The Carnage Crew in ROH: They Deserve Their Flowers
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
A few days ago on Facebook, Tony Khan’s Ring of Honor posted a question to their fan base asking the following:
I actually sat down and genuinely thought about it. Not in the semblance of a “great wrestler who never won the ROH World Title”, but in a “who never got their respect for helping the company through the tough times” way.
The answer hit me like a bolt of lightning, but of course, this website’s fearless leader chimed in with the exact same thought I had.
The Carnage Crew, and I’m not even joking. Locker room leaders and brought a sense of stability to the tag scene. Loc and Devito never got their props.
And people ask if me and Harder are the same person. Puh-leese.
Anyways, after that realization, I did what I normally do when it comes to reliving wrestling history: hop on YouTube to find vintage clips and then hook up the ol’ PlayStation 3 and begin going back into my ROH DVDs to dig deeper.
Truth be told, that “underrated” assessment is spot on.
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Before beginning in Ring of Honor in 2002, Loc & Devito were a part of the original ECW prior to the promotion folding in early 2001.
I always believed that ROH was the spiritual successor to Extreme Championship Wrestling. Besides being founded by RF Video, its booker was Gabe Sapolsky, who was Paul Heyman’s protege in ECW. Although completely different styles, you could feel the same underground, hardcore, independent vibe that both shared.
In the year 2000, Loc was H.C. Loc, the Extreme Official. He did his best to keep order in between the ropes, while not being afraid to be physical. Loc was best known for being embroiled in a feud with corrupt referee Danny Daniels.
Meanwhile, Devito, who was seen a lot on WWF television as an enhancement talent during the mid-1990s, was the leader of Da Baldies, a street gang from NYC, picking fights and brawling with some of the toughest men in ECW. My personal favorite Baldies segment goes back to the days of when ECW on TNN, when Devito and Angel went looking for New Jack via the New York subway system. Real outside-the-box stuff from the performers and the company.
At The Era of Honor Begins on February 23, 2002, Loc actually made his debut, yet again, as the Extreme Official. However, it was a position that he would not last long in.
During the matchup between The Boogie Knights of Danny Drake & Mike Tobin and the Natural Born Sinners of Boogalou and HOMICIDE, the match turned into an absolute brawl. However, the weapon of choice from the NBS - a rubber chicken - got involved, and Loc rang the bell, calling for a disqualification. Homicide and Boogalou, peeved on the decision by the “Extreme Official”, went berserk, attacking and beating the Hell out of Loc, complete with a bludgeoning via a spike,
Later on in the night, a banged-up Loc stated backstage that he was done being the “Extreme Official” and he was going to go on the offensive.
Two events later, A Night of Appreciation on April 27, 2002, cameras caught Loc backstage talking to a familiar friend - Devito. On this night, the beginning of a new bruiser team was born: THE CARNAGE CREW.
Together, Loc & Devito dominated Dunn & Marcos in a brief but dominating contest. At the end of the night, the duo had one goal in mind: to gain revenge on the Sinners.
At Crowning a Champion on July 27, 2002 at the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia, the Sinners and the Crew did battle in a Bunkhouse Match. Blood was shed, weapons were used, and bodies were thrown around with reckless abandon. Although Loc & Devito did not win, respect was given to both men.
Throughout the next year, the Carnage Crew, along with their trademark hubcaps, were involved in some serious brawls throughout ROH, including battles with Da Hit Squad of Mafia & Mack and the Sinners. Loc & Devito even main-evented Night of the Butcher on December 7, 2002, losing in a violent war to Homicide and ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER.
As ROH continued to grow, so did the Carnage Crew. In late 2002, Masada, a bad-ass from the Texas Wrestling Academy, joined Loc & Devito. The biggest shock was at WrestleRave ‘03 on June 28, 2003, when Loc & Devito, prior to taking on Special K, a group of rich kid ravers with no respect and no fear, brought in former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Justin Credible to join them!
However, the true stalwarts in the Carnage Crew were Loc & Devito. While other teams began to splinter (Boogalou left ROH to go to XPW, Mafia joined the Prophecy and split with Mack), the duo stayed strong. They were the glue that held ROH’s unstable tag team division in place.
Loc & Devito held their own against the Christopher Street Connection, Jay and Mark Briscoe, the Texas Wrestling Academy, the Backseat Boyz, and even the Second City Saints of Colt Cabana and CM Punk. As 2003 continued, if you wanted to thrive in the proving ground of ROH’s tag team division, as well as ROH itself, you had to go through the Carnage Crew.
