411’s Buy or Sell 08.03.07: Go Shiozaki, PAC’s Future in Dragon Gate, Mistico vs. Cena, and more!

Larry Csonka: SELL. The savior of All Japan Wrestling should have been Tajiri. Any man that steals the Triple Crown and then steals the cardboard Triple Crown replicas is nothing short of tremendous in my eyes. I would have spent hundreds of dollars to import wacky belt stealing Triple Crown Champion Tajiri if that would have happened. Also, I am not that high on Kensuke Sasaki like others seem to be. Sure he is a name, but to me I wouldn’t be all that excited to see him take the title. It just doesn’t seem like that big of a switch to me and I don’t think it would do that much for the company. Add onto that the fact that I think that Minoru Suzuki is a bad man, and I mean that in a cool way. I am cool with him holding the title until they decide to make a star with the loss. Not Sasaki, not Muta, someone new that can be the future of the company.

Ryan Mancuso : BUY . Kensuke is the only All Japan loyalist left, even if he technically isn’t All Japan, that hasn’t gone down to Minoru Suzuki in a Triple Crown match. Kea, Kojima and Muto have failed. Suwama hasn’t lost to MiSuzuki, but it would be a letdown if one anti-All Japan guy loses the TC to another anti-All Japan guy. Plus, Suwama isn’t ready for the big ingles push yet. Kawada can’t be the guy because I view him more HUSTLE than All Japan these days. He doesn’t need a sixth run as Triple Crown champion. Kensuke has to be the “savior” by default. Kensuke’s been with All Japan since 2004 and has failed on every challenge for the Triple Crown. There is a build up and anticipation for Kensuke’s eventual Triple Crown run. Yes, the Tajiri kleptomaniac angle was awesome but I was a little disappointed that Tajiri didn’t steal the toy replica Triple Crown that Minoru Suzuki carries around as well.

0 for 1.

Larry Csonka : BUY . While the ROH fans can be very fickle, they love their Japanese wrestlers and Go Shiozaki is the kind of cat they can get behind. At the ROH show in Tokyo, Bryan Danielson vs. Go Shiozaki had a match that many said easily stole the show and was the ONE match from the Japan run that you absolutely have to see. That’s pretty high praise. Danielson is one of the company’s top men along with Nigel and Morshima and being able to go with Danielson and hang is a necessity. The match there proved that, and I think that he will easily slide into KENTA’s spot and do very well. Go Shiozaki to ROH is A-O-K with me.

Ryan Mancuso : BUY . Shiozaki will never replace KENTA in the eyes of the ROH fans, but I’ll buy that he’ll be an acceptable substitute for them while KENTA is hurt. I’ve seen Danielson vs. Shiozaki and it was good. I’m just repeating what Larry said, but if he could go toe-to-toe with Danielson and other top names from ROH on a consistent basis then the fans will accept him. As I’ll answer on a later question, maybe an extended trip to America is exactly what Shiozaki needs to break out as a star in NOAH.

1 for 2.

Larry Csonka : BUY . Firstly I will say that it appears as if PAC has a bright future period. PAC has seemingly been everywhere. Until very recently he was one half of the PWG tag team champions with Roderick Strong. At the 5th year festival for ROH he had a great FIP title match with Roderick, and then at the fifth year finale he had another good match with Matt Sydal. As far as Wrestle Jam II goes, PAC teamed with CIMA/Ryo Saito and Matt Sydal to defeat Cyber Gang/Delirious/El Generico/SHINGO. What is it with PAC feuding and then teaming with guys? Anyway, yeah, PAC’s stock is rising significantly this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do well ala Jack Evans and Matt Sydal future in the Dragon Gate organization.

Ryan Mancuso : BUY . I’m looking at what his schedule was like during the Wrestle Jam II tour and it was very successful. He went undefeated in his six matches and got the pin in four of them. He must have impressed Dragon Gate with the recent European tour CIMA and Dragon Kid were participating along with his matches in PWG and ROH. I’m thinking they must like him a lot to where they want to bring him back as a regular. I can’t say I am too familiar with his work, but I am reading similarities with him and Jack Evans. If Jack Evans found success in Dragon Gate, then so should PAC.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Ryan Mancuso : BUY . Any Japanese company can benefit from send their wrestlers to America and compete on indy shows. However, the benefit won’t come from sending established names like Morishima, KENTA, CIMA and Marufuji. Those guys have reached a level to where they are expected to succeed in a company the size of ROH. It’s sending the inexperienced, undercard wrestlers in which the Japanese companies could benefit from having an extended stint in the American independents.

