411’s Buy or Sell 8.29.08: PWG’s All Star Weekend 7, Morishima, Chris Hero, and More!!

Posted by Michael Bauer on 08.29.2008

The 411 staff will look ahead to this weekend’s huge Pro Wrestling Guerilla shows as Matt Short battles Larry Csonka!

Welcome everyone to WEEK Seventy One 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 Seventy One's Match-Up:
Writter of the Navagation Log Matt Short vs. The Man, The Myth, The Living Legend, and The Boss Larry Csonka!

The FIP booking of Erick Stevens shows that he will never be a viable Main Eventer in RoH.

Matt Short : SELL. While ROH and FIP storylines are supposed to be linked, we still need to seperate the promotions. If Ring of Honor wants to push Erick Stevens as a main eventer in Ring of Honor, then they'll do it. If you want someone to look legitimate in your company than you book them as such. Whatever happens in FIP really shouldn't be a factor if ROH really, REALLY wants Stevens as a main eventer. You put the right resources behind anybody who has the skill anyone can be a viable contender. Stevens has all the tools and while his initial push at the start of the year has slowed up his chances of being at the top of the card in the future are good.

Larry Csonka : SELL. But I am actually going to sound like I am buying this one. Matt makes some excellent points, I expected no less from him, but I do think he has missed one thing. There has actually been THREE schools of booking for Erick Stevens. The FIP booking, the regular ROH booking and the PPV booking of Stevens. Now I agree that what happens in FIP shouldn't matter in ROH, but in my opinion they are becoming more intertwined all the time and it will be a factor in ROH's booking. The FIP booking has been spotty as has been the PPV booking of Stevens. While NEVER is a long time, and Matt is right that anyone theoretically could be, I doubt Stevens will be much of a main player. But as time goes by and people leave the promotion for WWE, TNA, Japan and or Mexico, Stevens is likely a guy they will turn to. Confusing, I know.

1 for 1.

Chuck Taylor's first match in PWG should not be against a female wrestler.

Matt Short : SELL. Chuck Taylor is the perfect blend of comic heel and serious competitor. Even when he's shrieking like a girl in the ring, you know that he's still a very capable wrestler. I think that the match with Candice LeRae will be a great way to introduce Sexy Chucky T to PWG. It will let him heel it up in his comical way, while at the same time he can also get real heel heat that usually comes with men beating women in pro wrestling. He can show his personality and wrestling skills at the same time. He'll still be able to show off his flippier side on Night 2 in his tag team match. In short, Chuck Taylor will be fine if his first PWG match is against a woman.

Larry Csonka : BUY. And I think I shall buy this one. This is Chuck Taylor's FIRST match is PWG, and as I have said numerous times, there is only ONE first. I agree with Matt that the match with Matt that Candice LeRae will be a great way to introduce Chuck to PWG, and I agree that it will let him heel it up, do his comedy, and he will get heel heat that comes with men beating women in pro wrestling. But I do not think it needs done in night one. To me they should have booked the tag match for night one so that he can show his stuff, and THEN shoot an angle, which would have led to a match for night two, vs. Candice LeRae. I suppose it is just a matter of personal preference, but that's what I would do. Tease them night one with the fact that he IS a good wrestler, and then tell them to fuck off night two with his asshole actions against a women.

1 for 2.

Of the returning stars for All-Star Wekend 7 for significant time (Low Ki, Kingston, Romero, and PAC), Rocky Romero is the most important one to PWG.

Matt Short : SELL. Romero is a good hand with international experience, but he's not exactly the kind of who is a main draw. Eddie Kingston is another great talent and is popular, but was only just getting his PWG run underway when he went through that stretch of no showing for a bunch of promotions. In that sense he might be a risk. PAC is British and as such spends a lot of time in Britain. Well, no, he's been doing Dragon Gate for awhile though. Either way, he doesn't strike me as much more than an attraction. Then there's Low Ki.. Former PWG Champion and indy mega star. I think that getting regular bookings with Low Ki would be a great investment for the company. He's an automatic main event name, which can benefit PWG who's had some real problems with stability on the upper end of the card.

Larry Csonka : SELL. I like Rocky Romero. He's a fun worker, good experience and the DIABLO ARM BAR OWNS YOUR SOUL. BUT…he is in NO WAY a draw. No disrespect to Rocky, but people aren't swarming shows to see him. Kingston is a good guy, has a good following and down the line he may become a very important star for PWG, but not now. PAC is a guy the people dig because of his style, and with Jack Evans F'ing PWG in the A by no-showing once again, PAC can now take that role and run with it. As Matt alluded to LOW KI is the man that is the most important guy. He has a history with the company, he is a big star on the Independent scene, he has International experience and he was featured on TNA TV and PPV at different times over the last 6-years. More than about anyone on that roster he actually has some star power outside of the Independent scene. Matt brought up stability, which is something I will preach in later questions, and totally agree with. With people no-showing and screwing the promotion over, stability is not only something they need to try for, but that they desperately need. Ki is a main event guy the moment he walks back into the door, and hopefully PWG can take advantage of him coming back.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Neither the PWG World Title or Tag Team Titles will change hands during PWG's All-Star Weekend 7.

