What could be and what might have been can be a very common theme amongst conversation of pro wrestling. Hindsight provides people with the ability to say what should’ve happened or how something should’ve been booked. This hindsight can provide fans and the IWC with rage or a sense of great regret when the results of some feud or storyline or match are either disastrous or (to them) obviously a missed opportunity to do something great. This month’s roundtable runs on that theme while looking at The E signing and going after CMLL wrestlers rather than AAA wrestlers, K-1 kickboxers turning to pro wrestling, Hirooki Goto’s second excursion to Mexico, Ring of Honor’s new T.V. deal, and the very quick run of Chyna in TNA.
M.C.: Mike Campbell
P.C.: Me
1. Taking into account the recent signings and attempted signing of Alberto Del Rio (Dos Caras Jr.), Sin Cara (Mistico), and Averno, as well as other similarities between the products (sports entertainment, soap opera storylines, character wrestlers), why hasn’t The E tried to sign more AAA talent?
M.C.: I would guess it’s due to one of two reasons. Either because the ‘E wanted Mistico to be the next coming of Mysterio, and with AAA’s penchant for being more or less the TNA of Mexico, there really wasn’t anyone who fit the bill the same way Mistico did. Or it’s due to the fact that AAA already has an agreement with TNA and Konnan is heavily involved in AAA, and WWE (probably correctly) figures that trying to deal with anyone from AAA won’t be worth the hassle.
P.C.: I do agree with the point about Mysterio in regard to Sin Cara, but the fact that AAA is full of more character-oriented wrestlers whereas CMLL is more than anything a collection of masked wrestlers should have lead The E to AAA. To give an example of what I mean: a heel Mesias being the demonic, dark, evil character that cold scare the kids before the superhero like Cena or Orton comes to save the day; that makes sense to me. As far as dealing with people from AAA goes: if it’s management and people like Konnan, I get it. But if it’s about the talent themselves, The E could just wait until their contract is up like with Sin Cara and snatch them up then. Because if The E were to sign someone and give them that kind of exposure, that person isn’t likely to be a problem. And if they do become a problem: just ship them back down south, no fuss, no muss.
2. With Kyotaro and Yuchihiro Nagashima making their pro wrestling debuts, will we see more kickboxers and MMA fighters going to pro wrestling? If so, do you see FEG ever running pro wrestling shows as a way to try and stay in business?
M.C.: I highly doubt it, but never say never. In this country, pro wrestling isn’t exactly highly regarded, compared with MMA. For instance, imagine if a big name UFC fighter chose to go to the WWE. He’d be ridiculed by the MMA and sports community. Not to mention that Dream Stage Entertainment’s attempt to get involved in pro wrestling was a huge bomb.
P.C.: I don’t believe that it will happen, but with the way K-1 promotes its shows and books its MMA fights (with an emphasis on freak show fights), pro wrestling doesn’t seem like that much of stretch to me. I don’t believe they will ever promote pro wrestling shows, but I do believe that more fighters could make the jump. I believe this for two important reasons: they need to eat, and pro wrestling promoters will bring MMA fighters and kickboxers into their promotions (even for a short time) because of the fact that they were actual fighters and can book them off of that alone.
3. Did U.S. pro wrestling television just get better with the purchase of Ring of Honor by Sinclair Entertainment Group?
M.C.: I guess it depends on how you define “better.” The prospect of millions of people nationwide being able to turn on their TV and see Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Chris Hero, etc. is certainly a positive. But, I don’t think this is going to mean great things for ROH in the long term. In the year 2011, being aired in syndication isn’t exactly what any serious wrestling company should be striving for nowadays.
P.C.: I do believe that in-ring pro wrestling on TV has just gotten better because we’ll get to see people like Davey and Hero and Team Angle and The Briscoes. I look forward to finally being able to say that I’m going to go watch ROH or can DV-R ROH and watch it any time I want as I’m still a bit bitter about missing the entire HD-Net era due to Time Warner and Mark Cuban getting into a tiff. Quick side-note to Cuban: kudos on the championship. Back to ROH: this is a step in the right direction for them as far as keeping the promotion from becoming just another Indy promotion. However, it’s not the catalyst for anything bigger than that. If they can generate word of mouth like TNA was able to do back in 2003 and 2004, then it could become something bigger, but for right now it’s just one step in the right direction. And hopefully the people at Sinclair don’t get in the middle of it as keeping Delirious and Jim Cornette in charge of the product is not only the right call, but the only call to make as far as who’s in charge of the product is concerned.
4. The whole Chyna in TNA for about a second fiasco…thoughts.
M.C.: LOL@TNA (bring back memories, Ditch?). It’s not like this is the first time that TNA has invested their time into someone only for it to backfire. Remember Rikishi’s cup of coffee in TNA? TNA has always been about having the right idea with the wrong execution.
