their No DQ meeting, and ended in a Double Knock Out after a headbutt flurry from Hated. It seemed that the Apostles' power was quickly slipping, despite having control of the GWA.
Two shows later, the Apostles demonstrated their power once again, making a main event out of Dar's second destruction of Steven Cain, leaving him broken a second time and sending him out of the GWA for good. At the show introducing GWA's Inaugural Guardian of the Threshold trophy, the Death Squad went up against Cody Bogard and Hated. Cody and Dar in particular seemed to go hard against one another, though the match ended in an Apostles win. At The Crimson Icon, Cody and Dar were booked in a match against one another, and the King of Hearts put up a surprisingly difficult fight against the huge Samoan, despite their size difference. In the end, though, Dar came out on top, putting Cody away with a Todoroke Tenken.
This led to another tag match, this time with the Death Squad against Cody and Ice. Again, Cody and Ice went up against one another hard, taking themselves out towards the end with an Exploder Suplex off the top to the outside. Meanwhile, Ice resisted the efforts of being pinned by Kal, even keeping himself from tapping out to the Gambino Royale as the final seconds ticked away in the time limit, leading to a time limit draw. Things obviously weren't done between Dar and Cody's growing rivalry. At the next show, Dar was booked in a match with Kid Chaos, but neither man showed. Later, however, they both appeared - to interfere with the Openweight championship match, where Danny Daemon was defending his title against Cody Bogard. Dar beat down Cody while KC took out Danny, the GWA veterans not being able to fight back due to the toll the match had already taken on them. It seems that this rivalry has become serious now, and who knows whether Dar or Cody will come out on top...?
Entrance Theme: "Slayer of Light (Hatred Intro Mix)" by Ensiferum and DJ Ark Type - Listen.
Entrance Description:
A bright light flashes over the arena three times along with the beat of the drums as a verse from "Hatred" kicks in, the lighting slowly fading afterwards to an ice blue glow around the ring and the entrance aisle. Some crowd members begin to boo, others cheering instead and pounding the barrier or clapping slowly along with the beat.
I crush your bones
I kill your face
I rip your flesh
I AM THE CHASE!
You meet with terror
You draw the ace
I rule the world
The rats that race
Muahahaha...
As Eric Adams' sinister laugh fades into the background, the crowd is met with silence for a few short moments. The silence is then shattered by a thrash riff, strobe lights rapidly flashing over the entrance aisle as it continues. Fans generally meet this opening with boos, but some loyal fans to the Samoan begin to rapidly pound the barriers as they try to keep tempo with the riff, a few banging their heads as the song calms down for one brief second...
Only to explode again with fury and the first verse as Dar throws open the curtains, walking out into the aisle as the crowd's reactions intensify once again, showing their admiration or disrespect towards the Samoan. Dar doesn't seem to care much either way, slowly flexing his fingers into fists and back out again as he observes the arena, then calmly starts to make his way down to the ring, signature white trenchcoat flicking around his legs.
I have come to unfold your mind
In my veins runs the poison wild
In the streams of mountains, I flow
The Samoan knocks away the hands of those who try to lean over the rail to pat him on the back, but doesn't seem too bothered by it, as if he doesn't even care what these peons do. Standing at the end of the aisle, he looks up into the ring for a few moments, then walks around towards the other side of the ring, climbing up the steel steps there and walking across the apron to glance out over the crowd for a moment or two.
I have opened the doors for unleashed and endless hate
It will burn like the raging green flames
Inside a man dwells secrets so cold
At the beginning of the chorus, Dar turns and steps through the middle and top rope, walking into the middle of the ring and standing there for a few moments before reaching down to pull the metal clasp apart at his waist, shrugging his shoulders back to let the trenchcoat fall off his arms before he grabs it and tosses it out of the ring to an official.
Through the dreadful storms, across the frozen oceans
I have come from the dark lands with sorrow in my hands
The firewind rages in the sky...
And my luminous sword hungers for more
I will leave no one alive!
FOR I AM THE SLAYER OF LIGHT!
Walking over to his corner from there, Dar climbs up onto the middle turnbuckle, looking over the crowd again for a few moments before reaching down to grab the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his head and throwing it over at another official before pointing out towards the entrance curtain or his opponent (without turning toward them) before bringing his hand back and drawing his thumb across his throat, flexing menacingly afterwards.
I...I will break your will
I...I will crush your fate
I...I will slay your dreams
I will reclaim the stars...
AND I WILL TEAR YOUR PRECIOUS WORLD APART!!!
Dar then hops down from the turnbuckle, turning around to face the ring and leaning back against the corner as the lights come back and the last furious scream fades out.
