The Independent Mid-Card 03.27.07: Jacobs vs. Whitmer
Posted by Samuel Berman on 03.27.2007
Hillbilly JesHUSS Explodes!
As always, hello and welcome to another week of The Independent Mid-Card. I was going to start a big three-week event this week, but with the announcement of the Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer Steel Cage Showdown for this Saturday's Ring of Honor show, I just had to go back and look at their very first ROH singles encounter. It's a week of year-long-feud goodness, so strap yourself in and get ready for another fantastic week here in the IMC.
Oh, and for those of you who don't believe that there's a three-week event on the horizon, not only do I guarantee that it's real, but there's a hint as to the subject hidden deep within the confines of this week's IMC.
BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Ring of Honor – Dragon Gate Challenge – Detroit, MI – March 30, 2006
The Wrestlers:
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs – It's incredibly difficult to separate the recent histories of these two wrestlers, as they had spent the better part of the last year as a highly successful tag team, winning the ROH Tag Team Titles on two separate occasions. Whitmer and Jacobs, who early on had been given the unofficial nickname of "Hillbilly JesHUSS" by ROH fans, ended up somewhat listless after losing the tag belts to the makeshift team of Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro. They had seemingly found a niche as the New Lacey's Angels (after Lacey had fired the former Special K members that made up her original stable), but Lacey was repeatedly unable to lead the team to another title reign. Throughout the fall and winter, Jacobs became more and more obsessed with Lacey, though she continually shot down his childlike advances and violently chastised him for every failure. Whitmer, meanwhile, continued to grow increasingly frustrated by the team's inability to regain its former glory and by Jacobs' mounting obsession with their manager. In January of 2006, Whitmer finally snapped, attacking Jacobs after the duo had failed to regain the titles in a match against new champions Austin Aries & Roderick Strong. However, though Whitmer was the one who had turned on Jacobs, the fans continued to cheer Whitmer, both due to his support of ROH in its budding war with CZW and because of Jacobs' continued alliance with (and fixation on) Lacey. Going into Ring of Honor's first triple-shot weekend (scheduled in conjunction with WWE's Wrestlemania 22), a match was signed between the two, potentially to settle the budding issue before things escalated.
The Match:
Jacobs enters to The Ballad of Lacey, which had written not long before this. The fans welcome him by waving their cell phones in the air like lighters, much to Lacey's chagrin. Slither hits and BJ Whitmer joins us. Clips of Whitmer attacking Jacobs earlier that day during the Fox coverage of ROH and of Whitmer hitting Jacobs with the Wrist Clutch Exploder at Dissention play as Whitmer makes his way to the ring. Whitmer stretches in the corner as Lacey takes her time exiting the ring. Lacey makes a big deal of pointing to her feet while still on the apron, as rumor has it she'll allow Jacobs to give her a foot massage if he's successful in beating Whitmer in this match. She finally drops off the apron, but not before the bell rings to start the match. No handshake by the former partners.
Both men take their time in locking up. They circle for a bit and we finally get a collar and elbow tie-up. Jacobs grabs a wristlock, but Whitmer somersaults and cartwheels out and then gets an overhead toss to grab a wristlock of his own. Jacobs flips out and then gets his helicopter headscissors to send Whitmer to the ropes. Both men are dizzy and stumble around a bit as we seem to have a standoff. Jacobs dances a bit to celebrate and is met by a loud chant of "HUSS!" from his hometown crowd. Jacobs makes kissy faces and waves at Lacey a bunch (Jacobs: "That's my girl!") and both men stall for a bit. Whitmer rolls out to go after Lacey, so Jacobs tries a slingshot plancha. Whitmer catches Jacobs in mid-air and then swings him onto his feet and whips him to the guardrail and landing him on his head. Whitmer plays to the crowd and then whips Jacobs into the guardrail again, and this time Jacobs almost does the Shawn Michaels version of the Flair Flip into the crowd. The crowd loves it and chants "one more time", so Whitmer whips Jacobs into a third guardrail, getting the very same somersault sell he got on the first two. Whitmer decides not to go for four and rolls Jacobs back in the ring, covering him for two.
