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As we close in on the end of 2008, Ring Of Honor is looking to close out not just the year, but a pretty tumultuous few months with All Star Extravaganza IV this coming Friday at the former ECW Arena in South Philadelphia, as well as Final Battle 2008 the next night at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This is a huge weekend for ROH, easily their biggest since Adam Pearce took over as head booker for ROH, and there are some really big matches on both shows, so let’s take a look at what we have in store for the weekend.
Let’s start with the return to ROH of Naomichi Marufuji, who will challenge Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Title in the main event of Final Battle 2008. These two have wrestled once before in ROH back in 2006 when Marufuji was the GHC Heavyweight Champion and defended the title against Nigel. Marufuji won that match, so now the story builds in such a way that we’re left wondering whether Nigel can beat Marufuji and hold on to his title. This match has been a long time coming, and I personally have said that Marufuji deserves a run with, or at least a shot at, the ROH World Title as much as any of the regulars who have been coming over from NOAH. Whether he actually gets the title or not is another matter, and unless it’s something ROH wants to do as a favor to NOAH, I don’t know if he’ll get the title even though I’d personally love to see it. Since this is Nigel’s only title defense of the weekend, if he makes it through Final Battle still the champion, he will have surpassed Bryan Danielson’s 15 month run to become the second-longest reigning ROH World Champion in history. I think it would be really cool if he got through the weekend with the title, then they started doing a storyline where his goal was now to beat Samoa Joe’s record setting 21 month reign. There are a couple of reasons I think this would work: first, it would help freshen up Nigel’s title reign a bit because even though he’s bee pulling great matches every time out, he’s beaten almost everybody in ROH at least once, and some several times, so it would lend a new hook to his title reign. After Final Battle, Nigel would also only be six months away from breaking Joe’s record, so at this point it’s within the realm of possibility that he could pull it off, and I think all his matches could get great heat now that the fans would want more than ever to see Nigel lose the title so he won’t break Joe’s record.
But getting back to Marufuji, the title shot isn’t going to be the only main event he’ll be involved in that weekend, as he will face Austin Aries in a first time ever dream match in the main event in Philadelphia. This will be a great match, no doubt about it, and I have to assume that Marufuji will win here en route to challenging Nigel the next night, but I also see a scenario where if Marufuji does get the title in New York, Aries beats him here, one night before he wins the title so that he has an instant claim to a title shot. I’ve felt that Aries is easily in the top 5 in the grand scheme of ROH all-timers, and given his loyalty to the company and everything he’s done for them as a performer, he’s deserved a second run with the title for a long time now, and I would even say I’d rather see him get it than Danielson at this point. With his increased backstage power in recent months and word coming out that he’s pushing for a title program, this might not be that farfetched a situation.
In fact, even if he doesn’t beat Marufuji in Philly, Austin Aries is still in the title picture as he faces Tyler Black in New York, with the winner earning a shot at the ROH World Title. I would guess that we’re going to see Tyler get the win here as they finally appear to be pulling the trigger on him as a solo star, but we don’t know that for sure because Aries might just get the win and go on to that main event run he’s apparently been looking for. I envision two possible scenarios here, one being that Jimmy Jacobs, finally fed up with Tyler having his mind on his own career rather than Age Of The Fall, costs Tyler the match as a way of punishing him for not having his head in the game, and that right there is where you can split the group up and still make Tyler a solo, but still give him a few months before he gets back into the title picture. The other one plays into my scenario of Aries beating Marufuji, only for Marufuji to go on to win the title the next night. If they wanted to get really creative, they could do that scenario, but then have Aries lose the match to Tyler Black at Final Battle, and now you have two ready made challengers for Marufuji right out of the gate.
