Beating Lethal

Best in the World 2015 saw Jay Lethal defeat Jay Briscoe to become the new Ring of Honor world champion. He's the twentieth man to hold the title and the first ever to hold it in conjunction with another active championship. Yeah, Bryan Danielson won the pure championship from Nigel McGuinness during his world title reign but he retired it immediately. He didn't hold belts simultaneously and work as a double champion.

Apparently Lethal will. Reports from ROH's latest TV tapings indicate that Lethal opted not to vacate the TV championship as he'd put too much effort into building it up. Matchmaker McGuinness then made the ruling that if Jay wants to stay a double champion he will have to defend the TV and world titles as separate entities. All of which makes sense from the point of view of Lethal's character and creates the chance to produce some fresh scenarios for championship defences and show-long stories at future events.

The double champ is here.

I'll be surprised if Lethal doesn't hold onto both belts for a while. It would be fairly pointless to go to the trouble of giving him a lengthy reign as TV champion (the longest ever, in fact) and not have him vacate the title only to lose it in a random title match after a few weeks. It would also be pointless to put the world title on him just to take it away quickly. That's not how things work in ROH. Wrestlers work hard to win titles and get to enjoy substantial reigns with them. It makes the titles and wrestlers, and by extension the matches involving them, mean more.

But at some point Lethal will lose the world championship, just as has happened twenty-two times before. Which is the point of this article: discussing the possible successors (as I perceive them) to Jay Lethal as the ROH world champion. As far as the TV championship goes I think he'll hold it for a few more months before losing it to guy who'd benefit from a surprise upset win, such as ACH, or being stripped of it after some form of shenanigans during a title defence.

I'll start with Jay Briscoe. There's a chance that Lethal will lose the title back to him but I think it would be dependent on him having a long title reign. I don't imagine ROH would take the gold from Briscoe only to get it back to him a couple of months later, even though it's an approach that would fit the sports-emphasis style of the promotion. But if Lethal has been made champion with no long term plan for a replacement (not that I think that's the case considering how well Delirious has done planning things out over the last few years) it's possible Briscoe could regain the belt in the far future (by which I mean some time next year). If Lethal left for WWE Briscoe would be a lead candidate for a short notice replacement.

As would Roderick Strong. My reasoning is the same as with Briscoe: he looks and wrestles the part, would be accepted in the role, and is unlikely to leave for another major promotion. I can't see him beating 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' at Death Before Dishonor XIII on July 24 but farther in the future he could be in with a chance. Right now he's more of a credible contender to stabilise Lethal's reign than anything else.

AJ's already got a belt though, so...

Sticking with the theme of men who probably won't defeat Lethal but might there's AJ Styles. ROH seems comfortable in presenting him as a special attraction. As such he doesn't need the championship. He's a draw for ROH with or without it. He's also won the IWGP championship twice since joining New Japan last year and is the champion right now. That places limitations on ROH, because New Japan aren't likely to be happy if their champion starts laying down for people elsewhere. And ROH have benefited too much from their relationship with New Japan to upset them. Styles is best off facing bigger names who aren't champion and losing (or indeed winning) any ROH title matches he's in via disqualification.

The first guy I'll name who I think has a crack at taking the title from Lethal in a long term planning capacity is Michael Elgin. He's one of the better wrestlers in the company despite fans having turned on him. In fact his  current status as a heat magnet is a large part of the reason I think he could end up beating Lethal for the title. People would be genuinely irate if he become a two time champion with his current persona. He has the character and in-ring ability to make a reign as heel work and it would be nice to see him get the championship run he deserved to have last year. Although I think an 'Unbreakable' title win would be reliant on Lethal becoming a babyface at some point the response to his win at BITW indicates he'd be accepted as a good guy. I don't think it's something that's going to come any time soon though, if it comes at all.

Moose is a possibility too, which isn't something I would have expected to write a few months ago. He's comfortable in the big man role and could easily introduce some flashier moves to help him fit in at the top of the card (big lads need to have stuff like the cross body block he used at Best in the World when they're main eventing). He's also really, really over. His burgeoning programme with Cedric Alexander will likely keep him busy for a few months but he should be done with that in plenty of time to challenge Lethal at whatever big show ROH promotes in September or October or perhaps even at Final Battle (although there's someone mentioned below who I think would make a far better opponent for Lethal at Final Battle).

No ROH champion has mastered the point into the crowd... until now.

A wildcard possibility is Nic 'Dolph Ziggler' Nemeth. I mention him mostly because at time of writing there are rumours floating about that he'll be leaving WWE when his contract comes to an end later in 2015. I don't think this will come to anything but if it does ROH has to be the favourite for the company he'd turn up in. It wouldn't rule out him working for New Japan and TNA is a laughable suggestion at this point. He's probably the WWE guy I'd most like to see in ROH. Everything that's needed to make it to the top of the work rate-centric promotion he has, and he could do it as a face or a heel. Nemeth would be a boon to ROH, giving him the title would only help matters.

But I'm not going to make any of those names my official prediction. That honour goes to Adam Cole. Everything I can find on the subject indicates that he has a significant amount of time left on his current contract. If Best in the World and TV spoilers are anything to go by he's on the cusp of turning face. Having him work as a face champion would be something new for him and the company. By the time he's finished with what I suspect could be a lengthy breakup with his Kingdom stablemates we should be just about ready for a build towards Final Battle. Babyface Adam Cole versus heel Jay Lethal would not only be new, it would be one of the biggest matches Ring of Honor could promote. I think this will be the match to headline Final Battle.

That is my official prediction. Now watch as I'm wrong, just as I always am when it comes to predicting ROH title changes.

The Nature Briscoe

Back in September, shortly after he’d won the ROH championship for the second time, I mentioned that Jay Briscoe could work as a modern day Ric Flair. I never really expanded on the comment and I feel that I probably should. Because it’s something I still believe and, perhaps more to the point, it’s an idea that probably needs a bit of clarification.

On the surface you couldn’t have two men who look more different. They’re both average sized wrestlers, being neither giants nor cruiserweights, but that’s about where the similarities end. Jay Briscoe is covered in tattoos, keeps his dark hair short or shaves it off completely, sports a whopper beard, and dresses like a farmhand who’s keen on camouflage gear. Flair is free of tattoos, and in his prime had long blonde hair, a clean shaven face, and a love of designer suits, shoes, and watches.

'King of Brawl' would be a decent nickname. Book it.

Their characters and wrestling styles are different too. Flair was a limousine ridin’, jet flyin’ womaniser who bragged about his money and ritzy lifestyle whilst Jay is a committed family man who grew up and lives on a farm. ‘The Nature Boy’ was a technical wrestler who’d frequently cheat. Briscoe is a brawler with more experience as a tag guy than a singles guy. It can even be noted that the closest thing Flair had to a finisher was the figure four leg lock, while Jay has an impact move in the Jay Driller.

So, no immediate parallels in any way at all. But right now ROH has the chance to pattern Briscoe’s career after Flair’s. Specifically they could go out of their way to make Briscoe their modern day equivalent of ‘Naitch’. And considering the status Flair has in the world of wrestling that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Looking passed Flair’s character we have a man who was a constant at the top of the card for the NWA, WCW and the WWF (though the NWA was his golden era). He was the guy they would put the belt on when they were in a tight spot, the guy they knew they could always rely on for a cracking promo and a very good match. He was their Mr Dependable.

