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I’m joking of course, because about two weeks ago we found out that Bryan Danielson had signed a contract with WWE, and then just earlier this week we got the news that Nigel McGuinness would be joining him in WWE. In general, I’ve always believed that the ROH brand is enough to draw its business without needing to rely on any specific performers, but if any ROH wrestlers stand as draws on their own, it would be Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson. I would even go so far as to say that these two have been ROH’s top two singles draws over the last few years, because all you needed to do was put them in the ring with an opponent you know they’re going to have a good match and the match sells itself without necessarily needing a storyline behind it. If WWE were simply out to hurt ROH’s business and cherry pick two wrestlers who were central to ROH, Danielson and McGuinness are those guys.
For Bryan Danielson, going to WWE is something I think everybody expected would happen eventually, even the group who were in denial about him ever having a desire to do so. There has been a group of fans who thought that traveling the world and being free to work 45 minute technical wrestling clinics was more important to Danielson than making money, and to a certain extent it seems like they may have been right, but I liken it more to the way a guy behaves when he’s a 20, 25 year old bachelor. He knows that he’s probably going to settle down one day, get a responsible job, get married, and raise a family, but while he’s young he wants to take advantage of his freedom and enjoy doing the stuff he won’t be able to do once he’s tied down with those responsibilities. Similarly, Danielson has spent years working indies around the country, traveling abroad to Japan, to Europe, and everywhere he possibly could. He’s been free to practice his art and do everything from hour draws to submission wrestling battles to full on fights.
But now he’s pushing 30 and has decided that it’s time to cash in and take the money contract while it’s still available to him. I would personally be surprised if the door hasn’t been open for Danielson to go to WWE for a long time, but he’s held off on doing so of his own accord. He’s definitely got some very solid, powerful connections in WWE through his relationships with Shawn Michaels and William Regal, so even if they weren’t actively trying to recruit him, I would think that all it would have taken is a call to Shawn or Regal and he’d have been in.
As for Nigel McGuinness, I’m half surprised he’s getting signed, and half surprised it didn’t happen a lot sooner. I’m surprised he wasn’t in sooner because he was trained by Les Thatcher who, in addition to training Nigel, was also the owner of the Heartland Wrestling Association, a former WWE developmental territory. I think he’s probably the next most solid total package on the independent scene behind Danielson, and he’s shown during his reign as the ROH World Champion that he can work a variety of styles and adapt to basically any opponent. More importantly, he’s shown through his willingness to live up to the expectations placed on a champion by working through his (sometimes very severe) injuries that he has the heart and desire to go far in the business.
On the other hand, part of me is surprised that they signed Nigel because of the track record of injuries he’s racked up. We’re not talking about a couple of sprained ankles here, we’re talking about three torn biceps and at least two concussions that I know of, and these were injuries that were severe enough that even though he wanted to work, ROH made the call to pull him out of his matches. As great and charismatic a wrestler as Nigel is, I would think that especially in the wake of Ken Kennedy spending roughly 90% of his WWE career sidelined with injuries, they’d be wary of bringing in anyone else who they perceived as being injury prone. That said, I think that some of the minds in the WWE system will help guide Nigel toward a more conservative wrestling style that won’t inflict as much damage on his body and with any luck, he can avoid more injuries similar to the ones that have plagued him over the last several years.
But regardless of their backstories, both men are now WWE bound and there are a lot of fans on the internet who are concerned about their future prospects once they get to Titan Land. WWE has shown that it’s not guaranteed that former ROH wrestlers will be buried, because after a few years spent paying his dues, CM Punk is now a three-time World Champion in WWE and is the guy that Smackdown is basically built around. On the flipside however, you have guys like Paul London and Brian Kendrick who were both huge names in ROH, but went to WWE and were essentially treated like jobbers for the last five years or so before getting released. You also have the case of Colt Cabana who would seem to be everything WWE would want in a talent: he’s got a deep passion for the business, he’s traveled the world learning several different styles of wrestling, he had the right physical build, and he has charisma coming out of every orifice of his body, yet he spent a year in developmental before being called up, was barely used, and then released.
If you had to ask me, I’d be surprised if Bryan Danielson didn’t become a huge star in WWE. We’ve gotten to see him grow a lot over the course of the seven and a half years he spent in ROH. He started out as an obviously talented, but somewhat bland kid, but as the years went by, he added the killer instinct, he added the promo skills, he added the MMA influence, he added a ton of submissions, he’s developed his brawling skills, and in every important way he reminds me of his trainer Shawn Michaels when he got his first singles push in 1992. Even though they are two completely different personalities, Shawn had a TON of god given talent and all the same tools and desire that I now see in Danielson. He started as a high flyer, but as the years went by he worked to develop in other areas and eventually became the best in-ring worker of the 90s and arguably this decade as well. He proved that in the land of the giants, a small guy could break through and become a main eventer and a World Champion, and he and Bret Hart opened the door for guys like Danielson (and CM Punk) to work their way into the main events.
