411’s Buy or Sell 03.06.09: Tyler Black in RoH’s 1st TV Main Event, KENTA Challenges Nigel McGuinness, The WARRIORS-5 Forms in Dragon Gate, and More!!
Posted by Michael Bauer on 03.06.2009
This week, the 411 staff looks up, down, and around everything happening in Japan and Ring of Honor as Jeffrey Harris battles Jake Chambers in Buy or Sell!
Welcome everyone to WEEK Ninety Eight 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 Eight's Match-Up:
From the MMA Zone, making his Buy or Sell Debut- Jeffrey Harris!
vs.
From the Wacky Wrestling Theory, making a Hiatus Filled Return- Jake Chambers !
The WARRIORS-5 Stable in Dragon Gate will have some sort of split before the end of 2009.
Jeffrey Harris : BUY. It might not happen in 2009, however the last time CIMA formed a super-unit in in Blood Generation, it turned on him and he ultimately had to destroy his creation! History has a way of repeating itself, and it will again.
Jake Chambers : SELL. Dragon Gate needs some ‘stable'-ity (rim shot, somebody, I'm beggin'…). At this point, not breaking up a stable would be unpredictable in Dragon Gate, and I think that's the kind of counter-booking they probably will employ in 2009. Gamma and CIMA are a weird combination though, that's for sure… all the more reason to keep them together I suppose.
0 for 1.
Having Jun Akiyama win the his record tying 3rd GHC Heavyweight Title was a fitting ending to NOAH's Television Deal.
Jeffrey Harris : SELL. While I think it's really cool, I feel a more fitting end would've been a win first time GHC title win for KENTA who I honestly feel should've beaten Misawa in ROH. Still despite the critics, I always enjoyed Akiyama's last run as champ, and his epic match with Marufuji was one of the things that got me into NOAH.
Jake Chambers : SELL. Too much has been made of the ‘end' of NOAH's network-ish television deal. First of all, NOAH was on after midnight on Saturday, which basically means they might as well not even have been on at all for years now anyways. All pro-wrestling watching in Japan is being done on the cable channels now, and full length NOAH events are still going to air on NTV's G+ cable channel, so the lose of the horribly scheduled NTV show is probably way less drastic than when Monday Night Football moved from network TV to ESPN, and that hasn't hurt the NFL in any way.
I suppose if you really want some kind of high note for NOAH to go out on though, Akiyama as a representative of NOAH-proper beating a freelancer for the Heavyweight Title is one. Although, if you saw the match then you know it was nothing special, and had the difficult time of following another incredible KENTA/Nakajima war. What is lame about the situation is not Akiyama winning specifically, but Sasaki losing. Just as Morishima before him had two easy title defenses before losing to a tough opponent, so too did Sasaki defeat relatively predictable opponents in Yone and Saito before losing the title in his first real challenge. At this point, is it possible to assume Akiyama will defend against, say Keith Walker and Go Shiosaki, before losing the title to Kobashi? What is with this pattern? Especially considering the Junior division, the new high profile heel stable, and a conflict with New Japan, the NOAH booking is so exciting right now, I'm surprised they would end the Sasaki title reign with such an anticlimax.
1 for 2.
Ring of Honor made a mistake having talents unproven with the company on the TV Tapings.
Jeffrey Harris : SELL. This is exactly what they should be doing. Bringing in new faces, changing up the roster, and giving the veterans new people to work with. That's a good thing. It gets fresh faces on TV as well giving these guys a chance to prove themselves. This isn't TNA. And there is nothing wrong with mixing new faces in with things like a Danielson/Aries match or a first-time Jacobs/Black match. ROH for years has been a place where unproven and new talents cut their teeth and learned the ropes. This won't be a roster based on old, hasbeen no talents that used to be midcarders in WWE, WCW, and ECW. It will be a roster based on fresh, young faces.
Jake Chambers : BUY. In my opinion, Ring of Honor should be thinking about first impressing their regular fan base with the HDNET channel shows. If ROH wants to start from scratch and present a program that looks different to long time ROH fans in some misguided attempt to win over ‘phantom' new fans, then I think that's a huge mistake. Maybe wrestlers like Brodie Lee, Eddie Kingston and the Dark City Fight Club have some kind of marketable appeal, but what are they doing on the first chance ROH has to reach their hungry fans on national television?
ROH would have done a greater service to their loyal audience if they had taped just one match for each episode, and focused on twelve or fourteen of the core, seasoned ROH stars. Rather than featuring smaller squash type matches and mid-card fare, the rest of the show could have been HBO 24/7 type profiles and vignettes about the wrestlers real lives and training style, in order to establish those characters in a way that is unique to the old fans of ROH and strengthen that already existing bond.
Instead, ROH seems to have copycatted the typical pro-wrestling TV style, particularly shows like ECW or TNA Impact, in which they needed more enhancement talent than ROH regularly employs. This probably isn't going to do much to win over new fans, regardless of the wrestlers used, and will definitely not endure itself to veteran fans who are used to ROH being a unique alternative to the wrestling mainstream.
