The Independent Mid-Card 05.29.07: Cabana vs. Hero vs. Pearce vs. Sydal
Posted by Samuel Berman on 05.29.2007
The Four Corner Survival makes it's long overdue IMC debut!
Happy post-holiday doldrums everyone. It's back-to-work Tuesday, so drown your sorrows with another totally awesome edition of The Independent Mid-Card. It occurred to me recently that I have yet to do a column featuring one of Ring of Honor's staple matches: the Four Corner Survival. Combine that fact with me having just watched one of the more fun and enjoyable matches I've viewed in some time and you've got the recipe for an easy-going column. With that said as introduction, let's rewind all the way back to two months ago for this week's four-way edition of the IMC.
Colt Cabana vs. Chris Hero vs. Adam Pearce vs. Matt Sydal
Four Corner Survival
Ring of Honor – All Star Extravaganza III – Detroit, MI – March 30, 2007
The Wrestlers:
Colt Cabana – Long one of the funniest men in wrestling, "Classic" Colt Cabana was engaged in a blood feud in the months leading into Ring of Honor's Wrestlemania weekend shows in Detroit. Having recently dispatched with former partner Jimmy Jacobs and his valet Lacey (a former "partner" in her own right) in a Windy City Death Match in February, Cabana was seemingly between issues at the Detroit shows.
Chris Hero – Arguably one of Independent wrestling's top talents, Chris Hero first came to Ring of Honor after signing an open contract to face then-ROH World Champion "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. In the coming months, Hero would lead a campaign of terror, almost single-handedly igniting the war between ROH and another Philadelphia-based company, CZW. Though Hero and his hardcore compatriots would end up the losers in that conflict, Hero would have the eventual last laugh as he and then-partner Claudio Castagnoli (collectively known as the Kings of Wrestling) would defeat longtime ROH World Tag Team Champions Roderick Strong & Austin Aries in September of 2006. Hero and Castagnoli would lose the belts two months later and eventually split when Hero decided to go forward as a singles competitor, having signed on to have "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney represent him as his agent. Hero lost a shot at ROH World Champion Homicide at the first ROH event of 2007 and since then had appeared sparingly due to commitments in Japan.
Adam Pearce – Though he fought on the side of ROH in the conflict with CZW for the early part of 2006, "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce quickly reverted back to his heelish ways after the conclusion of that feud. Serving as a strongman for then-ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette, Pearce was a key figure in Cornette's attempts to keep Homicide from winning the ROH World Title. Pearce faced off with "The Notorious 187" on numerous occasions during late-2006, including a great Cage Match at The Chicago Spectacular, Night 2. Pearce had also recently finished a lingering issue with Delirious.
Matt Sydal – Though he was often viewed as a potential break-out star for Ring of Honor, Matt Sydal didn't truly elevate himself until late-2006, where he first finished as the runner-up in the prestigious Survival of the Fittest Tournament and then soon after won the ROH World Tag Team Titles with partner "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels. Winning the belts sparked a change in Sydal's personality as he became increasingly confident, a change that manifested itself through undeniable cockiness. Even after Daniels and Sydal dropped the belts to the Briscoe Brothers in February of 2007, Sydal's ego still continued to grow. He was now being routinely booked in Japan's Dragon Gate promotion, and had at one point even held their Open the Brave Gate Title (equivalent to the company's Light Heavyweight Title). Most recently, Sydal had swept his matches as ROH toured the United Kingdom, defeated longtime rival Delirious in a 2/3 Falls match and then besting local talent PAC on night two.
The Match:
Colt Cabana's Copa Cabana remix starts up and the Windy City Warrior busts through the curtain, giving out high fives to almost every fan at ringside as he makes his way to the ring. The back of his jacket reads "Pro Wrestler", which already delights me. Chris Hero is next to join us, accompanied by his agent "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney and his personal trainer Tank Toland. Though initially greeted by the fans chanting his name, the shouts have turned to "Fuck you, Hero!" by the time he makes it to the ring. Hero enters the ring by popping up to the top rope and doing a backflip down to the mat, seemingly because he can. Black Betty hits and "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce come down to the ring, himself accompanied by his personal man servant Shane Hagadorn. His entrance is otherwise uneventful, but he does seem to have immediate issues with Cabana. Clavicle signifies the arrival of cocky high-flyer Matt Sydal who gets a pretty positive reception despite having an increasingly negative attitude in recent months.
