Shoot interviews are a hard sell for me. I think the reason my eyes tend to glaze over when I hear shoot interview is that most wrestlers are not necessarily interesting enough to carry off talking for an entire hour or longer. Yet, at the same time, Legends of Wrestling, which consists of Gene Okerlund leading four legends like Dusty Rhodes, Michael Hayes, Pat Patterson and Mick Foley talking about the business is one of the greatest television shows I have ever watched. I realize that Legends of Wrestling is superior to the shoot interview in that the men sitting on the panel are both some of the most knowledgeable and best talkers in the history of the industry and they get to play off one another.
However, at the ROH show last week, I persuaded myself to purchase Kevin Steen: Hell Rising. This particular shoot interview is produced by ROH and is best known for being pulled off the market, as Kevin Steen tries not to, but absolutely destroys Jim Cornette, which likely led to those same Louisville lawyers portrayed on the DVD to ask for an injunction on selling the product.
As the price skyrocketed, I assumed I would never break down and purchase it, which is kind of the same way I feel about Playboy Gary Hart: My Life in Wrestling. Both Steen and Hart are two of my favorite talkers in wrestling history and while the Kevin Steen shoot was reasonably priced, I just couldn't spend $125 on a book. But $20 at a ROH show is a much easier price to pay. Plus, it contains 12 Kevin Steen matches, 11 of which I've never seen before.
Somewhere around Kevin Steen being removed ROH, I lost interest in the product. I was busier with life and Kevin Steen is one of the biggest draws for me in wrestling. Heck, I own at least three Kevin Steen T-Shirts, including one in the wrong size, because that's what Kevin had with him that day and I wanted to show my appreciation for his hard work and willingness to drive to New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy, to work Sami Callihan in a building entirely lit by generators. Even with Kevin back, ROH is still a hard sell for me, because it isn't the local product I learned to love, but something different.
Watching Hell Rising made me think of all of these things. It also made me think about Kevin Steen. It was almost painful to watch him talk about not being involved in Ring of Honor. You could hear the hurt in his voice and the sadness in his face. His comments to Jim Cornette, which to his credit, he did continually try to temper with praise about what Cornette could bring to a promotion, seemed to have been born from a place of hurt, rather than anger.
There were large sections of soul searching, where he seemed to be asking why Cornette couldn't appreciate him or his talents, which I always thought was ridiculous, as a man who thought the Dirty White Boy could draw money would certainly see that Steen had the talent to main event anything he was involved with. But like all of us, Cornette had his favorites and they were more like Richards, Strong and Hero, who aside from Hero being the new king of skinnyfat, look nothing like Kevin Steen.
What I enjoyed most about the interview was Steen's passion. He makes you believe he is always speaking from his heart and that he cares about the industry. Watching someone live their dream and tell us that story is almost always going to be great. Steen's matches are cut from the same cloth. He leaves everything in the ring and tells his stories from the heart, which gives him a psychology that is different from most wrestlers and makes him a credible storyteller.
With the rumors that Steen is getting a WWE tryout becoming live today, it makes me wonder whether he will make it. He has the talent to work the microphone with any crowd and tremendous charisma. But I worry his bullying style of offense might not work in the WWE. I mean, the Great Khali is not taking a sleeper suplex, mostly because I have grave doubts about his ability to jump, but I want to see him get the chance. I mean, watching Kevin Steen perform his craft in front of small crowds, living by his own rules, wrestling matches the way he wants to are great for a fan like myself, but unselfishly, I want to see someone who has entertained me for the last seven years, nearly decapitated me with a ladder in Philadelphia (true story, Steen was running out for his match with Jay Briscoe at Death Before Dishonor V Night 2, nearly hit flush in the head with a ladder, because I was sitting on the entrance ramp. Not his fault, but mine.), really get his shot to live his dream and be forever captured on the WWE Network, where I don't always have to dig out a DVD to watch one of the best workers in the business today.
So, if you like shoot interviews or Kevin Steen, you should buy this set before it goes away again. If not, it is really your loss.
Showing posts with label ROH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ROH. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
ROH 12th Anniversary Show Review
Last night, I drove to Philadelphia for my second anniversary independent wrestling show of the month. This time, I drove to the Ring of Honor 12th Anniversary show for my thirty-seventh Ring of Honor live show. At one point in my life, I was a huge Ring of Honor fan starting with the Battle of the Icons back in 2007, but over the years my interest in the product waned, starting with the removal of Gabe Sapolsky as the booker and with the move from a local to national promotion. Oh, and Killer Instinct in 2012 actually swore me off going to a Ring of Honor show ever again after serving up a 35 minute, no contest between Kevin Steen and Jay Lethal, where the live audience did not know what was happening or if there was a finish, which followed a lackluster show. It took the knowledge that Adam Cole, Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin were going to be wrestling three matches in one night to get me to go back and watch anything ROH.
