Larry Sweeney has done it again. He’s raised Adam Pearce’s asking price as NWA champion and has shipped him out of Ring of Honor, just as he sent Matt “Evan Bourne†Sydal to WWE and Davey Richards to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Sweeney probably expects ROH to ask the government for seven hundred billion dollars in order to get their favorites back on a regular basis.
Of course, this was just the most recent usage of Sweeney as a device that explains where guys are going. It’s a great device, though this morning I’m surprised how much I’ll miss Pearce. This week we’ll look at his best matches, but first: the man himself.
I never wanted him to be a main-eventer. El Generico, Tyler Black and Claudio Castagnoli? Heck yeah, but not Pearce. Pearce was perfect where he was, and he knew it.
He played the role of a bully who constantly got his comeuppance, often multiple times in the same match. He made the crowd laugh at him, and often did things just so his opponent could reverse them on him. It didn’t matter if he was facing a hulk like Brent Albright or a tiny guy like Delirious. Even Pelle Primeau got a little offense on him. And as that jerk who constantly got showed up, providing heel schadenfreude for the audience, ROH never had anyone better. He was a great utility player on undercards, not a drawing point, but a little bit of variety. That his brand of variety was a little funny makes the loss sting worse, as with Hero becoming a knockout machine and Delirious going all black, ROH is in desperate need of somebody who can make the audience laugh.
And if you’re good at photoshop or an editor on wikipedia, feel free to put his picture at the top of this article and send me a screenshot. It doesn’t have to stay. Vandalism is wrong.
Frankly, it was surprising that Pearce lasted this long. ROH is notoriously hesitant to fly in talent from California – see how long it took Steen and Generico to come in, and again how long to get regular spots. Wrestlers normally need to put on amazing DVD-selling matches and catch on in some big angles or feuds to survive. Pearce wrestled like a perfect midcard act for most of his tenure, and ROH did almost nothing to move him out of that slot. His NWA Vs. ROH title match was booked to be a throwback that was likely to get critically slammed, and his bloodfeud with Delirious lived and ended on the undercards. His last months with the company were as an interchangeable goon in Sweet & Sour Inc. So from an expense perspective, it’s really only surprising that he remained around from 2005 to 2008.
With his departure from the company, it’s important that we recognize his greatest contribution to ROH.
No, not the NWA title.
No, not those promos during the CZW war.
He gave purpose to Shane Hagadorn’s existence. Hagadorn began dressing like him, carrying his bags, getting abused, and generally sat on the apron cackling like the little crotch-monster Jabba the Hut kept around in Return of the Jedi. That made Pearce the Jabba of the relationship. They were the roles these men were born to play, and I’m going to miss it. Hagadorn may soon be missing a roster spot, though he’s such a serviceable little bastard manager that he could play Sweeney’s second in the Pearce-less ROH.
Pearce isn’t dead, he’s just focusing on the NWA. He could easily return for individual spots down the line, though Sweet & Sour Inc. has such a cut-and-paste team formula that there isn’t anything on the horizon that calls for him. His departure certainly made Albright look like a punk, submitting to an arm injury and dropping the NWA belt. A bad guy winning a title and disappearing is an awkward departure
While Pearce didn’t leave a legacy like Samoa Joe or even Low Ki, he did have some memorable matches. I know the internet loves lists, so here you go: the best of Adam Pearce.
7. Good Times, Great Memories: Adam Pearce Vs. Colt Cabana
You should own this already, especially thanks to 40% off sales its appearance on the $10 sale. The original Briscoes Vs. Murder City Machine Guns, Christopher Daniels Vs. Erick Stevens and Takeshi Morishima Vs. Shingo Takagi made it one of the best DVD’s ROH has ever put out. Pearce’s match has been overshadowed, but it was actually a great farewell to his Chicago buddy Cabana. The moment where Cabana escaped Pearce’s leglock remains one of the great comedy moments in ROH history – a good friend and I reenact it (the verbal roles, anyway) every time we see each other.
6. Final Battle 2007: Adam Pearce, Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer Vs. Delirious, El Generico & Kevin Steen in Tables Are Legal
Otherwise known as The Big Guys Vs. The Funny People, Pearce directed traffic in what easily could have been a car wreck of a match. With so many charismatic heroes bouncing around the ring, the bad guys had plenty to play off of and never had to worry about the match becoming dull like many singles matches from the feud did.
5. Chicago Spectacular Night 2: Adam Pearce Vs. Homicide in a Steel Cage Match
Forgot this happened, didn’t you? Pearce summoned what remained of his intense brawling ability post-CZW war to attack Homicide in a match I’m pretty sure ROH only booked because they realized they had a cage for two nights. Frankly, they beat the heck out of each other in a match that really favored Homicide’s style.
