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411’s Buy or Sell 12.05.08: The Future of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, The Briscoes’ Heel Turn, Takeshi Morishima, and More!!
Welcome everyone to WEEK Eighty Five of BUY or SELL. For those of you who haven’t been with us since the beginning, here’s the Reader’s Digest version of what this column is all about. BUY or SELL is very much like 411’s long-running Fact or Fiction column. The main difference is that BUY or SELL focuses on topics like the U.S. Independent scene, Lucha Libre, Japanese Wrestling and pretty much anything else that isn’t mainstream wrestling, WWE and or TNA. This allows for these areas to get a bit more press and for you, our loyal readers, to learn even more about the sport of professional wrestling.
Week Eighty Five’s Match-Up:
The Living Legend and a much cooler boss than Vince McMahon – Larry Csonka !
vs.
Deserving of an award for recapping Hogan’s Celebrity Wrestling, let alone watching it – Steve Cook !
Larry Csonka : SELL. I have to admit that I hate when people get picky with the questions during Fact or Fiction, but the way the question is asked, I will have to go with Sell. PWG’s “unavoidable downtime,” is actually something I expected. With the company having issues with securing locations and talent at times, plus with the economy the way it is, the Independent wrestling scene will be hurt before WWE and or TNA will be. PWG may have released a DVD through Big Vision, they may have some good events, but they are still an Independent promotion. I think taking some time to regroup and form a solid plan of action is the best thing for them to do. ROH has a PPV deal and makes some money, they do well enough to sign people to contracts. The NWA seems to be doing well enough for now because they have a TV deal (shitty, but they have it) and have been drawing well on house shows. PWG doesn’t have this advantage, BUT, they don’t have the problems of an IWA: Mid South, they don’t have to beg people to buy DVD’s to pay off debt and stay alive. Right now I don’t see them closing down in a short amount of time, maybe a year or so if things don’t improve and the people running it get fed up with shit, but not right now.
Steve Cook : BUY. I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of PWG, but the writing’s on the wall. It seemed like it took forever to put on the Battle of Los Angeles, and even though those shows got rave reviews they’ve done nothing to follow it up. Times are tough, and most people are finding ways to cut back on their spending. Unfortunately for PWG and other independent promotions, one of the ways people might be cutting back is spending less money on wrestling tickets & DVDs. Also, it seems to me that the owners of the company have been cutting back on their wrestling in-ring endeavors recently, and maybe some of them just aren’t that interested in the business anymore. Which is understandable…PWG has had a fine run and produced some great stuff, but maybe it’s time for them to step aside and let somebody else give it a shot. Perhaps a re-focused NWA promotion that recently held TV tapings in the Hollywood area could find some success. There is a market for indy wrestling in SoCal, it’s just a matter of having the funding to find it.
0 for 1.
Larry Csonka : BUY. I think so. Even in a tag match, a win over Morishima is a win over Morishima. It carries some weight. Also, Bison Smith has been on a constant rise for some time. Solid booking, strong showings even when he loses, winning the GHC Tag Team Titles, these are all good things. The win over Morishima in a tag title defense is just another notch in his belt, as well as a boost of credibility.
Steve Cook : BUY. I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of Bison, who’s currently one half of the GHC tag team champions and won the Global Tag League this year in addition to his recent singles success. He’s a big guy, looks tough and does some good moves. You could build him up as an evil foreigner looking to take the title from the beloved Kensuke Sasaki (or whoever might hold the title by then, perhaps Morishima himself). I could see Bison getting a title shot, not sure if I see him taking the belt.
1 for 2.
Larry Csonka : BUY. Yeah, don’t get your panties in a bunch there kids, but I buy this one. The goal of the PPV’s were to make some money, while introducing ROH to a new fan base, which would then turn into a higher attendance and better DVD sales. That didn’t happen. The On-Demand service will be nice, and I am sure it will make them some money and get them a few new fans, but not at a level that it will make a major difference, hence why I say failure. I have said this before and I will say it again, ROH is the LAST priority among PPV buyers. It goes UFC/Boxing, WWE, TNA, Other MMA and then ROH. With money being tight, the entertainment budgets get trimmed, and ROH will be the fist to go. Unfortunately having a great product doesn’t always equate PPV buys. Ask TNA PPV from around 2005.
