The Lone Wolf

I feel the need to address my feelings on Davey Richards.

I’ve been very open about my dislike of the man before. Generally when people say they don’t like him they state it’s because he’s an “MMA wannabe.” That’s not the case for me. It’s not that the MMA influences aren’t there, because they clearly are, more that it doesn’t bother me. Wrestling thrives on variety. If every performer has the same routine things quickly become boring, so I welcome wrestlers who adopt MMA influences. It adds something different to shows.

In truth Richards MMA gimmick isn’t all that pronounced anyway. He just works a very stiff style and incorporates various strikes and submission holds from other combat sports. That’s nothing new to wrestling or Ring of Honor. The stiff style in particular has been present in ROH since its very first event so it’s nothing Richards has introduced. Chris Hero was working a more realistic style before he left for WWE, and Bryan Danielson was doing it before him. You can even go back to ECW and see Taz using Judo throws and holds (most famously the Tazmission). It’s nothing new to wrestling and not something that necessarily equates to “bad.”

I have no problem with Richards’ perceived MMA influences. I also have no problem with his clear fascination with the sport. Wrestlers need to gain inspiration for their art form from somewhere, so why not mixed martial arts?

My problem with Davey Richards is that he doesn’t do everything he can to improve Ring of Honor. He strives for perfection when in the ring, I can’t fault him there. He’s an impressive wrestler continuing to have excellent matches for the ROH title. It’s his actions outside of the ring that I take issue with.

I first noticed the problem last September when ‘The American Wolf’ chose to go on a tour of Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling rather than appear on ROH’s Death Before Dishonor IX internet pay-per-view. It was the first pay-per-view event the company had promoted since Richards won the belt at Best in the World in June, it was also one week before they launched their then-new television show.

As champion Richards should have been. He should have been in the main event wrestling for the ROH title. Instead he was in Japan with NJPW, a company he had described as “prestigious” in a video hyping the very ROH event he had chosen to skip. There is nothing prestigious about working for New Japan (or All Japan, NOAH or any other Japanese promotion for that matter) in 2012. It’s a wrestling organisation like any other that hires workers of all skill levels. It’s as respectable an organisation as Ring of Honor, WWE, All Japan, NOAH, or any other wrestling company you care to name.

That Richards chose not to describe ROH as “prestigious” made it seem as though he regarded the US promotion as the minor league and NJPW as the big time. That’s not a good attitude for a champion to have about a company they work for.

That Richards opted to wrestle abroad rather than defend his world championship and tried to pass it off as a move designed to bring fresh attention to ROH (by using the word prestigious) was disgusting. How many new fans was he going to attract to the North America-based group by wrestling in Asia?

Does anything about this look prestigious to you?

I also have a problem with his stilted promo style. I appreciate that Ring of Honor has always been more about wrestling skill than possessing a particular look or being the best talker in the world, but that excuse will only carry the champ so far. ROH has turned out Daniel Bryan, Austin Aries, Chris Hero and, most notably, CM Punk, all of whom are held in high regard when it comes to their promo work.

It may not often be acknowledged but ROH has a rich history of top quality promo guys and as the current champion Richards should be attempting to improve his work in that area. In fairness he does often address opponents and audiences after matches, and he tends to be pretty good when doing so. Perhaps he could watch back these post-match segments and study his performance for things he could use to improve his pre-match promos.

Richards doesn’t need to be the best talker in the business. That isn’t what being the ROH champion is about. But he could and should be making more of an effort in that area. In the current era of wrestling champions need to be able to cope with every aspect of the business. That’s everything from putting on a top quality match to picking up a microphone and telling viewers why they should buy tickets to the next show.

Davey Richards gets a lot right but also a lot wrong. If he’s ever going to become a true heir to the likes of Danielson and Punk he needs to start putting ROH first and start saying no to Japan. That’s unlikely to happen, which means my views are likely to change any time soon.

