411’s Buy or Sell 1.22.10: Rene Dupree Staying in Japan, Ring of Honor to Debut in North Carolina, Davey Richards Going After the FIP Title, More!!

Posted by Michael Bauer on 01.22.2010

This week, the 411 Wrestling Staff looks back at EVOLVE's debut and ahead to Dragon Gate in Chicago this weekend as J.D. Dunn battles Chris Lansdell in Buy or Sell!


Welcome everyone to Week 141 of BUY or SELL. For those of you who haven't been with us since the beginning, here's the Reader's Digest version of what this column is all about. BUY or SELL is very much like 411's long-running Fact or Fiction column. The main difference is that BUY or SELL focuses on topics like the U.S. Independent scene, Lucha Libre, Japanese Wrestling and pretty much anything else that isn't mainstream wrestling, WWE and or TNA. This allows for these areas to get a bit more press and for you, our loyal readers, to learn even more about the sport of professional wrestling.

Questions are sent out on Monday Night.

BANNER!


(Special thanks to Jasper Gerretsen)

Rene Dupree has more value of a wrestler staying in Japan, rather than coming back to the States.



J.D. Dunn : BUY. If by value, you mean he can be pushed in Japan to a greater extent than he can be here, then yes. TNA could probably give him more money. It takes a while to get the stink of a bad gimmick off you, and Dupree showed nothing in the ring despite having tons of hype coming out of WWE developmental. Hopefully, he can follow in the footsteps of guys like Tomko, Giant Bernard and even Chris Masters and see a career rebirth. He definitely has the look of a star. Japan is the place to turn that potential into reality.

Chris Lansdell : BUY. He never amounted to half as much over here as he has in Japan. His attitude issues won't be tolerated in Japan and he will have respect stiffed into him if he tries it. His prospects in the States are grim: he was released by WWE and TNA did not sign him, which is rare enough. Nor did they try to sign him, as far as we've heard. His former partner Sylvain Grenier has wrestled for ROH and several smaller indies since being released. Rob Conway had a decent run in the resurrected NWA. Dupree…nothing. He's getting bookings in Japan and seems to be in a decent position on the card judging by results, so why not stay put?

1 for 1.

Brad Allen has no business challenging Chris Hero to a match, even in EVOLVE.

J.D. Dunn : SELL. I've seen him a handful of times, and Allen is a decent hand in the ring and shows good personality. A person doesn't become a star until they're given a chance to be a star, sometimes (often) they fail miserably. I could have said the same thing about Chris Hero four years ago when he challenged Bryan Danielson.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. Why on earth not? If it were the other way around you might question it, but EVOLVE is a brand new promotion with no established pecking order. For all we know Hero might be used as a jobber there, while Brad Allen is a star in waiting. From what I've read of the results it seems like Gabe and Davey are making an effort to put up-and-comers in programs with established Indy names, so this pairing fits that MO. A successful feud with an established Indy name like Hero could do wonders for Brad Allen, and a loss for Hero is unlikely to damage him at all.

2 for 2.

Jimmy Jacobs will get no real benefit from feuding with Tommy Dreamer in EVOLVE.



J.D. Dunn : BUY, but only because the benefits that can be gained from such a feud will do Jimmy little to no good. Tommy Dreamer is an IWC darling, and EVOLVE fans buy and large are IWC guys. They already know what Jimmy can do in a hardcore setting, so seeing him against Dreamer really won't tell us anything we didn't already know. The only benefit is that it brings Jacobs back to the forefront of Indy wrestling, a place he hasn't been since the height of Age of the Fall. However I don't think he needed Dreamer to do that, and you could have put the ECW veteran in a feud with a younger hardcore worker who needed the elevation more.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. I disagree with that. The tag bout with Quackenbush, Jigsaw, and Hallowicked vs. Gran Akuma, Icarus, and Brodie Lee is definitely interesting and worth watching in my book. Not to mention that Quackenbush is awesome and one of the best indy wrestlers on the planet.

2 for 3.


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Ring of Honor's debuting in North Carolina is the most sensible expansion they have made in the past two years.



Chris Lansdell : BUY, but only just. Call me biased but I think Toronto made just as much sense, possibly more. They have done several shows there, all of which were well-attended. North Carolina has always been a huge wrestling hotbed, and the style of wrestling that Adam Pearce likes to book will normally go down well in the area. The only thing that pushes this into a Buy rather than a Sell is that there are no borders to cross, exchange rates to deal with or anything of that type. Plus, Big Boss Csonka gets to go to an ROH event, which is like an automatic Buy,

J.D. Dunn : BUY. North Carolina has always been a hotbed for wrestling, and what's more, they've traditionally been suckers for in-ring action over pageantry. I'm not sure what DVD sales have been like from NC, but just from a purely historical and logistical standpoint, North Carolina is a fine place to stop on the ROH circuit.

3 for 4.

With the Open the Twin Gate Titles not on the line, The Young Bucks will win the Three-Way Tag Team Dream Match over Speed Muscle and Kamikaze.

Chris Lansdell : BUY. Yeah probably. It's only a matter of time before TNA asks their newly-signed talent to stop appearing for Indies (they seem to go through phases…), so giving the Bucks a win that would be considered high-profile will send them and the fans away happy. Not having the titles on the line clears the way for that. Whoever wins it. I pity the poor guy who has to try and keep up with it to review it…oh. Right. Crap.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. With the Young Bucks joining TNA, they have a lot more exposure than they had before. There are two philosophies of dealing with that. Either you have your home team like KAMIKAZE go over and say to the audience, "See, the team you get to watch every show is actually better than the one in TNA" or you showcase the team that's hot and sort of 'ride their coattails' by saying you saw them here first. Otherwise, from a booking perspective, you could make an argument for any of the teams winning.

4 for 5.

Davey Richards will win back the FIP World Title at Dragon Gate's "Fearless" event.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. I honestly believe that Davey Richards is shooting himself in the foot. He was the FIP champion, he was the ROH tag team champion and on the verge of a huge push, and he was doing well in PWG to boot. Then he decides to start his own promotion and everything goes downhill. He didn't win Battle of Los Angeles in PWG, he dropped the ROH tag straps and lost in his title shot against Austin Aries, and he dropped the FIP strap as well. I expect the FIP belt will switch sooner rather than later, but not back to Davey.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. I get the feeling that this was a way to remind the wrestling world that, yes, the FIP Title is still around. At least from the fans' perspective, Davey is the new Bryan Danielson now that the American Dragon is off to the WWE. Not only does it make sense to showcase him, but I don't know how much you'd get out of Masaaki Mochizuki if you're a Florida regional promotion. This seems much more like one of those situations where Ric Flair would lose the title and then get it back soon after just to keep things interesting.

4for 6!!


The 141st edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 6 as these two tend to be more in agreement! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!