411’s Buy or Sell 06.01.07: BOSJ Tournament, The Iron Saints, The Kings of Wrestling, and More!
Posted by Samuel Berman on 06.01.2007
Destiny faces off with The Boss to discuss Puro and the U.S. Independent Scene as Matt Adamson battles Larry Csonka!
Welcome everyone to WEEK NINE 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.
Week Nine's Match-Up:
Destiny author and resident Puro guru Matt Adamson vs. our fearless leader Larry Csonka!
It would be a good idea for a young wrestler to win New Japan's Best of the Super Juniors Tournament rather than an established veteran.
Matt Adamson : BUY. In the most recent edition of my Sunday column "Destiny" I made a rather bold prediction. I predicted that not only would Ryusuke Taguchi win the tournament, but that it would be a wise move for New Japan. While I understand that having an established guy win makes the fans happy, I'm also under the strong impression that in Japan, the reason why the popularity of wrestling is so low by comparison to the past is because they didn't spend enough time focusing on new talent. Instead they pushed their biggest names higher and higher until all their top talent was gone and they were forced to pushing mid-card guys to the top right away and nobody bought it. It's what I call the Puro Plague and while I think they need to earn their place at the top, the guys at the top don't have to win it every time.
Larry Csonka : BUY . I have to totally agree with Matt here. I was disappointed a bit when Mutoh won the Carnivale this year, but I understood why. Sometimes you have to have the top guy win to make the thing important, but then there are the times that the youth have to go over, and go over strong. This is the time for that. New Japan's Best of the Super Juniors Tournament is usually a very exciting deal overall, and a showcase of great lightweight talent. I have indeed read Matt's most recent Destiny column, and have to agree with the pick of Ryusuke Taguchi to win the tournament. I also echo the sentiment that this would be a wise move for New Japan, as they need to excite people and make them want to have fun and dig the current scene. When popularity is down in Japan, like it is now, that is a scary thing. Something like this could be a nice boost, get people talking and then you can go from there and good things happen.
1 for 1.
Pro Wrestling NOAH's main event scene is currently the weakest it has been in the company's history.
Matt Adamson : SELL . An argument could easily be made either way, but I'm going with "sell" here as I believe they have the main event scene, but they are incorrectly utilizing their potential main event guys. With a roster that includes KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, Akira Taue, Takeshi Morishima, Jun Akiyama, Mitsuharu Misawa, Takeshi Rikio and others it would seem they have the potential for something huge. They've even run with guys like Ogawa and Marufuji as their champ but for whatever reason, as soon as they either get beat for the title, or fail to win it, they get dropped to mid-card or upper-mid before we can take another breath. With Kobashi coming back soon, I hope that Misawa sees how much true star power he has. I hope that he utilizes that and realizes it's going to take Kobashi, Akiyama, Taue and himself to do the job. These guys have main evented NOAH in the past. So why aren't they still at the top. They are capable and talented, I say it's strong, but NOAH management doesn't realize that.
Larry Csonka : SELL . This isn't really an, "OMG they are horrible" or anything like that, and while not the weakest ever, it is pretty weak right now I think. Sure you have KENTA and Mfuji, who are great, but they are small and while they have done well, the Japanese audience didn't take to them main eventing as they had hoped. Like the WWE main event scene, people think and have been conditioned to think that bigger is better as far as the main event goes. Morishima is constantly improving and could be that top guy they want, but not right now. Sure Akiyama, Taue and Misawa have been huge in the past, the crowds still love them and will accept them, but that being said, in 2007 that doesn't make for a strong main event scene, unless they start putting over KENTA, Morishima and Mfuji to make the company stronger for the future. And as for Kobashi, I don't see the man coming back. Apparently he is in MUCH worse shape than has been let on. I hope that I am wrong and he does, because at one time people said his career was over, and then he decided he was still awesome and ruled 2002-2005 WO WOTY award. I would love to see him make it back, but I doubt it.
2 for 2.
Now with a few months of perspective, Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi is your Japanese Match of the Year for 2006.
Matt Adamson : BUY . It didn't take me a few months of perspective to realize just how awesome this match was. Mere seconds after I finished watching the match for the first time (which was in January this year) I was able to say without a doubt that it was the best match that I saw that happened in 2006. It's great because it shows exactly how much better Kaz Hayashi has gotten since his time in WCW. Kondo is usually a win-win type wrestler as he is incredibly talented and can pull good out of most of his opponents. If you haven't seen this match, see it NOW! You won't be disappointed. It's on the All Japan 8/27 show which also features Hiroshi Hase's retirement match. While there are a couple ROH matches I have yet to see that are getting some rather lofty acclaim, they are going to have to be really damn good to outshine Kaz vs. Kondo.