1 for 3.
SWITCH~!
Tyler Black was the right person to win the first Television Main Event for Ring of Honor.
Jake Chambers : SELL. Tyler Black is good but he is not the ‘star' of Ring of Honor. I see this akin to the idea of starting out the first TNA Impact episode with AJ Styles because he was the fanboy favorite and considered ‘the future' of the company, a similar label being forced onto Black these days. Probably, it was Jimmy Jacobs who should have won that first taped main event match because he is a great ‘heel' and that seems to be the current trend in mainstream wrestling, spotlighting great heel performances rather than ‘gung-ho' type heroes.
In my real opinion, the three main stars of ROH are Nigel McGuiness, Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson, all of whom have incredibly refined personalities and are able to lead and produce fantastic matches with any wrestler possible. Not only that, but they are all reasonably young, so it's not like these ROH veterans are Ric Flair, Hogan and Macho Man, who need to be replaced by some youth movement. Therefore, one of them should have been in the main event of the very first national TV show, especially because I can see no glaring marketability benefit in Tyler Black or the increasingly out of style emo-gothy Age of the Fall. Tyler Black is not a huge personality, in the vein of previous ROH breakout stars like CM Punk, Samoa Joe or Christopher Daniels, so I don't really see how he can creatively carry the show.
Of course, I haven't seen the match, so my opinion is pure speculation, but in the end, if the match itself is badass, really that's all that matters, and the winner of a pro-wrestling match at that point is inconsequential.
Jeffrey Harris : BUY. Um, hell yeah. Tyler Black is a potential ROH world champion, and this is a great way to establish him on TV since he is still sort of recent to ROH, and Black/Jacobs is a great match-up to put him over with.
1 for 4.
Ring of Honor should have at least one defense of their World and Tag Team Titles durng the next TV Tapings.
Jake Chambers : SELL. I'm going to say ‘no' here because they did not choose to have any championship matches for the first month and a half of television, so why not set a standard that the HDNET show will generally only present non-title matches. I think this could build up anticipation of the first title matches on TV when they finally happen, in say 8-10 months. That would mean though that they should not have the champions lose the titles, specifically Nigel, in order to generate interest for that championship match in the future by making it seem like a possible title change is a rare event that needs to be seen.
Jeffrey Harris : BUY. Definitely. They have to with this new TV model since the PPV's aren't bought very much and they are going to have a weekly TV show. They don't have to do them every week, but ROH will need to show some quality title defenses to show what they are about and to help establish their brand. This will be a company with good title matches where the world title is contested by guys who are you know under 40 and both of them haven't worked for Vince or Bischoff. ROH has often built up their belts as more than just storyline "props" like Vince Russo. They need to continue to do so. When ROH brought in the NOAH guys and they defended their belts in the US it was freaking huge. Puro fans wouldn't even consider the thought of the GHC Heavyweight Title being defended in some gym full of 300 fans or whatever, and yet NOAH actually went through and did it. That's how much they respected and valued the ROH brand.
1 for 5.
While it provides an opponent he has yet to defeat as RoH World Chanpion, Nigel McGuinness defending against KENTA is a mistake for the 7th Anniversary Show.
Jake Chambers : SELL. One can make the quick and reasonable assumption that Nigel will not lose to KENTA, the same way it was fair to have guessed that he wouldn't lose to Marufuji at Final Battle 2008. Yet there can be no doubt that a Nigel/KENTA singles match will be awesome, especially in the New York City atmosphere, and thus that is why this match cannot be a ‘mistake.' This is Ring of Honor we are talking about, and although their push for more mainstream appeal is happening, I think we can still believe that ROH is in the business of putting on the best pure wrestling matches in the world. Decisions as to what is good for business, and who should win storylines, are secondary concepts in ROH fandom as long as the best possible matches are booked and the confidence and freedom is given to the wrestlers to provide that content to the audience. Even with the recent headline making booking change and mainstream TV machinations, ROH still appears to want to provide this kind of show to the fans and this fantastic main event for the 7th Anniversary show proves that this mentality is still thankfully strong within Ring of Honor.
Jeffrey Harris : SELL. It's totally the right move. KENTA is a fresh opponent for McLariat. KENTA has been well established as an ROH title contender since 2006, and they've made it that this is a belt KENTA has sought for quite some time. After this next group of spring shows, we don't know when KENTA might appear in ROH again. Strike while the iron is hot, get this big time match on there while the getting is good. KENTA has always been a decent draw for ROH and it will be no exception here. My hope is that KENTA will return the favor though and if he's still champ, defend his newly won GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title again in ROH. Perhaps another Danielson match?
2 for 6.
The Ninety Eighth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 2 for 6! Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.
"This is exactly what they should be doing. Bringing in new faces, changing up the roster, and giving the veterans new people to work with. "
You're bringing in new faces for new fans who probably haven't seen the "OLD" faces. That's changing things when a change isn't necessary yet.
