Column of Honor: 02.06.10: Chess Moves

Welcome to the Column. If you’re in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast I hope you are not snowed in, but if you are, grab a hot cup of coffee or cocoa and sit down and relax!

=Chess Moves =

A week later, threats of lawsuits and injunctions in the Davey Richards to Ring of Honor / Dragon Gate USA & Gabe Sapolsky situation concluded with no such resulting legal maneuvers. The silent competitive battle between the two pro wrestling companies blew up over the last week becoming very much a public “he said / it said / he said” situation and then, just as quickly has seemingly blown over and concluded its tumult. There were some very large bruising of egos, exposure of some private details (leaked no doubt by those involved in the story) and perhaps some lessons learned by all involved as to what it will mean to be involved in a larger and more prolonged competition between Sapolsky’s independent promotions and his former home company.

Meanwhile, Davey Richards cemented his place in ROH with a new contract and he and everyone involved was looking to move on, taking the next steps in the promotional battle that will happen during Wrestlemania weekend in Phoenix, Arizona.

Here’s what happened:

Davey Richards looked to be leaving Ring of Honor at the end of 2009, or at least he was moving his preference over to the Gabe Sapolsky booked Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE promotions. Richards didn’t have a business share of EVOLVE, but he was set to be the principal wrestler around which the promotion would be built and developed. These were strong incentives to favor these promotions over ROH and it certainly looked like that is exactly what was happening.

Sapolsky and his associates believed or were led to believe that Richards would soon be leaving ROH, but actually Richards’ ROH contract ran through April 2010. Richards wrote an email (which was first leaked to the Declaration of Independents website, likely by Sapolsky or someone close to him) to ROH owner Cary Silkin explaining his choice to take the Dragon Gate USA dates in Phoenix over the ROH shows. It was at that point that ROH looked into the possibility of legal proceedings or filing an injunction against Davey Richards and Dragon Gate USA to prevent Richards from appearing on those DGUSA shows.

In the email, Richards expressed his frustrations and concern with his treatment behind the scenes in ROH, citing a lack of communication or expressions of appreciation. Richards had elevated his in-ring game in 2009 and become one of ROH’s most important players. He and Eddie Edwards were often involved in the best match of the show, and at the least led the ROH World Tag Team division to great heights during the past year. Richards claimed he was still at the same per-show deal that he had originally agreed to three years ago, despite now being in a far more important position to the company and contributing far more value to the current shows and DVD products.

In professional sports, there is usually a period of salary renegotiation that follows when an athlete has gone above or beyond what is expected of him or her through excellent performance. It stands to reason that Richards felt he had a career year in ROH and that warranted at least a pay raise after three years of dedication to the promotion.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observerreported that Richards signed a new contract with ROH at the start of January 2010, raising his per show rate from $350 to $500, which was the same agreement he had with Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE.

Richards informed Gabe Sapolsky of the re-upping of the ROH contract and that he would have to finish up with Dragon Gate on their 1/22/10 Pay Per View taping (held in Chicago, IL). As reported by Meltzer: ” Sapolsky asked him to at least honor his commitments and work the Phoenix shows, which are the same weekend in the same city as ROH events. He went back-and- forth on it, saying yes. Dragon Gate did not want Richards beating Masaaki Mochizuki for the FIP title, since they thought he was leaving. Sapolsky convinced them to have their guy lose since Richards would then put over BxB Hulk in Phoenix in a title match that would give Hulk a big win. Then Richards told Sapolsky he wasn’t doing the show.”

Other reports have ROH allowing Richards to appear on those Phoenix DGUSA shows if he would also work the ROH shows on those same days. It is actually feasible for a wrestler to be booked to work both shows, as it is only a 15-25 minute drive from one venue to the other, meaning Richards could have worked the first half of one of the shows on March 26th and then the second half of the other show (ROH and DGUSA run again on March 27th, but with different start times). ROH was reportedly okay with this idea. Apparently Sapolsky was not, as he denied this story to PWInsider. This report was later confirmed as true by the Dragon Gate Japan office, though the offer was shut down. That brings us to last week when Sapolsky made the announcement that Richards would be off all future DGUSA and EVOLVE shows.

