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The Cynical View
Bryan Danielson versus The Age of The Fall
By Michael Campbell
Howdy, welcome back to “The Cynical Viewâ€. It’s been a while since I’d knocked out a column that wasn’t a straight up review of a DVD or a PPV so I though it was about time to shoot for something different.
Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black should be Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. The union of these two, with Necro Butcher, and Lacey (then later Joey Matthews, Alison Wonderland and Zach Gowen) as The Age of The Fall, was arguably the hottest angle in the promotion last year. Then tag Champions, The Briscoe Brothers, had been harassed for weeks by unseen forces, online and through a variety of ambiguous messages. To fans, it was obvious that come Man Up!, the second ROH PPV, this new faction would unveil itself. No-one was especially surprised that Jimmy Jacobs was the leader, but the combination of him, Black, and Necro, thrilled fans with it’s dynamic. They immediately looked poised to become classic heels, as they attacked Mark and Jay, suspending the older Briscoe from the ceiling so his blood flowed onto Jacob’s white suit as he delivered a swell promo. It started off well.
But it’s been a bumpy ride for The Age of the Fall. Jimmy enjoyed the biggest win of his career against American Dragon Bryan Danielson, and he and Black went on to raise the World Tag Team Titles from their enemies at Final Battle 07. However, they dumped them to the No Remorse Corps shortly thereafter. Mistakes have been made. Momentum lost, despite the interjection of such luminaries as the physically deformed and mentally scarred Joey Matthews. Jimmy didn’t even make a big deal over his Danielson win, arguably the biggest of his career, and one over perhaps the biggest star in ROH history. At times, I feel that ROH’s priorities have been eschew. The heel unit often seems primed to take over the show, only to have their momentum killed by silly losses, for what only appears to be for the sake of parity. The No Remorse Corps didn’t especially go anywhere for a long time, and only gained steam at the expense of The Age of the Fall. Was that really the right decision?
However, things are looking up. The Briscoes have vacated their tag belts thanks to Mark’s inactiveness through injury. The Age of the Fall have got to be favourites in the tournament to crown new title holders. The roles of Tyler Black, and Jimmy Jacobs have been endless sources of interest and speculation. Will they split up? Is Black satisfied with Jimmy’s leadership? He has exchanged somewhat scornful glances in recent times, when Jacobs has publicly become emotional over Lacey leaving him. Some regard Black as the eventual break-out star of the group, with Jacobs being considered as an overrated mouthpiece. Is this really the case?
With all that in mind, I’d like to take a look at the contests Bryan Danielson fought with both Black and Jacobs, how they differed, and the roles that the respective Age of the Fall members played in both. These wrestlers are both two of the most intriguing amongst ROH’s roster.
Unscripted III
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Jimmy comes to the ring along with Alison Wonderland. In a recurring theme, he makes a big deal out of not making apologies for the other Age of the Fall members losing earlier on the show. Daizee Haze interrupts and attacks Alison, but Jimmy savagely spears her. He then continues with his good promo, before being interrupted by Bryan Danielson, which provokes a really massive impromptu contest.
Jimmy is the leader of the faction, but just isn’t taken seriously as a top-level talent. Part of this, for me, is surely weak booking. But in another sense, it is clearly intentional. His squad lose following much bragging, yet in fine heel style, return the following show dismissing their loss, and continuing their fanatical, sub-philosophical rants.
Jacobs jumps Dragon during his entrance, which is fine, as The Age of the Fall have no respect for ROH tradition. Before long, Dragon applies an arm-bar, but Jimmy evades it, but is left covering up. Slightly MMA style opening this, which is suitable for numerous reasons. It’s an exciting, believable start, that focuses on the sympathy-garnering explosiveness of Dragon. But it is also cocky of him to attempt to his put his opponent away so quickly and easily, which is true to his character, and plays off on the general opinion of Jacobs. Jimmy retreats to the outside and regroups.
Dragon works Jimmy on the mat for a while, and is able to lock on the Surfboard, which again results in his victim stumbling out of the ring. Jimmy removes his knee brace, which earns him condescending groans from the fans. Back in the ring, the action is again very mat-based, with Jimmy having to take a short cut off a rope-break, to stall the momentum of the dominant Dragon. There isn’t much that’s fancy about Jimmy Jacobs ring-work, which is nice. Unlike a lot of heels that work in ROH, he isn’t flash, and wears opponents down with basic holds and strikes, which helps rally the crowd for his opponents.
