Column of Honor: 10.24.09: Back to Black / What I Watched During My Summer Vacation Part Two
Posted by Ari Berenstein on 10.24.2009
Tyler Black is the winner of Survival of the Fittest 2009, but does he have enough to become ROH’s next world champion? Then I take a look at CHIKARA DVDs from early 2009 and ROH’s efforts from the middle of the year. Say what? Nigel McGuinness is now in TNA as Desmond Wolfe! I’ve got thoughts on that move, the wild world of Honor that involved The Village Voice and Samsung, plus, count how many times I can use the word “edge” in this column!
Welcome to the Column. It's not THE Column, but it is a Column. It is THIS Column. The column you're reading right now. Welcome to it. LOOK ALL I'M TRYING TO SAY IS THAT I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME READING THIS, STOP THROWING YOUR ATTITUDE AT ME. Thank you.
…Ahem…
You're welcome. To the Column. Oh…never mind.
Back to Black
Two weeks ago, Tyler Black returned from surgery treatment for a longstanding series of neck injuries. He came back in a big way, sweeping the double shot weekend in Collinsville and Indianapolis. He scored a major victory against the surging Chris Hero, toppled Kenny King in a Survival of the Fittest qualifier and then won the tournament itself. It was a huge series of victories, one that puts him back in the main event spotlight. This is mere weeks after the departure of Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, creating the need for viable talent in the main event position.
That tournament win (and the guaranteed ROH World Title shot that comes with it) helped Black to rejoin Chris Hero and Davey Richards along with current champion Austin Aries as the current upper-echelon in ROH. They are the names bandied about in message board debates as to who belongs at the top of Ring of Honor.
However, the Survival of the Fittest win was also met with mixed reviews from the hard-to-please ROH fan base. It's to be expected at this point, since there are more than a few fans and Saturday Night Quarterbacks who have given up on Black's role in the main event / championship position. Tyler may have been thought of as The Great Black Hope in 2008, but the past year hasn't been so easy, fraught with set-backs due to over-booking and over-exposure. This is to say nothing of his in-ring ability and the high-quality matches he's had this year (of which there are plenty to reference). It's that while Black may indeed be the "chosen one" to be the "next world champion", the year-plus long road to get him there may have done more harm than good for Black and ROH when all is said and done.
It's clear that Tyler Black has been the wrestler that ROH management has been building the company around through the booking this past year. You could especially tell this was the case by observing the week-to-week development of the HDNet series and its spotlight on Black. It has been Tyler Black as the primary protagonist of the show aside from Jerry Lynn as the aging veteran giving it one more go and Bryan Danielson as the forefather of the company (Austin Aries would become the primary antagonist aside from Nigel McGuinness).
Jerry Lynn was a short term solution whose story of the veteran making good was competent and logical enough for its time, but his run played out as many believed it would. He was a short-term ROH World Champion, basically a transition between McGuinness and Aries. Bryan Danielson was a huge name and someone who was the dependable go-to guy for so long. However, ROH went into this year with the belief that this would very likely be Danielson's last with the company and booked accordingly. No, all along, it was in Tyler that they trusted, in Tyler who they built their Project Honor.
If you were looking for wrestlers to build the company around in early 2009, Black would have been the clear and simple choice. He had youth on his side, meaning he would not only be very likeable for the fans of ROH (who always have gravitated towards the younger, hungrier and more athletic wrestlers in the promotion) and would likely be available to ROH for many years to come. He is locked up to a longer-term contract than most other ROH wrestlers, giving much cause to build the company around him.
In 2008, Black had been involved already in some high-profile matches and it seemed a lock that when he was separated from Jimmy Jacobs and The Age of the Fall stable that he would benefit from a huge singles push. Remember that Samoa Joe was helped greatly by his break from The Prophecy, where he played a bodyguard role to Christopher Daniels in early 2003. In fact, the culmination of the defection from The Prophecy (briefly joining Steve Corino's group, whose loose affiliation ended soon after the title win) created the opportunity for Joe to go big in the main event position.
At the time, Black was riding a huge wave of popularity and many were predicting he would be ROH World Champion sooner rather than later. The tag "Next World Champ" stuck when promoting Black's character and storyline role in the company. However, the fans began to grow more frustrated and upset as Black received chance after chance in world title angles only to be booked that he would come up short each time. This was not a unique situation in ROH history—as many wrestlers up and down the roster, from Nigel McGuinness to Roderick Strong to Colt Cabana, have been the subject of multiple failed title opportunities. This is frequently topic of hot debate among ROH fans as the giving of too many title shots to a title contender, thus over-exposing the wrestler when he fails to win the title during the title program.
No doubt that when fans view a wrestler as "ready" for the main event tier on a wrestling show, they begin to build up the buzz and fan demand to see it happen. However, when that same wrestler gets too many opportunities in too concentrated a time period, then fans begin to get tired of it. Think about eating a really good desert. You know you want to eat it, but it is rare enough that you know you'd like it more. However, let's say you eat five servings of that same dessert in a twenty-four hour period. You're going to get sick to your stomach of eating the same desert over and over without anything else to differentiate meals. So it was with McGuinness in 2007, Cabana and Strong in 2006 and Tyler Black in 2008.
