Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

Rob Conway is following the mantra of his former World Wrestling Entertainment character.

He really is doing it the Con-Way.

In this case, that means not rushing back into a full-time grappling schedule after being released last May from his WWE contract. Conway deserves a break. He spent four years on WWE's main roster, wrestling in 11 countries and every U.S. state except Montana. Conway also worked sporadically as "enhancement talent" on WWE telecasts from 2000 to 2003 while honing his skills in the promotion's Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory.

"I've gotten to recharge my batteries," Conway said last week in a telephone interview. "That's why I haven't tried going back there or to TNA (Wrestling). I'm still not ready to wrestle four or five times a week."

Conway, though, isn't letting his talents go to waste. Already making regular weekend appearances for independent promotions, Conway will be one of the flagship stars for the "NWA Wrestling Showcase" set to debut Wednesday on Dish Network's Colours Television.

The hour-long show will feature promising young NWA talent mixed with former WWE performers like Conway and Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore. Conway's first goal is a lofty one: Winning the NWA title from champion "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce.

"I've done a lot more TV (work) than a lot of the NWA's people, but this should give me a little more freedom," said Conway, referring to the rigid nature of WWE's television scripts. "This is a lot more of a wrestling program than a sports entertainment show."

Conway made a quick impact upon his WWE debut in 2003. Dressed as a U.S. soldier in the crowd, Conway was brought into the ring by The Dudleys after being chastised by their French rivals La Resistance. Conway immediately turned on The Dudleys and began teaming with Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier.

Conway enjoyed three different WWE tag-team title runs with La Resistance, the last ending in February 2005 when he and Grenier lost the belts to Tajiri and William Regal. La Resistance's other two title reigns came after victories against current WWE world champion Adam "Edge" Copeland and the late Chris Benoit.

"The company had the trust in us to make us head of the tag-team division at a time when it was pretty decent," Conway said.

When the pairing with Grenier had run its course, Conway was repackaged in July 2005 with a Village People-style mustache as "The Con-Man." Conway was pushed as an arrogant heel with victories over WWE legends like Greg Valentine, Koko B. Ware and Doink the Clown.

There was one major problem: Conway's wins were only airing on WWE Heat, which was drawing a fraction of the audience that watches Raw and Smackdown. Conway didn't receive the same special treatment on Raw. A loss to Ric Flair in late 2005 started a long losing streak and sealed his character's fate.

"Flair had the Intercontinental championship and was getting ready to start a (feud) with Triple H," Conway said. "Neither guy needed that championship, so it was the perfect time to cheat and beat the ultimate legend and let go his own way. But when I lost that match, it was kind of like, 'We're not going to use this character any more.'

"If your gimmick is being a cocky guy telling people how good you are, you ultimately have to have something so you can say, 'I've been telling you people how great I am. Look at my championship.' At that point, you can get beat up every match but somehow get disqualified or win by cheating.

"The ultimate goal as a heel is to leave a match and have people saying, 'Hey, you got your (butt) kicked,' so you can say, 'Yeah, but I still have the belt.'"

Conway's slump culminated on January 1, 2007 when he promised to quit Raw if he lost an Intercontinental title match to Jeff Hardy. Conway was pinned in 21 seconds, leading to his in-ring "firing" by WWE owner Vince McMahon.

While that dismissal was part of the storyline, it proved a harbinger of things to come. Conway made only one more WWE appearance over the next five months before being released.

Conway, though, has no hard feelings about how his WWE tenure ended.

"In the short term, I was a little numb thinking, 'What am I going to do now,'" said Conway, 33. "In the long term it became a relief. In hindsight, I can't believe I traveled and wrestled as much as I did."

A former small-college basketball player, Conway arrived at the OVW training school outside Louisville, Ky. thinking he would need just six months to reach WWE's main roster.

Try six years.

"I was really naive to think I would learn a few moves, get some gear and then be on television with The Rock," Conway said. "As soon as I started, I immediately knew this is what I wanted to do. But I also knew it might take a little longer than I thought."

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service.)