Dragon Gate USA also claimed that Richards deliberately misinformed them about his contract status with ROH as a negotiating tactic for a better contract with ROH, although this was later denied by Richards. His written response noted that: “The idea I used someone as leverage for a better money deal is sad and just plain wrong. There is no money in indy wrestling!” Richards also continued to put over EVOLVE and advocated that wrestling fans continue to support that company. However, Richards also noted that he couldn’t fight “someone else’s war any longer”, indicating that from at least his perspective he was the one caught in the middle of the promotional battle between Sapolsky’s companies and ROH, as opposed to Sapolsky being the man in the middle of a contract negotiation between Richards and ROH.

Nothing as yet is known about Richard’s future with FIP, as their current champion, other than he was also pulled off their show in March. Given Sapolsky’s close ties with Sal Hamoui, the owner of FIP, it is probable to believe that Richards will not be long for that promotion either.

In making this decision to re-sign with ROH, Richards is also cutting ties with the main Dragon Gate promotion in Japan. Richards is reported to have received bookings with New Japan for their upcoming Super Juniors tournament. This results from New Japan doesn’t necessarily like that Dragon Gate has grown in popularity and attendance figures in Japan over the years, and they looked at this as a way of taking away a name American talent from their next tour.

Earlier in the week, Sapolsky and DGUSA were looking into legal action against Richards and ROH, as well as against TNA for their taking away Generation Me (formerly The Young Bucks) from the Phoenix shows. The Bucks now have TNA contracts and TNA has used their discretion to prevent them from appearing. Sapolsky was using the reasoning that these men agreed verbally to appear on these shows, that this was interference with oral contracts. However, by the end of the week, Sapolsky and DGUSA had backed off that idea, mostly because they wouldn’t have much of a leg to stand on legally (especially given Richards already had a written contract with ROH) and the court costs would likely offset any viable gains they would have even if they won the dispute. (Breaking News Note: DGUSA and TNA came to an agreement last night that will allow the Young Bucks to make their final appearances for that promotion at the Phoenix shows)

As far as how DGUSA tried to frame this situation as Davey Richards “using” DGUSA and Evolve for leverage, it’s doubtful he would purposefully try to screw over Gabe / DGUSA / EVOLVE. Richards had been essentially jobbed out in ROH ever since October, losing the tag titles, losing high profile matches on the television show, etc. ROH was obviously pushing back on Richards for his involvement in DGUSA / EVOLVE and sending a message with him losing. Richards wanted to work for both promotions, but ultimately had to choose one.

Were Davey Richards’ actions morally or ethically correct? There could be an endless discussion of the merits of doing business or fulfilling your obligations or jobbing out on the way out. The apparent facts are that Richards offered to pull a double shift for that weekend and DGUSA was the company that rejected that offer. There are obviously some more classy and “professional” ways to go about closing out your time with a company, but ultimately each side made a business decision and must have felt it was the best decision for their side. It is highly doubtful that this was anything personal against Sapolsky from the part of Richards (although it would have to be somewhat personal between Gabe and Cary Silkin and Adam Pearce given all that happened with the booking switch in October 2008).

Wrestling politics isn’t pretty. It’s easy to sympathize with Gabe Sapolsky in that Richards played an important role in DGUSA and was going to be a crucial to EVOLVE. Now Sapolsky is going to have to scramble to think of some back-up plans for that promotion. However, it’s also easy to be taken aback at Sapolsky’s naiveté that ROH wouldn’t do something to strike back at his company for going head-to-head with them during Wrestlemania weekend.

Initially it was Sapolsky that took Richards away from ROH for that weekend and the Young Bucks as well before they signed with TNA. He advertised them as “exclusive” for that weekend, showing up ROH and throwing it in their face that he had someone incredibly valuable to them locked up on a weekend that was very important to them. This past week Sapolsky announced Jack Evans as an exclusive for those shows, just months after Evans’ appearance for ROH. So the “promotional battle” is on both sides here, and it’s not just ROH firing shots here.