Prestigious

“So I know what you’re here for. You wanna hear about September 17^th. Who’s Davey Richards gonna defend the title against? Well I’ll be honest with you people, I won’t be there. I will be in Japan. You see I’m the only competitor in this company that works for the prestigious New Japan Pro Wrestling. All the great juniors, Koji Kanemoto, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Tiger Mask. [stabs a finger at his chest] I have beaten them all. You see I will go there representing Ring of Honor, I will go there as a representative of this great company, because I wear this belt and it means more than just a piece of metal around my waist. It is a passion, an essence in my heart. These two men in my absence [indicates the men flanking him, Kyle O’Reilly and Tony Kozina] will carry forth that passion and that essence, along with the rest of this roster, whether I like them, dislike them, love them, hate them... We all carry fighter’s spirit in this company. So I’m not needed in New York City, you’ll be just fine without me. But know this: you will all be with me, you will be within this company while I’m in Japan. [points at the camera and whispers] The hunt’s on” – ROH World champion Davey Richards, explaining why he wouldn’t be at ROH’s internet pay-per-view Death Before Dishonor

ROH world champion Davey Richards believes that tedious diatribe (which was even more boring to listen to than it was to read) suffices as an explanation as to why he chose to go on a routine tour of Japan rather than compete on a high profile ROH show. He’s wrong.

As the company’s world champion Davey’s priority should be Ring of Honor. By talking about how “prestigious” New Japan is and choosing to go there instead of defending his title on a pay-per-view being held one week before the launch of ROH’s new TV show he made Ring of Honor look ridiculous. What made it an even more selfish move was that ROH didn’t have access to Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli to help attract more viewers. As the champion Davey should have felt responsible for improving this situation. That he was happy to leave the promotion in this hole shows he’s not the company-minded man fans see him as.

I’d also like to point out that New Japan Pro Wrestling, despite what Davey Richards says, is no more or less prestigious than any other Japanese wrestling outfit. Davey chose to describe the company as “prestigious” in the hope that people would believe he’d been headhunted to appear for a truly remarkable organisation, making him appear more successful and a bigger star than is actually the case. Unfortunately for him this wasn’t the case: Japanese companies routinely use foreign wrestlers of all sizes. There’s nothing special about a tour of Japan (for any promotion) in 2011.

It was a less than ideal situation, created by one individual’s selfishness. But, as is usually the case in professional wrestling, things can be turned to the company’s advantage...

 I’d like to see this state of affairs develop into a full heel turn for Davey Richards. The process could begin by having Richards come up with excuses as to why he can’t compete at ROH house shows between now and the end of the year. He should only be booked to appear at TV tapings and whatever internet pay-per-views are held between now and the end of the year.

Davey’s reason for missing the house shows would be tours of Japan (if he can’t be booked on real ones then ROH could just fictionalise some). He would appear on television to make it very clear that he’d love to work more dates for Ring of Honor, but that he sees it as part of the duty of being champion to spread the promotion’s name overseas, and the best way he can do that is by working for prestigious companies such as NJPW. He’d need to use the word “prestigious”. That’s a key part of the plan.

These excuses would go on indefinitely until fans begin to notice a trend. Once they twigged Richards would change his reasons for not appearing at ROH’s smaller shows: he would simply state that they’re not “prestigious” enough for an athlete of his calibre. That would hopefully encourage fan backlash, which could be played up further by Davey saying that he’s a huge international star and that he won’t compete unless the match is to be broadcast on TV or pay-per-view.

It’s a simple story for fans to follow and ROH (and Richards) to execute and would breathe a bit of personality into ‘The American Wolf’. What I like about it is that it’s an extension of his real life personality (something wrestlers always say helps people and angles to get over): he really does love competing in Japan and wouldn’t need to fabricate his feelings. Once he’s turned heel fully he could have an extended run with a top babyface who wants to protect the “prestige” of Ring of Honor by regaining the belt and defending it everywhere, not just on bigger shows. Davey is capable of realistically facing anyone in the company, and the story could progress with ROH granting a wider variety of wrestlers title shots in their desperate quest to take their title back.

Eddie Edwards would be ideal for the top babyface spot: he could credibly say that losing the title to Richards was a blow to his pride but he at least knew the title was with someone who cared about ROH. With that clearly not being the case anymore Eddie would have a motive for feuding with Richards.

The final touch would be Davey Richards being billed as ‘Prestigious’ Davey Richards. It would fit with his character, rile fans and make storyline sense. Effective heat just for the ring announcer saying one extra word? That can’t be a bad deal.