Movelist
General Moves (Grapples): German Suplex, STO Backbreaker, Gutbuster, Brainbuster, Northern Lights Suplex, Samoan Drop, Released Uranage, Powerbomb, Exploder Suplex, Half Nelson Suplex, DDT variations, Sharp Piledriver, Spinebuster, Senton, Saito Suplex, Snap Powerslam
Submission Moves: Jujigatame Armbar, Half Crab (with SAMOAN CRANK), Stretch Muffler, Cross-Knee Backbreaker Hold, Cobra Clutch w/ Body Scissors, Dragon Sleeper, SIDE HEADLOCK OF DEATH
Aerial Moves: Flying Leg Drop, Tope Suicida, Elbow Suicida
Signature Strikes (used fairly often in matches, listed in weakest to strongest)
1. Elbow Strike: A simple elbow strike, usually performed to the side of the head of the person Dar is facing, typically hitting most of the impact on their jaw. Dar's matches are filled with these, as they're his transition strikes, helping soften up the head of the person he's facing for one of Dar's many head-drops. [1/10]
2. Burning Elbow Smash: An elbow strike with a wind-up beforehand. While this move isn't all that much more powerful than a typical elbow strike, the force behind it is usually enough to knock someone down, or at least send them stumbling back. Not to mention that this move usually connects to the face, rather than the side of the head. [2/10]
3. Roaring Elbow: A spinning elbow strike. This is where things start to get heavy. When Dar wants to do some serious damage to his opponent through strikes, this is usually the first one he'll go for. The spinning motion beforehand builds up the momentum of this move, and Dar's opponent has to be particularly hardy not to go down to one of these. Again, it connects to the face. [4/10]
4. Charging Elbow: A running elbow strike. Rather than the traditional Lariat, this is usually Dar's preferred running move. With his arm cocked in to perform an elbow strike, Dar will dash forward and nail his opponent right in the face with it. Almost no one can stay up after getting hit with one of these. The run beforehand puts even more momentum behind it than the spin for the Roaring Elbow. [5/10]
5. FIERCE KNEES: Dar's only signature strike that doesn't involve an elbow, these are a flurry of knee strikes thrown to the face and head of a grounded opponent. Dar usually doesn't use these unless he's tired, and both he and his opponent are down on the mat, for whatever reason. Typically, four is enough, but Dar has been known to throw more out. Each of these knees has the strength of about a roaring elbow, but because Dar tends to hit a few of them in a row, they are placed here. [7/10]
6. Roaring Back Elbow: Dar's ultimate strike, a spinning back elbow. The main reason why this move is so powerful is that, because of the fact that all of Dar's other elbow strikes impact with most of the forearm, spreading the impact out. With a Back Elbow, all the force is concentrated directly on the tip of the elbow itself, and with the spin beforehand, Dar has effectively concentrated all the force of the spin into that one point on his elbow. Not to mention that Dar usually hits this move to the face or even the throat. [9/10]
Trademark Moves (often-used moves that aren't as powerful as finishers)
Foldover Tigerbomb: It's...um...a Foldover Tigerbomb. Your basic Double Underhook Powerbomb with Dar leaning over his opponent in a Prawn Hold for a pin afterwards. If the opponent has the audacity to kick out from this, Dar will usually grab their leg and roll them into a Half Crab. And then see if he can touch their heel to the back of their head.
Nodowa Otoshi: A slightly-modified Chokeslam. This move is a lot quicker than most Chokeslams, and rather than getting its power from the height Dar lifts his opponent up to, it comes from momentum. The Samoan grabs the opponent by the throat, then lifts them up only enough to get their feet off the mat before pulling backwards and stepping back at the same time, then brings the opponent down right on the back of their head and neck with the slam.
Hostileplex: A Cross-Arm Choke Suplex. Dar grabs each of his opponent's arms from behind and crosses them around their neck in a choke, then flexes back to drop his opponent on their head. This move is particularly jarring due to the fact that the opponent's own arms keep their neck from bending with the impact.
Senton Bomb: Your typical Flip Senton off the top rope. There is nothing "swanton" about this move; besides not delaying the flip at all, Dar also usually manages to land the move fairly well, with his back on the opponent's midsection. Not with the back of his head hitting the edge of the opponent's thigh.
Dai Bosou: A Rolling Senton Corner Splash. Dar gets his opponent in the corner, then knocks them down with strikes to a seated position. Running back out towards the opposite side of the ring, he then charges forward at full speed to roll forward into a somersault, slamming his back and hip directly into the opponent's torso and face.
