The ground is strewn with the bodies of the fallen. Smoke is steadily rising from the field where the chaos ensued. The land smells of blood and fear and death and loss, but radiating from it as well is the hope of a new day.
Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse my dramatic little opening there. After months of build-up, Final Battle 2011 is finally over.
The show’s results are very interesting to say the least, and they will be the central focus of myself and Jeff’s discussion today, as we leave this year behind and look ahead to a 2012 full of possibilities before us. I went 6-2 for Final Battle, Jeffrey; how did you do?
Amazingly, I managed to go 6-2 myself! A tie in our overall results? I bet ROH did it on purpose so that neither one of us could gloat, those bastards. They never want me specifically to by overly happy about anything. Ever. Gah.
One of my errors was something I was a little foolish with; of course whoever answered Roderick Strong’s challenge (and that whoever is none other than Chris Hero) was going to put him over. My other error was the monkey wrench ROH decided to throw into the gears: giving the Young Bucks a redeemable Tag title shot. ANX had always been long overdue for the big time, but this is an unfortunate setback - especially when the other team is far inferior than them.
If Rhett Titus’s Twitter posts are legit and to be believed, he has a legit foot (?) injury he has to take care of, meaning he might need time off. If that’s the case, then it makes a little more sense for the Bucks to win here, giving them the tag title shot immediately. Plus, it makes the comeback story a tad more intriguing. The Bucks, with their post-match assault, come off as the ones who injured Rhetski the Jetski. It gives the All-Night Express motivation to take the Bucks on and triumph over them before heading on to the new champs - and old rivals - the Briscoes. On paper, it makes a lot of sense and looks enticing, as long as Matt and Nick Jackson don’t screw things up with their less-than-stellar heel work.
Speaking of Dem Boys, seven-time champs, eh? Wasn’t quite expecting Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team to end the year without the titles, but it’s not a bad decision at all. Adds to the Briscoes’ prestige a fair bit.
First of all, I completely forgot that Rhett was walking to the ring with a limp at the show.
Anyway, something strange happened at Final Battle. WGTT came down the ring and punked the Briscoes, beating them up so bad and this was before the match could even begin. But that’s all right, because it’s only payback for the Briscoes being thorns in their sides, right? But something strange happened.
The beatdown kept going and going. Jay got busted open. The match didn’t officially begin until the bell was rung almost ten minutes into the beatdown. During the match, WGTT would get booed when they were on offense, and the Briscoes would get cheered. It wasn’t completely executed after the Briscoes won the titles, but... I think the world witnessed a double turn.
It seemed that WGTT, while having a good first year (it is their first, right?) with ROH and a good first run with the belts, were already stagnating at the top. The roles were switched beautifully; in their anger, Haas and Benjamin got carried away and spilled a little more blood than good guys could usually get away with, even in the heat of revenge. As the helpless victims - who were thugs at first - who managed to fight back and win, the Briscoes silently became heroes.
Looking back, it all makes perfect sense now: it may or may not have been because of Rhett’s injury, but the Young Bucks winning the next shot definitely allows the Briscoes to become faces. Or anti-faces, if you will. What was something a bit nonsensical at first glance was really something so sensible.
I love what happened, and for ROH, it works incredibly well. As was mentioned several times by commentators Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness, Haas and Benjamin were seen as outsiders to Ring of Honor, holding titles they shouldn’t have been holding. Meanwhile, the Briscoes were ROH originals, having been there since Day One, and were coming to not only take the titles back for themselves, but seemingly for the company itself. And it played out beautifully during the match. The once-favored Tag Team became intensely hated as they violated rules, swung chairs, and rained blows down upon the Briscoes. Playing the plucky, fierce underdogs, Dem Boys managed to bring the fight right back to the high-profile team
and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they could not only hang with, but beat the self-proclaimed Greatest. And the fans got behind them and supported them through the beatdown. ‘Twas quite a site to behold, and told a very compelling story.
And of course, now that they have the fans’ support once again, the can immediately engage the Young Bucks without worrying about what should have been a heel vs. heel dynamic. That’s entirely gone at this point, which makes things a lot easier for all parties involved. Face/face is fairly easy to do; just throw in some “I respect you” bullshit and blah blah turn tension, and it can be done. Heel/heel is a bit trickier to pull off successfully. But now no one has to worry about that, and Jay and Mark will just get face reactions for being badass redneck chickenfuckers, as they used to.
No doubt. Talk about anti-heroes, but of course the “mature” ROH crowd will cheer who they want and the Briscoes don’t have to change a thing about themselves. Not that they won’t (they probably will), but they don’t really have to.
All right, now let’s take a detour to the TV title for a while. Lethal retained as predicted, but it’s also clear that the storyline with Mike Bennett will continue on for a while longer. Now that El Generico has to deal with an officially full-time Kevin Steen (which we’ll get to later), who could be the next guy following Bennett? Michael Elgin? TJ Perkins? I’m seeing either Perkins or Tommaso Ciampa, as they’re making Elgin hover around the upper midcard and still messing around with Team Richards.