I’m not arguing that Briscoe is in any way comparable to Flair in terms of ability. He’s clearly not as good a talker and his in-ring style is simply too different to bare meaningful comparison. What I’m saying is that Flair was (and is) synonymous with the NWA and its championship at a time when both were meaningful (in no small part due to lair himself). Briscoe, as a man unlikely to ever head to WWE, is ideally placed to fill that role for Ring of Honor. They already play up his history with the company and have made tweaks to his character that do so to.

ROH could go further with this. Make Briscoe’s current reign a lengthy one and have him defend against a variety of opponents. Every few years give him a reign of a few months so that in seven or eight years’ time Briscoe can be presented as the quintessential ROH champ. They’re clearly going to go for that with him anyway. A career that’s taken in four or five ROH world title reigns would make it feel that bit more legitimate.

Every wrestling promotion needs a figure like this once they get to a certain size. ROH is at that point. And Briscoe, because of his tenure with the promotion and his credibility as a top line act, is the perfect choice for them.

Beating Briscoe... Again

It doesn't seem like that long ago I sat down to write about who could defeat Michael Elgin for the ROH world championship. That's because it wasn't. It was two and a half months ago. I continued my fine tradition of getting things wrong when predicting future ROH world champs, perhaps more so than ever before. My feeling was that 'Unbreakable' would be one of the longest reigning champions in some time and hold the title for well over a year.

He held it for 76 days. That makes his reign the sixth shortest ever. Although he did manage to tally a surprisingly high seven defences.

Even if I hadn’t expected Elgin to enjoy a really long reign I think I’d still be surprised at him losing the title as quickly as he did. As has been pointed out on this blog many times Elgin had been viewed as a future leading man for Ring of Honor since his impressive losing effort opposite world champ Davey Richards in March 2012. Although they’d held off on his inevitable championship victory for longer than they should have it still felt that Elgin’s win at Best in the World was the beginning of something that would last a long time.

But it wasn’t. Elgin was the top dog for less than three months and now it’s Jay Briscoe who holds the gold, only the second multi-time champion in Ring of Honor history.

I was pretty strongly against Briscoe’s first ROH world title reign. I felt putting the title on someone who was so strongly associated with tag team work detracted from the title’s importance. That he beat Kevin Steen didn’t help much. Nor did the fact that I wasn’t particularly interested in his character.

Jay Briscoe: only the second two time ROH world champion in history.

I feel more positive about his second reign. Part of that, strangely enough, is because he’s held the title before. After twelve years it feels about time for multiple time ROH champions to become a little more commonplace. It could also help to establish Briscoe in the role ROH clearly needs someone in: the loyal company guy who’s a threat to any world champion. He’s a good choice for that because he’s been with ROH for so long and because, after his homophobic outbursts last year, WWE isn’t interested in hiring him. He’s not going to leave ROH high and dry, he’s accepted as a headliner by fans, and he’s a very good brawling headliner. He’s the only logical choice for the role.

The Briscoe character has altered a little since he last held the title. His two year winning streak was being heavily emphasised and it contributed considerably to his aura as a headliner. He also channelled Ric Flair in a video package at All Star Extravaganza VI. I particularly liked that as he’s different to ‘The Nature Boy’ in almost every possible way. Flair as a well-spoken technical wrestler who enjoyed partying into the early hours. Jay Briscoe’s a brawler who shouts about beating people up and works on a farm when he’s not wrestling.

But inviting this comparison between Briscoe and Flair is interesting. Although they’re very different it’s possible for ROH to pattern their new champ as a modern day interpretation of 1980s Flair. At his core Flair was a hyper-efficient wrestler who won a lot, held lots of titles, and wrestled lengthy matches. Presenting Briscoe as that sort f character, as a heel or a face, would be fascinating to watch.

My initial reaction to hearing that Briscoe had won the title from Elgin was that he would lose it back to him. Maybe not immediately but at some point in the next several months. Due to the nature of ROH world title reigns there’s never been a feud which has seen the title traded back and forth. That’s not something that’s done much at all in wrestling these days and it’s the sort of story that could be told very well in a more realistic, real sports-based environment such as Ring of Honor, two men so well matched that they trade the championship back and forth.

But the rumours that ROH bosses are upset with Elgin makes me doubt this will happen now. Various reasons for these issues have been cited, from Elgin suffering from visa problems that will stop him working in the States for the foreseeable future to Elgin having developed an ego to an interview in which Elgin expressed a desire to try out for a baseball career. Whatever the reason is it seems easy enough to believe there’s some sort of problem: it had taken ROH more than two years to getting the belt onto Elgin and I can’t believe that the culmination of that journey was intended to be a reign lasting less than three months.

Elgin and Briscoe will have a rematch though. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a heel turn from one of them leading beforehand. Elgers would have to be the favourite for that. He’s the man who was heralded as a sure-fire headliner, it would be natural for the loss of the belt to lead to him becoming increasingly bitter and antagonistic. It would give him something new to do too. He’s never really been a heel in ROH. Even with the House of Truth he was cheered more often than he was booed.

There aren’t that many other names that leap out at me as potential Briscoe-beaters. With multi-time champions now apparently a thing Roderick Strong and Adam Cole are probably worth mentioning. Strong hasn’t held the world title since 2011. He’s about the only other person that could realistically be built up as ROH’s top perennial contender (I think Jay beats him for the role based on the fact that he debuted in the company first and because WWE might have a slight interest in Strong in the future). I’m sure a good story could be spun out of the legacies of the pair in the company.

Cole only lost the championship in June but it would be interesting to see him regain the strap quickly, after it’s changed hands from the man that beat him. Again it would be a more realism-based sequence that would suit ROH well. On a more fundamental level Cole’s a great wrestler and one of the better talkers in the company. He’d be a solid choice for champion, especially if ROH made the smart decision to start elevating new challengers.

Cole’s Kingdom teammate Michael Bennett could be a good choice to defeat Briscoe too. I’ve mentioned his name on many of these Beating the ROH Champion entries, so by this point I have standard reasons. He wrestles a distinctly WWE style; he’s unlikeable for his style, for dating Maria, and for his natural smugness; he’s a decent promo; and there are various storylines that could only be done with the sort of heel he plays. It would be a genuinely unpopular move that wouldn’t tarnish the prestige or legacy of the title.

The final name I’ll mention is AJ Styles. His work with New Japan, which is about as full time as it gets with that promotion, makes him winning the ROH championship unlikely. Simply put ROH wouldn’t always be able to rely on having their champion available to them. That works fine for WWE when they have Brock Lesnar as their champion but it’s not something Ring of Honor could get away with. They don’t have the brand name or stars that WWE does. They need the champion on as many shows as possible to draw in fans, even if they’re not involved in a title defence.

That said a short reign for ‘The Phenomenal One’ could work, and it wouldn’t be too hard to sort out a stretch of shows a few months in advance to make the most of him during his reign. From Final Battle to the Anniversary Show, for example. There’s a natural story to tell for Styles and Briscoe too: they were both in ROH at the beginning and AJ was, in the early years, seen as a guy who’d lead ROH forward, but he left for TNA while Briscoe remained loyal.

I’ve named a few options here and I’m going to go with the final one: AJ Styles defeating Jay Briscoe. Adding Styles’s name to the list of ROH champions seems like a natural thing for ROH to want to do and Styles deserves a reign, even if it does turn out to be a brief one, for his place in the promotion’s history and his current standing in the wrestling business at large. I think the loyalty plot could be an interesting one and could provide the pair with a solid foundation for some promos.

