OK guys, due to the fact that there’s a major snowstorm brewing in my neck of the woods, and I’m sure I’ll be having to spend a fair amount of time doing some shoveling in the near future, I don’t have much to say in this week’s pre-show notes.  I did want to talk about something that I’ve noticed really quickly though.  Within the past few weeks, the wrestling industry has gotten quite litigious I’ve noticed.  Within the span of weeks, ROH has sued Ric Flair for monies owed (something like $40,000), and now Gabe Sapolsky has reportedly been considering legal action against TNA, the Young Bucks, and Davey Richards.  Sapolsky is arguing that he had verbal contracts with the Bucks and Richards for them to work the Dragon Gate USA shows during WrestleMania weekend, and that their contracts with TNA and ROH (respectively), violate their previous commitments.  Now I’ll give you my personal view really quickly; I think that Sapolsky is entirely in the wrong here, and to be honest, he has absolutely no leg to stand on, as his handshake deal will not hold up against an ink and paper contract.  Gabe is only hurting himself, as he’s telling independent wrestlers that if they screw him, they can expect legal action.  Sapolsky is not doing himself any favors, and if anything, he’s irreparably damaging his reputation with independent wrestlers.  Who’s going to want to work for someone who will sue them as soon as they step away or make it big?  It’s with that in mind that I ask this week’s Poll of Honor:

What do you think about the current legal landscape of Professional Wrestling?  Are people being too litigious, or do Sapolsky/ROH have every right to utilize the legal system?

We start off the show with a re-cap of last week’s big events, namely the making of the main event at the next NYC show, Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries with a panel of judges to make the decision should the match end in anything other than a clean win.  If you didn’t catch the show or my blog last week, Black picked Roderick Strong as his judge, Aries picked Kenny King, and Jim Cornette picked himself.

Jim Cornette says that Black asked for Roderick to be his judge, but tonight they’ll face off against each other, at the request of both men.

Match #1: Delirious def. Rhett Titus following a Bizarr-o driver

So this match happened.  There was nothing particularly wrong about it, but I’d be lying if I told you I was more interested in the match than I was in the text crawl going across the bottom of the screen.  I just couldn’t get into this match because I just couldn’t understand why it was going on.  Delirious and Rhett feuded over whether or not Rhett slept with Daizee a good while ago (before Delirious joined the Age of the Fall), and since then both men have moved on.  Rhett has grown into a much more talented and capable wrestler in his own right, teaming with Kenny King and even being part of a stable with the ROH World Champion (not bad for someone who was working security during the first Ladder War).  Delirious just recently got back from a tour of Japan, and while his ring work looked a little better here than before he left, I think it’s going to be a while before we see any real results from his time spent overseas.  My point is, both men are beyond this, and the inclusion of Daizee Haze just makes it seem even more like well-worn ground.  ROH fans are not dumb, most have a good idea of past storylines and know that this angle happened in 2008, and while I don’t expect this to turn into any big storyline or anything (especially not with Delirious already feuding with Sonjay Dutt… if he is still feuding with Dutt), it still just doesn’t make too much sense to me.  I would have rather seen Delirious against someone like Roderick Strong or Kevin Steen; someone who he could have a good competitive match with and showcase his skills, while also someone he wouldn’t look weak taking a loss to.  Many ROH on HDNet matches have the feeling that they’ve kind of been pulled out of thin air.  This match feels more like it was pulled off of an old DVD.  And while the quality is a little bit better than it was two years ago, it’s not so much better as to warrant writing a new chapter.  C+.

Roderick Strong gets a little bit of promo time where he states his opinion on Aries/Black.  Strong says that he has no doubt that Black can beat Aries, and when that happens, he’ll be the first man in line to get the title.  He says after NYC, no one can deny him what he deserves, a shot at the ROH World Title.  See, it’s funny because Roddy has so much conviction here, you’d almost forget he’s had a whopping 11 past shots at the title.

We get another re-cap of the Steen turn and attack on Generico, and that leads nicely into a promo from Steve Corino who is backstage with Kyle Durden.  Corino says that the opinion of the locker room does not matter, but in his opinion, the footage of Steen turning on Generico is one of the greatest things he’s ever seen.  He says that Steen always had the potential to be ROH World Champion, but he’s always had a leech in El Generico hanging on and holding him back.  Corino says Generico got what he deserved at Final Battle.  Corino asks Durden to give him names, and he calls “Sugarfoot” Alex Payne in.  He tries to get Payne’s opinion on what happened at FB.  Payne says that it was sick, Steen turned on his best friend, and Payne says that Steen should be ashamed, but he doesn’t see Steen right behind him.  Steen takes down Payne with a hard lariat, and asks if he should be ashamed of this.  Steen asks Corino, and Corino says of course Steen shouldn’t be ashamed.  Steen gives Payne a couple more good shots before walking off with Corino.

