The Independent Mid-Card 09.04.07: Punk vs. Cabana
Posted by Samuel Berman on 09.04.2007
Warning! This column contains SPOILERS!
Happy post-holiday Tuesday everyone, and welcome to another edition of The Independent Mid-Card. I had this whole big plan this week to do a match featuring the winner of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles Tournament as a companion piece to last week's column, but then PWG went and booked CIMA to win the whole darn thing, and, well, he happened to be one of the guys we looked at last Tuesday. In an effort to promote diversity, I decided to forego doing two CIMA matches in two weeks and just do something completely different, although still vaguely topical. Many longtime Ring of Honor fans are unapologetic CM Punk marks. Though nothing has "officially" taken place as of this writing, I figured this was as good a week as any to feature the ROH legend, taking a look back at the infancy of his Ring of Honor career. If you don't understand why this is the theme this week, then just wait until Wednesday to read the column. Without further ado, let's get to a special ‘It's About Damn Time!' edition of the IMC.
CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana
Winner Gets an ROH Contract
Ring of Honor – Final Battle 2002 – Philadelphia, PA – December 28, 2002
The Wrestlers:
CM Punk & Colt Cabana – Separating the early careers of CM Punk and "Classic" Colt Cabana is nearly impossible, as the two began training at Steel Domain in Chicago, IL right around the same time. Quickly becoming connected due to their series of matches all around the Midwest, Punk and Cabana were already main eventing for smaller regional promotions as well as competing for IWA Mid-South by the time they got their first shot in Ring of Honor in late 2002. Though Punk appeared at the company's Unscripted show in September to cut a promo, he wouldn't actually debut in the ring until early November. Cabana would debut about a month later at Night of the Butcher where he would defeat his running buddy in a well-received contest. As a result, the two were then set to face off one more time, this time with an ROH contract hanging in the balance.
The Match:
CM Punk enters first to Call for Blood by Hatebreed, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his then-traditional basketball shorts. He looks notably smaller here than he does today, but in his case, rather than raising eyebrows, it's a testament to an excellent work ethic and training regimen. Punk barely makes it down the entranceway before the footage hard cuts to Colt Cabana's entrance. Colt come out to Calling Out by Presence, and is wearing an upside-down visor and torn jersey. Definitely a strange sight now, after years of ring jackets, sunglasses and Barry Manilow. In fact, it's almost absurd how out of place both guys' early entrance music seems in comparison to Miseria Cantare (The Beginning) and Copa Cabana. We hard cut into the ring as the two running buddies shake hands and the bell rings to start things off.
Cabana circles around Punk for a bit until we get a RIDICULOUS AND OBVIOUS HARD CUT to Cabana pulling Punk into the ring from the apron. A quick aside before I jump into play-by-play proper: there was absolutely no reason to clip any part of this match, including a preliminary sequence or a botch. ROH put a three minute video package at the beginning of this DVD (and not a very good one at that), so if the edit was due to time constraints, they should have cut the unnecessary fluff instead of a part of a match. I know that this was still in the company's first year and that production values and technique have both improved in the years since, but seeing as this is the remastered version of the DVD, there's really no excuse for that edit to still be in place. Ok, I'm done ranting, but it needed to be said. Back to the action.
Cabana gets in a clubbing forearm to the back as he brings Punk back in. Cabana gets and Irish whip, but Punk gets a toreador into an armdrag. Cabana goes to back body drop Punk over the top when he charges, but Punk is able to land on the apron and slingshot back over the top into a sunset flip attempt. Cabana holds onto the ropes to block the move, so Punk bridges up and gets a clubbing blow to Cabana's back. Punk muscles Cabana into a side Russian legsweep and goes out to the apron before coming back in with a slingshot somersault senton for two. Punk grabs a wristlock quickly out of the kickout and maneuvers his way to the corner. Punk hops up to the top and tries to show off with a ropewalk until Cabana slaps at the ring rope, crotching Punk and releasing the hold.