As the four participants ready themselves for the match, Toland counts as Hero does push-ups in a pretty funny moment. Team Hero, as well as Hagadorn hop down to ringside as the referee starts to get things together. Cabana and Sydal shake hands without incident and then Pearce mockingly shakes hands with each of them. Hero, ever the rebel, fakes out Cabana on a handshake and shakes with Sweeney instead. Hero and Pearce go out to the apron so Cabana and Sydal can start and then the ref rings the bell and the match begins proper.
Colt and Sydal circle and lockup and Cabana forces him into Hero's corner. Cabana grants a clean break, but then Sydal gets a hard tag out to Hero. Hero takes reasonable umbrage, but Sydal calmly hops out to his corner and Hero gets in the ring with Cabana, doing so by way of a superfluous flip out of the corner. Hero struts around a bit as the crowd boos and then the two men circle. They go to lockup, but Cabana grabs Hero's arm and twists it into a wristlock. Hero does an extended, complicated escape sequence and then follows it up by bouncing in and out of the ring in the corner and then doing more of his kneeling Kings of Wrestling strut. Hero then literally pats himself on the back as a group of fans begins a "That was awesome!" chant. Cabana, not to be outdone, offers Hero his arm for a wristlock and when Hero finally grabs it, Cabana does a big ramp-up before sneezing in Hero's face to force the break. Cabana then does a much less smooth (intentionally) version of Hero's celebration, awkwardly climbing in and out of the ring in the corner and then doing a somersault back inside. Cabana bows and Hero throws a tantrum as the crowd eats up every second of it. The crowd goes all the way to the "Holy Shit!" chant as Pearce absolutely makes the entire sequence by dropping down to sit in a ringside chair and visably say "WOW!" a couple of times. Pearce never gets enough credit for his excellent timing. In his frustration, Hero runs after Colt, but Cabana ducks behind him and Hero bounces off the ropes and falls backwards, tripping over the Classic One who has ducked down and knelt behind him. Cabana uses the momentum to cradle Hero for a two count. Cabana cartwheels on the kick out and Hero goes after him again, but Cabana whips him off the ropes and they do a leapfrog sequence that ends with Colt getting a rolling bodyscissors cradle for two.
Hero goes right after Colt again, but this time Cabana stops him and drops to his back, offering a leg. Hero's reluctant to take it after the wristlock fiasco, but eventually grabs it, prompting Cabana to offer his other leg. Hero switches legs, so Cabana offers his hands, and when Hero grabs those, Cabana flips him into another pinning combination that gets another two count. Hero, obviously frustrated, bails to ringside. Hero starts to walk to the back, but Sweeney and Toland try to talk him down. Cabana starts laughing at Hero from the ring (overly exaggerated, of course) and Hero gets even more flustered. Finally, Team Hero calms Chris down and he slides back into the ring with Colt, where he immediately tags back out to Sydal.
Sydal is hesitant to get in the ring with Cabana, but then slingshots in and goes running off the ropes right out of the gate. He ducks a clothesline and then slides through Colt's legs on the rebound, but when he tries to get a hiptoss off of a leapfrog sequence, things go about as well as you'd expect given the size difference (Cabana: "Oh, no way!"). Sydal settles for a backflip into a side armdrag and then gets a slingshot armdrag off of the ropes to follow up. Cabana has lost his equilibrium and goes flopping around until Pearce tags himself in when Colt gets too close to the corner.