Larry Csonka : BUY . Unfortunately I didn't get to keep up with Japan as much as I had wanted to in 2006, but I do remember this match and I thought that it was a damn good match. Not the overall MOTY, but as far as what I saw from Japan I agree. Matt mentioned, Kaz Hayashi is at a completely different level than he was in WCW, a completely different worker; a much better, refined, and smarter worker. He is awesome to watch, and people that thought he was nothing more than one of the Jung Dragons will be very impressed.
3 for 3.
SWITCH~!
On the heels of winning the IWA Mid-South Candido Cup, The Iron Saints will debut in Ring of Honor by the end of 2007.
Larry Csonka : BUY . I think so. Gabe seems very open to bringing in acts that can help the product, especially if recommended by the boys. From everything I have heard and seen, the Iron Saints look really good and are a very fun tag team. Bringing them into ROH to feud, even for a short stint with the Briscoes is probably a good idea. The Briscoes are hot this year, and as said, if Gabe doesn't want to commit, they could book a 3-month arc of matches and go from there. Hell the CZW feud was just supposed to be that double shot in the same building, and then Gabe realized he had something and THEN they ran the full angle. These guys are good, they should work well with the Briscoes and I don't see the harm at all. Hell, ROH uses Irish Fucking Airborne and they suck, seriously, they suck and badly. But yeah, bring in The Iron Saints for a short run at the very least by the end of the year, keep things fresh and maybe add some longer term talent if it works out.
Matt Adamson : BUY . I've gotta agree with Larry here. Besides it being a good idea, it would fill the void left by the TNA pullout. They are talented and will likely be available to ROH long term if things work out well. A feud with The Briscoes is another awesome idea. Besides the El Generico/Steen feud they have going right now, things look like they might be bleak or that feuding with the Briscoes means hurting the singles main event scene. They are a good enough team to hang with the Briscoes and make it seem like they actually have a shot of pulling off the win. Damn, booking the Briscoes right now seems like a chore, because their opponents have to be a believable threat, but this might be the ticket.
4 for 4.
TNA having pulled talent specifically from ROH and PWG will lead to increased attendance at other Independent shows where TNA talent is featured.
Larry Csonka : BUY . Actually I think so. I had to think this over a bit, but let's say you're an east coast fan, you used to love seeing Joe and Daniels when they came to NY and Conn. But they aren't there now. But Bob's weekend Warrior Show is having Daniels and Joe in the main event. You haven't seen them live in months at a live event so you throw down the money. Also, there is the aspect of people that see these TNA guys on TV, they go to the grocery store and see a poster for Jimmy's Jam Wrestling show Friday night and they have say Team 3D, Chris Sabin and AJ Styles. That shit grabs people. While I will admit that this will not be a HUGE difference for a lot of promotions, some will gain in a big way because before they had no chance at these guys because they has other commitments, but now they have the chance. Trust me, when you run a show there is a BIG difference between 200 people and 1,000. So yes, I will BUY this shit quicker than my mother in law at a white sale.
Matt Adamson : BUY . Larry said it best when he said that there is a huge difference between 200 people and 1,000 people. Guys like Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels are going to be wrestling for Hermie Sadler's UWF and IWA-Mid South and the more of a novelty seeing these guys at those shows is the more they will draw. I know for certain that I will go to a show with any TNA name attached to it, especially guys who have worked for ROH (I think the Northwest being deprived of big name talent is a massive part of that though). Of course there is also Joe Blow's Wrestling Supershow and all that hoopla, and they will benefit a great deal, but my money is on IWA-MS and UWF getting the best deal there is to be had.
5 for 5.
Ring of Honor should make the upcoming Kings of Wrestling reunion a permanent one.
Larry Csonka : BUY . Here is why. As far as I can tell since the split, which was done because Claudio was thought to have a developmental deal with the E all lined up, both guys have done two things. Jack and Shit. They just haven't. These are two guys, that in the ROH universe just work well and will succeed well together rather than apart. Together you could really work the LONG term tag feud with the Briscoes, I am talking a year or more, on and off, keep trading belts, feuds for both to break it up and then back to them feuding. The Briscoes are hot right now, but to me still have no charisma minus the MAN UP~! The KOW have that charisma and can go, so together they can have the hot feud and maybe make some money together. So yeah, a permanent reunion for the KOW is what I would do.
Matt Adamson : BUY . HELLS YES! If ROH is to have a tag division, why not reunite an awesome team of two guys who have been in limbo over the last few months since they split. It will add credibility to the division and give The Briscoes and hopefully The Iron Saints some solid competition. I mean KOW vs. Briscoes vs. Iron Saints sounds good to me. Make it happen Gabe! Speaking of Gabe, word is that he isn't a huge Chris Hero fan. Well, he needs to get over that because the guy has talent and as a team the King Of Wrestling are about as good as they come.
6 for 6!
The Ninth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at a perfect 6 for 6. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.