During a Figure 4 Weekly / Wrestling Observer Online radio interview last month, Sapolsky flat-out said that he hoped ROH would try to engage his companies in a promotional war because competition was better for everyone. How did he not anticipate ROH responding? Why didn’t he negotiate a written contract with Richards locked into some sort of written contract?

Ultimately this is one up for ROH, which is something they sorely needed right now. Richards may not look good right now because of how he pulled off this decision, but fans will move past it or have already moved passed it, especially once they see him pulling out amazing matches again.

While bits and pieces of the Richards situation were revealed throughout the week, both ROH and DGUSA were already making their next moves for their major shows. They began to confirm and announce new talents for the Wrestlemania weekend shows. ROH also began to add onto their “Big Bang” show in Charlotte that takes place on April 3rd, just one week after those major shows. Each promotion’s acquisitions reveal the strategy and thinking behind what they each seek to bring to the table. In some ways, the move-for-move battle begins to resemble a chess match between the two sides. One side takes a pawn, the other takes a pawn, one side a bishop, maybe a knight and so on. It would be naïve to think the announcements and surprises are over on either side, or that these sets of shows and the issue over Davey Richards will be isolated incidents. I am sure that there will be more movement on either side—more signings and talent agreements, perhaps even more talents switching from one side to another. The game of chess has many moves, and right now both ROH and DGUSA are in the early stages of the game, feeling the other out, taking the pieces they can and plotting the long term strategy many moves ahead.

Both promotions reached to the world of Lucha Libre to add to their shows. ROH already had planned on bringing in luchadores, mostly independents from the Mexico scene. ROH already announced Blue Demon Jr. and Cassandro would appear for their Big Bang iPPV. It was Dragon Gate that made the next move, signing AAA wrestlers (and ROH alumni) Jack Evans as well as LA Park and El Hijo de Rey Misterio Jr. for their Phoenix shows.

Evans had already appeared for ROH this past December (in quite the controversial appearance), so for DGUSA to lock up Evans as a weekend exclusive again shows that the chess battle is not one-sided. Controversy seems to follow Evans and his partner-in-crime Teddy Hart (at this point not booked or at least not announced) and given the aftermath of their appearance during ROH Final Battle 2009 it was plausible they would make at least one more appearance with ROH, even if just as a make good for their late arrival due to the bad weather.

LA Park is the man formerly known as La Parka in WCW (unable to use that name due to legal issues). Years have gone by since that major mainstream spotlight, but fans do remember him from those days, where he was a guilty pleasure due to his outlandish taunts and the use of a chair which he brought to the ring (from which he was given the moniker of “Chairman of the Board”. The years haven’t been all too kind for LA Park, as he has gotten older and doesn’t have as much spring in his step. Still, it was a pretty big get for DGUSA and a larger name than anyone ROH has signed from that genre of pro grappling perhaps with exception of Cassandro.

Meanwhile, ROH continued to add on their own Lucha stockpile, confirming Super Park (who is an older luchador himself and according to “Dr. Lucha” Steve Sims, is a bit of a hot head) and Magno for the April 3rd Charlotte show. Magno is a solid luchador, making appearances for both CHIKARA and ROH in the past year and presenting some very solid, very entertaining dives and passes in the ring. ROH is releasing these names one at a time in order to continue the build for their show as this huge crossover between the company and Lucha Libre.

Both promotions also continued to secure more names for their Phoenix shows, each using their strong points. DGUSA is bringing in more wrestlers from the home base of Japan, including rare United States appearances for GAMMA, Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Yokosuka, plus the usual major Dragon Gate names that have appeared for the previous shows such as CIMA and Naruki Doi. They even have confirmed the appearances of Jimmy Jacobs (who left ROH last year, to their detriment) and teasing another “extreme” surprise, which should mean another appearance for Tommy Dreamer. They even have booked Sonjay Dutt, who appeared for ROH as recently as this month on its HDNet television show. DGUSA is using its connections to talent and bringing in more of their Japanese talent in order to strengthen and solidify their shows. Plus it’s still “sticking it” in whatever way it can to ROH by using some of their former talent for their own pursuits (which again, nothing wrong with that and it should be expected to happen).