NOAH has a good amount of them on their roster with Atsushi Aoki, Akihito Ito, Ippei Ota, Shuhei Taniguchi, Tsutomu Hirayanagi and even Go Shiozaki. These are guys who have a hard time getting wins and breaking out as a star in NOAH. They could do the learning excursion angle where they live in the US for a year or more so that they could learn a new style of wrestling to implement in their matches. Moderate success in an ROH, PWG or another indy would benefit those wrestlers and their promotion because they never had any form of success before the trip. The wrestlers come back home with a buzz of their overseas success and get a push. Dragon Gate did this with SHINGO. It looks to be working because he is an important player in Dragon Gate now instead of a young guy struggling to break out. If NOAH did the same thing with an Aoki or Shiozaki, then they would have another guy that they could push higher on the card and the people will have an easier time accepting it.

Larry Csonka : BUY . I have to totally agree with Ryan here. Nothing but good things can come from Japanese guys working some on the US Indy scene. It has been going on for a very long time. Muta back in the day, early on in Florida is a great example. It is a good chance for these guys to gain experience, work in front of different crowds, learn new styles and to mold their craft. Ryan’s NOAH example of guys like Atsushi Aoki, Akihito Ito, Ippei Ota, Shuhei Taniguchi, Tsutomu Hirayanagi and Go Shiozak is also dead on. With not a lot of room at the top positions in NOAH, these guys can work on their skills, gain even more experience and then when they return, they can be ready for the spots that open up. If they do well and succeed, especially in places like ROH, with International followings, it only helps their careers. Plus it is a great reward for hardcore fans that would otherwise have to spend a lot of money to buy or to trade to see these guys. Japanese talent on the American Independent scene gets big thumbs up from me.

3 for 4.

Ryan Mancuso : BUY . It’s a buy, but not a strong one yet. The elements of a backlash are there. Mistico has been beating all top rudos, pulling out all stops with moves and cheating, with La Mistica every time for months. The only guy who gets any clean wins over Mistico is Perro Aguayo Jr. in a trios match. When they have a singles match, it is same way every time with Mistico beating Perro via La Mistica.

At least, the guys Mistico had been beating were rudos and the backlash has come from the rudo supporters. Things changed with Dr. Wagner Jr. started to face off against Mistico. Wagner is loved and respected by the fans. When he was teaming with the rudos to fight Mistico, Wagner made it clear that he was still a tecnico. He wasn’t turning his back on the fans and that he only wanted to team with rudos so that he could fight Mistico. Even with Mistico being very dominant in the last few years, a lot of fans felt that Mistico couldn’t beat Dr. Wagner Jr. in his “home” of Arena Mexico.

They had their singles match and it was an electric atmosphere in Arena Mexico. The fans were very vocal and supportive of Wagner, but Mistico had plenty of supporters as well. Wagner had Mistico in serious trouble on the floor during the third fall to where medical and referees were checking up on him. As they were doing that, Ultimo Guerrero ran in and took Wagner off the turnbuckles with the Guerrero Special. Fans were very upset because they knew Wagner was going to lose after making it seem that he was the better man. They were throwing trash in the ring before Mistico even did his springboard splash to get the pin.

I’ve seen a good amount of CMLL events in Arena Mexico, but I rarely seen something to where fans get so upset that they throw trash in the ring. This was trouble because Mistico wins another big singles match and a crowd favorite got screwed. CMLL must have felt that if Mistico stuck around to celebrate then the situation with the crowd would have gotten worse. As a result, Mistico had to leave the ring as soon as possible. If there was one good thing about the finish, then it was Mistico not beating Wagner clean with La Mistica and a rematch could draw.