If you think about it, ROH was just starting up on HDNet. They needed a large, overarching storyline for episodic shows such as the HDNet series. They had one in their back pocket with the story of Tyler Black, the youthful but exuberant and hardworking wrestler who kept coming up short in the big match situations yet undeterred, kept trying to win. That's the sort of story you can run with for a good long time. The problem with that story, however, is that at one point the fans became tired and apathetic of seeing the same situation over and over again. For comic book aficionados out there, this is the equivalent of a Brian Michael Bendis comic book story that starts out awesome but continues on for four issues too many (Bendis is a great writer in my opinion, but his writing has suffered this fate a few times). By the middle of 2009, ROH fans who were still Black supporters desperately wanted the bookers to cut to the chase and get Black a damned title reign already. The others were fed up and looking for alternatives to the Black Solution. Hence: Davey Richards and Chris Hero have very much risen to the forefront as the year had progressed, both on their own merits but also with the fans coming around to their characters and storyline direction.
Richards and Hero have become very en-vogue choices to be the next ROH World champion, even though that would mean going from a heel champion directly to another heel, which is a rarity in professional wrestling. Meanwhile, logical booking dictates that the "greater", more dramatic storyline would be Tyler Black winning it all at ROH's final show of the year (Final Battle 2009, which takes place late December in New York City). It would be a full circle situation, which I usually love to see because the opportunities are there in the world of professional wrestling to tell such a story. For the most part, bookers across the board in all different promotions don't capitalize enough on these opportunities when they present themselves.
One year previous, Tyler Black has been betrayed by his tag team partner Jimmy Jacobs and attacked brutally by Austin Aries. Now, one year later, Black has gained vengeance for Jacobs' betrayal and Aries is the ROH World Champion. Black has the title in his sights and a win against Aries at Final Battle 2009 would provide the sort of perfect justice only a storyteller can provide. The question will be, is it too-little, too-late for fans, or will they rally around Tyler Black like they usually do during his greatest and most dramatic wrestling programs?
Tyler Black's in-ring abilities have always stood out as high quality. However, unlike revered master technician Bryan Danielson, his style is not that of the refined grappler. That doesn't mean that Black can't wrestle. Rather, his style is more like what you see out of AJ Styles—the hybrid style of high flying and impact moves dominating the offense in the match, meanwhile he has to fight from behind against larger or more powerful opposition. Tyler, like AJ, loves offense that is different—using different angles of attack (both have a pele kick in the move set; Tyler also has a kick from the ground position that comes out of nowhere) and different air moves (high-risk springboard attacks, the upside down dive to the outside). It's interesting to note that as important as he was in early-era ROH, AJ Styles never won the ROH World Title. Now there is someone who wrestles similarly to him is so near to reaching that goal, but he is criticized by some for using that non-traditional wrestling style.
None of the previous ROH champions have used that kind of attack in the ring, which is definitely about providing believability and legitimacy in main event situations. Low Ki and Austin Aries come to closest, but they both had developed ground and submissions as well. Black's babyface routine relies on the intensity of his moves, his comebacks and his show-off style. For some fans, that may be a great thing to see during a show, it may even be enough to main event, but some might have a problem believing that it's a style that is good enough to win the ROH World Title (and only reinforced by Black's efforts in some matches has also been affected at times by the lack of crowd reaction to his moves).
Another huge problem with Black's push to the championship position in ROH over the last year has been in character development. Black attracted fans to him in part due to his in-ring style, but also because of his look and his personality. Black demonstrated an edge and intensity, as well as clear motivation and purpose for wrestling in ROH as a part of The Age of the Fall. All of this helped to develop an "aura" of intrigue about Black. Black has definitely missed that aspect of his character since turning face and it's almost baffling as to how he lost it and where it has gone in the year since.
There have been sporadic moments where Black showed that darker, more intriguing side of his personality such as during his promo atManhattan Mayhem III where he declared he wanted to cash in his title shot after being jobbed by Jimmy Jacobs in their earlier match. The look on Black's face and the fire in his eyes when he spoke those words, that is the sort of intensity that Black should be bringing in his promos—that caused a huge reaction from the fan base—and I think it's an under looked part of why he was so over during the title match later that night. Live and in person, Black can convince the fans to get behind him because of that passion and that edge.
Black's weaknesses in the promo department are a symptom of that larger personality problem. There is no doubt that Jimmy Jacobs was driving the bus on dramatic promos for The Age of the Fall, but Black held his own end during vignettes filmed detailing the purpose of that stable. It's still one of the biggest surprises to me that as soon as he became a babyface, that promo ability went up in smoke. It began when he didn't say much of anything and expressed little or any emotion in the promo he cut after the Jacobs betrayal. Then, as he turned babyface, he became more of a "plain deal" speaker, trying to logically explain his thoughts in a soft-spoken, almost conversational tone. Black has often looked nervous or uncomfortable during these promos. Was it the pandering babyface promo style he used that became detrimental to what he wanted to say?
If you look at what attracted fans to the promos of former babyface ROH World Champions such as Low Ki, Samoa Joe and (even though he was generally a ‘tweener) Bryan Danielson, it was the passion, the fire and the intensity they expressed through their words and their body language as they spoke of being champion and the next defense. It was these words that connected the fans to the wrestlers, not so much personable and likability, but the desire to BE like those wrestlers. They wanted to be championship material like Ki, Joe and Danielson. They wanted to be ass-kickers like Ki, Joe and Danielson.
