It turns out the “Year of the Prodigy” may have been just a few years off.
Michael Bennett no longer goes by the nickname “The Prodigy” when wrestling in Ring of Honor, but all the same, 2014 might be his boom year.
2013 ended for Bennett in not such great fashion, with a loss to Kevin Steen in the Stretcher-Match-That-Wasn’t. His wife Maria Kanellis also went out the wrong way thanks to a Steen Package Piledriver.
However, 2014 has already proven to be far more rewarding for both Bennett and Kanellis.
First of all, Mike and Maria have launched their very own audio podcast, Mike and Maria in Wonderland. It is a weekly endeavor available through fanoff.com, which is also the host of the always outrageous and entertaining RBR: Weekly Wrestling Talk radio show.
As far as his run in Ring of Honor, things look rosy there too. Bennett has already won four out of his six ROH matches so far this year. Further, he has been put into a position of importance through establishing a connection with the current ROH World Champion Adam Cole.
Positioning Bennett next to the champion makes him feel more important as should his usage on events. As far as their teaming together, it is a no-brainer for Cole to call upon Bennett as back-up to fight against the likes of Kevin Steen or Michael Elgin, whose new loose affiliation with bruisers Hanson and Raymond Rowe could cause problems for both Misters Bennett and Cole.
The push just didn’t fit when Bennett first debuted in Ring of Honor as “The Prodigy” in 2011. It was easy to see what Jim Cornette and company’s initial launch of Bennett as “The Prodigy” was going for in terms of trying to attain heel heat, but it was too over the top. Cornette, Cary Silkin and others falling over each other to praise the guy as a “free agent acquisition” didn’t work and made it easier to expose Bennett’s faults rather than focus on his strengths.
Now, Bennett has a good place for himself in the current era of Ring of Honor. Here are three main reasons why that is the case:
–The gimmick and the push are a more natural fit: Maria Kanellis was a part of the crew with Brutal Bob Evans before Bennett dropped the Prodigy moniker, but Kanellis was a third wheel and never the woman in charge. Over the past year, the direction changed with Maria taking charge and Bennett dumping Evans. That was a smart booking move. It puts the focus clearly on the leading male-leading female dynamic and that works far better than before. Maria is the woman in charge, giving credence to the saying “behind every good man there’s a good woman”. She is the mastermind and Bennett the workhorse of their two-person operation. That means there was more for her to do as far as contributing to the building of rivalries besides being the pretty face. By no means has Bennett quieted down or taken a back seat, as his interviews and promos clearly demonstrate more focus and attention to detail than before.
–Bennett is a good wrestler: Yes, you read that right. Michael Bennett may not be the “ROH style” worker most fans love to see, but he always was good in the ring. Only, now Bennett is getting to show off just a little more, which means overall his matches come across as far better than in year’s past. His feature matches against the likes of Kevin Steen (at Final Battle 2013) and Jay Briscoe (at 12th Anniversary Show) were opportunities for Bennett to demonstrate what he’s good at, both on offense and in selling. When you look at what Bennett does in the ring, he doesn’t do the flashiest things, but what he does works for him and it helps the overall event card.
–Longevity: Perhaps the greatest benefactor for Bennett’s more comfortable fit into ROH is simply time. He has been with the company for more than three years. It is to the point where he is one of the more veteran members of the roster. As a result, fan outrage decreased by attrition. It is incredibly difficult to keep up that intense level of apathy for a person for that long. Bennett has been able to make it past fan outrage and pitchforks. They saw he was sticking around whether they liked it or not. He’s outlasted their outrage that he dare be booked by ROH-the kind of anger, by the way, that went to Matt Hardy.
Now, the fans want to see Bennett get beat up as opposed to just going away. Think about this-so many fans have become fixated by Maria’s long-since-past relationship with CM Punk that Bennett was able to parlay it easily into his act. It is so good that the fans themselves don’t even realize they are being used to put heat on Bennett-all to chant the name of a guy who has a snowball’s chance of ever appearing in ROH one more time. That’s pretty damned good heel heat.
It is very easy to see the benefits of having Michael Bennett on the Ring of Honor roster in 2014. The partnership with Cole will work to his and ROH’s benefit. The booking of Maria in the company will continue to provide a focus and creatively point him in new directions and feuds.