411’s Buy or Sell 3.20.09: Bison Smith’s Mystery Partner, Ring of Honor on HDNet This Weekend, Jerry Lynn’s Upcoming Title Shot, and More!!

Posted by Michael Bauer on 03.20.2009

This week, the 411 staff previews Ring of Honor’s 7th Anniversary as Jarrod Westerfeld, Samuel Berman, and JD Dunn square off in the 100th Episode of Buy or Sell!


Welcome everyone to WEEK One Hundred 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 One Hundred's Match-Up:

Somebody help us as this column is taken over by… Jarrod Westerfeld!
vs.
The absolute smartest person that Wrestler of the Week has ever seen… Samuel Berman!
Vs.
Somehow got left off last week's Buy or Sell, so here he is… J.D. Dunn!

Yoshihiro Takayama's win over Great Muta last weekend is the equivalent of defeating Ric Flair in the last two years of his career.

Jarrod Westerfeld : SELL. While both are legends in this industry for all that they've accomplished and have grown so much older that they're not as spry as they once were, Muta, unlike Flair, is still considered a top main event draw in the industry and is still winning heavyweight championships without being looked upon as being too old or brittle to go with the young bucks of the industry. Muta also works a stiffer style than Flair ever did and is surprisingly still in the same tremendous shape he was in during his hay-days of the late 80's and early 90's. If anything beating Muta now is still the equivalent of beating Muta in the mid-90's, which unfortunately can't be said of Flair despite his amazing legacy.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I like both Flair and Mutoh, but in all fairness the latter is still a key player in Japanese wrestling in a way that Flair wasn't over the last few years of his career. Sure, Flair was involved in some notable feuds and had some good-to-excellent matches late in his run, but The Great Muta is still one of the top guys in Japan, headlining in AJPW and main eventing in New Japan as recently as January. Takayama earns far more from a win over Mutoh than, say, Edge earned with a win over Flair in 2006.

J.D. Dunn : SELL. Muta is broken down, much like Flair, but unlike Flair, he still has a large measure of power and, therefore, credibility. Flair didn't have a lot of credibility for the last decade of his career, so it didn't mean a lot to defeat him (Remember Rico's big win over Flair?). A win over Muta, though, is still a fairly big deal because he's been able to maintain a certain stature. That being said, it's not as if Takayama needed the win.

3 FOR 3 SELLS!

Ring of Honor on HDNet will break a 1.0 rating before the initial run is over.

Jarrod Westerfeld : SELL. I'd love to say that ROH will match TNA's ratings by the end of their initial run but I'm a realist first and an ROH fan second. Realistically, HDNet isn't nearly as accessible as Spike TV is as many cable providers have still to work out a deal with HDNet leaving many potential ROH fans out in the cold from this television ordeal. If anything, one could think that by the end of their initial run ROH gaining even 40% of the HDNet audience over to their show would be considered a success given what HDNet provides its audience is so much more diverse than what Spike TV or USA Network ever offered.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I might as well abstain here, because you can't fill a thimble with what I know about television ratings. Gun to my head, I couldn't tell you what WWE's ratings are, let alone TNA's or the projected numbers for ROH. HDNet is limited in terms of its availability, so I'll lean towards the sell, even though I really have no idea either way.

J.D. Dunn : SELL. Big sell. One, I don't think HDNet even releases its ratings information. Two, although it's available in many homes, that doesn't mean that many homes actually have it. HBO is available in a lot of homes; that doesn't mean everyone subscribes to it. Three, there's no reason to believe that ROH would be able to garner ratings comparable to TNA when they have fewer big name stars, inferior production values, and the network support available to them doesn't approach what Spike can do for TNA. More likely, ratings will be closer to AWA and UWF on ESPN Classic than any first-run wrestling show available now.

3 FOR 3 SELLS!

SWITCH~!

Prince Nana will bring back Jimmy Rave this weekend to team with Bison Smith against Bryan Danielson and his partner.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I'd be fine with it if he did, as I've always liked Rave more than a lot of ROH fans. However, of all the people for ROH to jump through TNA's hoops for, Jimmy Rave wouldn't make the top of my list. I think ROH will go with someone more in house for this matchup, possibly an in-card fusion with the Castagnoli vs. Albright grudge match leaving us with Danielson & Albright facing Smith & Castagnoli.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. Assuming Jimmy is healthy and ready to go, it just makes sense. Jimmy doesn't work without Nana, and Nana is incomplete without JIMMY RAVE, THE CROWN JOO-ELL! I'm reminded of the great Fraggle Rock wherein the Doozers battled over whose flavor of construction material the Fraggles preferred to eat. They each built structures in their own flavors, but the Fraggles complained that neither structure tasted quite right. They only tasted good together. Nana needs Jimmy.

Jarrod Westerfeld : SELL. I want to buy this but the only reasoning that keeps me from thinking this is a buy is the fact that Jimmy Rave, like most other former TNA wrestlers who have recently been released, will probably have a clause in their contract that will prevent them from immediately jumping over to any company with a television deal, ie. ROH. I'm willing to be wrong on this one, though.