Perro Aguayo Jr. is returning this Friday at Arena Mexico has to be a blessing because they can put Mistico & Wagner in different matches. Mistico may still get a lot of boos from the crowd as a result of last week, but it would have been worse if they had put Mistico & Wagner in the same match. CMLL needs to be very careful with how they handle Mistico because fan backlash is building much more now that he has beaten a loved figure by the crowd.

Larry Csonka : BUY . But unlike Ryan this is a BIG buy, and for the reasons he said:
-Mistico has been beating all top rudos,
-Cheating with La Mistica
-The only guy who gets any clean wins over Mistico is Perro Aguayo Jr. in a trios match.
-When they have a singles match, it is same way every time with Mistico beating Perro via La Mistica.

This is Cena like booking, and if Mistico didn’t share the tag titles I am sure he would be beating them buy himself. I am surprised that he isn’t beating trios teams by himself. I like Mistico, and Mistico is a great wrestler and yes, Mistico sells and ASSLOAD of tickets. That being said, that always isn’t enough. John Cena sells an assload of tickets, but half of the people want to love him and half want to see him get destroyed.

While Mistico has a ton of supporters, the Wagner feud proved that while he is the top draw, he isn’t that universally loved top babyface. The Wagner match where Ultimo got involved and the fans pelted the ring with trash if prove of that. CMLL does have to be very careful that the total backlash doesn’t happen because they want to keep Mistico as the baby, but hell, if the reactions keep up they should just do the damn heel trun because no one is expecting it. VIVS LOS RUDOS~!

4 for 5.

Ryan Mancuso : SELL . When CMLL President Paco Alonso and El Hijo Del Santo had a nasty public falling out this past March, I knew this was going to last for a while. Paco was angry that Santo was supporting promoters in Monterrey that planned on running nationwide and viewed them as competition. As a result, Paco banned any CMLL contracted wrestlers from wrestling on any show that Santo is on. Santo felt it was a money issue. He felt CMLL was trying to offer him less money despite the fact that attendance goes up for his return to Arena Mexico. He has also been critical for sometime on how CMLL has been handling Mistico.

It’s over 4 months later and there has been no progress to my knowledge with the Monterrey promoters. Neither side is bending on this issue. As long as Mistico is healthy, then CMLL will continue to draw well in Arena Mexico and show that they do not need Santo. Even if Mistico is injured and attendances drop, CMLL’s history has shown that they rather draw bad crowds and lose money than cave into Santo’s demands. If CMLL did give to Santo’s demands, then they feel locker room morale would be bad. Santo can live without working in CMLL and Arena Mexico. He stated in an interview that he enjoys not being on television because fans will have to attend live events if they want to see him wrestle. Santo is one of the few wrestlers out there that could make money doing business that way. He feels that live events are the heart of lucha libre and not television. He also has been wrestling in the United States and been an important reason for NWA Pro thinking they are bigger than what they really are. Both sides don’t need each other to be successful now or in the future. I think Santo will return to Arena Mexico in the future, but not in 2007.

Larry Csonka : SELL . Ryan hit it on the head again. CMLL President Paco Alonso and El Hijo Del Santo had a nasty fallout last Macrh. El Hijo Del Santo doesn’t feel he has to have allegiannce to any one company. That is proven by his supporting of promoters in Monterrey. Paco tossed down the ban and El Hijo Del Santo basically said to piss off. He knows that he isn’t the top guy anymore, but he also knows, as Ryan said, that when he return he always draws the big ass crowds. Some complain that El Hijo Del Santo has no right to complain about Mistico’s use, but if he is offering up some advice, you should probably listen to the man. But then again, with the way Mistico has been drawing for about 2-years, Paco doesn’t “NEED” him to come back. They are still at a stalemate and it doesn’t look as if there is anything happening soon. I would have thought that Paco would have folded when Perro Aguayo Jr. went down, but he didn’t. he sacrificed attendance and such to prove his point, and now that Perro Aguayo Jr. is coming back, I see no daylight in the tensions with El Hijo Del Santo. In the end you never say never in wrestling. Konnan was said to never make up with Vampiro and or return to AAA and both of those happened. El Hijo Del Santo will return and have a big feud to come back to and make a lot of money for him, the man he works with and Paco. But not in 2007, I just don’t see that happening.

5 for 6!

The sixteenth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 5 for 6. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.