But my history with these predictions is horrendous. Which means Styles is probably the least likely person to beat Briscoe.

Beating Elgin

Several years ago I wrote about Eddie Edwards defeating Roderick Strong for the ROH world championship. Three months later I turned that into something approaching a tradition when I did the same for Davey Richards after he’d beaten Eddie and the following year when I did it for Kevin Steen after he’d beaten Davey.

I haven’t always made an actual, proper prediction in each of these pieces. But I have since the Kevin Steen entry in 2012. I’ve never gotten it right. I thought Steen would lose the title to Michael Elgin. I thought Jay Briscoe would lose the title to Matt Hardy. And I thought Kevin Steen would defeat Adam Cole.

I stand by my assertion that Hardy should have dethroned Briscoe for the gold. It was a great storyline waiting to happen. As the hated sports entertainment practitioner ‘The Sensei of Mattitude’ was perfectly positioned to work a short reign as an unpopular (that’s putting it mildly) champion before losing the title back to lead babyface Steen. Speaking of which I think I was right to say Elgin should have ended Steen’s reign too: he was a fresh act and winning the title so soon after a string of breakout performances could have tipped him over the edge into ROH godhood.

But no matter how superior I think these scenarios would have been I was, as I say, wrong every time. I mention this to highlight that I do not have a good track record when it comes to selecting ROH champions. I’m going to keep writing these pieces but you shouldn’t pay too much attention to predictions as I’m statistically likely to be wrong.

On the subject of writing these new champion posts now is probably a fitting time to address why I don’t do it for any other company. Basically a Ring of Honor world title change is an event. The company still books their world title as the centrepiece of the company, the thing that everybody strives to win. New Japan does this too, but that’s not a company I follow closely enough to make predictions for. It would be doing the promotion and anyone reading a disservice.

WWE presents their world title as meaningful but it’s not the pinnacle of the company: that would instead be a programme with John Cena (or, possibly, Cena himself is the pinnacle). They’re better at making their title important than they were a few years ago thanks to the Daniel Bryan storyline that stretched from last year’s SummerSlam to WrestleMania but it’s still not presented in the same manner as world titles elsewhere. Besides, the title switches around amongst the same bunch of guys so often that such pieces would be redundant and too common to have any significance.

As for TNA, their world title’s a joke. It means nothing in the grand picture of the wrestling business and even if it did they make such random, last minute booking choices that it would be practically impossible to know who they’re going with next. Look at the last two champions: very few people would have predicted a title reign for Lashley and nobody would have selected Eric Young as the man who’d defeat Magnus.

But enough of this. I’m not here to write about TNA, WWE or New Japan. I’m here to write about Michael Elgin. His journey to the Ring of Honor world championship was a long one. His first title shot was against Davey Richardsat Showdown in the Sun Chapter 2 on March 31 2012. It was a match that opened a lot of people’s eyes as to how good Elgin could be. He went from being seen as a generic, charisma-free powerhouse that loomed in the background during Truth Martini promos to a man who could carry his side of a lengthy, exhilarating match. So good was that match that it would have worked perfectly as a title change. The fans would have accepted it and Elgin would have been a made man.

In fairness there was something to be said for waiting. Kevin Steen was also hot and primed for a run on top. ROH could afford to keep Elgin simmering as a top contender while switching the title on to a man people were desperate to see as champion. Having Elgin win the belt and keep it against Steen may actually have harmed him. It seemed sensible to give Steen his time and have Elgin relieve him of the strap at Final Battle. Unfortunately that’s not what happened.

Elgin mounted a second unsuccessful challenge at Glory By Honor XI in October 2012. That loss harmed his standing. He was no longer the hot rising star. He was the guy ROH were holding off on progressing. The man who was in the main event but not of it. He spent much of the first half of 2013 as the number one contender to the championship, which further harmed his standing. It either made him look weak and incapable of winning when it counted or like a petulant heel (even though he rarely complained about his treatment). Either way it was less than ideal.

By the time ‘Unbreakable’ reached the finals of a tournament held to crown a new champ he was part of the furniture. He was the guy who was there to lose and put over the new great hope, Adam Cole. He did a fine job of it and was protected whilst doing so but it was clear that Elgin was no longer capable of having the hot run he could have had a year earlier. That point was hammered home when he was unsuccessful in winning the title at Final Battle (in a three-way against Cole and Jay Briscoe) and once again spent the first several months of a new year being presented as the uncrowned champion.

The shaven-headed champ is here.

His title victory at Best in the World was really well booked. He and Cole put on a storming performance and the various run-ins and ref bumps all made sense in the context of long running storylines. It’s just that it came eighteen months too late for Elgin to become the massive star ROH need him to be. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a good choice for champion and that he can have an enjoyable reign with good title defences against many different wrestlers. It’s just that in order to expand as a promotion ROH need a fresh and hot act. Elgin is neither. Eighteen months ago he was fresh and it’s possible he could have helped attract new eyes.

So who can beat him? Truth be told I don’t think there are that many options on the roster. Kevin Steen would be a top choice if he weren’t heading off to NXT within the next few weeks. Elgin could have slowly turned heel and slotted into a programme with ‘Mr Wrestling’ for an enjoyable and fresh match at Final Battle or the 2015 anniversary card. But it’s not to be.

Similarly it appears that Chris Hero’s out. He returned to a great deal of fanfare at the end of last year but hasn’t appeared in an ROH ring in months. Had he been used regularly in meaningful plots he could have been built up as a credible contender and potential next champion. At the very least he could have been Elgin’s first major challenger, especially if they’d been placed into an alliance before Elgin’s victory to make a Hero heel turn more impactful.

But he’s not been around and he’s not confirmed for any upcoming shows. He could come back and beat Elgin later in the year or next year but it doesn’t seem likely. At this point I think Hero’s role is to be the guy with the solid reputation that puts over the regulars. And that’s probably for the best.

Frankly the most likely regular I can see winning the belt from Elgers is Tommaso Ciampa. He lost the TV championship a while ago and showed heelish tendencies when interacting with ACH at Best in the World. A friendly rivalry with ACH that progresses into something more violent as Ciampa keeps losing, prompting a violent outburst, would be a good way of re-establishing him without rushing things. As a heel he could work a few different programmes ahead of a title match with Elgin.

Of course he could just as easily stay a face but display more of an assertive attitude. That’s a fairly standard ROH approach and it would allow a face versus face match to be teased out for a while.

Other main roster regulars that could be potential Elgin foils are Michael ‘Don’t Call Me Mike’ Bennett and Silas ‘My Moustache is Manlier Than Yours’ Young. As a member of The Kingdom Bennett is one of the promotion’s lead antagonists and has a solid act in place working deliberately WWE flavoured matches with Maria interfering. He’s the sort of act that works on top in any western promotion but that has never been booked as an ROH champion. It would be interesting to see and isn’t something that needs to be rushed into. Bennett is always going to be a bad guy in Ring of Honor and the option to have him face off with Elgin will be there as long as both are on the roster.

Young has been knocking about on the undercard for a year or so now. He’s not done anything spectacular but his potential seems clear. He looks the part, is a fantastic antagonist and works a rough style that’s a perfect fit for ROH. It’s possible booker man Delirious has been biding his time with him so people don’t turn on him for being rushed. He’s a heel but that could still happen: there’s a world of difference between heat and disinterest, and a rush could encourage the latter.

