Moments Ago
Wrestler Departures, and a Change in the air for RoH?
Before I begin the bulk of the column, I just want to commend the Ring of Honor staff for putting on an amazing show with their Fourth Anniversary Show. The show featured an end to the Samoa Joe/Jay Lethal feud, good showings from almost the entire roster, the return of the Briscoes and the beginning of a feud with Generation Next over the tag titles, and more shots fired in the CZW/RoH war, the most intriguing storyline in wrestling right now, in my opinion. All around it was a great show that hopefully puts Ring of Honor back on track with focusing on their talent, and building towards their big Wrestlemania weekend.
So first things first or second I guess actually. The biggest story in the past two weeks regarding Ring of Honor is the amicable departure of Jay Lethal and Azrieal. Ring of Honor reported that ties have been severed with Lethal and Az, but the door is open for a return at some point. The rumor is that Jay Lethal was fired as a result of opting to go to TNA and miss the show in Long Island which has since been dubbed Unscripted 2. Was this the main reason for Lethal’s departure? I tend to think it played an important role, but the fact that Lethal, although a very good wrestler, was never super over with the Ring of Honor crowd. His push happened fairly organically as he was not forced down the fans’ throats, but he truly seemed to plateau and after a few exceptionally bad promos, some fans stopped taking him as seriously.
Jay Lethal is gone, but seems to have big things in store in TNA, he is not as flashy as some of the other X division superstars, but as I said before is more than sound in the ring, and has already scored a few wins on Impact, and got in a fair amount of offense against Jeff Jarrett. He needs to keep the cornrows or get a haircut, though because his hair looked like a butt and slowly degenerated into an Orlando Jordan do, before settling on a Carlito-esque afro. His “final” match was a bit odd, as he was essentially outclassed by Samoa Joe and then punked out on the mic afterwards. So, Jay Lethal is gone from Ring of Honor, but still prevalent on the indie scene in JAPW, PWE, and other feds around New York and New Jersey.
So, was Jay Lethal fired for being involved in TNA? I think the whole answer is no. RoH is rumored to want to focus on guys not involved in TNA, which is a very good idea, especially because if TNA runs regular house shows, they will want exclusive contracts. If RoH was severing all ties to TNA workers then Joe, Daniels, AJ Styles, Homicide, Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, and Roderick Strong, obviously some of Ring of Honor’s top draws would join Jay Lethal on the chopping block. Homicide and Alex Shelley at the very least should have been in that newswire post regarding Jay Lethal’s expulsion. Homicide and Shelley also opted to go to the TNA show and Alex Shelley had a title match that night against American Dragon. But the Notorious 187 and the skunk haired wonder both are involved in major angles leading into Ring of Honor’s Wrestlemania Triple Shot. Shelley is still heavily involved in the Embassy vs. Brian Danielson feud, and Homicide has a violent feud with Colt Cabana to finish up. Maybe they will be gone too when their respective angles end, but I doubt it.
The firing of Azrieal is far less controversial. He just did not connect with the RoH crowd. He had some good matches, and is very capable as a wrestler, but ever since his departure from Special K, did not make it as a singles wrestler. He may be back one day, but for now RoH fans will not get to see the Suicidal Demon.
As I mentioned in my opening, Ring of Honor seems to be focusing on a getting back on track with a focus on wrestling angles and their own talent. Granted, KENTA and Marufugi are coming in for a main event match against Samoa Joe and American Dragon on March 25, and are bringing in stars from Dragon Gate for their Wrestlemania Triple Shot, but I think these bookings were made before deciding to recommit to what produced their best stuff, original wrestling angles like the Punk title reign, Joe vs. the Rottweilers, Punk vs. Raven, Generation Next’s rise to the top of RoH and others.
I hope that this is the case anyway, as while seeing some of these Japanese wrestlers live is awesome, I am not too familiar with the world of puroresu, and get more excited about big matches with Ring of Honor regulars than foreign stars.
I guess that will about do it for me this week. As always, if you have any questions comments or concerns you can e-mail me at bigandymac@yahoo.com
I’ll see you next time.