2 SELLS, 1 BUY!

Jerry Lynn's RoH World Title shot during the Wrestlemania Weekend should be on the Pay Per View Taping.

Samuel Berman : BUY. Given 'on PPV' or 'not on PPV' as the options, I guess I'll go with 'on PPV'. Lynn has been outstandingly solid for ROH over the past year or so, putting in good performances across the board. I'm not particularly into the whole 'mirroring The Wrestler' aspect of Lynn's character, but in terms of bringing the goods in the ring, having Nigel vs. Lynn on Pay-Per-View is a no-brainer.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. First, it's a good story. Probably the best story that ROH has going now. Why would you not want to showcase that, especially since Lynn is one of the few guys who has mainstream exposure from ECW and TNA. Second, Lynn has shown that he can not only hang with Nigel, but he brings out the best in Nigel. He's one of the few wrestlers that has legitimate sympthy from a cynical fanbase.

Jarrod Westerfeld : SELL. Unfortunately I'm still of the mentality that many fans don't respect any non-WWE companies that would air former WWE talents in their main event especially on a television medium. As fun as Lynn is to see, fans need to get to learn what ROH looks like and that means highlighting the indy talents that would be associated as being ROH originals. Lynn in a DVD title match is fine as is, the diehard ROH fans will enjoy his role no matter what and the casual fans don't gain the stigma that ROH is just like WCW or TNA a refugee camp for "WWE rejects" to go and become giant celebrity fishes in a tiny pond.

2 BUYS, 1 SELL!

SWITCH~!

After Jerry Lynn's clean victory this weekend, Tyler Black is still the man to dethrone Nigel McGuinness.

J.D. Dunn : SELL. This is a tough one. Black has that populist support going for him that should propel him to the title. You have to remember, though, he's still very young. With ROH growing on a national scale, is he really ready to be *the* guy? Honestly, I think they'd be better off giving Austin Aries a second reign in between because that not only buys Tyler time to develop, but it works better from a thematic story standpoint.

Jarrod Westerfeld : BUY. Eventually I was going to have to put money down on something rather than try and make pure profit on everything listed here. I'm still of the belief that Tyler Black has been built up to be a big star that can rival the Bryan Danielson's and Austin Aries' of the ROH universe, possibly becoming the next CM Punk or Samoa Joe's of the WWE or TNA universe. At this point the only man capable of dethroning Nigel to a satisfying

Samuel Berman : SELL. Wait, what? This question confuses me. Are we saying that EVEN after Lynn got the victory Black's going to be the man? I've said before that I think Black is no better than 50-50 to take the belt from Nigel. In fact, I think ROH going off the board for the next champion could be a great thing for the company after years (yes, YEARS) of relatively predictable title changes. I'm not saying they should go with ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards or anything, but how about Brent Albright or Chris Hero or Davey Richards or Roderick Strong? The man who should really get the belt is Jimmy Jacobs, who has consistently been the company's best storyteller over the past three years, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

2 SELLS, 1 BUY!

The Age of the Fall vs Tyler Black and former AoTF Members match will end up being the most confusing match in Ring of Honor history.

The rules of the match are: Six man elimination contest with the rules of each falls changing based on the previous elimination. If a pinfall is made, the next elimination must be by submission or countout and so on...

J.D. Dunn : BUY. More confusing than the "45-minute draw." More confusing than the "Soccer Riot rules" match. More confusing than any match involving the Christopher Street Connection going over. This seems tailor-made for some sort of screwjob finish, and even if it's not, do the rules of the match really add anything to the match? What is, on paper, a good feud (people who have seen how manipulative Jimmy Jacobs really is versus those still wearing his Nikes and waiting for the comet) should sell itself. This is like the XFL introducing the three-point conversion.

Jarrod Westerfeld : BUY. Just reading the description has got me confused. This is something I'd expect from XPW or WCW, not from R O – FUCKING – H! Why is any stipulation needed for this match in the first place? You have the story and characters here to gain fans interest but with this convoluted stipulation you lead the risk of turning fans off from this encounter that should redeem the former members of the Age of the Fall. So far I haven't complained about Pearce's booking but let's just consider this his biggest blunder of a decision in his current role.

Samuel Berman : BUY. Only because I actually didn't find the Cabana vs. McGuinness European Rounds Match all that confusing.

3 FOR 3 BUYS!


Stay tuned for next week as two more people will go head to head with a whole new set of topics. But before we go…

BONUS QUESTION: You will be watching the Ring of Honor Television debut on HDNet this Saturday Night.

Michael Bauer : SELL. I will be at the 7th Anniversary show and it is kinda hard to do both.

J.D. Dunn : BUY. I better. I gotta cover it.

Jarrod Westerfeld : SELL. I'm not one of the fortunate people to already have access to HDNet on my cable box as Cablevision has yet to work out a deal with the network. I will, however, try to catch it through other means, though.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I don't get HDNet and I'll be at work anyway.