That Silas has been selected as Kevin Steen’s goodbye feud is interesting. It indicates that ROH are finally done letting Young build steam naturally and that they’re finally ready to do something major with him. Being the last feud Kevin Steen has in Ring of Honor is a big deal, the sort that could establish someone as a new top name. If the treatment continues after Steen’s gone, against any other popular act that isn’t Elgin, a programme between the two could mean something come the end of the year.

The members of the War Machine team, Raymond Rowe and Hanson, are probably worth mentioning, although both are massively unlikely. In kayfabe terms Elgin is responsible for them forming a regular tandem and getting ROH contracts. That could lead to the two turning on Elgin for “sidelining” them as a pair to avoid them as tough challengers or, more likely, only one forming the opinion. These scenarios would be really long term deals, but the preparation’s already been done.

Finally there’s AJ Styles. He’s massively popular in the US and can legitimately be called an international success thanks to his IWGP championship win over Kazuchika Okada. That’s a title reign that won’t last forever. When it ends I could definitely see ‘The Phenomenal One’ relieving Elgin of the gold. His status as an original roster member would make the title win a big deal, and there’s already an established history between the two after their exchanges earlier this year.

Selecting one name to go with is tough. Elgin’s style, look and character are fantastically well-suited to a long reign. I’ve predicted those many times over the last three years but the closest we’ve had are the reigns of Richards and Steen. Neither of those surpassed the one year mark, and when I talk about a lengthy reign I generally mean something in excess of eighteen months. If I’m right and Elgin does get something approaching that (and I’m not confident that he will considering the booking of the title under Delirious) then it makes predicting who’ll beat him incredibly tough. How do you predict who’ll be in a position to work as champion that far in advance? It could be somebody not even on the roster.

I hope Michael Elgin gets his long run. It would somewhat justify the ridiculous amount of time he’s been kept waiting to win the strap and give him the best chance possible of going down as one of the all-time great ROH performers. That’s something I think ROH need to be looking at. It would be great if Elgin had a lengthy reign which ended at a time when four or five guys could potentially defeat him. I’m not going to hold my breath though. And I’m going to predict Silas Young as the man who’ll end up beating him to become the twenty-first ROH world champion.

ROH Supercard of Honor VIII review

Due to previous, much-discussed issues with their streaming facilities ROH's WrestleMania weekend offering was not available live. It took place on April 4, opposite DG USA's Open the Ultimate Gate 2014, but wasn't uploaded until a week or so later. Which is a pity, because it was a good show (as you'll read below) and deserved to be discussed during wrestling’s biggest weekend of the year.

It's likely that this will be the last time the issues of streaming and uploading affect ROH. From Best in the World onwards their big shows will be broadcast as live pay-per-views. Yeah, full on television PPVs, not those internet streaming things and taped offerings they’ve been doing until now. It's a big thing for ROH which could help them expand (which is the idea, obviously) if they can string together some top notch shows.

The situation’s obviously only come about because the WWE Network has finally reared its head. With WWE moving away from pay-per-view it's created an opening for ROH to build itself up. Basically the pay-per-view companies are going to ROH to try and recoup some of the losses they’ll be suffering losing WWE money. Doesn’t say much for TNA, does it?

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The show at hand is Supercard of Honor VIII. Although it wasn’t available live for anyone who didn’t have a ticket it was still a big and important show for ROH. It paid off months of storylines between the company’s two world champion claimants and offered a number of clashes between top names.

The show kicked off with a very impressive video that recapped the last year of plot. Jay Briscoe's title win, his reign and his loss of the belt via stripping. Adam Cole winning the vacated championship and subsequent heel turn on Jay. Their feud over the legitimacy of Cole's reign and Briscoe's introduction of the so-called real world title. It was a great piece of work that caught people up without being tedious.

The night's first match was Cedric Alexander taking on ROH veteran and proud Decade member Roderick Strong. He had Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer at ringside, along with new member Adam Page. He'd joined as a young boy (a Japanese, and therefore Ring of Honor, concept linked to paying dues and earning a spot) a week or two earlier.

The pair had a very good match that told a good story: Cedric wanted to prove himself to be on the same level as Roddy and worthy of his, and The Decade’s, respect. He kicked out of a bunch of very convincing false finishes, took out the Decade members stationed at ringside before eventually being caught with a drop kick and a suplex into a back breaker for the Strong victory.

Kevin Kelly put over Cedric’s efforts, though he didn’t need to: the match was one of the best of the night and Cedric looked so good during the match that he got over even in defeat. After the match Jacobs told Cedric he should act more like Adam Page and be respectful. Perhaps that will be the next swerve turn, Cedric attacking Caprice Coleman in favour of joining The Decade. Or not. ‘The Zombie Princess’ also referred to ROH as the house that The Decade built. I hope that was intentionally ridiculous.

Andrew Everett and Adrenalin RUSH were called out for their six man scramble tag match. The scramble rule meant that if someone leaves the ring one of their partners could become the match’s legal man without the need for a tag. It’s a good approach that ensures a faster pace, never a bad thing in your second match of the night.

Once again the story centred on respect. Specifically it was about The Decade not respecting their foes and the younger trio doing everything they could to show they were worthy of it. ACH was a highlight during this, taking particular exception to his treatment at the hands of the heels. He shook hands with the fans when the bad guys refused and was booked as the star of his team, getting isolated and hitting the majority of the most impressive flying moves. Making him the star made sense: he was the most charismatic guy in the match and had the crispest delivery.

As with the opener it was a very enjoyable match. The faces, Jacobs and Page were all quick. BJ wasn’t going to keep up, but he offered the match some a power guy instead. Highlights of the match included a Doomsday Device-suicide dive combo on the floor from Whitmer and Jacobs, springboard shooting star presses to the outside and inside of the ring by Everett, an incredible topé from ACH, and The Decade's All Seeing Eye (a move it would be easy to botch and that always looks good). That was enough to earn Whitmer the win for his team.

After the match Jacobs teased caving in Tadarius's skull with his trusty spike. He walked off instead. ACH sat at ringside, exhausted and unable to make the save. My assumption is that there will be a singles match between ACH and Jacobs sometime soon. Probably at Best in the World.

After a reminder of why they don't like one another Truth Martini and Matt Taven went to the ring for a showdown. Instead of introducing his mystery wrestler Truth called Kevin Kelly into the ring and started reading the final chapter of the Book of Truth. Taven snatched it away and started reading his "favourite” chapter. He got about three words in before flames came out of the book which caused a distraction (understandably so) and allowed Truth to kick Taven in the groin and walk off. It was a confusing, disappointing mess of a segment.

Match three saw the "undefeated" RD Evans (he's pulled 82-0 from somewhere) take on Silas Young. Evans was popular with the fans. Young was not. He was, in fact, hated. Partly because he does such a good job of being an unlikeable bully. What could have been a simple comedy bout was actually a pretty lengthy, compelling outing. After narrowly avoiding being counted out (having absorbed an impressive electric chair drop on the apron) Evans caught Young with a small package that was just kicked out of.

