Hit or Miss Year in Review

Welcome to the year in review edition of Hit or Miss! Joining me for this final edition of the year is Matt Waters and Jerome Cusson. We’ve got 13 questions dealing with 2o10 and a couple that look ahead to 2011…so read on!

Hit or Miss: ROH’s Tag Wars 2010

Jerome Cusson: Miss. I’d like to just write this down as a complete fail. The tournament served no purpose except to have Kings of Wrestling cheat to beat the Briscoes again. It happened two other times in far better matches. The way they did the tournament finals to the teams involved resulted in Tag Wars 2010 being one of ROH’s biggest disappointments of 2010
Matt Waters: Miss. When they announced it I was very excited. Even through most of the tournament matches, I was fairly excited. Then the Finals failed to deliver thanks to ridiculous stipulations that were made all the worse by the Kings winning two seconds into the third and final fall, making it all seem rather pointless.

1 for 1
Hit or Miss: Given how all the indy tournaments played out this year, Chikara’s King of Trios is the premier tournament in North American indy wrestling.
JC: Hit. This could easily change if Battle of Los Angeles 2011 turns out to be as amazing  as years past. It feels like King of Trios has elevated Chikara each of the last three years. It feels like a special event both because of the concept of having a three man team winning the whole thing and the international flavor associated with it. Teams from all over this country, Mexico, and Japan compete every single year. Fairly easy for me to say this was a hit.
MW: Hit. Nothing really comes close anymore in terms of prestige, star-factor and quality of wrestling. Every year Chikara bring in talent from Japan, Mexico, the American indies, as well as some legends of wrestling’s past. It’s not just about the tournament though, the entire three-day weekend feels truly special, like, well… Wrestlemania. From Rey de Voladores, the fan conclave, and normally several other high profile matches, the King of Trios is a very big deal indeed.
2 for 2

Hit or Miss: The BDK’s domination of Chikara’s season 9 (until the finale)
JC: Miss. This is a tough one for me because I really enjoyed a lot of what Chikara put forth in 2010. I think BDK dominating for such a long period of time hurt three shows significantly. The anniversary shows fell flat for me because the BDK won a lot of matches and came off so dominant just a month after winning King of Trios. I think Chikara going 0-3 at Chikarasaurus Rex hurt some of the emotional impact of that show as well. Still, this is not a huge miss for the company with how everything turned out.
MW: Hit. Good things come to those who wait. The audience for most companies would have flipped out when the invading group won both major championships and the biggest tournament of the year, going almost undefeated for several months. The internet would have been lit up with complaints bashing the hell out of the booking, threatening to boycott all future shows until the BDK were done. But thankfully this is Chikara and the audience know that good faith can be put in Quack to do the right thing, and as expected, it all came good in the end.
2 for 3


Hit or Miss: Getting released from WWE (and being subsequently rehired) was good for Daniel Bryan’s career
JC: Hit. Danielson got to play the victim card when he got fired by WWE for unjustified reasons. The way he played it off in every interview and promo he did only made him more endearing to fans. It was like getting a final ride with Danielson on the indies. He had some unbelievable matches in Chikara, Evolve, and DG USA. Then his momentum continued once he went back to WWE. He conquered The Miz at Night of Champions to win the United States title. He’s barely lost a match since the fall began. As a mater of fact, I can’t think of anyone with a better win/loss record the second half of 2010.

MW: Hit. The pop and subsequent momentum he got from being the surprise seventh member of Team WWE at Summerslam was priceless. Getting released got everyone talking, and the matches he wrestled during the time off were awesome, but it was his return to the company that began to make him a star
3 for 4
Hit or Miss: Steen/Generico was the feud of the year in all of wrestling (indy and mainstream)
JC: Hit. Steen and Generico have been a part of the best feuds in all of wrestling two of the last three years. It should come as no surprise that they’re the best of 2010. The competition wasn’t exactly stiff this year. In fact, the only feud that came close was BDK vs. Chikara, and I have a hard time saying it’s the best since it’s not technically over with yet. Steen and Generico told a year long story that had a lot of emotion and great matches attached throughout. The video package done before Final Battle 2010 also makes a difference because it encapsulated what an awesome feud this was in about two minutes.
MW: Hit. There are no alternatives whatsoever. It was a sublime war that featured no singles matches for six months, and only three over the course of 12 months. The promos cut by Steen were among the best the wrestling scene has seen in quite some time, and Steve Corino and Colt Cabana didn’t do so badly themselves. Countless brutal matches, endless mind games and one hell of a blow-off made this the feud of the year.
4 for 5
Hit or Miss: Tyler Black vs Davey Richards (DBD VIII) was the MOTY
JC: Miss. Black and Richards had an awesome match that ranked very high on my top ten list. The problem was it didn’t have the emotion of Undertaker and Shawn Michaels nor did it feature the best ten minutes of wrestling I’ve seen in 2010 during the Shingo/Bryan Danielson match. There really isn’t anything else that needs to be said. Match quality is in the eye of the beholder. This was the hands down ROH match of the year, but I saw a few matches that I thought had more emotion and I enjoyed more.
MW: Miss. It was a hell of a match, but subsequent viewings make me think it’s not the absolute top match that took place this year. I don’t really have a definitive top match to suggest in its place, but there are a few matches I think were as good if not better than Davey vs Tyler that actually involve both men including Davey vs Hero from PWG’s Seven and Hero vs Tyler from Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2.
5 for 6

