411’s Buy or Sell 03.14.08: Human Tornado, Claudio Castagnoli, “The Wrestler”, and more!

Posted by Samuel Berman on 03.14.2008

The 411 staff discusses the Independent scene and welcomes back a special guest as a returning Brad Garoon battles Ari Berenstein!

Welcome everyone to WEEK FORTY-SEVEN 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 Forty-Seven's Match-Up:
The Cool Kids' Table's Brad Garoon vs. Column of Honor's Ari Berenstein!

Shingo & BxB Hulk's upcoming GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title defense against KENTA & Taiji Ishimori will be Dragon Gate's Match of the Year.

Brad Garoon : SELL . I say sell only because I hate picking a Match of the Year in March. But I will say that this match has no business being anything be astounding. So far in 2008 the best DG match I've seen is Shingo & Hulk vs. Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino for the same titles. You can see my review of that match at The Cool Kids Table dot net. KENTA & Ishimori are more than capable of bringing the same level of excitement to a match as Speed Muscle. So while it's entirely possible that this match could end up being the DG Match of the Year and even a match that ends up getting votes for the overall MOTY, I just don't feel comfortable making those predictions with nine months left in the year.

Ari Berenstein : SELL . I'll agree with Brad on the principle of waiting for things to play out in Dragon Gate. Now, I'll profess to not watching much if any Dragon Gate wrestling but I do know the talent level of SHINGO and BxB. These guys have gotten very, VERY good at what they do. Of course, KENTA and Ishimori are awesome and Ishimori is someone I really enjoy and wish would make a run in ROH. These four will have a FANTASTIC match with the GHC Jr. title up for grabs. DG match of the year? I don't think so, especially when you have so many different multi man faction matches that may blow it away.

1 for 1.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is making a mistake by running two shows each month.

Brad Garoon : SELL . First I'll play devil's advocate with myself and say that this is the same company that had to or chose to take December off entirely. However, as I said on a recent podcast at The Cool Kids Table dot net PWG has a hot angle going on right now in Chris Hero vs. Human Tornado. Perhaps because of this angle's success they've put the belt on Tornado. They've also created a rather static roster over the last two months. Right now the roster is made up mostly of men involved in either the Hero vs. Tornado storyline or tag teams either in the round robin tournament to get into DDT4 or those challenging the champions Joey Ryan and Scott Lost for the belts. There's very little else going on, and it makes PWG feel very focused. I see that focus and the hot angle at the top of the card as good enough reasons to double the amount of shows for now. If the Hero/Tornado feud fizzles or they're unable to come up with anything equally compelling afterwards they can always cut back on the number of shows then. That's the great thing about being an indy company.

Ari Berenstein : SELL . Again I'll agree with Brad's reasons for having two shows a month and to be honest, it seemed to me that this was pretty much their average pace anyways. Not only does it allow for more "flow" between the feuds they have built up, but it also keeps PWG in the spotlight as it continues to hold qualifiers for the DDT4 tournament, which it seems PWG wants to build up as an annual tradition much like the BoLA tournament. Added attention translates to added prestige and added prestige = more DVD buys when the times comes.

2 for 2.

Claudio Castagnoli will win the #1 Contendership tournament at this weekend's ROH shows, thus earning the shot at Nigel McGuinness' ROH World Title at the Pay-Per-View Taping.

Brad Garoon : BUY . As evidenced by the many different predictions thrown out at The Cool Kids Table dot net this is a tough one to call. Castagnoli is the most logical winner. Castagnoli vs. McGuinness would look great on Pay Per View. Both men have improved by leaps and bounds since their first ROH matches a few years ago, so this could be astounding. Still, it will be a difficult road for Castagnoli as any of the other seven men in the tournament could more than likely have a great match with McGuinness on Pay Per View. The only issue I see is that it is likely that ROH sees the others in the tournament as unproven and doesn't feel comfortable having them headline a PPV. With the exception of Albright, who isn't entirely over with the ROH fans but already has WWE TV experience, Castagnoli is the closest thing in the tournament that ROH has to someone that's made it to TV. I think they'll put they're faith in him to carry the main event of the PPV. On the other hand if the PPV is headlined by the Briscoes vs. Age of the Fall war then the tournament could really go in any direction, but for the sake of argument I'm thowing my money behind Castagnoli.

