NXT Versus ROH

Triple H wants to expand NXT. He's made many comments in various interviews and Q&A sessions that indicates he believes the league can be expanded to into something that could operate autonomously (or semi-autonomously) from WWE. We've seen steps taken towards this goal with the events held at the Arnold Sports Festival and in San Jose as part of WrestleMania weekend. It's still early days but the fact that these events were able to attract very healthy crowds, the passion fans and wrestlers have for NXT, and the fact that the endeavour is being bankrolled by WWE (essentially meaning they don't necessarily need to worry about making a profit) makes me think that the growth of NXT into a marketable second brand within WWE is an attainable goal. It can afford to run at a loss for a while as it expands, that's not a position wrestling promotions are usually in.

That said it remains a developmental league. It's a place for wrestlers to learn and hone their skills before being promoted to the main roster, where they can earn better money and contribute to the shows where WWE makes its profit. Some people are brought in closer to this point than others. Finn Bálor, formerly New Japan's junior heavyweight ace Prince Devitt, could probably have bypassed NXT altogether. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze are all as main roster ready as they're going to get. Hideo Itami is still finding a middle ground between his stiff-as-nails NOAH style and the softer, safer approach taken by WWE's sports entertainers and working on his English. These things aside he's ready too.

But these names are in the minority. Most NXT wrestlers need NXT for the learning environment it was designed to be, not the WWE-owned indy fed people (not least Triple H) seem desperate for it to become. For the main roster to benefit from NXT as it's meant to a middle ground needs to be found, one that allows people like Enzo Amore, Alexa Bliss and Baron Corbin to become confident in-ring performers while also drawing sizeable crowds in its own right.

The solution WWE have apparently settled on is targeting indy talent with a proven ability to fill buildings of the size NXT will be holding events in as it expands. Essentially this means they're going after Ring of Honor guys. ROH operates on a smaller scale than WWE and is generally able to draw a couple of thousand or so people to their bigger shows. Although the ROH brand name contributes to this it's not enough by itself. It's the wrestler that deserve the bulk of the credit there. WWE understand this and want to sign these guys to help NXT and set back the competition. And while ROH is not direct competition to WWE it will be to an expanded NXT.

This would go down well with NXT crowds. Or any crowds, for that matter.
But my point still stands: ACH would be a good hire.

There are four wrestlers in ROH that I think WWE would be particularly interested in. At the top of the list is ACH. The most obvious reason is his dazzling aerial ability. He never puts on a foot wrong on his flying moves and never has a bad match. He can make himself look tremendously sympathetic when taking a beating, always handy for a smaller lad. He's precisely the sort of guy that could be signed strictly for use in NXT. This isn't to say he couldn't go far on the main roster, he could, but his style is well-suited to the more indy-flavoured NXT. With WWE on the hunt for a new lead high-flyer, and seemingly unaware that Kalisto is ideal for the role, ACH could be a great acquisition.

The second and third guys are Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. As reDRagon they've been ROH's most reliable in-house tag team for the last two years. Three weeks in the summer of 2013 and the Young Bucks' two month reign last year aside, they held the ROH tag team titles from March 2 2013 until April 4 this year. They're a team ROH has invested a lot of time in and an act the company continues to rely on for selling tickets, VOD streams, and tickets. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Fish and O'Reilly team has been one of ROH's greatest booking triumphs of the last few years.

ROH can't outbid WWE but even if they could it's possible reDRagon might be tempted away. ROH have treated them very well but there's nothing fresh left for them to do aside from beat the Briscoes for the longest cumulative days as tag champs, something they're only around four months away from accomplishing. Even their first match with the new Roppongi Vice team happened at the first opportunity, a sure sign that ROH booker Delirious is aware of how new things need to be done with the duo.

In NXT the team would have an entire roster of fresh opposition. They likely wouldn't get to display the dominance they have in Ring of Honor but I think it's fair to assume they'd be allowed to look immediately competitive with tag champs Blake and Murphy. It's also worth noting that aside from those two and the Enzo-Big Cass team there aren't that many teams kicking around in NXT right now, the Lucha Dragons having been promoted and the Vaudevillains having disappeared. A renamed reDRagon would be a welcome addition.