BJ gets an elbow strike and a couple of hard chops to put Jacobs down for another two count. Whitmer gets a back elbow off of an Irish whip and that also gets two. Whitmer's been enthusiastic thus far, but still very workmanlike, going for covers at every reasonable opportunity. Whitmer jaws with the ref for a moment and then follows up with a cocky boot to the face while Jacobs is kneeling down and then lifts him up and hits a forearm shot that sends his former partner to the ropes. The crowd has started a loud "you're a crack whore" chant at Lacey, for whatever reason. Whitmer whips Jacobs off the ropes and ducks down before hitting him on the rebound with a nice leg lariat for another two count. Whitmer did stall a bit before making that cover, but it seemed like it didn't make much of a difference. Whitmer grabs a front facelock and looks for a suplex, but Jacobs tries to fight it off. Whitmer gets a clubbing forearm and then gets the vertical suplex for yet another two count. Jacobs retreats to the corner, so Whitmer just slaps him in the face before stomping him down. Whitmer argues with the ref some more and then goes to pull Jacobs out of the corner by his feet, only to get caught with a headscissors that sends Whitmer crashing face-first into the second turnbuckle. Jacobs follows up with a springboard double dropkick to Whitmer's back, sending his face smashing into the bottom turnbuckle. Nice spot by Jacobs there. Jacobs rolls out and pulls Whitmer's head right next to the ringpost. Jimmy then takes a moment to flirt with Lacey before hitting a running dropkick to Whitmer's head. That's another really nice spot. Whitmer rolls around the canvas in understandable agony as Lacey tries to get Jacobs back in the ring. Back inside, a cover gets two for Jacobs.
Jacobs tears away at Whitmer's face until the ref forces a break. Jacobs gets a boot to the face and then moves Whitmer over near the ropes. He gets a pair of fistdrops and then a series of rope-assisted double stomps before segueing the last one into an elbowdrop for a two count off of a cocky cover. Jacobs stalks Whitmer like a pitbull and gets a couple of kneeling headbutts. Jacobs gets a dropkick to the back of Whitmer's head and then covers him with one foot while blowing a kiss to Lacey. It barely gets two. Jacobs pulls Whitmer towards the corner and hits a pair of standing elbowdrops before going up to the top rope. Jacobs goes for the back senton, but Whitmer gets the knees up and then pops up and gets an exploder suplex on a charging Jacobs. The camera goes to Lacey, who is noticeably upset at ringside.
Jacobs ducks under a big boot and gets a mule kick to set up a Contra Code (sitout Sliced Bread #2) attempt. Whitmer puts on the brakes, so Jacobs gets a series of headbutts and knee strikes to try and complete the move. He finally gets the momentum to run the ropes, but Whitmer cuts him off and gets a modified inverted powerbomb that sends Jacobs face-first into the top turnbuckle and then follows up with a German suplex. Whitmer hangs on, gets a Dragon suplex and then rolls through for a powerbomb attempt, but Jacobs gets a sunset flip for two. The crowd almost bought that nearfall. Whitmer goes for a clothesline, but Jacobs ducks and rolls into a schoolboy cradle for two. Both men take a second recovering and then Whitmer gets a boot to the midsection and goes for a delayed vertical suplex that ends with both men tumbling over the top rope and crashing to the ground at ringside. That earns a well-deserved "holy shit" chant from the crowd. Jacobs is the first one to his feet and climbs up to the apron, but Whitmer catches a rana attempt from the apron and just decimates Jacobs with a powerbomb onto the guardrail. Whitmer takes a moment to gloat and then rolls Jacobs back in the ring.