Larry Csonka : BUY. In my opinion PWG needs stability right now, and a way to stabilize the promotion is to make the title scene stable. Chris Hero as the PWG champion will do that, and I see no reason to take the title off of him right now. He's good for the promotion, and doesn't have a history of no-showing events. He is reliable, and PWG needs that right now. As for the tag titles, while The Young Bucks are starting to make a name for themselves, the Age of the Fall is hot right now and performing very well. The title change wouldn't come off that well in my opinion and should be built too a bit more.

Matt Short : BUY. Larry's right on the money here. Stability is what is needed in PWG right now and taking the title off of Chris Hero would be the opposite of finding stability. His reign is still in the early stages and there's no reason to cut it off now without a proper build for a challenger. The tag titles might be in jeopardy though. The Young Bucks are getting a hell of a lot of attention lately due to their strong Dragon Gate run and I can see how there'd be a lot of interest in putting the gold on them. But like with Chris Hero, there's no need to take the titles away from the Age of the Fall right now.

3 for 4.

Chris Hero's first-time defenses should be in singles matches, rather than booking three top contenders in a single four-way match for his first defense.

Larry Csonka : BUY. Very much buy. As I just discussed, PWG needs stability, and besides consistency on the title scene, I think there should be some one on one feuds established. Having a four-way match right off the bat screams that they had no idea what to do with the title scene, so they just threw the match out there. It isn't the worst thing in the world, don't get me wrong, but I think that establishing a solid and long running singles feud is more important right now. I am sure the four-way will be a good match, but it isn't the way I would kick off Hero's title reign.

Matt Short : BUY. I'll buy that for a dollar. The multi-man match usually comes about because either because a company doesn't know what to do with their champion or there's an on-going story with multiple guys all vying for a shot. This strikes me as a case of the former. I think they could have booked a one-on-one match between any of the three guys facing Chris Hero in this match and still have come up with a bout of appropriate importantance befitting All-Star Weekend. Okay maybe not Hero vs. Necro Butcher, but putting on Hero vs. Low Ki would have a lot of star power behind it. Hero vs. Kingston is a match that's proven to not only draw, but always promises a brutal match-up. I think the idea way to go about this would be to have Hero face Ki here with the current champion beating the man who never lost the title in a match. Then they can save Hero vs. Kingston for a later date and build for it properly.

4 for 5.

Takeshi Morishima will drop the GHC Heavyweight Championship and join the WWE by Wrestlemania XXV.

Larry Csonka : SELL . While Morishima may indeed drop the GHC Heavyweight Championship by the time WrestleMania rolls around, I very much doubt that WWE would sign him. Morishima is a fine wrestler, very much in the same mold as Terry Gordy. Morishima had two tryout matches for WWE, set up by Harley Race. He got to go over WWE talent in these matches, and all reports say that he looked good, getting most of the offense and doing some power moves but no one knew who he was. While he looked good, the obvious problem from the WWE side was his look. While he is 6'3, he is a legit 320lbs. His look is everything WWE doesn't want. While NOAH would love for him to go to WWE, gain more International stardom and return in a few years to be the top guy, I think that they also know he wouldn't be used exactly well in WWE. There is just too much going against him to make it work. He'd need a manager, and even then I have no faith that WWE would book him well. It likely won't happen, and if it did, I would be VERY surprised.

Matt Short : SELL . I do think that Morishima would actually be a very good fit in the WWE. There were reports that they were interested in him in 2007, but NOAH wasn't going to risk losing a guy they were building up to be the face of their new generation of heavyweights. I was surprised that he actually got his tryout matches though, as now that he is GHC Heavyweight Champion I didn't see NOAH being interested in losing their champion. But it really seemed like we were going to see Morishima at least be offered a contract. He was vouched for by Harley Race, there were photos of him with Vince and Cena, and he actually won his dark matches. It was not to be though. Morishima was sunk because while he is a big and strong guy, his fat did him in. He doesn't fit the mold for what the WWE wants in a wrestler. It actually makes me wonder what they thought they were getting with the guy or that most guys in management didn't realize what his physique was. He's got the attributes of size, but he doesn't have the look.It's here where I have now lost faith in a Morishima run in the WWE. I had always been concerned about the possibility of a shitty gimmick. Like they'd make him a sumo wrestler or make him a Kenzo Suzuki-type character. Now I'm almost sure they'd do it. The idea of giving him Tony Atlas as a manager is interesting, but it doesn't seem like it would have the legs to carry it the distance it needs to go to get him over and keep him over. I'm not going to say the door is completely closed on Morishima in the WWE, because it is still true that it's hard to predict everything. But I can say with a fair bit of confidence that it won't happen any time between now and Wrestlemania. This is a good thing for Morishima's career in Japan though as NOAH can really focus on his title reign and his big defense against Kensuke Sasaki.

5 for 6!


The Seventy First 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.