Sadly, I can’t see ROH using this storyline or anything close to it for a long time to come. They spent a year preparing Davey Richards for a run with the ROH world championship and they’re not going to turn him heel just because some people (myself included) feel Eddie Edwards was a better fit as babyface champion, or becayse Davey opted to go on one tour of Japan over appearing on a Ring of Honor pay-per-view. It’s a storyline that would work well, but too much time has been invested into making Richards the leading man of the company.

It’s not a question of ability. He makes a more than credible ROH champion. No, it’s more a question of prestige.

By the Numbers

After watching last night’s Death Before Dishonor IX event I’m of the opinion that Ring of Honor need to cut back on their running times a little. While the show was mostly enjoyable too many of the matches felt as though they were stalling for time, and the intermission seemed to go on forever.

I’ve never had a problem with ROH sticking an intermission in the middle of their pay-per-views until last night. While the show’s graphic being put on screen during the break was an improvement on the blank grey screen we were treated to at Best in the World it still wasn’t good enough. With ROH looking to expand into new markets and attract new audiences it cannot present another iPPV featuring twenty minutes of a blank screen.

Would it really have been that difficult to knock together some promos to play during the break? Even better would have been an advert for the debut of their new TV show. That nobody in Ring of Honor is thinking of the break as a good place to get across storylines, promote lower card talent or advertise upcoming shows is worrying. They’ve paid for the air time so they should use it.

The wrestling itself was, as always, top notch. The opening match of Rhino and Tommaso Ciampa v Homicide and Jay Lethal was the only match that I felt could have used more time rather than less. Considering it featured the popular Lethal, hometown boy Homicide, and Ciampa (whom ROH clearly has big plans for) a higher spot on the card and an extra three or four minutes could have been applied to the bout. It was solid as it was though.

Shelton Benjamin v Mike Bennett was easily the worst bout of the night. It’s a shame that Benjamin, one of the most athletic men on the ROH roster, was lumbered with the glacially-paced Bennett. Far too much stalling made this a chore to watch after a few minutes. As Benjamin went over a better approach would have been to put on a quick five minute match with an electric pace, thus saving time and giving the audience something more exciting.

The slowest match on the card was followed by the quickest: Future Shock v the Bravado Brothers v the Young Bucks was a massively enjoyable match with the sort of action ROH was associated with a few years ago. You know, before they decreased the attention on quick matches in favour of giving even more time to stiff guys like Davey Richards? The Bravados got an impressive amount of heat before they were eliminated from the contest, which will hopefully convince Ring of Honor to start using them more often (the Bravados have been underrated as a heel act throughout 2011). The second segment, in which the former TNA employees faced off with Ring of Honor’s favourite tag team-on-the- rise, was excellent. With the Young Bucks refusing to shake hands with Future Shock after their win (something they are notorious for if you believe Dave Prazak and Kevin Kelly, though I’d never heard of them doing this before) I would imagine these two teams will face one another again soon. That’s a good thing.

El Generico v Jimmy Jacobs went around ten minutes before the inevitable Kevin Steen run-in. Personally I think that was too long: after that length of time the audience were invested in the match so it was irritating that we didn’t get a clear winner. They should have been allowed to wrestle to a decision or been given less time so the no finish was less frustrating for fans. Presumably we’ll get a rematch on the new TV show or at another pay-per-view within the next few months.

Steen was as bombastic as ever. Grabbing a microphone at ringside he trash talked both Generico and Jacobs before ripping into Steve Corino (who was in Japan, a fact that ROH had cleverly used to advance his “redemption” storyline). The locker room emptied to help security tackle ‘Mr Wrestling’, only for him to break free numerous times. At various points he powerbombed Jacobs onto the ring apron, absorbed a senton dive from Generico (which he hilariously no-sold, laughing as he slid into the ring to the sound of cheers), attempted a package piledrive on ROH founder Cary Silkin, and took a feeble-looking punch from Jim Cornette (which got a monster pop from the crowd). The announcers were silent during this, revealing later that they’d been instructed to not even mention his name. It was wild and frantic and the crowd loved it.