Whitmer hits a brainbuster for two and then argues with the ref before getting a running basement dropkick that gets two until Jacobs grabs the ropes to break. Whitmer pulls Jacobs to the center of the ring and then goes up, but Jacobs recovers and crotches him on the top rope. Jacobs follows him up and grabs a cravate and the two exchange strikes and headbutts on the top rope. Whitmer gets a couple of clubbing forearms and sets Jacobs up for a top rope powerbomb, but in a now-famous moment the momentum sends both men crashing to the floor, with Whitmer badly injuring his ankle and Jacobs' head literally bouncing off of both the top rope and the ring apron on his way down. We get several angles of replays to stall as both men are completely out of it on the floor. The referee checks on both guys and somehow Whitmer makes his way to his feet. He hobbles around ringside and then finally picks up Jacobs and rolls him back into the ring.
Back in, Whitmer covers for two. Everyone, including Whitmer, is absolutely in shock, as the Detroit crowd is now in an absolute frenzy. Whitmer goes for an exploder, but Jacobs elbows out and hits the Contra Code. He's about to go for the cover, but Lacey hops up onto the apron and stops him, saying she wants Whitmer dead, not just beaten. Lacey clears off the timekeeper's table and Jacobs rolls Whitmer out and onto it. Jacobs rolls back in and climbs to the top as the crowd chants "please don't die". Jacobs stalls too much, however, and Whitmer rolls back in and cuts him off on the top rope. Whitmer gets an overhead belly-to-belly superplex and then comes off the ropes with a lariat (with Jacobs doing a full backflip on the sell) and that gets the pinfall at 15:14.
Whitmer is announced as the winner, but he can't stand up due to the ankle injury. He finally makes his way to his feet (with ROH Booker Gabe Sapolsky coming down to ringside to check on him) and climbs to the second turnbuckle to celebrate and soak in a loud "BJ" chant. Whitmer stands around and waits for Jacobs to recover, encouraging the crowd to applaud him and offering him a handshake, but Jacobs is too infatuated with Lacey and walks out without shaking Whitmer's hand. The crowd doesn't like that one bit, and Whitmer grabs the microphone and runs down Lacey. Jacobs goes back to the apron and extends his hand, but then spits at Whitmer instead when he gets close enough. Jacobs and Lacey retreat to the back and Whitmer proceeds to cut a promo on CZW, calling out Chris Hero and Necro Butcher, but they don't come out to respond and Whitmer leaves the ring as we cut out.
The Analysis:
What can I say? The match was fantastic. Going on third on a nine-match card only serves to prove how much effort both guys were putting into their match, as it was hardly one of the most featured bouts on the show. Whitmer did an excellent job of showing that he was all business, going for covers after almost every move in the early going. Jacobs, though overmatched physically was intelligent enough in the ring to use his one major advantage, his superior speed, to take control over his larger, stronger opponent. In particular, the sequence where Jacobs reversed Whitmer into the turnbuckle with a headscissors was a great bit of ring psychology, with Jacobs using timing and his surroundings to help him gain an advantage.
Oh, and then there was that huge bump from the top rope. The amazing part of the two men's horrific fall was how seamlessly they weaved it into the story of the match. Though they did need a few moments to recover (and honestly, who wouldn't have?), they somehow found a way to gather their wits and finish the match. And beyond simply finishing it, they completed telling their story, with Jacobs in particular gutting out two huge bumps before succumbing to a wicked lariat.
I don't often take the time to specifically recommend the match I look at during a given week, but I want to make it clear that I think this one deserves particular attention from my readers. Though the botched powerbomb spot is what got people talking at the time, this match was already excellent before that sequence even happened. Again, this match could hardly be considered one of the featured matches from the Dragon Gate Challenge show (despite being one of the major homegrown ROH feuds going on at the time), but regardless of their place on the card, Whitmer & Jacobs went out and put on an emotional classic, one that unfairly gets remembered for it's big blown spot rather than the incredible work that preceded (and succeeded) it. This match gets my full endorsement.
