411’s Buy or Sell 11/21/08: Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson, CHIKARA’s Cibernetico, Austin and Jacobs to End the Bloodshed, and More!

Samuel Berman : SELL. Jimmy, both as himself and as the newest incarnation of Equinox, has been one of CHIKARA’s key players in 2008. Frankly, I’d reject this on the premise that Olsen actually is over and has worked hard to establish himself in a CHIKARA that is absent a few longtime stars. With Chris Hero absent and founding father Mike Quackenbush taking more of a backseat this year, 2008 has seen the door open for young, up-and-coming talent to take a larger role in the company. Also, it was high time that someone on the technico team walked out of the Torneo Cibernetico as the winner, as a rudo (or at least a member of the rudo team) has taken the crown for the last three years.

Jake Chambers : SELL. The only way for a mildly popular wrestler to become ‘slightly more’ popular is to win a big match. Now, if you mentioned the chances of that other Jimmy Olsen really marrying Chloe over on ‘Smallville,’ well, that’s something I’d have to BUY even though it’s about as continuity shocking as Colin Delaney returning to CHIKARA as a ‘big league superstar.’

1 for 1.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I just don’t see why they would. Castagnoli and Sweeney have a long-standing issue in ROH that (despite what feels like a thousand matches) has yet to truly be blown off. I could see a potential reunion-of-convenience of the Kings of Wrestling due to Claudio and Sweet ‘n Sour both being heels, but as for the in-ring tandem of Sweeney and Claudio, I don’t see it happening.

Jake Chambers : BUY. ROH fans should never trust Claudio Castagnoli. When he betrayed ROH and took the side of CZW, Claudio showed us all his true colors. His heroic attempts at stardom in the past couple of years have been the real façade, and now nothing should be taken for granted. If Mr. Berman trusts that Claudio, given his recent path of terror, will remain enemies with Larry Sweeney then I think he is being a bit naive. In my opinion, Claudio would Euro-uppercut the collar off of his own cat if it meant he could get a victory over an established ROH-er. Larry Sweeney is just the kind of scoundrel that is willing to put dump his integrity if it means doing better business, and I would suggest that the dollars signs and victory lines will look closer to Sweet/Swiss ‘n Sour right around the time of the Final Battle Steel Cage Warfare challenge.

1 for 2.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I actually think that the matches are going to serve more as a showcase for newcomer Sami Callihan. Now, Castagnoli and Shiozaki may win their respective contests, but the real point will be letting ROH officials see how Callihan responds to the bright lights and a variety of opponents. Hopefully Callihan will have the same kind of outing that Kenny Omega did a couple of weeks ago when he impressed the Canadian crowds enough to earn future bookings.

Jake Chambers : SELL. The wrestlers will decide who should showcase who, and this weekend I must agree with Mr. Berman that Sami Callihan will step up to try and knock one out of the park, especially because he is involved in both Four Corner matchups. On the other hand, I think this could also be a big weekend for both Rhett Titus and Alex ‘Sugarfoot’ Payne, not only because they will both be featured in an upcoming Wacky Wrestling Theory interview (plug!!) but because they are popular, have been training hard and should be taken seriously now as threats to upper-mid level guys like Shiosaki and Castagnoli.

2 for 3.

SWITCH~!

Jake Chambers : SELL. I think ROH has a few surprises up it’s sleeves these days, from the debut of Brodie Lee, to the return of Prince Nana, the elevation of many ROH training school students, and the use of past ROH superstars like Jerry Lynn, Homicide and Samoa Joe, so it’s hard to say what to expect from the team of Strong and Albright. Assuming this is all not a bait and switch by the enemies of Sweet ‘n Sour Inc. and Erick Stevens will still make it to the match, Lynn as the mystery partner would fit into this slot perfectly, but I’m not buying it. Would it be too wacky to guess that AJ Styles or BJ Whitmer could pop up, or maybe some other initial heavy surprise star like Magnum TA(‘s son?) or PN News? Who knows, but my sources say expect something out of the ordinary.

Samuel Berman : BUY. I’ll buy this mostly because I can’t think of a more reasonable alternative. The only other guy who I could see filling the slot is Sami Callihan in a ‘Austin Aries recruiting Matt Cross because he was impressed by an undercard showing’ sort of way. However, with the Pay-Per-View continuity issue being a factor, I don’t see Callihan getting that shot. Lynn it is.

2 for 4.

Jake Chambers : SELL. When Jimmy Jacobs won the cage match against BJ Whitmer, and lost the “I Quit” match against Alex Shelley, he proved that in ROH the good guys don’t always win the war.

