411’s Buy or Sell 2.05.10: Austin Aries Defeats Jushin Liger, Del Rey and Haze Looking For CHIKARA Gold, and More!!

Samuel Berman : SELL . Assuming it’s within the constructs of kayfabe, it’s not really all that ridiculous. EVOLVE seems to be attempting to institute some aspects of “real” sports into its storylines and style, and fines and suspensions are a reality in professional sports when players act in an undignified manner. Now, I’m not sure it will really affect anything longterm for the company, but in who knows whether this will set a precedent for something interesting down the road. A good example would be how the FIP World Heavyweight Title had a ‘title can change hands on a countout’ rule that led to Roderick Strong regaining the title from Erick Stevens by way of countout. We’ll see if a fine or suspension ends up making a difference in an EVOLVE angle as the company goes forward.

Steve Cook : BUY. But that’s not a bad thing…that’s a good thing. A new promotion like EVOLVE needs something different to stand out from the masses, otherwise people are going to ignore it as just another indy with mostly guys that they can see perform elsewhere. Honestly, when I read the EVOLVE results I said “oh, that’s nice” and moved on to the next article without giving it another thought. I couldn’t tell you anything that happened on that show other than Richards winning the main event & Jacobs beating Doane. Putting a ridiculous newsbite like this out there makes one wonder “are these people nuts?” It also makes people notice them, which is a big part of the battle indy wrestling promoters face when running shows.

Of course, getting suspended for slapping somebody before a match is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. But hey, maybe Sawa has plans elsewhere when they’re doing their next show, and this is how they’re writing him out. It’s certainly original, if nothing else.

0 for 1.

Samuel Berman : BUY. I don’t really see the point of turning the ladies into a regular tag team if they don’t. I actually think that the duo will turn out to be pretty competitive with the male teams in CHIKARA. I’m not sure that CHIKARA will pull the trigger on moving the belts to the ladies when they do face off with The Colony (or whoever holds the belts at that point), but it would actually be pretty cool to have the BDK represented as champions by the women. The logical storyline would actually be to have UltraMantis Black & Delirious (who I believe have three points towards title contention) win the belts from the Ants and then have the ladies of the BDK challenge them for the straps.

Steve Cook : BUY. Let’s face it, there aren’t many promotions out there that would allow two women to challenge for tag team titles. In WWE you might see a woman teaming with a man, but two women wouldn’t happen. CHIKARA is a place where such a concept seems completely plausible. Del Rey & Haze are certainly talented wrestlers, and both bring attributes that allow them to be competitive with your general indy wrestler. Daizee brings quickness and the inability to give up, while Del Rey brings strength and toughness to the table.

It’s funny, because I’ve seen Death Rey a few times in person and she isn’t somebody I’d describe as a “big girl”. She’s got good height and she’s fit…but she’s not like a Big Bad Mama or a Bertha Faye type by any means, who were what I would consider big girls. I’ve known taller girls, and certainly heavier girls. But, compared to the vast majority of girls on the indy scene, she could be considered big. She’s probably taller than a good number of people on the CHIKARA roster, if I had to guess. I’d have to say she’s probably bigger than the members of the Colony. So if you combine her relative size and strength with the agility and quickeness of the Haze, you’ve got a pretty dangerous tag team on your hands. Tag team championship material? Why not? It’s CHIKARA, baby.

1 for 2.

Samuel Berman : BUY. As much as having the belts off of the Jacksons makes sense, I don’t think London has proven himself to be reliable enough to carry a title for PWG. I think it’s more likely that either the Dynasty of Joey Ryan & Scott Lost or a reunited Kings of Wrestling will take control of the tag straps with the Young Bucks on their way out of regular appearances on the Independent scene.