That they lost the tag straps to The Addiction, a talented pair of guys but men WWE are unlikely to have interest in, could indicate that reDRagon have announced they intend to leave ROH soon. Getting the titles off of them now avoids any sticky booking situations arising later. Of course it could just as easily be a switch made to tell a story and freshen up the doubles scene.

Bullet Club T-Shirt there. It's very much the new nWo shirt.

Another team WWE could show interest in from ROH is the Briscoe brothers. They've got a solid track record of good matches and have worked out their characters. The only stumbling block that presents itself is that Jay Briscoe is still the same man who made comments about shooting people if they tried to teach his son homosexuality was acceptable. Which, y'know, is a problem. ROH is a company that can get away with publically slapping down a guy like that and then getting back to business as usual. WWE isn't. It would be too big a deal (rightly so) for their sponsors. It could be assumed he's learnt the error of his ways but would they want to take that risk when they don't need to? I'm not sure they would.

Jay Briscoe is also a guy I think ROH would put up a fight for. Like reDRagon he's benefited from some strong booking over the last few years. He's not been pinned for around the two year mark and is only the second man ever to enjoy a second reign as the ROH world champion. He's a company stalwart who has, famously, been there since day one. Losing him would create a big gap in their man event scene. It could also send the message that even the most loyal ROH wrestler is willing to leave if they're offered more cash.

But Jay Briscoe isn't the fourth guy I think WWE would definitely be interested in. He and Mark are guys that I could see WWE hiring but not trying their hardest to lure away. The fourth name is Adam Cole. He's got everything  WWE looks for. The look, the wresting ability, the mic skills. There's nothing about Adam Cole WWE wouldn't embrace. He's probably the most signable member of the ROH roster.

The most important thing to note about Cole is that he would be an ideal replacement for Finn Bálor. They don't work especially similar styles but they can both slot into the experienced babyface role well. With a call-up to the main roster looking likely for Bálor a replacement who has as much appeal to live audiences would be desirable. Cole could fill that role nicely. As with Jay Briscoe I could see ROH making a counter offer but it wouldn't be one that WWE couldn't match. If they wanted him they'd get him. And if they're serious with their expansion talk, which we're assuming they are, they'll want him.

There are a handful of other guys WWE could be interested in. At 29 Jay Lethal is still young enough to enter the developmental system and have a meaningful main roster career. The same goes for 23-year-old Adam Page. Despite having lost steam over the last year or so Michael Elgin remains someone who'd make a solid mid-card addition to WWE and he'd look completely at home in NXT. ACH.

#streamers

Samoa Joe, who last wrestled for ROH at Supercard of Honor IX on March 27, doesn't feel like a true ROH guy after only working four matches for them in the last five-plus years, but he's worth mentioning here. Because obviously Joe could be a draw for NXT and do great things with everyone on the roster. With him being conspicuous by his absence from future ROH show line-ups, most notably the New Japan co-promotions, it seems safe to assume he's going to WWE. I wouldn't be surprised if they next quarterly special ended with him confronting NXT champ Kevin Owens.

But none of these guys other than Joe can be said to be the attractions that ACH, reDRagon, Cole and Briscoe are. They're reliable, exciting, in-ring performers who could benefit both WWE and NXT in the long run but they're not the instant fix that is required for NXT's expansion to work before this time next year. If NXT is going to grow and ROH stars are being targeted to help with that, Cole, O'Reilly, Fish, ACH and Joe are the guys I'd expect to get signed.

Ring of Alberto

Last Friday Ring of Honor made the surprise announcement that Alberto El Patron, formerly WWE’s Alberto Del Rio, would be appearing for them in 2015. So far he’s been confirmed for the January 3 television taping, the 13^th Anniversary Show on March 1, and a pair of house shows in between. I would assume he’ll make an appearance or two in February too.

With or without further appearances this is a big coup for ROH. El Patron himself stated a few weeks prior to the announcement that he wanted to work for multiple US-based promotions with a television presence, naming Lucha Underground and TNA. It made sense that those companies would go for such a deal. Lucha Underground is based around the lucha style that Patron is familiar with and TNA is a company with a noted predilection for former WWE wrestlers. That ROH were the ones to procure Alberto’s services says a lot about the state of TNA, and ROH’s willingness to open the chequebook for the right name.

