411’s Buy or Sell 11.28.08: Aries Chance at the RoH Title, Lacey’s Return, FIP Rule Changes, and More!!

Posted by Michael Bauer on 11.28.2008

This week, the 411 staff looks ahead to a huge Ring of Honor Pay per View weekend as ARI Berenstein battles Jarrod Westerfield!

Welcome everyone to WEEK Eighty Four 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 Eighty Four's Match-Up:

From the Column of Honor, sharing his turkey with RoH Bots everywhere - ARI Berenstein !
vs.
From Scripted with Sin, sharing something much worse with much worse people - Jarrod Westerfield !

Full Impact Pro is making the wrong decision to eliminate the rule about winning the World Title by countout or DQ.

ARI Berenstein : SELL. I've always hated that stipulation of winning the title by count out or disqualification, no matter what promotion would go with it, FIP, TNA, or anyone else. Its a real cop out to switch the major belt of your promotion on a count out or DQ, as the winner hasn't really "earned" the title in a definitive manner. Beating a 10 or 20 count faster than your opponent? Being the victim of an attack or other illegal activity to backdoor your way to a title? I've never bought it. It can work with a heel cheating his way or manipulating events to their benefit, but you can really only do it once before you just bite off of yourself and previous storylines...AND Full Impact Pro has already done this once with Roderick Strong winning the title via count out earlier in the year. Get rid of the rule, go back to pinfalls and submissions and tell your stories that way.

Jarrod Westerfield : SELL. I'm following Ari on this one but for a different reason. If I recall correctly, I believe the FIP title had its own set of rules that the champion decided for the length of their reign, and thus the countout and DQ rule was established by Strong to prove his worth as a champion by giving his opponents multiple ways of winning the strap. At this point, I think getting rid of that gimmick just to attach the title to the normal restrictions that all other titles adhere to is stripping the uniqueness of the FIP title, thus stripping a very definitive appeal to the title. I don't think it's a mistake for them to simply abort the countout and DQ stipulation of the title so long as they return to that previous format with the champion deciding how they can lose the strap, but if it's just to make the title like every other championship within the ROH family, then I'd buy up this statement. As it stands, I'll pretend I'm optimistic enough to believe in the fairy dust, poof magic scenario of the champions deciding the stipulation for how the title can change hands.

1 for 1.

Lacey's return to Ring of Honor this weekend was slightly too predictable.

ARI Berenstein : SELL. For one thing, it was no guarantee that it would be Lacey in the first place. Necro Butcher was still a very viable possibility, especially considering this was a PPV taping and Necro had been the focus of "going his own way" on the last two tapings. It would have made sense for Necro to be the second for Aries, especially to stick it to his old stablemate Jimmy Jacobs. Now as for Lacey, I think the logical thing to do with her return was to be there when it counted for Aries and also to gain retribution for being "attacked" by Jacobs earlier in the year. As it turns out, Lacey not only did that but stopped Tyler Black from throwing in the towel for Jimmy Jacobs. I liked what went down and while it was certainly within the realm of booking possibiltiies for her eventual return, that doesn't mean the same as "too predictable" or even "slightly too predictable" for my wrestling tastes.

Jarrod Westerfield : SELL. I defy someone to not only tell me they saw this coming, but to prove they saw it coming with a time stamped document that proves they called her return. If this was predictable, then I'm really Scott Keith's bastard love child!

2 for 2.

With their recent injury problems, The Briscoes are becoming just too tough to trust with top billing.

ARI Berenstein : SELL. Injuries are a part of the business and when you are a rough and tumble brawling team like Jay & Mark Briscoe, you are going to get hurt at some point. For the most part, the injuries are to Mark Briscoe, who is one crazy s.o.b. when it comes to taking and giving big risk moves in the ring. Yet this injury as reported seemed to be more of a freak thing, a reaggravation of the previous injury, more than anything the Briscoes did thermselves to actively cause the injury. In that circumstance I certainly give them the benefit of the doubt and would say let Mark heal up his injuries and then when the time is right go with them again. The Briscoes have accomplished a ton in ROH, but they remain one of their top tag teams for a reason. They can certainly still be in the main event and be trusted to carry the show when it counts.

Jarrod Westerfield : SELL. I don't think the Briscoe's injury problems are a sign that they're not untrustworthy for the main event scene of the ROH world, nor do I think it's becoming too tough for them. Their overall style, itself, is what puts them into this position of being too injury prone, and the only amends to that is to get them to change up their style to be safer for themselves, and that in no way affects their position in the card.

