411’s Buy or Sell 09.14.07: Project 161, Delirious vs. Sydal, Steen & Generico, and more!

Welcome everyone to WEEK TWENTY-TWO 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 Twenty-Two’s Match-Up:
Reviewer Extraordinaire J.D. Dunn vs. ROH Guru Jacob Ziegler!

The debut of and subsequent feud involving Project 161 will be the most talked about Ring of Honor angle since the ROH vs. CZW war.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. This sort of semi-ARG marketing mentality is really meant to solidify the base and get people engrossed in the storyline. I don’t know if Gabe has necessarily gotten the reaction that he wanted, but he’s certainly gotten a reaction. Besides, it’s not so much what you’re building up to, but what you do AFTER the big revelation that’s important here. Just look at the nWo after a few months or Goldberg after his Starrcade loss. They really didn’t know how to follow up on what they’d built. Now look at Cage of Death from last year. After an epic battle between ROH and CZW, ROH moved immediately into the Homicide versus Cornette feud. There was no meandering around, waiting for the next big thing to come along. Gabe had it mapped out well in advance. Given his track record, I’m confident he can produce something memorable.

Jacob Ziegler : BUY . This just has the feeling of being something big, since it’s been going on for a little while already and is building steam leading into the show on Saturday. A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what exactly Project 161 is, but either way people are talking about it and that’s been the most important part of the angle so far. It’s also coming along right at the same time that the really hot Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico feud is ending (what else can you do after the first-ever ROH ladder match?), so this seems to be the next hot angle, whatever it may be.

1 for 1.

Ring of Honor should not book ROH World Title defenses on the shows before Pay-Per-View tapings as it is obvious that the champion will not lose.

J.D. Dunn : SELL . These days, even passive pro-wrestling fans are savvy enough to know when a title has a reasonable chance of changing. It doesn’t stop them for getting up for a title match anyway. Just take a look at Morishima’s defenses – BJ Whitmer, Nigel McGuinness, Austin Aries, Shingo, Jay Briscoe, Roderick Strong, Jimmy Rave, Claudio Castagnoli, Brent Albright and Adam Pearce. Now, if I’m a fan buying a ticket, and I’ve been following ROH for any length of time, how many of those guys do I truly give a chance of winning the title that night? Maybe Nigel. Maybe Roderick. The rest were pretty easy to call. That doesn’t mean that I wasn’t entertained by them, and that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t more entertained by the fact that they were title matches. Besides, an occasional PPV isn’t exactly the WCW Orlando tapings where you had tons of TV taped ahead of time. Besides that, why couldn’t you just do a switch before PPV? It’s not like ROH fans aren’t used to watching shows that are obsolete, given ROH’s DVD release schedule, and casual fans probably won’t care enough to look up the spoilers.

Jacob Ziegler : SELL . I think it’s more obvious when they don’t announce a title match for the PPV, a la Driven, when Morishima ended up defending the title in two short matches against Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce. Title matches are all in the buildup anyway, so it really depends on how much the match has been built, regardless of whether it’s on a regular show or a pay-per-view. Morishima has a defense on the Friday show but not the Saturday show, so it’s not unreasonable to think he could lose the title on the non-PPV show, since his challenger is going to be one of Roderick Strong, Delirious, El Generico, or Kevin Steen. I’m still picking Morishima to win, but I think it’s obvious because of who he’s facing, not because it’s the night before pay-per-view.

2 for 2.

El Generico vs. Naomichi Marufuji will be not only the best match on Friday in Detroit, but will be the top bout of the entire weekend.

J.D. Dunn : SELL . Given how stacked the two cards are with potentially great matches, I’m not sure it will even be in the top five! The two Briscoe Bros. matches have MOTY potential written all over them. Sydal and Delirious are scheduled for one final meeting, and I’m sure they’ll want to top themselves. Hell, even the SHIMMER grudge match looks like it could be amazing. I think it will be a fine match, but I’m not sure it will even be the best match on its own night.

Jacob Ziegler : SELL . I don’t see any reason that the Briscoes versus Kevin Steen & El Generico ladder match won’t be the Match of the Weekend (or MOTW, as some people actually say). I’m sure Generico and Marufuji will be very good (probably a top five of the weekend or so), but as usual these are stacked cards.

3 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Kevin Steen & El Generico will remain in a high-profile angle even after their issue with the Briscoes is finished this weekend.

Jacob Ziegler : BUY . Steen and Generico have been one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises in ROH in 2007. The program with the Briscoes seemed to come about by accident, but it really has worked out well for everyone involved. They could very easily remain high profile if they win the tag team titles in the ladder match, but I’m picking the Briscoes to win, so it will be interesting to see if Steen and Generico stay as a team or if they move on to be singles stars. Steen has been the most consistently over heel since about April or so, and Generico went to the finals of the Race to the Top Tournament, so both guys have already accomplished more than I would have thought based on their 2005 run.

J.D. Dunn : BUY . Like Memphis, Philly seems to have an unwritten rule that once you’re in, you’re in for life. Steen & Generico have already proven their mettle this year by having top-shelf performances with the Briscoes. Plus, Steen has been channeling Steve Corino with great promos throughout the Summer. While they may not immediately start another angle, they will likely be high profile through the end of the year.

4 for 4.

Matt Sydal vs. Delirious was one of the top five rivalries on the Independent scene over the last five years.

Jacob Ziegler : SELL . I’d say it could probably sneak into the top 10, but that might even be a stretch. But I could find five feuds just in ROH alone (Punk vs. Joe, Jacobs vs. Whitmer, Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico, Punk vs. Raven, and ROH vs. CZW just to name a few) that I would rank high than Sydal vs. Delirious. Not that I haven’t enjoyed their feud or their matches, but there was never the spark of hatred between them that would elevate it to an elite level feud.

J.D. Dunn : BUY . Not only did they get over with the ROH crowd, but they were able to have great matches in various promotions and get each other over everywhere they went. Even though the feud became familiar, it never really got stale thanks to the creativity of both guys involved. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a revisitation of this in the WWE?

4 for 5.

If Bryan Danielson is able to compete this weekend, he will challenge for the ROH World Title at the Pay-Per-View taping.
[Editor’s Note: This question was posed and answered prior to the announcement confirming Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson for 9/15 in Chicago Ridge, IL.]

Jacob Ziegler : SELL . I think if Danielson was going to challenge for the World Title ROH would want to promote it a little bit more ahead of time, even with a largely unannounced card. I just don’t see Gabe hedging his bets on something that’s not a sure thing, with Danielson’s status up in the air. I think Danielson would be put in a high profile match (he is one of the company’s biggest stars), but I don’t see him getting his rematch just yet.

J.D. Dunn : SELL . Even if Danielson could compete, I don’t think he would be 100-percent, and I don’t think ROH would want to showcase him at anything less. Besides, it’s not quite time yet. If Danielson is the one to take back the title, and I think he will be, there needs to be a little bit of a cooling off period before they pick it back up again for the big title match.

5 for 6!

The twenty-second edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 5 for 6. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.