Veda Scott then distracted the referee while Ramon, the other member of the RD Evans Comedy Troupe, tossed his belt into the ring. Young intercepted it so Evans pretended he'd been struck with it in an effort to win by DQ. Young escaped another rollup and accidentally battered the ref with the belt. Evans got a hangman's neck breaker but there was nobody to count the three so Evans, needing a ref, checked on the downed official. That allowed Young to grab him for a fireman roll and a moonsault, at which point a fresh official appeared in the ring to make the unpopular count.

However... original official Paul Turner got to his feet and reversed the decision. Silas Young was disqualified, presumably for striking an official. Evans celebrated in typically overblown style, screaming that he'd done it and high fiving and hugging fans at ringside. He’s one of the best things currently going in ROH.

Following that were Michael Bennett and Mark Briscoe in a no disqualification match. Bennett had involved himself in Jay Briscoe's rivalry with Adam Cole, so Mark was looking out for his brother. That was all the build they needed.

The match started with Briscoe launching himself off the apron and battering Bennett around ringside. Bennett turned things around and the two wound up brawling into the bleachers. Noteworthy here was Mark launching himself from one guardrail over another and landing on nothing but Bennett and concrete. Back at ringside 'The Prodigy' smacked Briscoe with a pair of chair shots, spat water in his face and ran him into the crowd barrier.

In the ring Bennett wrapped a chair around Briscoe's leg and smashed a second chair on top. Briscoe shrugged that off (just one of many no-sells he would perform) and came back with an elbow drop to a floored Bennett outside the ring (Cactus Jack style). Briscoe gave Bennett some chair shots of his own and ran him into barriers in the aisle. Up at the entrance Bennett speared Briscoe through a table, which fell over rather than broke in half. Which was somewhat anticlimactic.  

Once again returning to the ring Briscoe pulled out a kendo stick. Bennett took two shots before Maria grabbed the stick out of Mark's grasp. Bennett snuck in a super kick and Maria gave Briscoe a stick shot of her own, allowing Bennett to hit a side effect. A series of chair shots put the former tag champ down. Bennett followed that with a one man Conchairto and an application of the Anaconda Vice. Referee Todd Sinclair awarded the match to Bennett. Briscoe was helped out of the ring but was looking for a fight before he'd reached the aisle. The match was a very satisfying brawl but someone needs to remind Mark to sell.

We were shown Matt Taven searching for Truth Martini backstage. He walked into the gents, there was some shouting, and then Truth wandered out. The cameraman entered the restroom to find Taven clutching his face. I think we were meant to assume he'd been fireballed. Although there were other options that would fit with Truth’s deviant character.

A top notch hype video for ROH's co-promoted shows with New Japan was followed by Cheeseburger giving out T-shirts. The inevitable interruption came from Matt Hardy. After politely asking the burger to give him the ring 'The Icon' talked about ROH setting record numbers in TV ratings, attendance figures, and merch sales, which he took credit for, natch. In fairness he didn't just claim it was because of him, he also said it was because he'd handpicked Adam Cole as the top guy in the company. Channelling both Triple H and Gedo ‘The Sensei of Mattitude’ talked up Adam Cole as being on another level and said he couldn't take anything away from Briscoe being a "pretty good little wrestler". Wrapping up, Hardy said that he, Bennett, Kanellis, and Cole are the best unit in wrestling and that Cole winning the main event would cement him as the greatest ROH champion ever.

Cheeseburger was called back into the ring. Hardy disingenuously apologised for taking his time and then gave him a Twist of Fate. The sequence was good for building up the importance of the main event and establishing the top heel unit in the company but it wasn't unmissable stuff. Nothing involving Matt Hardy is.

Match five was the Forever Hooligans v reDRagon v Hanson and Raymond Rowe in a three-way tag match, with the winners earning a title match with The Young Bucks at Global Wars. Despite Hanson and Rowe being the only guys who were definitely faces it was Fish and O'Reilly who got most of the cheers before the match started.

Things took a while to get going in this. The first several minutes were pretty standard tag fare. Things only really picked up in the final five minutes when the near falls kicked in and guys were rapidly coming and going from the ring. O'Reilly eventually got the win for his team off a rollup, craftily applied after the Hooligans had attempted a double team springboard thwarted by Fish (who, for the record, was sporting a lovely quiff).

Hanson and Rowe looked decent as a team. If they’re together long enough they could development into a useful combo. That said I can’t help but feel this match would have been better without their involvement. But that feels like an unfair complaint to make. The match wasn’t actively bad, it just wasn’t as good as it could have been. We’ve had Forever Hooligans versus reDRagon on other shows so all things considered I think I’d rather have had this three-way. It was something different and it gave Hanson and Rowe a good introduction to the tag division.

A video package showed an angry Jay Lethal talking about his two years of history with Tommaso Ciampa and wanting the TV title back. They have indeed had two years of feuding for the TV strap, on and off. Unfortunately none of their interactions are especially memorable. I think it was a result of Lethal's bland face character. I like Ciampa's character and both men's wrestling ability but they've never clicked for me as the great feud they're clearly meant to be.

The match was a two-out-of-three falls affair. Instead of a handshake Ciampa put his knee brace on Lethal's outstretched hand. It was a way of demonstrating that he was not only confident in his knee but keen to pursue a level playing field. The first fall was the length of a regular ROH match and ended with a Lethal Injection attempt countered into a pinning attempt which was countered itself into another pinning attempt. That put Lethal ahead by one fall.

Ciampa was on the defensive for the second fall, having to immediately escape a hurricanrana and a Koji clutch. He countered the latter into a Sicilian Stretch but it wasn't enough to get him his first pin. Minutes later he was on the receiving end of his own Project Ciampa. The second ref bump of the night followed when Ciampa ducked a Lethal Injection attempt and Todd Sinclair took the move instead. Ciampa blasted Lethal with a German suplex series (triggering a Benoit chant) and a lariat.

Truth Martini then rocked up and slid Ciampa's knee brace to Jay Lethal. The challenger used it. Ciampa kicked out but wasn't with it enough to make it back to his feet, so Lethal hit him with the Macho Elbow. Ciampa, channeling Hulk Hogan, immediately kicked out. He no sold a pair of super kicks but buckled after a kick to the knee and fell to a Lethal Injection.

The first ever two time TV champ celebrated with Truth Martini as the fans told him he'd sold out. Taking a microphone Lethal told the fans "There is a house in New Orleans. And it's called the House of Truth." At commentary McGuinness and Kelly talked about how Lethal had turned his back on honour and the teachings of his parents (though they failed to mention it was Truth Martini who cost him the TV title in March 2012 (not that I’d expected them to)). They also made it clear they'd never expected to see a Jay Lethal heel turn in ROH. I have to say I’d never thought we'd get it either. It could work out well though. Lethal's lack of charisma (except for when he's channelling Randy Savage) has always been a problem and he'd done loads as a face and become a little played out doing it. This is something new for him and it gives Martini someone new to interact with.

The evening's penultimate match saw Michael Elgin clash with Kevin Steen in a match that would see the winner challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight championship at Global Wars. They set an electric pace from the opening bell, Steen immediately attempting a package piledriver with Elgin escaping and belting him with a right hand. Within thirty seconds Steen had hit a cannonball and gone for a cover. After that they headed out of the ring for the obligatory ringside rampage.

Several minutes passed before they re-entered the ring, at which point Elgin was in control after using a stalling suplex on the outside to wind 'Mr Wrestling'. Elgin hit a drop kick before Steen came back with a version of the draping DDT. Elgin took a senton and shoulder blocks in the corner then blasted Steen with an enziguri and a dead lift German suplex. Steen got a two count from a fisherman neck breaker then hit a second cannonball into the corner.