Ari Berenstein : BUY . Over the last five Pay Per View events Claudio Castagnoli has risen up and proved himself time and time again to be a capable wrestler. He is a recognizable name to those who have purchased the PPVs. He also comes into the show with a win against Chris Hero in a feud-ending match (at least as it would be perceived on PPV). That would have made him de-facto number one contender in my book already. Add to this a small little tidbit--Nigel McGuinness won HIS title shot against Morishima by winning a Four Corner Survival match at Man Up. Who was the man he pinned? That's right, Claudio! It would be great symmetry to see Claudio win a 4CS and then go on to challenge Nigel. Claudio can have a great match with him and I have no doubt it would help to keep Claudio's name high up on the ROH food chain in the coming months.

3 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Chris Hero will eventually be the man who unseats the Human Tornado as PWG World Champion.

Ari Berenstein : BUY . I think it makes the most sense that Hero takes the belt from Tornado. This has been a major and ongoing feud in PWG since early September at the Battle of Los Angeles. It has been a blood feud but has expanded to include some of Hero's greatest partners and nemeses over the years in Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston. I think this perfectly sets up a chase for the title, with Hero as a baby face running the gauntlet of Tornado's henchmen to get to Tornado and the PWG title (irony considering the shoe would usually be on the other foot with Hero). While Jack Evans failed in quest to win the title last weekend and Roderick Strong remains close to challenging at any point, I think the real deal is with Hero. Now that Tornado has the title, it is natural for Hero to go after the belt and at the same time avenge the wrongs done to Candace LaRae.

Brad Garoon : BUY . I don't know what else to say as Ari pretty much hit it on the head there. I guess I'll just add that there's nobody else who could take the belt from Tornado that would be the least bit satisfying. The only other person I could see taking it would be Super Dragon and only if he's saving Hero from a savage beating after a losing effort in a title match. Given that the scenario I just came up with is rather unlikely I'll stick with Hero taking the belt. The real question is whether or not a babyface Hero can be an interesting champion in PWG. I'm sure that question will be brought up at some point or another at The Cool Kids' Table.

4 for 4.

Takeshi Morishima's GHC Heavyweight Title reign will last no longer than three months.

Ari Berenstein : SELL . Although I should know better than to go against (even a one sentence) report from Dave Meltzer, who stated without any additional details to expect a short title run for Morishima. Regardless, I think Morishima IS the real deal for NOAH right now. This is his moment and his time to shine in the promotion. I just don't see how he'll drop the ball on a title run. He's learned some valuable lessons from his run at the top in ROH and I think he'll use them well here. You could put him up against anyone in the company, heavyweight or junior and it would be a compelling title match. I find it crazy and horrible if true If NOAH (meaning Misawa) has already locked himself into a short title reign for Morishima. If he does a great job as champion I think it would be ludicrous to have a short title reign. I say he proves to be as good as expected as champion and his run goes longer than three months.

Brad Garoon : BUY . I hate to end all the agreeing we've been doing but there's a huge issue you're not mentioning Ari, and that is that Morishima is unproven as a main event draw for NOAH. When Naomichi Marufuji was unable to draw big gates as champion his title reign was put to an end. NOAH has always shown that when it comes to the next generation they are very nervous about letting them develop as champions. If it's true that Morishima is ALREADY slated for a short reign then they're sort of falling into a self-fulfilling prophecy, but nevertheless Morishima is going to have to not only perform in the ring but be compelling enough to get fans into the building. In ROH he put on great matches, (as documented in ROH reviews that you can now see at The Cool Kids' Table.) but ROH didn't break attendance records from region to region with the big man as champion. I hope his title reign is a successful one and he's undoubtedly a breath of fresh air, but I get the feeling we might be seeing someone from the old guard taking that belt from him sooner rather than later.

4 for 5.

ROH fans will ruin the filming of "The Wrestler" at this weekend's shows with inappropriate behavior and a lack of patience.

Ari Berenstein : BUY . Sorry my fellow ROH fans, but past history has bore out that we just can't behave ourselves at the show. With so many live and warm bodies, SOMEBODY is going to do SOMETHING ridiculous and will piss someone off. Throw in the amount of time it takes to film movie scenes and you know that the wrestling fans will NOT be happy if they have to wait for THEIR wrestling action because of some movie (regardless of the fact that the only reasons the shows are taking place is BECAUSE of the movie). Now will there be enough people who act crass and rude in order to give a negative perception of the ROH fanbase? Yes, I can definitely see that happening.

Brad Garoon : SELL . I agree that it's likely that some ROH fans will try to ruin the filming with inappropriate behavior. I agree with that because fans in CZW became restless during the filming that occurred there. However I think Hollywood Movie Magic will be more than capable of keeping it from ruining Aronofsky's business. I'm sure the man's taking that into account. If he was worried he could have filmed the movie in a studio. I think the crew for "The Wrestler" will get through just fine. What else, what else. Go to The Cool Kids' Table.

4 for 6!


The forty-seventh 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.