Post by HMARK Center on Feb 20, 2007 1:24:10 GMT -5
So, after nearly three years as the dominant faction in Ring of Honor, Generation Next, although they haven't used the moniker since mid 2006, is officially no more.
For those not keeping up, Roderick Strong turned on Austin Aries at the Manhattan Center show on Friday, joining up with Davey Richards to act as the second cornerstone in what will develop into a new faction, the "No Remorse Corps".
Aries, wanting revenge, has vowed to form his own stable in retaliation, one that will reflect the original Generation Next, a collection of the brightest up and comers on the near horizon. When Jack Evans, mutual friend of both Aries and Strong, didn't want to chose sides, he instead also promised to form his own stable, but what kind is, for the moment, a mystery.
Lost in the confusion and excitement of Morishima's ROH World Title win over Homicide is just how big this move might end up being for ROH on the whole. Let's take a look, shall we?
First of all, Roderick Strong is now a heel, or at least leans heel, it would seem, along with Richards. How well will this work? Roddy worked heel back during the early days of GeNext, but was never expected to be anything more than an enforcer for the team; how will he perform now as a big time player? Also interesting to note is that the No Remorse Corps is, for the moment, comprised of two incredibly hard hitters. Now, in ROH, hard hitters are usually faces, as the crowd loves to cheer for stiff shots, but if Strong and Richards can pull this off (and turning heel on Austin "ROH God" Aries is a great way to earn serious heel heat from ROH fans), they could accomplish what Joe and many others couldn't: playing the role of brutal, high impact, hard hitting heel. Add someone like Rocky Romero to this team, and it just becomes even more clear.
How about Aries? He seems to be the face in all this, especially with his desire to bring up "new" talent. Who does he tap to join him? I could see Jerrelle Clark finally making a full time leap onto the ROH roster, maybe even with his FIP tag partner, Jay Fury. Delirious, believe it or not, might also be a fit, but he's already established enough that he doesn't really need a stable to thrive. This could also be the platform they use to finally give Matt Cross (MDogg) a chance to shine, or maybe TJ Perkins/PUMA, should he ever appear consistently for ROH. Regardless, whereas Strong's team will likely be a collection of brutal strikers, stretchers, and bruisers, Aries' team will likely emphasize finesse and youth, and play off as the babyface team in all of this.
Now, the wildcard: Evans' team. Really, Jack could go in any conceivable direction with this. He might form a "Dragon Gate US" stable, using guys like Sydal or SHINGO, or form a team of high flyers, or get a bunch of bigger guys to be his backup muscle. Who knows? He'll be a wildcard in more ways than one, I think: if any of the stables are going to be tweener, it'll likely be Jack's.
Storyline-wise, this could also be huge. Think about Generation Next over the last few years. In most tag matches, who took the fall? Jack Evans. Which original member never received a singles' title shot of any kind? Again, Jack Evans. While Jack's never been a jobber by any stretch in ROH, it was still abundantly clear during GeNext's original run that Shelley and Aries were the "Tier A" wrestlers, with Strong taking Shelley's spot after Final Battle 2004. Jack, however, has always seemed to be on the "B level", partly due to not working as consistant a schedule for ROH (can't blame him for making more time for Dragon Gate), but also due to the fact that, well...Jack was always a "special attraction". The high-flying dazzler, the glitz to the other guys' solid foundation.
Things have changed, though. Over the past year, Evans has really grown as a worker, and now that he's going to be forming his own stable, we might finally be seeing the push of Jack Evans: Main Eventer. Wouldn't shock me in the least.
Another thought; post's already long enough, I might as well. With three factions forming like this, this really feels like it has a strong Dragon Gate influence, which is fine by me. Aries, Strong, and Evans have all worked DG, and all know how things operate there, so it's all good. It just seems like Roddy's team will sort of fill the Blood Generation role, while Aries' one would be like the old Do Fixer.
So, in summary: what're your thoughts on the potential impact of the former GeNext's official breakup on ROH, both short and long term? Do you see any other factions forming out of this, any new stars being made, or anything else of interest potentially forming from all this chaos?
If nothing else, with this and Morishima's title win, it certainly looks like ROH is starting 2007 in a very...intriguing way.
Final thought: wouldn't it be great if Alex Shelley made a quick return just to rub it in Aries' face that Roddy gave him the same treatment Austin gave him oh-so-long ago? It'd put a nice little bow on that whole story arc, wouldn't it?