It would prove ill-advised as 'Unbreakable' kept hold of him and powered up to his feet to give him a power bomb. He went for a second but Steen turned it into an F5. Elgin kicked out and an exchange of big punches followed. Elgin got the better of that and dropped Steen with a bicycle kick and a back fist for two. Back on the outside Steen apron bombed Elgin and then took a power bomb into the turnbuckle. In the ring Steen survived a tombstone piledriver and responded with a pop up power bomb and a package piledriver for an ultra-convincing two count. Steen attempted a Swanton bomb but was met with knees.

Both men dragged themselves back to their feet. Elgin walloped Steen with a back fist, a buckle bomb and an Elgin bomb for another strong convincer. Elgin tried for something on the top rope but Steen countered with a version of the fisherman suplex for another two count. Steen once again tried the package piledriver but found it reversed into triple power bomb, followed by a buckle bomb. The Elgin bomb attempt that followed was countered with a sleeper suplex, but Elgin shrugged it off and belted Steen with a lariat, another buckle bomb and Steen's own package piledriver for the hard fought victory.

The match was phenomenal. Elgin and Steen are two of ROH’s best and this was proof of it. I thought it was significantly better than their last effort opposite one another.

The ladder match main event was excellent, which was to be expected. Jay Briscoe is one of the most experienced ladder guys ROH has while Cole is just generally awesome and capable of doing anything asked of him. The history behind the match helped too, creating a reason for the two to clash under ladder rules and continuing the tradition of ladder matches only occurring under very special circumstances in Ring of Honor.

In the end it was Cole who “unified the titles” and left New Orleans as Ring of Honor’s undisputed world champion. This, I’m sure, will be credited to the training from self-proclaimed ladder match whizz Matt Hardy. In actuality it was more down to interference from Hardy and Bennett. That made sense though: the heels are a confirmed faction and there was always going to be interference in the match.

Supercard of Honor VIII was a good show, all told. It paid off various long-running plots, provided some high quality matches, and provided a few changes to keep the promotion feeling fresh. It will almost certainly not end up being Ring of Honor’s best show of the year (especially when you consider what they’ve got coming up at Global Wars) but it was a satisfying show at a time when ROH needed to deliver a satisfying show. If they can give us more events like that when they hit pay-per-view they’ll be doing okay.

Broken

At WrestleMania weekend in 2012 Ring of Honor promoted two shows under the banner title of Showdown in the Sun. Night one was headlined by Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong challenging ROH world champ Davey Richards. It would prove the zenith of the Davey-Eddie-Roddy era of main events. Night two was headlined by Richards defending against Michael Elgin. That would prove the breakout match for Elgin.

 

Then a member of the House of Truth Elgin had done little except squash expendable talent before SITS. His match with 'The Lone Wolf' showed people that he was capable of so much more than that. It immediately raised his stock amongst fans. He started being given meaningful matches and a long term storyline was begun that would see him split from Truth Martini and the HOT.

 

The match at Showdown was so good that it could have conceivably worked as a title change. The fans responded incredibly well to the challenger. They not only sensed he was a star coming into his own before their eyes but also that he could be the next major player for the group. The booking throughout the rest of the year backed that up. Elgin did look like a certainty for stardom.

 

Just another man on the roster

But as time's worn on it's been revealed that this isn't the case. 'Unbreakable' lost to former stablemate Strong when they clashed at the end of 2012. He got the victory in a rematch, fought under two-out-of-three falls rules at the 11^th Anniversary Show, but by that point interest in their dispute, not high to begin with, had waned. By the time Elgin dropped Jay Lethal to solidify himself as number one contender to the world strap he was no longer the red hot prospect he had been.

 

Things could have been so different had Elgin been the man to relieve Kevin Steen of the ROH world championship, in place of long time tag aficionado Jay Briscoe. As the man fans were behind he was the natural successor to the top spot. It seemed like the natural title change, the man who'd seemed to be on course for the top singles title for a year defeating the company's leading man at his peak. That should have been too good to pass up. But it wasn't, because ROH did.

 

Throughout the rest of 2013 Elgin has had numerous stints as the official number one contender and mounted several unsuccessful challenges. Rather than do the smart thing and switch the strap from Briscoe to Elgin when it was revealed Briscoe would be taking extended leave or moving on completely a tournament was held. Making it to the finals of that only to lose again was a step too far. It's not that Adam Cole wasn't a good choice for champion but everything in the preceding eighteen months had established Elgin was a man on course for the top. After failing to have Elgin be the man to replace Steen and Briscoe, both of which would have been pretty good timing-wise, the tournament was ROH's last chance to deliver on Elgin.

 

Elgin was once again unsuccessful in challenging for the title at Final Battle 2013. By that point it had become the norm for him to leave title matches without the gold. That he failed to win again simply confirmed how far the man had fallen. The lack of a victory didn’t harm him: it’s not possible for the lack of a championship to harm him anymore.

 

Elgin has continued to improve as a wrestler throughout the year but in the process become part of the scenery at the top of ROH cards. Instead of slapping the title on him and giving him a lengthy reign to make him look special he's been treated as just another guy. Ultimately this is fine. He's been turned into a star by a combination of his own good wrestling and the booker's good planning. But he could have been so much more with a bit more faith and a willingness to put the company's efforts into creating a new centrepiece attraction. I can't imagine he'd have been the guy to turn ROH into a bigger deal than it is but he could have been bigger than he is.

 

If and when Elgin wins the world championship now it’s going to be just another run. It’s even possible the fans will turn on him as they’ve turned on other champions in the past, simply because he’s already been floating around the top for a while. He wouldn’t be an undeserving champion, but the chance for him to be a special champion has been and gone. Another instance of poor judgment from Ring of Honor.

The KO Blow

On 9^th November (a Saturday for those keeping score) it was announced that Kassius Ohno, real name Chris Spradlin, had been released from his WWE developmental contract. For anyone who’d been following his WWE career it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. There had been rumours going around since the summer that key members of the WWE management team were not happy with his appearance and attitude towards hitting the gym.

Whether these rumours were true or not is impossible to say. What can be stated as cold, hard fact is that Ohno was absent from NXT TV tapings for a couple of months and when he returned the weight he’d lost was noticeable. A case could certainly be made for him being taken off of television until he’d got into better shape.

NXT will suffer without this guy

Ohno’s short term future is already shaping up nicely. He’s already been confirmed for a CZW iPPV and, a little more interestingly, a Dragon Gate USA show. The latter will see him wrestle Open the Freedom Gate champion Johnny Gargano. Assuming his WWE contract is the same as everyone else’s he’ll be precluded from appearing on another wrestling company’s television show for three months. That means appearances in TNA or Ring of Honor are unlikely until around next February and he’ll be appearing for indy companies for the time being.

The Kassius Ohno name is, of course, trademarked (or copyrighted, or whatever) by WWE. So he won’t be using that again. Which is fine. The name Chris Hero holds more cache with wrestling fans anyway. Plus it sounds better.

In the long term I expect we’ll see Spradlin head to either ROH or TNA. The choice he makes will be interesting.

In ROH Hero would be a known quantity who could instantly slot into the top of the card and work against established names, either as a fan fave or as a villain. Fans would be delighted to see him back, he’d be more familiar with the locker room, style, and political situation, and he’d have goals to accomplish despite having worked for the league, on-and-off, from 2005 to 2011. Chris Hero targeting the ROH world championship would be something I’d personally love to see in 2014.