Pearce climbs right in to face Sydal as the crowd boos loudly. Sydal suckers Pearce into charging him and then sweeps the legs and gets a standing moonsault for two. Sydal tries to follow up by chopping Pearce's chest a couple of times, but Pearce understandably no-sells and Sydal is forces to use a spinning back kick instead. Sydal tries a springboard reverse cross body block off of the second turnbuckle, but Pearce grabs him by the throat to counter and absolutely chokeslams him through the canvas. That got a ‘wow' out of me at home. Pearce gets a forearm shot to put Sydal down again and then just yells at him (Pearce: "Get up you midget!"). Pearce gets some clubbing blows to Sydal's back and then whips him into a powerslam for two. Pearce pulls Sydal into the corner and Hero tags in.
Hero headbutts Sydal in the ribs and then Pearce gets another shot in before climbing to the apron. Hero lifts Sydal into a fireman's carry and then dumps him to the mat before hitting his reverse somersault into a twisting senton for two. Team Hero cheers on their man as Chris gets a big time atomic drop on Sydal and then tags back out to Pearce. Pearce comes in and starts biting Sydal's forehead, which is unorthodox, but undeniably painful. Pearce then spits the chewed flesh into the referee's face, rightfully drawing a large ‘ewww' from the crowd. Pearce stomps Sydal in the corner and then whips him cross corner and follows with a big jumping splash. It gets two on a cocky cover until Cabana hops in to break things up. Pearce slingshots Sydal into Hero's corner, so Hero adds a poke in the eye to the move just for fun. Pearce tags Hero back in, so Hero slingshots over the top and pokes Sydal in the eye again while he's still down. Hero snapmares Sydal down and grabs a cravate and then switches to a modified headlock and drags Sydal back to the corner. Pearce tags back in and then the heels go to whip Sydal cross corner, but Sydal gets his feet up on blind charges by both guys and then hops up to the top and uses Pearce's back as a platform from which to hit a Tornado DDT on Hero in a spot that was lifted directly from Sydal's 3-Way with Christopher Daniels and Azrieal from Joe vs. Kobashi. All of that gives Sydal enough time to slowly make his way to the corner and tag out to Cabana.
Cabana gets a series of shots to Pearce and then gets his series of jabs and sets up for the bionic elbow. Hero runs in and eats the first one, but Pearce is soon to follow as is Hagadorn who has jumped up to the apron. Sydal is the next to take one and Cabana readies another, but stops short of clocking the referee. Cabana offers a handshake to the ref, but fakes him out and struts around the ring. Colt goes after Pearce, but the Scrap Daddy gets a series of rights and tries to whip Cabana into the corner. Colt reverses and ends up whipping Pearce to the other corner and following him in with the Flying Asshole (buttbutt). Sydal takes one in the opposite corner and then Colt grabs him in a headlock and uses him to headbutt Hero and Pearce down. It's lateral thinking, but effective nonetheless. Cabana then whips Sydal around and gets him in atomic drop position, but then uses him to hit what amount to dropkicks on both Hero and Pearce. Then, Cabana has Sydal grab Hero in a headscissors and wheels both guys around until they crash to the mat.
Colt whips Pearce off the ropes and puts him down with a dropkick. Sydal takes advantage when Colt lands and rolls him up in a modifies crucifix cradle for two. Cabana gets to his feet but walks into a jumping stomp from Hero out of the corner. Hero then pastes Sydal with a boot to the face and hits a Crash Landing Suplex before covering for two. Hero gets a couple of forearm shots in, but Sydal blocks a roaring forearm with a step-up enziguiri. Sydal then comes off the ropes and ducks another boot from Hero before hitting his step-up headscissors to send Hero to the outside.
Sydal aborts a dive to instead cut off Pearce who has climbed to the top. Pearce swats Sydal off, so Cabana takes over instead and bring Pearce down with a Frankensteiner. Sydal goes for a baseball slide to Hero at ringside, but Hero slides back into the ring to avoid it and fakes out a dive by backflipping off of the top rope. Colt pitches Hero back out to ringside in a subtly funny moment and then readies a dive of his own, but Sydal steals his thunder and hits his running side corkscrew plancha while Colt's still trying to rally the crowd in the ring. Cabana readies his dive again, but has his back turned to Pearce. Then, when Cabana goes to run the ropes, Pearce just levels him with his brass knuckles before storing them back in his tights and covering for the pin at 11:14. Pearce is announced as the winner and he and Hagadorn exit to Black Betty (Hagadorn: "This is THE MAN!"). Team Hero is next to leave, with Hero complaining of the finish being "bush league". Sydal checks on Cabana (still knocked out in the ring) as we cut out.