For those not keeping up, Roderick Strong turned on Austin Aries at the Manhattan Center show on Friday, joining up with Davey Richards to act as the second cornerstone in what will develop into a new faction, the "No Remorse Corps".
Aries, wanting revenge, has vowed to form his own stable in retaliation, one that will reflect the original Generation Next, a collection of the brightest up and comers on the near horizon. When Jack Evans, mutual friend of both Aries and Strong, didn't want to chose sides, he instead also promised to form his own stable, but what kind is, for the moment, a mystery.
Lost in the confusion and excitement of Morishima's ROH World Title win over Homicide is just how big this move might end up being for ROH on the whole. Let's take a look, shall we?
First of all, Roderick Strong is now a heel, or at least leans heel, it would seem, along with Richards. How well will this work? Roddy worked heel back during the early days of GeNext, but was never expected to be anything more than an enforcer for the team; how will he perform now as a big time player? Also interesting to note is that the No Remorse Corps is, for the moment, comprised of two incredibly hard hitters. Now, in ROH, hard hitters are usually faces, as the crowd loves to cheer for stiff shots, but if Strong and Richards can pull this off (and turning heel on Austin "ROH God" Aries is a great way to earn serious heel heat from ROH fans), they could accomplish what Joe and many others couldn't: playing the role of brutal, high impact, hard hitting heel. Add someone like Rocky Romero to this team, and it just becomes even more clear.
How about Aries? He seems to be the face in all this, especially with his desire to bring up "new" talent. Who does he tap to join him? I could see Jerrelle Clark finally making a full time leap onto the ROH roster, maybe even with his FIP tag partner, Jay Fury. Delirious, believe it or not, might also be a fit, but he's already established enough that he doesn't really need a stable to thrive. This could also be the platform they use to finally give Matt Cross (MDogg) a chance to shine, or maybe TJ Perkins/PUMA, should he ever appear consistently for ROH. Regardless, whereas Strong's team will likely be a collection of brutal strikers, stretchers, and bruisers, Aries' team will likely emphasize finesse and youth, and play off as the babyface team in all of this.
Now, the wildcard: Evans' team. Really, Jack could go in any conceivable direction with this. He might form a "Dragon Gate US" stable, using guys like Sydal or SHINGO, or form a team of high flyers, or get a bunch of bigger guys to be his backup muscle. Who knows? He'll be a wildcard in more ways than one, I think: if any of the stables are going to be tweener, it'll likely be Jack's.
Storyline-wise, this could also be huge. Think about Generation Next over the last few years. In most tag matches, who took the fall? Jack Evans. Which original member never received a singles' title shot of any kind? Again, Jack Evans. While Jack's never been a jobber by any stretch in ROH, it was still abundantly clear during GeNext's original run that Shelley and Aries were the "Tier A" wrestlers, with Strong taking Shelley's spot after Final Battle 2004. Jack, however, has always seemed to be on the "B level", partly due to not working as consistant a schedule for ROH (can't blame him for making more time for Dragon Gate), but also due to the fact that, well...Jack was always a "special attraction". The high-flying dazzler, the glitz to the other guys' solid foundation.
Things have changed, though. Over the past year, Evans has really grown as a worker, and now that he's going to be forming his own stable, we might finally be seeing the push of Jack Evans: Main Eventer. Wouldn't shock me in the least.
Another thought; post's already long enough, I might as well. With three factions forming like this, this really feels like it has a strong Dragon Gate influence, which is fine by me. Aries, Strong, and Evans have all worked DG, and all know how things operate there, so it's all good. It just seems like Roddy's team will sort of fill the Blood Generation role, while Aries' one would be like the old Do Fixer.
So, in summary: what're your thoughts on the potential impact of the former GeNext's official breakup on ROH, both short and long term? Do you see any other factions forming out of this, any new stars being made, or anything else of interest potentially forming from all this chaos?
If nothing else, with this and Morishima's title win, it certainly looks like ROH is starting 2007 in a very...intriguing way.
Final thought: wouldn't it be great if Alex Shelley made a quick return just to rub it in Aries' face that Roddy gave him the same treatment Austin gave him oh-so-long ago? It'd put a nice little bow on that whole story arc, wouldn't it?
helped $lim jinx NXT. Woops
