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411’s Buy or Sell 12.31.10: Brodie Lee’s Future, The MVP of 2010?, 2011’s Breakout Star, More

December 31, 2010 | Posted by Michael Bauer

Welcome everyone to WEEK 187 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. This very much like 411’s long-running Fact or Fiction column. The main difference is that 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.

As promised, we have five of the best in 411 answering questions this week. Each writer has been asked to answer 10 questions. Six of them will be in the traditional Buy or Sell format with the other four being a simple question and answer. And here is the lineup:

411Wrestling’s CHIKARA Champion, Kevin Ford
Master of Mexican Wrestling Knowledge, Greg DeMarco
The Jack of all Trades in Japanese Wrestling, Ryan Byers
Column of Honor Writer and RoH Expert, Ari Berenstein

  • Brodie Lee will hold some sort of gold in either Dragon Gate or Dragon Gate USA in 2011.

    Kevin Ford: SELL. I think it’s obvious now that Dragon Gate (and CIMA in particular) has a love affair with Ricochet. I’m sure they dig Brodie Lee and what he does too, but I think Lee’s squash matches will likely lead to nothing more than either a big man battle against someone like Cyber Kong and him helping the WARRIORS take out Doi’s nameless faction as well. I don’t think gold is in the cards for him this year, but he’ll be a fantastic bodyguard for the WARRIORS group if that is indeed where he stays for 2011.

    Greg DeMarco : BUY. Given the championships that are available, an Open the Triangle Gate or even an Open the Owari Gate title run aren’t out of the question. There’s an outside shot at a run with the Open the United Gate championships. Personally, I could easily see him winning the Triangle Gate belts based an alliance with one of the DG stables in Japan.

    Ryan Byers : SELL. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of indy wrestling’s Big Rig, but I have a hard time seeing him holding gold in either branch of Dragon Gate. He’s a solid big man, but solid big men aren’t what DG books as the focal point of their promotion. It’s a small, flippy man’s world regardless of what side of the ocean you’re on. Brodie is more of a role player, the guy who comes in and presents a different style in small bursts so that fans don’t get completely burnt out on the fast-paced, high flying matches virtually everybody else is doing. If you look at wrestling history, guys like that will occasionally pick up championships, but it’s not something so common that I can say to certainty that Brodie will get a belt. If anything, given the role in the promotion that I just described, his best shot is probably at picking up the Open the Triangle Gate titles with a couple of guys who are more typical Dragon Gate wrestlers, though even that might not necessarily happen since he’s just started going over to Japan and we don’t know how exactly the audiences and the decision makers over there will take to him.

    Ari Berenstein : BUY. Dragon Gate USA booker Gabe Sapolsky has been mentioning frequently over the past week on Facebook about the big push both Brodie Lee and Ricochet have received on their first tour of Dragon Gate Japan. Don’t have to hit me over the head with a mallet to realize that there are big things in store for “The Big Rig” in 2011. I don’t expect it to be the DGUSA Freedom Gate singles title, but it wouldn’t be all that far a leap to predict that Lee could end up winning one of Dragon Gate’s various tag titles over the next twelve months. The Twin and Triangle Gate titles seem to change frequently enough and Lee being on a winning Warriors team for a title change isn’t that difficult to book, even if the title run is only so long as any given tour itinerary in Japan.

  • Heading into 2011, Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw are the most underrated team in Independent Wrestling.

    Greg DeMarco : BUY. QuackenSaw are a phenomenal tag team, one that I wish would be regularly featured in Ring of Honor. I know that politics stand in the way there, though. They’re a great student-teacher combination, where Jigsaw takes the risks and Quack beings the stability. Yet neither man is above taking risks, and both are well grounded. While the ROH tag team roster is strong, it’s not very deep. 5 teams: The Kings of Wrestling, Shelton Benjamin/Charlie Haas, The All Night Express, Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly, and possibly still The American Wolves. Chikara should be a great breeding ground for teams that ROH could pick from, since that’s the promotion’s specialty. QuackenSaw should be competing with those teams in ROH, as well as making regular PWG appearances.

