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411’s Buy or Sell 1.28.11: DG USA to Crown New Tag Champions, EL Generico with Two Chances at Gold, Low Ki vs. Davey Richards, More

January 28, 2011 | Posted by Michael Bauer

Welcome everyone to Week 191 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.

And as I open this week’s column, I am here to announce that this will be my last time running Buy or Sell on 411 Wrestling. In fact, this will be my last column as I have decided to leave 411 in order to take care of my personal and professional goals. I have spent the last four years here recapping ECW and NXT, starting the 411 Wrestling Top 5, and running this column. It’s been a blast, but all good things must come to an end. I need to thank Larry and Ashish for the opportunity to do something that I have enjoyed for so long and to thank every person who has ever read and commented on anything I have ever done. Greg Demarco will be taking over this column starting next week and I also need to thank him for keeping the coverage of Independent wrestling alive on 411.

Questions are sent out on Tuesday Night.

  • With the Round Robin Tournament laid out as such, Sunday’s match of CIMA & Dragon Kid vs. Naruki Doi & Ricochet will determine the first Open the United Gate Champions.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. I have to believe that this is the case. Yoshino is on a tear for Dragon Gate, but it hasn’t translated as such in the US version. And honestly, I don’t see Taylor and Gargano doing any damage in this tournament. That leaves these two teams, which could both very well be undefeated heading into Sunday, logically making that match for the titles. The last thing Dragon Gate USA can do is have any sort of tie on the simple basis that this isn’t Japan and that type of stuff won’t go over well with our type of crowd, even if means an additional match.

    Steve Cook : SELL. Believe it or not, when I looked at the card I had the opposite reaction. I like the looks of that Masato Yoshino/PAC tag team. Yoshino’s been getting a huge push in Japan, and PAC is a pretty popular guy with the type of fan that DGUSA caters to. DGUSA is high on both Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano, and for good reason because they’re both solid kids that have loads of potential. So I was thinking that the match with Yoshino/PAC against Taylor/Gargano could end up being the match that determines the championship. Of course, I am usually wrong when it comes to Northeast indy shows.

    1 for 1.

  • The winner of the Jimmy Jacobs vs. Brodie Lee match on Friday will go undefeated for the entire Dragon Gate triple shot.

    Steve Cook : SELL. I don’t think Brodie Lee has much of a chance of doing it. After Jacobs he gets YAMATO on Saturday & Rich Swann on Sunday. I don’t know much about Swann, but I don’t see him beating YAMATO, a guy who’s getting an Open The Freedom Gate title shot against BxB Hulk on Friday. Either YAMATO will be the champion, or he’ll need a win to get his mojo going again. As for Jacobs, he has promised to start his road to the Open the Freedom Gate title this weekend, and plans on going through Lee, Swann and a yet to be named opponent on Sunday. I have a feeling that the unnamed opponent just might be the person to foil Jimmy’s plans. It could be YAMATO, it could be Jimmy’s old friend Austin Aries, it could be somebody else. And there’s the possibility that I’m overlooking Swann because I haven’t heard of him. You have to respect the unknown.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. I am basing on this on the fact that I think Jimmy Jacobs can win this match and start his climb up the ladder towards the title. I think beating Brodie Lee is not out of the question for Jacobs, beating Rich Swann should not be an issue, and then he has an open spot on Sunday. Could he beat Austin Aries if that is how the match is made? Yes. Aries has not estbalished himself as much as Jacobs in Dragon Gate USA yet and that is my only basis around it. If he faces YAMATO, then it would be a much different story.

    0 for 2.

  • Despite a 3PM belltime, Dragon Gate USA should be having Sunday’s event on the I-PPV, not just Friday and Saturday Night.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. Totally buying this. First off, the show at BB Kings (even though I’m going) will be the weakest of the three shows and the most unusual of the locations. Seriously, ask any New Yorker who has been there, they all question how the hell the show will be seen. So, I’m not even sure how it will look on Pay per View from that perspective. Secondly, yes, I understand not having a 3 PM Pay Per View on the same weekend as the Royal Rumble, but come on… how else do you leave people on a cliffhanger like that? Not letting them see who wins the Open the United Date titles before months of waiting for a DVD is pretty shitty.

