411’s Buy or Sell 07.27.07: Chris Hero, Roderick Strong’s FIP Title Reign, Feud of the Year and More!

Welcome everyone to WEEK FIFTEEN 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 Fifteen’s Match-Up:
Independent DVD Reviewer Brad Garoon vs. ECW Recapper Michael Bauer!

The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico feud will end up being the feud of the year on the Independent scene.

Brad Garoon: BUY. I say this in more of a hopeful tone because I think tag team wrestling needs a feud like this. For a long time there have been no engaging feuds between tag teams. Sure there have been amazing tag matches, but I can’t remember the last time I was emotionally invested in a feud between two teams. As long as the multiple match series between these two teams doesn’t lead to overkill this has a ton of potential. Mark Briscoe’s injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise (as long as it doesn’t lead to complications in the future) as it has added a fantastic new dimension to his character’s sympathy. Steen makes a phenomenal prick, playing perfectly off of Mark’s character. If things go well it’s going to come down to this and Jacobs/Whitmer for feud of the year.

Michael Bauer : BUY . I think I would buy this even if it was stated “feud of the year in all of wrestling” because no other feud has captured my imagination like this all year, from any federation. Hell, nothing has been this good for me in quite a while. These guys have been going hard at each other since the beginning of the year and now we get four different nights and four different match styles just in August, where I still don’t think we have the final battle between these two teams. Throw in the Tag Team Titles meaning something, somewhere for once, and you have this year’s Danielson/Homicide, in this being a feud that brews all year and leads to one huge payoff. I gotta expect the titles to change hands sometime in August, which gives us the chance for more in the fall. Brad hit everything else on the head with the concussion to Mark and Steen being a complete prick as extra reasons to love this feud.

1 for 1.

Chris Hero is the best choice to win Ring of Honor’s Race to the Top Tournament.

Brad Garoon : SELL . Hero is never going to be more than he is in ROH. He’s the top heel at the tippy top of the midcard who can sometimes come into the main event and seem like a possible threat. However, given that Jack Evans has shown that he will improve his game with every match he is the best choice to win this tournament. The only thing Evans has lacked in ROH are Strong singles wins, and what better way than a tournament is there to give him what he’s been missing? The answer is that there is no better way. In the roundtable I’ve predicted that Evans will go over Steen, Albright, Castagnoli and ultimately Richards in the finals to win the tournament. Wins over four men who are all bigger and more powerful than him will give him the credibility he needs to be a player in the main event. This event is the perfect opportunity to put Evans over as the star he has proven he can be, and I think that’s exactly what will happen.

Michael Bauer : BUY . Sorry Brad, but as much as I love Jack Evans, I just don’t see him being a vaible winner for this. You are still boy Jack, you are still my boy. Chris Hero, though I will never be fully behind the guy, has been a roll of late with Sweet N’ Sour behind his back, which you know is going to lead to a great long term feud with Claudio in Ring of Honor. But you see that Claduio is already getting a shot at Morishima in August and Chris Hero has yet to get one. I think the Race to the Top would be the perfect chance to have Chris Hero join Claudio as the “low tier main eventers”, especially if they make the finals like I predicted. You also then get that going again and allow two great contenders for whenever Morishima loses the title to Nigel or Danielson. Not to mention that Chris Hero is the leader of his stbale, like Roderick Strong. Strong is already considered to be a main event player and Chris Hero needs to be as well for not just himself, but his entire group to get over.

1 for 2.

Ring of Honor should give the Race to the Top Tournament winner an ROH World Title shot at the earliest possible convenience.

Brad Garoon : SELL . I say sell mostly because of who the champion is now and who I think will be the winner of the tournament. If Evans wins the tournament then a match against Morishima would be devastating for him. There’s no real believable way that Evans could beat Morishima in a one-off match. If the two were to feud over an issue then things might be different. Morishima would have to pick Evans to death in an initial (ideally non-title or tag team) match that would lead to Evans putting an effort into learning Morishima’s weaknesses and exploiting it as a man of much smaller stature. If Evans wins though the easier route would be to wait until someone like Danielson or McGuinness wins the belt in order to give the fans a more competitive match. In any case I think the Race to the Top tournament winner should get a Money in the Bank style title shot; one that might not pay off until months down the line.

Michael Bauer : BUY . I wish I could “hold” this one because it is really, really close for me, but mostly because I am not sure who the champion will be once an opportunity arises. Like Brad, I’ll use who I think will win the tournament for my example, and in my case it is Chris Hero. Chris Hero might not be able to believably beat Morishima, but I also am not fully sure that he will be the champ through the rest of the year. If he is, then Chris Hero could still get a shot and make himself look more viable. But if I am right and Morishima loses in August, the you have either Claudio or Danielson as champion. Yes, I know Albright also gets a shot, but come on now, let’s be real. Now, Chris Hero could very easily be able to beat either one of those guys so it would be realistic for him to get a shot at the title.

1 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Claudio Castagnoli and Brent Albright’s involvement in the NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament will affect their booking in the Race to the Top Tournament.

