411’s Buy or Sell 02.13.09: Dark City Fight Club Impresses, Bison Smith Runs Through Bryan Danielson, Ring of Honor’s 7th Anniversary, More

Posted by Michael Bauer on 02.13.2009

This week, the 411 staff looks around the worlds of CHIKARA and Ring of Honor as Chris Lansdell battles Jason Smeall in Buy or Sell!

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

Unable to wait to dish out the pain after recapping Impact- Chris Lansdell !
vs.
The rookie who is just as unlucky to deal with TNA Pay Per Views - Jason Smeall !

El Generico vs. Kenny Omega will be the sleeper match of PWG's Express Written Consent.

Chris Lansdell : BUY. I wish I could sell this based on Kenny Omega being well-known enough for this to not be considered a sleeper. However, he hasn't really broken through yet and this match may go a long way to establishing him nationally. This kid has the look, he has the charisma and he has the skills. I am a dedicated Omegaphile and I cannot believe WWE let this guy go. Generico of course can have good matches with just about anyone, and is small enough to let Omega chuck him around and look impressive doing it. I may just have to get this show on DVD.

Jason Smeall : BUY. This match would stand out on a regular PWG card but Express Writen Consent is looking particularly stacked - Danielson vs. Perkins, Hero vs. Tornado and of course Paul London's big return to the indy circuit. All I've seen of Kenny Omega is ROH's Canadian shows but he has impressed me each time, especially in the three-way dance against Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black in which he did not look out of place at all. That's high praise considering that Danielson and Black are two of the elite workers in the indies right now. Generico will be his usual awesome self.

1 for 1.

Shawn Osborne and Brad Attitude going 10+ minutes with RoH regulars is a mistake.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. This is a tough one. On the one hand I don't like established RoH names and former title holders having trouble finishing people who have not wrestled in RoH regularly, if at all. A lot of RoH fans would not be familiar with these guys and when they buy the DVDs they will understandably be scratching their heads about that. On the other hand, Aries in particular has a lot of experience working with younger/newer guys as a former head trainer at the RoH academy, and was a good choice to put someone's abilities on show. Plus the fans in attendance would all know these two as they are Florida regulars, and many hardcore RoH fans will follow the indy scene and will at least know the names. The main reason I'm SELLing this one is simply that the regulars won, so all is right with the world.

Jason Smeall : SELL. Let's be honest, ROH's shows in Florida were C shows. The only reason they were rescheduled rather than cancelled was because Cary Silkin didn't want to give a crappy deal to the fans that had bought tickets in the first place. Giving guys like Osborne and Attitude 10+ minute matches with ROH regulars not only gave those guys greater exposure and the chance to wrestle on an ROH main card, it made things easier for Pearce on the booking front as he didn't have to fill out the cards with pointless rematches and tired combinations like Sapolsky so often did.

2 for 2.

Dark City Fight Club did enough this weekend to secure a regular spot on the ROH roster.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. Don't get me wrong, I think they WILL get a spot, but I don't think the performances of this weekend will be what clinched it. Sure the fans ate them up and want more of them, but these were FIP fans cheering for their homemade talent so you can't read too much into that. Next time RoH is in the area or even semi-close, like Texas for Mania weekend or possibly if they run Atlanta, Memphis or Nashville, DCFC will get another shot and THAT will be the true test. I'm pulling for them though: they share the initials of my football team.

Jason Smeall : BUY. This is a tough one to call, but based on the Dark City Fight Club's overwhemingly positive reponse, I'm going to buy it. Kory Chavis and Jon Davis went toe-to-toe with Kevin Steen and El Generico in what was reportedly a "highly entertaining, very competitive" match. ROH's tag team division had become stale even with the Briscoes, and now that Mark Briscoe is injured again, a team like the Dark City Fight Club could be exactly what ROH needs to freshen up the division. Personally I would put them in a combination of lower card matches against teams such as Delirious & Brodie Lee and Rhett Titus & Kenny King and upper card bouts against the likes of Steen & Generico and the American Wolves. Have them beat the lower down teams and push the higher ranking teams to the limit and in no time you'll have a fine tag team regularly appearing in a revitalised tag team division.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Bryan Danielson is the right choice to get Bison Smith over with the ROH crowd.

Jason Smeall : BUY. WHO'S THE MAN? Bison Smith is an absolute monster of a human being and I am really looking forward to seeing how this feud develops. After his title loss to McGuinness, defeat of Castagnoli in Nashville and blowoff match with Morishima, Bryan Danielson looked to have a clean schedule. After Bison Smith powerbombed him to concussionville in Chicago, that schedule was filled. Danielson will get Smith over with the ROH crowd for two main reasons - he can work a good match with anybody, regardless of size, and there's nothing the ROH crowd loves more than when they are about to see an enemy of the American Dragon get his f'n head kicked in.

Chris Lansdell : BUY. Bryan Danielson is the right choice to put anyone over in RoH anywhere, at any time, ever. He should and probably will win the feud, but not easily and not without losing at least once. I've only seen Bison on a few NOAH shows but the man looks massive and has a certain menace about him that should make him a convincing monster heel in RoH and may even attract Big Two interest, especially if Dragon has a chat with his old teacher. The crowd is always in to a Danielson match, and putting him with the guy you want to get over is a great way to figure out if he's got what it takes.

3 for 4.

Ring of Honor should have the Anniversary Show take place outside of New York City.

Jason Smeall : BUY. It should be in Philadelphia. The home of ROH saw its last big show at All Star Extravaganza IV, and even that was playing second fiddle to Final Battle in NYC the next night. From a DVD-watching standpoint I believe that Philly draws the best crowds and a friend of mine who has attended the majority of ROH shows in both Philly and NYC for the last few years tells me the same. NYC got the Sixth Anniversary Show, Death Before Dishonor and Final Battle, Philly should have got the Seventh Anniversary Show.

Chris Lansdell : BUY. St. John's, Newfoundland would be my first choice. No, in all seriousness NYC is a great venue and gets them the most fans, but Philly is home, Detroit and Chicago have always been good to RoH and I wouldn't rule out Toronto. Moving it around will keep more fans happy and hey, you might even be able to shift to a larger arena with they hype around the anniversary.

4 for 5.

Editor's Note: You are BOTH WRONG! And not just because I am from New York AND I am going to the show…

AJ Styles will be the next TNA wrestler to return to Ring of Honor and it will happen during the 7th Anniversary Show.

Jason Smeall : SELL. Nothing currently indicates that this will happen. ROH has already announced Mike Quackenbush for the Seventh Anniversary Show and it is widely expected that Paul London will make an appearance, so the indy superstar/ROH alumni quota appears to have been filled. Saying that, I would love to see Styles make a one-off appearance in ROH. It brought out great matches in the Motor City Machine Guns, LAX and Samoa Joe last year, and these guys clearly hate the shackles of TNA, so giving Styles the chance to dazzle in a twenty-minute match in front of a hot crowd would not only be welcomed by the man himself but by ROH's fanbase.

Chris Lansdell : SELL. I was all set to buy this until I realized that the show is coming up very soon. If AJ was going to appear then surely they would have announced it by now? Unless the tickets were already selling well, it would be folly not to announce such a huge guest star. A lot of people might think that TNA would not let him go, but they let Joe go when he was at the top of the card. As long as it's not a PPV, they're OK with it. That said, unless they can also get Paul London and set that match up, I don't see it happening.

5 for 6.


The Ninety Fifth 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.