411’s Buy or Sell 01.30.09: Sweet N’ Sour’s Team for Steel Cage War, Ring of Honor’s TV Deal, Go Shiozaki Back in NOAH, and More!!

Posted by Michael Bauer on 01.30.2009

This week, the 411 staff looks around the worlds of Japan and Ring of Honor as they prepare for a huge weekend as Matt Short battles Alex Mattis!

Welcome everyone to WEEK Ninety Three 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 Ninety Three's Match-Up:

411 Wrestling's Resident Expert on all things Japan - Matt Short !
vs.
One Part of the Triple Threat - Alex Mattis !

Go Shiozaki will receive a GHC Heavyweight Championship title shot in 2009.

Matt Short : BUY. Many commentators suspected that Go would be getting a push following his tour in the States. After all, Morishima was given a reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion after his time in ROH so it's not something completely out of the question to see coming. Go's push has already started, after he got the pin in all of his tag matches and won three singles matches over the course of the First Navigation. So he is certainly on the right track to reaching the upper mid-card of NOAH. What the company needs right now is to rebuild themselves and I think that if fans saw an guy like Shiozaki suddenly moving up the card and having high-profile matches then it would re-generate the interest they lost over the past year. I would not at all be surprised to see Go at least get a title shot, perhaps after winning a tournament late in the year.

Alex Mattis : BUY. I suppose Go with finally be getting the crack at the big one sometime this year. It's odd but true that ROH is just as important to some Japanese fans as any promotion in their homeland, so seeing how well Go has done here in the US and the success he has experienced in ROH surely could boost Go's value not only in the fans eyes, but raise his overall stock in wrestling in Japan. Plus with the overall lack of serious contenders for the GHC crown, it seems very probable. Now winning the title is a much different story. I think a GHC title match for Go should be more than enough right now. I'm sure the match would be a classic come from behind story, but I don't see a title win in the cards for him at least for a long while.

1 for 1.

Kenny Omega's DDT Tag Title win will not amount to much for him in Japan.

Matt Short : SELL. Do DDT's KO-D Tag Team Titles mean that much? No, not in the grand scheme of things. But we should acknowledge that Kenny Omega is only on his second tour of Japan right now. Even with an independent promotion like DDT, winning a title with one of the promotion's most popular stars says something. Omega obviously made an impression on the fans if he was brought back to win gold. Also, while DDT is no where near the level of the Big Three promotions they do have at least a loose working relationship with NOAH through the wrestler produced SEM shows, which often feature DDT stars. Omega could very well find his way onto one of these shows and thus seen by a wider audience. DDT's not the biggest promotion, but they certainly do get a lot of exposure. If Omega can add to his resume in anyway and continue to appear in ROH, then I could definitely see him becoming more noticible in Japan.

Alex Mattis : BUY. It will do as much as winning the DDT tag titles can do for you. It would be like saying "Winning the CZW title won't do much for Ibushi in America"...well that's a bit dramatic but you catch my drift. For the time being let Omega be happy that he has been happy to win a title at all in Japan but in the long run this won't serve as a catalyst for his launch to superstar status in Japan.

1 for 2.

At least two of Sweet N' Sour Inc.'s team will be people debuting in Ring of Honor.

Matt Short : SELL. I can easily see Bison Smith being on Team SnS. If we already have The American Wolves and Chris Hero, adding on Smith makes it a team of guys who have wrestled with NOAH. That's a nice hook, isn't it? Other than Smith, I don't know who else they could bring in though that would fit right in with the other members of the team and the match as a whole. I think it'll be a good bet that Sweeney will round out his team.

Alex Mattis : SELL. I see two definite surprises from S&S here but I don't see two new faces gracing ROH. For some reason I only see one. I for sure see Sweeney bringing in an outside talent and claiming that he had "searched the world for someone who could help led them to victory" cue the new person! *Fingers crossed* Mitch Ryder. Then someone from within ROH will be the other entrant, someone surprising more than likely fro the mid-card leaving many fans in the first four rows screaming "WHAT!?!?!" Much like when Sal Rinauro was revealed as a surprise partner for The Embassy.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Jay Briscoe will finally turn heel during the Steel Cage War against Sweet N' Sour Inc.

