wrestling / Columns
411’s Buy or Sell 3.04.11: Looking at ROH’s 9th Anniversary, Adam Pearce as NWA Champion, LAX in ROH, More
Welcome everyone to Week 196 of BUY or SELL. For those of you who haven’t been with us since the beginning, here’s the Reader’s Digest version of what this column is all about. BUY or SELL is very much like 411’s long-running Fact or Fiction column. The main difference is that BUY or SELL focuses on topics like the U.S. Independent scene, Lucha Libre, Japanese Wrestling and pretty much anything else that isn’t mainstream wrestling (WWE and/or TNA). This allows for these areas to get a bit more press and for you, our loyal readers, to learn even more about the sport of professional wrestling.
Ari Berenstein: BUY – It still says a lot about ROH that at its “worst” they still provide a good product based on in-ring wrestling action and logical wrestling storylines, because that is exactly what this show was: good. The bottom line is one of their iPPVs has to be ranked as the lowest one and it’s this one for two particular reasons: the lack of a major “Match of the Year” caliber match on the card (Daniels / Edwards and Briscoes / Haas & Benjamin come the closest), which most if not all of the previous iPPVs have produced; the lack of a major storyline development (whether or not it is hailed or criticized), which has also happened on all of the previous iPPVs. Even though I disliked the main event to Final Battle 2009, there were still a few “great” wrestling matches and multiple important and praiseworthy storyline developments. This…was just a good wrestling show, nothing more, nothing less. It’s just that Ring of Honor has a reputation of delivering not just “good”, but “great” wrestling, and this one was good, but not great. That said, the show was absolutely worth purchasing for the fifteen dollar price point and I was satisfied for having made the purchase.
Greg DeMarco: SELL – The Big Bang had a horrible final match, and Final Battle 2009 had an ill-advised 1 hour time limit draw that saw Austin Aries run for the majority of the match. The 9th Anniversary Show’s stinker was the ROH World Championship match between Roderick Strong and Homicide, and it was positioned very well. It’s like Delirious knew the match wouldn’t click… But that stinker smelled a lot better than the aforementioned matches that were main events. I would rate it 4th or 5th on the list. Not the best, but not the worst. Still, for the price ROH charges, you can’t beat it.
0 for 1.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – And it doesn’t matter. Final Battle 2010 had a better & longer build, and more promotion. But even if they don’t reach the 1900 buys that Final Battle got, ROH still makes money. April’s events in Atlanta may suffer the same fate for a different reason—most of their buying audience might be in attendance. That’s the glory of this model, it would take a disaster to lose money on it.
Ari Berenstein: BUY – For the very same reasons I outlined in the previous comment. Final Battle 2010 had been built up to for an entire year and was a “must-see” for the Strong-Richards title match, The Briscoe Family six-man tag against The Kings of Wrestling and the end to the Steen / Generico feud. No surprise it was the most ordered internet Pay Per View in the series. On the other hand, 9th Anniversary Show was a way-station Pay Per View and didn’t have much in the way of “must-see” for the curious or new customer to buy into the show, aside from the dream tag between The Briscoes and Haas & Benjamin. That said, I don’t think the drop will be by much, because I think hardcore fans did end up ultimately deciding to buy, but perhaps those on the bubble who bought in for the last one didn’t do so this time around.
1 for 2.
Ari Berenstein: SELL – I’m not a fan of excessive referee bumps or manager involvement (and there seemed to be more than usual for both on this iPPV) but this was a “Barrio Street Fight”, which meant a no-disqualification match. Truth and Michael Elgin’s involvement wasn’t just allowed, but encouraged. Now, if we were to look at this from a kayfabe perspective, sure, Strong is a “better” wrestler than Homicide because of his speed and impact moves and didn’t “need” his manager or his grunt to get the job done.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – I don’t have a problem with minimal Truth Martini and Michael Elgin involvement, but I felt like Roderick needed a stronger (no pun intended, I swear!) win over Homicide. I wouldn’t care of weapons were involved in the finish, as long as it was all Strong. I would have rather Roddy used the rules to his advantage in a 1 on 1 environment to defeat Homicide.
1 for 3.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – The best decision Delirious made was putting Strong-‘Cide in the 4th position. The second best decision he made was making Hass/Benjamin-Briscoes the main event. In the grand scheme of things, this match had the biggest impact on future storylines in giving Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team a title shot at the Kings of Wrestling in Atlanta and teasing a new edge for the Briscoes. Going in I didn’t expect this match to go on last, but I’m glad it did.
Ari Berenstein: BUY – It was clear the top two title matches weren’t convincing title switch situations and both were shifted down the card for that reason. The Briscoes versus Haas and Benjamin pitted two popular teams against each other for the first time ever, thus ensuring good crowd reactions and a babyface team winning at the end to send the fans home happy. That’s exactly what happened as they put on a very good main event, put the focus on competition and satisfied both the live audience and those watching at home. It was a smart call and the right choice to put this on last.
2 for 4.
Ari Berenstein: SELL – I don’t think Daniels dropping the TV Title to Edwards was in the plans at all, and even if they had gone the five minute overtime session Daniels would have either won or wrestled to another draw. It’s not that either loses out on this situation mind you—both will be in main event title matches within the next month (Edwards on 3/19 in NYC, Daniels on 4/1 in Atlanta). A draw also keeps open the possibility for another rematch down the line (hey, they’ve gone three-for-three in terms of great matches so one more would be just fine by me), although it’s also quite clear that Mike Bennett is being groomed for a championship position and they will switch the belt to him when they feel like he is ready for it.