In fact, I may have unwittingly stumbled upon the key to what makes a babyface champion in ROH work. That desire to see their heroes express an attitude, winning and defending the championship with honor but never coming off as weak, pedantic or pedestrian. The anti-hero attitude is why those characters resonated with the fans of ROH, and that is the factor that Black needs to bring to bear in his promos.
Black may be on the way to regaining the fans' attention by using that sort of enthusiastic and addictive passion for promos, judging from reviews of Survival of the Fittest 2009. Reportedly, Black gave an incredible post-match interview that had the fans in attendance cheering for him and shouting his name only minutes after booing the heck out of him and hoping for a Roderick Strong victory. If that is the case, then Black needs to take that sort of passion and bring it with him every step of the way from now until his eventual title match against Austin Aries. If he can convince the fans again to believe in him, then his character and his presence in the main event scene WILL be redeemed.
Black must regain his appeal as he resumes the road to the inevitable championship win. He must rally the fans around him even if it seems like his title win is "predictable". Predictable doesn't necessarily mean wrong, look at Homicide's road to the title, just that there needs to be more of a buzz or oomph wrapped around a story we know will end a certain way.
In a sense, Black's absence for a short period of time in September was actually quite fortunate. It helped to create a bit of a breather from fans seeing him so often and constantly booked into high profile positions.
There was an opportunity as he came back from injury to start the build to the ultimate rematch against Austin Aries for the ROH World Title. He was returning to action and realistically out of contention for the title, but that meant there was the possibilities you could book the beginnings of the title chase, presumably to get to a title shot at Final Battle 2009. They could have slow-tracked the run to the title, but instead they did the opposite.
A slow build could have been the more natural, organic way to build momentum and convince fans who had jumped off the Black bandwagon to get back on. As it is, a Survival of the Fittest tournament win may have just as well turned those fans off of Black for good (the whole "pushed down our throats" mentality).Was this a lost opportunity to build up a meaningful chase?
Then again, would the loss in the SOTF finals have been viewed by fans (and then used in storyline) as yet another sign that Black was a choker?
As well, with Danielson and McGuinness now gone, you could argue that time is no longer on Ring of Honor's side. They need their top talent over and built up as believable main event players and since they hold Black in that regard, it would seem to dictate giving him those wins as a start of his comeback. It would have been a very close call had they gone with the slow burn to get Black ready for that position in time.
A remarkable thing occurred in the days after the initial reaction to the Survival of the Fittest win—quite a few commenters on the ROH message board who questioned the Black win began to come around to the idea that this was the right move after all. Is this the start of a "come-around" on Black for the dissenters? It's hard to tell at this point.
ROH can no longer worry about the booking mistakes of the past—instead they have to take the opportunities in front of them now to capitalize on making their top wrestlers believable main event players for 2010. In winning his matches during the double shot two weeks ago, Black has been launched back up to the top of the roster. He is still very much a capable choice to win the ROH World Title, although Hero and Richards are closely biting at his heels and some believe they may have overtaken him.
I think Black can be that championship level guy that his fans want to see happen. In doing so, he will need to become someone we can get behind, someone who we want to live through vicariously. It will be up to Black and the ROH booking to seal the deal on that feeling, and the time is now if they want to do it.
What I Watched During My Summer Vacation Part Two
About three weeks ago I gave a rundown on the wrestling DVDs I had been watching while on hiatus from the Column. Here is part two, with looks at CHIKARA DVDs and Ring of Honor shows from the late Spring and early Summer of this year:
CHIKARA
Revolution X
We're almost at the end of the 2009 CHIKARA season, but if you're new to following the promotion and want to know where to start, it's right at the beginning with the first show of the year, which also happens to have one of the best CHIKARA matches of the year. The Osirian Portal of Amasis and Ophidian are relatively at the beginning of their run as CHIKARA's Campeones de Parejas, but they face their greatest test when they go toe-to-antennae against the red –hot Colony, who have won seven consecutive points are in line for a title shot. They get that shot here, although they trade in all of their points to get the match to be a one-fall to a finish instead of the usual two out of three falls rules (I would have rather the booking been they get two back-to –back title opportunities, but c'est la vie). The result is an awesome back and forth contest that sees both teams given several points where they could have taken it all. These two teams have continued to improve in the ring all year, but this is the point where you can really start to tell these two teams have put it all together. Previously, The Colony had been prone to occasional points of sloppiness, but everything from beginning to end is on-point and accurate.
The main event is a big time grudge match between Jimmy "Equinox" Olsen and the dastardly Vin Gerard. It is a Young Lion's Cup Ladder match. It's a violent effort from both men, but it isn't spots for the sake of spots—the storyline of Gerard using the ladder to attack Olsen's leg and create distance between the two works well. The conclusion to the match is also a very fitting form of justice given the heated feud between the two men at the time. Although I do have to critique that is was a bit too indy wrestling of CHIKARA to have a medallion hung up overhead instead of the YLC trophy—couldn't invest in reinforced steel cable to hold its weight?