In TNA he’d possibly be able to make more money, although tours of Japan would be hard to work out and those would supplement his income nicely in ROH. It’s possible, thanks to his status as a former WWE guy and indy standout, he’d get a strong push as soon as he debuted. Even if he didn’t he could earn himself one with hard work. He’d have far more goals in TNA than he would in ROH and more fresh opponents to wrestle.

If I had to guess I’d say we’ll see Chris Hero in TNA next year. The company is heading back to Orlando for their TV tapings and Hero’s already based in the area from his stint in NXT. The better money and easier travel would probably appeal, as would the fresh set of goals and roster and the potential to earn decent money. The lack of NOAH tours may be balanced by Wrestle-1 tours, thanks to TNA’s supposed working relationship with that league.

Personally I think a move to TNA would be a disappointment. TNA have shown throughout 2013 that they haven’t got any fresh ideas and Hero would almost certainly drift down the card. TNA tend to be pretty good at initial debuts, they just can’t follow up on them. But perhaps things are going to turn around. Perhaps Hero (under whatever new name he’d go with in TNA) would be a part of helping them turn things around. One thing that’s practically certain is that he’d have to come up with a new ring name: as with every other aspect of their business they ape WWE in wanting ownership of ring names. That the best Spradlin could muster for his WWE run was Kassius Ohno (I liked it but it wasn’t the greatest wrestler name ever) doesn’t bode well.

I think WWE made a mistake releasing Spradlin. It’s true he wasn’t the best conditioned guy on the roster but he was never going to be. He doesn’t have the frame for it and throughout his career he’s been a guy that doesn’t have the greatest build. His strength has always been his promos and wrestling ability, with his character, well thought out and consistent to begin with, having become a highlight in 2010.

Basically he’s been good at everything except having the perfect physique. And not everyone on the roster needs to look great. Spradlin had significantly improved his physique throughout the year and is now easily in the best condition of his career. That he’s not built like Antonio Cesaro, David Otunga or Titus O’Neil and didn’t appear dedicated to becoming so could have been overlooked in favour of the multitude of other strengths he has. WWE’s loss is definitely every wrestling fan’s gain.

Beating Cole

Back in June ROH vacated their world championship due to the storyline injuries and real life contract negotiations of reigning champion Jay Briscoe. The tournament held to crown a new champion was a disappointment. Instead of using it as an opportunity to present itself as a company that scours the world for the best wrestlers and matches to give to its fans, and making its world title look genuinely desirable to the wrestling world into the bargain, ROH opted to enter most of its headliners into the brackets plus some mid-card guys everyone knew wouldn’t win. They then put out calls to some indy guys, with guys seemingly being chosen based on whether or not they were under contract elsewhere as opposed to whether they’d make the tournament special.

This approach resulted in predictable semi-finals and finals. I’ve written before that that didn’t have to be a bad thing. If match quality is high enough ROH can get away with being predictable a lot of the time. They market themselves as the sport of professional wrestling and as such match quality is of greater importance than in other North American promotions.

There was not a single unquestionable classic in the entire tournament. There were certainly some good matches but nothing that will be remembered fondly three years, or even one year, from now. There should have been. Wrestlers should have been encouraged to use their involvement in the tournament, one of the most high profile things ROH has done in years, as a way of moving themselves up in the estimations of fans.

Similarly ROH should have brought in big names to illustrate how special the tournament was. The likes of Jushin Liger, Doug Williams, Low Ki, Amazing Red, Jack Evans, Kushida, Keiji Mutoh, Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Crimson, and Colt Cabana were and are all available for at least limited bookings. Not all would have provided wonderful matches but those that didn’t would have helped to present the ROH championship as something desirable to everyone working in wrestling. It could have been used as a way of presenting a stream of dream matches. Instead it became something that the company and its fans just needed to get through.

At least the right man won. Adam Cole being crowned the new world champion has set the promotion back on what looks like the right track. If they concentrate on promoting him as the lead villain of the company and keep lead challengers Michael Elgin and Jay Briscoe close on his tail the main event scene should be compelling until the end of the year.
 

Adam Cole: the man with the ROH championship and the man to beat

 

I’d like to see singles matches between Cole and these two men over the next couple of months before wrapping the programme up in a three-way match at Final Battle. It feels like a nice scenario to take the company through to the end of the year before moving all involved in fresh directions.

I’ve been passionate about giving Michael Elgin the world championship over the last year and a half but I’m beginning to go off of the idea. He can no longer be presented as the hot young upstart that can carry the company. He’s had too many failed challenges for that. Maybe at some point in the future he could become champion but he’s been kept waiting too long now and as such he can’t have the impressive, career-defining run that was his for the taking six months ago.

Basically, ‘Unbreakable’ should have been the man to beat Kevin Steen. Preferably at Best in the World. It’s entirely possible he’ll defeat Adam Cole, but it won’t have the impact a title win would have done as recently as four months ago.

The honour (there’s a U in that one) of beating Steen to Jay Briscoe. It was presented almost as a reward for length of service by ROH and most fans seemed fine with that. I disliked the insinuation, feeling that world championships should be put on skilled or popular (or unpopular, in the case of bad guys) wrestlers rather than dished out to someone because they’ve been loyal over a long period. In fairness to ROH perhaps it was an attempt to keep ‘Dem Boys’ from moving to TNA or WWE. That wouldn’t excuse the decision but would make it a little easier to understand.

It seems unlikely that Jay will regain the title. Not only does ROH seem to shy away from multiple title reigns with their top prize (note that that only one man has won the title twice in its eleven year history) but he is still primarily a tag team wrestler. He can be presented as a credible contender now that he’s a former champion, which is perhaps another aspect of why he had it in the first place, but he doesn’t strike me as a future two time champion. There’s nothing for him to do in the role and he’s proven too controversial for a modern mainstream company.

I suspect Cole will make it to 2014 with the championship and I think it’s likely that he’ll lose it to someone he’s not currently involved with. Jay Lethal, as ever, could stand a chance of being that guy. If ROH want a short term face champion to ferry the belt between more substantial heel acts I could see him getting the nod for a caretaker reign.

A man who warrants a mention based more on his own merit is Tommaso Ciampa. ‘The Sicilian Psychopath’ has been presented as a strong contender since returning from an injury a few months ago. He lost to Cole in the tournament semi-finals and doesn’t strike me as someone who could realistically win the title now. But given a year or more to establish himself as a champion-in-waiting by beating bigger names and, more importantly, wrestling a string of excellent matches, I think Ciampa would be accepted as the man to dethrone Cole.

ACH could be considered for a title reign if Cole holds the gold long enough. He’s certainly popular enough. He’s wrestled a string of dazzling matches this year and would bring a style to the top of the ROH card that we haven’t seen in years. He’d be a very different sort of Ring of Honor world champion.

I admit this is incredibly unlikely though. As good as ACH is I think a world title is years away, if it’s in his future at all. Even ROH, the company that likes to present itself as the company that promotes guys based on ability, would struggle to justify booking a man of ACH’s stature and wrestling his style as their top guy. I’d love to see it and don’t think it’s impossible. It’s just massively unlikely, especially right now.