    Steve Cook : BUY. Sunday’s show is going to determine the winner of the Open The United Gate Title Tournament, which has matches on Friday & Saturday’s shows. If you’re going to watch these two shows in part for this tournament, wouldn’t you like to be able to see the conclusion? The Sunday show will be wrapping up a lot of stories that build over the first two shows…I guess their theory is that the people who bought the first two iPPVs will buy the DVD of the third show. Hope it works out for them, but it’d be pretty cool for us hardcore wrestling geeks if we could watch the Sunday DGUSA show before watching the Royal Rumble.

    Besides, I’m going to need something to do since there’s no football on Sunday afternoon for the first time in what seems like decades, and since I have other engagements on Friday and Saturday I’d have loved to catch this show and finally see this great heel work from Reby Sky that I hear so much about from the dirt sheet writers. Oh well.

    1 for 3.

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  • PWG’s matchup of Low Ki vs Davey Richards will be the best match of WrestleReunion 5 Weekend.

    Steve Cook : BUY . I never like saying for sure that one match is going to outshine every other match over a weekend’s time because you just never know what’s going to happen. The Kings of Wrestling vs. Hass & Benjamin should be a barn burner. Claudio Castagnoli & El Generico might be my two favorite wrestlers in the indies right now and should have a tremendous match. Roderick Strong & El Generico had a great match in Dayton last year and I’d love to see them re-create that magic. But something tells me that Low Ki & Davey Richards are going to do their best to steal the whole entire weekend. Davey’s always motivated to put on a show, and you know that Ki’s going to want to prove that he’s still badass Low Ki. I don’t know for sure that it’ll be the best match, but it’s the most interesting match from where I sit.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. I have to buy this and it’s really hard to find any match that can come close. Yes, El Generico’s title shots will be well received and the Kings of Wrestling/Haas and Benjamin match has more hype. But that hype migth be hard to live up to. Low Ki and Davey Richards doesn’t need the hype and actually doesn’t have as much of it because it is on PWG’s card, not Ring of Honor’s. That is why I also think it will be better received and make it the best match.

    2 for 4.

  • El Generico will fail in all of his bids to win single’s gold this weekend in either PWG or Ring of Honor.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. Yeah, I have to buy this. Strong is not losing the title yet, so that’s the easy one. Now with PWG, it could go either way, but I don’t see El Generico (or anyone for that matter) holding both the PWG World Title and PWG Tag Titles at the same time. Not to mention, it seems like PWG wants to build up somebody to take the title off of Claudio, instead of having Generico just take the title.

    Steve Cook : BUY. I don’t see Generico winning the ROH title right now. As much as Generico deserves a title run, Roderick Strong has other business to tend to and I have a feeling that Davey Richards will be the man to end that particular title run. I think the Generic Luchador has a better chance of getting things done in PWG…he’s been a favorite with the fans of that promotion for a long time, and is probably a safer bet to return to the promotion on a regular basis than most of the people PWG’s tried to put their belt on lately. However, when you consider that he is currently one half of the Tag Team Champions alongside Paul London, I’m not sure it behooves them to put both of their championships on him. I’m not saying it’s impossible, as Generico has held their singles and tag team titles at the same time in the past…for less than an hour.

    3 for 5.

  • The Kings of Wrestling will lose to Haas and Benjamin this weekend, setting up the rubber match of the RoH World Tag Team Titles.

    Steve Cook : BUY. It made perfect sense to have the Kings of Wrestling win their first contest with Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team at Glory by Honor IX. Haas & Benjamin were outsiders that hadn’t been in Ring of Honor before. Their job on that evening was to put over ROH’s best as the best in the world, and they accomplished that. Now that Charlie & Shelton have committed themselves to ROH competition, it’s time for them to stake their claim to being the best tag team in the world. Once they prove themselves worthy of a tag team title shot, they’ll receive one, likely at one of ROH’s upcoming iPPVs. It’s smart business for ROH, and they’re usually not a promotion that casts such things aside just to trick people.

    Michael Bauer: BUY. Yeah, it’s the tried and true formula that always seems to work in any company. Especially when you parlay Haas and Benjamin facing the Briscoes at the next iPPV, it becoms very obvious that this can happen. When the match will happen is anyone’s guess, but I wouldn’t mind it coming on March 19th at the Manhattan Center.

    4 for 6!!

    The 191st edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 6 as we decide to agree more often than not! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!

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    Michael Bauer