Cabana comes running with a lariat, but Punk ducks it and goes for an O'Connor Roll (rolling reverse cradle). Cabana holds onto the ropes to block and they go into a leapfrog sequence until Cabana hits the elusive lariat (and a nice one at that) to put Punk down. Cabana gets in a shot to the face on Punk and then chops him against the ropes. Cabana gets in another right hand and then whips Punk off the ropes. Punk hops up onto Cabana's shoulders, but Cabana dumps him down to the mat with an inverted sitout powerbomb. Cabana stands Punk's back like he's a surfboard, and then ironically locks in a neat modified inverted surfboard stretch. Cabana jaws with the crowd about how he's going to fly to Philadelphia for the next show (the real prize of winning the ROH contract) and actually gets booed by a couple of the fans.
Cabana works Punk into the corner and whips him cross-corner, but stalls a bit too much and Punk is able to avoid the running double kneestrike. Punk springboards up to the top, but Cabana catches him going for a body block. Punk tries to strike his way free, but Cabana forces him into the corner. Cabana tries to whip Punk cross-corner, and actually adjusts to Punk trying to reverse the whip by sending Punk back into the original corner and following him in with a clothesline. The impact of that sequence actually knocked the turnbuckle pad off. Cabana goes to pull Punk out of the corner by his feet, but Punk is able to counter in midair into a beautiful sunset flip that gets two. Punk ducks a clothesline and is able to hit a cool hangman's neckbreaker over his knee. Punk comes off the ropes and looks for the Shining Wizard (running knee strike), but Cabana blocks by simply hitting Punk in the knee. Cabana gets a gutwrench powerbomb with a folding press, but Punk is able to kick out at two.
The two exchange strikes until Cabana chops Punk into the corner. Cabana whips Punk cross-corner and Punk actually pulls out the Flair Flip to the apron. Punk ducks a clothesline from Cabana and Cabana responds by ducking a chop from Punk, but Cabana ends up making the first mistake as he goes for a springboard double axehandle and Punk ends up hanging him up on the top rope. Punk lands on his feet on the floor on the rebound, and quickly pulls Cabana out to ringside. Punk rolls back in and poses quickly before encouraging the crowd to clap. Punk runs off the ropes and hits Cabana with a tope that sends him crashing into the guardrail. Punk gets Cabana up and rolls him back into the ring.
Punk goes to the top from the apron and prepares for what seems to be a moonsault, but Cabana cuts him off with a pair of clubbing forearms to the back. Cabana follows Punk up and brings him down with a really cool inverted superplex before crawling over to make the cover for two. Cabana now climbs to the top and this time Punk cuts him off and hits a beautiful belly-to-belly superplex. The referee begins to count both men down (actually counting a little too quickly if you ask me) and makes it all the way to nine before both guys get to their feet. Cabana comes running,, looking for another lariat, but Punk ducks it and gets a trio of forearm strikes before whipping Cabana off the ropes. Punk gets Cabana up in a fireman's carry and actually pulls out an airplane spin before dumping Cabana near the corner and hitting a split-legged moonsault for two.
Punk whips Cabana cross-corner and follows him in with a jumping knee strike, but Cabana is able to counter an attempt at Welcome to Chicago (double-underhook into a backbreaker) into a try at a short-arm clothesline. Punk ducks that, however, and hops up onto Cabana's shoulders, looking for the reverse hurricanrana. Cabana is able to block and Punk ends up splatting to the canvas in a somewhat sloppy sequence. Cabana grabs a waistlock and goes for a German suplex, but Punk lands on his feet and comes off the ropes with a Shining Wizard for two. Punk gets some boot scrapes in the corner and goes for the running facewash, but Cabana pops out of the corner with a clothesline attempt. Punk is able to duck it and hits a clubbing forearm that sends Cabana into the other corner, so Punk just comes running and hits the facewash into that turnbuckle instead. Punk goes out to the apron and pulls Cabana up with him to the top for the Pepsi Plunge (top-rope double-underhook sitout facebuster), which hits beautifully and Punk gets the pin at 9:23 to earn an ROH contract. The crowd gives both guys a nice round of applause for their efforts and Hatebreed begins to blare over the sound system again. Punk poses for the camera, promising that this is "just the start". A small chant for Punk actually breaks out before the video cuts out.