Signature Moves (doubly as powerful as trademark moves, these could end a match)
DANGEROUS BACKDROPPAH: A spiked Back Suplex. Dar gets behind an opponent and tucks his head under their arm before hooking their leg and wrapping his other arm around their waist, flexing backwards to drop the opponent directly down on their head. Dar either then bridges or lets the opponent roll through. This has been a staple in Dar's moveset since he joined the GWA, and is feared by all.
Koji Clutch: Dar's trademark submission maneuver. Usually, Dar uses an Implant DDT as a set-up. Dar lays on his back next to a face-down opponent, then swings his far leg up to hook the back of his knee across the near side of their head. Dar then hooks one arm around their throat and one aross the back of their neck, clutching his wrist and then pulling their head up against his leg, compressing their neck between his leg and forearm, cutting off the blood flow to their brain in a sleeper type maneuver. Dar tends to use this move when a match has gone on for a long time and an opponent just doesn't seem to be staying down from impact moves. Dar tries harder to go for it if the opponent is busted open as well.
Wake Up Screaming: A Falcon Arrow Driver. Dar sets his opponent up for a suplex, but grabs their far leg, lifting them up and turning them around to face him in mid-air. The Samoan then drops to a seated position, bringing the opponent down on the back of their neck with a Falcon Arrow. Top-rope variations can also take place.
Acheron Bomb: A Straightjacket Awesome Bomb. Dar sets his opponent up in a Standing Head Scissors, then pulls their arms across their body in the straightjacket position before rolling them up onto one shoulder. From there, Dar usually runs forward to gain some power with the move before falling to his knees and bringing the opponent down hard with the Powerbomb. The opponent can be thrown into many different things besides the canvas with this move - the turnbuckles, a table, ladder, pretty much anything Dar wants.
EXPLODERDEATH: The umbrella term for any Exploder Suplex Dar does off an elevated surface. Top-rope, the apron, a ladder, whatever. This goes for Wrist-Clutch variations off of elevated surfaces, too. Since Dar is going to land you on your head no matter where he's doing the move from, it's always going to end in lots of pain.
Finishers (they finish matches...9 times out of 10)
Primary Finisher - X-Driller: A Thunder Fire Driver. Dar puts his opponent in a Standing Head Scissors, then flips them up like he was going for a Powerbomb, but sets them on one shoulder. He then lets their body hang down across his body diagonally before wrapping an arm around their neck and dropping to a seated position, smashing their head and neck directly down into the mat. This is all performed in one quick, fluid motion.
Rare Finisher 1 - Todoroke Tenken: A Pumphandle Piledriver, or Psycho Driver II/Super Natural Driver. Dar stands slightly behind and to the side of his opponent, then pulls one of their arms down through their legs in the pumphandle position. From there, Dar bends them over sideways a bit, enough to sling their other arm back behind his head, then lifts them up to land the Piledriver with no protection to their head, just like Super Dragon would want. This could also be performed off the top, in which case it is referred to the Avichi Tengen Myo'o.
Rare Finisher 2 - Love Lies Bleeding: Your typical Kudo Driver/Vertebreaker. Nothing fancy about this one. Dar sets it up the usual way, with a back-to-back underhook before turning around to tuck the opponent's legs under his shoulders to lift them up in the Reverse Gory Special. From there, he simply drops to a seated position to drop them on their head. This move can be done in a quick, fluid motion, or stalled once they're in the Reverse Gory Special to show off. Either way, it's doubtful the opponent will kick out from this move.
DANGEROOOOOOUUUUUUUSSSSSSS Finisher - In the Arms of the Death God: A Lightning Spiral. Dar sets his opponent up in a Fireman's Carry position, usually with his body bent forward a ways. Twisting his body to one side to gain momentum, Dar then flings himself over the opposite way to land on his back, landing the opponent in a Burning Hammer-type move. There's a huge amount of velocity behind this move, making it particularly DANGEROOOUUUUSSSS.
Gimmick: Dar's still the big Samoan guy who's really really strong. His wrestling style is still focused around vicious strikes and head-drops. He's just more intimidating and less friendly now.
Face/Heel: Heel
Titles Held: BTWF World Heavyweight Championship (137 days, longest BTWF title reign in history for the first reign), BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship, GWA Openweight Championship
Title History:
arrow BTWF World Heavyweight Championship
vs Omega and Steve Twist
At: BTWF Legacy of Supremacy
Finished With: Ruination on Omega (won title)
vs Maxwell Conners
At: BTWF Payback '05
Finished With: No contest due to repeated interference
vs Maxwell Conners, Stephen Ford, Bryan Kutterman, The Tiger and Anthony Voorhees (Garden of Evil II)
At: BTWF BloodBath '05
Finished With: Removed belt from suspended holder above ladder.
