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I attended this past weekend's ROH double shot at the Manhattan Center in New York City, and even though I thought both shows, and Final Battle 2007 in particular, featured some amazing wrestling and big happenings, I was a little disappointed in some of what I saw and definitely questioned some of the moves ROH made.
The first thing that stands out in my mind above everything else was the finish to the Bryan Danielson-Takeshi Morishima match on the PPV taping. Bryan Danielson has more or less been made to look like Morishima's whipping boy for months now, and with the "relaxed rules" that were announced for the match, and it being a PPV taping at the end of the year, I expected this to be the big blowoff where either Danielson would finally defeat Morishima, or Morishima would beat him once and for all and prove himself the dominant wrestler. Instead, Morishima bloodied Danielson within seconds of the match starting and spent most of the match beating the crap out of him before getting himself disqualified. The whole thing lasted ten minutes if even that much, and I even though the matches these guys have are very good, I felt a little ripped off at yet another non-finish. I'm sure Gabe will make up for it in the end because he always does, but I was expecting something decisive here.
Another thing I didn't understand was the booking of the Briscoes-Strong/Romero match. The Briscoes had been in four 2 out of 3 fall matches earlier in the year and had won all of them in two straight falls, and I really didn't understand the logic in killing the gimmick by having Strong and Romero take the first fall if they weren't going to win the title. I think that if the Briscoes were going to lose, then the other team should have beaten them in two straight and taken the title because doing both in one shot would have helped get the other team over. As it happens, the Briscoes did end up losing the title the following night to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black, but it's still a gimmick they could have used as a team even if they didn't have the title, or they could have had Jacobs and Black win the title, and then have the Briscoes challenge them to a 2/3 falls rematch to make it look like the Briscoes were going to get the title back since nobody beats them in 2/3 falls matches, and have Age Of The Fall beat them there too. The gimmick they ran with the whole year was wasted on a team that shouldn't have gotten that honor.
Mike beat me to saying this, but Nigel McGuinness is quickly turning into the John Cena of ROH with the split crowd reactions he's getting. While a large portion of the crowd still cheers Nigel and appreciates his matches, there is a very vocal portion of most of the crowds I've been in since he won the title that boo him and make references to him being a one move wrestler. Anyone who thinks that all Nigel knows how to do is the lariat is out of their mind, and all one needs to do is look back at Nigel's Pure Title reign in 2005-06 to see that he's capable of doing much, much more than that. In fact, I think that it's the technical and mat wrestling ability he displayed during that title reign that got him over so much in the first place that they were able to turn him babyface, and I think that him getting away from working that style as much as he used to has taken away from his matches. One of my friends made a good point, in that if you're going to use a move as your finish, you can't use it seventeen times during the match. Another problem I see is that Nigel was really hot coming into 2007, he was fresh off the Pure Title reign and an amazing series of matches with Bryan Danielson that showed he could hang in the main event, but he didn't look strong enough through the year by dropping yet another match to Danielson at Driven as well as several losses to Morishima before finally taking the title. I feel like so many losses made people second guess their opinion about him being a legit main eventer, and even now I don't get the feeling he's on the same level as Danielson, Morishima, or even Austin Aries despite victories over them, and his title reign almost has a feel of him just holding the title for the time being.
Then there's the injuries. Nigel's biceps injury came at a really bad time, and tha fans really didn't like being told that the ROH Champion can't wrestle, especially when he did anyway against Chris Hero in Philadelphia. On top of that, while I believe the fans were a little too rough on him at the beginning, Nigel is definitely playing into it now, and it seems like he's headed toward being a Bret Hart-esque whiner who worked hard and did everything the right way, only to have the fans crap on him when he finally got his big moment. I don't know for sure where they're headed with Nigel's character, but it doesn't seem as if his current "hardworking guy who does it for the fans" thing is getting over with everyone, so if they really are trying to do a Cena-esque tweener angle with Nigel, then the injuries, unfortunate though they were, may have come at the perfect time, because now all the fans who bust on Nigel anyway and think the injuries were works are just going to get more fuel. Though it may not necessarily be the reaction Nigel or Gabe were hoping for with Nigel as champion, he is getting a very strong crowd reaction whichever way they feel, and that's much better than no reaction.
I wonder what the point was in having Claudio do the job to Naomichi Marufuji in the main event? When Claudio beat him last time out in Manhattan, it was a great match and a huge win for Claudio over a top opponent with serious credentials, and it made Claudio look like a real top guy. But now they have this second match which was shorter, good if not as good as the last one, and Marufuji beat him clean right in the middle of the ring, and made Claudio's win look like a fluke. I know who Marufuji is and his place on the ladder in Japan and all, but the win over him meant something, and I feel like any good that was done by having Claudio beat him last time was lessened by having him lose here. Tiebreaker match, anyone?
Just as an aside while we're talking about Marufuji, how about that dive out of the ring by Davey Richards? That dude legit went right through Marufuji and wound up in the third row. Davey Richards is an intense guy and he always puts on a great show. There was a funny moment when he got back to his feet and tried to put his arm around some chick in the audience to celebrate with her, but she got scared and ran off, so he grabbed another girl and pumped his fist in the air with her instead. I can see why the girl might have gotten scared. After all, if a thickly muscled, tattooed wrestler who can kick a hole right through a human being dove 15 feet into my lap and then tried to grab me, I'd be a little freaked out too.
