ROGAN vs. WARNER: IS IT FINALLY THE VAGABOND'S MOMENT?

by VictoryRing.Net staff

For some wrestlers, success seems to come naturally. For Ryan Rogan, it has never been that simple.

Since arriving in VICTORY RING, Ryan Rogan’s road has been anything but straightforward. There have been victories and setbacks, moments of triumph and bitter frustration. Willing to do almost anything to reach his goals, he has made his share of bad decisions along the way. He has taken shortcuts. He has clashed with authority. He has even travelled halfway around the world looking for answers.

Through it all, one belief has never left him: he could make it to the top.

At ULTRA, he may finally have proven it. At the Colisée Desjardins in Victoriaville, Ryan Rogan scored the biggest victory of his VICTORY RING career by defeating former WWE star Simon Gotch.

Moments later, Rogan made his ambitions perfectly clear.

“TONIGHT, I SOLIDIFIED MY LEGACY IN VICTORY RING.”— Ryan Rogan

THE ROAD HAS NEVER BEEN EASY

Ryan Rogan has never lacked ambition. Patience, however, has not always been his strong suit.

For years, Rogan has carried a sizeable chip on his shoulder. Always on the road, always looking for his next booking, his next opportunity, the next place to prove himself. And when those opportunities didn’t come quickly enough, Ryan had a habit of trying to create them himself.

At VICTORY RING, his frustration with Commissioner Réjean Côté eventually boiled over.

Rogan wanted a shot at the championship and was convinced Côté was standing in his way. So he decided to force the Commissioner’s hand.

With a kendo stick.

Ryan eventually got what he wanted: a chance to become champion. He didn’t get the championship.

So when he couldn’t find the answers here, he went looking for them somewhere else.

FROM THAILAND TO CHINA

Thailand. China. Ryan Rogan travelled thousands of kilometres, determined to learn, improve and become the wrestler he believed he could be.

When he returned to VICTORY RING, something was different.

His match against Beast King FTM offered the first real glimpse of it. Rogan lost that night, but this loss felt different. He had stood toe-to-toe with one of VICTORY RING’s most formidable competitors and, even in defeat, earned something he had spent so long trying to take by force: Respect. But eventually, impressive performances aren’t enough.

You have to win.

At ULTRA, in front of the largest crowd in VICTORY RING history, Simon Gotch stood across the ring from Ryan Rogan.

This time, Ryan won.

“I HAD TO FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO BEAT HIM!”— Ryan Rogan

The victory meant far more than another win on Rogan’s record. Simon Gotch has competed on some of professional wrestling’s biggest stages. Beating him finally gave Ryan something tangible to back up what he had been saying all along.

He belonged at that level.

He wasn’t simply asking people to believe it anymore. He had proven it.

“I CAN HANG WITH THE BEST OF THE BEST.”— Ryan Rogan

Now he wants to prove it again. Only this time, one of the best on the independent wrestling scene is carrying the VICTORY RING Championship over his shoulder...

MANCE WARNER IS ALREADY AT THE TOP

Mance Warner doesn’t have to convince anyone he belongs at that level. He’s already there.

Ring of Honor. AEW. TNA. National television in the United States. Some of the biggest stages in American independent wrestling. Wherever his brutal, unpredictable style has taken him, Mance Warner has made his presence felt.

These days, he has the championships to show for it.

Mance Warner is the VICTORY RING Champion and also holds the Independent Wrestling TV World Championship. For the man known as Ol’ Mancer and the Southern Psychopath, collecting championship gold is starting to look like a habit.

“EVERY PLACE I GO, I WALK OUT WITH GOLD!”— Mance Warner

And that may be the most compelling contrast between these two men. Ryan Rogan has spent years chasing this level of success. Mance Warner is already living it.

Ryan travelled to learn. Mance travels and comes home with championships. Ryan talks about having to fight tooth and nail to defeat Simon Gotch. Mance sums up his approach much more simply.

“LINE ’EM UP, I PUT ’EM DOWN!”— Mance Warner

At ULTRA, Jonathan Gresham found out exactly how far Warner was willing to go to win. Mance used a low blow to defeat Gresham and capture the VICTORY RING Championship.

And winning wasn’t enough.

After the match, Warner and his wife Steph De Lander looked to continue the assault. Screwdriver in hand, Mance was ready to do even more damage to the fallen former champion when someone stepped in:

Ryan Rogan.

Their paths had officially crossed.

THE CHALLENGE IS ISSUED

After winning the championship, Mance Warner didn’t shy away from competition.

Quite the opposite.

He threw down the challenge to the entire VICTORY RING locker room.

“ANY OF THE BOYS IN THE LOCKER ROOM THINK THEY CAN STOP ME? STEP ON UP! I KNOW YOU CAN’T!”— Mance Warner

Ryan Rogan stepped up.

And the Vagabond didn’t just ask for a championship match. He asked for something far more dangerous: No Disqualifications.

NO RULES

Think about what Ryan Rogan has asked for: Mance Warner has built his reputation on violence. He hits. He bites. He bleeds. A chair, something lying around ringside or even a screwdriver can quickly become a weapon in his hands. Rules have never meant much to Mance. He even likes to boast that he doesn’t know what they are.

At MAXIMUM, he won’t have to worry about them at all.

Ryan Rogan has willingly chosen to face Mance Warner in the kind of fight where the champion may be at his most dangerous.

Confidence? Courage? Insanity? Probably a bit of the three.

But it’s also a statement. Ryan Rogan isn’t asking anyone to hand him anything. He isn’t looking for an easy way out. After defeating Simon Gotch, he wants to look the man at the top straight in the eye and find out just how far he can go.

And Mance Warner has absolutely no intention of making that journey easy.

FOR ONE, THE BEGINNING. FOR THE OTHER, THE CULMINATION.

For Mance Warner, MAXIMUM is supposed to be just another step forward. He has just captured the VICTORY RING Championship, he continues to collect gold, and he has challenged the entire locker room with absolute confidence that nobody can stop him.

In his mind, Ryan Rogan isn’t the end of the story.

“THIS REIGN'S JUST BEGUN AND I AIN’T DONE YET.”— Mance Warner

For Rogan, this match means something entirely different. Behind him are years of work, frustration, mistakes and questions about whether he could ever reach the level he has spent his career chasing.

And it would be difficult to imagine an opponent who embodies that level better than Mance Warner: recognition, international success, major stages and championship gold.

Mance Warner already has what Ryan Rogan has spent years chasing.

But after ULTRA, Ryan may no longer be just a man dreaming of reaching that level. For the first time, he has the kind of victory that gives him every reason to believe he is ready.

And he has left no doubt about what he intends to do next.

“I WILL BE THE NEXT VICTORY RING HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!”— Ryan Rogan

On September 19 at MAXIMUM, Ryan Rogan gets the chance to make good on those words. The question remains: what if this is finally the Vagabond's night?