ROH has confirmed some of the West Coast and more familiar PWG talent that appeared for their Wrestle Reunion 4 convention show. This includes Scorpio Sky, Human Tornado and Scott Lost. They also continue to reinforce their Canada shows with more Canadian talent, including the returns of Petey Williams, Tyson Dux (who had a solid but not spectacular match against Tyler Black during Death Before Dishonor VII Night 2), The House of Truth and the Super Smash Brothers to the roster list for those shows. It seems as if ROH’s plan is to strengthen their roster lineups with the bigger independent names currently available as well as those who have proven successful for their specific market. This is good, solid strategy for booking the shows. Fans have more incentive to purchase tickets when the already known independent talent is added onto the line-up. They will want to watch these wrestlers, especially since these above mentioned names have a good measure of popularity and familiarity on the West Coast. There is also the chance to fill out the undercard and mid-card with stronger matches and better combinations of wrestlers, which is a really good value to have especially with these big event shows.

Now talented wrestlers such as Lost and Sky are receiving their huge break in ROH. It is unknown how many future bookings the West Coast talent will get once ROH breaks off from running the West Coast (or as close as they can get to it) and follows its more normal and routine circuit, but great performances should help to warrant more appearances by these wrestlers.

The chess battle between the two companies will continue as each will begin to move towards match announcements and fitting all the talent together for the best possible matches they can present. There could still be a surprise or two on either side. Ultimately though, each promotion must concentrate on bettering its promotion through its own storylines and booking of talent. If ROH or Dragon Gate USA become too caught up in a competition of “anything you can do, I can do better” or “who can top this?”, they may forget what’s truly important, which is putting out the best possible wrestling show for their audience. Once that is set up, the rest usually falls into place.

Counting down my personal favorite wrestlers and moments of the past week in wrestling—an ALL-EXCLAMATION POINT edition:

1. Bret Hart & Vince McMahon Have At It!: While some felt their first meeting had an anti-climatic feel to it (I personally enjoyed all of Bret’s initial return and was awestruck at seeing both pairings of Hart / Michaels and Hart / McMahon in the ring), this second time out was a line drive home-run. Both men laid into each other with incredibly stiff verbal slings and arrows, and then when Vince took his comments about Stu Hart too far, Bret let his fists fly. It was amazing television, including the sharpshooter tease (which is THE big spot everyone is waiting for and will likely take place at Wrestlemania XXVI regardless of how the angle manifest itself, through a singles or tag match or just a final “confrontation”—ROH fans, think CM Punk vs. Ricky Steamboat from 2004).

Bret Hart once again was completely believable in the role of the Bret “The Hitman” Hart character, now an aging veteran who was screwed by the system and is bucking himself up enough to return for closure. He is finding it won’t come easy, but is making his own way to that goal, still true to his virtues. The Hart-McMahon Part Two face-off may have worked even better if the end result had occurred the first time out. Now, they’re incorporating wrestlers who have longer-term futures in WWE over the next several years and can use the rub given by this program and add to their overall legacies in the promotion. Batista coming out likely ties himself to John Cena (who backed Bret Hart last week) for Wrestlemania and that’s fine because I like the idea of Bret and Vince either teaming up with these guys or having them as surrogates. It limits each man’s physical involvement and ups the dramatic value of when Hart and McMahon actually get in the ring against each other on that night, plus it puts Cena and Batista over as the current stars who will benefit from their inclusion in the angle.