This really is a must-see show for CHIKARA as there are worthwhile matches from top to bottom--"all-killer, no filler" as the saying goes. Eddie Kingston vs. Delirious is very fun, as is the "interesting" team of Frightmare, just blasting through the arena with Hallowicked at the reigns to match up against the Bohemian team of Brodie Lee and Grizzley Redwood. Yes, Sara Del Rey and Daizee Haze have matched up against each other about a billion times in different promotions over the last four years, but the match on this show is a worthwhile iteration of their series. Los Ice Creams are fantastic in their psych-out strategy against Mitch Ryder and Buck Hawke and while the match slows down in tempo in the mid-point, there is never a let up to the entertainment of this rudo vs. rudo combination. All that plus you still have Quacksaw vs. Neo Solar Temple, UnStable vs. Cheech & Cloudy, and FIST vs. The Future Is Now. These combinations may not be the most "sexy" (if I may use that adjective to describe wrestling), but they all overachieve potential. You can't go wrong with purchasing this one.
Motive, Means, Opportunity
This was an in-between show, one of two sandwiched between the great opening show of the season and CHIKARA's annual King of Trios shows. It's not a have-to-have by any means, but it's a solid show with solid in-ring action. I chose to buy this show over "If the Airplane is Snowed in…" for three matches in particular—QuackSaw vs. Cheech & Cloudy, which was a fun technicos vs. technicos face-off, and Gran Akuma vs. Claudio Castagnoli. I enjoy watching Akuma in singles matches for the same reasons I liked watching Low Ki—he is an "ass-kicker" character: serious, tough, take-no-b.s. but dish out the pain. Then there is F.I.S.T. of Taylor & Icarus vs. The Colony, which is just at the beginning of their feud but even so has a ton of hatred between the two teams that is exuded throughout the match. Taylor remains a favorite of mine (still no idea why he isn't in ROH right now) and he always tears it up against The Ants by playing his character archetype against theirs.
There are some skippable moments on this show—the woman's tag match with Del Rey & Sassy Stephie vs. Haze & Hailey Hatred is pure miss, for instance. I also found the main event of Amasis vs. Equinox for the YLC to be quite the let down and not really on paper or in execution what I would consider a "main event" of a show, even in CHIKARA.
That said, the surprise of the show was actually the opener, with The Roughnecks matching up with the Neo Solar Temple and Sami Callahan. It's a rudos vs. rudos match, which is rare enough, but it puts Kingston and Ultramantis Black on opposite corners, which provides plenty of entertainment. They frequently team up on commentary and have a mutual understanding of each others' positions in the company, but here they are forced to go at it. It's also great to see Eddie's dripping sarcastic cheerleading of Grizzley Redwood. Its clear Kingston and Lee are pulling the weight of the team. On the other side, Sami Callahan becomes the whipping boy and scapegoat for the Order, which is a shame, because Sami actually works quite well as far as meshing with the aesthetics and theme of The Order.
As a side note, I crack up every time Kingston and referee Bryce Remsberg are together at the commentation station and Kingston threatens violence against him. He just slips it right in there and then just goes on like nothing happened. Beautiful comic timing and very believable coming from Kingston.
King of Trios 2009 Nights 1, 2 and 3
The annual tournament is a highlight weekend for CHIKARA and one of their biggest selling DVDs of the year and this year would be no different. Featuring some big names on the independent scene such as Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries along with rare appearances from international names (Dave Taylor, Johnny Saint, Kota Ibushi) and contributing teams from different promotions, there are plenty of reasons to buy this set.
In past years the tournament's last night has been the best night of the show, but this time around for me the best came first. The first night of the tournament would have been the best show on the independent scene during 2009 if it ended through the first seven matches. The last bout, featuring the team of Al Snow, D-Lo Brown and Glacier versus The Unstable, was a long, boring and pedestrian bout, even given the huge rib on Al Snow during the CHIKARA fishbowl lottery and the pop D-Lo received for being the mystery third partner on the babyface side.
However, I prefer to focus on the positives and that being the other seven matches on the show. The first half in itself is unmitigated awesomeness, beginning with Austin Aries' wacky babyface act (just a few weeks after going "The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived in ROH) in the opener, the on-point execution of Arik Cannon and the North Star Express, the show stealing act of The Youngbucks & El Generico (up against Osirian Portal), the excellence of seeing multiple uppercut volleys from Danielson, Castagnoli and Taylor on members of The Roughnecks and the surprise back-to-back awesomeness of the Team CZW vs. Soul Touchaz and The Death Match Kings vs. Team F.I.S.T. It's hard to properly express the entertainment from each of these matches and when you watch them back-to-back they create a mosaic of awesome wrestling action.
Night Two is definitely the weakest of the three tournament shows, thanks mostly to the back-to-back debacles of The Submissions Squad vs. Gary the Barn Owl & Davey Vega and KoT Quarterfinal match The Future Is Now vs. Osirian Portal. The former match can be kind of excused because the wrestlers were cleanly very green, but TFIN vs. OP featured more experienced wrestlers who really disappointed in the match pacing and layout. The Philadelphia crowd aren't much fans of TFIN together as a trio anyway, so them dominating and winning against The Portal wasn't well received.
Luckily enough, the next match helped to create a small turn around for the show. The King of Trios isn't the only tournament that took place that weekend. CHIKARA's annual Rey de Voladores (King of High Fliers) tournament was also held on these shows. Kota Ibushi and El Generico had a very praiseworthy match in ROH last year and they continued their excellent chemistry against each other in the four way semi finals that also included Nick Jackson and Jigsaw.
