wrestling / Columns
411’s Buy or Sell 12.10.10: CHIKARA Wraps up Season Nine, RoH TV Tapings, Kings on Double (Even Triple) Duty This Weekend, and More!!!
Welcome everyone to Week 184 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.
Kevin Ford: SELL. I say this every time, but I’ll say it once more; I am completely inept to the Japanese wrestling world, save for Dragon Gate. With that said, it’s not unsurprising for a challenger to “soundly” beat the champion and come up short in the title match. I guess it’s a bit surprising when you consider Sugiura’s been the champion for over a year and Morishima is looking in better shape these days, but it’s also possible that they’re saving a title switch for a rubber match.
Michael Bauer : SELL. By that logic, it should be a surprise that the Kings of Wrestling didn’t win the GHC Heavyweight Tag Titles. But it isn’t. The Kings were on a roll for the entire tour, but didn’t win the titles. Morishima also was on a nice little roll, including a big win in a tag match earlier in the tour, but like the Kings, he didn’t win the title. I think it is more of NOAH being behind Sugiura than just flipping the title to someone they used to have a lot of faith in.
1 for 1.
Michael Bauer : SELL. I will parlay this with the next question, but I think that the mighty Tursas first defeat in singles competition should come much, much closer to the end of the BDK storyline. Assuming that this won’t end under the end of season 10 next year, I would think that the big man stays undefeated for just a bit longer. However, if he is defeated, you can bet your ass that it will not be a clean victory.
Kevin Ford: BUY. He beat him once in the Cibernetico, and he can beat him again in singles competition. Kingston has been primed all season long to be the one to slay Tursas at the end of the season. Their first singles match (also in Reading, like the season finale) ended with interference. Since CHIKARA has such foresight with storylines, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Kingston unseating the big man in singles competition was their plan all along. Besides, Kingston put down Christopher Daniels and Homicide. He can handle it.
1 for 2.
Kevin Ford: BUY. I think it’s funny that a lot of people assumed that the BDK story would last one season, when the equally large Kings of Wrestling stable lasted three seasons (not in the same incarnation, but I digress). I expect the BDK to look a lot different in 2011, with many members being booted out or leaving the group to pursue other interests. In fact, I think a few groups will change this year. Regardless, I do expect the BDK to be around in some fashion as CHIKARA progresses into 2011.
Michael Bauer : BUY. Now, I will continue my thoughts from the previous question here. With Tursas remaining undefeated, even if the team of Ares and Claduio lose the Campeon de Parejas on Sunday, I don’t think they can just run and hide with their tails between their legs. They still have Haze and Del Rey accumulating points, they still would have an undefeated monster, and they still would have a lot of unfinished business with Ultramantis Black. You definitely can’t pull the plug on them yet.
2 for 3.
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Michael Bauer : BUY . I buy this and I’d buy it all over again. Yes, there will be no hype for the TV tapings themselves, but think of the hype for when the show actually airs. Also, keep in mind that Cary didn’t bring Charlie and Shelton around to do singles matches and he didn’t bring them back to face totally random jobber teams like Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly. Since they face The All Night Express on Saturday’s tapings, the only possible combination left is to put them against The Briscoe Brothers. Think of this as a huge test for the Briscoes before getting one last shot at Hero and Claudio, probably at the next iPPV in February.
Kevin Ford: SELL. I sure as heck hope not. Why would you not advertise this match? I don’t see the benefit. This is a huge dream match ROH can hype for months. It would be silly of them to give away such a match without using it to draw in more ticket sales. I honestly think this is better served for a house show so they could sell more tickets (for higher prices!) and DVD’s based off that match alone. If they do this match with no build, I’d be disappointed.
2 for 4.
Kevin Ford: SELL. I’m not disagreeing the point that the KoW are one of the top tag teams to day. Why though does them being booked on both the ROH and PWG shows prove this? If we’re using that logic, then Roderick Strong is the best singles wrestler in the world. You could use many arguments to say that Hero & Claudio are the best tag team today, but the fact that they’re booked for ROH and PWG in the same weekend is hardly a logical reason.
Michael Bauer : BUY. This is no debate that the Kings are quite possibly the best tag team in the world today, even counting teams in the WWE or TNA. But what truly makes them great is that you will never see a bad performance from this team, regardless of the conditions. Now, take a team that will be Louisville at 7:30 Eastern for Ring of Honor’s tapings (almost guaranteed to be part of first set of three tapings) and they have their match. They then need to leave immediately, get on a plane and fly for about three hours, which includes a stop in between, and land in Los Angeles. Then they need to get to the arena in time for the main event and put on another great performance. No offense to Strong (who is doing the same thing), but I don’t think there is anyone else in this business who can do this and not miss a beat. That is why I am saying that this weekend will prove how good the Kings are.
2 for 5.
Michael Bauer : BUY. It’s totally logical, since both men returned on iPPV in shocking fashion and laid down the gauntlet, saying they were coming for the title. And honestly, none of the four possible scenarios seem all that bad. I still think they will save Homicide’s first title shot for New York and a later PPV, so I give the match to Daniels. Either way, the result will end up being three insane matches, two at Final Battle and the third in February.
Kevin Ford: BUY. I actually think ROH has set themselves up very nicely for the next iPPV. Pretty much any scenario they have will work. If Roderick wins and Homicide wins, you can have that title match and have it harken back to their confrontation at Glory By Honor. If Richards wins the belt and Daniels wins this match, you can do a killer rematch in the same town as their first encounter and can continue the iPPV continuity, since Daniels confronted Richards at “The Big Bang”. If Strong retains and Daniels wins, you can have a PPV caliber main event hyped as a rematch from November. If Richards wins the title and Homicide wins this match, you have a first time ever dream match on iPPV with Homicide’s first shot at the title since returning to the independents. So if the winner of this match does indeed face the champion coming out of Final Battle, the February iPPV will have a great title match no matter what the scenario.
3 for 6!!
The 184th edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 3 for 6 as we go 50/50 this week! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!