2. Eric Bischoff & Mick Foley Have At It!: Amazingly, there was a promo war on TNA that actually rivaled the passion, pathos and drama of the Hart / McMahon exchange. Bischoff and Foley have a long standing history with each other (with Bischoff being responsible for forcing Tony Schiavone to reveal to the world that Foley was winning the title on Raw and guffawing about how it would “put butts in seats”, when it fact it actually did put butts in seats). So while there isn’t so much a real “grudge” (as both have worked with each other many times over during their stays in WWE), in terms of kayfabe, they brought a huge amount of believability and intrigue when discussing what Bischoff has or hasn’t learned from his days in WCW and applying that to the new regime in TNA. Foley didn’t want to do business with Bischoff and threatened to walk out, but for the future of close friends Jeremy Borash and Abyss, whom Bischoff held power over their future. There was some very gripping wrestling storytelling, as you’d expect in a Foley promo. Every so often, Foley restores your faith in him through these fantastic dramatic monologues and promos. While it’s clear his best days in the ring are long since behind him, there is no doubt he can still play a vital role within professional wrestling.

I also have to give Foley much credit for giving half of his advance royalties for his upcoming book “Countdown to Lockdown” to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. You can read more about Foley’s work with RAINN here.

3. Samoa Joe, Ric Flair, AJ Styles & The Pope Have At It!: Lo and behold, but Samoa Joe is at the precipice of being revitalized in TNA and all it took was for someone to give him the mic and let Joe be Joe. Reminds me of when Ric Flair would not be given the mic for promos for weeks on end in WWE and then he would finally get the chance, he would bust out an incredibly memorable speech that reminded you exactly why he was one of the very best wrestlers of all-time. Flair is a tricky subject for me these daus, because I don’t like the decisions the man has made when it comes to doing business in wrestling (i.e. sticking it to ROH and Highspots, etc.) but I have always been a fan of the television character that I have watched for twenty-five years. There is just something innately compelling about Flair being “The Nature Boy” that even now make it worthwhile to watch and see what he does or says next. AJ Styles can only benefit from learning about the ins and outs of wrestling from him (not so much the personal life decisions though) and Pope, for getting the pin on the current TNA Champion and maintaining a good presence in the company despite being pinballed around with wins and losses is helped out through his interactions with everyone else during this program.

4. The Kip Up is Reversed!: For years on end Shawn Michaels has telegraphed his comeback in a match with the flying forearm and kip up that follows. It’s a rallying point for his fans, his own version of “Hulking Up”, so to speak. In the over eight years since his return, it’s amazing that NO ONE thought of taking advantage of HBK in the several seconds it takes to recoup and make that kip up move…that is until now, when Randy Orton fought Michaels in a qualifying round for the Elimination Chamber. As Michaels was set to make the comeback, Orton perfectly timed a reversal of the kip up, turning it into a pinning roll-up for the three-count. A wonderfully inspired finish that not only gave Orton some shine going into the big title match at the PPV in two weeks, but also furthered the near psychotic break-down of Shawn Michaels (the character) as he cannot cope with his mounting losses and his goal of fighting The Undertaker once more at Wrestlemania seems to slip farther away from him. I can’t wait to see what happens with HBK next.

5. William Shatner Sings WWE Themes!: It was perhaps one of the most obvious skits to do with Shatner as he appeared as this week’s Raw Guest GM, but even still, his Shatnerized renditions of WWE theme songs had me rolling off my chair. So amazing—starting at a high point with the Shawn Michaels theme song and peaking for the Rey Mysterio “Booyaka, Booyak… Boo…yaka!” I would buy a real CD or iTunes album of Shatnerized WWE theme songs, well…at least I would buy that long before laying down the dough for WWE The Music Volume 10.

As of 02/06/10

ROH World Champion: Austin Aries (champion since 06/13/09, 13 successful defenses)

–defeated Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn on June 13th, 2009 in a Three-Way Elimination Match in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Tyler Black (New York, NY on 02/13/10)