I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but even though I’ve been watching Nigel for years and know what he brings to the table, I worry that he’s going to be a guy who gets misused. I know his size would appeal to some in positions of power, but I worry that his accent will hold him back. I know it’s a ridiculous thing to point out as a reason a guy might not make it as far as he’d like, but we’ve seen where accents get people before. William Regal has spent years doing the snobby blue blood gimmick and settling into non-wrestling roles as Commissioners and Goodwill Ambassadors, and has midcarded at best, but never set the world on fire and if he weren’t so politically comfortable with Triple H and the McMahons, I’m sure he’d have been out the door years ago. You can also look at the example of Paul Burchill who was given a pirate gimmick, then was mostly off TV for quite some time before being brought back as an evil British jobber. Oh, and they insinuated that he was having an incestuous relationship with his “sister†Katie Lea. Both guys are tremendously talented workers like Nigel, but both are examples of how accents can get someone typecast, and that’s just the British guys.
Another factor is injuries, which he’s had a lot of. Even if he’s healthy when he shows up at FCW, if the injuries start piling up, he won’t last long. Vince McMahon was dead set on pushing Ken Kennedy, but eventually the injuries piled up to such a degree that it became a major factor in him being let go. If they’re willing to drop a guy Vince was going to give the Jesus push to because of injuries, what do you think will happen to Nigel if he gets hurt a couple more times?
And of course there’s the Colt Cabana Factor: both guys can show up with great attitudes, work hard, do everything they’re told, and still get let go for no real good reason. You don’t want to see it happen, but it wouldn’t be the first time. I’ll be honest, I thought Colt Cabana had better prospects for success in WWE than CM Punk did, but I guess we can see how that turned out.
With any luck though, none of that will happen and both guys will end up being very successful, but if they do come in and end up in main events, it won’t happen overnight. I think that internet fans have this expectation that whenever a guy who was a top guy elsewhere (whether it be WCW, TNA, ECW, ROH, or wherever) comes into WWE, that they need to go undefeated and go right into the main event, otherwise they’re being wasted. I don’t see it the same way, they’re starting work in a new place and they’re going to have to pay their dues the same as CM Punk. They will both end up doing jobs that will have us pulling out our hair, and they’re definitely not going to be going 30-45 minutes unless they make it to the main event, and even then it will probably be rare if it happens at all. They may retain some aspects of what they do now, but they will have to adjust to working the WWE style whether we like it or not.
So with Nigel and Danielson on their way out, the question is now who is next on WWE’s radar? I think that most ROH fans have understandably been pointing at the Briscoes, but I don’t see it. I could be wrong because I went on the record that I didn’t see Nigel going the day before his signing was announced, but I have a couple of reasons for thinking the Briscoes won’t go, or that they won’t be successful if they do go. For one, they’re too small. I know I’m saying that in the same column that I’m talking about Danielson getting signed, but Danielson really is a special kind of performer, and as good as the Briscoes are, I don’t think they’re on the same level as Danielson. For two, they’re a tag team, and we all know how well tag teams do in WWE. If you’re good enough to get the tag title, that basically means that you’ve been promoted to handicap match jobbers for the main event talent. They’re putting more emphasis on the title now that they have a DVD they’re trying to sell, but eventually I expect it to go back to the same as before. WWE only sees money (and pushes) in singles guys, and even if the Briscoes were okay with being broken up, I don’t see either of them making it big as singles. Also, WWE will never, EVER allow Mark to do some of the really dangerous stuff he likes to do.
The guy I think has the best prospect of getting a deal and a push is actually Erick Stevens. He’s got exactly the kind of build WWE likes, and he’s got a ton of power and intensity and a unique look that sets him apart. I don’t know if he’d be main eventing anytime soon, but I absolutely see him having the potential for success in WWE.
I don’t see Austin Aries going, period. I don’t think he’d be offered a deal for one since most of WWE’s referees are bigger than him, but even if he did get an offer I think one of two things would happen: he’d either turn it down because of loyalty to ROH and then go on to promote himself as the guy who turned down a WWE deal to stay with ROH, or he’d get hired and his attitude would have him out the door within months. I see him as being the Shane Douglas of ROH, even though I think he’s a much better worker than Shane ever was, he’s a guy who put in his time in the #3 promotion and carried their World Title, then thought he was on to bigger and better things when he got a contract in the big time, but his attitude screwed him politically, and he wound up going back where he came from and hiding out there to cover for the fact that he wasn’t big time material. Aries is a great wrestler and his new character is a million times more interesting than anyone else in the company right now, but I just don’t ever see Aries making it in a national promotion, he’s a guy who’s cut out to be a big fish in a small pond.
