The Independent Mid-Card 12.25.07: Aries vs. Edwards
Posted by Samuel Berman on 12.25.2007
Will you read this column if I just wish you a Merry Christmas up front?
Hello and Merry Christmas loyal readers. I may be a Jew, but that doesn't mean that the holiday cheer has to be lost here in The Independent Mid-Card. With big Ring of Honor events right around the bend and a wealth of Christmas time shows in my DVD collection, I figured I'd pick a match for this week that would be both topical and seasonally appropriate. Thus, we get a preview of this weekend's primary challenger for the ROH World Title. Stock up on Chinese food and strap yourselves in for the beginning of Year Two here in the IMC.
Austin Aries vs. Eddie Edwards
Ring of Honor – International Challenge – Hartford, CT – December 22, 2006
The Wrestlers:
Austin Aries – Having been in something of a downward spiral since losing the ROH World Tag Team Titles to the Kings of Wrestling, former ROH World Champion Austin Aries was heading into this match reprising a role he had filled numerous times before: serving as the measuring stick for new talent. Aries, who along with partner Roderick Strong, had been unable to secure a match with new tag champions Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal, was at this point beginning to show the wear of a brutal title defense schedule in the first part of 2006 as well as a physically taxing series of matches with Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli in an attempt to win back their belts.
Eddie Edwards – Having already appeared for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, Eddie Edwards had gained a good reputation while fighting alongside ROH mainstay "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson against some of Japan's best junior heavyweight talent. Edwards, who was also appearing for a variety of promotions in the Northeast United States, had recently won New England Championship Wrestling's Iron 8 Tournament. Edwards, though talented, was clearly a huge underdog entering his match with Aries.
The Match:
Eddie Edwards enters first to Methods of Mayhem's Crash. He gets no hometown billing, but weighs in at 218 pounds. Personal Jesus starts up and Austin Aries makes his way to ringside. He is billed from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and weighs in at 205 pounds. Aries poses for the fans as Edwards waits patiently in the corner. Both men are checked by the referee as the crowd chants for Aries. The referee prompts a handshake, which Aries offers after encouraging the crowd to chant louder. The Code of Honor is followed and the ref calls for the bell to start things off.
The two men circle and lockup. Aries grabs a side headlock and puts on the breaks when Edwards tries to whip him off the ropes, dropping down to the mat in the process. Edwards works back to his feet and counters to a hammerlock, but Aries gets a drop toehold and segues right into a front facelock on the mat. Edwards counters to one of his own, but Aries works back to his feet and counters back into a side headlock. Edwards sends Aries off the ropes, but takes the worst of a shoulderblock. They go into a leapfrog sequence that sees Edwards get a hiptoss and then follow up with an armdrag into an armbar. Aries works back to his feet and sends Edwards off the ropes, but this time Aries takes the worst of a shoulderblock and they go into another leapfrog sequence. Aries goes for his own hiptoss, but Edwards blocks it. Aries settles for leveraging himself into a backflip and then is able to hit the hiptoss. Edwards pops back up only to fall victim to a headlock takedown, and makes the mistake of grabbing Aries in a headscissors, allowing the former ROH World Champion to hit his patented headstand into a dropkick out of that position. Even the announcers note that if Edwards had studied any tape at all of Aries that he would have known to avoid the dropkick.
Aries jaws with the fans allowing Edwards to send him through the ropes, but Aries lands on the apron and comes right back in with a slingshot somersault senton and a running frogsplash elbowdrop for two. Aries goes for an Irish whip, but Edwards puts on the breaks so Aries kicks him in the midsection. Aries goes for the Irish whip again, but this time Edwards reverses and plants Aries with a step-up enziguiri before following up with a running lariat. Edwards gets in a hard chop to Aries, who responds in kind, but Edwards follows up with a second chop and this one sends Aries crashing to the canvas in the corner. Edwards pulls Aries out of the corner into what amounts to a release powerbomb and then covers for two.
Edwards locks in a seated abdominal stretch and then tries to roll Aries back into a crucifix, but Aries ends up on top for a one count. Edwards drops an elbow to Aries' back, and then whips him into a dropkick for two. Edwards gets in a running stomp and then sets up for a powerbomb. Aries floats over into a sunset flip for two, but ends up taking a kick to the midsection and eats a running boot to the face for another two count.
Edwards chops Aries in the corner and then puts him on top. He sets up for what would appear to be a packaged Ace Crusher, but Aries elbows out. Edwards responds with a forearm shot that sends Aries crashing to the apron. Aries gets a couple of shoulderblocks from the apron and then blocks a clothesline attempt before hitting a pair of his own. Aries drops Edwards throat-first on the top rope and then comes in with a slingshot twisting press for two. A no-hands quebrada follows, also for two. Aries calls for the brainbuster, but gets forced into the corner.
Edwards gets in a chop to the chest, but Aries reverses a cross-corner whip. Edwards hops out to the apron to avoid the missile dropkick in the corner and comes down with a front dropkick for two. Edwards calls for his own brainbuster, but that just pisses Aries off and he hits a roaring forearm in response. Aries comes off the ropes but runs right into a superkick and Edwards follows up with a jumping Shining Wizard (knee strike to the head) for two. Two things wrong with that spot, by the way, were the announcers miscalling that move a leg lariat and Aries being under the ropes during the pinfall attempt.