I’m interested in the logistics of Alberto’s new deals. While I can imagine Lucha Underground and ROH would be willing to cooperate on their use of El Patron it seems unlikely they’d be comfortable with him appearing for both at the same time. My guess is that Alberto will flit between the two throughout the year, doing a stint of a few months before leaving for the other league.

But for now all that’s confirmed is his deal with Ring of Honor. There’s a good chance he could bring some new fans in with him thanks to years of exposure in WWE (a number of which were spent at the top of the card) and I’m sure that’s a factor in why ROH have signed him. But that’s not all they’ll have signed him for. ROH still prides itself on being a company where wrestling ability comes first. And Alberto has ability.

El Patron pointing. Classic stuff.

That said I can imagine tweaks being made to his repertoire. His signature moves from WWE are taken in ROH. O'Reilly uses the armbreaker, while the super kick and the back cracker are general transition moves used by anyone and everyone. Seeing him upgrade his move set will be part of the experience of seeing him in a fresh setting.

El Patron versus pretty much anyone on the ROH roster could be good but there are a handful of guys I’m particularly interested in seeing him face. I imagine AJ Styles would top most lists, a pairing many would probably label a “dream match.” They could have a cracking match, particularly if they took the cross armbreaker versus Calf Killer route.

He could have a solid match with Roderick Strong too. They’re not entirely dissimilar in terms of character. One may be a Mexican aristocrat and the other a frat boy, but they both have a degree of arrogance to them that could blend nicely.

El Patron versus Michael Elgin could have a great climactic exchange of signature moves. It's a strength of Big Maggle's. The combination of Alberto’s new moves and a few of his WWE ones (which could be deployed in select longer matches) should give him quite an arsenal to draw on. It would be nice to see a babyface Alberto against stocky heel Elgin too. I think it would be an interesting dynamic.

Personally the match I’d most like to see is El Patron versus Kyle O'Reilly. As Del Rio he worked as much of an MMA inspired style as was realistically possible. I expect he'll go further with it now he's working elsewhere. It's something O'Reilly already does, and does well. The two could do a really good strong style submission match.

Then there are guys like ACH, Matt Sydal,  Bobby Fish, Jay Lethal and Adam Cole. All of them could have a good match with Alberto. As could ROH champion Jay Briscoe. In fact I’d go as far as to say that ROH should strongly consider El Patron v Briscoe for the main event of their anniversary show. It’s easy to imagine Briscoe interrupting El Patron’s debut promo to say he wants to be challenged by the best before offering the newcomer  a March 1 title shot.

Whatever Ring of Honor end up going with it’s good to see them get a signing of this level. They put on a good product and deserve someone with that extra bit of star power. In TNA he’d have been ruined within months. In ROH he can help attract new eyes and wrestle matches suited to his style. Works for me.

Total Nonstop reDRagon

If rumours are to be believed (and they often are) TNA is interested in signing Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. The pair, known collectively as reDRagon, are best known for their work in Ring of Honor. They’ve been teaming there, and elsewhere, for the last year and a half and have been a reliable, entertaining duo producing good matches and good promos.

Fish and O’Reilly are currently without ROH contracts, leaving us to presume that they’re working on what is colloquially known as a “handshake deal” until they either sign new contracts or lose the company’s tag team titles and move on. This leaves them with a choice of staying with their current employers or moving over to TNA. Both have their positives and negatives.

If reDRagon stay with ROH they’ll retain their relatively high spot on the card. They’ll perform in front of crowds who know and appreciate them and their work. And they will have further opportunities to work with New Japan talent visiting the US via ROH and also make trips over to New Japan themselves. All very satisfying for a pro wrestler.

ROH will want to hang on to reDRagon.

But staying with ROH is limiting. They’ve faced every regular combo in the company. That includes Bad Influence, who debuted as a pair less than a month ago. There are things that further O’Reilly and Fish versus Daniels and Kazarian matches could offer and accomplish that the first didn’t, but no rematch can feel as significant or accomplish as much as the first meeting.