But with Adam Cole defending the title against Chris Hero and having seen their match in PWG from two months ago, I convinced myself to give a live Ring of Honor show another go. Arriving at the Armory in Philadelphia, I was surprised by the turnout, as there was no parking left at 7:40, requiring those who arrived timely to find their own place to park outside the safety of the arena. I don't think anyone thought it would be a super no vacancy house of 1,200, but AJ Styles return tour is putting fans in the seats.
I finally get to the building, where ROH COO Joe Koff was handling the will call window and hands me my ticket. Having worked in a small business, I always appreciate the wearing of many hats and the need to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty for the sake of the job, regardless of your job title and power. Arriving just ahead of the dark match, I saw Amasis in ROH for the second time, since the Osirian Portal wrestled Steen and Generico in 2008, which I was there for. Amasis was good, but Caprice Coleman did little for me in this match.
The first half of the main show was, to be polite, rough. I thought the Tomasso Ciampa and Hanson match was very good, with Hanson showing the potential to be a star with a great mix of surprising athleticism, a good look and some real wrestling hoss skills. Other highlights include the Decade of Roderick Strong, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer using jazz hands as their team signal and Silas Young's mustache and 80s vibe, though I don't get why everyone loves Generic Indy Guy 2, Matt Taven or why anyone thinks Jimmy Jacobs should throw an effective spear against anyone larger than a toddler. Sadly, Matt Hardy didn't make the show, forcing Michael Elgin to "wrestle" Raymond Rowe, who was clearly not ready for such a match, looking green and almost fighting Elgin to entertain. Elgin did cut a really good old school promo trying to get Rowe over before the match and was surprised to find myself excited before watching Rowe sandbag without intent for about 10 minutes.
With intermission, I went over to the lackluster ROH merchandise table. CZW does it right with a selection of vendors, but ROH has their own table, which consisted of a selection of mediocre T-Shirts (number of Michael Bennett shirts in the audience: 2, number of Decade shirts in the audience: 1) and a limited selection of DVDs. Amazingly, I only made one purchase, which is the Hell Rising Kevin Steen shoot, where I cannot wait to watch him tear apart Jim Cornette for 45 minutes, though I plan to pass on the Jay Lethal match from Killer Instinct.
After intermission, the show really picked up with three great matches and an enjoyable squash of Cliff Compton by Kevin Steen, though the match did take about 18 minutes and was the shortest match of the second half. Honestly, the biggest weakness in almost any ROH show is the length. The Anniversary show went about 4 hours and would not be surprised if you timed the matches and found there were at least 5 and possibly 6 twenty minute matches. Ring of Honor has a hard time giving us a great 12 minute match, for the thought we were missing something. In fact, most of the matches, aside from Cole/Hero and Styles/Lethal could have stood to be a little shorter.
The tag team match between ReDragon and Adrenaline Rush was very good. Watching it, I thought, if ACH learns to strike better, he could be a star. Kyle O'Reilly has grown on me over the years, but I'm still not a fan of his MMA striking based offense. Otherwise, it was a good, not great tag team match.
Having seen and hated AJ Styles two weeks ago and not thinking much of Jay Lethal's work on the whole, I was a little surprised by how well their match worked. It was a slow affair, but Jay Lethal understood how to work with AJ Styles to put on a Southern-style wrestling match. The spots were much crisper than with Gulak two weeks beforehand and both wrestlers used the pace to their advantage, especially Styles whose offense was far more convincing in the match. The finish was rushed, but for the first time I understand why Lethal/Styles would have been a great main event in 2004.
Finally, there was the Chris Hero and Adam Cole main event ROH Title match, which was my primary motivation for going to the show. I saw their clash in at PWG's All-Star Weekend X, Night 1 and thought the match was excellent, but a little short. Their match tonight was actually better. Here, they played the roles of Hero as the returning conqueror and Cole as the cowardly heel to perfection. With Hero being in my book, the best storyteller in the ring working today, the match flowed. Cole's work was excellent as well, making the small mannerisms work, rolling out of the ring as a heel with great gusto and to loud applause. Both men worked the crowd well and closed with a ref bump finish, allowing Hero to get Cole to tap out without a ref, but allowing Cole to retain the title after three straight jacket German Suplexes.