    Ryan Byers : SELL. Don’t get me wrong, Quack n’ Jig are great at what they do. However, there are a couple of factors which prevent me from stating that they’re the most underrated tag team in independent wrestling. The first is that, though I love the majority of his CHIKARA work, Jigsaw was pretty much a flop when he tried to move up to Ring of Honor, and that has me questioning whether he would work in a bigger promotion again if given another opportunity. Granted, part of the problem with his ROH stint was that he was shoehorned into a role that he didn’t necessarily fit into, but he also wasn’t doing much to overcome it. In order for me to consider he or his team with Quackenbush to be underrated, I’d have to believe that they’re working at a lower level than what they deserve, and, given Jig’s past, I have some question about that. The other reason that I can’t buy this question is because I can think of at least two indy tag teams that are even more underrated. The first one is actually another CHIKARA duo: Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey. If you watch these two in promotions where they’re allowed to do fifteen and twenty minute matches, it’s hard to say that they’re not better than a ton of the men on the indy scene but yet they miss out on a lot of opportunities they could have otherwise just because of their genders. The second team that I think is more underrated is the duo of Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada, known in their home promotion of Osaka Pro as BLOOD AND GUTS. The two have gotten a handful of shots in Pro Wrestling NOAH as of late, but, otherwise, virtually nobody knows who they are despite the fact that they’re an incredibly solid little junior heavyweight tag team who get significantly less attention than Quackenbush and Jigsaw.

    Ari Berenstein : SELL. Quackenbush and Jigsaw are very much respected by CHIKARA fans and followers of DGUSA have also seen them perform well there. In particular, Quackenbush has been one of the more respected bookers / wrestlers / trainers on the independent scene for quite a while and Jigsaw has been in the spotlight with his 2007 run in ROH. My call for most underrated team is the Super Smash Brothers. Uno and Dos are about as solid and cohesive a team as it gets when it comes to look, chemistry and double teams. Dos has come such a long way since his spot-tastic days as Stupefied. He ruled the school in a match against Kevin Steen earlier in 2010 for Ring of Honor, while the SSB had a great series of bouts against The American Wolves and Kings of Wrestling where they held their own in contributing to the match against two teams that were considered the “elite” of the independent scene over the past several years. Yet, they are very irregularly booked for ROH and even in CHIKARA. What’s going on here? They have a unique gimmick and fans love them—someone get them on more shows in these independent promotions! Book them to win as well!

    Kevin Ford: SELL. The Osirian Portal and The Colony in my mind are two CHIKARA teams that are more underrated/underutilized than Quackenbush and Jigsaw. While Quack and Jigsaw may get the short end of the stick when it comes to other DGUSA teams, they certainly get enough love around the internet. Sure, they may not have people on their jocks like Cole & O’Reilly do (and I mean that as no offense to them, I dig those guys as well), but they certainly get credit.

  • New Japan’s WrestleKingdom V will feature a title change, but it will not involve any member of the TNA roster.

    Ryan Byers : BUY. There are only two opportunities for TNA talents to be involved in title changes at WrestleKingdom V. The first match is Beer Money getting an IWGP Tag Team Title shot against champions Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson in a three-way match which also involves Manabu Nakanishi & STRONG MAN. The second match is Jeff Hardy traveling overseas to defend his TNA World Heavyweight Title against one half of NO LIMIT, Tetsuya Naito. I don’t see Beer and Money leaving with the tag straps. It’s not because they aren’t well-liked in Japan, because everything I’ve heard about their reception in the country has been positive, and they’ve been given some major wins in their prior trips to NJPW. However, the team of Nakanishi & STRONG MAN has a pretty strong cult following right now which propelled them into a first place finish in the Tag Team of the Year category of the 2010 Tokyo Sports pro wrestling awards. As a result, I think that, if there is a tag title change, the straps are going to that duo. The only other possible title change would be Jeff Hardy losing the TNA Championship to Naito, and I think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening. First of all, part of me doubts that Hardy will even be able to get to Japan given his ongoing legal issues and the fact that he is reportedly getting ready to plead guilty to some drug charges. That sort of thing usually has a negative impact on your ability to travel overseas, especially to a country like Japan where drugs are much more vilified than they are in the United States. Even if he does wind up able to make the trip, Naito is a virtual unknown in the United States, and there’s no way that TNA would OK their primary championship going around his waist.

