The Militia

The Militia
Stable
Members	Zack Richards Craig Anderson Derek Theler Thea Richards Abigail Jade Julio Zapien
Name(s)	The Militia
Debut	December 14, 2012
Disbanded	June 25, 2013
Promotions	OWA

The Militia were a professional wrestling Tag Team signed to Online Wrestling Alliance, where they compete on the OWA Fusion Brand. The group were noted for having obtained three of the four championships OWA had to offer at the time during the groups first incarnation. The OWA World Heavyweight Championship, OWA Tag Team Champions and the OWA Intercontinental Championship The current members of the stable are Zack Richards, Craig Anderson, Derek Theler and Thea Richards

History

Background

On November 19, 2012 Richards and Anderson were involved in a heated exchange which led to both men pleading with OWA owner Trip Johnson to give them a match against one another. Richards ultimately won the match via a distraction from Julio Zapien. Two weeks would pass by, as Richards was involved in a heated rivalry with Paul Benzema, would go onto face Anderson in a match again as his "poison" in the "Pick your Poison" match. Anderson won the match via disqualification due to Richards wanting to send a message to Benzema before the Pay-Per-View. At OWA Ramifications, Richards had paid Anderson off to become his Tag Team partner in hopes of becoming the Tag Team Champions. At the PPV, Anderson and Julio Zapien took on and defeated Chuck Jones and The DJK, while Richards lost the Galaxy Championship to Paul Benzema, but gained the OWA World Heavyweight Championship in a twist of events. Three days later on OWA Fusion, the team that was scheduled to face Anderson and Richards dropped out and, by default, Richards and Anderson were handed the OWA Tag Team Championships. Shortly after this, Abbie Jade joined the team.

Tag Team Champions (2012 - 2013)

At OWA Ramifications Trip Johnson announced that Craig Anderson and Zack Richards were going to be teaming together to take on Craig Adams and Punk for the Tag Team Championship on OWA Fusion after Ramifications. At Ramifications, Anderson and Julio Zapien teamed together at Ramifications and defeated Chuck Jones and The DJK. Also, Zack Richards lost the Galaxy Championship to Paul Benzema, but gained the OWA World Heavyweight Championship after pinning Paul Benzema, following the interference from Trip Johnson.

On the following Fusion Craig and Zack were awarded the Tag Team Championships after Punk's retirement meant there were no other teams to compete in the match. Ten days after gaining the Tag Team Championships, Richards faced off against Kevin Norton on a Christmas special of OWA Fusion, where both the OWA World Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship were on the line. Richards won the match, and not only remained the World Heavyweight Champion, but brought the Intercontinental Championship to The Militia. It was announced on the same show, whoever won between AJ and Julio Zapien vs Alex West and Chuck Jones, would face off against one another to become the next Intercontinental Champion. AJ and Julio won the match, and a week later they had their match which turned out to be more of given order by Richards to Zapien, who had no other choice but to lie down and be pinned by AJ who won the Intercontinental Championship, and her first championship in OWA.

On the second show of 2013, Richards and AJ teamed up to take on the Number one contender to the World Championship, Jordan Ryan and the newly crowned European Champion Jeff Palmer. During the night, Trip Johnson resigned from his position as General Manager and announced he would be selling the company. Richards stated he was the man with the most authority now, being that he was the World Champion. Palmer failed to show up, which made Richards come to the decision that Ryan would face AJ and Richards in a two of one handicap match. Richards and AJ won the match, and just like the previous weeks, their opponent was beaten down by the Militia.

At OWA All or Nothing 2013 Jeff Palmer defeated Julio Zapien to retain his European Championship, preventing The Militia from holding all of the championships in OWA. Later in the night, Craig Anderson successfully won the Pot of Gold Ladder Match, thus making him the holder of the Pot of Gold contract and entitling him to a guaranteed World Heavyweight Championship match within the next year.

During the main event Zack Richards succesfully defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Jordan Ryan after Julio Zapien handed Richards a pair of brass knuckles, unbeknownst to the referee. Following this, Anderson and Jade made their way to the ring to celebrate. During this, Anderson blasted Zapien with his Pot of Gold briefcase, thus leaving the group and turning face.

On the return from the Pay-Per-View show, Anderson and Richards were booked to team up despite their differences to take on the team of Jeff Palmer and Alex West in a non title match. Richards and Anderson won the match. OWA Owner Trip Johnson booked a Champion vs Champion match between Richards and Jade, neither protested to have the match cancelled, during the show, Richards fired Zapien from the group ultimately ending the group.

Reunion

Following a Handicap match set up by Amelia Myers on June 7, 2013, Anderson was getting beaten down by The Sword before Richards ran down to the ring and cleaned house, aligning himself with Anderson once more. At a number of houseshows before and up to June 25, 2013, Richards and Anderson had teamed up in tag team matches, with Derek Theler serving as a Bodyguard to keep out any rogue Superstars or Crowd members, and Thea Richards serving as their manager.

Incarnations

Between December 2012 and June 2013, there have been two incarnations of The Militia

First Incarnation

• Type: Heel stable
• Active: December 14, 2012 - March 14, 2013
• Members: Zack Richards (leader), Craig Anderson, Julio Zapien, Abigail Jade

Second Incarnation

• Type: Face Tag team
• Active: May 10, 2013 June 25, 2013
• Members: Zack Richards, Craig Anderson, Derek Theler(Bodyguard), Thea Richards(Valet)

Members

Zack Richards

Craig Anderson

Derek Theler (second incarnation)

Thea Richards (second incarnation)

Abbie Jade (first incarnation)

Julio Zapien (first incarnation)

In Wrestling

Zack Richards finishing moves

• Lights Out (Brogue Kick)
• The End (Skull Crushing Finale)
• Sin and Bones (Liontamer)
• Vertigo (Go To Sleep)

Craig Anderson's finishing moves

• The Aneurysm (Inverted Stunner)
• Shining Wizard
• Boston Crab

Julio Zapiens finishing moves

• Chokeslam
• Spike Piledriver

Abbie Jades finishing moves

• Abbie's Song (Swinging leghook fireman carry slam)
• Trip to Neverland (Leg Trap Sunset Flip Powerbomb)

Double team finishing moves

• Lights Out or The End followed up by The Boston Crab
• The Aneurysm or The Shining Wizard followed up by Sin and Bones

Entrance Themes

• "Sandpaper" by Fozzy (used while Teaming together)

Accomplishments

OWA

• OWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 Times) - Zack Richards(1), Craig Anderson(1)
• OWA Tag Team Championship (1 Time) - Richards/Anderson
• OWA Intercontinental Championship (2 Time) - Zack Richards(1), Abigail Jade(1)