Thanks for coming back to Two Spot Monkeys! A quick plug before we get into today’s column – if you have not checked out our interview with Michael Elgin from earlier this week (our first ever!) or our final 2012 Head 2 Head WWE preview as we go back and forth on TLC. Both podcasts can be accessed as a stream or download – here on the blog or via iTunes.
We
wanted to take a look at 4 things each that we’re thinking about as we head
towards Sunday’s ROH: Final Battle 2012 iPPV.
So, here we go!
Tom’s Thinking About…
1. Ladder War IV
I
gotta start with the main event because for the arguments out there that exist
opposing this match taking place, the two wrestlers – Steen and Generico – are
ingrained in the fabric of one another’s wrestling careers and this is a feud
that transcends promotion boundaries. I
have no idea how they can top their WAR from Final Battle in 2010 or their
insane match from PWG just a year ago, but I do think they will. I think we see a new level of innovative
violence and it will have fans talking.
2. Breakout Star for
2012?
More
so on the podcast versus here in print, I have voiced loudly my belief that for
Indy Wrestling alone, there no two wrestlers more equally matched for
consideration here than Adam Cole and Michael Elgin. Will either have a performance on Sunday that
allows one to edge the other? I do not
know. Cole against Matt Hardy might have
the factor going against it that Matt Hardy is again in a Ring of Honor ring
and the fans might not react favorably.
Elgin against Strong is a fresh match that has taken nearly the entire
year to build to these two incredible wrestlers getting into the ring. By a narrow margin, I think that Elgin has a
bigger shine coming out of Sunday and possibly solidifies himself as this
year’s Breakout Star.
3. Embassy Forever or
Never Again?
Another
feud with a lot of backstory and build will also see blows get thrown when
Prince Nana and Barrister R.D. Evans settle their score in the ring. Nana, the originator of “The Embassy” in Ring
of Honor has been a part of each and every incarnation. Evans came into the picture and attempted to
turn the faction into a revenue generator as “Embassy Limited.” In doing so, he forced Nana out of the group
and out of the scene. Nana is coming for
his revenge and I believe he gets it on Sunday and so will begin a new chapter
for “The Embassy.”
4. The Hunt is….ON?
The
potential tag match of the re-united American Wolves of Davey Richards &
Eddie Edwards vs. Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish is one of the matches I am
most looking forward to. I like what ROH
has done here, bringing in Edwards and Fish’s history in NOAH to the story, the
saga between Davey & O’Reilly and of course, the long-standing history
between Davey & Eddie, both as partners and competitors. The way it is set going into the weekend is
that Eddie has stated he would be there, but as of yet he has not committed to
teaming with Davey. I do think that
Eddie and Davey re-unite, but I am not sure if it lasts longer than just this
one match. I see it two ways: The Wolves stake their claim as a dominant
team and give a new focus to Davey & Eddie or Eddie plays the role of the
partner really well, only to screw Davey in the end and create a new group with
O’Reilly and Fish, establishing a fresh approach and fresh match-ups for Davey
in 2013. I cannot wait to see how it
plays out!
Jim’s Thinking About…
1. A Lethal Fight?
Jay
Lethal has been saying now for a few weeks, and again on TV last week that he
is pissed off about having to wrestle Rhino in a “meaningless” match on
Sunday. He’s promised that he’s going to
fight the ROH Champion, whomever that is, after the Ladder War. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the
main event and how they might go with it this Sunday (I love that it’s not
totally obvious!). At this point, I’m
thinking that they have Generico win the title, but, that begs the question,
would they put the title on someone who is (presumably) not under
contract? That’s where Lethal comes
in. I think Generico wins the title, but
then Lethal demands his Survival of the Fittest title match right now, and we
end 2012 with Jay Lethal as the ROH World Champion. If they do that, I would only have Lethal
hold it until the 11th Anniversary Show, and have Michael Elgin win
the title there, setting up Elgin vs. Davey, Steen or Generico for Supercard of
Honor as your main event.
2. Can Hardy hang? And how long will he be around?
I
am curious about Matt Hardy and his involvement here at Final Battle. Is he just here for a one shot to get a boost
with Final Battle? Will ROH be booking
him at all regularly as we go into 2013?
His match here with Adam Cole will likely go a long way to determining
that. I expect that the Hammerstein
crowd is going to be ruthless on him, but if he can show them he can still hang
and have a strong match with Adam Cole, he could turn them in his favor, which
would be very interesting to see. Cole
has been a huge breakout star this year, and may very well be a future ROH
World Champion if he doesn’t end up in NXT first, this will be one of (if not)
his most high profile opponents to date, and I, for one, can’t wait to see how
it plays out!
3. 8-Times? Or First Time?
I
strongly feel that the Corino/Jacobs tag title reign is coming to an end here
at Final Battle. To me though, there is
a heck of a question as to which team will be the ones to end the reign. Certainly an argument can be made for moving
in a totally new direction with Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman. There are plenty of fresh matchups there
(especially as tag title defenses) and they have been very good most of the
time in the ring. But, do they have the “star
power” to be tag champs? Or, if they win
the titles, will that come with the win?
On the other hand, we have the 7 time ROH Tag Team Champions, ROH
legends, The Briscoe Brothers. Do they
need an 8th reign? Absolutely
not. But, they certainly carry more star
power than C&C, and when needed to, could main event shows with tag title
matches, which I don’t think you can say for C&C at this point. I’d like to see them go with Coleman and
Alexander, and I think they probably will, but I won’t be shocked if we’re
hearing “Man Up” at the end of this match either!
4. Where do we go from
here?
Where
is ROH heading in 2013? I strongly
suspect we’ll see something happen here to setup a major program or two for the
first part of 2013. Whether it’s a World
Title change (or two), or a turn such as Eddie Edwards turning on Davey
Richards and joining O’Reilly and Fish, or a surprise we haven’t heard of yet,
I think that this show will give us not only closure to some stories of 2012,
but also open up a whole lot of ideas and questions for 2013. ROH feels like it’s on a slight upswing to me
lately, and I hope that continues on Sunday afternoon as well as into
2013! Best of luck to all involved, and
go out and have a great show!
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