3 for 3.

SWITCH~!

After the Tag Guantlet, Steen and Generico will be the team to face Sasaki and Nakajima.

Jarrod Westerfield : BUY. At this point the only team I can see that needs to be pushed further into t he main event role of the company is (Kevin) Steen and El Generico, which by default means they have to take on Sasaki and Nakajima. We're getting overloaded with the Briscoe's, Age of the Fall isn't the big tag team that you'd want in this position as it's generally a face role and you certainly don't want any randomly thrown together team taking on these two as it just spells out "ROH jobs to NJPW" and you certainly don't need that.

ARI Berenstein : BUY. Although I'm not particularly sure they really should be the team to fight Sasaki and Nakajima for the very reason that this match certainly spells out "ROH jobs to Japan wrestlers" and I wouldn't want the current ROH World Tag Team Champions to be placed in that position on the last and one of the biggest ROH shows of the year. I would think that they could win if they got the pin on Nakajima, and that would certainly create a huge pop in the Hammerstein Ballroom; I just wouldn't bet my paycheck on that outcome happening. And yet, I really don't see any other major possibilities. Albright and Stevens should be placed in the Steel Cage Warfare match vs. Sweet & Sour Inc. (still keeping the hope alive that match takes place); Age of the Fall are otherwise occupied on 12/5 and won't be in the gauntlet; Th e Briscoes are questionable based on Mark's injury (they would have been my choice). So we go with Steen & Generico and hope for the best.

4 for 4.

ROH should never have done a bait-and-switch with the McGuinness title defense this past weekend.

Jarrod Westerfield : SELL. Damned be all those who are going to BUY this one, and damn be all those who think that ROH is above this sort of wrestling (industry) trick. ROH has done this sort of thing before in the past, especially when faced with an injury that forced their hand to make an altercation to something advertised on the card. If you've been watching any sporting events advertisements for any part of the past 5 decades, you'd be good to note that "card is subject to change" line that accompanies any and every sporting event since the dawn of freakin' mankind. Get over it, ROHbots, this was nothing new and I wouldn't expect a wrestling company to sit upon their high horse and not go the route of using classic wrestling industry tactics.

ARI Berenstein : BUY. I guess I'm damned then, but that's fine with me. It's not about whether or not ROH has done this kind of bait and switch in the past, its about whether it should be done at all. ROH promised its Dayton, Ohio fans a ROH World Title match...and the fans didn't get what was advertised. I'm all for using "card is subject to change" as a justification for talent injuries and substitutions, but absolutely not to remove a title match from the card, especially when it was the basis for a large amount of hype and advertisement (all over the newswires and videowires in the two weeks leading up to the show). Pulling that title stip from the show and not replacing it with anything else was a bullshit call, and too many of those b.s. decisions will threaten to devalue the ROH title and the worth of going to an ROH show in the first place. It would certainly begin to create fan mistrust with advertised cards. ROH has never really had a problem with that before, so why start now? Usually they give the fans more than what they advertise, this time, they gave them less.I understand all about putting heat on the heel, but there were better ways than this. What if this happens in NYC when I go to a show or in Philly or Chicago for a major show? Its unnaceptable in those arenas and its unnaceptable anywhere.You don't bait and switch except due to injury or act of God, and none of those happened in Dayton.

4 for 5.

Austin Aries winning the triple threat in Dayton is a sign that he will beat Nigel McGuinness for the title.

Jarrod Westerfield : SELL I'm still of the mind that Tyler Black has gotten a big enough rub in the company that Gabe's hard work in him is going to pay off with him being the man to upset the 15+ month reign of Sir Nigel McGuinness, when the time becomes right. At this point, all hope of the man debunking Nigel's rule as the ROH World Champion becoming the first time repeat champion of this company is a fading hope and a memory I'd like to move away from quickly as we focus upon more important matters than who'll become the first two time ROH World Champion; such important issues as what ROH plans to do with Claudio Castagnoli concerning Sweet n' Sour Inc. should there be anything to even consider there.

ARI Berenstein : SELL. I don't see Aries dethroning McGuinness, although this win against Jacobs will likely give him storyline standing to call for another title shot. He won't win that one, and maybe that loss spurs him onto the next program, much in the same way a los s to McGuinness heralded the Aries vs. Jacobs feud. I think now that Danielson has been defeated that Tyler Black becomes most likely the one to win the title.

5 for 6.


The Eighty Fourth 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.