411’s Buy or Sell 07.01.11: ROH Best in the World fallout, Adam Pearce Takes One Last Ride, Rhino, More

Aaron Frame: BUY – In my opinion, damn straight. I’ve been waiting for this day for a while now. It’s even been said by him that ultimately the goal is to become the ROH World Champion. A lot of ROH fans were pulling for him to win. A lot of people in the back wanted to see him win. Davey truly is one of the best on the indie circuit right now and what’s better for him then to win the ROH title at an iPPV called Best in the World? And not just that but he’s pretty much holding the top title on the indie circuit. Well, I guess that depends on viewpoint. I guess some would say the NWA title has more prestige but it’s up to personal belief and opinion, I say. Davey has proven time and time again that he is more than capable of being the ROH champion. Whether it be him putting on great matches or doing some pretty good promo’s. Considering what’s going on in ROH and who would be able to hold the title and what they’re involved with, Davey was the #1 choice. And I look forward to a lot of back and forth with him and Eddie Edwards.

Patrick O’Dowd: BUY – First of all, I don’t think there could have been an incorrect decision as to who won the match. Eddie and Davey have been the top two singles wrestlers in the company for the better part of a year. That being said, Davey winning is a tidy decision that wrapped up a small angle. (Davey said at one point if he didn’t win the title in his next attempt he would retire, although later he did back away from that statement some.) In addition, Davey has been the fan favorite to win the belt almost from the moment Roderick Strong’s reign began. By all reports the fans reacted very positive to the match and Davey’s victory. Finally, while I would have been fine with Eddie retaining I do think Davey is the more appropriate champ heading into the television era for ROH. Davey is a little bit more charismatic on the microphone and carries a sort of bad ass attitude that will immediately make him a credible champ that I think a television audience will love.

1 for 1.

Patrick O’Dowd: SELL – My heart really wants to buy this. In fact, I have agreed with idea of Edwards and Richards trading the belt when it has been mentioned in some of the 411 podcasts. However, in the nine plus year history of ROH only one man has won the title twice, Austin Aries. It is has just not been in the company’s nature to crown repeat world champions. What has been in the company’s history are lengthy title runs. Out of the company’s fifteen champions, seven had title runs of approximately six months or longer, both of Aries’ runs were in that neighborhood, which makes eight total title reigns of approximately six months. I think it is more likely that Richards defends the title into the television era for ROH for a significant period of time and a new challenger emerges that we may not have seen previously.

Aaron Frame: BUY – I say buy because why wouldn’t you try to recapture that magic one more time? That was easily a 5 star match and could be a top contender for MotY. I’m not just stroking my ROH-indie-love-ego, I’m just being down right honest. To any true wrestling fan that match was spectacular and many would want to see it one more time. Maybe even a third time in a gimmick match. Er, I take that back, a gimmick match would ruin the magic and chemistry between the two. Maybe. If it was a cage match or something I could see it being a hell of a good show. But back to the actual point, it would be stupid not to have them face off one more time. To me, it just makes sense that Eddie will be the first person to step up and take it back. And this can set up for a couple good matches down the road. I just think that it shouldn’t bounce back and forth. I really think that Eddie should get a re-match. He’ll lose that re-match and Davey will continue on defending against a couple other guys. Then a few months later, say 6-9, Eddie finally gets another match and takes it back. That’s just what I would like to see, but these things aren’t up to me and most likely it’ll be someone else they’re trying to establish as a ROH main event guy or someone as a transitional champ because Davey and Eddie moved on to bigger things. The latter I doubt, but it would be cool to see these guys on a bigger stage.

1 for 1.

Aaron Frame: SELL – It’s a tough choice as Claudio and Hero are two guys who are really talented and actually have a pretty good look. With that statement it looks more like I’m thinking they’ll be picked up by a bigger company. But that might not even be the case, they could easily just leave ROH and pursue their careers with PWG, CHIKARA or even in Japan. But when you think about it, these guys are trying to make a living and I’d say they may just stay where the guaranteed money would be. Might be a stretch to say there’s more guaranteed money in ROH than doing multiple indie dates, but I think it’d be more of a solid income seeing as how ROH is signing people to contracts now. But the one thing that almost makes me say buy is the fact that both men are pretty successful outside of ROH and could easily give up being in ROH. I mean hell, Claudio is the PWG champion. Er, unless I missed out on him losing it. I have a habit of missing things these days. But in the end, I think KoW will remain with ROH. Just seems right to me.

Patrick O’Dowd: BUY – As of this writing, we are looking at six months to year’s end and that is a lot of time. Add to that the rumors that the Kings of Wrestling are being courted by the WWE and the fact they are still not under any sort of contract with ROH at the moment; it seems likely that Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli are heading north. As a tag team in ROH, I am not sure what more they can do. The Kings have created every bit the legacy that other established teams in ROH have created (see Briscoes, the). Unless they are looking at a pair of serious singles pushes in ROH, why not move on if the offer is there?

1 for 3.

Patrick O’Dowd: BUY – I find this to be an interesting question because I was unaware that Rhino would be a poor worker/contributor to ROH. He was horribly underutilized in TNA, as he seemed to fall victim to bigger names entering the company and taking his spot on the roster. People seem to forget how terrifying Rhino was back in his ECW days. Rhino in my mind has always been a terrific Monster that can hold his own in the ring. His match with Homicide wasn’t perfect, but he showed he could still hang in the ring and the end of the encounter put him over as a destructive force for the Embassy. I’m not saying he’s going to have a world title run or anything like that but as an enforcer/monster I think Rhino will have a strong run in ROH.

