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Hello everybody, and I'm back with the third and final part of my big return sweep of pROHfile installments, and today I'm going to preview this weekend's big cards in Dayton and Chicago Ridge.
The big focus of this weekend's shows will, of course, be the one-time return of former ROH and TNA World Champion Samoa Joe at the Chicago Ridge PPV taping, as he will work a non-PPV match against Tyler Black of Age Of The Fall. Before I say anything else, let me just state for the record that Samoa Joe is winning this match. There is no way TNA is going to loan out one of their top stars to do a job to Tyler Black, who has not advanced beyond midcarder yet, on an ROH show. That said, if there was any doubt before this point that Tyler Black is being groomed to become a top guy, I think the fact that Tyler got this match out of all the guys in the company tells you all you need to know. Tyler Black had clearly been handpicked by Gabe Sapolsky to become the next big star in ROH, and it appears that's still the direction Adam Pearce is going with him. Tyler's been having good to great matches with nearly everyone he's been thrown in the ring with, and granted, it's hard to look bad when you're regularly working with Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, and the Briscoes, but other guys have been put in this spot and have not held their side of the bargain anywhere near as well as Tyler, and even though I guarantee he's going to lose, Tyler knows that this is the biggest match of his career so far, and is not going to give anything less than his best. As for Samoa Joe, even though he no longer works for the company, he loves ROH and is still the biggest star to ever come out of there, and he'll do everything he can to help get Tyler Black over to that next level.
And it would take something like the return of Samoa Joe to overshadow the two huge ROH World Title matches that will be taking place this weekend, as before he gets in the ring with Samoa Joe, Tyler Black will be challenging Nigel McGuinness, along with Austin Aries, in a three way match for the ROH World Title. Whoever is the champion after that match will then go into Chicago Ridge to defend the title against Bryan Danielson in the PPV main event. As I've said, Tyler Black is still being elevated, his time will come but it's not coming yet. Aries, meanwhile, is still dealing with his feud against Jimmy Jacobs and I doubt he'll be bringing the ROH World Title into that final confrontation, and I would be surprised if Jimmy Jacobs did not get involved in the Dayton three way, both to screw with Aries as well as to further the dissension angle between himself and Tyler Black, perhaps even cost Tyler the match. Dayton is also Nigel's home turf, I don't see him dropping the title there.
The next night in Chicago Ridge, however, is a different story. I think this is as appropriate as any a time for Nigel McGuinness to drop the ROH World Title, as Bryan Danielson has been chasing after that title ever since Nigel won it 13 months ago. Nigel has snuck out with the title and escaped Danielson time after time and has especially gone out of his way to avoid a PPV title defense, but Chicago Ridge is the end of the road. Danielson is wrestling Claudio Castagnoli in Dayton and will presumably end that feud there, so he will have no more distractions leading into this final confrontation with Nigel. The only thing giving me pause for thought is that Naomichi Marufuji is still looming on the horizon and will be getting an ROH World Title shot at some point in the near future, but nobody ever said it would be against Nigel, and that plan may be completely out the window now that we've transitioned into the Pearce Regime. I am not 100% certain Danielson will win, but I would certainly not be surprised if he does.
But as I've said, first he needs to get through Claudio Castagnoli. The feud started in New York when Claudio brutally attacked Danielson after being eliminated from the four way title match, and then proceeded with several more brutal attacks in the weeks to follow, but then Claudio just started attacking everyone and the Danielson-Claudio feud was kind of forgotten for a while. But now the match has been signed, and I would assume that if this isn't the final match in the feud, it will at least move things along well enough. Assuming it doesn't end in a disqualification of some sort, I see Danielson getting the win leading into his title shot the following night. Then again, if Claudio isn't happy with the outcome of this match, he may very well make his presence known in the title match in Chicago Ridge as well.
But Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black aren't the only ones having a big weekend, as this will be somewhat of a make or break weekend for Jimmy Jacobs, as he will team with Delirious to challenge Kevin Steen & El Generico for the ROH World Tag Team Title in Dayton before going on to Chicago Ridge to face Austin Aries in an I Quit match to settle their feud. I see some pretty big cracks forming in Age Of The Fall coming out of this weekend. They're already teasing problems between Jimmy and Tyler Black, and those problems have been said to be exacerbated by Jimmy choosing to team with Delirious for this title shot rather than Tyler Black. If AOTF don't win the tag straps on Friday and then Jacobs loses to Aries on Saturday, I can see a scenario where Tyler begins openly questioning Jimmy's leadership and maybe even splits with the group. On the other hand, if Jimmy and Delirious take the title and then Jacobs beats Aries, he'll be back on top of the world. I don't know if I see Jacobs beating Aries though, I think Aries has come too far to lose to Jacobs in this one, and the AOTF gimmick is starting to run its course besides, so I'll predict a rough weekend overall for Jimmy Jacobs where he goes 0-2 and starts to see his little cult begin to slip through his fingers.
This will also be a big weekend for Sweet & Sour Inc, as Chris Hero meets Roderick Strong in a Lights Out match and Davey Richards faces Brent Albright in a regular singles match, then the following night in Chicago Ridge Hero and Richards will team with fellow S&S member Go Shiozaki (who strangely has not been referred to as the FIP Champion since Gabe was deposed) to take on Strong, Albright, and a mystery third man who has yet to be announced, but will be replacing the injured Erick Stevens, who was written out via an injury angle that has him the victim of a grade 3 concussion at the hands of Sweeney's men. That six man match will have a stipulation attached to it that has yet to be announced. I don't know if the six man in Chicago Ridge will be the blowoff or not, but it will certainly be a major crossroads in the feud and something major will go down there. In the meantime, I think Hero will sneak out of Dayton with a cheap win over Roderick, while Albright runs through Davey Richards as he continues to build steam.
Speaking of Sweet & Sour Inc, Sweeney's lone female competitor, Sara Del Rey, will get a chance to regain the SHIMMER Title in Chicago Ridge as she challenges current champion MsChif, who defeated Del Rey for the title earlier this year. While I have no doubt that this will be a great match, I don't think Sara's getting the title back. I assume that for the sake of his own company's continuity, Dave Prazak would prefer to only have SHIMMER Title changes on SHIMMER shows. Especially with the economy being what it is right now, I would think Dave wouldn't want to alienate his fanbase by making them spend more money on ROH shows to see title changes.
Also, Chicago Ridge will see the latest chapter in another long running feud, as Delirious takes on Rhett Titus in a grudge match. Sorry to say to all Rhett Titus fans, but I'm expecting to just see him get slaughtered again at the hands of Delirious. I'm sure we'll see Daizee Haze get involved again somehow, but whose side will she be on, if anyone's? Maybe she'll take an active role in trying to take out both guys. The Briscoes will take on the returning Irish Airborne in Dayton, and though this will be a stern test for Irish Airborne, they have pinned the Briscoes before. Finally, both shows will see a Four Corner Survival match, as Dayton's participants will be Sami Callahan, Rhett Titus, Go Shiozaki, and an as-yet unnamed fourth man who will presumably be revealed at the show, while Chicago Ridge will see Sami Callahan, Claudio Castagnoli, Silas Young, and Alex “Sugarfoot†Payne.
So there you have it, it's going to be very interesting to see how this weekend plays out, as I think it will give us a good idea of where Adam Pearce plans to take the company as we move further out of the realm of ROH as booked by Gabe Sapolsky. I'll be back next week with thoughts on the Dayton and Chicago Ridge shows, as well as all the usual ruminations and ponderings you have come to expect out of each and every edition of the pROHfile. Until then, thanks for reading and as always, all feedback can be sent to stupwinsider@yahoo.com, and don't forget to catch me on MySpace at www.myspace.com/stupwinsider. Take care, everybody, and I'll see you next week!