And by the way, when ROH asked the crowd to keep their chants PG for the PPV audience, did they really think that it wouldn't just cause the audience to swear more? In fact that's exactly what they did immediately, and even though there weren't too many vulgar chants during the show, I think it was just because nothing prompted it and not because the fans felt a sense of moral responsibility.
However, for the complaints I had about the show, there were a lot of things I did like about the show. First thing, as much as we might not want to believe it, getting Daniel Puder was a great move for ROH because Puder, with his big mouth, lack of real wrestling experience, and apparent disrespect for the business in general, makes for a natural heel in ROH. Larry Sweeney is going to make a good mouthpiece for Puder, whose promo skills outside of challenges to Kurt Angle are questionable, and it'll also help Sweeney look like a manager to be reckoned with now that he'll have both Puder and Chris Hero in his stable. The big question mark now is whether Puder can actually work or not, or at least up to the lofty standards of ROH fans. I'm sure he got something out of his time in WWE developmental, but will he be able to go out there and have watchable matches with Claudio Castagnoli and whoever else he gets matched up with, or is he going to be spending most of his time hiding out in tag team matches?
I also liked that Erick Stevens got his big win over Roderick Strong for the FIP "World" Title. While I'll make no secret of the fact that I think very little of FIP as a promotion and that the title has turned into a meaningless bowling trophy just to give Roderick Strong something to carry around for a year, Stevens is over with the fans and it's nice to see him get a big singles win after spending a lot of the year doing jobs to the No Remorse Corps. I guess this is as close to an official end to the NRC-Resilience war as we're going to get. It's also giving a big responsibility to Stevens, as he's now going to be the center of FIP when they relaunch in February (assuming he gets through the next couple of ROH shows with the title), so it'll be interesting to see how he does as the main event.
The Street Fight/No DQ/Anything Goes type matches we got this weekend were also really good, and in particular Jack Evans and the Necro Butcher had a really entertaining match that looked on paper like it would be a clash of styles. These two guys are insane, and Necro took his requisite insanely sick bumps, including taking a sunset flip powerbomb from the apron to the floor. However, there's something to be said for Jack Evans' guts, as he took Necro's backbreaker across the two back to back chairs. Even though the move's worked, I cringe every time I see it, and Evans is obviously a lot tougher than his small frame might lead you to believe to take a move like that.
Also, the Hangmen 3-Steen/Generico/Delirious Table Are Legal match saw several sick bumps which made great visuals, but made me wonder what happened to the decision to cut down on the crazy bumps. I liked the cameo by Bushwhacker Luke, and his appearances both nights couldn't help but bring a smile to my face, and I thought it was great how warmly the crowd took to him even though he's not what you would consider standard for ROH. The Hangmen 3, in the meantime, are starting to look like real badasses. I felt early on that Pearce and Whitmer had nothing going on and were piggybacking off of Albright, but both men have really kicked it up in the ring since they got together, and now whenever you watch them wrestle, you really get a sense like somebody's going to get their ass kicked. The win over Steen, Generico, and Delirious, who have all had really big years in 2007, did a good job of putting them over as guys that should be taken seriously.
I would also be remiss in not mentioning the interaction between Lacey and Tammy Sytch in the opening segment of the PPV taping. Tammy came out after the three way SHIMMER match between Lacey, Daizee Haze, and Sara Del Rey, and siad that she really liked what she saw and said that she thinks they all have great futures. Lacey took offense to this, telling Tammy that even though she seems to think she's some kind of pioneer for women in the business, she instead damaged the credibility of women's wrestling, because now all anyone sees female wrestlers as are pieces of T&A. She went on to say that Tammy can't even wrestle, and that she doesn't count the wrestling matches she had with the the boys in the hotel room. I have to admit, I'm a big, big fan of people coming out and shooting on stuff that everybody thinks, but nobody says, and I was really like "Wow, Tammy agreed to this?" Tammy did come back and say that Lacey probably has to rely on wrestling because she doesn't have the body to be T&A, and Lacey went after her but Daizee Haze cut her off before she could do anything. The following night, Lacey was the focal point of the return of Mercedes Martinez, who had been out of action for the last year with an injury. Definitely not a good weekend for Lacey, even though her men did win the ROH World Tag Team Title.
Finally, the four way elimination match that ran second from the top at Final Battle was one of the most entertaining matches I've seen this year. Even though he was the first one eliminated, Morishima looked like an absolute monster in there with the way he was tossing everyone around and beating them down like they were Barry Horowitz, and it still took Danielson and Aries double teaming him like crazy to eliminate him. Chris Hero did a great job of playing himself up as a cowardly heel in this match, only tagging in when somebody was in trouble and then running for the hills every time got in trouble. It was particularly entertaining when he started playing to the crowd and showing off while Danielson and Aries were beating up Morishima, and then celebrating after Morishima was gone like he helped eliminate him. Chris Hero is so entertaining, there is no way this guy can't get the ROH Title at some point. Finally it came down to Aries and Danielson, and even though these guys have had tons of matches against each other, they shook hands and did it one more time. The great thing about Danielson-Aries matches is that they're so evenly matched and the series has been so even that you really never know who's going to win, but are guaranteed a great match either way.
There were a lot of ups and downs to ROH's final shows ot 2007, and even though there were some pretty glaring disappointments and questionable booking, I would say there was a lot more good than bad, and really, what more can you ask for? I'll be back soon with a look forward at 2008 and give my thoughts on what I see to come for ROH, but in the meantime all feedback can be sent to stuwrestling@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon.