Hit or Miss: Kevin Steen was the MVP of indy wrestling this year
JC: Miss. Claudio Castagnoli held titles in PWG, Chikara, and Ring of Honor. All at the same. He main evented shows for all those companies and Evolve. He maintained a full time schedule on the indies while also doing NOAH tours in Japan. Kevin Steen was the MVP of ROH, but Claudio Castagnoli has to be in the MVP of indy wrestling based on his reliability and match quality. If he doesn’t get signed by WWE within the next 365 days, I’ll be stunned.
MW: Hit. It was a struggle to give Steen this award, but only because of the fact it’s for all of indy wrestling, not just ROH. In Ring of Honor he’s the undisputed MVP because he gave the company absolutely everything they needed from him, inside the ring and out. Someone like Claudio Castagnoli is a close contender for his contributions to so many different companies, holding championships in ROH, PWG and Chikara simultaneously.
5 for 7
Hit or Miss: Death Before Dishonor VIII was Ring of Honor’s best iPPV
JC: Hit. I had the main event world title match at ****3/4, the street fight tag team match at ****1/2, the Daniels/Omega match at ***3/4, and Steen/Generico at ***1/2. Plus, there was no lucha main event to ruin things as was the case for The Big Bang. This was easily Ring of Honor’s best Pay-Per-View and show of the year. So many great matches. I had high expectations for the show going in, and they were actually exceeded. One of ROH’s best efforts I’ve seen in a long time.
MW: Miss. This is all personal preference, but I was a big fan of Final Battle 2010. I believe the combined match quality was higher than that of DBDH, even if the two main event’s were better than almost all the Final Battle matches, and how can you overlook the final chapter in Steen vs Generico?
5 for 8

Hit or Miss: The formation of all the factions this year in DGUSA
JC: Hard to say one way or the other. These factions were just formed in October, and you can’t say with any certainty whether they’ve been successful or not because the next shows aren’t until 2011. I like the idea of factions in DG USA because that’s how things are done in Japan, but Gabe Sapolsky doesn’t have a great history with faction warfare.
MW: Miss. I lost interest in DGUSA pretty quickly, and as much as I do love faction warfare, it all just feels a little phoned-in in DGUSA. The draft was handled pretty terribly. The American additions to the pre-existing units make little to no sense (Brodie Lee, Homicide), and Ronin is just a watered down version of F.I.S.T. Knock Icarus all you want, he’s better than Rich Swann. The only positive is Jon Moxley in Kamikaze USA because he fits that group like a glove.

Author’s decision: 5 for 8 still. I’m going to throw this one out because it wasn’t that fair of a question. I think I meant to ask about the way the factions were formed. (Also I’m saying miss just because of Gabe Sapolsky’s history with faction warfare)



Hit or Miss: Peligro Abejas taking the titles from The Young Bucks was the right decision at DDT4

JC: Hit. I have this as a hit more because of Generico and not really London. Generico is the all-time MVP of PWG based on his amazing effort. It’s fitting he got to help the long title reign of the Bucks and not anyone else. I think the Cutlers have more work to do before they should be considered for a PWG title reign. Having Generico win was the right call at that time.