The main event is a "dream match" for technical wrestlers with the Masters of 1,000 Holds against Team Uppercut. The match starts off pretty well and it is nice to see the technical mastery, but as I said a few weeks back, the match never breaks out of first gear and quickly becomes boring, repetitive and way too long for its own good. The only story is Danielson's injuries (which play into night three) and his attempt to heel it up against Johnny Saint, but that's not enough to keep me glued to the television set during this match.
I would recommend the show only for this match and the other Rey de Voladores Quarterfinal that featured Austin Aries (inexplicably back as a heel, but it works well enough) vs. Matt Jackson vs. Fire Ant vs. Player Dos. The RdV matches actually outperform all of the KoT quarterfinals on this show and unofficially I will now refer to it as "Rey de Voladores 2009 Night One" instead of "King of Trios 2009 Night Two".
Night Three provides very good Semi Finals and Finals action to the KoT tournament. The highlight is the showdown between F.I.S.T. and Team Uppercut. It's a shorter match than you'd think, but it's almost non-stop action, mostly focusing on Danielson's knee injury. F.I.S.T. comes across as super strong thanks to their dismantling of Danielson and keeping Castagnoli and Dave Taylor at bay. Chuck Taylor takes a huge step up thanks to the finish of the match, and the tournament ends meaning a hell of a lot thanks to the winning team and how they were booked for the next several months afterwards.
Meanwhile Player Dos's weekend proves fruitful as he takes on Kota Ibushi in one hell of a wild finale for the Rey de Voladores. Ibushi throws just about everything at Dos, who plays underdog but is believable enough to throw it back at Kota and keep the match going. It's clear the crowd really wanted Ibushi to win, but Dos was the one sticking around and could benefit most from the victory. I really enjoyed this match and in terms of back-and-forth action and flying spots it blew the previous night's four way qualifier out of the water, which is saying a lot.
The rest of the show is full of strong undercard matches, including Arik Cannon and El Generico tearing it up in what will become a hidden highlight of the CHIKARA season. Austin Aries and Eddie Kingston—‘nuff said, right? Well, here's one more: those two lit into each other with some nasty chops. The annual CHIKARA tag gauntlet did not disappoint. Michael Nakazawa continues to make me uneasy with his oil bottle actions, but the gimmick works well in the ring. His role is vital in the eight-man tag with Kudo and The Osirian Portal against The Colony & The North Star Express.
Overall, the pick-ups are definitely nights one and three and night two only if you'd like to see the highly excellent RdV qualifiers.
I should also spend a minute writing about the video quality of these three shows. They were all shot in widescreen format and it shows in improved contrast and saturation levels. Further, the graphics and stag presentation all receive an extra boost which ups the level of presentation. It only helps that these shows were some of CHIKARA's best attended, which means you have loud and crisp crowd reactions and plenty of interactions between the wrestlers and the crowd. Those are the added factors that really help to sell the shows.
Ring of Honor
A Cut Above
A lack luster show in the undercard saved by a really good one-two-three punch in the second half. Black and Richards was just a cut below their PWG effort around the same time period, but that's hardly an insult. Steen & Briscoe vs. Dark City Fight Club was a good fight, with both teams predisposed to a brawl style. The main event of Lynn vs. Strong is noteworthy for being a very good technical wrestling bout that quickly stepped up in intensity thanks to Strong bleeding a gusher, leading to the gory cover picture and the title to the show. Would the title match have been as well received were it not for the blood? It's plausible, but you have to go with what you're given and I think the blood definitely helped both men elevate their game. Hero vs. Cabana and Danielson vs. Edwards were decent enough, but didn't stick with me afterwards. The rest ranges from "been-there, done-that" (Rave vs. Grizzley) to "why did I have to see that?" (Aries & Titus vs. The Phoenix Twins). You can get this one if you're racking up DVDs during one of ROH's sales.
The Homecoming II
As opposed to the previous show's title match, this one didn't work well at all. Cabana in the main event returning to his hometown for ROH for the first time in two years should have been a slam dunk, but it was more like a slam stunk. Too soon a finish, too much comedy in the main event and not enough moments where a Cabana title win would have been realistic. The real treat comes from the Black vs. Hero and ROH World Tag Team Title matches. Danielson and Rave have their usual very good undercard-level bout, which in my opinion is always worth watching.
Tyler Black cuts the "Disappointment" promo on Jacobs during this show—exactly what I was referring to earlier about how Black is better off when he shows his edginess. I also have a (perverse?) affinity for "Skull crusher" Rasche Brown. His heel act is very entertaining, as he laughs at everyone and tells them how much he hates them—sort of a heel Monty-Brown without the Alpha Male "hunting" silliness. Then he became "HD Ready" Rasche Brown and played the face on the last Mid West series of shows (Violent Tendencies and End of an Age) and wasn't nearly as fun.
Again, this is a show that isn't required viewing, but it wouldn't be too bad if you ordered it in a bunch during a percent off sale from ROH. I'd rank A Cut Above first though.
Never Say Die
On the plus side you get the Super Smash Brothers debut in a fun match against King & Titus, but on the negative side you get Delirious vs. Ricky Reyes (oh boy, what fun…) and a "BONUS" match of Ernie Osirus vs. Grizzley Redwood. Sort of like the way syphilis is a "BONUS" of having sexual relations with a prostitute. On the plus side, you do get a hell of a main event title bout with Lynn vs. Hero (giving a strong pre-show promo) with both men having their working shoes on, and on the other hand you get to see a mess of a six-man tag between The Embassy against Team Cabana. This one has the debut of Joey Ryan, doing nothing outstanding in particular. Remember when he promised to rape ROH of its honor? When is that going to happen, exactly?