    Ari Berenstein : BUY. There are lots of title matches up and down this card, but the two clear possibilities for a switch in my mind are the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title match between champion Prince Devitt and challenger Kota Ibushi and the main event IWGP Heavyweight Title Match between champion Satoshi Kojima and challenger Hiroshi Tanahashi. Devitt has been a king of the junior division this past year, but at this point a title switch won’t hurt him at all and Ibushi is certainly talented and legitimate in minds of many Puro fans both in America and in Japan. He may be from the DDT promotion, but an inter-promotional title switch in Japan is hardly a rarity these days. Tanahashi is always a threat to win New Japan gold and while Kojima is going through somewhat of a career resurgence, a dramatic title switch is possible. No way Jeff Hardy loses the TNA Heavyweight Title to Naito though, even with his likely guilty plea to drug charges. Not gonna happen. Team 3-D already had a spell with IWGP gold and it doesn’t add to the title’s prestige if another TNA tag team wins the title, so no go on that one as well.

    Kevin Ford: BUY. Cuz why not? It’s a big show, and the homegrown talent is more reliable.

    Greg DeMarco : SELL. The three championship matches all look solid. While all three have the potential for change, all three also have the potential to retain. Beer Money joins IWGP Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson & Giant Bernard against Manabu Nakanishi & Strong Man, Prince Devitt defends the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi (this one has potential for change), and Satoshi Kojima defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against multi-time champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. While I’d call the chances of a title change in these 50/50, I hate pushes so I’m tipping the scale to 51 and going SELL.

  • Ring of Honor’s Champions vs All-Stars match, while a great move, will make the remainder of the Richmond show unwatchable.

    Ari Berenstein : SELL. Unwatchable? Nah. A weaker show than the one in Charlotte? That’s more probable. A one-match show? Yeah, I’d say so. Still, what a one-match. The Champions vs. All-Stars match is a winner of a concept for a Friday show (the first one of the New Year), echoing how ROH began 2010 with the eight-man tag at Wrestlereunion (Wolves & Kings vs. Briscoes & Bucks). I like that idea a lot and I think it will lead to more DVD sales than if the top talent were spread out over the rest of the show. As far as what’s left, while Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole are still new names on the independent scene, splitting them up into singles matches and giving them the opportunity to steal the show once again makes sense. Homicide vs. Rhett Titus has been announced just now and while it doesn’t necessarily ring my doorbell I’d imagine it will be no less than fine, certainly not “unwatchable”. Add in a Women of Honor match and one or two more matches to spotlight young talent (a Cabana vs. Andy Ridge rematch to go full circle with the latter’s trial series?) and ROH will have an equitable show, though obviously and purposefully heavily slanted towards the main-event and likely not nearly as stacked on paper as the Saturday January 15th, 2011 event in Charlotte, North Carolina.

    Kevin Ford: BUY. I said this to Ari Berenstein as soon as that match was announced. As a Virginia native, I can tell you there are a lot of guys on the scene who work really hard, have a good mind for the business, and certainly can put on at the very least a passable performance. However, the ROH fanbase is in no way interested in seeing them, nor do their matches translate well to the DVD product. With that said, the main event should be amazing, and the undercard should have enough stuff with ROH regulars like Cole and O’Reilly, Homicide, etc. to make it not a complete bumblefuck.

    Greg DeMarco : SELL. It’s very difficult in the current climate of ROH, with a reduced roster, to book your top 8 talents into one match on a Friday card. But I don’t know that it will make the undercard unwatchable. Rhett Titus vs. Homicide and Kenny King vs. Kyle O’Reilly have already been announced. That leaves Steve Corino, Colt Cabana, Mike Bennett, Adam Cole, Grizzly Redwood and The Bravado Brothers. That doesn’t exactly light the world on fire, but it’s not unwatchable either. It’s a great chance for some talent to get themselves established. ROH might be smart to kick off the new year by announcing that the main event is now an elimination style match, as we’d be looking at 7 falls, and a possible 45-minute plus match. That could allow them to only book 6 or 7 matches and still have a decent undercard.