Alex Mattis : SELL. Its not that I don't see Jay turning heel in the Steel Cage War, I just don't see him blatantly turning heel. That has always been the way of the Briscoes. Very seldom have the Briscoes face/heel status been clearly laid out. They've always just done things in the best interests of themselves. For example, the ROH 4th Anniversary show the Briscoes surprise returns was welcomed with a huge ovation and they played it up, an hour later they beat the shit out of Aries and Strong. This wasn't to be "bad guys," this was just in the best interest of the Briscoes. All that being said if Jay Briscoe does something in the Steel Cage War that warrants boo's it won't be to turn heel, it'll just be what is in his best interest.

Matt Short : BUY. Mark is out of the picture right now and Jay has been showing a heelish side lately. I think inside the steel cage is a fine time for him to turn fully heel. I'll go as far as to say that if Sweeney is in the cage then he almost certainly will turn heel. It's simple booking: Sweeney begs off from Strong or Albright and Jay turns on his team. It practically writes itself. But I think that the heel turn is very needed. If Mark is going to be out for a bit, then there's no reason not to push Jay in the singles division (which they like to do a lot anyway). To me, it'll feel like a breath of fresh air. I'm a fan of The Briscoes, but they've not interested me as of late. A heel turn for Jay would be a nice change from my perspective.

2 for 4.

El Generico should be nowhere near a Ring of Honor World Title Match on Pay Per View.

Alex Mattis : SELL. Sell, sell, and sell again. How many times has Generico delivered for ROH? When it's come to the "big matches" how has Generico performed? How over is Generico? There is no reason why he shouldn't be given a title shot. Realistically, in ROH Generico has only lost to the cream of the crop and even in his previous endeavors for the title he has looked great and even been convincing toward winning. I can understand the need to have he and Steen in a match on PPV, but this in no way is a mistake or a case of "this shouldn't happen."

Matt Short : SELL. I thought about this one for quite a bit before I decided to sell it. And it's not a full sell either to be honest. Yes, El Generico is probably one of the most popular wrestlers on the independant circuit today. He's also amassed an impressive list of titles that he's won, despite the comedic nature of his gimmick. That said, I would think that without a major push going into it El Generico shouldn't be main eventing a ROH PPV for the World Title. However, in this case Generico is not in the main event, that slot is going to Steel Cage Warfare. I have no problem with this match going down. For one thing, Generico has had title matches with McGuinness in the past so this fits in with their history. Sometimes a good underdog challenger is needed. Remember Delirious' series with Bryan Danielson? No one thought he was going to win the belt there, but the matches were still very good and the fans ate that up. To sum up, the position on the card of this match is what makes it okay with me. Considering they just ran McGuinness vs. Danielson on the last PPV, this would not be a good way to follow up. I do look forward to seeing McGuinness vs. Generico, it should be a tremendous match.

3 for 5.

Ring of Honor's recent oiffcally announced TV deal with HDNet will be less successful than ECW's TV deal.

Alex Mattis : SELL. How are we going to measure success here? I can give you a dozen reasons why "ECW" has not been successful but many of those are personal reasons. ROH on HDNet will succeed as most as it can. First off not every home gets HDNet but that doesn't mean you can deem their shows failures. It's like InsideMMA, it may not get millions and millions of viewers but no one is calling it unsuccessful. People flipping through the HD channels will see ROH and think "I've never seen this wrestling on HDNet before so why not?" Not to mention all of the existing ROH fans that will now be watching, I just don't think it may pull it the exact numbers of "ECW," but I don't think it will be less successful either. Back to my original question, how are we going to measure success here?

Matt Short : SELL. See this is another tough one. Considering how bad ECW's run on TNN was back then, an ROH failure on HDNet would have to be epic. I think they'll be fine for a time though. HDNet has a pretty good audience and if the show is presented right, then it could attract some casual viewers. That's what this TV deal is going to have to do really. Consider ECW on TNN. The production values weren't the best and it came off as trashy and cheap. Plus, it was on the freaking Nashville Network. Wrestling fans are always stereotyped as rednecks, but those that actually aren't weren't likely to just switch on TNN for ECW. I think ROH might just be able to create a program that will at least generate enough interest that they will be picked up by a slightly bigger name network. But it's all up in the air at this point. I think if they prepare right for it, they won't go the way of TNN ECW.

4 for 6.


The Ninety Third 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.