Aaron Frame: BUY – I actually think Rhino has proven he’s more than the manbeast of old. And he’s also a very different type of wrestler compared to most of the ROH roster. He’s got a very power-based move set that isn’t really all that flashy. He could easily become the big, bad monster of ROH. I would love to see him in that role. There could be a lot that could be done with that. And on top of all that, Rhino is also a recognizable name and face believe it or not. Most people will know who he is thanks to a lot of the mainstream wrestling he did for WWE and TNA. Can I include ECW with that? Eh, probably shouldn’t. Anyhow, Rhino has proven he can work and contribute to ROH. To me, anyhow.

2 for 4.

Aaron Frame: SELL – Well, considering what was released by ROH about the banning of Kevin Steen, I wouldn’t exactly say this would be true. He was, what some of the commenters on newstory called it, “Benoit-ed”. I really, really don’t like that term, but it is fitting considering he’s pretty much being erased from ROH completely. On the other hand, I could be buying in to a huge work. It seems like this is just too ridiculous for it to be a work. Then again, this is professional wrestling AND Jimmy Cornette we’re talking about here. I wouldn’t put it past them to make this out to be a work. Sometimes I can be a bit blind like the next cat, and this time is no exception. It does reek of work, though. And I would bet on it. But either way, it’s kind of sad if it were true. I love watching Kevin Steen’s matches. He is really a talented and, believe it or not, charismatic guy. Ever been to a live show and seen him? Try it, you’ll enjoy it, I promise. I most likely look like a doofus for buying in to an obvious work, but at this point I’d just say that Homicide will be allowed to wrestle in ROH at some point regardless of the UWF exclusive contract.

Patrick O’Dowd: BUY – Homicide has made it very clear that he is committed to helping UWF get off the ground and be successful, so I do think we have seen the last of him in Ring of Honor for a while. I am in the boat that everything going on with Kevin Steen right now in ROH is a work, because I don’t know…I’ve seen an angle before. It’s a very good work, and one that is generating excitement for ROH, but it is a work. I think it is only a matter of time before we see Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino in an “unsanctioned” match or a fight without honor after Corino convinces Jim Cornette to reinstate Steen. Anyway it happens will be fine, but I’m sure it’s going to happen and I really, really, hope those two tear it up.

2 for 5.

Patrick O’Dowd: SELL – While I think it would be a nice part of his farewell tour, I don’t know that Pearce really needs one more NWA World Championship. When you hear him talk about this “One Last Ride” interviews (He gave a good one with yours truly, Michael Ornelas, and Greg DeMarco on The Greg DeMarco Show. Yup, that’s a shameless plug!) Pearce spoke a great deal that this tour isn’t about belts or him. Pearce was pretty clear this was about thanking those that have supported him and given him the opportunity to be a part of the business. Pearce also shared that he wants to work for as many of the promotions that he previously worked for during his career as he can. That may not fit with whatever plans the NWA may have for the title.

Aaron Frame: BUY – This is more of my opinion as a fan because I usually suck at predictions. It would be a damn good way for Scrap Iron to end his career by holding the NWA title one last time. In fact, he was one of the better recent champions. About a year or two ago when I had little to no time to catch up with the indies, I did see a lot about Pearce being the NWA champ. And aside from one or two matches shown to me by friends I didn’t see a lot of his wrestling. I did get to see him live back in December and was thinking to myself how was he good? And it hit me that while he was good in the ring, it was more to do with that he knew how to involve the crowd with the match. He’s not bad work rate wise, but he’s more of the old school type which isn’t really flashy at all. I’d say that he gets one more run to end his career.

2 for 6.

Aaron Frame: Fairly-rated – I think a lot of people, including Scrap Iron himself, knew what he was capable of and liked it or didn’t. Sure the man had his faults, just like anyone else. But he was pretty damn entertaining. If you listened to the last episode of Greg DeMarco’s podcast where he interviewed Pearce, you would have learned that he’s a very old school style wrestler and he knows his limitations. He knows what he is good at and isn’t. I think he was a little too humble, but that’s just me. While he may not be able to put on a wrestling clinic, he still knows how to make a match interesting and I think a lot of people have enjoyed his work over the years and he will be treated as fairly as possible.

Patrick O’Dowd: Fairly-rated – This really depends on the audience you are asking, and I’m probably taking the easy way out with this answer, however I think it’s pretty accurate. The wrestling fan that only follows IMPACT and the WWE will have no inkling that Adam Pearce ever laced a pair of boots. He was never on national television and so in that regard he won’t even bear a rating. What I have seen from those who follow and work in independent wrestling is a healthy level of respect for him. I had the opportunity to be backstage for some ROH events when Adam was the booker. Among the members of the locker room Adam was respected. Every encounter I saw between Adam and the wrestlers was friendly, respectful, and positive. There was no animosity that I observed and the rapport he had with the wrestlers translated into some solid shows. I think he ran into a tough situation at ROH with the fans at times because he replaced an extremely popular booker. If one goes back and looks at his work, the booking was solid, not flashy, but solid. In the end I think amongst his peers and contemporaries Pearce will be regarded as a solid worker with terrific skills on the stick and an old school booker who tried to do right by the wrestlers and his company. To me, that is a fair assessment of what he meant to independent wrestling.

Are you thinking “What’s this Adam Pearce interview that 411 did that I keep reading about?” Well, that’s the latest edition of The Greg DeMarco Show with Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd! Adam Pearce shared over candid 30 minutes with Greg, Patrick and Michael Ornelas talking about his physical condition, his return to the ring and much more! Listen to it here!

Or, listen to it here:

A-Frame and POD go an entertaining 2 for 6 this week. Week 215 is in the books. Stay tuned for next week two more 411Mania staff members battle in the Buy or Sell arena.

Be sure to share your answers to this week’s questions in the comments section. Also, have an indy fed you want to see covered here? Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know!