WWE vs. TNA 4.08.07: Chris Jericho vs. Alex Shelley
Posted by Jordan Linkous on 04.08.2007
I’m bringing Alex Shelley back for the one of the greatest match-ups you probably won’t see!
The Pre-Match Warm-up:
Hello everyone. If you don't know my name is Jordan Linkous and I write columns. About wrestling. And here are the prolonged results of Finlay vs. Roderick Strong:
If you didn't quite catch the title, I wonder why you clicked here. If you did read the title, you might ask yourself, "Didn't he use Alex Shelley before?" The answer to your question is yes. However, there are not a ton of TNA guys, but there are several different matches, and this one has been suggested a couple times. Nevertheless, I have decided to give it a shot. I will try not to completely recycle my material, but it will probably be the same with more information and insight added.
Chris Jericho vs. Alex Shelley
Category 1: Strengths
Chris Jericho: Chris Jericho is better than you. Why? Here is a great in-ring performer, he is a good talker, and his band rocks. Well, I don't really know about that last part, but the first two things are sure bets. His promos were often funny when he tried to be funny, serious when he tried to be serious, and everything in between. But that's ‘nuff said ‘bout that. His in ring quality also speaks for itself. He told stories when he was in the ring. He is scientific, technical, and just basically intelligent. He is also agile when he needs to be, and can sometimes get arrogant. When in the ring, Jericho would always know what he was doing. He would work over body parts and apply key submission holds. His key area of target was the back, would he would weaken with backbreakers, powerbombs, suplexes, back suplexes, and other moves that would do damage to that particular area. Once weakened, Jericho would lock on his finisher, the Walls of Jericho. The Walls of Jericho was a particularly painful maneuver because it was an elevated Boston Crab, so there was more pressure applied to the back. This was one of the key things about Jericho, in the sense that his moveset all meshed together. He had many moves that worked over the back, and then it paid off in the end. Aside from the smarts that Jericho possessed, he was also quick and agile in the ring. Another signature move of his was the Lionsault, which was a moonsault off the middle rope onto prone opponents. Jericho was quick and agile when hitting this move, and flew through the air with precise accuracy. Along with that, he has been known to hit hurricanranas, which aren't particularly easy to do, and also the Frankensteiner, which is a top rope hurricanrana. He also was able to hit a beautiful springboard dropkick, which is just another thing that makes him such a threat in the ring. To sum this up, Jericho wrested with a purpose. His moves led somewhere, and he was accurate and agile. If he was to meet up with Shelley, he should do what he knows best and weaken Shelley in preparation for the Walls of Jericho, but not leave himself open for any counters.
Alex Shelley: Beloved by the IWC, Alex Shelley is a quick, technical, inventive, and charismatic performer. He has held several titles in many Indy promotions, including Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, NWA Midwest, and Combat Zone Wrestling. Shelly has been a highly successful performer in TNA and Ring of Honor, but has yet to win a title in either. That doesn't quite matter, though, as Shelley is a beloved part of the TNA and Ring of Honor roster. First off, the light and agile performer is very quick. He is very young, and he is able to use his youthfulness to his advantage. One of his finishers, Sliced Bread #2, requires the speed an agility that Shelley possesses. His quickness is also a key factor in his technical abilities, because with out his quickness he would not be able to lock on his submission moves in such a precise and devastating manner. Since he is so quick, he can hit many of his signature moves before his opponnents know what hit them. Onto the technical aspect of this great wrestler. If you watch any of his ROH matches, you see how easily he can sinch on his signature submission move, the Border City Stretch. That move is essentially the Crippler Crossface, but instead of locking the arm in the legs, Alex puts his opponent's arm in somewhat of a chickenwing, wrenching it. He is a precise and scientific wrestler, focusing on a particular body part, and working it over, and then capitalizing. Along with his technical skills, his innovativeness comes hand in hand. Like I mentioned before, just look at some of his ROH stuff and you'll know what I mean. He can pull new moves out of his hat, and apply them very sufficiently. He contorts his opponents bodies in ways that seem almost unfathomable to many viewers, and his opponents are left aching. He could lock on a headlock and also wrench the arm. He could do a leg lock that stretches all parts of the body, from head to toe. What I am trying to say is he is a thoughtful wrestler that can create moves and weaken opponents with a large arsenal of quick and technical moves. Shelly is also a great tag partner, winning the 2006 Trios Tournament in ROH along with Jimmy Rave and Abyss. While this isn't particularly important to the match up, it supports my statement because when in a tag team, one is required to think fast and be able to weaken opponents with tag team moves. Alex, when motivated, will work with a tag partner, and ultimately be a fantastic partner. So, in conclusion, Alex Shelley is awesome, and is technical, quick, and awesome. If he wrestled Jericho, he should utilize his strengths and capitalize.
