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The main focus on this weekend’s events will be on the first of several appearances in ROH by former World Champion Ric Flair, who will be doing a meet and greet prior to the Collinsville event and then will appear later during the show as well. It’s obvious that building St Louis as a strong market is a major priority for ROH, and one of the ways they’re trying to accomplish this is by trying to tap into the deep wrestling tradition of the city. Flair, who has spent more than his fair share of time in St Louis over the years, will be a part of that initiative, though we have still gotten no clues as to what he’ll actually be doing at the show. He’s not going to wrestle, we know that for sure, but what else is there for him to do? He’s already called out both Larry Sweeney and Nigel McGuinness in the ROH Video Wire, but without getting in the ring, what sort of interaction would Flair have with them? I don’t see him managing anyone, so I would guess he’ll be the focal point of some storyline involving a couple of guys who could use the rub. I guess this is my paragraph long way of saying I have no idea what he’s going to do at the show, and I can’t even think of any reasonable scenarios off the top of my head. I guess ROH has something in mind, so we’ll find out tomorrow night.
Also taking place tomorrow night is what I consider the other highlight of the weekend, as Bison Smith and Bryan Danielson will collide for the first time in an ROH ring. It still remains to be seen how Nana got his fortune back and what animosity he has toward Danielson that would move him to bring in Bison just to beat him up, but maybe more of those details will come out this weekend. As for the match, Bison Smith has been really impressive in the little bit of action he’s seen in ROH so far, and Danielson has already shown against Morishima that he can work well with big guys, so I’m expecting a good match with this one. I don’t expect this to be the blowoff to the feud, however. I think at the very least we’ve got No DQ matches and maybe a Fight Without Honor to look forward to, so being that we have to stretch this out for a while, maybe not blowing it off until Death Before Dishonor, I would give Bison the clean win here. It would really give him a great rub and add to his “who can beat this guy?†aura, and Danielson’s a guy who’s made in ROH and can swallow the loss. I’m sure we’ll see Danielson beat Smith eventually, but if Stuart Carapola is booking this weekend, I put Bison over clean and strong.
Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn will team together both nights this weekend, taking on Age Of The Fall on Friday, and then facing Nigel McGuinness and Austin Aries in the main event of the Indianapolis show. The Indy show holds particular interest from me, as you have the two leaders in the title hunt teaming up, and while they obviously have heat with Aries and Nigel, I’m wondering if we’re going to see a situation where they end up losing the match because they both want to be the one to beat Nigel here. They had that match a month or two ago that went to a draw and have been doing the mutual respect thing since, so I can see a situation where they keep getting in the way of the other getting the fall on Nigel, which ends up costing them the match. From there, the respect thing can go out the window as they head toward a match to determine which of them will go on to face Nigel, and probably end up beating him for the title.
As for the Age Of The Fall match, we don’t even know which members Black and Lynn are going to face, and looking at the Indianapolis show doesn’t give any clues since nobody from AOTF is booked there yet either. I would guess it’ll be Delirious and Jimmy Jacobs since they’re more local to that area than Brodie Lee, but we’ll see. In any event, I expect Black & Lynn to win that one.
Besides those two matches, there will be a lot of other tag team action going on, as everyone tries to get in line for a shot at ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico. Steen & Generico will team with Bobby Dempsey to face the Sweet N Sour Inc team of Chris Hero and the American Wolves in Collinsville. I’m not sure who comes out ahead in that one and I don’t think it really even matters, I think what this boils down to is another chance for the American Wolves to try and injure Steen & Generico ahead of their shot at the title at the 7th Anniversary Show. If you’re holding a gun to my head, I say Steen & Generico pin Hero to win the match, but it can go either way.
Assuming the Wolves don’t cripple them in Collinsville, Steen & Generico will then go on to Indianapolis to defend the ROH World Tag Team Title against Rhett Titus & Kenny King. Titus & King (who will be having what I think amounts to a tuneup match in Collinsville against Irish Airborne) have been on a nice little hot streak as of late and have been winning a lot more than they’ve been losing. I think they make a great undercard tag team, but I see this as more of Steen & Generico needing someone to defend the title against, so Titus & King get the nod. I’m expecting this to be a very entertaining match considering the fact that all four men have a lot of charisma, and I think we have four guys who have enough personality that they can make this an entertaining match without having to kill themselves. Steen & Generico pick up a strong win as they head for their big showdown with the American Wolves.
Speaking of the American Wolves, they will also be in action in Indianapolis, taking on Roderick Strong and Brent Albright. A month or two ago, I would have given Strong and Albright the nod in this one, but with the Team Albright vs Sweet N Sour Inc feud more or less completely blown off, Albright and Strong are back to floundering in the midcard without anything to do. I said earlier this week that Strong probably doesn’t have much life left in ROH, and I think now’s the time to use him (and probably Albright as well) to start putting people over, and the American Wolves could use that win as they very likely roll into their first World Tag Team Title win in New York.
Not to be forgotten amidst all this other action are two singles title defenses, as SHIMMER Champion MsChif defends against Daizee Haze, and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defends against Brent Albright, both matches taking place in Collinsville. The ROH Title match stems from a prior, non-title match between McGuinness and Albright which Nigel won under controversial circumstances, leading to this rematch in which the title will be on the line. I don’t see Albright winning the title, maybe a year or two ago I would have said differently but pushing him as a top guy apparently isn’t a priority for ROH, so alas. As for Daizee and MsChif, not only is the SHIMMER Title on the line, but there is also the added factor of MsChif being a member of Age Of The Fall, and the only one Daizee can realistically match up with in the ring. I don’t know how much autonomy ROH has to book SHIMMER Title changes, but in any event I wouldn’t expect Daizee to get the title. I do like that a female other than Daizee, Sara Del Rey, and Lacey is getting booked in ROH for a change.
Jay Briscoe has a pair of big matches this weekend as well, facing Roderick Strong in Collinsville and Chris Hero in Indianapolis. Judging from the latest Video Wire, it would seem like Jay might get some kind of a singles push, and I can actually see him going 2-0 here. Neither Strong nor Hero is currently setting the world on fire, and I don’t think anyone would bat an eye if Jay were to catch a fall on either or both.
Finally, Claudio Castagnoli and Kenny Omega will be taking part in a pair of multi-way matches, first as they join Silas Young and Austin Aries in a Four Corner Survival in Collinsville, and then triangling off with Bryan Danielson in Indianapolis. Part of the story in these matches is that Omega pinned Claudio at Final Battle 2008, and Claudio wants to avenge the embarrassment of suffering that defeat to the relative newcomer. I think a very amusing way to book this is to have Omega pin Claudio in both matches, but that’s a big if when you factor Aries and Danielson into the equation. That said, Omega is as impressive a youngster as I’ve seen in recent memory, and if you want to get him over in a hurry, having him win matches that involve Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, and Austin Aries (who he had a good run against at the TV tapings before losing) are a good start.
So there you have it, and as ROH heads out to the Midwest, I’m heading out the door to hop a plane to Florida for a few days. I’d really rather be in New York because I hate Florida with a burning passion, but that’s another story for another day. In any event, thanks for sticking with me all week, and if you are going to this weekend’s shows, enjoy yourselves and feel free to send a live report along to Buck, Dave and Mike. As always, all feedback can be sent to stupwinsider@yahoo.com if you have anything you’d like to share. Thanks for reading, and see you all soon!
