411’s Buy or Sell 01.07.11: BxB Hulk to Face a Gauntlet, RoH’s Pick 6 Dissolved, Jeff Hardy and RVD Fail to Impress, More

Welcome everyone to Week 188 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.

Questions are sent out on Tuesday Night.

BxB Hulk will survive Jon Moxley’s Kamikaze USA Gauntlet and will leave the United Weekend still the Open the Freedom Gate Champion.

Michael Ornelas: SELL. I have thought for awhile that the next DG: USA OtFG Champion should be Jon Moxley. It’d feel obvious if Moxley was on the third night, but even on the second night, I can see him winning. Maybe have the group beat Hulk down after his match against YAMATO or even right before his match with Moxley. He’ll be proud enough to try and defend anyways, which will be his downfall, I believe. Akira Tozawa could also take the belt, as could YAMATO, which is what makes this gauntlet intriguing, but my money’s on Moxley. BxB Hulk’s been champion for a really long time, and I think it’s about time to go with the switch.

Ryan Byers : SELL. For those of you who haven’t heard the story, the gauntlet involves three different title defenses on three consecutive nights against three different opponents, namely John Moxley, YAMATO, and Akira Tozawa. BxB Hulk has had a decent run with the Freedom Gate championship now, but I think that hit’s time for him to drop it, and I have a pretty good feeling that he WILL drop it in his final matche of the series against Tozawa. Why Tozawa? I doubt Moxley’s getting the championship because, as I’ve said in the past in this column, the whole allure of DGUSA is seeing Japanese wrestlers live, and, though I understand they need US indy guys to fill out the cards, I don’t think that they should be made major focal points of the promotion. I don’t necessarily feel that YAMATO will get the belt, because he’s coming off a pretty good run with one of the major Japanese Dragon Gate championships in 2010, and the Freedom Gate would almost be a step down for him. Tozawa, meanwhile, is a younger Dragon Gate wrestler who really made a name for himself among US indy fans in 2010, not just in the American arm of Dragon Gate but also in appearances for PWG and CHIKARA. Giving him the Freedom Gate would be a good way to capitalize on that rise in popularity among American fans and also to bump him up in the eyes of Japanese fans for his return to that country on a more full-time basis, as happenings in DGUSA do make it overseas.

1 for 1.

At some point in 2011, Dragon Gate USA should some how get Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs feuding again.

Ryan Byers : SELL. I said it in response to question one, and I’ll say it in response to question two. People don’t want to see rehashes of Ring of Honor feuds in Dragon Gate USA. People go to Dragon Gate USA to see Dragon Gate wrestlers against Dragon Gate wrestlers, or, at the very least, Dragon Gate wrestlers in matches against Americans that they wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else. If Gabe Sapolsky wants to do another Jimmy Jacobs/Austin Aries feud (even though, in my mind, it’s been done to death), he should save it for EVOLVE, where at least they wouldn’t be detracting from something that would draw better, i.e. the Japanese wrestlers in DGUSA.

Michael Ornelas: SELL. Why? It’d just feel like Gabe is retreading old ideas. If it was a different booker, I’d (unfairly) say it was a good idea. But since Gabe is the man in control, I think it’d feel too recycled. Maybe give them a match or something, but a feud would feel old with the same booker. I like both men a lot, and I think the value in Aries in the promotion is to put him up against the Japanese talents.

2 for 2.

Ring of Honor needed to get rid of the Pick 6 Series, as they have seemingly done with Jay Briscoe and El Generico getting title shots.

Michael Ornelas: BUY. That is, the Pick 6 Series in the incarnation in which it was last seen. The concept was okay, but I think it got kind of boring. It delivered some great matches, don’t get me wrong, but an “exhibition match” or a “grudge match” feels like a bigger deal than a “Pick 6” match. I think they should do something that factors in half fan-voting and half management-voting to come up with a list of 6 contenders, and when someone loses their title match, they’re ineligible to be on the list for the next X weeks or months or shows. I don’t know, just pulling that off the top of my head, but I’m sure it’d be implemented better than TNA top ten rankings. Bottom line is that the Pick 6 wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

Ryan Byers : BUY. I never liked the Pick 6 series. In fact, I’ve never liked any attempt to create an “official” list of contenders in professional wrestling promotions, whether in Ring of Honor, TNA, or even WCW years ago with their ridiculous top ten rankings. I dislike the rankings systems because I don’t think that I’ve ever seen one used that didn’t, in some way, make the promotion look stupid after a while. Everybody always books themselves into corners with the things, creating unfortunate situations such as: 1) a wrestler is really over but can’t get a title shot because he’s not ranked well enough, 2) a wrestler is really over and he gets a title shot despite his ranking, making the rankings look like a joke, 3) wrestlers who are lower in the rankings getting title shots ahead of wrestlers who are higher in the rankings for no apparent reason, and 4) wrestlers appearing in the rankings for no good reason whatsoever. I’ve seen at least one of those flaws (and usually more) pop up every time that I’ve seen a wrestling company institute a ranking system, and, as much as we all like Ring of Honor, their bookers are not immune to the flaws of other bookers. That’s why Pick 6 needed to hit the bricks.