    Ryan Byers : SELL. I think that it will be a MUCH weaker than usual undercard for ROH, but “unwatchable” is probably taking things a little bit too far. As of the time I’m writing this response, there are two announced undercard matches, the first being Homicide vs. Rhett Titus and the second being Kenny King vs. Kyle O’ Reilly. On paper, it doesn’t look like either of those are going to set the world on fire, but they’re also not going to stink up the joint and turn people off from the show. Currently announced for the show but not announced for specific matches are Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, Grizzly Redwood, Adam Cole, Mike Bennett, and the Bravado Brothers. In terms of name value, that’s an incredibly weak lineup, but Cabana and Corino will be able to do something entertaining in whatever matches they’re booked for, and I have a feeling that the rest of the bouts on the card will be kept on the shorter side in light of the fact that the main event is something that easily could (and probably should) go forty minutes or longer. It’s clearly a “one match card” in terms of things that people will actually buy the DVD to watch, but that doesn’t mean that the undercard will be actively bad.

  • At some point in 2011, a Japanese Championship will be defended in Ring of Honor, by a memeber of the RoH roster.

    Kevin Ford: SELL. It’s been almost two years at this point since we saw that happen. I think that ROH should just concentrate on their own titles and making them the most important commodities in the company. I fully support them bringing in Japanese talent, but I think they can keep the belts at home.

    Greg DeMarco : BUY. I’m playing the odds here. The current state of affairs in Japan coupled with the increased number of Japanese tours completed by ROH talent seems to lend itself to this possibility. Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong appear to be getting rave reviews for their trips to Japan. I could see the Kings of Wrestling or The American Wolves capturing tag team gold, Roddy or Davey bringing home Jr. Heavyweight Gold, or even Kenny Omega making an appearance in ROH in 2011 with a Japanese championship around his waist.

    Ryan Byers : SELL. In order to answer this question, the first thing that you have to look at is which members of the ROH roster are currently competing in Japan on a regular basis and at a level which would allow them to win championships. There aren’t nearly as many guys who fit that description as there were a couple of years ago. Roderick Strong, Eddie Edwards, Chris Hero, and Claudio Castagnoli are currently popping up in NOAH from tour to tour. Strong and Edwards aren’t pushed heavily enough to win anything other than the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles, and even that would a bit of a stretch. Even if they did win those belts, a title defense by the two in ROH wouldn’t make much sense given current storylines. The Kings of Wrestling could presumably win the heavyweight version of the GHC Tag belts, but they just had a shot at those titles in the past month, and you’d think that if NOAH was keen to make them champions it would have occurred then. In other promotions, you’ve got Davey Richards as a regular junior heavyweight with New Japan right now, and I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see him win the IWPG Jr. Heavyweight Title in 2011, but I don’t necessarily see him defending it in ROH just because there’s never been a particularly strong political alliance between Ring of Honor and NJPW. (In fact New Japan is currently affiliated with TNA, an ROH competitor.) The same would go for ROH’s Kenny Omega, who actually is one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions right now with partner Kota Ibushi. As such, unless a member of the ROH roster who currently isn’t a Japanese regular becomes one or unless an existing Japanese regular joins the ROH roster, I don’t see this one coming to pass.

    Ari Berenstein : TSELL. This statement pre-supposes that a member of the ROH roster will win gold in Japan. I don’t envision that happening, even though I do believe that wrestlers such as Davey Richards, The Kings of Wrestling and Delirious will end up with more Japan bookings in 2011. I also wouldn’t count Kenny Omega in regards to the “ROH roster”, since he hasn’t been a regular in the promotion for most of the past year.

  • Low Ki should be allowed to return to Ring of Honor full time in 2011 and he will.

    Kevin Ford: BUY. It would be so silly of ROH not to. I can ramble on any number of singles matches or tag matches with Homicide as his partner that I would absolutely love to see. As someone who’s only so-so with ROH at the moment, Low Ki would pique my interest for certain.

    Greg DeMarco :BUY. This question has two parts, and I’ll evaluate both separately.

    Low Ki should be allowed to return: If Low Ki is willing to put some people over to start, he could have an amazing start to his ROH return. Low Ki vs. Roderick Strong for the ROH World Championship? Buy. Low Ki vs. Davey Richards? Buy. Low Ki vs. Christopher Daniels rekindled in ROH? Buy. Low Ki vs. Kenny Omega? Buy. Low Ki vs. El Generico? Buy. Low Ki & Homicide vs. The Kings of Wrestling? Buy. Low Ki & Homicide vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin? Buy. Low Ki & Homicide vs. The American Wolves? Buy.