P.C.: You mean TNA did an angle that ended with someone’s debut in the promotion and it turned out to be an E reject from the attitude era? And they only stayed for a month? I’d be shocked, but then I’d have to forget what promotion I was writing about. It’s just another example of this promotion wasting time that they could be dedicating to building young talent into stars, nothing more and nothing less.
5. Would a longer excursion in Mexico have been more beneficial to New Japan, CMLL, and Goto himself than Goto being brought back as quick as he was?
M.C.: I don’t think so, but it really depends on why exactly he went down there. If it was to get some polish on his work, or maybe to prepare for his upcoming heel run by learning from guys like Averno, Ultimo Guerrero, etc. then, yes, he probably should have stayed down there longer. But, if it was just to generate some interest in the Tanahashi match (he went down there right after he turned on him) then it’s not an issue at all.
P.C.: I do believe a longer excursion would’ve benefited all involved. Yeah, New Japan wouldn’t have as viable a challenger for Saturday (and the heel turn on Tanahashi did make that title match an easy one to promote), but they’d still have a heel Goto and the feud with Tanahashi whenever he came back, so it really didn’t need to be as quick a return as it was, especially if they aren’t going to continue the feud after this title match. If they continue the feud and make it the major feud of the promotion, then fine, but otherwise his return could’ve waited. CMLL would’ve benefited from having a foreign heel that didn’t take long to get crowd heat, as evidenced most notably by his challenge of CMLL’s world title in what was apparently a notably hot match. Goto would’ve benefited, as he did when he went in 2006, from the excursion because history has shown that Japanese wrestlers who go to Mexico for some seasoning come back better workers basically every single time. And fans or viewers of CMLL would’ve benefited because they would’ve gotten even more quality tag wrestling and singles matches from Goto as part of the deal. I was not only in favor of him heading back to CMLL for more than just a brief period, but I think what we got out of it proves that more would’ve been a good thing.
SEVEN MATCHES UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Jumbo Tsuruta Vs. Ric Flair, AJPW, 6/8/1982
Two of the best ever hooking up for another great match. This was the precursor to the ’83 match that I already posted. This is Jumbo in between the stages in his career when he was the young amateur wrestling stud and the surly old man, and Flair when he was just beginning to become The Nature Boy.
Cactus Jack Vs. WING Kanemura, IWA, ???
Kanemura turned out to be one of the better workers FMW had and proved that in a multitude of non-deathmatch matches in FMW. Foley, as we all know, was a great worker whether it was a deathmatch or not. This match is another of IWA’s very brutal and very weapons filled deathmatches with the master taking on one of the men who’d be the face of Japanese hardcore wrestling after Foley went back to The States full time.
Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, & Terry Gordy Vs. Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, & Giant Baba, AJPW, 8/30/1983
Part 2
This was during the Brody/Hansen vs. All Japan feud that was mainly contested between them and the trio they are facing. Yes it has a typically 80’s All Japan finish, but don’t let that discourage you or undermine all the other great stuff during the match itself.
Steve Williams Vs. Kenta Kobashi, AJPW, 9/3/1993
The match that many believe made the headbump a staple of All Japan’s heavyweight style during the 90’s. Near the end, Dr. Death lands a SICK backdrop driver on Kobashi and soon those would be appearing in nearly every main-event match in the promotion. And yet, that famous suplex (try to find the photo of it if you can) is just the icing on the cake of another fabulous outing for both men.
Global Tag League Final: Kensuke Sasaki & Takeshi Morishima Vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Go Shiozaki, NOAH, 5/6/2009
Part 2
Part 3
With the anniversary of Misawa’s death this week, I felt it was fitting to have his last Budokan Hall match here. It was the final of NOAH’s big tag tournament and had him teaming with the man they were (and still are) priming to be the star of the future for the promotion. I always believed the Sasaki/Morishima team had a fun kind of chemistry and maybe could’ve worked even better with Morishima regaining his workrate in the last year, but they really haven’t been brought back full-time as a team. While Misawa isn’t in the match a great deal, the match is notable for the arena it was in, for him being in it, and for how close to his death it was. And Shiozaki’s performance here should’ve be overlooked either.
KENTA Vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, NOAH, 6/27/2004
Just months before Takayama’s stroke he has his first of many slugfests with the smaller heavyweight-style striker. These two have always had a weird (in a good way) chemistry with one another that has seen their singles matches become not squashes, but brutal strike-for-strike exhibitions. This one is no different.
Vader Vs. Kazuo Yamazaki, UWFi, 8/13/1993
An example of the big man/little man formula working fairly nicely when implemented into a sprint. Vader had to look like an unstoppable beast here, but it wasn’t a complete squash. And it was because of Yamazaki’s selling and Vader’s willingness to make him look good while beating the dog piss out of him that made this match not only a great sprint, but got the crowd hot very easily.
