Hit or Miss Vol 5

Given the

recent news coming out of ROH about roster cuts, it felt only appropriate to focus primarily on Ring of Honor this week. My guests are Matt Waters and Chris GST…so without further adieu…
Hit or Miss: The departure of Necro Butcher
Matt Waters: Hit. As an individual loss this one is perfectly fine with me; his act has become stale because he’s been horrifically overexposed. He seems like he’s moving at half-pace in comparison to his wild-man Age of the Fall and CZW days. He’s been better as a member of the Embassy because I think he works better as a heel (eg. The aforementioned AOTF run) compared to the “doing it for my kids” Necro who is just plain softer. This one does hurt from a sheer numbers perspective though.
Chris GST: Hit. The guy needs some time off as his drawing ability and “style” was really being bogged down by meaningless feuds and the aspect that hardcore wrestling is now mainly suited for main event level feuds ie Generico and Steen. Not to say he can’t come back and have it be the way it was when he first came in a la CZW or AoTF but for now I’m glad he’s gone.
1 for 1
Hit or Miss: The departure of Erick Stevens
MW: Miss. I’m a mark for Stevens so my answer is biased. I accept that he may need a little time off to repackage himself and come back fresh, but I don’t like it. The Embassy sucks, but he has all the tools to be a major player in the company, and having a heat magnet like Nana on the mic and to interfere in your matches certainly helps. He’s a powerhouse in a company of mostly Junior Heavyweights, he could easily just lay some upper card guys out and start a new feud to make us take him seriously again.
CG: Hit. What was he doing? OH that’s right he was the enforcer guy of the Embassy that no one cared about. Give me Stevens vs. Edwards and make it seem as important as his feud with Strong over the FIP title was and then I’ll care.
1 for 2
Hit or Miss: The Departure of The Dark City Fight Club
MW: Hit if it were just them, Miss when you add them to the other three departures. I like Jon Davis, and I like their arsenal of double team moves, in particular Project Mayhem, but there’s just something about them that never clicks in real competition compared to a squash match. Their match against the Briscoes is the best example I can think of. They just ended up looking average when they weren’t allowed to toss their opponents around the ring with ease. They’ve yet to be a major player in the tag team division so they won’t be missed really, but it does mean we go from two face teams to one, and I’m sick of the Briscoes acting as the tag team equivalent of John Cena in ROH. Turn one of the heel teams face and I’ll get over it. (Note from MG: We’ll go with a miss here)
CG: Miss. They were getting over with the crowd and really I felt they added to the show and tag team division that now they are still trying to push and yet only have like three teams now. The DCFC to me could have taken over where the American Wolves weren’t going to be as both seem to be focused on singles action for the time being.
2 for 3
Hit or Miss: The departure of Austin Aries
MW: Monster Miss. Aries is the most versatile performer on the ROH roster bar none. Nobody can touch his skill-set. Stone Cold said if you’re not there to win the world title you shouldn’t be in the company, but for Aries I disagree. He was never going to get the belt again, but he was so valuable to ROH regardless. Stick him in a program with anyone and it’s going to work. He’s the Chris Jericho of ROH. He can take multiple losses and still be over and respected. Each victory over him means something. He was like a player/coach to me and his loss hurts more than the other four combined. Plus I don’t see him taking his act in its current form to Evolve or Dragon Gate so that blows.
CG: Hit. Only slightly. I don’t know how my fellow writers feel but with building reports and emails about Aries basic mis-givings about where he is in the wrestling world, this might give him some time to reflect his stance on his worth. Yes he is a tremendous hand in the ring and out of it but with his ego seemingly growing beyond that of ROH and the backstage area, it did sound like maybe he needs a reality check. Yeah DGUSA and EVOLVE are great avenues and maybe this means we might see him back in PWG as well. But realistically ROH is THE largest promotion closest to him and perhaps the time away will be good for both sides.
2 for 4
Hit or Miss: Claudio Castagnoli winning the PWG World Title.
MW: Hit. I was convinced he wouldn’t win as he isn’t a PWG regular, or even a sporadic guest. Not only is this fantastic recognition of how damn good Claudio is (PWG have always been great at giving props to underrated wrestlers), it was also the only result of the match that wouldn’t have made me grimace. Hero is phenomenal, he really is, but you can’t have the longest reigning champion in history win it again. Joey Ryan is awesome, but he’s pretty one-dimensional as a heel and we’ve seen it all before with his previous run. Gatson is perfectly fine, but whatever Jerome sees in him I don’t when it comes to being a main event player. I don’t feel he’s earned it yet. Claudio provides fresh matches with every single challenger and though he works in at least three other companies, he’s probably going to be available more than Davey and Omega were, so I think the fans are going to love him.
CG: Hit. He’s one of the hottest commodities on the scene today. He’s one half of the, IMO, greatest storyline in CHIKARA, one half of the best tag team in ROH the KOW, and a singles push could allow us to see what he could do for a larger indy promotion and possibly his future. Good stuff here and I can’t wait to pre-order the event.
3 for 5
Hit or Miss: Women’s wrestling needs to play a bigger part in ROH
MW: Hit. I’ve said precisely this in my HDNet recaps. Daizee and Del Rey have appeared on nearly every show for years now and wrestle once in the bluest of moons. Their color commentator books for a company comprised entirely of women. Why on earth wouldn’t they take advantage of that and bring some ladies in to wrestle their regulars? I think recent episodes of ROH TV have alluded to the idea of an ROH Women’s Title being in the not too distant future, and you can call it backstage politics due to Daizee & Delirious’ relationship if you want, but when women’s wrestling is done well, I think it belongs on a wrestling card. I’d rather see Death Rey than Grizzly Redwood and the Embassy, that’s for sure.
CG: Miss. We have Shimmer. Have them put some talent in ROH and have the title defended in it like they always have but please don’t make a Women’s Of Honor belt. Please don’t.
3 for 6
Matt and Chris went 3 for 6 this week and both made for some great discussion on the topics. Check back next week to see what we discuss and who my guests are. Be good everyone!
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