If Glory By Honor X in Chicago is broadcast on pay-per-view I expect Steen will make an appearance there too. Whether that happens or not I’m convinced he’ll be in attendance at Final Battle. It’s a little early to say for sure but I don’t think it’s impossible Steen will wrestle on the card. That would necessitate a storyline in which Cornette is petitioned by fans, Jacobs, Corino and possibly El Generico to lift the ban on ‘Mr Wrestling’ but there’s more than enough time to set them up. A Steen v Corino match at the December show could be huge.

Following the aforementioned intermission Charlie Haas beat Michael Elgin in a fprgettable, overly long bout. I’d much rather have seen Benjamin and Haas defend their titles or go against opponents better suited to their styles. Either one of them would have been a good opponent for Jay Lethal, and that would have freed up a slot as Homicide’s tag partner for Low Ki (though at this point it looks like ROH isn’t interested in bringing back ‘The World Warrior’).

The Ringmaster Challenge between Eddie Edwards and the House of Truth’s Roderick Strong was the best wrestling match on the show. That said it did deflate slightly in places due to the odd rules of the match and the lengthy running time. The first fall (pinfall only) was won by Strong after a backbreaker variant (what else?) while the second fall (submission only) went to ‘Die Hard’ Eddie Edwards (it was the first time I’d heard ROH use this faintly ridiculous nickname for him) and his Achilles Lock.

The third fall was a fifteen minute Iron Man match that saw no falls until the last few minutes. I’d expected a decision-heavy segment but what we got inside was fine. The finish was anything but fine, however: as the clock ticked down each man gained a fall on the other and the match ended in a draw. This brought out Jim Cornette to announce sudden death overtime. That got a cheap pop but it was another example of the running time of the show being overly long. Unless the match was going to end on a draw there was no point doing the draw. Had Strong refused to the overtime it would have made sense as it would have infuriated the fans and allowed Strong to play the cowardly heel. As it was it was just a waste of time.

The overtime segment was highly enjoyable, but there was nothing in there that couldn’t have gone into the fifteen minute Iron Man fall. This was another match that could have been better by having a few minutes trimmed from it.

Then came the Ladder War. Rhett Titus and both Briscoes were bleeding by the end of a match that featured so many chairs and tables it would have been more accurate to bill it as a TLC match. In the latest chapter in the storied relationship between the Briscoes and ‘The Big Apple’ a large portion of the audience decided to root for the natives of Sandy Fork, Delaware. When they’re faces New York doesn’t want to know, when they’re ruthless, aggressive heels shouting about soup they get cheers: typical wrestling fans.

As I predicted, the All Night Express finally gained a victory over the more experienced team when it counted, earning themselves a tag team title match against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team at Glory By Honor X and ending the pay-per-view on a high. This may not have been the most technical match ANX have ever participated in, but it is one of their most memorable and has prepared them for a tag title run in the near future. Will that reign start at GBH? I’ll make an early prediction and say yes.

Considering the promotion didn’t have Colt Cabana, the Kings of Wrestling, Chris Daniels, Steve Corino or ROH champion Davey Richards to use I think they put on a fine show. But if you don’t take into account their depleted roster it was merely average. I said in my preview of the show that I hope the company starts building some new stars to fill the spots outgoing stars are creating and having seen the show it’s become more apparent that they need to do that sooner rather than later.

Bringing back a few older names could give the promotion a boost too. Jimmy Rave would be a natural fit with the Embassy and would inject some much needed fresh blood into the title picture. TJ Perkins deserves a chance to wrestle for the company again. I mentioned Low Ki above, he and Homicide could spice up the tag scene and also work gripping title matches with Davey Richards. Sonjay Dutt and Kenny Omega could return to bulk out the mid-card too. The promotion has options, it just needs to make a few phone calls.

Death Before Dishonor IX was a pay-per-view by the numbers: two former champions in a singles bout, a gimmick match main event, and a mostly enjoyable but utterly forgettable undercard. WWE can afford this approach to its big shows but ROH can't. Hire some guys and build some new names: that needs to be Ring of Honor’s priority for the rest of the year.