Metaphorically speaking though, Jacobs’ non-conformity and bucking of tradition, with his faction The Age of the Fall, represent the voice of dissent in America today. With one word, ‘Change,’ Barrack Obama was able to capture the imagination of a nation and sway support away from the firmly entrenched establishment in America and towards his concepts of newness and forward thinking. This heavy change in view point for the American people came about all because of a war.

The war in Iraq can be considered the same as the wars in ROH to a fighter like Jimmy Jacobs. The prize is not liberation or oil, or even the ROH Title or the love of Lacey, but to Jimmy Jacobs he represents the battle for change, a change from the big boy, old school mentality of the wrestling industry and in turn all of society. A wrestler like Rey Mysterio Jr. may be the pinnacle of success for the Jimmy Jacobs’ of the world, but unlike Mysterio who hides behind a candy colored commercializable mask, Jimmy wears his politics on the brow of his friends, brimming with camaraderie freedom fighting like a tennis visor. The Age of the Fall want success on their terms, not through the corrupt channels that have entwined the Western world up into a mess of back alley politics and shadowy wars. As the support for the war in Iraq has shifted to the negative, so to does the momentum sway in the favor of a system changing Jimmy Jacobs. Too much of Austin Aries was motivated by personal gain, to deny the Age of the Fall to pursue his own selfish needs for the ROH World Title and to steal away the lovely Lacey for his carnal lust. The Bush Administration pushed for deals for their friends and revenge for past failures, ignoring the little people who fell at their sides, hands extended for humble help, and like Aries, they too have come upon a moment of despair and cataclysmic change. Therefore, Jimmy Jacobs and Obama may have seemed evil to some but their battles for generically precise ‘change’ are righteous and we all must hope for them to come out on the top in the end.

Specifically, I think it will all come down to who is the second for each man. Although there has been a tiny bit of tension between Jacobs and his second Tyler Black of late, I don’t think, after all they’ve been through together, that Black would be implicit in costing Jacobs this enormous match. I’m predicting that Aries’ second will be the surprise return of Lacey, but I don’t think this will turn out to be as advantageous as Austin might think because just as we saw in the infamous Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund “I Quit” match, women are soft and when given control of throwing in the towel Lacey will weap-ily concede the match just like Helen Hart. Austin Aries will learn one last painful lesson from Jimmy Jacobs, don’t trust women.

Samuel Berman : SELL. Wait, what? I didn’t follow a lot of that… Jacobs is going to win because Barack Obama won? I’m confused. Either way, I see Jacobs winning here, because he has more to gain and ROH can’t possibly be so short sighted as to stall Jacobs’ progress with a loss. An ultimate victory over Aries means that Jacobs earns the reputation as a heel who almost always comes out on top, winning his epic feuds with both BJ Whitmer and Aries. A loss means that Jacobs is still that spunky kid who got his ass handed to him by Alex Shelley. ROH will, and should, seize the day by making Jacobs into a guaranteed main event commodity.

3 for 5.

Jake Chambers : BUY Danielson is a tactician and he will bring a foolproof game plan with him on Saturday. Both men have many weapons in their arsenal of finishing holds, but I think the recent additions by Bryan Danielson of his face stomp and triangle choke with elbows, may be the ingredients needed for Dragon to wrest the title away from the head injury prone McGuiness. Danielson is still susceptible to McGuiness’ clotheslines though, since he is smaller and does not carry a lot of neck strength. One big clothesline could easily put out Dragon for a three count anytime during the match, especially since Danielson is known more for his endurance and wear-downs than power and shock absorption. If Dragon is able to avoid any concussive clotheslines, his biggest enemy could be the clock and the threat of a time limit draw. In the end, I believe that Danielson learned from his loss at the Sixth Anniversary show, where arguably he was outsmarted by Nigel, and this weekend he will come to Chicago ready to continue to be what he’s been most of his career, a McGuiness killer.

Samuel Berman : SELL. I’m pretty sure Danielson’s not winning. His relationship to McGuinness is like that of CM Punk to Samoa Joe; he’s the guy McGuinness needs to beat decisively before he can lose the belt to someone else. If the analogy holds true, that means that Tyler Black will win the ROH World Title in the next month or so. That probably won’t happen, but I stand by my Joe vs. Punk assertion. The match should be appropriately epic, however, hopefully matching their Match of the Year Candidate from February.

3 for 6.

The Eighty Third edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 3 for 6! Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.