Aries gets set on the top again and Edwards again sets up for his packaged Ace Crusher, but Aries elbows out mid-move and goes for an O'Connor Roll. Edwards holds on to the ropes to block, and then ducks a clothesline and takes Aries down into a backslide for two. Aries hits a stiff kick to the face right out of the kickout and then hits the brainbuster and 450 Splash for the win at 7:21. Aries is announced as the winner as his music begins to play, but we cut to the back before we can see if Edwards had earned a handshake from the former champion.
The Analysis:
Similarly to when he battled newcomer El Generico in the Summer of 2005, Aries was willing to give a fair amount of offense to Eddie Edwards in this match, though that might not have been the best decision. In some ways it's good that Edwards was made to look like a competent competitor, but with no real plans to push him or keep him on the main roster, Aries may have oversold the debuting talent's strikes in some cases.
In shorter matches, Aries tends to fall into the trap of hitting his marquee spots between taking short bursts of his opponent's offense, rather than focusing on building a story for the match. I'm not sure how to explain it beyond saying that there were moments where it felt like these two were doing a wrestling match rather than wrestling a wrestling match. That's not to say that both guys (especially Aries) aren't talented, but rather that this match had little-or-no depth to it. The match's brevity and location on the card may be partially to blame for that, but I've seen less talented guys than Aries do more with seven-and-a-half minutes before.
One strange thing to me was that the announcers kept referring to the 218 pound Edwards as a powerhouse and a larger competitor. While that would make him larger than some of the ROH roster, while watching this match I hardly felt like Aries was at a physical disadvantage. Maybe it was his somewhat bland appearance and style, but Edwards, to me, did not seem all that imposing a presence in the ring.
The Aftermath:
Eddie Edwards has made periodic appearances for Ring of Honor since this contest, but has yet to earn a full-time roster spot. Most notably, Edwards and fellow New England talent Jason Blade scored an upset win over Chris Hero & Tank Toland in April, earning Edwards his one and only ROH victory. Edwards continues to wrestle for Pro Wrestling NOAH as well as a number of American Independents, and in the Summer of 2007 successfully defended his NECW Iron 8 crown. Edwards has also worked for New York's 2CW promotion, where he has faced off with such talents as C.W. Anderson and Samoa Joe.
Austin Aries' 2007 would start of in rocky fashion, as longtime tag team partner and friend Roderick Strong would turn on him to start up the No Remorse Corps faction. Faced with a war against Strong and fellow NRC members Davey Richards & Rocky Romero, Aries assembled his own group, the Resilience, featuring Full Impact Pro powerhouse Erick Stevens and the high-flying Matt Cross. The group had a difficult time gaining an advantage on the NRC, a problem that was exacerbated when Aries was pulled from ROH competition due to his contractual obligations to the Total Nonstop Action promotion. After a nearly two-month layoff from ROH competition, Aries finally made his return to Ring of Honor at the Driven Pay-Per-View, which was taped in late-June. Though the Resilience would begin to make up some ground in the newly developing Faction Warfare angle, they would lose a chaotic Streetfight to the No Remorse Corps in early-August and would soon enough be disbanded by Aries, who was intent on refocusing his efforts on winning the ROH World Title. Aries earned his shot at the belt by besting longtime rival "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson in a best-of-three series, but would have his title match pushed back due to an injury to new ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. This weekend in New York City, as ROH tapes its fifth PPV event, Austin Aries will finally get his shot at the ROH World Title, giving him the opportunity to become the first two-time champion in the belt's history.
The Final Word:
Though it seems unlikely that ROH would move its primary championship on two consecutive Pay-Per-Views, it's not impossible for Austin Aries to walk out of this weekend with gold around his waist once again. With little officially known about the extent of McGuinness' injury, Aries is one of a small group of competitors viewed by both fans and management as being able to carry Ring of Honor as the ROH World Champion. One thing remains certain: if both Nigel and Aries bring their best on Saturday night, then ROH's next main event will absolutely live up to the high standards set by the company's previous Pay-Per-View outings.
To see this week's matchup, International Challenge is available for purchase at rohwrestling.com. Also on the card are a pair of exceedingly good tag team matches, the first of which pits the Briscoes against the Kings of Wrestling and the second of which sees the Dragon Gate duo of CIMA & SHINGO take a shot at then-ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal. Both matches are amongst the best tag team action that ROH produced in 2006 and are well worth seeking out.
This week's Buy or Sell is going to be the first-ever Three Way Dance featuring the all-Jewish trio of myself, Brad Garoon & Ari Berenstein. Hey, what else did you think you'd get with all the other writers off celebrating Christmas? The ROH Roundtable will finally be back later this week to preview the Pay-Per-View taping and Final Battle 2007.
With TV land in a funk that is now further complicated by the holiday season, I'm eschewing any discussion (beyond that I just got Greg the Bunny, Dexter – Season 1, and Mind of the Married Man on DVD) on the subject and instead going to start a new thing where I list off the five most recently played songs on my iTunes. Don't care what I'm listening to? Then feel free to skip the list.
1. "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd – from Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
2. "Contradictory" by Lucas Cates Band – from Contradictory EP
3. "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance – from The Black Parade
4. "Water Stop" by Dispatch – from Gut the Van, Disc 2
5. "Hannah Jane" by Hootie & the Blowfish – from Cracked Rear View
As usual, check out the newest podcasts over at The Cool Kids' Table, the great new side project from some of your favorite 411 writers. We're working on getting some more great interviews up soon, so be sure to be on the lookout for those.
And one final Merry Christmas to all of you to whom it applies. If nothing else, thanks for the day off!
