Last week, I discussed two guys who aren’t signed by either Ring of Honor or WWE. This week, I wanted to discuss an even greater injustice. There are two guys who are in WWE’s system, one of whom celebrated his one year anniversary with the promotion, and the other is a relative newcomer to WWE. Seth Rollins used to be known as Tyler Black on the indy scene, and while WWE seemingly refuses to give him a chance, FCW has allowed him many opportunities to excel. From winning tournaments to holding the FCW tag team titles with Ricky Steamboat’s son, Richie. Jon Moxley might be best known for his work with Dragon Gate USA and CZW, but he seems to have found a better style fit in WWE. In a personality driven promotion, Ambrose may end up being the more marketable of the two wrestlers.
Regardless of who ends up being called up first, FCW decided to showcase these two individuals in a series of matches for the 15 championship. This is a title with unique and innovative rules, something you might not ordinarily associate with WWE. Essentially, it’s a 15 minute iron man match, and whoever gets the most falls in the time allotted becomes the champion. After being down in Florida for just a little while, he became engaged in a feud with 15 champion Seth Rollins. Their first match was taped for the August 14 edition of FCW television. Not only did Rollins and Ambrose end up tied at the end of the 15 minutes, but neither man won a single fall. When was the last time a non-main event got this amount of time? Clearly, Vince McMahon doesn’t have his tentacles into FCW because Ambrose and Rollins had an old school draw with both guys getting over. The announcers concentrated their full attention on the contest and didn’t focus on getting themselves over. William Regal in particular put over the competitive nature of both men. He was even able to relate his own personal experience defending the television title in WCW. Things became more heated between Ambrose and Rollins as the match wore. By the end, there wasn’t even a pretext of trying to win. Both guys ended the match wailing on each other. Ambrose showed his frustration by throwing the medal that signifies the championship toward the announcer’s desk.
Who knows what would have happened in WWE if they had a rematch? The last thing they’d probably consider is the simplest of all options, extending the time limit by five minutes. Would 20 minutes be enough to decide a winner. Ambrose and Rollin’s second match turned out similar to the first. The key differences were the intensity clearly picked up, and Ambrose’s personality shined through more and more. Instead of wailing on each other in the ring, the contest extended to the announce position. As both men tee’d off, they fell off the table and the bell ring. Now it was 35 minutes with no falls. This feud must continue.
Before talking about the third match, it should be pointed out that each match showed the best of what each had to offer. Ambrose in DG USA as Jon Moxley was always an awkward fit because of his style. The promos he cut were always grade A, but the matches and booking never seemed to put Moxley in a good position. Did we really need to see him wrestle Tommy Dreamer? Did we really need to see him hang out with all those chicks? The only match that truly felt like Jon Moxley was doing something special came against Jimmy Jacobs at DG USA’s first ever iPPV. There, Moxley had a good oppo
formation Program – Affiliate Money Machine! '> Holy Grail Body Transformation Program – Affiliate Money Machine! nent who didn’t wrestle in the Dragon Gate style. While there’s nothing wrong with how the DG talent wrestle, it’s definitely not a fit for guys like Jon Moxley, or to a certain extent Jimmy Jacobs. Ironically, Ambrose may have better matches and get more out of his WWE run than some well known independent wrestlers.
What is the one thing Seth Rollins needed to work on when he left for WWE? If you said cutting promos, give yourself a pat on the black. While the series of matches with Ambrose won’t necessarily convince anyone he can talk, he at least gets to show his incredible in-ring skills. The difference between Seth Rollins in September 2011 and Tyler Black in 2010 are a lot of the rougher edges have been smoothed out. He wrestles a cleaner match and has gained a little bit of size in the ensuing year. He’s no Mason Ryan, but I noticed a slight difference. It’s almost ridiculous Seth Rollins remains stuck in Florida, but almost a year to the day of his big move, a match of the year candidate with one of his hottest rivals would air and show that even a WWE related program could go old school and show off wrestling as an art form.
After 35 minutes of no falls, the first 10 minutes of their third match saw three falls contested. First, Ambrose hit a low blow to get the advantage for most of the match. Despite losing the first fall, Ambrose recovered to win back-to-back falls while constantly focusing on Rollins’ neck. Ambrose used clotheslines, submission moves, and neckbreakers in order to dictate the pace of the match. The second half of the match featured a lot more back and forth. Because of their two previous matches and knowledge of each other’s maneuvers, there was also a lot of countering. Heading into the last five minutes of the match, Rollins begins emptying out the kitchen sink… but just can’t finish. He even makes a desperate attempt at a Phoenix splash and misses. Ambrose applies a Texas cloverleaf, but Rollins reaches the bottom rope with about a minute left. Ambrose mocks Rollins’ war dance but ends up eating Schwein/Air Raid Crash, which is Ambrose’s finisher in FCW.
Rollins gets a superkick… and Ambrose kicks out with one…second…left. The general manager of FCW, Maxine, announces a sudden death overtime period. Just an incredible flurry of offense leaves both men dead. Rolling finally hits his finishing sequence in order: bucklebomb, superkick, God’s Last Gift, in order to retain the medal. I’m not sure this is the best match I’ve seen all year, but this was certainly worthy of being considered a MOTYC.
Ultimately, the legacy of this series has yet to be determined because Rollins and Ambrose will have to make it to WWE for this to mean anything. Rollins lost his championship shortly after the series before engaging in a fourth match with Dean Ambrose. But this was an incredible showcase you won’t find on Raw or Smackdown. Both guys looked strong and got themselves over. Even the rather placid Florida audience was losing themselves in this incredible series of matches. Hopefully, it’s a not matter of if but when these two are brought up.
I’ve watched the fued between Moxley and Black…erhm, Ambrose and Rollings transpire on the free episodes of FCW via this site (which is great, thanks!). I already was familiar with their run in the indies and I think it’s great both have been given the oppertunity to showcase their abilities in FCW. It would be great for both to continue their fued on WWE and give them more exposure. Especially Ambrose (which I find a better name then Seth Rollings tbh) oozes charisma and has this psychotic atmosphere surrounding him. Rollings could be a top face, although he needs to be given more mic time to develop his character.
Unfortunately Dave Lagana made it clear in his podcast with Cabana that nobody from the WWE is really paying FCW any attention. They’re essentially just on retainer while getting some expert advice from the FCW staff. Very occasionally someone from the office heads down to take a look at them, but it’s apparently once in a blue moon and there’s no direct liason.
There’s no chance of Rollins getting to use Avada Kedavra, God’s Last Gift or the Phoenix Splash in the WWE, but he’s started to use Marufuji’s running curb stomp as a finisher too, so maybe there’s that. He still doesn’t cut good promos, which is weird because he’s a good writer when given time, he just struggles to seize the moment on a live mic.
The one glimmer of hope is that he just lost the FCW 15 Championship. Talent of course normally drop whatever gold they have before being called up.
Moxley on the other hand has just arrived so his chances of going up are slim to none. He needs to bulk up a little bit in order to get a call up in my opinion. His mannerisms and personality are perfect, but physically he looks like just a guy off the street who knows how to fight.
This has inspired me to watch their matches, and I was blown away. The 30 minute one is absolutely incredible.