Steve Cook : SELL. TNA seems all right with letting their guys wrestle on PWG shows, and since three of these guys have appeared on Impact lately that doesn’t appear to be an issue. I would usually recommend that a team like London & Kendrick be used to put over your younger talent, but I think their holding the tag team titles would do a lot for the prestige of the straps. They were WWE tag team champions for a rather long time. Then when you have somebody beat them for the straps down the road, it’d do a heck of a lot for those guys’ careers, on an indy level if nothing else. I’d support having the Bucks beat them again later on after a series of matches…it’d certainly be entertaining from the perspective of most PWG fans.

1 for 3.

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Steve Cook : BUY. Austin Aries is the ROH Champion. Ergo, he is the best wrestler in the promotion. I always thought that the old ROH booking regime’s strategy of jobbing out their regular wrestlers to the Japanese wresters was pretty short-sighted. Yeah, it probably helped DVD sales, but wouldn’t putting your guys over the big Japanese stars once in awhile do more for future business? To their credit, they did figure that out around the time Go Shiozaki showed up. Aries, as the best wrestler in the promotion, shouldn’t be doing jobs on ROH shows unless it’s a situation to build up a future challenger. Jushin Liger doesn’t fit that requirement.

That being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the finish. But it’s what we’ve grown to expect from the current regime, and Aries’ character is a dickhead, so it worked in that regard. It wasn’t even the lamest job Liger’s done in North America…Juventud Guerrera beating him with a tequilla bottle for the IWGP junior heavyweight title on Nitro is pretty hard to top.

Samuel Berman : BUY. I’m not sure why any company would want its World Champion to lose to any outsider, regardless of the circumstances. The only reason for Liger to have gone over in a non-title setting would have been to set up Aries eventually beating him to retain the belt (think Danielson-KENTA in 2006). With Liger making a (theoretically) one-time-only appearance (I know he was in ROH in 2004, but you know what I mean), Aries should absolutely have gone over him. Plus, Liger is more than a bit past his prime at this point. His role in almost any Independent appearance should be to give the rub to the key up-and-coming talents.

2 for 4.

Steve Cook : SELL. Your top four seeds are Colt Cabana, Kevin Steen, Davey Richards & Kenny King. I could see any of these four men being the one to win the strap. Cabana’s an ROH staple and one of my favorite wrestlers, but most ROH fans don’t seem to buy into him as world championship material. The TV belt would be a nice gift to him for all he’s done with the company. Steen & Richards are both guys I can see as ROH World Champion in the future (even right now I wouldn’t see either guy as undeserving if they beat Aries) and either would be a good choice in my book. Both are solid hands that can have good matches with pretty much anybody. King fits in as a guy with a lot of potential…I’m not really sold on him yet, but a lot of people think he’s a future star. The TV belt could do big things for him.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I think that top-seeded Kevin Steen will walk with the title, with the first-time-in-ROH Steen vs. Generico match being the final bout of the tournament. As much as Steen vs. Generico would stand on its own, making their feud revolve around the TV Title and featuring it as a staple of the HDNet show will go a long way towards helping it stand out amongst the various ‘we were a tag team and now we’re feuding’ issues in ROH history (see also: Aries vs. Strong, Jacobs vs. Whitmer).

3 for 5.

Steve Cook : BUY. Yeah, if you read my News From Cook’s Corner column this past Wednesday you know that I think this is pretty much a joke and Gabe needs to find better ways to fill his time. To the best of my knowledge neither the Bucks or Richards had written contracts to appear on those shows, and at this time there’s more than enough advance notice for DGUSA fans to know that they won’t be appearing, and shouldn’t feel ripped off. As the company that the Bucks do have a contract with, TNA has the right to pull them from shows conflicting with other plans that the company has. The same goes for ROH in Richards’ case, though there have been reports that ROH was willing to let him work the shows as long as he could also work their shows that weekend. I just don’t see what Sapolsky’s argument is here, other than “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THEY STOLE MY TALENT”. It happens, man. That’s life in independent wrestling.

Samuel Berman : BUY. I’m buying because we’re not allowed to push. I have no idea what the legal issues involved are and anything I write here would be a completely uninformed guess.

4for 6!!

The 143rd edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 6 as these two tend to be more in agreement! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!