    And he will: “We would love to see the first ROH champion Low Ki back in an ROH ring!” This is a direct quote from ROH owner Cary Silkin (reported throughout the internet), and you have to think he’s got some pull, right?

    Ryan Byers : BUY. I have to admit that I’m probably not as well-versed in the past drama between Low Ki and ROH as I should be. I just know that there were some difficulties and that I’ve heard some vague rumors about Ki holding the promotion up for money, though I don’t know if that’s anywhere near true or not. However, if he had committed something which even approached being an unforgivable sin, I have a feeling that whatever he did would have received a hell of a lot more publicity than it has. Plus Ring of Honor is struggling for roster depth right now, particularly in the wake of the loss of Kevin Steen and the Necro Butcher and the fact that they’re relying more and more on guys who, as noted above, will at any given point in time be out of commission for several weeks on a Japanese tour. They need bodies and they need talented bodies, and Ki fits that bill as well as anybody. As such, I think the answer to “Should Low Ki be allowed to return to Ring of Honor?” is a resounding “Yes.” Now the question becomes whether he actually will. I would be surprised if he didn’t. First of all, there have been a couple of different regime changes since the man was last seen in Ring of Honor, so chances are good that a lot of people who he has heat with are out of power. Also, from Ki’s side of things, unless TNA is going to come calling (and I doubt they will), there’s no better place for him to earn money in the United States. Yes, he could and probably will become a regular in one of the Japanese promotions, but even then he will need to come back to this country periodically, and he’ll probably want to work when he does. As a result, I see ROH becoming his home once more.

    Ari Berenstein : BUY. Yeah, like I’m going to be so judgmental as to write something like “Yeah, Low Ki, you CAN’T come back to ROH. I won’t allow it.” RIGHT. Of course Low Ki should come back to Ring of Honor. Let’s face it; this is a mutual benefit situation. Ki needs ROH right now because it’s the best platform for him to wrestle his style of match and get himself over. TNA is a shambles right now and judging from his past experiences there he wouldn’t be used the way that he wants. The added visibility of ROH on HDNet will keep him in fans’ minds and may lend to him returning back to WWE in the future. ROH needs Ki because he adds to the drawing potential of their shows and they could always use more talent. As a founding father of the promotion, Ki would likely immediately be given a hero’s welcome from the fans. There are so many dream matches possible with Ki in the mix. Low Ki vs. Richards, Daniels, Strong, Hero, Generico and others would be insane. So will he show up in ROH this year? I’m betting he will be back.

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  • Ring of Honor ended 2010 with tons of momentum and is quite possibly the Independent Fed of the year. Do you agree that they are and who can seriously challenge them in 2011?

    Greg DeMarco : First off, I do agree the ROH was the indy fed of the year, after losing that title to Dragon Gate USA in 2009. The promotion that could seriously challenge them in 2011 is CHIKARA. With the continued possibility of Dragon Gate wrestlers appearing and the culmination of the BDK storyline, CHIKARA is primed to have their best year ever in 2011. But I think Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, Christopher Daniels, Homicide & possibly Low Ki all being on the ROH roster in 2011 trumps that.

    Ryan Byers : In the United States, I think ROH is unquestionably the independent promotion of the year. They’re the only indy company with a national television deal (no matter how few homes HDNet is in, it is technically national), they’re one of only a handful of indy companies that attempt internet pay per view, they consistently draw the largest indy crowds in the country, and, more than any other group, they’re the indy that a more casual wrestling fan is likely to be familiar with. I also don’t see anybody challenging them at any point in 2011. EVOLVE, Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and CHIKARA are their closet competition. However, EVOLVE, DGUSA, and PWG all have business models which focus on running a very small number of shows per year, and, though they can probably stay alive with those business models, they’re not going to grow very quickly, certainly not fast enough to challenge ROH within the next twelve months. CHIKARA runs a bit more frequently than any of the other three groups and has some unique ways of marketing itself, including its podcast and an upcoming video game, but they also have a fairly limited geographic scope of where they’re running and seem content to be a promotion which is primarily based in and remains in Philadelphia. I don’t see them trying to grow to challenge ROH, regardless of whether they could at this point. However, if you take the international scene into consideration, I think that there are a couple of indy groups who challenge ROH in terms of the size of their business, if not the quality of their products. I would consider Japanese indy groups Big Japan Wrestling and DDT (and possibly also ZERO1) to be the same size as ROH in terms of business, if not somewhat larger. Either one of them could easily be considered indy promotion of the year over Ring of Honor depending on your tastes and criteria, especially in light of the fact that DDT managed to put on one show which drew over 8,000 fans, which is a staggering feat for an indy group.