In sum, the second half of the show was worth the price of admission, with Cole and Hero being my match of the night. It didn't reignite my love affair with Ring of Honor, but will at least force me to look at their cards when in the area to see if there is a match I want to see in person.
But with Adam Cole defending the title against Chris Hero and having seen their match in PWG from two months ago, I convinced myself to give a live Ring of Honor show another go. Arriving at the Armory in Philadelphia, I was surprised by the turnout, as there was no parking left at 7:40, requiring those who arrived timely to find their own place to park outside the safety of the arena. I don't think anyone thought it would be a super no vacancy house of 1,200, but AJ Styles return tour is putting fans in the seats.
I finally get to the building, where ROH COO Joe Koff was handling the will call window and hands me my ticket. Having worked in a small business, I always appreciate the wearing of many hats and the need to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty for the sake of the job, regardless of your job title and power. Arriving just ahead of the dark match, I saw Amasis in ROH for the second time, since the Osirian Portal wrestled Steen and Generico in 2008, which I was there for. Amasis was good, but Caprice Coleman did little for me in this match.
The first half of the main show was, to be polite, rough. I thought the Tomasso Ciampa and Hanson match was very good, with Hanson showing the potential to be a star with a great mix of surprising athleticism, a good look and some real wrestling hoss skills. Other highlights include the Decade of Roderick Strong, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer using jazz hands as their team signal and Silas Young's mustache and 80s vibe, though I don't get why everyone loves Generic Indy Guy 2, Matt Taven or why anyone thinks Jimmy Jacobs should throw an effective spear against anyone larger than a toddler. Sadly, Matt Hardy didn't make the show, forcing Michael Elgin to "wrestle" Raymond Rowe, who was clearly not ready for such a match, looking green and almost fighting Elgin to entertain. Elgin did cut a really good old school promo trying to get Rowe over before the match and was surprised to find myself excited before watching Rowe sandbag without intent for about 10 minutes.
With intermission, I went over to the lackluster ROH merchandise table. CZW does it right with a selection of vendors, but ROH has their own table, which consisted of a selection of mediocre T-Shirts (number of Michael Bennett shirts in the audience: 2, number of Decade shirts in the audience: 1) and a limited selection of DVDs. Amazingly, I only made one purchase, which is the Hell Rising Kevin Steen shoot, where I cannot wait to watch him tear apart Jim Cornette for 45 minutes, though I plan to pass on the Jay Lethal match from Killer Instinct.
After intermission, the show really picked up with three great matches and an enjoyable squash of Cliff Compton by Kevin Steen, though the match did take about 18 minutes and was the shortest match of the second half. Honestly, the biggest weakness in almost any ROH show is the length. The Anniversary show went about 4 hours and would not be surprised if you timed the matches and found there were at least 5 and possibly 6 twenty minute matches. Ring of Honor has a hard time giving us a great 12 minute match, for the thought we were missing something. In fact, most of the matches, aside from Cole/Hero and Styles/Lethal could have stood to be a little shorter.
The tag team match between ReDragon and Adrenaline Rush was very good. Watching it, I thought, if ACH learns to strike better, he could be a star. Kyle O'Reilly has grown on me over the years, but I'm still not a fan of his MMA striking based offense. Otherwise, it was a good, not great tag team match.
Having seen and hated AJ Styles two weeks ago and not thinking much of Jay Lethal's work on the whole, I was a little surprised by how well their match worked. It was a slow affair, but Jay Lethal understood how to work with AJ Styles to put on a Southern-style wrestling match. The spots were much crisper than with Gulak two weeks beforehand and both wrestlers used the pace to their advantage, especially Styles whose offense was far more convincing in the match. The finish was rushed, but for the first time I understand why Lethal/Styles would have been a great main event in 2004.
Finally, there was the Chris Hero and Adam Cole main event ROH Title match, which was my primary motivation for going to the show. I saw their clash in at PWG's All-Star Weekend X, Night 1 and thought the match was excellent, but a little short. Their match tonight was actually better. Here, they played the roles of Hero as the returning conqueror and Cole as the cowardly heel to perfection. With Hero being in my book, the best storyteller in the ring working today, the match flowed. Cole's work was excellent as well, making the small mannerisms work, rolling out of the ring as a heel with great gusto and to loud applause. Both men worked the crowd well and closed with a ref bump finish, allowing Hero to get Cole to tap out without a ref, but allowing Cole to retain the title after three straight jacket German Suplexes.
In sum, the second half of the show was worth the price of admission, with Cole and Hero being my match of the night. It didn't reignite my love affair with Ring of Honor, but will at least force me to look at their cards when in the area to see if there is a match I want to see in person.
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