Then you have Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli. Both are guys who were under WWE deals in the past, Albright for quite a long time and Claudio for nanoseconds, and both got cut for vague reasons, but both are guys who fit right into the WWE mold. Albright already spent years learning the WWE style before his brief run on Smackdown, so I would think he’d be able to pretty much slide right back into the groove of things if they did hire him back. Assuming whatever mysterious circumstances led to Claudio’s release back in 2006 wouldn’t prevent him from coming back, I think the same as I thought then, that he’s a guy with a lot of potential to go far in the company. He’s got a lot of size and amazing muscle definition, he doesn’t work an overly “indy†style, and I think that the personality he’s cultivated as the “Very European†guy would make him an interesting character if they wanted to use it.
To take a look at the other tag teams in ROH, I don’t see Steen & Generico getting offers because I don’t think anyone in WWE would get them, I think they’d just see a fat guy and a skinny guy in a ghetto luchadore costume and write them off as a goofball indy comedy act. The Dark City Fight Club could get an offer and come in as a job team, but that’s about it. Kenny King and Rhett Titus on the other hand would be perfect for WWE. King already has a history with them, and I think he and Titus are so good at working low impact matches that mostly focus on working the crowd that they’d appeal to WWE because they’re not guys they’d have to worry about going out there and doing a million head drops. Also, their characters (especially Titus) are so over the top that they might get over on that alone.
The American Wolves though would be a shoe in. I don’t think they’d debut in WWE as a team, but I can definitely see both of them getting offers. I know Davey has gone on record saying he plans to retire within the next couple of years to go home and become a fireman, but how many years running now have we heard guys like Booker T, Sting, and Shawn Michaels saying they’re retiring within a year or two, and then end up sticking around a lot longer once the money was waved under their nose? As much as Davey might genuinely be looking to get out soon, I think it’d be hard for him to stick to that plan if WWE offers him the right number. Eddie, though, is a guy who’s still really young and unless he’s got other aspirations I don’t know about, still has a lot of years left in him, and I think that he’s still new enough to the business that WWE might consider him a pretty fresh piece of clay they can mold as they see fit.
I would be surprised if they didn’t make a play for Tyler Black. He’s young, he’s got a great look, and most of all he’ll be the top guy in ROH once Danielson and Nigel are gone, and if WWE is as interested in screwing ROH as they are in legitimately hiring talent they see a use for, now would be the perfect time to make a grab for him. Honestly, barring a major injury, a sudden desire to change careers, or some other foreseen circumstance ends his career, I don’t see any way Tyler Black doesn’t become a huge star in this business, and I think WWE sees it as well. He’s a lot like a Jeff Hardy in that he’s a good looking guy who appeals to the girls, but is good enough in the ring that the guys get behind him too. I don’t think we’ll see any Phoenix Splashes or God’s Last Gifts in WWE anytime soon, but I think everyone who looks at Tyler Black sees money.
I give Chris Hero 50/50 odds of getting in. I think compared to two years ago, he’s changed up his look and wrestling style to fit a lot more in line with what WWE would want. He’s definitely improved his physique, even if it’s not as tight as WWE might like. If he did get hired, I think we’d see him looking a little more muscular if and when he’d make his TV debut, and probably more tanned. I think he’d be a great addition whether he does the badass striker gimmick he’s doing now or if he goes back to the goofy but fox smart loudmouth he was before.
Jimmy Rave might get in, but he wouldn’t stand out and would probably amount to as much as he was in TNA, a low-level guy with a bad gimmick, at best. I don’t see them picking up Necro Butcher for any other reason than the fact that he was in The Wrestler, but that movie is so out of sight out of mind at this point that it probably wouldn’t amount to anything for WWE, and he absolutely does NOT fit into what WWE wants their wrestlers to look like. I’m also split on Delirious, if he does get in it’s going to be for his character and not his work, he’ll be like the Boogeyman v2.0. Kenny Omega had a developmental deal before,but requested his release and I’m not sure why, so I’m not sure if WWE would want to take a chance on him again.
I think that about covers everybody (and I’m not going to go into all the Alex Paynes and Cheech & Cloudys). I doubt we’re done seeing hirings, so I expect at least a few more guys on this list head out the door in the next couple of weeks. What kind of effect this talent raid ends up having on the company is something yet to be seen. I think beyond Danielson and Nigel, Tyler’s the only guy who would really have a major effect on ROH’s business. If there’s a positive to be taken from this, history has shown a lot of times when wrestling companies were suddenly left without a bunch of their major stars, and ended up bringing in an entirely new crew and rebuilding from the bottom up and sometimes even ending up with something even better than what they had before. ROH has done it a couple of times already, ECW was constantly faced with it in the 90s, and WWE has done it as well. But ROH has to face the reality that like ECW, they’re a place where stars develop before moving on to the national promotions, and every few years they’re going to have to rebuild. Hopefully this is a task ROH under Cary Silkin and Adam Pearce is up to.
Stu Carapola can be reached at stupwinsider@yahoo.com.