The Analysis:
It can be strange to look back at the early work of performers who are now seasoned veterans. Both Punk and Cabana have developed both their styles and repertoires in the over four-and-a-half years since this contest, and thus it would be unfair to judge this performance based on current standards. For two young performers, Punk and Cabana put on a very solid (and occasionally spectacular) exhibition of what they could do in the ring, pulling out moves like the inverted superplex and Punk's sunset flip counter out of the corner that really impressed the often skeptical Philadelphia crowd. Both guys obviously impressed enough to be invited back, and furthermore become major players in the company in the coming years, so clearly there were enough seeds of greatness here to establish them as good prospects with ROH management.
There were also, however, more than a few flaws with the match. First of all, the near-botch of the reverse hurricanrana during the final stretch was basically inexcusable. This is not to say that the move isn't an amazing sight when pulled off, or that Punk and Cabana hadn't been able to execute it cleanly in the past, but therein lies the issue: for two guys who had worked together so much leading into this match to mess up one of their trademark spots so obviously is just unacceptable.
And another note: just because you're friends and running buddies doesn't mean that your match has to feel like an exhibition. There was little or no offensive focus for either guy other than to just try to hit as many high-impact moves as possible. I'm not saying that to have a great match you always have to work the arm or focus on the knee, but there was little or no psychology at all in this contest, outside of the tit-for-tat superplex sequence and the fact that after Cabana hit the early lariat, Punk ducked pretty much every other attempt at the move the rest of the way.
As it is, the match was a nice outing for a young Punk and Cabana, but with hindsight being what it is it's easy to see the flaws here that both men would go on to correct in the coming years. Cabana in particular would go on to have an acute sense of timing and subtlety that just wasn't developed by this point.
The Aftermath:
How do I even begin to discuss the aftermath of Punk & Cabana's Ring of Honor careers? I suppose I'll just try to do a Reader's Digest version and mention here that if you need a more in-depth explanation, you're probably not a big Ring of Honor fan.
In the four-and-a-half years since Final Battle 2002, CM Punk and Colt Cabana would go on to become two of Ring of Honor's most recognizable faces and reliable in-ring performers. Punk in particular was quick to capitalize on his opportunity in ROH, taking on ring veteran Raven in one of the feuds of the year in 2003. As a duo, Punk & Cabana would go on to hold the ROH Tag Team Titles on two separate occasions, including their first reign which began the night that ROH debuted in their hometown of Chicago, IL. As a part of the Punk-led Second City Saints faction, the duo would engage in some of the greatest feuds in ROH history, taking on Christopher Daniels' Prophecy as well as engaging in a series of excellent matches with Jay & Mark Briscoe.
In singles action, Punk's greatest matches came in his trio of attempts to wrest the ROH World Title from Samoa Joe. The second of those three matches (the first two of which went to fabled 60-minute time-limit draws) is widely regarded as the greatest ROH match of all-time, and was the first American match to earn five stars from the Wrestling Observer since 1997. Punk also engaged in an epic feud against Jimmy Rave during the first half of 2005, winning that feud in an epic Cage Match in Chicago in May of that year. CM Punk's creative peak in ROH arguably came during his final months with the company, as Punk won the ROH World Title from Austin Aries on his supposed final night before leaving for World Wrestling Entertainment, but ended up instead continuing to perform for ROH for two more months, in a tremendous storyline that has come to be known as "The Summer of Punk". That series of shows, going from Death Before Dishonor III to remains one of the greatest stretches in Ring of Honor history.
Since leaving ROH, Punk has become one of the top performers for WWE's ECW brand. Before debuting for World Wrestling Entertainment, Punk spent eight months competing in that promotion's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, during a period that is pretty much universally accepted as OVW's creative zenith. During that time, Punk was embroiled in an extended feud with Brent Albright, a performer who ironically now wrestles as a regular for Ring of Honor. Since debuting in ECW, Punk has become a fan favorite, but has repeatedly lost in his attempts to win the ECW World Title. That is, until this week. As of this writing, the television tapings on which CM Punk finally won the ECW Title are in the can, with the episode in question to air on Tuesday, September 4, 2007.