The best match of the show is the "Anything Goes" street fight between Davey Richards and Kevin Steen. These guys are just on another level in singles matches, Steen especially in hardcore or street fight bouts. They brutalize each other in this one, making for compelling viewing. This is also the match where Steen asks Richards to marry him (in the wake of a fan in the audience proposing to his girlfriend and getting ultra heat for it) and takes it back because he hates Richards. Well, most marriages are based on a love-hate relationship, so really, wouldn't be all that bad if they tied the knot. Wait, the Village Voice story is later, sorry.
Validation
On the plus side, this is Eddie Kingston's official main show return to ROH; on the other hand, he is wrestling Ricky Reyes and the match is absolutely apathetic. On the plus side, we get Sonjay Dutt's return to Ring of Honor; on the other hand, he does the stupid Jeff Jarrett strut (seriously, does EVERY wrestler who leaves or is fired from TNA have to do that?) and no sells Hero's elbows. On the plus side, Jay Briscoe gets a main event title match, which I'm all for; on the other hand, the match is haphazard and met with creepy silence from the Edison, NJ crowd (or a half hearted expression of dislike for Lynn) and then Lynn goes off on a rant about how if you don't like it, go watch WWE. Remember at the time WWE was going through an awesome run on all their shows (unlike now when Raw is being brought down by trying too hard to be "Saturday Night Live on a Monday Night"), so my response would be "um, okay, I will, thanks for the recommendation".
You know, I could go on like this forever for this show, but the bottom line is that aside from The American Wolves vs. Danielson & Steen (which in the end, you know the faces won't win, so it takes the intrigue out of it), this one is very below average and I recommend you don't buy it.
Contention
Passing on Validation will give you the extra dough you SHOULD use to buy this show. This was a really good show made better by the awesome effort of the ROH fans in Manassas. They were into just about everything and gave us "The Night of Snapmares" by popping early for it on the undercard and chanting for it in subsequent matches. Instead of ignoring the fans, almost all of the wrestlers took the opportunity to give the fans what they were asking for, and that leads to further positive crowd reaction and a better show overall.
The show is highlighted by a fantastic non-title match between Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black that is the exact opposite of the ROH World Title match Lynn had with Briscoe on the previous show. Its unpredictable, has great give and take from both men, and more importantly positions Lynn as the underdog fighting from behind and Black as the young hotshot who has his number. Really good effort from both here, again highlighting the extremes in quality of title defenses you would see in Lynn's short run as champion.
The other match you really want this DVD for is the debut of The Young Bucks in ROH against top contenders Steen & Generico. The Bucks get tons of opportunity to shine and they take advantage big time. They impress the crowd with their tag combinations and smooth timing in the ring. Kudos to Steen and Generico to give them this kind of match, one that instantly provided legitimacy to the Bucks' presence in the company. Elsewhere, Roderick Strong gets the important win against Austin Aries, foreshadowing future iterations of their years-long rivalry (and now possibly for the ROH World Title). Kenny King gives Danielson a HUGE run for his money, nearly taking the bout to the fifteen-minute time limit, much like an earlier match they had a year or two earlier, but now with King being a more prominent member of the ROH roster the crowd takes him far more seriously as a threat. The rest of the undercard is solid stuff and very worthy of watching, so no doubt about it, this show is recommended.
Manhattan Mayhem III
I admit that I haven't actually re-watched the show aside from Strong vs. Dutt and the main event three-way for the title between Lynn, Aries and Black (which comes across far more lively in the opening section than it did in person). However, the show itself is one of the more newsworthy and memorable shows of the year. The ROH World Title switched hands, Ric Flair was there and then he wasn't, and then you have Roderick Strong and Sonjay Dutt rocking the Hammerstein (seriously awesome match), only for The Wolves and Steenerico to equal their efforts. That plus getting to see The Young Bucks debut in NYC are extreme highs of the show. That said, I'd skip Necro vs. Jimmy Rave, the four corner survival match and even Briscoe vs. Guido (unless you're an old school ECW fan and itching for some nostalgia). In fact, this show is almost a synopsis of the positives and negatives of Ring of Honor this past year. Overall though, a very worthy pick up.
Nigel McGuinness Had A Week, Didn't He?
Well, the one thing I didn't expect out of Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson leaving Ring of Honor to go to World Wrestling Entertainment was that one of them wouldn't actually even start in WWE! Nigel McGuinness gave the wrestling world a bit of a shock to the system when word broke that he would not be joining WWE, but rather, he would sign a deal (reported as two-years) with TNA. He made his debut this very week and made the biggest (don't make the pun, don't make the pun) impact possible (you made the pun! Bad Ari!) by immediately being programmed in a main event feud against Kurt Angle. Not only did he lay out Angle, one of the top wrestlers of this decade and certainly one of TNA's most important name-brand wrestlers—he did it twice on one show!
