Hi all, and welcome to the latest edition of the pROHfile, previewing this weekend’s events in Canada as ROH returns to the the Great White North with shows in Montreal, Quebec on Friday and Markham, Ontario on Saturday. Lucky me, I get to be at both shows as I’ll be spending the weekend in Canada, partly because I wanted to do something special to celebrate my 30th birthday on Saturday (feel free to email me plenty of Happy Birthday wishes!) and since I love Canada and have wanted to go back there for quite a while, I decided to make a weekend out of it, and also because I’m just that big of a mark. I’ve actually made an effort to learn some French so I won’t be totally shunned in Montreal like the last time I went there, but we’ll see how well that all works out. All in all, it ought to be a great time.
But you don’t want to hear about my personal doings, do you? Course not, you’re here for the content, so let’s dive right into the two loaded cards. Both shows will feature a lot of tag team action, and both are being headlined by tag team matches featuring the *NEW* ROH World Tag Team Champions, the American Wolves. First in Montreal, the Wolves will team with former WWE Tag Team Champion Sylvan Grenier to take on Bryan Danielson and former ROH tag champs Kevin Steen & El Generico. The following night in Markham, the American Wolves will defend the title against Danielson and Tyler Black. I figure Steen/Generico/Danielson will pick up the win here, because a)Steen & Generico will be the hometown favorites, and b)Danielson winning here would build some suspense going into the title match the following evening. Once the title’s on the line in Markham, however, I’m going Wolves all the way. It’s WAY too early for them to drop the title, and a win over two top singles stars like Danielson and Black would help establish them right away as champions who will be very tough to beat.
Speaking of Tyler Black, he’ll also see action in Montreal as he faces former partner Jimmy Jacobs in a grudge match. This feud has done nothing for me, and not only has it gone on forever, it’s also gone absolutely nowhere, as we’ve been treated to four months of meaningless tag team matches of which Tyler has won 99% or so. And not for anything, but by the time we’re four months into the feud, shouldn’t we be getting more than a “grudge match� Win or lose, Jacobs needs to do something vicious to give this feud a reason to continue unless they’re going to mercy kill it here, which I have a sneaking suspicion they won’t do.
They may not be giving us a violent blowoff match between Black and Jacobs after four months, but we are getting a Markham Street Fight between Jacobs and Delirious about a month after their split. Go figure. This will be my first trip to Markham, so I can’t say for sure exactly how rough a Markham Street Fight would be when wrestlers aren’t involved, but other than some chairs getting thrown around and probably a table spot, I can’t see this getting too out of control for some reason. Using the Black-Jacobs feud as a model, Delirious will win this match but the feud will keep going anyway.
Next up we have several different matches intertwining, as Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe will be across the ring from one another both nights this weekend, first in a Four Corner Survival that will also include Austin Aries and Kenny Omega, and then in a singles rematch from their recent meeting in St Louis. Additionally, Omega and Aries will also be on opposite sides of a six man match in Markham as Aries teams with his new associates, Kenny King and Rhett Titus, against Omega, Kevin Steen & El Generico. I would like to see Briscoe get the win over Strong in the singles match because he hasn’t gotten many singles wins since Mark went on the shelf and even though it’s really about the Briscoes as a team more than as singles, Briscoe’s starting to look pretty week, especially when we’re talking about a guy who has beaten five former ROH World Champions losing 90% of his matches. I don’t see either of them winning the Four Corner Survival, as I think the fall there will instead take place between Aries and Omega, with that finish tying into the finish of their six man tag in Markham. Aries and Omega seem to be looking across the ring at each other a lot lately, leading me to believe that we’re heading toward a feud between them. I think to really get that feud going, they can have Omega pin Aries in one or both matches this weekend because nothing sets a veteran off like losing to a young gun. BAM, instant feud.
As if all that wasn’t enough intertwining action, Montreal will see Colt Cabana and Brent Albright team up to take on Jimmy Rave of the Embassy and Claudio Castagnoli, who may or may not be an official member of the Embassy. Claudio’s official standing with the Embassy notwithstanding, the tag match will then break up into two singles matches in Markham as Cabana takes on Castagnoli while Albright faces Rave. I think we’re looking at the beginning of another faction warfare-style feud here, with Cabana, Albright and Bryan Danielson on one side and the Embassy of Rave, Castagnoli and Bison Smith on the other. If that’s the case, we’re a long way out from the end of this one, and I’d think that this weekend is going to be another situation where the two sides trade wins: one side wins the tag match, then the other wins the singles matches. I’ll go ahead and pick Cabana and Albright to win in Montreal, but then suffer a postmatch attack and then take controversial losses in Markham due to rampant interference on the part of Prince Nana and Ernie Osiris, assuming they let vagrants into the country.
Fleshing out the rest of both cards, Chris Hero will be in singles action each night, taking on Franky The Mobster in Montreal and then Necro Butcher in Markham. Franky’s a local star in the Montreal area who I’ve seen a little bit of from his trips to Jersey All Pro a few years ago, and he was pretty impressive. Let’s hope he makes the most of his shot and we start to see more of him. I’m not sure who to pick in the Hero-Necro match, because even though Hero won the recent TV match with his loaded elbow pad, I don’t know how much that will play into the “real†ROH universe just yet. I guess I’ll pick Hero just for continuity’s sake. Necro will also team with Delirious to face Kenny King & Rhett Titus in Montreal, and even though King and Titus have proven to be a very entertaining undercard team, they have yet to really be pushed as a major force as a team, so Necro and Delirious will probably come away with the win. Finally, Daizee Haze will take on another Montreal local on Friday night in LuFisto. Now, I saw a couple of LuFisto matches in SHIMMER from a couple of years ago, and let me tell you, this girl can GO and is NOT afraid of getting hurt. She can wrestle and she can brawl, and she’s got the perfect short, stocky body to do both. Daizee, in the meantime, will be able to slide into her preferred role of smaller, but faster underdog trying to outmaneuver LuFisto and avoid getting into a situation where LuFisto can start kicking the crap out of her. I think between LuFisto’s rough style and Daizee’s penchant for bumping around like a pinball, we’re in for a very fun match between these two.
So there you have it. I won’t be doing live coverage this weekend since I’ll technically be on vacation, but I’ll probably check in with a hotline about both events in the Elite section when I get back to New York, so if you’re an Elite member make sure to check that out, and if you’re not, get an Elite membership so you can hear it! Until then, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in my thirties…ugh.
Stuart Carapola can be reached at stupwinsider@yahoo.com.