Greg DeMarco: SELL – I originally wanted to buy this statement. But the more I think about it, it doesn’t make sense for Edwards to go over. I have a feeling it would have been a draw regardless, just a draw that was 5 minutes longer. It sets up a third match in their current competitive feud, and their fourth overall. Both men also have World Title shots coming up, and a draw helps both of them as they head down that road.
3 for 5.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – Richards already announced that if he loses in his next title opportunity, it will be his last. I think things are setting up Richards’s next title match in Toronto, likely at Death Before Dishonor on iPPV. I think Davey might get the better of Roddy in non-title situations all along the way, and when the title is on the line again, Richards will finally be slotted as ROH’s top star.
Ari Berenstein: SELL – That one result doesn’t necessarily indicate that Richards will be the next champion—after all, Christopher Daniels has a recent pinfall victory against Strong. That may or may not have any bearing at all on what happens during his 4/1 title match. No, what is indicative to me that Richards will be champion at some point is the overarching story they are telling about his journey to a rematch against Strong. He is working from the bottom all the way back up to a title shot and he is “learning new skills” to put to use in that match. That seems like a full-circle storyline where winning the belt is the obvious and logical terminus. Richards is the top talent in the promotion (and he proves it every time out in the ring) and he will eventually win the ROH World Title if he sticks around with the promotion, but just because he won a six-man tag doesn’t directly tell you he’s winning the title.
3 for 6.
Ari Berenstein: SELL Not after the Kings of Wrestling versus Motor City Machine Guns debacle from last year. It’s hard to put faith that TNA wouldn’t pull another political maneuver and demand that Hernandez not lose in his ROH appearance. They prevented a clean finish to the Machine Guns title match and that did not make anyone happy, especially the fans. A non-title match here gives fans a special attraction match without the expectation that any outside politics will negatively influence its’ actual execution and completion.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – I don’t know about LAX’s availability for a rematch, which would be a great bit of booking of LAX wins the non-title match. But with Homicide not being under contract, it would have been possible to let Homicide take the fall with Hernandez stuck on the floor, thus protecting TNA’s property. I thought LAX was booked too strong in their first ROH appearance, and I think they should be used to put the Kings over in a title match.
3 for 7.
And now for something completely different…
Greg DeMarco: SELL – Another spot where I want to buy, but I just can’t. Adam Pearce is stale as the NWA World Champion, but the NWA as a whole is stale. The only person I’d like to see win the title from Pearce is currently aligned with him in NWA storylines and that’s Austin Aries. And (as you’ll see below), no one really knows what the future holds for Aries.
Ari Berenstein: SELL – Reading up on this event, it seems that this match will be the blow-off of a seven-month feud in the NWA Hollywood promotion between Cabana and Pearce. Hostilities have run high, Pearce has gotten the better of the issue constantly and it has been stated that this will be their last match against one another in the promotion. Traditionally, all of that would indicate the babyface goes over in this final match, but really, who can put any faith in traditional, tried-and-true professional wrestling booking these days? I mean, even if the initials on the marquee are “N.W.A.”, I can see there being some sort of tricky, sneaky ending where Pearce pulls the wool over the ref’s eyes and takes out Cabana to retain the title. What can you say? There is no justice in Hollywood.
4 for 8.
Ari Berenstein: SELL – It’s difficult to tell if the likes of CM Punk, DanielBryanDanielson and Evan Bourne (f.k.a. Matt Sydal) are the exceptions to the rule or those that have proven there is no hard-and-fast rule about what it takes to break the glass ceiling in professional wrestling. There have been as many independent stars that have flamed out in WWE as there are who have persevered and “made it”. Some have failed because they were never given a fair chance and others took their ball and went home instead of persevering through difficult times (I’m thinking of a certain diminutive ass-kicking machine from my hometown here…). There are more in-line waiting to try their luck (Seth Rollins, f.k.a. Tyler Black, here’s looking at you).
However, even those with the “right” size, age and those not bred from the independents have to endure through the current model of usage employed by WWE. Heck, Dolph Ziggler previously portrayed a male-cheerleader, a golf-caddy and then he still had to have the patience to make it with his current gimmick. He showed he could go in the ring and was given higher profile matches and eventually the main-event position on Smackdown. Now where has ended up? He has been “fired” and is off-screen just in time for Wrestlemania (traditionally a wrestler’s biggest pay date). It is not easy in the professional wrestling industry and there are rarely guarantees from one day to next for anyone about how they will be used by promotions and if they will be successful.
I think “Tough Enough” was a tough gig to land in the first place, given the balance between providing a reality show touch that fulfills what USA Network was looking for and the same for WWE. Austin Aries and Joey Ryan and several others made it far into the selection process, but didn’t make the final cut. However, Matt Cross, who is thirty years old and small, short (but muscular) and a high-flier—all factors one would think would work against him—made it onto the show, as did some other independent wrestlers. Size and age aren’t the be-all, end-all of making it to WWE. Being small or older (and Aries and Ryan are certainly not the latter) makes it more difficult, but it’s not impossible.
Greg DeMarco: BUY – If Austin Aries was bigger, he would have been a star in the WWE a long time ago. Now that they’re more open to a smaller wrestler, Aries is 32 years old and will always be edged out by someone younger. The guy just can’t win. Sure, CM Punk isn’t the biggest WWE Superstar, but he’s 6’1″ and over 220 lbs. Aries is 5’9″ (maybe) and billed at 202 lbs (although he himself has said he lives closer to 185). In a perfect world, the WWE should still feature a Cruiserweight Championship, as Evan Bourne, Daniel Bryan and Austin Aries could have one hell of a series of matches for that title. Even if it would play out on Superstars!
4 for 9.
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The 196th edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 9 as Ari and I just can’t seem to get along. Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!, and be sure to share your answers to this week’s questions in the comments section.