Match #2: Colt Cabana def. Sonjay Dutt by pinfall following the Colt 45

My expectations were exceeded here, but when you’re not really expecting anything, it’s pretty easy to top.  Cabana did a lot of his comedy stuff at the beginning of the match; using the referee to assist in his antics was a fun touch.  Of course he pulled out some of his fancy pins and roll ups.  Toward the end though, the match did get a bit more competitive, and that made it somewhat worthwhile.  I don’t know about anybody else, but it’s still weird for me to see Sonjay Dutt in an ROH ring.  The guy is still a “TNA guy” to me.  He just doesn’t fit the style I guess.  Colt Cabana is fun, but he’s still missing that spark that he had pre-WWE.  I don’t know if Cabana is jaded, or if he’s still trying to break free from the WWE-style, or what, but he’s not the same as he was before he left.  I’d like to see Cabana in a more serious feud in the future, and maybe that’s upcoming with this whole Steen/Corino/Generico issue.  I think a serious feud would do Cabana good and maybe help him bring back a little more of that “Pro Wrestler” he’s been claiming to be since he returned.  This match was serviceable; it was better than the first match of the night, but again it just really didn’t’ deliver.  B-.

Tyler Black gets a bit of promo time himself.  Tyler reiterates that when he wins the title, Roddy will be his first opponent because he’s proved himself time and time again.  Tyler says he knows that he can beat Roderick, and he’s going to prove that tonight.

The Kings of Wrestling get some face time, with Sara Del Ray on interviewing duties.  Hero says the fans may be asking why the KoW are back together, and it’s because at one time they were the most dominant team in tag team wrestling.  Hero says he and Claudio have both matured, and they’re stronger and better than ever.  Claudio says this time they’re back with a purpose, the ROH Tag Team Titles, and they will get what they want because Kings Reign Supreme.

In our third interview segment in a row, Kyle Durden is standing in the ring with Prince Nana and Shane Hagadorn.  Durden references the Kings of Wrestling getting back together, and wonders how the two men were able to bring about a reunion since Claudio is an associate of the Embassy, and Hero is part of Hagadorn’s stable (it doesn’t feel right calling them S’n’S).  Hagadorn says the Kings have proven themselves a dominant force in wrestling.  Hagadorn says that Hero has proven himself with his strikes, and Nana calls Claudio the very European God.  Durden says they didn’t really answer his question, and he talks about how he never sees Nana or Hagadorn talking or hanging out.  Nana says it’s about the connection, the money and the power, and that’s all that Durden needs to know.  Eddie Kingston’s music hits, and Kingston grabs the mic.  Kingston says that he doesn’t care who the KoW are with, he just wants to hear that the Kings are the one’s who jumped him from behind, and he wants to know where they are.  Kingston continues to threaten Hagadorn and Nana, and insists that it had to be Hero and Claudio who attacked him a couple of weeks back.  Nana says that it wasn’t the Kings of Wrestling, it was these guys.  Joey Ryan, Erick Stevens and Mr. Ernesto run out to the ring and beat down Kingston.  Necro Butcher is out to make the save with a big traffic cone and the heels scatter.  Looks like the makings of a Kingston/Necro vs. The Embassy feud.

Main Event: Tyler Black def. Roderick Strong by pinfall following a superkick

Hands down, match of the night.  Although the competition wasn’t too stiff, this match blew all of the others out of the water, and it wasn’t even the best Black/Strong match I’ve seen.  Both of these guys are just so impressive for being fairly young, and I’m very excited to see where these two guys end up further down the line in their careers.  I liked Aries coming down to the ring during this one with his bucket of popcorn and bottle of wine.  I even have to admit I popped when Tyler hit the superkick on Aries, just as he was taking a sip of his wine.  Aries has his pretentious gimmick down pat, and I really think he’s the best “character” in ROH right now.  I think we’re going to be seeing the ROH World Title scene revolve around these three guys for the foreseeable future, and that’s not a bad thing.  Black and Strong are the kind of guys that seem like they could have a good match against each other in their sleep.  Aries is the first two-time ROH Champion for a reason, and he’s been having some top-notch spectacular matches for that belt in the past few months.  A program built around these three guys could one of the strongest programs, in terms of wrestling, that we’ve seen in years.  Mark me down as someone who’s interested to see where this one will end up going.  I’d have never expected to be such a big fan of this angle when the first seeds were planted about a month ago, but they’ve made a believer out of me.  A-.