2 for 3.

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At some point before he cashes in his RoH World Title shot, Eddie Edwards will turn on Davey Richards.

Ryan Byers : SELL . Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see Eddie Edwards as ROH World Title material. Maybe my perception is warped because I’ve watched him as nothing more than a job guy in NOAH for so long, but, even though he’s a great performer in the ring, I see him as lacking a certain presence that most Ring of Honor champions have had in the past. Basically, he needs more of a personality, to show more fire. Because of this, I think he’s good for a one-off title match against his former partner but not an extended program or a championship reign. If you’re not doing a program and just booking one match between the American Wolves, I think it makes more sense to do it as a face-face match without the turn, as a heel turn should really be the genesis of a larger angle between two wrestlers.

Michael Ornelas: SELL. I don’t think they’ll turn on each other until halfway through a series of matches with one another (like the Guerrero/Mysterio feud of 2005, except Davey won’t claim to be “Papi”). It’ll prolong a feud, and give the fans a few chances to enjoy some face vs. face matches centered on competition and respect. And then Davey will get frustrated that he can’t beat Eddie (since they can easily have Edwards be the man that knows him so well, he can see what’s coming). Not saying for sure it’ll go down this way, but I personally don’t want to see them dislike one another (kayfabe) until after a few one on one encounters.

4 for 4.

As the only title change, Hiroshi Tanahashi winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was the most obvious result.

Michael Ornelas: SELL. I predicted Kojima to win that match. I don’t follow NJPW that much, but Kojima just won that MVP of the year award in Japanese wrestling, and usually having that man as champion is the smart move. Not saying I don’t agree with the booking decision they went with, since I said I don’t follow their product (not by choice, by the way), I just didn’t think it’d happen. The tag team titles were what I thought would change hands. Either way, no complaints here, but “obvious” isn’t what I’d call that result.

Ryan Byers : SELL. Actually, there were a lot of people (myself included) picking Satoshi Kojima to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title. There were a couple of reasons for this. The first is that it was just a couple of years ago that New Japan did the “outsider wins the IWGP belt and then loses it at WrestleKingdom” storyline, that time with Keiji Mutoh. Tanahashi winning here felt like too much of a rehash, so a lot of folks figured it wouldn’t happen. Also, Kojima’s former tag team partner in what was considered one of the absolute best teams in the early part of this decade, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, recently returned to the ring, and many figured that a win by Kojima here would be part of the build to a championship match between the former partners down the road. Tanahashi winning isn’t a total shock, because the guy is still considered the ace of the promotion, but it certainly didn’t feel like a lock.

5 for 5.

While involving outside promotions is a good move, the involvement of Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam hurt the overall Wrestle Kingdom 5 show.

Ryan Byers : SELL. I think that Hardy and Van Dam being booked for the show might have brought the in-ring quality of the card down because, as a result of their presence, more talented wrestlers like Kenny Omega and Koji Kanemoto had to be relegated to dark matches, while a couple of undercard bouts involving better wrestlers (particularly the tag title match and the lucha match) could have been given more time if not for the TNA boys. However, holding a card with the scope of WrestleKingdom isn’t just about having the best matches humanly possible. It’s about putting on a show that can honestly be called a spectacle, a la Wrestlemania. In Japan, the presence of big name outsiders is so important to building that spectacle that Hardy and Van Dam were a great addition to the show as big name foreigners who had not been to Japan for several years, regardless of the quality of matches in which they were going to be involved. Plus it’s not like the two of them stunk up the joint either, as I’ve been hearing solid reviews for both of their matches, especially Hardy giving a bit of a rub to Tetsuya Naito even though Hardy won the match in the end.

Michael Ornelas: SELL. Whether or not they set the world on fire in the ring isn’t exactly an issue here. Bringing in men who are former WWE Champions will draw almost anywhere in the world. They feel like a big deal and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were at least a few tickets sold just because of their names (perhaps American tourists in Japan or something?). They’re big names, so this question doesn’t really even need to be asked, I feel.

6 for 6!!

The 188th edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 6 for 6 as these two tend want to agree on everything! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!