Death Before Dishonor IX preview

Next Saturday Ring of Honor once again returns to New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom to promote Death Before Dishonor IX... but their world champion won’t be joining them. No, Davey Richards, who won the ROH world title at Best in the World in June, feels it’s more important that he go to Japan to compete for “the prestigious” (his words) New Japan Pro Wrestling. I can understand his desire to compete in Japan but it shouldn’t come at the expense of ROH. After all, Ring of Honor is the company that helped him make a name for himself and his decision to go to New Japan doesn’t leave ROH looking very “prestigious” does it?

Davey isn’t solely to blame for this situation. Ring of Honor were well aware of his love of Japan when they put the title on him, and they are the ones who have allowed him to go (Richards is under contract to ROH and if they told him they needed him for their iPPV he would have been contractually obliged to turn down the NJPW tour). It’s made a lot of fans wonder why ROH put the championship on him in the first place. I’m of the opinion that Eddie Edwards is a better all round performer than Richards, and he shows up to events Ring of Honor needs him at. Had Eddie successfully defended the title against Davey at Best in the World he would have made a fine centrepiece for the company and the option of a Richards heel turn would have stayed open, something I think would have worked better in the long run as it could have lead to a long, believable rivalry over the title.

But instead of showing faith in Edwards ROH cut his reign short and put the title on a man who cuts awful promos and flies to Japan at the drop of a hat.

Despite there not being an ROH world title defence (or any title defences, come to that) I think Death Before Dishonor has the potential to be a decent show. The main event is either going to be Eddie Edwards v Roderick Strong or Mark and Jay Briscoe v the All Night Express in the third ever ladder war (that’s a ladder match to you and me).

I suspect it will be the tag bout that goes on last. Part of the reason for thinking this is that the two teams have been feuding for a year now, and this is likely going to be their final collision for a while. Another part of the reason is that nothing, no matter how good and no matter who’s involved, is going to top those four men in a ladder bout. It’s going to be a hard-hitting, brutal contest that ought to provide a fitting end to the show. At least one of the men is going to take some sort of crazy bump (my money’s on Mark Briscoe) and there’s a fair chance everyone will bleed.

As the Briscoes seem to have picked up the majority of the wins in this rivalry I think it could be ANX’s turn to get a win here. A title shot at Glory By Honor X will be hanging above the ring and I think that title shot would benefit Titus and King far more than it would ‘Dem Boys’.

The Strong v Edwards match is an odd one, and given its rules it could make for a rather anti-climactic main event. What are those rules? Confusingly, it’s a two-out-of-three falls match that will incorporate a fifteen minute iron man match as its third fall, should a third fall be required (it will be). Billed as a Ringmaster Challenge, the first fall will be pinfall only and the second fall by submission only. I suspect this match will end up looking fairly odd as the first and second fall will likely get around twenty minutes combined, and then an iron man match will start and a bunch of falls will be squeezed into a quarter of an hour, ratchetting up the number of falls in the match as a whole. Both men are capable and enjoyable wrestlers but it strikes me as an odd format.

This match is to determine the number one contender to Davey Richards’ world championship. There’s an obvious problem with this: Eddie Edwards is the former champion and hasn’t been granted his rematch yet. Aren’t all champions entitled to one? Hasn’t that always been the case not just in Ring of Honor but in every wrestling company in the world? I don’t dislike the idea of these two men competing against one another for a title shot, but I don’t like the fact that Eddie’s rematch clause has been overlooked in a company that prides itself on presenting a realistic sportsmanlike product.

For that reason, and because I think Richards v Edwards is a more marketable match than Richards v Strong, I’m picking Eddie Edwards to win this match. Will he become a two time champion? It looks doubtful right now, but I’d have no problem if he did.

That brings us to the undercard of the show. The match that intrigues me most is the three-way tag match between The Young Bucks (formerly TNA’s Generation Me), the Bravado Brothers and Future Shock. Who are Future Shock? Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly. Yes! They finally have a team name! This match hasn’t been confirmed as an opener but I think it would work well as one as it’s almost guaranteed to feature loads of high spots and a quick pace. I’d like to see a Cole and O’Reilly (sorry... Future Shock) win here, to continue building the two as the promotion’s next big team.

