Moments Ago Back Again
Joe: Leaving, Morishima: Arriving, My Thoughts: Largely Inconsequential
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The foundation of Ring of Honor was shaken last week with the announcement of Samoa Joe’s departure. Is it the worst thing ever to happen to Ring of Honor? After surviving the RF split any sort of rebound is possible. I do want to take a closer look at the ramifications of Joe’s departure, not that it has not been done ad nauseum on the net already.
Samoa Joe is bar none the most important performer in Ring of Honor’s history. He has been the backbone of the company since pretty much Do or Die in May of 2003. This was the time that he earned a ton of legitimacy defeating Homicide in a classic match, and when the Ole Ole Kick really started to get over. Joe cemented himself as the man and the rest was history.
Other wrestlers like American Dragon, CM Punk, Homicide, and Austin Aries have done their share carrying Ring of Honor to great matches, but it has always been Joe who has been THE MAN. While his role has decreased as a main player since his bid for the world title against Danielson has ended, he is still the biggest gate attraction for Ring of Honor. More fans are in their seats to see Joe or have become huge fans because of Joe’s classics with virtually every opponent he has faced and now attend RoH shows regularly than any other wrestler.
Joe’s impact is undeniable. The question, however, is can or more importantly will Joe be replaced? I am going to look at the world of professional sports to try and answer this question. In baseball could there ever be another Babe Ruth? We already had a Bambino so anyone else would either be trying to get out of his shadow or building on his legacy. Will there ever be another Michael Jordan? We already had MJ once and I doubt there will ever be another one. Players may surpass Jordan, Ruth, or Mohammed Ali, but there won’t ever be an athlete in their sport that is just as big or just as important.
Samoa Joe is the equivalent of Babe Ruth with his 21 month title reign matching Ruth’s 60 homers. Samoa Joe is the equivalent of Michael Jordan being the dominant performer that can do anything that is asked of him. Samoa Joe is the reason that many tune in to TNA and that many that watched TNA before now also watch Ring of Honor. Samoa Joe will never be replaced.
Other wrestlers will take up the mantle of face of Ring of Honor, current front-runners include Nigel McGuinness, Colt Cabana, Roderick Strong, or maybe even the masked face of Delirious. Other wrestlers will go on to dominate. Brent Albright comes to mind as he was brought in and filled a similar role to Samoa Joe when he was first brought to RoH as a hired gun for the Prophecy. But RoH will never have another Samoa Joe.
Worry not faithful Ring of Honor fans and faithful Moments Ago readers. Ring of Honor will survive and thrive. One reason for this is the arrival of Takeshi Morishima. Morishima is poised to shake up Ring of Honor with his debut moreso than any other debut in RoH history. He has a world title match in only his second appearance and many have already written it off as a victory for the monster from Japan. More people seem to be wondering who will unseat Morishima than who will take the belt off of Homicide.
Something fresh like this I think is better for RoH than could be imagined. Morishima was coming in before the announcement of Joe’s departure but his potential to add some instability which in this rare case is a good thing to the Ring of Honor world title scene. Some consistency that Ring of Honor has presented has been its world champion. Marathon reigns from Dragon and Samoa Joe have made it the most prestigious belt outside of Japan. A downside is that since Samoa Joe’s epic win many of the title changes were not huge surprises. Aries being the one to end Joe’s streak was a shocker, and Punk winning the belt on his “last night†shocked many as did his summer title reign that was one of the best booked periods in RoH history. James Gibson’s win wasn’t a big shock, neither was Danielson’s. Homicide winning the title was almost a given. Ring of Honor needs the uncertainty to bring some “What will happen next†to their product.
“What will happen next?†was the bread and butter of the most exciting time in wrestling history, the Monday Night Wars. Every week people tuned in to see the cliffhanger storylines and to see how WWF was going to top WCW and vice versa. Ring of Honor has been missing that a little bit in the last few months, Morishima shaking things up is just the remedy.
In conclusion, while Joe making his Ring of Honor curtain call is bad because RoH fans will not be able to see him live, Ring of Honor is not out and not even down. Their roster is top to bottom stronger than it ever has been and will continue to be one of the best things in the world of professional wrestling.
Any questions, comments or concerns can be emailed to bigandymac@yahoo.com
I’ll see you next time
Next week.
