411’s Buy or Sell 10.17.08: The First SHIMMER Tag Champions, The Global Guantlet in CHIKARA, Title Changes in FIP, and More!!

Welcome everyone to WEEK Seventy Eight 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.

Week Seventy Eight’s Match-Up:

Celebrating 200 Issues of Fact or Fiction by Doing Buy or Sell – Larry Csonka
vs.
The Best of whatever we have left- Alex Mattis!

Despite being the most known team, “The International Home Wrecking Crew” of Rain & Jetta will not be the first SHIMMER Tag Champions.

Larry Csonka : BUY. Yeah, I have to buy this. I will freely admit that I am not sure who will win the tournament; money right now would be on the Experience since they have been a force since the beginning. If Lacey were still around I would say that The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew would have been the favorites because they were such a great act. The International Home Wrecking Crew is a good team, and Jetta has done a good job as part of the team. I won’t say that she has “replaced” Lacey, but she had done an excellent job of filling the void and I am enjoying the new paring. I am excited as a fan of SHIMMER to see that they are crowning their first ever tag team champions. They have a smart business model and as someone that has volumes 1-18, this is an important step for them to take. I really wish that they were doing a tournament to crown the champions, but I am willing to give this a shot.

Alex Mattis : SELL. I’ll bite here. Rain has been a staple of SHIMMER for quite sometime, as has the “Wrecking Home” team. In this case it’s just a different crew. I have been pretty impressed with what I have seen with Jetta thus far, but like Larry said that’s not say she has replaced Lacey. Whatever the case I for some reason am seeing this tandem takin’ home the straps.

0 for 1.

Sara Del Rey will get a SHIMMER Title rematch this weekend at the tapings.

Larry Csonka : BUY. I buy this and I think that it needs to happen. SHIMMER will either roll on with MsChif as the champion, and if that is the case she needs to get another victory over Del Rey to cement her status; or they will try to build an epic feud and maybe full the title switch back to Del Rey, and move onto a final match so to speak. From there they can either stay with MsChif, or go back to Del Rey, who they seemed to be building the promotion around since day one. And that brings us to another point of argument, who is the best person to lead the company as champion right now? I ask because while SHIMMER is great and sure they have a great business model, some of these ladies may want more. With Del Rey I think that there is a chance that she could eventually be gone, not so much to WWE but likely TNA eventually. I would LOVE to see MsChif in TNA, but with her being over 30, having a real job as a biologist and with her laundry list of injuries; I am not so sure that she would be signed. I think that the SHIMMER environment is perfect for her, and I think she has some legs as (as torn up as they are) as the champion.

Alex Mattis : BUY. As much as I’d like to think they’d save this showdown for somewhere down the road, I have to agree with my counterpart here. SHIMMER needs to have to this match happen if they are intent on keeping the strap on MsChif. Another win over Sara would really show that Chif is the top dog in the promotion. I think if, and when, this match was to happen over the weekend, MsChif would retain the title as I feel the company’s focus is now being shifted to her. Del Rey could still be a big player in the company, but not its focal point anymore.

1 for 2.

Despite being FIP Heritage Champion for a year, Sal Rinauro was a failure as champion.

Larry Csonka : BUY. Failure is maybe too strong of a word, but in my opinion I don’t think it upped his stock any. To me he won the title in November of last year, did fine in FIP, had a so-so record in ROH (where most expected him to prosper) and then the highlight of his year, as far as exposure was dying on Impact at the hands of Matt Morgan. I haven’t seen any improvement as far as his in ring performance, and as far as him holding the title for a year, there was no buzz. Hell, I forgot he was the FIP Heritage Champion. I think the sad thing is that nothing came from this. He defeated Erick Stevens, a guy booker well in FIP and ROH; and then…? Exactly.

Alex Mattis : SELL. I am with Larry on this one, “failure” may be too strong of a word. With that being said, I don’t feel that the year long title reign for Sal did anything for him or for the FIP Heritage Championship. It was very forgettable at times that he was the champ, and that’s not a good thing to say about someone who had a year long title reign. He had some good wins over some game opponents but at the end of it all I just don’t think anyone bought in or cared.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Go Shiozaki will not be the FIP World Heavyweight Champion going into 2009.