The guy I currently think stands the best chance of beating Adam Cole for the title is Kevin Steen. Although he’s not quite as popular as he was last year he is still the man who gets the biggest reactions on ROH shows. Earlier in the year I was assuming that Steen would lose the belt to Matt Hardy and regain it at or by Final Battle, so admittedly I find it easier to accept the idea of a second Steen title reign than I do one for a Strong, a Richards, an Edwards or a Briscoe.

Of all the former champions on the roster ‘Mr Wrestling’ strikes me as the best choice to regain the title. His first run seemed as though it was cut short. There were things left for him to do and people left for him to face. The timing would work well here too. Steen could swoop in for a run at the title once the New Year begins. Steen v Cole is headlining the November 2^nd show in Cincinnati. Perhaps something will happen there to set up a feud or a rematch later.

Right now Steen is my choice to defeat Cole, sometime in the first half of next year most likely. I’d like to see Cole have a long title reign, until this time next year or longer. That seems unlikely though, based on ROH booking over the last few years. Cole could make such a reign work I’m sure. And he’d deserve that time in the spotlight for being one of the company’s most consistent and hard-working wrestlers.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 1

That Wrestling Podcast by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

I’ve wanted to do a wrestling podcast for a while. The usual excuses are what’s stopped me: a lack of time, insufficient understanding of technology, and an absence of people knowledgeable and willing enough to record the thing with me. As evidenced by this blog I’ve not got a shortage of opinions on the wrestling business, it’s just everything else I’ve missed.

This situation changed when Michael, a guy I worked with in a bookshop, moved back to London. My technological ineptitude remains but I now have someone to record a podcast with. So we’ve recorded one, very kindly hosted by the Voices of Wrestling website (where odds and ends of my writing can also be found).
 

I wanted to post something here on the blog for two reasons. One is to plug the podcast, which I think we can all agree is a fairly natural thing to do. The second is that, due to a general unease when getting the thing onto the internet, I didn’t really manage to provide a decent summary of the episode. Where better to do that than here?

The idea was that Michael and I would start out discussing his time in Japan and then catch up on what’s been going on in wrestling over the last year or so (because he’s not managed to keep up with anything except the major developments). Aside from a couple of seconds to check that the sound quality was decent (it is) I’ve not listened to the thing back but I’d be surprised if we spend more than five minutes talking about Japan. So if you’re hoping this is going to be puro-heavy (why you’d think that when I never write about wrestling in Japan I don’t know) you’re going to be disappointed.

Things got better once we moved onto American wrestling. We discussed WWE a fair bit, although I can’t remember anything specific (which entirely contradicts what I said above but so be it), as well as TNA and Ring of Honor. The main TNA subjects were Bully Ray and Chris Sabin’s respective world titles reigns and the Aces and Eights storyline. We touched on the fact that the company’s future is pretty bleak, but that should surprise no one.

We picked our winners for the ROH world title tournament and discussed the merits of Kevin Steen and Davey Richards. Steve Corino came up too, if you still want to classify him as an ROH performer. In between all of this we discussed gimmicks in modern wrestling (including an idea for a mid-card WWE guy), WCW and Vince Russo.

It comes in at almost exactly two hours, which is a pleasingly round number that we reached completely at random. Future episodes, which will appear as and when we’ve time, will hopefully be shorter than that. Give it a listen (you can download it through the Voices of Wrestling iTunes account) and let us know what you think.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled complaints and suggestions.

The Final Four

I hate to say I told you so but... well, I did.

When ROH announced the brackets of their world title tournament I said that the final four would almost certainly be Cole, Ciampa, Steen and Elgin (read that here). Those are the four that have made it. I also said that predictability doesn’t necessarily equate to a poor product, and it doesn’t. All the surprises in the world won’t make bad matches any better, but sadly the quality of the tournament outings has, for the most part, been only average.

At least we’ve got a final four that make sense. Even though he doesn’t seem quite as popular as he was six months ago Steen remains the promotion's top good guy. Having him get this far helps him to stay that way and also ensures the brackets remain credible. Elgin is finally getting the main event push he's warranted for a while. This is a natural way of elevating him in a company like ROH. The same goes for Cole really, only with the addition of a gradual heel turn playing out as he advances. Which is a nice thread to follow.

Ciampa seems to be the odd man out. He's the only one of the four who hasn't been a regular over the last year to make his addition at this point obvious. That's not his fault, of course. He was injured. It seems as though the tournament's being used as a way of elevating him by association. That he's made it as far as the three bigger names theoretically puts him on their level.

When I was originally writing about the brackets I said I expected a Cole v Elgin final. I still do. ROH could still surprise us but realistically they won’t. Elgin defeating Steen would be a boost and make it seem all the more likely that he's the next world champ (because wins over Steen are not dished out to just anyone). The Cole v Ciampa semi-final is the perfect opportunity to get over Cole's heel turn by having him cheat to beat 'The Sicilian Psychopath'. That also has the benefit of allowing Ciampa to be presented as a dominant force throughout the majority of the match.

Anything other than a Cole v Elgin final just seems incredibly unlikely. But that’s not too bad, because with that match will come an incredibly hard to predict outcome.

 

Is this man the next ROH world champion...?

 

‘Unbreakable’ could win the championship, showing that he’s the company’s top star and capable of overcoming anyone placed in front of him. There would be a few different things that could be done with him as the champion. He could either move into a feud with Cole, which would presumably take in a rematch at Final Battle and last into early 2014. He could be pitted against various top names with minimal storyline effort, similar to ROH of the early days (there’s something a little old school ROH about Elgin).

Plans could also be made to gradually turn him heel. Already Elgin’s reactions from audiences have diminished. He’s heard outright negativity from the New York crowd. It seems as though Elgin is the sort of champion on whom fans will turn once they’ve got the gold. That’s nothing new for Ring of Honor and they’d do well to simply embrace it and turn Elgin a few months into his reign. Steen would make a good opponent for him, seeing as he’s as close as ROH has to a leading man.

A victory for Adam Cole could finalise his transformation into the company’s lead heel. He’s arguably already there, he just hasn’t done anything particularly dastardly in the role yet. Cheating to defeat Michael Elgin would be just the ticket to set him up. It could also help to revive Elgin’s flagging popularity.

 

... Or will Death Before Dishonor XI be Adam Cole's night?

 

While I can imagine Elgin having a lengthy title run the same can’t be said for Cole. I can imagine him losing the title before next summer, almost certainly to Elgin. I think Cole would make a great long-term champion, especially if he started off as a heel. A face turn after a year or so as champion could provide his reign with longevity. I don’t think this is likely though. If Cole wins I think he’s going to be a short term champion who has the belt mainly to give Elgin someone to chase.

I hope they go with a Cole win. I think that’s the best way to handle Elgin winning the title. He needs to beat someone who the fans really can’t stand in order to have a fair crack at working out as a long-term top face (which is hopefully what ROH wants of him). If Elgin simply defeats Cole in the tournament final there’s nowhere left for him to go. He’ll have proven he can defeat Cole and there will be no other believable heels for him to be pitted against.

The smart move is to have Cole win and Elgin beat him after a few months, possibly at Final Battle. That will give Ring of Honor time to prepare some heel challengers for Elgin. Face versus face title defences will only see fans turning on him.

If Elgin had won the title a year ago they wouldn’t be in the situation of having to book a tournament now. But for whatever reason they didn’t. ROH has so far made the best of an awkward situation. Hopefully they’ll continue with that in the finals and beyond.