The chaos of the tag title scene and the brackets for the Connecticut tournament leveled the field in Ring of Honor. Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries are perhaps the two most formidable singles wrestlers in ROH, but they could lose in the first round. Kevin Steen and El Generico are perhaps the best and strongest tag team in ROH, but they could lose in the first round to Nigel McGuinness and Go Shiozaki (we already have predictions of McGuinness being the first man to hold two titles simultaneously). This is an environment so chaotic that the freaking Vulture Squad beat the Briscoes. While things won’t shape up entirely at the tournament, the new champions should come out strong, and significant players in the division should form shortly thereafter. And hopefully, that is when we’ll see the rise of dynamic teams.
The great dynamic teams are sadly few right now. Likely Kevin Steen & El Generico or Roderick Strong & Jack Evans, they’re made up of wrestlers who have different styles and characters. They’re an essential spice to a tag division, and would we’ll hopefully see more of in ROH’s 2008. The great ones can play off homogenous or even stale teams to create stories and compelling action by rolling out more elements and seizing on whatever works. Years back, Cabana and Punk could go serious, the normal workrate match, or bust into total comedy – and succeed at them all, thanks to two guys exploring different avenues in the same match.
We saw how great a dynamic team can be in the ROH style over Wrestlemania weekend when Shingo Takagi and BxB Hulk visited. Shingo brought power and brawling, while Hulk brought agile kicks, counters and beautiful flying. Any two guys can play different characters, but they were tuned to each other, ultimately complimenting each other’s differences. They tore down the house on both nights even though most of the audiences had never seen them tag before (as you could tell from the reaction their entrances received). It’s sad they’ve dissolved over in Dragon Gate, as both are much better suited to teams and complimented each other exceedingly well. However, Shingo aligned himself with new possibly entertaining partners, and we do have the glory of Dragon Gate Challenge 2 and Supercard of Honor 3 on DVD.
While Jack Evans has gone on sabbatical from Ring of Honor, he will be a staple of PWG’s tag division with Roderick Strong. The choice to feature them as a central tag team is as great a choice on PWG’s part as putting Low Ki into the center of the singles title picture. Evans and Strong have always been an exceptional tag team, and thanks to the Stable Wars, we won’t see them together in ROH in the foreseeable future. Evans and Strong are a dynamic team on the indies, where Strong is big enough and hits convincingly enough to play an entertaining powerhouse and base for Evans, while Evans is one of the more charismatic and eye-popping flyers in the world. They have great chemistry for double-teams and play distinct roles in their matches. Their presence in the DDT4 is a definite selling point, but it’s also disheartening when you think that they won’t be in the Ring of Honor picture anytime soon. If Evans does return much later this year, he’ll probably be pasted back into homogenous teams with Jigsaw and Ruckus.
Not taking anything away from Jigsaw, but the emergence of stables led to some very narrow teams. Any combination of Jigsaw, Ruckus and Jack Evans would consist of two flyers. Any combination of Brent Albright, Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer would consist of two bully brawlers. Any combination of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romero would consist of two jocks that struck really hard and did some cool grapple moves. All nine of them are talented and have participated in some good matches, but you have to wonder if they wouldn’t be better suited if guys of different styles aligned. These sorts of teams showed up too often, especially in scramble matches where their limited dimensions hurt what they could add.
Look at Kevin Steen and El Generico. There is no arguing against the talent of either man. Both are charismatic, both can be funny or serious, they connect very well to crowds, Generico may sell the most sympathetic of anyone in the company, and they’ve quickly made a limited number of moves very important. And both are highly competent tag wrestlers who know how to pick their spots and compliment their partners. But the best feature of the team is how they take that sense of complimenting each other and define themselves. Steen and Generico never wrestle in the same roles in a given match. Even in brawls against the Briscoes, where it would be very easy to just throw things at each other, Steen would gravitate towards the prickish or powerhouse roles, while Generico would accentuate the Briscoes’ offense and play more of an underdog. In their more impressive matches, Generico would play a babyface, Steen would play a heel, and the Briscoes would go back and forth to play off of either role. Steen and Generico’s dynamic talents helped keep that feud fresh long after it would have gone stale in the hands of another team.
Dynamic pairings aren’t restricted to proven talents like Steen and Generico. Erick Stevens and Matt Cross tore things apart in the opener of Manhattan Mayhem 2 playing the powerhouse (Stevens) and flyer (Cross). This is the classic dynamic team formula, ala the British Bulldogs. Stevens sell with surprising sympathy in addition to some inspiring big-man material, pacing himself into Cross’ crazier offense. They stood the test by not blowing up against Quackenbush and Jigsaw. It was a bitter disappointment that theirs was the first team to disappear during the Stable Wars, leaving the one-dimensional brawler, flyer or striker teams of other factions behind.
Stevens and Cross also demonstrated that a dynamic team is more likely to innovate on tandem maneuvers. The Yoshitonic/Lariat combo got an amazing reaction, in part thanks to it looking deadly, but also in part because it fed into the characters both guys portraying. The response they got that night was comparable, if not louder, than the reaction Ruckus and Jigsaw got for the far more dangerous Jig ‘N Tonic/Double Stomp combo at Dragon Gate Challenge 2. And were Evans & Ruckus as innovative together as Evans & Strong?