–Austin Aries defeated Nigel McGuinness in Chicago Ridge, IL on 6/27/09
–Austin Aries defeated Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn, & Nigel McGuinness in Toronto, Ontario on 7/24/09
–Austin Aries defeated Grizzly Redwood in Philadelphia, PA on 8/14/09
–Austin Aries defeated Alex Payne in Philadelphia, PA on 8/15/09
–Austin Aries defeated Bryan Danielson in Philadelphia, PA on 8/15/09
–Austin Aries defeated Bryan Danielson in Chicago Ridge, IL on 9/19/09
–Austin Aries defeated Petey Williams by countout in New York, NY on 9/26/09
–Austin Aries defeated Delirious in Collinsville, IL on 10/9/09
–Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards, Kenny Omega, & Roderick Strong in Philadelphia, PA on 11/5/09
–Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards in Novi, MI on 11/13/09
–Austin Aries defeated Kenny Omega in Mississauga, Ontario on 11/14/09
–Austin Aries defeated Colt Cabana in a Steel Cage Match in Chicago Ridge, IL on 12/5/09
–Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black ended in a 60 minute time limit draw in New York, NY on 12/19/09

ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) (champions since 12/19/09, 1 successful defense)

defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) on December 19th, 2009 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Dark City Fight Club (New York, NY on 02/13/10)

–Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The Young Bucks in Philadelphia, PA on 1/9/10

Pick 6 Series
Rankings as of: 02/01/10
1. Claudio Castagnoli
2. Kevin Steen
3. Chris Hero
4. Kenny King
5. Tyler Black
6. Roderick Strong

The Pick 6 Series matches scheduled for February 5/6, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA are as follows:

2/5 – (3) Chris Hero versus Jay Briscoe
2/6 – (1) Claudio Castagnoli versus Mark Briscoe

-You can check out results of the ROH WrestleReunion 4 show from LA here, and some really nice pictures from that event, the PWG show and the convention as a whole are available through this link.

-Apparently Human Tornado spontaneously retired from wrestling yesterday, announcing it through his Facebook page. He was scheduled to appear at the HDNet television tapings and at the Eighth Anniversary Show. He did not appear last night and has been pulled from the line-up for New York City. Just a puzzling series of events, as once again Tornado was set to make a longer run in ROH and perhaps up his profile in the professional wrestling world. More as it develops.

-I am completely fine, by the way, with Austin Aries defeating Jushin “Thunder” Liger on that show. In the first place, the decision for Liger to lose and the entire finish was wholly the idea of Liger, so if you get a great Japanese legend willing to put himself under for the benefit of the (relative) hometown (home country) champion, then you go with it. It also would have made Tyler Black look totally ridiculous and emasculated him further (even more so than after the entire year of near-misses he’s had in attempting to win the ROH World Title) if Jushin Liger was able to defeat Aries in just one match while he couldn’t do it in his multiple opportunities. That’s about the last thing Black and ROH would need when they have Black and Aries slotted one more time for the Eighth Anniversary Show next week. Aries going over not only puts over Aries as a talented wrestler and worthy of his championship, it also puts him over a respected legend of the wrestling ring and furthers the perception of him as champion and his momentum as a dominant presence in the promotion heading into his next set of marquee matches.

-Ring of Honor continued to make the right moves this week in terms of business and good public relations with the wrestling audience. WWE pushed back yesterday’s scheduled show at the Wacovia Center in Philadelphia due to concerns over the snowstorm heading up through the Northeast. Ring of Honor, plowed ahead (gotta love that pun) and ran their first set of television tapings last night. Apparently they are fearless of all snowstorms despite a history filled with shows being changed around due to talent having problems arriving to the show because of snow and inclement weather conditions. Anyway, ROH did the “nice” or “right” or “smart” or “shrewd business” thing last night when they gave word they would accept and honor tickets from the WWE show and give them free admission to the television tapings. So fans can go see a ROH show for free and then go see their scheduled WWE show one week later.

I have to give it up to ROH for making this decision—it’s a virtual win-win. As ROH often gives away free tickets to the tapings, they aren’t necessarily losing any more money than normal for running these tapings and giving away free admission. Plus, ROH is running some very important shows this weekend, holding their Television Title tournament and no doubt featuring and spotlighting the talent who will be consistently appearing on their show throughout the next few months. They are also advertising the television show and the product as whole. It’s a terrific play whether they gained five or fifty or more who were curious and wanting enough of professional wrestling to attend the show that night. If they impressed those people, perhaps they gained some new fans who will check out more ROH action in the future, whether it’s on the television show or through the DVDs. If not, well, they didn’t really lose anything in the deal either. They also look good here, very fan friendly, and they could sure use plenty of that amid all of the debate and discussion in the aftermath of the Final Battle 2009 main event or the situation between Richards and Dragon Gate USA.

