411’s Buy or Sell 7.07.10: Prince Devitt Continues to Roll, Steen and Generico Square Off Again, Kaz Hyashi Ready to Break Records, and More!!!

Samuel Berman: SELL. I think DGUSA has actually done a fantastic job of hyping this contest and has created legitimate intrigue with the newly announced inclusion of Jon Moxley into the match. I’m personally very excited to see why Mike Quackenbush is pushing for a delay in the final team announcements, and frankly, given the previous efforts from CHIKARA regulars in DGUSA, think the match will be excellent regardless of the final combinations.

Steve Cook : SELL. There’s no such thing as overdoing hype if you’re an independent wrestling promotion. The WWEs of the world can afford to sit back and let the money roll in on even their lesser shows that they don’t need to put much hype into. And the show that they hype the most every year, WrestleMania, ends up being their biggest-drawing show of the year. DGUSA is critically accepted, but needs to hype themselves more to get a presence with a larger fanbase. Personally, I’m not huge on hype, but in this case it needs to be done…and the CHIKARA boys are usually pretty good at living up to it.

1 for 1.

Steve Cook : SELL. I say this only because I would assume that NJPW would prefer that their “face” be Japanese. This is where my puro ignorance comes back to bite me, because I’m not all that familiar with Devitt’s work. I just have to hope that good ol’ fashioned jingoism is alive and well in Japan, and judging from their reaction at MMA shows to fighters I’m pretty sure that it is.

Samuel Berman: SELL. Does Devitt have the chance to become the new face of NJPW’s Junior Heavyweight division? Yes. But the new face of the company? No chance. First of all, I don’t think that Shinsuke Nakamura or Hiroshi Tanahashi is going anywhere anytime soon, and Hirooki Goto is probably right on their heels anyway. The big Japanese companies tend to draw a line between the heavyweights and the juniors, and with a couple of notable exceptions (see: Marufuji, Naomichi) it’s rare for a guy Devitt’s size to be the real ace of a company overall.

2 for 2.

Samuel Berman: SELL. I have no clue whatsoever what the record is, but a blind guess would be Hayashi approaching it, having held the AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Title since February of 2009. That said, a bit of research shows that Masanobu Fuchi had a reign of 1309 days at one point, a full two years longer than Hayashi’s current reign. I’m not sure how many defenses either man made, but I would most certainly bet on Hayashi not getting within a year of Fuchi’s record for length of time holding the belt.

Steve Cook : SELL. I see the winner of the All Japan Junior Heavyweight League being the man to finally knock Hayashi off his throne. I’m not an All Japan expert, but the opinion I’ve read online indicates that Kaz’s title reign hasn’t exactly been a success from a creative or an in-ring standpoint. I liked Kaz all right in WCW when he was buying Glacier’s gimmick,but that was a very, very long time ago. All Japan needs to build their future stars, and putting a younger wrestler over Hayashi sooner rather than later seems like an intelligent move.

3 for 3.

Steve Cook : BUY Unless Kong is heading to WWE or even back to TNA anytime soon, I’d forecast ROH having Kong win the rematch, and then having the third match at a later date to settle the score. Glory by Honor, perhaps. Of course, I think that Death Rey should win all of her matches, but in this instance it’s smart to have Kong get the duke and build up the rubber match.

Samuel Berman: BUY. I don’t think Kong loses twice in a row. Period. Not going to happen. Del Rey has already proven she can beat Kong, but if Kong is the Vader to Del Rey’s Sting, it’s important that the unstoppable monster get the win at least some of the time.

4 for 4.

Samuel Berman: SELL. I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say that Strong goes through the weekend winless, and that Cabana will pick up the duke over the perennial top contender. Strong has been pushed as a top rival to Tyler Black for much of his reign, but I think ROH would be wise to move some others into that slot for the duration of the Summer, especially if the plan is to eventually move the belt onto Strong. Rather than having Roderick lose another title match earned as a part of the Pick 6, have him move out of contendership for a few months and into a separate feud. Then come the Fall, he can move back into a contendership role and go on to win the belt around Final Battle 2010.

Steve Cook : BUY . I suck at predicting ROH matches, but the concept of Aries > Strong > Cabana makes sense to me. Aries needs to get back in the title picture because he’s the Greatest Man That Ever Lived, though I for one have had enough of Aries & Strong getting title matches as long as Black is still champion…unless Strong is the one to beat Black. That being said, I see Aries winning.

4 for 5.

Steve Cook : BUY. I can see why they’re doing it, because they probably need to sell some tickets in Collinsville…but I would have waited until after Steen got his title shot against Tyler Black in Chicago. Then if Steen ends up winning the title, Generico has to get into the Pick 6 to get a match with him, which draws out the feud more and gets some fan interest in Generico’s matches to get into the Pick 6. Not that Steen is necessarily winning the title, but if I was fantasy booking that’s what I’d do.

Samuel Berman: SELL. Why? Plenty of feuds have the principals fight on nearly every show. Steen and Generico’s singles matchup was delayed for months to build suspense, but now having them be at each others’ throats constantly seems appropriate given the nature of their issue. Generico should be lobbying to face Steen at every possible opportunity.

4 for 6!!

The 164th edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 4 for 6 as these two go agreed on everything to start, then couldn’t agree on much after that! Stay tuned for next week as two new people step up to the plate on Buy or Sell!