Report Card

In Ring Action: Thank goodness for that main event.  Even though it wasn’t quite as good as the match I saw them have at Eye of the Storm II in December, it was enough to turn this show from something skippable, to something that warrants checking out.  The opening match was the weakest of the night, with neither Rhett nor Delirious being able to get the match out of first gear.  The Cabana/Dutt match was a little bit better, but still nothing to write home about.  I think Cabana/Dutt could have actually benefited from a bit more time, and I think it may have been better had Cabana gotten serious earlier in the match.  His goofy shtick is a lot of fun, but not when he pulls it out in every single match.  Cabana made such a bit deal about coming back to ROH to get back to professional wrestling, and it seems like he’s just phoning it in; hit some goofy spots, do some crazy roll ups, confuse and anger the other guy.  Cabana’s matches have almost become a paint-by-number affair, where it’s not done until we’ve seen x number of spots x number of times.  He broke out of that a little bit in this much, just not enough for my tastes.  Cabana needs a feud like he had with Homicide back in the glory days of ROH, I think it would do him a lot of good to break out of the silly wrestler mold he’s backed himself into.  The main saved this category tonight, but it’s still below what I expect from ROH.  B-.

Out of Ring Action: Well this show was just full of promos, and thankfully, the bulk of them were really good.  Roderick Strong and Tyler Black both had decent video packages to highlight the main event, but the “live promos” were much stronger.  The Kings of Wrestling promo was absolutely great, and it’s such a great thing to see these guys back together.  It definitely got me hyped to see the Kings back in the ring.  The Nana/Hagadorn promo was pretty neat, and it will be interesting to see if their working relationship leads to some huge monster heel stable with everyone from the Wolves, to the Embassy, to the Kings.  The Nana/Hagadorn promo also did something that I didn’t really think was possible; it goes me interested in what ROH is going to do with Eddie Kingston.  I know, I didn’t think it was going to happen either.  The idea of Kingston in a team with Necro is intriguing, and the fact that this feud will most likely not feature Chris Hero makes me happy.  The last thing I want to address is what I feel was hands down the strongest segment of the show.  The Corino/Steen segment was just great, and the new, monstrous heel that Steen is just has me chomping at the bit to see him in the ring.  Corino has improved more and more each time he’s been in front of an ROH camera, and if he continues improving at this rate, it won’t be long before he’s the best mic guy in ROH.  Finally, I want to say that I’m glad Corino’s focus seems to have shifted from getting himself an ROH Title, to helping Steen win the ROH World Championship.  I have a lot more interest in watching Corino manage Steen to the belt, than I would watching Corino making a run at it himself.  I don’t think there was a weak link in this category tonight.  The Strong/Black promos were the weakest, but for two guys who aren’t great talkers, both did an admirable job.  There were a lot of guys who were good at promos before ROH made this HDNet deal, but I feel that a lot of guys have improved leaps and bounds since ROH got their weekly television deal. A+.

Overall: In terms of wrestling, this show was far from the best, but if you’re a fan of promo work have I got some good news for you.  The main event and the promo work on this episode are the reasons to tune in this week.  Heck, I would honestly recommend tuning in just to watch the Steen/Corino segment (but then it’s always fun to watch Sugarfoot catch a beat down).  This isn’t one to go out of your way to see, but if you’re a fan of ROH, there’s not reason to not catch this episode.  Like I’ve said before (and will probably end up saying again) a mediocre ROH card still produces more quality matches than most WWE pay-per-views, so as far as wrestling goes, look no further.  You’ve just got to learn that they won’t be able to deliver the moon every time.  The attempts are still a hell of a lot of fun to watch though.

So another week is in the books and we survive to talk about it.  I hope all of you are doing well, and if you, like me, are stuck in the midst of a HUGE snowstorm, stay inside, and stay safe.  Alright guys, you know the drill.  Same bat time, same bat channel.  Until next week…

KINGS REIGN SUPREME

Non Wrestling Related Media O’ the Week

My wife and I just picked up a book called 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.  Our goal is to slowly work our way through the list and see every movie on it.  The book spans movies from the last 110 years or so, and includes Academy Award winners, silent films, westerns, dramas, comedies and more.  At the very least, it should make deciding what to rent a whole lot more difficult.

Tags: Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne, Austin Aries, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Colt Cabana, Dave Prazak, Delirious, Eddie Kingston, Erick Stevens, Jim Cornette, Joey Ryan, Kevin Steen, Kyle Durden, Mike Hogewood, Mr. Ernesto, Necro Butcher, Prince Nana, Rhett Titus, Roderick Strong, Sara Del Ray, Shane Hagadorn, Sonjay Dutt, Steve Corino, Tyler Black