The Analysis:
Not a ton of analysis is needed for a match like this. As the opening match for a doubleshot weekend, the four men involved were basically charged with setting the tone and getting the crowd going. They certainly needed no help as the Detroit crowd seemed hot from the very start, a true testament to the fans in attendance.
The opening sequences were all comedy, and while there were spurts of psychology (mostly during the heat segment on Sydal), the bulk of the contest was all meant in good fun. Cabana is the perfect anchor for a match like this, as his sense of timing is pretty much second-to-none in Ring of Honor. That said, Pearce, Hero and Sydal weren't slouches in helping to make this match a fun start to the weekend and one of the more purely enjoyable matches that I have personally seen in some time. Sometimes a wrestling match doesn't have to be an emotionally wrought drama-fest. Sometimes it can just be a fun exercise in entertainment.
Oh, and though the finish didn't seem important at the time, it would certainly mean something with some context after about a month.
The Aftermath:
In the two months since this match, "Classic" Colt Cabana bid Ring of Honor farewell for a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. His farewell match would be against none other than "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce and Cabana would emerge victorious by submission and ride off into the sunset to conclude an event appropriately titled Good Times, Great Memories.
Pearce, who would interject himself in the Brent Albright-Homicide feud the next night, would lose the aforementioned match to Cabana in April of 2007. He was more recently defeated by "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson who was returning from an extended injury layoff. Though Pearce seems to be between feuds at the moment, it logically seems only a matter of time before such a polarizing figure finds himself at the center of another conflict.
Chris Hero would main event Ring of Honor's This Means War II, losing the fall while tagging with ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima against Nigel McGuinness & Doug Williams. Hero would go on to suffer a far more deflating defeat the next night, as he and personal trainer Tank Toland lost the opening contest to the duo of Jason Blade & Eddie Edwards. Hero, who spends time in a number of companies other than ROH (including Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan), seems determined to get back on track over the summer, as he will is already booked on a number of shows for Ring of Honor.
Finally, Matt Sydal has missed most of the Ring of Honor shows since the beginning of April due to a variety of commitments (including appearances in Japan and Europe). He will have to find new allies soon, as his former tag team partner Christopher Daniels quit ROH at the end of April, coinciding with TNA pulling its talent from ROH competition. Sydal has an upcoming shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles with a partner of his choosing, though he has yet to name his partner for that bout.
The Final Word:
Every so often, I'll see a match that makes me just sit back and watch and forget to think about how I'd write play-by-play or focus on all the psychology (or lack thereof). In this case, I knew within the first couple of minutes that I was in for a treat; a match that was all meant to be fun and not taken too seriously. Matches like this one are becoming a lost art (except for in PWG), and it's nice to know that ROH can still do them when it wants to.
To see this week's match, you can purchase All Star Extravaganza III at rohwrestling.com. Also on the card are the ROH World Tag Team Title rematch between Shingo & Naruki Doi and the Briscoes as well as a fantastic 8-Man Tag Team main event pitting ROH against Dragon Gate. This show is bar-none one of ROH's best, so please consider it having my highest recommendation for purchase.
While you're here on 411, be sure to check out some other great columns. There's Ari's Column of Honor (Memorial Day Weekend Edition!), Stu's Friendly Competition and Bayani's Truth B Told, all of which you should really read every week. Also, there's a new review of ROH's Fifth Year Festival: Dayton from BG & JZ. Oh, and you can read the most recent Buy or Sell featuring Bayani and yours truly going in depth on PWG. When you're done with all of that, be sure to check out pretty much anything that JD Dunn has put up in the last week.
Again, I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I spent 32 hours of it working in a bar, so you can imagine how mine went. But be ready, because next week starts a big month-long IMC event.
In closing, just a public note that it's nice to have my closing symbol actually mean something again. [Insert Counting Crows lyrics here].