-Making their way into the ROH Television Title Tournament semi-finals are Kevin Steen, Kenny King, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards. The brackets line-up as: Steen vs. Edwards; King vs. Richards. The semi-finals and finals will be taped on tonight’s show, assuming it goes on as planned (and it’s looking like it will go on as planned). Also, as anticipated, Shawn Daivari returned to ROH, forsaking his former gimmicks from TNA and WWE as foreign infidels or…something. Click here for more results from the Friday tapings.

-It looks like WWE is getting the “E” out, given the announcement of the end of their version of ECW and the beginning of WWE NXT as the replacement on Syfy. So for certain, what we know is that they and WW CNT SPLL.

-Rey Mysterio was rocking the shiny tights with black and neon green in his match during this past week’s Smackdown. Tribute to Delirious? That’d be a heck of a neat dream match.

-By the way, Punk vs. Batista on that Smackdown was a ****1/2 Match of the Year classic. Go and YouTube it right now, it’s worth it just for Punk’s EPIC WIN celebration.

Thank god Richards signed some sort of exclusive deal with ROH. He was way too overexposed in the last few months of 2010, with him showing up on almost every big indy promotion’s DVDs. He’ll likely get the World Title push now that fans have been clamoring for ever since they turned on Black.

Posted By: Guest#4757 (Guest) on January 30, 2010 at 02:12 PM

I’m not sure over exposure, or just added exposure in generally was necessarily a negative for Richards at this point in his career. Given that Danielson in his time on the independent scene (and this goes for many other wrestlers) would have appeared in multiple independent promotions (that is how they make their living, after all), I don’t think it’s unfair for Richards to do the same. I think the added feelings of overexposure for independent workers these days come from the extra and added coverage many independent are receiving on the internet. 411Mania covers ROH, PWG, CHIKARA and many other independent promotions. Pro Wrestling Ponderings is doing an almost exhaustive coverage of the independent scene, including the smaller indy companies. Added coverage and added spotlight means these wrestlers have their names mentioned and written about more often, which hastens those feelings of over exposure. It’s a Catch-22, because that’s how wrestlers make their name these days, but also can burn them if fans get tired of hearing how all-great and mighty they are in the ring.

Just throwing it out there…Evolve is fucked.

Posted By: Jason (Guest) on January 30, 2010 at 12:54 PM

I actually think that EVOLVE still has a reasonable chance for success. Already Sapolsky has adjusted his advertisements and direction for the promotion—he is looking not to concentrate on just one wrestler, but to focus on differentiating the style and in-ring product. Ultimately that is the smart move, because if they can truly find and concentrate on what makes them different from ROH, PWG or any other independent promotion, the better chance they have of surviving and continuing to run shows. As far as when Davey wins any ROH title, that remains to be seen, but the chances of it happening certainly have to improve greatly now that ROH knows he is committed to them. A company is far more likely to get behind a wrestler when they know he or she is ready to seriously contribute to the company.

Uh, I really hope this doesn’t signal an immediate push towards the World title for Richards as the above suggest.

Posted By: Chungles (Guest) on January 30, 2010 at 07:40 PM

Don’t get me wrong, because I really do like Aries as ROH World Champion, but I wouldn’t mind a “shock” or sudden change like one where Xavier unseated Low Ki, errr, well, maybe I can find a better example…when Morishima defeated Homicide…hmm, well…no that doesn’t work either.

Still, I think giving the fans what they want, by striking while the iron is hot, isn’t that bad of an idea. The best example I can give is when Samoa Joe won the ROH World Title, even though Xavier had held the belt for five months already, Joe was just starting to become someone the fans could see as the ROH World Champion and that’s when they pulled the trigger on the change. I think that’s where ROH had trouble with Black, by not giving him the title when his wave of popularity was very high. I’d hope ROH doesn’t miss the boat on its talents, including Richards. Even though it seems obvious Richards will win a title, doesn’t make it a bad thing. Especially if the fans want it enough, although to be honest, ROH fans are sending mixed signals because it’s apparent they also feel this way about Roderick Strong.