I’d put Elgin here, but you’re right, I think ROH brass is booking him a little above the belt. Ciampa makes the most sense here, and why not? He’s still undefeated in singles competition, he’s been begging for something more than jobber-squashing for weeks now, and has dealt with Lethal at least once before (a tag match where Ciampa and Rhino defeated Lethal and Homicide). It all adds up, and would make for some decent matches between the two. Plus, it could give the lovely Mia Yim more screen-time, and give Barrister R.D. Evans (“Marchie” Archibald Peck of CHIKARA fame) more mic-time, both of which are very good things in my book. Another possibility: Kenny King, if Titus is out for more than a month or two. He’d need something to do, and with the Bucks tied up, why not attempt to go for the TV title? He’s certainly got the talent for it, what with his ridiculous athleticism and kicks. In fact, I think I’d like to see that the most if Rhett’s out for a while. Though I hope he isn’t, ANX as a unit will probably lose a fuckton of momentum if that’s the case.
Kenny’s an interesting choice. He would definitely fit in the face void El Generico would be leaving, assuming he really his going to leave title pictures for now. I actually like that, but I also have a feeling that it would be simply something for him to do as he waits for Rhett to get back. (Which I think wouldn’t be for very long, if Rhett could still work a match through his injury.)
And finally, the main event. Kevin Steen made it clear at the end of Final Battle that he was coming for the World Championship. Davey sold some urgency with the matter, so I assume that’s going to immediately be the next feud for the title. However, that immediately shunts Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong to the side; even though we want them to go away, they most likely won’t. Edwards would probably not waste his storyline with Severn (although it is a possibility; it would be hilarious if that happened) and Strong is being booked to still fight to remain relevant.
With Steen being added to the picture, I think we’ve officially got ourselves a deep scene, with four people hovering around the title, maybe five if you count Michael Elgin. Do we really need to see more Team Richards/House of Truth shenanigans?
Need to? Of course not. It’s been played out for months now. We get it, Roddy and Davey don’t get along and Truth Martini dresses funny and pisses people off. We understand. We also have stopped caring. Now with Steen officially in the mix, we can move on and get into something fresh and interesting. How will company man and down-to-earth Davey deal with the maniacal, deranged, anti-ROH mind of Steen? Who will the fans ultimately choose as their favorite, since both are over with the standard Ring of Honor crowd? How will Strong, Richards, Generico, Steve Corino, and Jimmy Jacobs fit into all of it, if they fit at all? There are a cornucopia of questions surrounding the Richards/Steen rivalry and bout, which immediately makes it the most intriguing part of the program, even if both struggle a bit with match psychology. Truthfully, I haven’t been this excited in the ROH World Title since Austin Aries’s last run with it, well over a year ago. Should ROH manage to do well with this, I foresee a very bright, compelling 2012 for the company.
And most importantly: will Davey no-sell any of Steen’s offense?
Oh my Yog, I can see him kicking out of a series of Package Piledrivers, powerbombs, and moonsaults as we speak. Urgh.
I already saw a taste of it during Steen/Corino, where Steve just wouldn’t stay down. But then again, that was a blood feud. I honestly hope this won’t happen again, but knowing both men a little more now I shouldn’t bet on that.
So we’ve covered pretty much all the bases. How about this for a lightning round: Chris Hero. Staying or not staying?
No clue whatsoever, but I’ll say not staying. I dunno, That Young Knockout Kid’s return via Roderick Strong Invitational really seemed like a one-off deal. Come in, get the crowd to pop, put on a decent match with Roddy, and then move on. He could stay, of course, but I get the feeling that Hero’s just gonna float around the indy scene for a little bit as he waits for whatever possible medical issues he has to clear up so he can jump to the WWE.
I’ll also say not staying. He really needs that WWE job and that next step to take his game to the next level. Besides, if he was staying, he would’ve been less likely to put over Strong.
Anyway, there we go. This year’s Final Battle may not have been the absolute best way to end the year (see my review for... well, my thoughts), but for those who care, in the end we are faced with a number of great possibilities in the year ahead. The execution may have been more than a little sloppy, but the payoff was excellent anyway, if not interesting or intriguing at the very least.
Indeed. 2012 looks to be at least interesting, with Steen returning, Briscoes as champs, and nearly a half-a-year under the SBC banner. There could always be some improvements to make (cough Davey Eddie Roddy cough), but as far as possibilities go, Ring of Honor has plenty of enticing ones that will make them a good promotion to watch.
If you’ve got the patience, of course. Otherwise... we can’t help you.
On that note, Happy New Year 2012, everyone. If it’s our last, make it big. Don’t lose any fingers now, y’hear?
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Our good friend Lazyking has his thoughts on Final Battle up on video. Please check it out:
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Author's Note:Happy New Year, everyone.
This was supposed to be a much different and bigger column, but family responsibilities got in the way this weekend and I was not able to properly research for that. So instead, please bear with me as I do another repost, and the original column will appear next week, I promise.