They were also locker room leaders. I’ve always heard stories through the independent wrestling pipeline about how awesome Devito & Loc were to come up to and would help the younger talent. They also held the locker room in check. I always heard the story at Main Event Spectacles on November 1, 2003 at the infamous RexPlex in Elizabeth, NJ, that following Teddy Hart’s insanity off the cage, the Carnage Crew (who were also in the match) were the main part of the pack that threw Teddy out of the locker room and restored order almost immediately.
The Carnage Crew finally got the true respect from the ROH fans they deserved on March 13, 2004, as Loc, Devito, Masada, and Justin defeated Special K at At Our Best in the RexPlex in Scramble Cage II. The closing part of the match was when Angel Dust (Azrieal in modern times) was spike piledriven off the top of the cage through two tables by Loc & Devito, due to the fact that Angel Dust had turned Devito’s daughter into a life of partying and clubbing.
Jon Harder has always maintained that the piledriver off the cage turned him into a full-fledged ROH fan. He wasn’t the only one, as the entire RexPlex was chanting “CARNAGE CREW”, giving them their props.
Later on that night, a new twist was thrown the Carnage Crew’s way, as it came out in their post-match celebration that someone dropped a literal deuce in Loc and Devito’s bags, spoiling their beer drinking celebration.
It turned out that it was actually DANNY DANIELS AND MASADA were the culprits, as revealed at Generation Next on May 22, 2004 in Philly. Daniels, nearly four years later, still held resentments with Loc over their “referee” rivalry in ECW, and Masada was tired of being in the background to Loc & Devito.
At Reborn: Completion on July 17, 2004, the rivalry would be settled: The Carnage Crew vs the New & Improved Carnage Crew. The losing team would be forced to split up.
After a strong street fight, Loc & Devito put Daniels in a garbage can and beat the Holy Hell out of it with aluminum baseball bats. Three slaps of the mat later, and Daniels & Masada were not only done as a team, but gone from ROH.
The Carnage Crew then began a tag team war with Maff and Whitmer throughout the rest of 2004, culminating in a Fight Without Honor in Philly at Final Battle 2004, which Maff and Whitmer won.
A great Easter egg during this rivalry would be at Joe vs Punk II in Chicago, IL on October 16, 2004, when, following the Crew attacking Maff and Whitmer during their “Hardcore vs Pure Wrestling” match with Nigel McGuinness and Chad Colleyer, Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat lost his mind at them, calling them a couple of “dickheads”, stunning everyone in attendance and getting a huge ovation.
At Third Anniversary Show: Part 1 on February 19, 2005, Scramble Cage III took place. In a match that included Deranged & Izzy and Roderick Strong & Jack Evans of Generation Next, the Ring Crew Express of Dunn & Marcos defeated Loc & Devito to win the match. More importantly, due to taking the fall, the Carnage Crew had to leave ROH for 90 days.
Thanks to this 90 day forced sabbatical, something came over both men. They became “fat, drunk, and pissed off”. They became bitter and enraged. They became obsessed with destroying ROH.
The duo made their return at Manhattan Mayhem on May 7, 2005, beating the holy Hell out of Dunn & Marcos prior to their three-way dance with Lacey’s Angels & Dixie and Azrieal. A few weeks later, the Crew destroyed the Ring Crew Express at both The Future is Now on June 12 in NYC & Death Before Dishonor III on June 18 in Morristown, NJ.
Then, at Escape from New York on July 9, 2005, it happened. The Carnage Crew had reached the top of the ROH tag team division. In an upset to some, Loc & Devito defeated ROH Tag Team Champions BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs to win the belts. It was an absolute shock to some, but not to this writer.
Following their only successful defense at Fate of an Angel a week later inside of Ultimate Endurance against Deranged & Izzy, the Embassy, and Dunn & Marcos on July 16, the Carnage Crew lost the belts back to Whitmer and Jacobs at The Homecoming in the National Guard Armory in Philly on July 23, 2005. Tough break, but it was a blessing that the duo, despite being “fat, drunk, and pissed off”, survived Ultimate Endurance. Big props to them.
Following Night of the Grudges II on August 20 in Morristown and losing to the Ring Crew Express, Loc, while Devito was in the hospital, finally gave the Ring Crew Express their respect while Dunn and Marcos were taking down the ring.
It was also the last night of Loc & Devito in Ring Of Honor.
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I’ll be honest. ROH was going into a different direction, and Loc & Devito had literally done EVERYTHING in the promotion. In old school territory terms, they went onto the next region.
To me, Loc & Devito were very important to Ring Of Honor. When the company became “Reborn” due to some serious behind-the-scenes issues, the Carnage Crew kept things in check. They came to every show, worked hard, and helped everything out seamlessly. Every company needs guys like that.
The Carnage Crew deserves their flowers. Even if they might not ever truly be recognized in modern times, I felt like I should in this blog. It’s the least I could do.
Thanks Loc & Devito. You truly were underrated in ROH history.
Bankie Bruce
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