As for Colt Cabana, though he would shine during his time teaming with CM Punk, some of his greatest work would come in the time after Punk's ROH departure. Most notably was Cabana's nearly 9-month issue with "The Notorious 187" Homicide, a blood feud that helped to bring out the best in both performers. The blowoff to that war was a legendary Chicago Street Fight in April of 2006, and remains one of the great feud-ending contests in the ROH canon. Cabana would also compete in a number of matches with ROH World Champion "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson in the Summer of 2006, including taking the champion to the limit in a 60-minute time-limit draw during a 2/3 Falls match where Cabana put on the performance of his career by helping to carry the champion through the final 45 minutes of the match after he suffered a serious shoulder injury.
After ending his issue with Danielson, Cabana segued into a feud with short-term partner Jimmy Jacobs over Cabana's relationship with Jacobs' manager and love interest Lacey. That series, which in itself was an offshoot of Jacobs' issues with former partner BJ Whitmer, ended in another bloody classic, a Windy City Death Match between the two wrestlers in February of 2007. Not long after that contest, Colt Cabana announced that he had signed a WWE developmental contract and would be appearing at only four more dates for Ring of Honor. His final appearance, a win over fellow Chicago-native "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce, took place in April of 2007 at an event appropriately title Good Times, Great Memories (a reference to Cabana's longtime ROH interview segment). Since then, Cabana has debuted in OVW, but has yet to appear on WWE television. In the wake of World Wrestling Entertainment suspending a wealth of talent for steroid violations, some believe it may only be a matter of time until "Classic" Colt Cabana makes an impact on WWE programming.
The Final Word:
For those who try to avoid spoilers, sorry to flip the cards on Punk's title win like a whole seven hours early, but with CIMA unexpectedly (at least by me) winning the BOLA tournament, I needed to make moves and this seemed to be the most obvious one. As for Punk winning the ECW Title, anyone who knows me (or reads what I write in Wrestler of the Week or pretty much any WWE Roundtable) knows that I think giving Punk a chance to carry the belt is long overdue and can do nothing but help a struggling ECW brand. After a babyface defense or two, what the WWE writing team really should do is follow ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky's lead and book a big heel turn for Punk before allowing him to cut loose with his world-class promo skills and fabulous heel ring work. Oh, and they should give him a wacky tag team partner to play off of. If only they had someone like that under contract…
To see this week's match, you can purchase ROH Final Battle 2002 at rohwrestling.com. Also on the show are Xavier's ROH Title defense against Paul London and a four-way main event that sees "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Low Ki and Steve Corino do battle for the #1 Contender's Trophy. Though not necessarily a must-own show, there's certainly enough solid work on this one to pick it up during one of ROH's many sales.
This week at 411 there's a ton of other great columns for you to check out. Ari has Column of Honor (back to one part this week), Stu's got Friendly Competition and Bayani brings the best BOLA preview on the web in the most recent Truth B Told. Brad Garoon has a new BG Says Special Edition to look at SHIMMER in ROH, as well as reviews of FIP's Dangerous Intentions 2007 and In Full Force. John Gregory has reviews of Night One and Night Two of IWA Mid-South's 2007 King of the Death Matches while the most recent Buy or Sell pits Matt Adamson (appearing special from his sabbatical) against PWG master Bayani Domingo in further BOLA discussion. Oh, and there's even a BOLA Roundtable so you can go back and look at how absurdly wrong my predictions were.
All of that said, we're pretty much winding down for the week. In the coming weeks we're going to start ratcheting up the diversity here in the IMC as we'll be taking a trip down to FIP (due to special request by fellow 411 writer Brad Garoon) as well as taking our first look at IWA Mid-South to help preview this year's Ted Petty Invitational Tournament. I also have another multiple week event planned for later in the Fall, so be on the lookout for that.
Alright kids, it's been a slice as always. I'm heading out to have a Tanqueray & Tonic, so you have yourselves a good rest of the week. Oh, and this week's lesson: you know you like a girl when you end up at a gay bar at 1:30am over-tipping for a round of Jameson shots. Don't ask.