Category 2: Fighting Styles
Alex Shelley: As I said before, Shelley can put his opponents in painful holds, and is really revolutionary. He is also very quick. When he gets in the ring, he is able to combine his submission expertise and his quickness to create a very hard fighting style for opponents to handle. His wide arsenal on submission moves range from different modifications of the Boston Crab mixed with a Dragon Sleeper, and different variations of armbreakers, leg locks, head locks, bow and arrows, sleeper holds, basically if you can dream it Shelley can do it. His submission style is so inventive when he gets into a ring where they will actually LET HIM shine, it leaves the opponents contorted and throbbing with pain. And, like I mentioned before, without the quickness and meticulousness that Alex has, his submission moves would not be as devastating. He combines his speed with his submission, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. If you watched the video, you would have seen how Shelley can turn a head-scissors takedown into his Border City Stretch. Along with his technical portion, he has gained much "education" in wrestling from his time in Japan. It was actually there where he won his ZERO1-MAX United States Openweight Championship. Needless to say, Shelley is a very competent wrestler on many levels, and I think he deserves more than what he is getting out of TNA right now. And he has gotten no recognition for his skills. Talk about underutilized. RUSSO! Anyways, it would definitely be wise for Shelley to use his "Innovative Technical" style of wrestling to gain the upper-hand in this matchup. If he is able to be quick as lightning, accurate, and can keep his head on straight, I think he could go hold for hold with some of the greatest, and that is including Jericho.
Chris Jericho: It is common knowledge that if you are a Canadian wrestler you are a technical wrestler. Whether it is the Harts, Chris Benoit, Lance Storm, and, uhhh, Trish Stratus, they all display some knowledge of technical wrestling. And, similar to Alex Shelley, Chris Jericho is a master at combining technical prowess with quickness. He, like Shelley, often has his opponents reeling because of the way he performs so fluidly in the ring. As previously mentioned, Jericho has a wide variety of submission moves that are used to gain the upper hand when facing opponents. He is key at working the back area, but also works the head with headlocks and sleeper holds. Of course, his main target is the back, and, like I said before, has several moves that weaken it, ranging from suplexes to Boston Crabs. His quickness is also a key factor as he can roll through several moves and wind up locking on the Walls of Jericho. He also uses his quickness to hit high risk moves, such as spinning kicks and elbows, some of which are performed off the top rope. He also hits Moonsaults, and the Lionsault, along with others, such as Enziguris, springboard dropkicks, and missile dropkicks. So, Chris Jericho is a great wrestler. He is similar to Shelley because he can utilize both his quickness and technical style of wrestling into one great big package of winningness and awesomeness.
Category 3: Finishers
Chris Jericho: Chris Jericho's primary finisher is, and has been for as long as I can remember, the Walls of Jericho. It is a Boston Crab that is elevated so that the pressure is place all on the back. As if the pain dealt from that move isn't enough, there is another aspect that makes it terrifying to opponents: it can be locked on out of nowhere. He can roll through other moves to do it, such as a school boy roll up, and can counter many moves to do it. Some moves that are susceptible to being countered into the Walls of Jericho are dropkicks, hurricanranas, head scissors, and other moves that put opponents in that predicament. Along with the Walls of Jericho, Y2J has also been known to do the Lionsault, which is a springboard moonsault. When using these two moves successfully, Chris Jericho can be almost unstoppable.
Alex Shelley: Shelley has quite a few moves in his arsenal that he uses to put away his opponents. In ROH, he often used the Border City Stretch, which is a Crossface when the arm is chickenwinged over the shoulder. This move, similar to the Walls of Jericho, can be utilized out of nowhere, and it normally leads to his opponents tapping. If he can lock that on long enough to do its damage to Jericho, he will either be forced to tap out or pass out. He also uses the Shellshock, which is a spinning reverse STO. It is very difficult to predict when he is about to do it, because, like I said, Shelley's quickness allows him to hit moves out of nowhere. Recently in TNA he uses the Sliced Bread #2 and also the Frog Splash. Nevertheless, it is easy to see that Shelley has a wide arsenal.
The Final Result:
Alright folks, it is time for you to do your job. Who will win? The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah? Or the Technical Messiah? You decide!