Do you think it’s possible that ROH got some help from HDNet to make him exclusive? As mentioned in previous columns, Davey considered hiimself freelance until a company could afford him full-time. Granted they’re rumours, but there has been talk of ROH going through a rought finanacial patch. How could they afford him so suddenly? If HDNet did chip in, then I would make my bet that he would become TV Champ. It would also mean that Richards would become the face of the television show, defending it every week or so. That builds him with the TV audience in the proper respect to make his (inevitable, now) ROH Title run.

Posted By: Guest#7747 (Guest) on January 31, 2010 at 12:00 AM

It’s possible that HDNet helped ROH with some money, but I’d doubt it, considering Mark Cuban has stayed away from adding money to the company in the past. I think it’s possible that ROH believes it can swing the difference in pay through other financial arraignments. I believe Richards as either a TV champion or World champion would be great but I’m thinking the TV champ is more feasible. It would give Richards a consistent platform to show off his in-ring ability, provide competitive matches and excellent main events against other ROH wrestlers and perhaps make the title as prestigious in the fan’s minds as the World title, much like Rob Van Dam did with the ECW Television Title from 1998-2000.

Am I the only one who wants Eddie Edwards to win the TV Title?I mean what is the guy to do once the Wolves is over (which I don’t approve of)?Perhaps he’s more ever than he’s ever been thanks to the Wolves and his performance at Glory By Honor and while Richards gets groomed for the World Title, having the TV title can show that Eddie can survive on his own and that the hunt is indeed still on.And if not Eddie, of course King.

Posted By: Teddy (Guest) on January 31, 2010 at 01:57 AM

Edwards as TV champion works as well. He could use the title to elevate himself, although I don’t think the quality of title matches would be on the same level as Richards as champion. Perhaps, one or the other winning the title is the impetus for a break-up of the team and for a chase for the title (although perhaps doing that as the same time as Generico vs. Steen would be unwise). Edwards should actually be able to land on his feet in the case of a Wolves break-up, as I believe he has proven himself to the fans enough that he could feasibly go in any number of directions and fans would be interested in seeing where it goes.

Richards shouldn’t have publically committed himself to Evolve if he was still entertaining the idea of resigning with ROH. Now he looks like he was just using it to get what he wanted from ROH. Good way to build a build a bad rep when you’re still young in the business.

Posted By: nomark (Guest) on February 01, 2010 at 07:45 AM

See my comments above-again, it may not be the most ethical situation, but it’s hard to judge someone caught in a situation like that. Richards perhaps cost himself some business or world title opportunities in other promotions as a guest commenter suggested last week, but maybe the career advancement he receives while in ROH will be enough to offset it. At the least we know that Davey is still being booked in PWG, so I doubt it will be too much of a hit, if any.

Head on over to TwitterNation and follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.

Aaron Hubbard has this week’s ROH on HDNet report, with the marquee main event of Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong. Check out his 4R’s on the subject as well.

This week’s 411 Buy or Sell cover Aries vs. Liger among other issues around the independent scene.

Many apologies to Steve Cook for apparently cutting his head off with a sword in the 411 Imperial Rumble. I actually didn’t know I knew how to use a sword. I’m not a bad guy, I was just written that way. Fear my Bear Claw!

Kevin Ford is back with more of the CHIKARA Special and unless you know the reversal to that hold, you MUST read the column!

Meanwhile, Mike Campbell is an awesome man for quoting me in his teaser and I will plug his review of CHIKARA Revelation X.

That will do it this week for the column. Next week I preview the Eighth Anniversary Show in New York City and look back at eight years of Honor. As always, thanks for reading and feedback is appreciated! Stay safe in the snow and enjoy UFC 109 or Super Bowl XXIV if you’re watching.

WHO DAT?
BROOKLYN!
–Ari–