Michael Bauer : SELL . Yes, the NWA World Heavyweight Title Tournament is a huge deal right now in the independent scene and is bigger than the Ring of Honor as a whole, but the Ring of Honor should not go all out on a tournament to determine THEIR next big star by worrying about the NWA Committee wants. Remember, Adam Pearce and Bryan Danielson are also in that tourney, but you have to question how many matches they will also win this weekend, not being in the tournament. If anything, all it will do is make sure that they will not face each other in the semi-finals, but with who else is in Claudio’s and Brent’s blocks, I don’t think they are shoe-ins to even make it that far… well, at least not Brent Albright. But even if they were to come out of their blocks, it should have no bearing on what the NWA committee should do with their title. It all goes back to the concept that the NWA is not the Ring of Honor and vice versa. One should have no bearing on the other.

Brad Garoon : SELL . Although I don’t agree with Bauer that the NWA title tournament is bigger than ROH as a whole. Some may brand me a ROHbot for this one but honestly, look at the NWA tournament brackets. This title is worth so much less without the TNA association it’s sad. The ROH names in the tournament are the biggest draw of the whole thing. I agree with Mike that the NWA tournament won’t affect the ROH tournament because I think Evans is going over both Claudio and Albright. That and the fact that Pearce and Danielson aren’t in the Race to the Top tournament pretty much keep the booking issues to a minimum. I highly doubt the NWA is begging ROH to keep Claudio and Albright strong, but if they are then look no further than the title shots both men are getting at Death Before Dishonor weekend and stop crying.

2 for 4.

The Race to the Top Tournament Final will include at least one wrestler who is not yet an ROH mainstay.

Michael Bauer : SELL. This is tough, but what I have already put down as predictions in the Ring of Honor roundtable (cheap plug), I can’t believe that anyone outside of the Ring of Honor mainstays will definitely make the finals. It’s possible, but looking at the blocks, I don’t see it happening. Block A has Jigsaw, who would have to go through Davey Richards and BJ Whitmer just to get to the winner of Block B, which is the toughest grouping in the tournament. In there is El Generico, who has to go through Delirious and then Chris Hero, who has to be the favorite coming in. So assuming El Generico doesn’t make it through, Jigsaw would have to beat Chris Hero. Not gonna happen. If El Generico gets by Chris Hero, then he could easily make the finals, but that is a very big if. In Block C you have Mike Quackenbush and Hallowicked. Quackenbush has the best chance of the two to make it past Claudio Castagnoli, but you know everyone is dreaming of Hero and Claudio. And if not that, the definitely Claudio vs Kevin Steen due to some past confrontations. Kevin Steen is in Block D and has the best chance to make it to the semi-finals of ANY non Ring of Honor wrestler. But again, you have to wonder if the RoH is willing to have Hero and Claudio weeks before the match already set up. I think it would huge and make the match for next month even bigger. So while it is very possible, I just don’t feel confident enough to see it happening. If I had to handicap it, I would say Steen has the best chance, followed by Quackenbush, but only because they would not have to see Chris Hero until the finals.

Brad Garoon : SELL . I absolutely agree with Bauer than Steen and Quackenbush have the best chances of getting to the finals of any ROH outsider. That being said I have a few things to add. Firstly I don’t consider Steen or Generico outsiders anymore as they both are involved in the most focused feud of the summer against the Briscoes. That leaves the CHIKARA wrestlers, the most promising of which is Quackenbush. I do think he’ll get by Sydal but Claudio will put him down. Jigsaw and Hallowicked don’t stand a chance no matter how you look at it, neither of them will make it out of the first round. The finals is going to be Evans vs. Richards. Even if it isn’t the most logical final match involving an outsider would be Quackenbush vs. Hero, but that wouldn’t resonate with ROH fans. These two have a lot of history with each other in CHIKARA, but in ROH that means very little.

3 for 5.

Roderick Strong will still be FIP World Heavyweight Champion after this weekend.

Michael Bauer : BUY . I have never been a huge fan of the Full Impact Pro World Heavyweight Title being defended in the Ring of Honor and I am even less of a fan of the title changing hands in such a manner. This match simply comes down to Roderick Strong and Austin Aries, as Jimmy Rave and Gran Akuma just make this look like less of a formality. And while there is no doubt that Austin Aries winning the title his first night back in Ring of Honor will be a huge deal, I just don’t believe that FIP would be like Ring of Honor and have a non “full time” wrestler for their promotion win their title, especially if it is not in their own event. Would it be cool? No doubt. Will I be marking out and jumping off my chair if it happens? Of course. Will I see it happen? I don’t think so.

Brad Garoon : BUY . Again I agree with Bauer overall and only differ in the fact that I don’t think Aries winning the FIP title would be cool, nor would it make me mark out in any way. Strong is a great champion for FIP and his title defenses in ROH add exposure to the Florida-based company. However, to consider his FIP title defenses in ROH (be they part of heated feuds or not) anything more than exhibitions for FIP is outrageous. ROH made the gamble of hot-shotting the belt from Homicide to Danielson on a Ring of Honor show once and the gamble paid off. Now the FIP audience has grown and the fans are more demanding, and a move like that likely wouldn’t pay off again. Strong won’t be losing the belt to anyone until a strong heel (Roderick is a babyface in FIP) comes along in Florida and takes it from him.

4 for 6!

The fifteenth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 6. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.