ROH tag team champions Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas will be in singles matches on the show, against Mike Bennett and Michael Elgin respectively. Neither match is going to set the world on fire. I wish they’d been booked to defend their titles instead: Future Shock earned a title match by winning the Tag Team Lottery months ago and this would have been a perfectly adequate event to host that match. Or a foreign team (from a Japanese company, perhaps the “prestigious” NJPW) could have been flown in to challenge for the gold. Either would have been preferable to meaningless filler matches.

Haas and Benjamin could even have been worked into the Jay Lethal and Homicide v Tommaso Ciampa and Rhino match. But they weren’t and it should be a good match regardless. Homicide has been treading water for almost the entire year and his feud with the Embassy hasn’t really got the audience involved as I think ROH was probably hoping it would. That said the Rhino v Homicide match at Best in the World was an excellent brawl and indicates this tag bout could be another surprise hit.

Ciampa and Lethal are guys ROH clearly hopes will become big stars. Ciampa’s winning streak gimmick (far more convincing than TNA’s fudged attempt with Tommy ‘Crimson’ Mercer) has made him stand out and could indicate he’s being built as a world title contender for 2012. He’s got a good look and wrestles well. I think he’d have a great match with Richards. More immediately, I think this match could set up Ciampa as a TV title contender by adding a win over Jay Lethal to his winning streak.

Lethal returned to ROH in June at Best in the World and has been used effectively since. I expect he’s going to presented as one of the promotion’s top stars for the foreseeable future, with or without the TV title (which I don’t expect he’ll wear to the ring as his title victory hasn’t been aired yet and ROH is old school on things like that).

As far as a winner goes the Embassy team are my choice. In an ideal world Homicide would turn heel (not siding with the Embassy, just going nuts on Lethal after ‘Black Machismo’ is pinned) after this match: he’s so much better as a heel and it would allow him to be used against Richards and Edwards. I won’t hold my breath for that though.

Finally there’s El Generico v Jimmy Jacobs. The storyline here is that Corino was meant to face Generico but backed out of the match as he felt unable to do so due to the Steen v Generico feud Corino was heavily involved in throughout 2010. Jacobs has agreed to take his place in the match and ‘The King of Old School’ has flown over to Japan to tour with Zero1 (unlike the Richards tour this isn’t annoying because Corino isn’t the company’s champion).

This could be the surprise match of the night as both men are of a similar size and work rapid, spot-filled styles that always go down well with an audience. I’d be very surprised if Jacobs got the win as Generico is one of ROH’s most popular and loyal stars and they can’t afford to have him lose to a guy that’s just returned.

Unless, of course, that loss comes after interference from ‘Mr Wrestling’ Kevin Steen. Since his brief appearance at Best in the World Steen has announced his intention to wage war on Ring of Honor and has begun in earnest by hassling Jim Cornette and Davey Richards via Twitter (it’s not much, but it’s a start). I expect he’ll show up at DBD in some form, and before, during or after the Generico v Jacobs match seems like the ideal time. I personally hope he does show up: this is one of ROH’s most compelling current storylines and Steen is tremendous in the role of unpredictable psycho.

Overall it doesn’t look like a bad show but it doesn’t look like the greatest ROH show ever either. Notable by their absence are Davey Richards (discussed above), Colt Cabana (currently on a tour of NOAH... yep, he’s in Japan), Christopher Daniels and the Kings of Wrestling. With the exception of Davey it’s possible all of these absences are due to contractual issues. Daniels has been working for TNA and ROH simultaneously for a while now, and it’s possible his ROH deal has expired and he’s focusing exclusively on the Florida promotion.

There have been rumours going around for months that Cabana, Hero and Castagnoli are all headed to WWE. Cabana could be finishing up agreed upon dates in Japan before heading to Monday nights while Hero and Castagnoli may already be under contract. Even if they haven’t officially signed with Team McMahon it’s possible they’ve been “advised against appearing” for ROH. It’s even possible all three men are still under contract to Ring of Honor but the promotion’s simply decided not to use them. They’ve done it with their champion after all.

If this is the future of the Ring of Honor roster the company needs to put even more time and effort into creating new stars. The company is currently very thin on name talent and while everyone competing at Death Before Dishonor is capable of putting in a good performance the prospect of future shows (Final Battle in particular) missing big names concerns me.