    Ari Berenstein : I absolutely agree that ROH was the independent fed of the year and full disclosure; I also voted them for fed of the year in the 411Mania Year-End Awards (you’ll have to wait and see if they won). 2010 was a huge comeback year for ROH, where more often than not they created must-see events, played out three huge stories throughout the entire year (Black’s title run, The Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling feud and the Generico vs. Kevin Steen feud) and had some of the best wrestling matches all year around. The difference between this year and last for ROH was consistency in their programs and more of an effort to have logical booking with less of an emphasis on run-ins and indecisive finishes (still present, but to a far lesser extent than in 2009). I loved the CHIKARA vs. BDK storyline and thoroughly enjoyed most of their DVDs and I think that DGUSA, EVOLVE and PWG more than held their own in producing quality independent wrestling. However, ROH matched up evenly in storytelling against CHIKARA and just edges them out in terms of great wrestling. ROH won the head-to-head competition against DGUSA during Wrestlemania weekend in terms of paid attendance and quality of shows. I think Gabe Sapolsky did a far better job this year compared to last in terms of building up relatable wrestlers and storylines (especially towards the end of the year), but in the end both DGUSA and EVOLVE are part-time promotions and ROH essentially out-produced them both in volume and quality. PWG may have at times out-gunned ROH in terms of in-ring action, but their lack of championship consistency in the singles division for most of the year (with Omega and Richards dropping the titles because they were unable to fulfill a longer term obligation to the promotion) hurts them in a promotion-to-promotion comparison with ROH. As well, there was a decided (and unfortunate) lack of buzz about PWG as compared to last year (even though they produced just as many great, must-own shows) while ROH only flourished in terms of advertisement and online presence.

    As far as who can challenge ROH in 2011, the answer remains the same as it has been for the last two years—all of the promotions I mentioned above. If CHIKARA, DGUSA, EVOLVE or PWG can get hot enough—finding the right combination of wrestlers for feuds, top of the line matches and great shows—then the pendulum will shift the other way and one of those promotions will wind up being considered the best independent promotion of that year.

    Kevin Ford: Nope. I thoroughly enjoyed the overall product CHIKARA, PWG, and Dragon Gate put on moreso than Ring of Honor. Granted, ROH had some awesome matches and shows, as well as my favorite feud of the year (Generico vs. Steen), but they also had a lot of tedious and dull moments as well. There are too many times in which I was apathetic towards the product this year for me to call it the best independent company. They do have a ton of momentum right now, and I am looking very forward to what they produce in the upcoming calendar year. As far as who can challenge them, I think any of the other top US independent companies could do it if they are able to outdo them in buzz and quality matches.

  • Everyone is pegging Davey Richards to be Ring of Honor World Champion in 2011. Give us one or two other title changes you think could happen that we probably won’t see coming..

    Ryan Byers : This is a hard one for me to answer because there are so few titles in the indies that mean something, and the majority of them are in Ring of Honor. I would suspect that, at some point this year, the All Night Express of Rhett Titus and Kenny King are finally going to get some gold and win that company’s Tag Team Titles, possibly off of the Briscoe brothers after they get a transitional reign by beating the Kings of Wrestling. I could also see one or more members of the American stable Ronin holding a championship in Dragon Gate USA, though not the Japanese arm of the company.

    Ari Berenstein : That “everyone” would include me by the way, but I guess we’ll see. As for some title changes in store around the independent scene that may come as a surprise, let’s go with Jimmy Jacobs winning the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate title from BxB Hulk. I think it’s clear that Jacobs is working his way up to contention, but I get the feeling that many wouldn’t expect him to win that match due to BxB’s upper card status in both the American and Japan branches of Dragon Gate. However, Jacobs’ win would be the surprise “feel-good” storyline for the middle of the year in DGUSA. I think a combination of the BDK (perhaps not Claudio & Ares) will take back the Campeones de Parejas very early into 2011, cheating their way to victory in Quackenbush & Jigsaw’s first or second title defense and demolishing the technicos as a sign of reasserting their power. Finally, let’s go with Top Gun Talwar to return and win the PWG Heavyweight Title sometime in 2011. HAH! They’ll never see that one coming-Chipotle!