You can't ask for a bigger debut for Nigel than waylaying Angle and being programmed at the top. It's clear that TNA liked what they saw in him (having previously attempting to sign him in 2007, but being under ROH contract they went with Doug Williams instead). That vote of confidence means a whole hell of a lot—it results in a bigger push, a better chance and as we saw on iMPACT just a few days ago, even better effort from the wrestler who is getting that push and that chance. Nigel looked like he fit right in with the upper echelon. He had the look, the clothes, the talk and the walk. A lot of his presence was all in the body language and the look on his face. He exuded extreme confidence with his posture and movements in the promo on Angle. He had depth of characterization right away when he folded his suit jacket after taking it off, right in the middle of his beat down on Angle. If first impressions are the most important, then Nigel made the most of his.
Or should I say, "Desmond Wolfe" made a huge impression? Or "Wolf Desmond"? Or "Desmond Hawk"? It was a good forty-eight hours before anyone had a real bead on what the hell Nigel's name would be in TNA. Then there was the word that it was Nigel's choosing, but in an interview Nigel just gave with the UK paper The Daily Star, he stated it was Vince Russo who did an internet search for the most popular British names and came up with "Desmond Wolfe".
Desmond? Really? Gareth was taken or something?
Well, it's not a great name at all, but it could be the kind of name that works the more it is used, sort of like Dolph Ziggler. Well, okay, I did write "sort of".
There is still also some confusion as to why Nigel / Desmond ended up with TNA in the first place. Initial reports had it that he thought WWE was taking too long with his contract. Then there was word that he had failed his WWE physical and wellbeing tests and that WWE backed off of signing him due to their "Wellness Policy" and PR reasons. That's not so farfetched a scenario given Nigel's past history of bicep injuries but more importantly, his multiple concussions. WWE has been super cautious nowadays about the concussion and head trauma issues. They want to cover their butts in case something does happen. Then Nigel countered that point in his interview by saying his decision was purely for business reasons and that WWE physicals had nothing to do with it.
So whom to believe? Or does that matter? Nigel's decision to keep wrestling is his own to make. TNA swooped in and made an offer. He took it and the rest is history.
I had quite a few reactions to this development, but the one that sticks is just the same as I felt for both Nigel and Bryan when they each announced their departure from ROH. I'm ecstatic to see these guys get a chance to shine in other promotions. I would have been happy (maybe even happier) to see Nigel wrestling in WWE, but I'm very happy to see him get an opportunity in TNA. Should he maybe have come back to ROH? It would have rendered his farewell moot, plus if Nigel left for monetary reasons or to make a bigger name for himself, then returning to ROH wouldn't have served either of those goals. I'm sure those in ROH wouldn't have minded his return to help bolster the ranks, but it would also be detrimental to those who are now rising up to fill the spots Danielson and he held in the company. In the end, I think he made the right decision.
More interestingly, Nigel's signing with TNA is having a bit of ripple effect on the IWC. There is genuine interest to see what Nigel will do in TNA, which means there will be some viewers tuning into TNA who may have not watched any TNA shows or haven't watched in quite a while. I include myself in that category. I wrote in earlier columns that while I hadn't regularly followed TNA for years now, or purchased any of their products, that there were a few things that could happen that would make me begin to change my tune. Nigel's debut in TNA is certainly something that has my attention, and his appearance resulted in me checking out my first full episode of TNA iMPACT in probably half a year or so.
Nigel's debut as Desmond Wolfe as well as the news that the Turning Point Pay Per View will feature Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles for the TNA Title (a rematch of the classic three-way X-Division title bout from 2005) and a TNA Tag Team Title match with Motor City Machine Guns vs. The British Invasion are all steps in the right direction for TNA. Nigel vs. Angle is an independent-wrestling fans' dream match, much like Joe vs. Angle was back in 2006. It's something I definitely want to see.
I am also very happy that AJ Styles is presented as the TNA Heavyweight Champion (although according to news reports, AJ himself isn't). I actually believe that AJ Styles looks the strongest out of all the TNA homegrown stars, especially on the television shows. You can see it during his entrance--with the pyro and the camera pan, the music and the fan response—he comes across as someone very important. He also still has amazing in-ring ability and carries himself well on camera. I'm hoping that Styles gets a long-term run with the TNA title and that this is the time he can make a huge mark as being the flagship of that company.
I'm not naïve—I don't expect TNA to miraculously change to what I want out of a wrestling show. I don't expect these more wrestling-centered programs to last very long. However, I am now, after the longest time, willing to give TNA another chance to show me it can deliver at least some of the qualities I want to have in my wrestling content. I am most likely going to buy Turning Point on DVD. You speak with your dollar as a consumer, and I'm willing to speak with mine that the line-up for Turning Point as announced thus far is the sort of wrestling show I am willing to purchase.
The Wide World of Ring of Honor
What a day Ring of Honor had this past Thursday. Not only did they receive a very auspicious award from The Village Voice (see below), but they also had the honor of being involved in a Samsung WACKY viral ad campaign for cameras. ROH fans, welcome to the new surreality.