MW: Hit. You can only ask the Bucks to carry the company so far. Sooner or later a new team needed to step up to plate and one involving El Generico was always going to be a safe bet thanks to his immense popularity and wrestling ability. Palegro Abejas aren’t going to be carrying the company like the Young Bucks did, but they’re a feature attraction, and the entire roster seem to be stepping up to share the load.
6 for9
Hit or Miss: Tyler Blacks reign as ROH world champion will be remembered as one of the top runs in terms of match quality

JC: Miss. As far as I’m concerned, Tyler Black had one of the best ROH title reigns when it came to match quality since Bryan Danielson. The proof is in the star ratings. Sadly, Ring of Honor fans are a bitter bunch who never gave Black the credit he deserved while being the champion. The way they turned on Black was brutal and is one of the reasons I’m glad Black isn’t breaking his back on the indies anymore.  (Authors note: I couldn’t agree with Jerome more on this)

MW: Hit. I think he had a very nice little reign despite everything working against him. The theme of his title reign was fans booing him during his entrance and cheering him after he won, because over the course of twenty minutes he won everyone over. His wrestling ability was simply at a very high level and the fans couldn’t help but get behind that. His promos actually improved leaps and bounds during his Sell-Out story and I think he was producing some pure gold during the end of the title reign.
6 for 10
Hit or Miss: The 3 Way Guerilla Warfare match from Seven was the PWG match of the year
JC: Hit. Best. Most Insane. Titles of that ilk apply to this match. This is a match that really should only happen once or twice a year because of the risks taken. I also believe PWG is the only company that could get away with something like this. If this happened in ROH of DG USA, I feel like it would be too much or just completely ridiculous. In PWG? Felt just right.
MW: Miss. It was insane, but I don’t think it had anything on some of their other big matches such as Davey vs Hero, Hero vs Tozawa or dare I say it Generico vs Ricochet.
6 for 11

Hit or Miss: The KOT finals between BDK and the Colony was the match of the year in Chikara
JC: Miss. Not only a miss but a strikeout. This wouldn’t even make my top five matches of the year for Chikara. Danielson and Donst was a much better match. Even Team Osaka Pro against FIST was my personal favorite match of the entire weekend. Cibernetico and the main event of Reality of Relative are neck-in-neck for best Chikara match of 2010. BDK and Colony had some great emotion and action involved, but it was missing some things to make it the best.
MW: Miss. It was pretty darn good, but I enjoyed the Chikara vs World-1 match from Chikarasaurus Rex, the Dark Cibernetico, Quack & Toyota vs Claudio & Del Rey and a number of matches involving Tim Donst just a little bit more.
7 for 12
Hit or Miss: Ring of Honor ended 2010 well with Final Battle
JC: Hit. I haven’t seen Final Battle yet, but based on the early buyrate numbers and fan reactions, it seems like everything worked out for the best. I’m sure I’ll have my own thoughts on the show soon enough, but it seems like the consensus is ROH is headed into 2011 strong.
MW:Hit. Many will cry out that they’re retarded for not ending the year with Davey holding the belt and so forth, but Roderick is the man in ROH as far as I’m concerned, and I think he’s a safer pair of hands to put the title in. They also went out on what might have been their best show of the year, which is always good. People are talking about Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly, they’re talking about Haas & Benjamin sticking around, they’re talking about what’s next for El Generico and Kevin Steen. It repaired a lot of damage in my opinion.
8 for 13



And now a couple that look forward to 2011…
Hit or Miss: 2011 will be the year of Eddie Edwards in Ring of Honor
JC: Hit. I’m taking note that the question asks whether we agree with the decision or not. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about Eddie Edwards in the main event scene because to go from where he’s been slotted much of this year (midcard) to where I think Ring of Honor wants him (main event) is a tough tough thing. I think he has a lot of potential, but he must develop his own unique personality to stand out on the roster. He has to learn to maximize the risks he takes and not kill himself on stupid dives. The roster is extremely thin right now, and even if Edwards isn’t going to be on the main event of every show, ROH needs him to be a consistent part of the roster show after show.
MW: Miss. That’d be nice, but he’s not going to win the title in 2011, nor become a regular challenger. He may have a handful of break-out matches and show he can hang with the best ROH have to offer, but I doubt we’ll be able to call it his year.

8 for 14

Hit or Miss: Peligro Abejas will lose the PWG tag titles before the KOW lose the ROH tag titles
JC: Both. As things stand right now, I have Kings of Wrestling losing the belts to Sheldon Benjamin and Charlie Haas during the April/May iPPV. I have Peligro Abejas losing at DDT4 to The Cutlers, also in May. I’m not sure of the dates on either one of those shows, so I can’t answer this question.
MW: Miss. The Kings are dropping those bad boys to Haas & Benjamin in June and ROH are going to promote it harder than they’ve promoted anything. Former WWE talents that people don’t perceive as burn-outs wearing championship gold for another company is a big deal. I think the Danger Bees have a shot at keeping their titles until the Fall. I know everyone loves the Cutlers, but I still don’t think they’re ready quite yet.
9 for 15
Jerome and Matt agreed 9 out of 15 times on this special year end edition of Hit or Miss. I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you who’ve read the column over the past months and have supported us here at PWP. A very happy New Year to you all…and here’s to an even better 2011!!