vs Bryan Kutterman
At: BTWF Tournament of Gods II
Finished With: Avalanche Emerald Fusion
vs Killa K
At: BTWF Madness: Night of Champions IV
Finished With: Cobra Clutch w/ Body Scissors
vs Anthony Voorhees
At: BTWF fadetoblack '05
Finished With: Dead of Night Tombstone Piledriver onto barbed wire chair (lost title)
arrow BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship
vs Dante Cabrell
At: GWA One Year Anniversary Show
Finished With: MDK Driver (won title)
arrow GWA Openweight Championship
vs Kid Chaos
At: GWA Seaking Splendor: Road to El Durado II
Finished With: Love Lies Bleeding (won title)
Alliances: The Apostles of Amaranthine (Steve Twist, Killa Kal, Revision)
Debut: BTWF Madness April 27th, 2004 against Royce G.
Wrestling Style: Traditional Japanese strong-style. Dar mixes wrestling with MMA stylings, vicious strikes and submission holds working their way into his arsenal along with all the head-dropping he does. Not to mention he's strong as an ox.
Favorite Weapon: Tables
Notable BTWF Matches (listed chronologically)
1. Tournament of Gods I (winner) [Tournament of Gods]
2. vs Big Daddy (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Night of Champions I]
3. vs Big Daddy (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, Ironman) [fadetoblack '04]
4. Garden of Evil I (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Ragnarok]
5. WARGAMES~! [BTWF/GEWE/EGW Absolute Zero]
6. Civil War (winner) [Civil War]
7. vs Steve Twist vs Omega (c) (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, won title) [Legacy of Supremacy]
8. Garden of Evil II [BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [BloodBath '05]
9. vs Bryan Kutterman (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Tournament of Gods II]
10. vs Killa Kal (BTWF Heavyweight Championship) [Night of Champions IV]
11. vs Anthony Voorhees (BTWF Heavyweight Championship, lost title) [fadetoblack '05)
12. vs Shadow Starr (2/3 falls, final BTWF match) [The Final Chapter]
Notable GWA Matches (listed chronologically)
1. vs Rick "Rocker" Shaddock (debut match) [Brave New World]
2. vs Dante Cabrell (BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship) [One Shot at Glory]
3. vs Dante Cabrell (BTWF Unified Heavyweight Championship, won title) [1 Year Anniversary]
4. vs Hated (No DQ) [Taking a Stand]
5. Soul Survivor [Soul Survivor]
6. vs Steve Twist (GWA Grand Championship) [M J O L N I R]
7-9. vs Ice series [Empty Pride, A Memorable Return Revisited, Man Up, C'Mon]
10. vs Hated [2nd Year Anniversary]
Previous Alliances: w/ Rocky, The Heat, Ravena, Seraph and Irvine Kanyon as the Archetypes of eXcellence
Known Allies: Steve Twist, Killa Kal, Revision
Previous Enemies: Shadow Starr, The Demon, Anthony Voorhees, Maxwell Conners, Bryan Kutterman, Dante Cabrell
Current Enemies: Hated, Ice, Cody Bogard, Sparco, Danny Demonstar (The GWA)
Previous Entrance Themes
1. "Live for the Moment" by Monster Magnet (April '04 - September '04)
2. "Remember" by Disturbed (October '04 to December '04)
3. "Revolution Man" by The Union Underground (January '05 - March '05)
4. "Cochise" by Audioslave (April '05 - June '05)
5. "Another Body Murdered" by Faith No More and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (July '05 - August '05)
6. "10,000 Fists" by Disturbed (September '05 - November '05)
7. "Blessed Are You" by Iced Earth (BTWF Final Chapter)
8. "Guerilla Radio (ABM Intro Mix)" by Rage Against the Machine and DJ Ark-Type (January '06 - April '06)
9. "Bullet Train (Hatred Intro Mix)" by Judas Priest and DJ Ark Type (June '06 - January '07)
10. "Noble Savage" by Virgin Steele (GWA M J O L N I R)
Awards
-Winner - Best All-Time BTWF Face
-Winner - Best All-Time BTWF Gimmick Match: Garden of Evil II
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Feud: Big Daddy vs Darson Grays (3rd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Wrestler (2nd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Faction: Archetypes of eXcellence (2nd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Madness: Night of Champions Match: Darson Grays vs Killa K (3rd place)
-Nominee - Best All-Time BTWF Normal Rules Match: Darson Grays vs Big Daddy Ironman (3rd place), Darson Grays vs Steve Twist vs Omega; Darson Grays vs Bryan Kutterman (tied for 4th place)
-It should be noted that, while an open vote category, Darson Grays did win the award for Best All-Time BTWF Catchphrase with "And that's crystal...CRYSTAL clear."