When Jigsaw first emerged he was paired with Mike Quackenbush, and the two wrestled the same style of agile mat wrestling and innovative aerial offense. Since then Jigsaw has teamed with Jack Evans and Ruckus for an even simpler homogenous style. Especially if he is going to grow, it might be better to experiment. What can he do teaming with Davey Richards, a guy who spends increasing amounts of time striking and grounding opponents in holds? What can he do with Delirious, whose character is so nuts he might not be able to coordinate with him? And if you’re strapped for ideas, you could fall back on the Bulldogs formula and pair him with fellow Chikara graduate Claudio Castagnoli. Those two certainly showed chemistry on the Undeniable DVD release.
That’s not to say unified teams can’t be great. If you’ve got anyone on the quality of Yoshino & Doi or the Murder City Machine Guns, send them to ROH. Highly talented teams with a more homogenous style can be great, especially against a dynamic team, as one unified force against one varied force can make for great stories. Jack Evans & Austin Aries Vs. AJ Styles & Matt “AJ Styles Jr.†Sydal from the original Supercard of Honor is a perennial favorite. Matt Sydal as the flyer and Claudio Castagnoli as the powerful technician Vs. the Briscoes was the highlight of the original Respect is Earned for most of the people in attendance I’ve talked to.
The Briscoes are the perfect defense of a homogenous team in ROH. There’s a certain charm to guys who wrestle a similar style. The Briscoes have been interchangeable for years, so that even if “Crazy†Mark Briscoe jumps off the ropes more often, one guy was almost as likely to do something as the other. They looked so similar for so long that even wrestling a little different didn’t differentiate them. That didn’t matter as much, though, because they incorporated a lot into their style. They brawl, they fly and they have as many cool moves as anyone. Several of their trademarks, like the Springboard Doomsday Device, show off both strength (for Jay to hold him up) and agility (for Mark to springboard and catch his target). They could emulate, mix and match pieces of every offensive style the ROH fans liked, execute almost everything crisply or intensely, and so it’s no surprise they became everyone’s favorite team in 2007. Some people’s disenchantment with them later relates to another matter entirely, which I covered when they visited NOAH. Not coincidentally, though, the Briscoes had their best match of the year so far on that tour against Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura, two very talented men of very different strengths.
Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black are at their best when they try to play up dynamic roles, with Black’s unbridled athleticism, and Jacobs picking his spots and wrestling with more simplicity. Jacobs has not been the same since his knee injury, unable to do much of what he once did (at least not on a regular basis), and while that is a deep shame for his health, it makes him a better team mate for Black, who can move like few men on the roster. See Dragon Gate Challenge 2, where Black played most of the competitive and fast-paced stuff against Shingo and Hulk, while Jacobs ran more interference and simpler stuff, like the elbow off the apron. In turn, they can mix and match with Joey Matthews’ technical and crowd-loathing stuff, or Necro Butcher’s distinct brawling. Matthews and Butcher are hit and miss, but can excel in the proper tag team dynamic. Remember MNM?
Ring of Honor has seen some really dynamic teams in its six years. Colt Cabana and CM Punk are missed for many reasons, but a good one is what a good unit they were. Punk was so serious, but also so good at playing the annoyed straight man to Cabana’s goofball. Both guys could brawl and wrestle technical styles, but they’d vary their norms enough to be distinct each time, even if it meant Punk applying a Mexican Surfboard and Cabana standing on his opponent’s back to hang ten. Yet they could turn around and have very dramatic matches, such as those against the Briscoes, which remain favorites of the early period of ROH tag wrestling.
B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs were also a far better team than they had any right to be, with Whitmer playing that serious power guy and something of an older brother to Jacobs’ plucky flying. The highlight of the team was how Jacobs played with his role; he was as athletic as Amazing Red or AJ Styles, so he’d have to innovate or sacrifice himself to keep up. The two had magnificent chemistry compared other teams of that period, and it’s no wonder that when they split that created one of the best feuds ROH has ever seen.
ROH has a lot of guys eyeing the tag division right now who could experiment with radically different partners. How would the newly serious Chris Hero match up with his old buddy, the insane Necro Butcher? Could we see an update of the Whitmer/Jacobs team in Erick Stevens and Pelle Primeau? Could Delirious refresh himself by teaming up with someone like Rocky Romero, who is flashy but not funny, and can do more athletically while giving Delirious something to parody? Not that these teams are particularly plausible in current storylines (though Stevens and Primeau might be paired up again in random tags), but the real question is who will stand out as the new era of ROH’s tag division begins, and who will so do by standing out from each other.
That’s it for me, but also on Pulse Wrestling this week we welcome David Wells, who covers miscellaneous North American indies. This week he’s got Full Impact Pro in Florida.
Also, David Ditch continues to examine the history of Kenta Kobashi, one of the greatest Japanese wrestlers of all time. Each column is worth tracking down for its analysis of another stage in Kobashi’s development. These are must-reads for any fans of Puro, especially those who only got into it in the last few years. Also, they come with delicious video links!
And Pulse Glazer concludes his Top 20 ROH shows list with 10-1. Spoiler: He really liked Supercard 3.