Anyway, this column is a really old one; it's one of my first ever pieces I wrote for the Columns Forum. To provide a little context for the opening paragraphs, this one is dated 2010 and just came out after that year's midterm elections, where Linda McMahon lost her Senate bid. However, this isn't really about politics, as it's more about fandom. This New Year, I think we can all strive to be better fans, even myself.
The dust has settled and the results are out, and you can’t really say you were shocked if you wanted to remain an upstanding member of the community. Linda McMahon, the woman whose husband so happens to be crazy and runs that company operating in an industry smitten with so much taboo and vilification, has lost her bid for the Senate. The people, most of them those noble individuals who are allowed to make their voices heard via Facebook comments (which I’ve already touched upon), are rejoicing because this may finally mean the end of that darn-tootin’ PG Era, because nobody no longer has any real obligations to keep up appearances. Yeah, you can quit it with the Stand Up campaign already.
But no, this column isn’t about Linda or American politics. I’ve largely tried to avoid discussing those issues, no matter how strongly I feel, simply because I am not American, and I feel that I would need a lot more time in the States to truly know and discuss anything about the scene. No, this one is going to go a little deep. It’s about the fanbase.
Wrestling fandom, like everything else under debate, is divided into at least two sides. For argument’s and simplicity’s sake, they are the left-wing and the right-wing. I know I just said this column isn’t about politics, and trust me, it isn’t, because it’s not explicitly about conservatives and liberals. You see, my political science professor had a neat and elegant way to define the two wings: the right wants to preserve the system, the order, and the status quo as much as possible, while obviously, the left is sick and tired of it and wants to change it up.
Let’s apply this to WWE fans and the way they feel about the current product. It’s quite simple. The right is relatively content with PG, and they have some strong opinions for it. (Not to mention that various factors, like match and show quality, strongly support the right. You may want to take that with a grain of salt, though, considering that that is my opinion.) On the other hand, the left absolutely hates PG because it doesn’t fit their tastes at all, and are almost always clamoring for the Attitude Era to return. And of course, there are always the centrists who would be content with a little bit of both – God bless you, centrists.
It all makes sense now, right?
Anyway, so what usually happens is that members of the right-wing are usually at least a little elitist, especially towards the left. (Okay, so it’s not too far removed from actual politics.) Somehow it’s quite understandable, when you look at the matchup on paper: you’ve got guys who just want straight-up wrestling action and good stories that can work for audiences of all ages, against guys who think it’s no longer a good show because the ladies don’t strip as much as they used to and the angles are no longer worthy of an R-rated movie. It also doesn’t help when the right mostly comes off as the more thought-out and articulate (i.e. writers and columnists like Hustle, Tito, etc).
I can’t say that I’m not guilty of this elitism, myself. In fact, that previous paragraph? I’m trying very hard not to come across as very elitist. (Present me says to hell with it, I am very elitist.) But anyone who has followed my work already knows that I fall in line with the right-wing, and anyone who reads news posts on the front page where I leave my two cents knows that I can be pretty damn condescending to anyone who mentions “Attitude Era” favorably and “PG” negatively. (On the other hand, TNA is TNA and I don’t need to step in myself for that.)
But the thing is, believe it or not, I think it’s getting quite tiresome.
Not because of who’s wrong and who’s right, but in every fiery debate there’s a lot of negativity, and that negativity gets old quick. Despite never saying anything about it, deep down I held some disdain for Linda’s campaign because I knew it was only going to polarize people unnecessarily (case in point, the entire deal about the Stand Up campaign).
I certainly don’t want to visit the LOP front page just to tell off people I largely disagree with. Now, I realize it’s hard to say all this without still sounding elitist (as you can imply that I want everyone to get along - by forcing dissenters to enjoy what they don’t enjoy), but still, it’s discouraging and disillusive. I honestly want to enjoy what I want to enjoy without getting into a war of words with strangers over the Internet. In all seriousness, though, can’t we all just get along? Left and right wing?
All of that said, though, I’ve come to a little realization. A true smart mark is not the guy who flaunts what he now knows about the business’s secrets, rages because he is not appeased, and condescends those who do not; rather, he is the guy who sees and understands the business and the performers for what they really are supposed to be – entertainment and characters.
And because he knows this, and even if he knows the secret, he still allows himself to mark out over something he enjoys out of enjoyment itself, whether objectively good or bad, without having to be ashamed of it.
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Plug of the Now: Controversial LOP personality, columnist, Lords of Podcast member, and all-around ROH Friday ally Mr. Seth Omega has an actual one-on-one interview with Kevin Kelly, which you can read here. It's an interview full of Kelly's typical company man answers, but we celebrate each and every chance we get of actual interaction with people in the business. We thank you, Mr. Kelly, for taking the time to answer Seth's questions.
If you’re an ROH fan, then you’d do well to read my coverage of the recently re-debuted ROH television show. It comes out every week (as much as possible); sometimes it's late, but it still comes.