Steve Cook : SELL. I guess it depends on how you define “failure”, and I really have no idea how well the on-demand services do as far as viewership and making money and things like that. If nothing else, it’ll be cool for the ROH fans to see some ROH Classics, and maybe Jimmy Bower will get some royalties out of it so he can get off the streets.
1 for 3.
SWITCH~!
Steve Cook : SELL. Huh? Morishima’s proven to be a capable fat kid wrestler, and Go’s pretty good himself. They should be capable of having a fun STRONG STYLE match, shouldn’t they? Are we supposed to be really low on Go’s in-ring ability or something? I dunno, this just confuzzles me. They both seem like fine wrestlers to me and it should be a good match unless they book it bass-ackwardly or something.
Larry Csonka : BUY. I buy this because of one reason; hype. Knowing the ROH fan base, there is a large part of it that is currently going, “OMG, OMG, OMG THIE WILL BE THE GREATEST MATCH EVER!” The thing is that Takeshi Morishima vs. Go Shiozaki will likely be a good to very good match, but it will not meet the expectations of some of the fan base. And then the hate and disappointment will start to flow. When this happens, Takeshi Morishima vs. Go Shiozaki will likely be called something close to, “lackluster”.
1 for 4.
Steve Cook : SELL. Jay & Mark could likely use some freshening up, but it occurs to me that the low points of their run in ROH have occurred when they were heels. Honestly, they’re just not very good at it. And when they tried back in 06, people cheered them anyway. I get why they’re doing it, but I don’t think it’ll accomplish as much as they’re hoping for. They’ll get cheered against Steen & Generico and then people will wonder why Steen & Generico are such bad faces. They’re not, it’s just that people like yelling MAN UP~! For what it’s worth, their heelish tactics against Irish Airborne in Dayton did nothing to turn the fans against them. Maybe it was because we’re sick of Irish Airborne and don’t want to see them anymore, but it’s worth pointing out.
Larry Csonka : BUY. I buy this one big time. They need to do SOMETHING with the Briscoes to make the fans interested. Yes they chant man up, yes they still like them, yes they want them to win the titles. The Briscoes put on good to great matches most times and are fun to watch, but if I am being honest with you, they bore me. Seriously, they bore me BIG TIME. It feels like they have done all they can with them right now, so something has to change. A heel turn, and I mean a REAL heel turn could do the trick. Have them make Shane Hadagorn squeal like a pig for all I care, just do something DRASTIC and stick to it. I want to care about them one way or another, because right now they’re just another set of guys to me.
1 for 5.
Steve Cook : SELL I was leaning towards BUY for a minute because I was pondering how Danielson has had clean defeats to people less talented than Castagnoli here in 2008 and certainly the Most Money Making Man could use a big victory over the American Dragon this weekend. But then I remembered that the new ROH booking team doesn’t seem to be big on clean victories, so if Claudio wins it will likely be by nefarious means.
Larry Csonka : SELL. I can easily see Claudio Castagnoli defeating Bryan Danielson this weekend, not an issue at all. But a “clean” victory? Nah, I doubt it. I can see a count out, a DQ, hell even a Sweet and Sour run in could even happen (SWISS AND FUCKING SOUR BABY)! You know, something to make Claudio come off as more of a dick than he already is. A victory is not out of the question for him, but I think a CLEAN victory is not in play right now. Maybe SCRAP DADDY will surprise us.
2 for 6.
The Eighty Fifth edition of BUY or SELL finishes at 2 for 6! Stay tuned for next week… wait a minute. His greatness, The Boss Larry Csonka has asked to answer one more question. Alright then. Here it is.
Larry Csonka : BUY, BUY. BUY! And you know why I LOVE this match? Because ever since this match was announced there has been an amazing amount of sand in the vagina of wrestling fans.
-“This is the new ROH?”
-“This match makes the Nashville show suck!”
-“Bushwacker Luke Williams? Roh is such a joke.”
Get over yourselves! I am so sick and tired of “OMG ROH IS SUPER SERIAL AND THERE IS NO FUN ALLOWED!” Apparently some fans forget a certain Colt Cabana was a big part of ROH, and he was a goofy bastard and was loved.. This match is a bullshit fun match, it will likely be early in the show or after intermission and it will also be short. There is nothing wrong with some comedy on a wrestling show. It isn’t over taking the card, it is one match. Plus, everyone needs to realize that GRIZZLEY REDWOOD IS THE FUCKING TRUTH!
There you have it. Stay tuned for next week when two new men will go head to head with a whole new set of topics.