Also still in the title picture is Jerry Lynn who, although already suffering two losses to Nigel McGuinness, is apparently ready to make some huge waves in 2008 based off the recent events where Nigel verbally dressed him down after beating him in Nashville. Jerry gets a chance to take his first steps toward that road back to the title in Philadelphia as he takes on Bryan Danielson for the first time ever. Recent postings in the ROH Newswire would seem to indicate that they’re looking to do angle based off “The Wrestler†where Jerry is the old guy who time may have passed by, but is looking to come back and show that he’s still got it. A win over Danielson would be a huge win at this point for Jerry Lynn, who’s had about a .500 record since returning to ROH earlier in the year. If Nigel does make it through this weekend, I would say Lynn would be on the very, very short list of guys who have a believable chance of beating him for the title. Having seen Lynn perform in person a few times since he came back, I can say that he’s still every bit as good as he’s ever been, and wouldn’t have any problem with him beating Danielson. One thing that gives me pause for thought is they did a very friendly promo in a recent Video Wire where they talked about their respect for one another and their desire to have a clean match, leading me to think that things might get a little dirty and lead to an extended series between the two. I think it would be a lot of fun if Jerry, given how he snapped on the Video Wire, decided to do whatever he had to in order to win, even if it meant cheating his ass off and hurting people. It would get a lot of heat from the fans, who love Jerry and want to cheer him, but I think you could actually get more interest out of Lynn right now if you were to turn him heel. In any event, if you held a gun to my head and asked me to pick a winner, I would pick Jerry Lynn.
With that in mind, it could turn into a really rough weekend for Bryan Danielson, who then goes on to Final Battle to face Takeshi Morishima in a Fight Without Honor. These two haven’t touched in a year, but had a very heated feud in 2007 that saw Morishima repeatedly try to hurt Danielson, leading to some pretty violent matches that saw Morishima beat Danielson twice, and then two more matches that went to DQ finishes. I assume the plan was always to have Danielson beat him at some point, but I would imagine those plans would have been put on hold when Morishima won the GHC Title since you couldn’t have NOAH’s top champion coming over to ROH to do jobs. But now that Morishima lost that title, we’re in the clear for the long-awaited finish to that feud. Danielson has already gone on record in the Video Wire as saying that he plans to not just beat Morishima, but actually hurt him as badly as possible. As I’ve said, odds are that Danielson’s winning here (and could therefore afford to lose the match to Lynn), but to again play fantasy booker, I think it could also work to have Morishima win the match and the feud, and then demand a shot at the ROH World Title since he never got a rematch after he lost the title to Nigel McGuinness way back in October of last year. So it looks like there are going to be a lot of matches going on this weekend that will have title implications going into 2009, and I have to give credit where it’s due, Adam Pearce has created a lot more interest for me in the title picture than I’ve had in a while.
Morishima and Marufuji won’t be the only Japanese stars making the trip over here for All Star Extravaganza IV and Final Battle 2008, as GHC Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki and his protégé Katsuhiko Nakajima will return to ROH for a pair of tag team matches, first in Philly against the hard hitting team of Roderick Strong & Brent Albright, and then at Final Battle against the standard for tag team wrestling in ROH, Jay & Mark Briscoe. Right off the bat I’d like to say that it looked a little silly for the Brisoes to have to qualify for a match with Sasaki and Nakajima while Strong and Albright were just handed the match, but I’m not letting it bother me too much. In any event, I think they’re both going to be great matches, I think I enjoyed Sasaki’s work in Philly a few months ago more than some people, but will they put either team over? I’m going to say probably not in the case of Strong and Albright, but I’m going to predict that the Briscoes go over because, let’s face it, they’re the be all and end all of tag team wrestling in ROH and it’s not 2005 anymore, the ROH guys can go over on Japanese guest stars. I also think that since they’ve already beaten LAX a couple of months ago, if they win this match they can make a case that not only are they the best team in ROH, but no team from outside ROH can beat them either. If they occasionally bring in teams from outside of ROH (perhaps a tiebreaker match with the Motor City Machine Guns?) and have the Briscoes keep beating them, that’s enough of a storyline to keep them away from the tag title for a while, and at this point, they don’t really need the title to get over anyway, though I do worry that whoever ends up with the title, everybody’s just going to be waiting for the Briscoes to come beat them.