Jimmy utilises knees to the head, and targets this face, alternating with side-headlocks. The former World Champion fights back with a huge Diving Uppercut though, and in turn picks up the pace with some fairly big spots. He lands a Diving Headbutt, but can’t lock on Cattle Mutilation. Jimmy hit’s the Back Senton off the top, which I always think is perfect for him, because it’s big, and pops the crowd, but is also believable, and not as dazzling as many of the high-risk moves on show. Jimmy can’t capitalise however, and Dragon ties him up in Cattle Mutilation, which leads Lacey to distract the referee before her leader can tap. Dragon grabs Lacey, which enables Jimmy to grab his cane, and swing it at Dragon, who blocks, Jimmy though, pulls out the Railroad Spike, and sinks it into the pale forehead of his enemy. It only gets a two-count though, but gives Jimmy a target to go after. I also liked this whole sequence, because Jimmy did not actually tap out at any point. So although he cheated, gaining an unfair advantage, I think perception-wise, the lack of a visible giving up, is crucial in putting him over somewhat. It treads the line of advantageous heel and career-making performance, and falls on the right side of boosting his stature without putting him over as heroic.
As expected Jimmy then proceeds to brutalise the wound, picking apart the head, enabling the sauce to liberally flow. The crowd fall quiet, in expectancy, while Jimmy effectively pummels his fallen foe. Dragon’s selling is an often unheralded aspect of his tight, all-round game. Jimmy plonks “the Best in the World†onto a chair, before propelling himself over the top rope, dropping an elbow across him. Again, very big spot, but not especially flashy. Jimmy continues to control, but makes an error in going to the top, while Dragon scores with a Superplex. Ignoring the blood shed, this has been a straightforward, almost old school few minutes, with the big Superplex providing the timely double down.
Dragon is up like a house on fire, even landing a big Tope to the outside. Dragon takes it back inside and fires up. In a neat sequence, Jimmy shoots for a springboard DDT, but is caught, but goes for a Guillotine Choke before Dragon can do anything. It’s ineffective though, as Danielson throws him off, before meandering into a big spear. Jacobs is pulling out the bigger aspects of his arsenal out of desperation, something I love, rather than sprinkling them throughout randomly, which is counterproductive when working as a heel.
Jimmy fails in his attempts to nail the Contra Code, and finds himself in Cattle Mutilation, then the elbows. He escapes and finally hit’s the aforementioned finisher, which by this point, has been superbly built to. Dragon heroically kicks out then blocks another Senton attempt. In a sequence that has the crowd fooled into believing it’s over, Jimmy is trapped in a Triangle chokes, and can’t break it whilst Dragon scores with some elbows, but finally crawls to the ropes. Vicious sequence. Both dudes end up on the top, where Jimmy hit’s a variation on a Face Plant/DDT, which he holds onto for another Guillotine (which he’s rechristened the End time- a silly title). Amazingly, after some brave attempts otherwise, the match is stopped when Danielson goes limp. Wow! The crowd are completely and utterly stunned. Like, flabbergasted
What was great about this bout, was the way in which, yes, Jimmy was cowardly, and at one point cheated, but this occurred in the middle of the match. Therefore, it further aligned the crowd with Dragon, placing heat on the beat down sequence that followed (sometimes one-sided periods in ROH matches can lack fan support a little), and adding to just how hot the finale was.
Irritatingly, Nigel McGuiness immediately comes out, and belittles Dragon’s loss, and therefore Jimmy’s victory. This really irritated me. Jimmy didn’t even attempt to really celebrate, what was clearly the biggest win of his career.
Breakout
Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black
Following an Age of the Fall tag match, Black cuts a solid promo, threatening to defeat “the Best in the Worldâ€. He’s the clear underdog heading into this match. He’s the relative newcomer to ROH, and matched up against someone eons ahead of him, Bryan Danielson.
When Dragon enters the ring, his character enables him to be cocky, and seemingly take Black lightly, even though he’s a babyface. So we have the Underdog heel, who will hopefully be elevated, without over-indulging his cult following, and the established babyface, still on top to the point where fans continue to rally behind him.
They start with some mat-work, and when Black displays his prowess, cockily showboats. It’s very interesting actually, because I don’t think Danielson is necessarily annoyed that his opponent is showing off, more so that he’s offended because that’s usually his forte. A few minutes in, and Dragon is treated to an insulting slap during a rope-break. The commentators repeatedly refer to Dragon’s composure, treating him like a veteran, not letting the young tyke get to him. But I don’t see it that way at all. Dragon is clearly frustrated, and it eventually erupts with him trapping Black in the corner, and unleashing a whole series of angry slaps. Clearly he’s no wily veteran, seeing a bit of himself in his foe… instead he’s simply pissed that his opponent was in a position to be more cocky than himself.
In fact, he’s astonished. Which really fires the crowd up, further riling the Age of the Fall followers, but positioning Danielson in the good guy spot.
Black runs, hiding, and in doing so, displays Raven’s preferred technique of “showing assâ€. At this point, he’s a perfectly cowardly heel. Back in the ring, Dragon locks on a couple of crowd-pleasing submissions. The fans are so thrilled in fact, that they chant “tapâ€, even though there’s no way they could possibly want that to occur right now.
The roles become extremely interesting as Dragon, in control, begins to cockily slap Black around the ring. It’s clear heel material, that few good guys can pull off. But having a beat-down on a bad guy in ROH, only for him to make a heroic comeback, is one of the company’s staples. It’s a sure sign that Black at the very least, will be elevated in this contest.
