Well…it’s that time again! Welcome to the very first edition of Hit or Miss for 2011! We’ve got Matt Waters and Chris GST joining me this week…so read on!
Hit or Miss: Chris Hero will hold a singles title in 2011 in Ring of Honor
Matt Waters: Miss. I’d love to say hit more than anything in the world, but I’m going with what I think rather than what I want. I’m going to continue the theme from my recent podcast appearance of dropping controversy bombs and say that Chris Hero is a better wrestler than Davey Richards and he’s also more deserving of their world title. I’ve been able to see Hero as world champion ever since the days of Larry Sweeney and I can still see it now with Hagadorn. He’s tall, he’s reasonably stacked, he’s cocky, he’s the best promo man in the company, he has both a valet AND a mouthpiece (assuming he’d keep both in the Kings’ divorce) and he has the most convenient piece of heel booking working for him. The ROH fans probably wouldn’t like to see Hero using a loaded elbow to defend their beloved world title, but it sure as hell would be a good way for him to put away the top faces without making them look too bad. Long story short, Hero is the complete package in my eyes and would be a fantastic champion, but Davey Richards is next and between him and Roderick that’ll most likely take us through the calendar year.
Chris GST: Hit. I definitely can see with the current story going with Christopher Daniels that either Hero or Claudio will be holding the TV or vying for the World title.
0 for 1
Hit or Miss: PWG’s WrestleReunion show will be better than ROH’s
MW: Hit. They’ve got an insane card, but don’t count ROH out; PWG’s card also carries a lot of risk. Last year we learned the hard way that luchadors can stink up a joint like few others. Jake “The Snake” has had more than his share of matches that have made the audience want to crawl into a dark corner and cry in recent years, and the legends battle royal is filling the ring with a large number of past-their-best wrestlers who have about an equal chance of being terrible as they have of being good. Meanwhile ROH have only two matches announced, but they’re pretty damn good matches. Haas & Benjamin vs the Kings of Wrestling will probably be the best match of the weekend and Strong vs. Generico could be every bit as good as Claudio vs. Generico. I wouldn’t rule out a Richards/Daniels rematch taking place on this night either. Still, Low Ki vs Richards, Claudio vs Generico, Steen vs Hero, a four-team tag match, an 8-man tag, Shane Helms vs Joey Ryan AND the chance of the above matches being good rather than terrible is very tough to compete with. PWG wins.
CG: Hit. Right now we have Roderick Strong vs El GEnerico for the ROH title and the KoW vs Worlds Greatest Tag Team for ROH and PWG already has for Kurt Russelmania II KoW member Claudio defending his PWG title against El Generico (El Generico could leave CA with two of the most prestigious titles on the indy scene), a dream re-match of Davey Richards vs Low Ki amoung other top PWG talent including TNA’s Generation ME. I think PWG right now is the best show.
1 for 2
Hit or Miss: Matt Hardy to TNA
MW: Miss. Typical TNA really, promoting something the fans wanted to see several years ago as being relevant today. The Hardyz are probably going to go over Sabin & Shelley (and every other TNA team) at some point in a bout that they will bill as a dream match, but unless they have a time machine to put Matt & Jeff in, there’s no way they belong in the ring with MCMG. The whole Hardy Boyz thing aside, Matt has been very unimpressive thus far in TNA. His hair looks stupid and I’m not one of those guys, but come on, his weight problem is a little out of hand at this point. Paul London called Matt Hardy the biggest mark for himself and I agree. He’s arrived in TNA and seemingly believes the fans should fall at his feet.
CG: Miss. Matt Hardy will do nothing for the ratings as his first match on Impact lost viewers. He is out of shape and really will do nothing to spark interest in TNA if he continues to look out of shape and lost on the mic.
2 for 3
Hit or Miss: Kizarny feuding with UltraMantis Black
MW: Hit. When I first read that Kizarny was the man in the robe I let out a little groan of disappointment. But as this has been allowed to develop a little through blogs and the like I’m starting to really dig it. The feud makes sense and Kizarny is weird enough to pull off being a leader of a dark army against Mantis.
CG: Hit. I will only say hit because this is being booked quite well in CHIKARA. I have nothing against Kizarny but as a wrestler he’s shitty IMO. At the same time this story with UMB is probably going to be told as only CHIKARA can tell it.
3 for 4
Hit or Miss: Chuck Taylor will have a breakout year
MW: Hit… sort of. In my opinion he already had a breakout year in 2010. He’s going to continue to be one of the hottest things on the indies, leading The Fightin’ Taylor Boys in PWG, Ronin in Dragon Gate, another pseudo-faction involving Johnny Gargano in Evolve, and as we learned recently F.I.S.T. are the first entrants in Chikara’s King of Trios 2011. That’s a lot of things on The All-Star’s plate, and that’s before we remember he was named MVP and break-out star of the year in Evolve where he’s tied for first place in wins with Gargano and Jimmy Jacobs. Many think he’s a viable candidate for PWG World Champion after Claudio and Ronin have to be considered strong contenders to win the Open the United Gate titles as well. So yes, he’s got a lot going for him and if even half of that takes off he’s going to have one hell of a year.
CG: Hit. Chuck Taylor proved he is a top tag specialist by winning the KOT in CHIKARA and he has proven to fans that he has what it takes to win in singles matches with his win in EVOLVE against Claudio. I think we will see Chuck Taylor win a significant title in 2011.
4 for 5
Hit or Miss: The Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins angle
MW: Hit. It’s funny, plain and simple. I’m sure his rivalry with Michael Cole stopped being legit quite a while ago and is now just for show, but I’m sure that on some level it grates on Cole to see the nerd with the hot chicks, and that can only be a good thing.
CG: Hit. Fans that feel like him I think are actually feeling that they can still get the girl and be rewarded for doing good work without being flashy and being a typical jock.
5 for 6
Matt and Chris went 5 for 6 this week in our first Hit or Miss of the new year.
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5 for 6! 5 for 6!
I’m with you Waters. Hero is better than Davey now, and has been for some time. Besides, Hero’s quirk (too many elbows sometimes) is far less irksome than Richards’s quirk (AJPW selling on steroids, selling nothing but the last move).
thats what i get for putting this together after reading 100 pages of homework…
also, Hero’s quirk is a quick and easy fix. Davey’s quirk could possibly take some time to fully fix.
I mentioned this in my recap of ROH for this week. It was bad when he would hit more than two rolling elbows in a match because it lessens the meaning of the move, but he’s begun to vary his moveset a little with the stretch plum, the moonsault, and some of the high impact moves. In PWG he’s doing Hero’s Welcome again and I’d like to see it return in ROH just to give him something else to lean on late in a match that isn’t the rolling elbow so as to avoid another Hero vs Lynn title match incident with 7 rolling elbows.
I would love to see Hero’s Welcome return to ROH. Throw in The Hangman’s Clutch and he’s got one of the most well rounded movesets outs there today.
I kind of miss Hero’s Anglo-European phase, with the weird wristlocks and cravates and stuff. If he mixed some of that stuff back in to his more strike heavy style of today, he’d be one of the most well-rounded wrestlers out there.