I mean obviously, if they're going to put these new guys on TV, they plan on using them, but fresh blood is not what's needed right now. Consistency and good TV are needed. What they should be doing is putting guys on TV who have CONTRACTS, or are in one of the latter stages of signing/re-signing. Wrestling isn't really the most honorable and respectable profession. People have shown up on TV before and left before signing a contract. Let's avoid that.
Posted By: All Around Wrestling Fan (Guest) on March 06, 2009 at 04:08 PM
So will RoH no longer be on Buy or Sell after it debuts on TV?
It definitely shouldn't be. Time to move it up to Fact or Fiction where the big dogs are.
Posted By: Guest#8351 (Guest) on March 06, 2009 at 07:50 PM
Too much being made about NOAH losing their NTV deal, that is a statement that I definitely disagree with (using the help of some Meltz WO's).
NOAH airing past-midnight on NTV is still way better than them not airing on NTV at all. NTV paid for the wrestlers salaries, venue costs for each taping and a rights fee to air the program. Major sponsors are less willing to work with NOAH and the ones NOAH does get will generate lower revenue. Ticket sales to major and minor shows will drop because they no longer have the mainstream visibility. NOAH is going to have to pay a lot more out of their own pocket now and get much less revenue from the TV deals that they do get.
Cable and satellite TV is much smaller in Japan compared to the US. I think it is a 1/3 of what the US has. G+ is a pay channel only available in 4 million of the near 50 million (Meltz's number in the WON was too high) TV households. G+ is paying about $1 million US a year to air NOAH. It was $250K a week that NTV was paying AJPW during the late 80's/early 90's. It was believed that NOAH's wasn't that high, but NOAH would make as much quarterly late night on NTV than they would yearly on G+ for rights fee.
Samurai TV is even smaller than G+ and very expensive pay channel to get that attracts a niche audience. I am paying about $5 more to get HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz & WWE 24/7 than subscribing to Samurai TV.
Wrestling airing on post-midnight Network TV has been occuring since the 1990's when business was a whole lot better. AJPW was selling out the Budokan (with Misawa, Kawada, Taue & Kobashi being made into mainstream stars) consecutively with a late night timeslot. Ratings was still satisfactory to NTV and not the reason NOAH was cancelled.
It is not a coincidence that NOAH was more willing to reopen a working relationship with New Japan (whom has a similar late night network deal with TV Asahi and a major reason they were able to survive most recent years while operating in the red) when it was known that NTV was cancelling.
It isn't a coincidence either that Go & Sugiura are getting big pushes in an attempt to create more new stars in a promotion that relied on the more established names while still knowing they had a timeslot on NTV.
With all that said, NOAH will survive because they don't spend a whole lot of money on major shows. They'll operate on a much smaller scale (AJPW levels), but that isn't a desirable position either considering their own financial instability and the fact that the wrestlers sometimes have to be paid on how much tickets were sold for a show.
Posted By: Ryan M. (Guest) on March 06, 2009 at 10:58 PM
ROH has always been about introducing and establishing new faces. That's part of their consistency.
Also, in case you haven't noticed they ARE putting guys on TV who have contracts and they are booking them in matches.
Posted By: Jeffrey Harris (Registered) on March 06, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Bringing new guys in is indeed an ROH tradition. But thrusting them immediately to the top of the card is not. And now that's more important than ever because a lot of new fans will have heard of the Bryan Danielsons (proof being the HUGE pop he got from a WWE audience while doing a dark match)and Nigel Mcguinnesses of ROH, but they've not seen them. This is their time to learn who and what makes ROH different from the sports entertainment they're used to. They can't do that if the noobs are constantly being showcased over the contracted guys (the heart and soul of the company)who will still be there when many of the noobs are gone.
Posted By: nomark (Guest) on March 07, 2009 at 01:04 PM
Ryan M makes some good points about the NOAH/NTV deal, but I can't really agree with everything he's saying. Obviously the lose of money can't be a good thing for NOAH, and there is no doubt the feud with New Japan is no coincidence (even though the roots of the feud do go back before the TV deal was cancelled).
But first of all, I don't really think it's valid to compare the price of cable in Japan and USA, considering Japan's pollution is so much smaller and their GDP is so much larger, of course premium services cost more, everything does in Japan as well. Although, alot of those other numbers you give are informative, it is always possible to analyze numbers to match any point of view.
The point is, NOAH fans are already watching NOAH regardless of the time. The logic that just because a show is available on network TV to a larger audience means more casual viewers will watch, should have translated to huge numbers for the recent Saturday Night's Main Events instead of embarrassment. The post-midnight slot did more for NTV by bringing in those loyal NOAH viewers than it did for NOAH getting a bigger audience, and thus the reason for the high amount paid by the station.
I think we can all agree, that regardless of recationary tabloid doomsaying from certain wrestling 'authorities', like the one Ryan likes to quote, Pro-Wrestling NOAH will look and exist pretty much exactly the same one year from now, as it does today... and probably with some old All Japan legend as champion too!
Posted By: Jake Chambers (Registered) on March 08, 2009 at 01:59 AM