Tyler only gets back into the fight though, with slightly underhand techniques, and a bit of luck, on the outside of the ring. It’s a rare, old-fashioned touch, and maintains his heel momentum brilliantly. Disappointingly though, he executes a moonsault off the crowd barrier just moments later, that obviously, has the fans going wild. This is the sort of thing that ROH leaves itself wide open for in terms of criticism sometimes. However, you could interpret it as being a move that Black was willing to pull out of the bag only after his earlier approach failed. Almost in CM Punk fashion, Black throws together a few sequences of combos that are exciting and defy his slightly gangly frame.
Black fumbles the ball again by cockily slapping Dragon, that fires the former World Champion up. Lenny Leonard makes the observation that Tyler slips up each time he tries to rile his opponent with slaps, which is a true sign of a heel. He could be the best, but he can’t resist the temptation to be a prick. Dragon meanwhile, is the best at being a prick and is sympathetic as it’s his thunder being stolen.
Danielson hit’s a huge Missile Dropkick, followed by a swell Dive through the ropes that cleans out his younger opponent. But Black, opportunistically nails a Suplex off the apron, when he reverses Dragon’s attempts to suplex him back into the ring. He then pulls out a glamorous dive of his own, that pops the crowd, but is far enough into the bout that it makes sense for him to attempt such a move. Again, Black ends up slapping and insulting his more experiences opponent, which leads to a vicious comeback. The two then go into a whole host of roll-ups and reversals, which I think works perfectly in this context. Generally, I hate when guys do that at the beginning of a match, it makes much more sense to incorporate it after some time of fighting, when it could actually lead to a win thanks to fatigue, and reversals such as these come more instinctively.
They go to a double-down, which has the fans anticipating the final act of this clash. There’s pride at stake now as they exchange hard strikes relentlessly. Dragon gets Cattle Mutilation, but Tyler survives, only to end up Back Suplexed off the top rope. Amazingly, Black also survives the MMA elbows, but it leads him straight into another spell in the submission that recalls uncivil treatment of cows. Again, Black escapes, and lands some impressive boots to the head, that lead to a couple of his trademark moves, including an absolutely gob-smacking splash off the top. Dragon looks finished, but he reverses the subsequent pin attempt into a sleek cradle, that earns him the three count.
Afterwards, Black attacks Dragon with the hammer of the time-keeper, and drops him with his finisher.
Great ending to the events, and it wasn’t designed to get his “heat†back- which he never lost, as Dragon won in almost a fluke fashion. Instead, this was designed to further the feud.
I loved the finish of the match itself. Dragon is in a position where he is so over, and so ridiculously established, to the point that where even behaving as a complete ass, he is considered by the fans to literally be “the best in the worldâ€. Therefore, he can’t be hurt by a finish that could be interpreted as a fluke. However, that needn’t even be the case. Dragon’s lucky win can also be attributed to his technique and prowess, neither of which are suggestive of mere luck.
These were both outstanding efforts, and rank amongst the greatest I’ve seen in the careers of both Age of the Fall members. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black both headed into their respective bouts with Bryan Danielson as clear underdogs, however, their roles took very different shapes. Jimmy was the somewhat undernourished, underachieving whiney leader. He’d talked smack, but had little in the way of results to back it up. At the point in which he fought American Dragon, his faction had failed and needed a boost, which came in the form of the spot he had here. He literally threw everything he had at his foe, and emerged victorious. Ignoring the rather poor follow up, in terms of Jimmy’s singles achievements, this was a great moment. He was a revolutionary who finally achieved something that helped to back up his cause. This was a contrast to Black’s closely fought losing effort. This match had a dazzling ending designed to encourage support for Dragon, but be close enough that there was doubt aroused over whether Black was unlucky, or deservedly paying for his cockiness. it’s this doubt, and ambiguity that makes Tyler such an interesting character. We’re never quite sure if he is better than Jimmy, if he is capable of taking the role of leader from his mentor, and running off on his own. As things are now, if they do at some point split, I fail to see a scenario that works other than Tyler turning face, and Jimmy remaining heel. They have all the credentials in place. Tyler is the flashier, more likable, and more exciting grappler. But Jimmy is simply stunning as a bad guy.Either way, regardless of where Gabe Sapolsky takes these two, they remain two of the most fascinating that he has on his books. Of course, in my fantasy booking land, these guys will lift the Tag Team Titles once more, and have that long-term reign that they always deserved.
Thank for reading this gibbering rant. I hope it was at least as entertaining as shaving The Great Khali’s eyebrows, and more thought-provoking than a Matt Hardy promo. If you have any comments/questions/queries/or anything to say, get in touch at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com, whether you agree/disagree/hate me, or whatever if may be, I welcome all correspondence. I have also finally got on My Space! So slabber to me at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc.