Short of ROH signing or creating some new pairings, which isn’t beyond them but doesn’t appear to be a priority at the moment, reDRagon will basically be treading water. They can lose and regain the titles to keep them occupied but they’ve already enjoyed three reigns. What will more accomplish without a deeper roster to work with?

In TNA reDRagon would have some new opposition as a team but not as much as could be assumed by a “jumping to a new company” headline. The only regular teams on the Total Nonstop roster that reDRagon haven’t clashed with are The BroMans and The Menagerie. Those matches could be good but it’s not guaranteed, and they’re not the sorts of collisions that could be billed as dream matches. reDRagon versus either of those teams would be nothing more than a generic TV bout.

Having The Wolves on the roster is not the great boon it might appear either. Fish and O’Reilly faced Edwards and Richards many times in Ring of Honor. Anyone desperate to see those teams wrestle can see them do so easily enough via the interweb or a DVD purchase. They could put some new spots together and I’m sure the first meeting could give TNA’s TV tallies a spike but it’s not a feud that’s going to engage everyone watching. Crucially it’s not a feud that’s going to fully engage any of the four men involved, because they’ve been through it before.

But what TNA can offer Fish and O’Reilly is a new platform with new viewers and the promise that they’re trying to expand. The former would allow the pair to win over new people, meaning potential T-shirt and assorted merch sales for the future, while the latter could result in new teams to work with in the future. Plus there’s the fact that TNA would probably offer more money than ROH.

Personally I’d like to see reDRagon stay in Ring of Honor. TNA has done nothing over the last twelve months to make me think they’d do anything interesting with a talented team like Fish and O’Reilly. The fact that they rushed the tag championships on to the not dissimilar Wolves practically confirms they wouldn’t. Short of Fish and O’Reilly getting the chance to move over to NXT (which isn’t inconceivable) I’m fine watching them in ROH.

Slaying reDRagon

Last Saturday's TV taping saw a significant development in Ring of Honor's tag team division. As Matchmaker extraordinaire Nigel McGuinness stood in the ring talking about bringing in outside talent and making the doubles scene truly world class he was interrupted by reigning champions reDRagon.

Fish and O'Reilly, presumably wanting to prove that they're the best tag team out there, requested that their scheduled non-title match against the Forever Hooligans be turned into a championship defence. Agreeing that it would improve the show and that the Hooligans were worthy challengers Nigel granted the request.

And so it was that in the main event of the evening's first episode (which will air this coming Saturday) the Forever Hooligans beat reDRagon for the belts. It was a win that marked Alex Koslov's first title win in the promotion. For Rocky Romero it's a third. He's previously worn ROH tag gold alongside Ricky Reyes, as the Rottweilers, and Davey Richards, as members of the No Remorse Corps.

The win also makes the Hooligans double champions. They were already the NJPW junior heavyweight tag champs. It's an impressive feat for both men, and one that elevates their reputation as a duo.

 

The Forever Hooligans with their hardware

 

reDRagon's contributions over the last five months shouldn't be overlooked. The team deserves credit for their reign. Fish and O'Reilly treated the titles as though they meant something. That's always a good trait for champions. They wrestled exciting defences against the American Wolves, the C&C Wrestle Factory and the men who'd eventually terminate their run, the Forever Hooligans. They even made Cheeseburger look competitive at A Night of Hoopla. That's not something they had to do, but doing it made the match far more enjoyable than it would have been had they buried or mocked him for twenty minutes.

Both improved their characters throughout the reign. Just because ROH emphasises sportsmanship and match quality doesn't mean interesting characters have to become obsolete. O'Reilly in particular has improved greatly this year. He appears much more confident and has developed a confident persona that meshes nicely with his ring style. Teaming with Fish has been of benefit to him. I hope they continue to be used well and excel as a team.

reDRagon were going to defend the straps against the American Wolves at All Star Extravaganza V. That won't even happen as a non-title affair now, apparently: Fish and O'Reilly have announced via YouTube that as they're no longer the champions they won't be attending the show. They were omitted from the last swing into Canada too. I'm beginning to think Bobby Fish has some sort of legal difficulty crossing the border (O'Reilly won't be the issue: he's Canadian).