    Kevin Ford: It wouldn’t shock me at all if Ricochet ended up winning the PWG Championship. That dude KILLED it in his first three matches in the company, and is already one of the most over guys they have right now. PWG capitalized on Kenny Omega and made him champion while people were going gaga for him, and I wouldn’t past PWG to do the same with Ricochet. While it’s not necessarily a championship, I can see Incoherence (Frightmare & Hallowicked) with UltraMantis Black winning King of Trios this year if they are indeed the tournament. Mantis is about due to get a major accomplishment in CHIKARA!

    Greg DeMarco : I fully expect The All Night Express to have a run with the ROH World Tag Team Championships in 2011, and wouldn’t be surprised to see Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin wear those titles either. I could also see Colt Cabana wearing the ROH World Television Championship in 2011. The one I think that could happen that we likely wouldn’t see coming? Chris Hero captures the ROH World Championship. ROH needs to have a surprise World Title change this year. Too many of their title changes have been choreographed. I would love a random Friday night World Championship match that sees Chris Hero leave, say, Boston with the ROH World Championship. Predictability isn’t always bad, but neither is unpredictability.

  • Taking every Indy company, including Japan, into account, who is the MVP of the Independent Wrestling scene in 2010?

    Ari Berenstein : Kevin Steen, bar none and without a doubt. Steen wasn’t just the best heel in Ring of Honor this past year and in all of independent wrestling, but he was also one of the industry’s most compelling characters. It has been years since someone has done the “maniacal psychotic” gimmick with the kind of verve and gusto Steen brought in his appearances for ROH this year. There was nothing he wouldn’t do and no line of decency he wouldn’t cross to be the kind of vile and villainous wrestler fans love to hate and can’t wait to see get their comeuppance. He kissed fans, he spat at people, he shed the blood of Generico, Cabana and others (then licked it and drank it—ewwwwww!), bullied jobbers and undercard wrestlers, laced them with chairs, chains, wrenches, barbed wire bats, ladders, threw people through tables and on and on. Dude freaking recreated his “headless Generico” T-shirt with Generico’s mask and Steve Corino’s blood. You name it, he did it. Steen not only dished it out, but he took some huge weapons shots and bumps as well. Steen did anything and everything he could to make the fans want to see what he did next, whether it was going to shows or buying DVDs with his matches and his brutal fights against Generico—and that to me, is what being the MVP of a wrestling promotion is all about.

    Kevin Ford: Claudio Castagnoli was the first name to come to mind. In every company he’s been in, he’s consistently having one of, if not the best match on the show or the sleeper match of the show. He does nothing but put in 100% every single time and it shows. The fact that this guy doesn’t get the amount of praise he deserves is borderline anger inducing. Most people know he’s good, but he’ is seriously one of the best in independent wrestling today.

    Greg DeMarco : Bryan Danielson. When he was released from the WWE, everyone went crazy for the possibility of him appearing on the indys again. Promotions agreed to pay him double what he was getting paid before, and the fans gave him a king’s welcome. There were very few indy wrestlers that could cause a serious spike in attendance for these smaller promotions, and Bryan Danielson was one that could. Just because his run was short doesn’t mean it wasn’t valuable. If he hadn’t been rehired before his 90-day no-compete clause even expired, he would have made the amazing return to ROH in 2010.

    Ryan Byers : Kevin Steen. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the single most talked about rivalry in all of independent wrestling this year was Kevin Steen vs. El Generico with supporting players Steve Corino on the heel side and Colt Cabana on the babyface side. It was heated, it produced some intense matches with a hell of a blowoff, and, if there were an objective way to measure this, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it was the program that got more people than any other to spend their hard-earned money on the product that Ring of Honor is producing. In order for me to call somebody an MVP, he’s going to have to be involved in that level of program. However, there might be some people who are asking why I’ve picked him and not Generico, Corino, or Cabana or at the very least a tie between Steen and one or more of those men. That’s because I’ve always felt that the wrestler who deserves the most credit for a hot feud working is not the best in-ring performer involved but rather the guy who did the best promos, the one who talked fans into believing that this was something important and something that was something worth investing their time and their cash in. In this feud, Steen was that guy. For putting on the best performance on the stick in the most successful feud of the year and for more than holding up his end of the bargain in the ring as well, Kevin Steen is an easy pick for my 2010 indy MVP.