Alex Mattis : BUY. While I appreciated the desire to get Go over and for him to fulfill his goal of being a champion I don’t see this title reign lasting through ’09. I think Go still has some worth-while title defenses in him and some good matches to deliver but I wouldn’t be surprised for him to drop the belt to an FIP veteran before the holiday season arrives. After all I have viewed Go’s stint in ROH/FIP similar to that of Shingo last year. Come in, make some what of an impact, and deliver some good work, exit.

Larry Csonka : SELL. After three consecutive buys, I will finally sell a topic. Short and to the point Gabe seems to love Go and appears to have big plans for him. I think that includes a lengthy FIP title run, which should last into 2009. From there I figure he gets some more top spot time in ROH.

2 for 4.

CHIKARA’s team will win the Global Gauntlet over Big-Japan Pro Wrestling.

Alex Mattis : BUY. And why not? Their hostin’ this shit so I think they should get the nod. Just like with the CZW-ROH feud, the WCW-NJPW, etc. worked out. This two-day event should be filled with some great, interesting match ups. I’m personally looking forward to seeing how the Quack-Ito showdown turns out. I can see BJW pulling out some W’s over the weekend, but when it comes down to the grand “Global Gauntlet 7 Vs. 7” finish I see CHIKARA pulling out the win for their promotion.

Larry Csonka : SELL. First of all I don’t have a ton to explain here. I think that Quack is an unselfish booker, and that Big Japan goes over, likely due to Quack doing the final job. It is just a feeling. To me this sounds like a cool event, and makes me with I lived in PA still. So for those that have NO CLUE what this is all about, lets let LF Chikarason explain.

Back in July, CHIKARA issued a challenge to a dozen promotions from around the world – and Big Japan Wrestling answered the call! On October 18th and 19th, both Easton and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will get a taste of BJW action as the company’s stars clash with CHIKARA’s finest in a 2-day event unlike anything we’ve ever staged before! Today, we are thrilled to announce that the team captain for Big Japan Wrestling – none other than Ryuji Ito himself has chosen CHIKARA’s team captain, “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush to face him in Easton!

Together, CHIKARA and Big Japan Wrestling will present the Global Gauntlet, which starts in Easton with a “Best of 5” series of singles matches. This first competition will see 5 of the 7 members of Team Big Japan face off, one-on-one, with 5 members of the CHIKARA roster. To level the playing field between the two nights, we’re making these provisions regarding the action on Night 1:
-The “Best of 5 series” will be officiated by a referee from CHIKARA.
-The BJW wrestlers will handpick their opponents for the 5 matches.

Then, on Night 2 (in Philly), we’ll offer up a giant 7 vs. 7 winner-stays-on gauntlet match, pitting all the members of Team BJW against a team put together by CHIKARA. The following provisions will govern this match:
-The Gauntlet match will be officiated by a referee from BJW.
-The BJW team will determine the order of entry into the match first, CHIKARA will then determine the order of entry for their participants, ordered by the respective team captains (Ito & Quackenbush).

This sounds fun as hell, and this will be a DVD purchase for the Csonka house.

2 for 5.

Much like CHIKARA talent Hallowicked and Quackenbush, The Osirian Portal and Cheech & Cloudy will not last long in Ring of Honor.

Alex Mattis : BUY …Buy-ish? Cheech and Cloudy already had a spot in ROH, for those of us that remember. Back in the days of Special K. How did that get over? I have no idea, some fans ate it up but I absolutely hated it! Anyway… I think the (temporary) addition of these two teams is just like when Quack and Hallowicked were brought into the mix, it’s in attempt to mix things up and show that ROH like to circulate talent from all over. I don’t expect either to stick around too long.

Larry Csonka : BUY . Unfortunately I will buy this one. Cheech and Cloudy have had a shot in ROH, working on the pre-shows and on the main roster as Lacey’s Angels at one point. But then they disappeared, and have become a main stay in CHIKARA. While I was not a huge fan of Cheech and Cloudy, I won’t lie and say that I am, I think that they have improved and could be a breath of fresh air in ROH in their latest stint. The Osirian Portal are just wacky and awesome, seriously, I will pay money to see these guys. And while ROH has had its share of wackiness in the past, I just have this feeling that they won’t jell into ROH for one reason or another. I think that this breath of fresh air in the tag team division won’t last long, and that’s a shame.

3 for 6!

The Seventy Eighth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 3 for 6. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.