Speaking of the tag title, there are going to be a lot of things going on in that title picture this weekend as well. ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico will be fully occupied by Age Of The Fall this weekend, as first they will team with Necro Butcher to face Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, and Delirious in Philly before going on to defend the title in straight tag match against Jacobs and Delirious in New York. Even though I think they’ll win both nights, I think that Steen & Generico are unfortunately going to be bit players in both matches, as I see some shakeups happening here. First in the six man, I think that AOTF is going to lose which will again lead to Jacobs berating Tyler Black to further their dissension, and could lead to the outright turn by Jacobs that I outlined earlier. I also see Daizee interjecting herself in the title match in New York, and even if it doesn’t turn Delirious completely back to the babyface he used to be, I can see a situation where Delirious doesn’t know who he can trust and just freaks out and runs off on everyone.
Also key to the title picture will be a three way tag match in Philly pitting Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli against Jay & Mark Briscoe and the newly formed team fo the American Wolves: Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards. Though Richards and Edwards would seem to be the underdogs in this one, they were the ones who requested a match against two top teams to show what they can do, so I would guess that the dark horses might come through with a win to immediately establish themselves. As I’ve said, the Briscoes don’t need the title to be over and Nigel & Claudio are not a regular team, so it would make the most sense to me for the American Wolves to get the win.
As usual, Sweet & Sour Inc will be all over the card, most notably in a Come As You Are New York City Street Fight as SNS members Davey Ricahrds, Eddie Edwards, and Go Shiozaki take on three guys Larry Sweeney has managed to piss off to amazing degrees in Roderick Strong, Brent Albright, and Erick Stevens. I don’t see how Sweeney’s guys can win this one, to me this is the ultimate blowoff and it wouldn’t make sense not to have Strong, Albright, and Stevens win. Before getting to the Street Fight, however, Shiozaki will be faced with fellow NOAH star Takeshi Morishima. To me, this is just a tune up match for Morishima before he goes on to face Danielson the next night. Also, we seem to be winding down on Shiozaki’s stay in ROH Land, as he dropped the FIP Title to Tyler Black last week and appears to be getting pushed to the back more and more in preparation of his departure.
Chris Hero will also be in action both nights, but curiosly is not a part of that Street Fight. Not sure what to make of that, but he will still have his hands full in Philly with Erick Stevens before going on to a Four Corner Survival in New York with Jerry Lynn, Rhett Titus, and Necro Butcher. I think Hero will probably go over on Stevens to build that last bit of heat on the babyfaces going into New York, but I don’t see Hero winning the FCS, I have a sneaking suspicion Lynn will win that before going on to something big. I don’t know where I see Hero going from here on out, but for some reason, I don’t see him getting the first ROH World Title shot of the year for the fourth year in a row.
Also, Kenny Omega will see action in a pair of singles matches, first in Philly against Rhett Titus, and then in New York against Claudio Castagnoli. I’ve never seen him work so I don’t know what to expect other than what I’ve heard about him really impressing when ROH has come through Canada, so I’m looking to see what he has to bring against two pretty distinct opponents.
So there you go, this is definitely going to be a huge blowoff weekend for Ring Of Honor as they shake out the last remnants of the Sapolsky Era and move straight ahead into the Pearce Era, so it will be interesting to see what new directions storylines start pointing us after this weekend. I’ll be at both shows and will have thoughts in the next edition of the pROHfile, and for you Elite subscribers I’m planning on doing a post-game hotline sometime late Saturday or Sunday, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.
That’s it for me, thank you all for reading and I want to wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday season, and STAY SAFE! Feedback can be directed to stupwinsider@yahoo.com and you can catch me on Myspace at www.myspace.com/stupwinsider, where all my past work is archived and I chime in with some other stuff a few times a week. Take care and I’ll see you all after Final Battle!