  • Again, taking every Indy company, including Japan, into account, who do you see as the Breakout(s) and MVP of 2011?

    Kevin Ford: Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly have a huge opportunity to make 2011 their year. It’s only a matter of time before they take on the bigger names in Ring of Honor. When they do, I think those who haven’t already stood up and taken notice will fall in line. I also think Obariyon and Kodama from CHIKARA have a chance to really impress some people. They’ve already won me over, and they’ve had less than 5 matches as a team total.

    Greg DeMarco : Breakout: Rhett Titus. From the first time I saw him come out and do the “Addicted to Love” gimmick, I knew Rhett Titus was destined to be the most successful ROH Academy graduate. The tag team with Kenny King has done wonders for Titus, and I expect that to continue in 2011. But I also think Rhett will start to deliver great in-ring performances, possibly starting in Richmond against Homicide.

    MVP of 2011: Davey Richards. I don’t know when Davey Richards wins the ROH World Championship, but I assume he will. Regardless, he’s going to deliver amazing performance after amazing performance, akin to Daniels vs. Richards from 2010. Richards can carry anyone to a great main event match, and is likely the best all around performer in ROH. Regardless of whether or not he wins the World Championship, Davey Richards will be their ROH’s wrestler in 2011.

    Ryan Byers : I’ve got a few different answers for this one, so bear with me. As far as the MVP of indy wrestling for the United States is concerned, I’m going to have to go with the Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. As the reigning ROH Tag Team Champions, they’re becoming more and more the focal point of the promotion, and I can see a title program between them and the World’s Greatest Tag Team being the single hottest rivalry in ROH this year. In addition to that, they mean a lot to other major indy companies, with both men having roles in PWG and Claudio being part of the backbone of CHIKARA. If there is a male wrestler who breaks out in the United States, I have a feeling that it’s going to be somebody who is completely off of my radar right now, because there’s nobody who really feels like they’re posed to DEFINITELY be a major player this year. I see guys like Rich Swann, Kyle O’ Reilly, and Adam Cole all having career growth, but I see them as being true “breakouts” for 2012 more than I do 2011. However, I will say that there is one FEMALE wrestler who is poised to be a breakout in women’s indy wrestling this year, and that is young SHIMMER trainee “Jumpin'” Jamilia Craft. Craft has about a full year in wrestling right now, and, for that level of experience, she is AWESOME. With her talent and her ties to the likes of trainer Daizee Haze, I see her being somebody who can really expand her profile within the next calendar year. Another potential breakout from where I sit is Yuji Okabayashi, a twenty-eight year old power wrestler from Big Japan Wrestling who has a little over two years of experience. Okabayashi, a protege of Daisuke Sekimoto, is really coming into his own and will benefit greatly if he gets some regular bookings outside of BJW, whether they’re in other Japanese companies or the United States. I’d pay a lot of money to see him in this year’s CHIKARA Young Lions Cup.

    Ari Berenstein : This is always one of the more difficult predictions for me to make, considering one is never quite sure who will make the kind of improvements and bask in the added attention of a push enough to warrant the labeling of awards of prestige such as “Breakout” and “MVP” of the year. These are the kind of considerations to be made in hindsight, not foresight. With that in mind, El Generico looks poised to make a huge and legitimate leap into the main event elite in 2011. He won the feud against Kevin Steen and in my mind that entitles him to a title shot down the line. I can even envision him becoming ROH World Champion, which is the first time I’ve ever thought that during his ROH career. Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole are also ready to breakout in the ROH tag division, judging from their terrific performances in the last few months. Ricochet has been making some noise on the backend of 2010 with excellent matches in both PWG and DGUSA. I’d expect that to continue in 2011. Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero should be the MVPs of the tag team and singles division of many independent promotions in the coming year. They have their hands in the pie of many promotions: ROH, PWG, CHIKARA, etc. They should contribute big time to the ticket and DVD sales of those and other promotions in the coming year.

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    Michael Bauer

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