Instead Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards will be wrestling the new champions for the belts. I'm sure it will be a very exciting match, although I wish the Wolves v reDRagon match had remained on the card. That would have left Romero and Koslov free to defend against the Young Bucks. As the Bucks are the current Dragon Gate USA tag team champions it could have been something of a dream match, albeit one in which the champions versus champions, best versus best aspect would have been overlooked on commentary. ROH are unlikely to acknowledge Dragon Gate anytime soon. In that regard they're like the WWF used to be with WCW.

As it is the Bucks will take on Adrenaline RUSH and the C&C Wrestle Factory in a match that will be every high spot lover's dream. I can live with the omission of reDRagon with quality like this on the card.

I don't expect the Forever Hooligans to have a long reign. They're over in Japan far too often to be convenient for Ring of Honor to book. Them winning the titles feels like a way of shaking the division up a little and making things a little less predictable. Which, by the way, is fine with me: wrestling promotions should try to surprise fans more often. It's possible that the change is also a way of switching the titles onto the American Wolves without reDRagon losing straight to them, so as to prolong that feud. If that's the case the Hooligans are credible interim champs but I hope they get longer than a week with the gold. They deserve at least a couple of months. Hopefully they'll get that.

However long their reign lasts, whoever they defend against and eventually lose to, I'm pleased the Forever Hooligans' names have been added to the list of ROH tag team champions. It shakes up the division and puts a talented, entertaining and hard-working team at its head. You can't ask for more than that, can you?

golDRagon

Two weeks ago at ROH's 11^th Anniversary iPPV Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish won the promotion’s world tag team championship. I said at the time that this was a surprising and positive title switch. What I didn't say is that I think reDRagon are the ideal team to head up the tag team division, both short and long term.

I've been calling for Ring of Honor to do something with O'Reilly since last year. When he renounced Davey Richards as his mentor at Best in the World (moments before ‘The Lone Wolf’ had a world title rematch with Kevin Steen) I thought something major was going to follow. I was wrong. O'Reilly spent the majority of the remainder of 2012 wrestling in meaningless matches which were rarely long enough to give him a chance to stand out. This instead of building him up to be one of the company’s leading stars.

As the year came to a close O'Reilly was paired up with Bobby Fish for a tag match opposite the reunited American Wolves at Final Battle. It became clear at the start of 2013 that that hadn't been a throwaway addition to the final ROH show of the year. They would be a regular combo.

There are a few reasons reDRagon are the ideal team to be on top right now. First and foremost they're both very good wrestlers. That's obviously a good attribute to have in any wrestling promotion. It’s particularly useful in Ring of Honor, where work rate is what fans looks for above everything else.

They're a fresh pairing too. The majority of the other teams on the roster have yet to face them in a regular encounter. The return to bringing in non-regulars for select shows will mean even more fresh matches involving reDRagon. The Forever Hooligans, BLKOUT, the Young Bucks and the Super Smash Bros would be my top choices from outside ROH to come in and face the champs. If the recently announced working agreement with Pro Wrestling NOAH is going to be an ongoing thing then that could mean even more great matches for the pair.

A tip for Mr O'Reilly: work on your sneer

There's also the established rivalry with the American Wolves. It took a while but the Kyle and Davey dispute finally paid off. The Wolves versus reDRagon was a hot, well received encounter. The Wolves won, which should guarantee them a future match for the tag belts. More matches of that calibre wouldn’t be a bad thing. There's a lot that could be done in a prolonged reDRagon v Wolves programme. The history between Davey, Eddie and Kyle could generate months of material.

What else is nice about this scenario is that there's not one team who will clearly be the next champions. The American Wolves are certainly favourites but they haven't been set up as the men who will definitely dethrone Fish and O'Reilly. It could just as easily be one of the teams mentioned above, given a shot out of the blue. The Briscoes could add yet another reign to their tally. Or the men I've been saying should be the ROH tag champs for over six months, the C&C Wrestle Factory, could finally reach the top. Even if they don't win I expect Coleman and Alexander to get a title match sometime soon, and to have a noteworthy outing when they do.

The tag team division is just one area of ROH that Delirious has improved since taking control of the booking. It's an area that was particularly drab under Cornette so its improvement stands out more. I hope it keeps getting better.