4. Reckless Abandon: Adam Pearce Vs. Delirious in Falls Count Anywhere
A hidden gem of 2007, this was miles ahead of the Dog Collar Match, or anything else from the Hangmen/Lizard Man feud. Pearce spent the entire match bullying Delirious and setting him up for comebacks. This, better than anything else in the ROH catalog, displays Pearce’s heel philosophy: don’t do anything unless it can be turned around to make the other guy look good. So a Figure Four was done and Delirious turned it over, weapons were used and Delirious dodged, and when they climbed the scaffolding Pearce was doomed. It was more smartly put together than anything else from the feud, too, because even from the opening minutes Delirious had to get momentum and leverage to fight with the bigger opponent, whereas Albright and Whitmer had the unfortunate tendency to act like Delirious was a straight-up physical equal. Reckless Abandon is not a very good show, and that’s unfortunate because it means fewer people will see and appreciate this.
3. Unscripted 2: Adam Pearce & Jimmy Rave Vs. C.M. Punk & Bryan Danielson
What an utterly crappy night, and what a fun match to end things. Pearce entirely followed Punk’s lead, as any intelligent person would. Even Danielson did to a degree. They created a playful match with just enough drama to be meaningful. It was pretty quick to move into the main event for Pearce, but given the loss of Abyss, Milano, Shelley, Homicide, Lethal and Low Ki, it was palatable. It also provided another of those great moments: when the crowd chanted “Jimmy Likes Balls!†at Rave, Pearce cupped his partner’s ears and assured him, “It’s okay. It’s okay that they know.â€
2. Rising Above: Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer Vs. Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs Vs. Jack Evans & Ruckus Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
The scramble on Rising Above is way better than anybody gives it credit, rightfully overshadowed by McGuinness and Aries’s amazing title match. It was a simple match: opening offense, a sprint, a release, a sprint, a release, a final chaotic sprint and the ending. It worked so well because so many guys clicked on their exchanges, and because some guys added particular roles. Pearce hit some very impressive tandem offense, but he also inserted himself purposefully several times just to get out-done. The highlight of the match for me is him running in at the end of a sprint of offense, only to get so dizzy that, with no one to attack him, he swooned. It was great comedy in a match that could have been all fireworks and spectacle, and it gave the audience a way to laugh, release and get that moment of mental rest before the next sprint. He played this role in too few scrambles, and it’s a shame he can’t do it in more.
1. The 100th Show: Adam Pearce, B.J. Whitmer & Samoa Joe Vs. Chris Hero, Super Dragon & the Necro Butcher
Some people will be outraged that Cage of Death isn’t on this list. Some people have forgotten what a small role Pearce had in it. It is one of the best matches he was in, but his participation barely helped it. Meanwhile his presence meant a lot in the 100th Show brawl, which went all over the arena and might have been the best match of its kind in ROH up to that point. In hardcore environments with a nationalistic-like support from half the audience, Pearce was a solid good guy, bringing his size to legitimize ROH as a force, and for once making his bully role something to cheer for – because he was bullying those punks. Like the Cage of Death match this was much more than just Pearce’s interaction, with at least two guys doing something every five seconds in some part of the building, but Pearce’s presence is much more tangible here than elsewhere.
The one notable exclusion from this list is his match with Brent Albright from Death Before Dishonor 6, a DVD I haven’t seen yet. By most reports it is by far his best singles match in ROH, if not in any promotion he’s ever wrestled for, and I look forward to watching it. However for now, Pulse Glazer reviewed it last Friday. You can get all these DVD’s at ROHwrestling.com. It’s time to pay the bills! … Their bills? That doesn’t seem right…
Also around the internet:
-Holy crap, LAX are coming to ROH!
-Vinny Truncellito drops some knowledge on us about the $5 DVD’s at rohwrestling.com. You cannot go wrong with the Best of Generation Next.
-Big Andy Mac reviews ROH’s latest PPV offering, New Horizons.
-David Ditch continues my favorite Pulse Wrestling feature with his history of Kenta Kobashi. I don’t mind admitting that Kobashi is just about my favorite wrestler of all time (only challenged by the Undertaker – ain’t life grand?), and if you care the least bit about Japanese wrestling, your life will be better for following the match links in Ditch’s columns. Get well soon, Kobashi!
-Norine Stice dishes up the legend of “Handsome†Harley Race. I think the concept of a “best” wrestler ever is ridiculous and even I nod when people call him one of the greatest.
-For something utterly different, check out my daily micro-fiction and monologue blog at www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com
