ZeeWI: King or Konnan – To Live and Die in LAX

This past Thursday saw things return to normal in Impact Wrestling’s Tag Team Division, as Santana and Ortiz – better known as LAX – defeated DJ Z and Andrew Everett – Z&E to their friends – to regain the Impact Tag Team Championship.

It had been a long couple of months for Impact’s shining example of tag excellence. It was back at Redemption on April 22 that their second reign was ended by the makeshift team of E_Li_Drake and Scott Steiner. Sure, we can talk about Scott Steiner’s legendary career, or the fact that Drake is one of the absolute top dogs of Impact, but there was no way a team so brand new could develop the kind of synergy needed to take on a team like LAX.

That’s why they wrestle the matches, though, and in an instant, Ortiz was taking a ride on the Gravy Train, and we had new champions. More infuriating was that Steiner and Drake imploded in a matter of weeks, losing to another upstart team in Z&E.

With all of that dragging them down, LAX also had to deal with in-house issues. Konnan was taken out at Redemption and was not seen while LAX struggled to find a victory. Formerly known as Kingston, and formerly of the DCC, the man now known as King would assume the lead of LAX, looking to reinvigorate Santana and Ortiz.

In under a month, he did just that, with the aforementioned victory this past Thursday being the icing on the cake.

Just when it seemed everything was all good in the world of LAX, however, it became clear just as quickly that they most certainly are not.

Some rather convenient timing saw Konnan make his return, and he wasn’t in the best of moods. Konnan would heavily imply that he felt King was behind the attack that took him out, even though he didn’t come out and directly make the accusation. He did let King know that if Konnan were to find out that King had anything to do with it, that there was nothing that would stop Konnan from exacting revenge.

It wasn’t the return LAX was expecting, I’d assume. On top of that, with it being quite clear that Konnan doesn’t feel that King is trustworthy any longer, at some point a decision is going to have to be made. It’s a simple decision, really: one or the other. The difficulty comes in deciding where the loyalty should lie.

The Case for Konnan

If LAX – and by that, this columnist is referring to Santana, Ortiz, and even Diamante – decide that their allegiances lie with Konnan, it wouldn’t be hard to understand.

It was Konnan who brought the three to Impact Wrestling in the first place, launching an all-out assault on Decay. The attack made headlines and immediately registered the duo as a force to be reckoned with. They would go on to become Impact and Global Force Wrestling Tag Team Champions, bringing an all new luster to their brightly shining careers.

Konnan made sure that his boys were always in prime spots, reportedly due to some inside connections with Impact management he’s made over the years. Despite one’s personal opinion of the man, that’s usually a huge benefit of running with Konnan – for as many enemies as he’s made across the globe, he’s got just as many friends willing to help him out. LAX understood this from the jump and have utilized every single one of his connections to their advantages.

And until Redemption, everything was great. LAX was most likely off their game with Konnan being out of the picture, which could at least partially excuse their performance against Drake and Steiner that night. Still, maybe the last few weeks have opened their eyes to what they’re capable of achieving without Konnan. We’ll get to that.

Regardless of all of that, LAX has to know that if they ditch Konnan, they lose the connections. They lose the right to cut the line. They lose the prime spots when they venture into Mexico, and they lose his protection. All those times oVe rushed the locker room, only to get pounced? That’s all gone now. That’s all Konnan. If they decide to go with King, all of that’s gone. They’re truly going to have to earn every little bit they get, and do it all the hard way.

The Case for King

Quite simply, King brought them back to the highest of highs when they were at their worst. King was the one that got them focused, back on track, and back as Tag Team Champions.

As mentioned above, it’s quite possible that the last month has made LAX realize that while Konnan has some perks, he doesn’t bring anything that they need. They just regained the belts without him. They earned that shot without him. They did it all over again without one bit of Konnan’s help.

Konnan is clearly not in his best shape anymore. The attack that took him out kept him out for two months. If you’re someone depending on him, you’re probably realizing that it’s not the best plan for your career anymore.

Meanwhile, King is still in fighting shape. He’s capable of holding his own, and you most likely don’t have to worry about him missing months of time when he’s hurt. On top of that, he hasn’t made nearly as many enemies as Konnan, meaning you don’t have to worry all the time about him being jumped in the first place.

If I’m LAX, I’m also a little angry that Konnan decided that the time to come back all pissy was during the celebration of the regaining of the titles. Yet again, Konnan shows that at the end of the day, it’s all about him. If I was Santana or Ortiz, I’d take a note of that. I’d remember that no matter what we do, it will always be about the manager trying to steal the moment and make it about him.

You know who didn’t do that? King.

King was simply happy to celebrate the victory of his friends. Konnan just couldn’t do that, though.

Now, I’m admittedly biased, as I’ve not been a fan of Konnan’s since he was threatening to strip my seedy fruits and spuds back in his Wolfpac days. It just felt like I couldn’t trust someone that would be so cruel to strawberries.

That said, I think the correct pick for LAX would be to kick Konnan’s bitter ass to the curb, and allow King to bring them to all-new levels of prosperity. In doing so, LAX also makes it known that if you aren’t getting it done for them, they’ll drop you and get it done themselves. That includes King. LAX knows that they have all the tools in the world. They don’t need anyone, but they definitely don’t mind having someone watch their backs in the unruly world of Impact.

Who they actually choose is still up in the air. Both men have proven that they can do big things for LAX. One just has a slightly less selfish track record.

If LAX has their eyes opened, it will be King In, Konnan Out.