First, The Village Voice bequeathed Ring of Honor with the prestigious award of Best Place to Watch Straight Men Get All Homoerotic. It reads:
"The legions of black-T-shirt-, black-jeans-clad wrestling fans in this world might take offense to what we're about to say, but here goes: Wrestling is gay. That's not an epithet (like we'd ever . . . ). It just is, literally, gay. When a man in ball-outlining shiny undies wraps his crotch around another man's head, flexes his muscles, and grunts, the activity has more to do with porn than sports. It's hard to believe how straight the audience can be, but there you have it. World Wrestling Entertainment is that giant conglomerate you probably caught on TV at one time or another, but for even better theatrics in a more up-close-and-personal setting, try to scout out one of Ring of Honor's New York dates. Usually playing the intimate Manhattan Center, this indie league hosts a variety of highly toned men basically taking part in stage combat—or auditioning for a Michael Lucas film, we're not sure. If the gay community ever catches wind, wrestling is going to be as popular with the homos as the WNBA. "
Now you'll recall that The Village Voice was also the newspaper that referred to ROH in this article as "Ring of Blood", to which I gave a very detailed response here.
Now to be honest, I'm more amused (or is it bemused?) by this blurb that outraged or mad or anything like that, because really, "Wrestling is Gay" is almost as old an insult about pro grappling as "Wrestling is Fake". The "insult" actually reflects more on that writer's conceived notions of sexuality more than anything else. I do also like that by the title of the "award", there is the inference that there are NO GAY MEN in pro-wrestling whatsoever. Which by that claim, I have to say, wow, alert Pat Patterson, because he may as well try eharmony.com after hearing that. Oh, what? No… really? There is no gay coupling available through eharmony? Well, color me a rainbow and call me the Christopher Street Connection.
And honestly, who wears black jeans anymore? So 1995.
No, actually, what I'm really offended by (but not surprised, mind you) in this whole circumstance is the reaction from fellow wrestling fans on the internet and their comments on both the original article on the web and on message and comment boards on wrestling websites, including right here at 411mania. Very hated filled responses to the writer, death threats, sexist and homophobic comments all filled these venues and I mean more so than your average Wednesday afternoon. I read way more derogatory and inflammatory comments than reasoned responses. Way to represent the Intelligent, Good Samaritan Wrestling Fan. You know, we may not all be ignorant baboons or wear black T-shirts or black jeans to the shows, but wrestling fans will NEVER shake off that kind of stereotyping since we fall right into it every time someone dares to poke fun or mock the business.
The second order of the day was a more light-hearted fare: this bit of craziness by way of Samsung and their You Tube host Andrea Feczkco:
Now, this program falls in line with the kind of fluff style promotion you've come to expect from brand names in this era of viral campaigning and grassroots advertisement. That ROH is involved with such a campaign has both its perks and its negatives. This doesn't show the "edge" of the ROH product, nor are there any match clips that demonstrate what differentiates the company from WWE. However, what it does do is portray ROH in a very positive light, with friendly and down-to-earth talent that "accepts" outsiders like Ms. Feczkco into the "secret" world of learning pro wrestling.
The clip is also a further advertisement for the ROH wrestling school, which they are perpetually searching for new suckers, ah, I mean, the next ROH World Champion to part with their money in order to learn a valuable new vocation. Mind you, I know and you know that the ROH Wrestling Academy has had only minor success in developing wrestlers (I mean, Rhett Titus, Bobby Dempsey, Shane Hagadorn and Grizzley Redwood are its best success stories), but there are plenty who don't know that. Someone who is gullible and wanting to try something for the hell of it could see this clip and say "hey I want to try some ‘rasslin! Let me sign up for this here RHO Rasslin AHCAHDAHMY."
…Hm? What? I'm falling into more stereotypes? Rednecks and inbreds, you say? Well, it's too late now!
The downside of course, is that the average citizen who doesn't follow wrestling but does for one reason or another click on this You Tube clip will likely not "get" the ROH product or wrestling at all. Delirious will come across as a goof to the average lay person or even worse there will be people who think that is actually how he acts in real life, as opposed to on camera. Oh and of course, there have been and will be many more "wrestling is gay" comments that you can find in the feedback section, but then again that just brings us full circle doesn't it?
However, what it all comes down to is increasing Ring of Honor's exposure. Judging by the number of hits this video has already received--72,000 viewers at last check—that goal is DEFINITELY being met. When you consider that on average, the ROH newswires get about 2,000 views and on average, the ROH on HDNet shows get between 3,000 and 4,000 views on You Tube, that is an extraordinary number. ROH and its name brand has been increased twelve-fold, and if just a single digit percentage of viewers from that clip decide to follow up and check out ROH and start buying into the product, this shill of a clip will have done an incredible amount of good for the company.
Honor Bound Links
I invite everyone to check out some of my other writing, available at Associated Content. Click and read any and all of the following articles that I wrote this week:
This week at 411, we have the following Ring of Honor coverage:
Aaron Hubbard has coverage of this week's ROH on HDNet series with Aries vs. Danielson for the ROH World Title.
Chris Lansdell and Steve Cook contribute to this week's 411 Buy or Sell with thoughts on Dragon Gate, CHIKARA and ROH. The winner gets a date with Awesome Kong.
Jake Chambers reviews ROH Stylin' and Profilin in his own indomitable way in this week's Match-A-Day.
Posted By: Tom (Guest) on October 24, 2009 at 07:07 PM
^ Speaking of stereotypes...
Nice article, Ari.
Posted By: Joel (Guest) on October 25, 2009 at 04:48 AM
Great summaries of the DVDs Ari. I haven't been able to completely watch the latest releases of DBDh 7 but I'm sure that I bought wisely. Hell I had to buy something while in Chicago, the city that is always closed by 9PM.
Posted By: spawnsyxx9 (Guest) on October 26, 2009 at 01:03 PM