The Aftermath:
The next year of Whitmer and Jacobs' careers were almost completely intertwined. Though Whitmer was also featured as one of the key players in the ROH vs. CZW conflict (culminating in his participation in feud's blowoff in Cage of Death and then a No Ropes, Barbed Wire Match against the Necro Butcher in July of 2006), his primary opponent for the remainder of the year was his former partner. The two had a rematch of their initial encounter in June, but that match ended in a No Contest when Whitmer powerbombed Jacobs (and himself) from the top rope out into the crowd. As a result, the duo had simultaneous ROH World Title shots, with Jacobs eliminating Whitmer from a Three-Way Dance with then-champion Bryan Danielson before succumbing to the American Dragon later in the match.
The two would meet in another singles match in August in Chicago Ridge, with Jacobs picking up the win and then re-injuring Whitmer's ankle by sandwiching it in a stack of chairs and hitting his flying back senton to send Whitmer rolling around the ring in agony. In the coming months, Jacobs would team with and eventually turn on "Classic" Colt Cabana, eventually starting to team with Lacey's new hired gun "The Shooter" Brent Albright. By the end of the year, the feud's battle lines had become Jacobs, Albright and Lacey facing off with Whitmer, Cabana and the newly-face turned Daizee Haze in a variety of tag team and singles contests. In particular, Whitmer and Jacobs had a violent brawl at the end of November that began so suddenly that the opening bell never sounded and no official match was able to take place. After another wild affair, this time a Whitmer victory in a Falls Count Anywhere match in Liverpool, UK, a final match between the former partners and friends was signed. That match, a Steel Cage Showdown, will take place this Saturday in Detroit, MI at Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor II event. The cage escape rule will be waived and both participants will be signing wavers in advance of the match, absolving Ring of Honor of any responsibility should either man be seriously injured during the course of the contest. After their numerous bloody brawls, one can only imagine the lengths to which these men will go to defeat each other in this final one-on-one matchup.
The Final Word:
Ring of Honor has long been excellent at booking mid-card feuds that have both great matches and incredible storyline depth. Dating back to the landmark feud between CM Punk and Raven during 2003, ROH mid-card feuds have been known to not only elevate their participants, but also reasonable stretch for long periods of time, simmering over a year rather than boiling for a month. The Whitmer vs. Jacobs feud has been a shining example of this over the last year, succeeding in avoiding the rut of the traditional ‘former partners collide' feuds that have become all too common. By integrating other competitors like Cabana, Albright, Haze, Danielson and Jimmy Rave, ROH has been able to keep Whitmer vs. Jacobs not just alive, but fresh for a full year.
If you'd like to check out this week's match, and I highly recommend that you do, ROH's Dragon Gate Challenge is available at rohwrestling.com. Also on the card are a trio of matches featuring talent from Japan's Dragon Gate promotion and a fantastic main event pitting Samoa Joe against longtime rival "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels.
While here at 411, be sure to check out a number of my fellow columnists and writers. Ari's Column of Honor and Stu's Friendly Competition are always must-reads. Also, be sure to check out Domingo's Truth B Told which this week takes a look at the end of WWE brand-specific Pay-Per-Views. If you're still bored after all of that, I've got an edition of The Box in the Attic in the can that should be up at some point this week, as well as my first Concert Review for the 411 Music Zone. Oh, and Garoon & Ziegler have a boatload of new reviews up, as does J.D., who's been doing a great job capturing the spirit of The Summer of Punk, my all-time favorite wrestling angle.
For all you ROHbots out there, the new ROH Roundtable Preview should to up on Thursday to completely prepare you for this weekend's huge Detroit shows.
That said, I'm out of stuff to share, so I'm going to go watch V for Vendetta again and hotwire my air conditioner. Until next time, go rent Children of Men. Have a good week everyone.
