ROH: MORISHIMA IS THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO GO

[Skeleton Crew]

ROH: MORISHIMA IS THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO GO
By: Dave Goldberg
2/18/2007 9:12:31 AM

I am not sure if Takeshi Morishima is slated to be a long term world champion but taking the belt off Homicide was a good choice. Clearly, he could not live up to what Bryan Danielson accomplished as ROH World Champion. It was really an angle of sorts that went on from August to December with Homicide overcoming the odds, winning the title & Danielson getting the much needed time off for his shoulder. However, now that Homicide was World Champion, everyone had their hands in the air basically saying ‘what do I do’?

With the announcement of Samoa Joe leaving ROH as well, I guess it was also time to cover all bases for ROH’s future & basically not risk having a TNA roster member as World Champion. While that is a shrewd move, the actions of TNA in 2004, last year with Aries & Strong & now the powerplay with Joe; ROH must be wary of anything TNA would do as far as pulling wrestlers. It’s a shame that both companies can’t just work together & all this ‘fighting for the likeness’ routine has to be TNA’s deal.

Just in case, common sense took a holiday here, Samoa Joe will still be on the ROH DVDs for purchase from the very last show he works this year all the way back to the very first show he worked for ROH in 2002. So how does TNA protect the likeness & how can TNA expect people to not purchase those DVDs? They simply don’t & can’t! It’s just unrealistic & ridiculous because they are not going to magically get Joe erased from the ROH DVDs he is on just as CM Punk is still on the DVDs. I think that’s basically common sense, but it seems to be forgotten too often.

Morishima has proven himself over the last year to be a major player in the business. From early on at Spring Navigation last year, he showed what a sensational performer he is capable of being in a stiff classic with the legendary Mitsuharu Misawa. He also went on to have many other classics throughout the year in Pro Wrestling NOAH. Morishima most recently headlined in NOAH in a rematch against Misawa this time for the GHC Heavyweight Title. Although, Morishima lost, obviously something else was in the cards for his career.

Too many people were hung up going back to Morishima’s loss at Spring Navigation 2006 rather than how great he performed. There are just far too many fans that ruin matches by going overboard on whether someone wins or loses. This shouldn’t ever reflect upon the quality of the match as it was even unfortunately done with Joe’s defeat over Morishima on Friday night. Does that mean Morishima worked any less of a match? How can it? Do people seriously believe that hurts someone’s performance? That is such an insult to both hard working performers! The people need to just enjoy the sensational performance the man shows in the ring regardless of the end result. Plus, there is almost always a very good reason for a person winning & losing.

The passion & desire that Morishima gives in his performances will really put a new spin on ROH. This is a guy who has only wrestled a few ROH performers to date & gives ROH a significant number of unique dream bouts to book. I think the outlook for 2007, looks much greater with Morishima than it did with Homicide. I wish Takeshi Morishima all the luck in the world in ROH & hope he brings them to even greater heights this year!

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Dave Goldberg
[e-mail]

Credit 1Wrestling

www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=27677

[samachine]

I actually think it's kinda cool, as Morishima could just be like "Look how easily I came in and beat your wrestlers, took your belt, it only took me a week"

[Arturo Classico]

MORISHIMA'S GONNA KILL YOU!

['Sweet n' Sour' A. A. Estrada]

Are all men that win the belt going to be compared to Bryan Danielson's reign? Can't they win the belt and hold it on their own merits?

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

vanvader said:

Are all men that win the belt going to be compared to Bryan Danielson's reign? Can't they win the belt and hold it on their own merits?

Everyone before Danielson had to live up to Joe. Joe set the standard, Aries and Punk did some fun stuff in between, Gibson was a dud, Danielson drove that standard into the stratosphere.

When a guy holds the title for a full year, successfully, with no sign of running out of steam or anything...people get used to the idea of that man as a model for future champions. It can't be helped.

[HMARK Center]

Just in case, common sense took a holiday here, Samoa Joe will still be on the ROH DVDs for purchase from the very last show he works this year all the way back to the very first show he worked for ROH in 2002. So how does TNA protect the likeness & how can TNA expect people to not purchase those DVDs? They simply don’t & can’t! It’s just unrealistic & ridiculous because they are not going to magically get Joe erased from the ROH DVDs he is on just as CM Punk is still on the DVDs. I think that’s basically common sense, but it seems to be forgotten too often.

...What the hell does this mean?

That's never come up at all in any of the reasons for why Joe is leaving ROH.

[chibidiablo]

I disagree

[Mayonnaise]

hitmanmark said:

Just in case, common sense took a holiday here, Samoa Joe will still be on the ROH DVDs for purchase from the very last show he works this year all the way back to the very first show he worked for ROH in 2002. So how does TNA protect the likeness & how can TNA expect people to not purchase those DVDs? They simply don’t & can’t! It’s just unrealistic & ridiculous because they are not going to magically get Joe erased from the ROH DVDs he is on just as CM Punk is still on the DVDs. I think that’s basically common sense, but it seems to be forgotten too often.

...What the hell does this mean?

That's never come up at all in any of the reasons for why Joe is leaving ROH.

I was wondering the same thing. Everything I have read is because they don't want to make Joe a top star and have Joe getting injured on a non TNA event which make sense. This, on the other hand, makes no damn sense.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Felt like adding my piece on the "Benefits of Morishima" topic. I made this post on the Strong Style Symphony NOAH forum (under the same "Dr. Bolty" screenname that I use on the ROH Forum). Just going over the benefits of this title change as it pertains to both ROH and NOAH:

1. A Ring of Honor World Title defense in the Budokon, between two wrestlers that Japanese fans care about (Morishima and KENTA), will do wonders for establishing an ROH presence going in to their Japanese debut in July. ROH may be gambling on the prospect of establishing Morishima's title defense as the big draw at the ROH/NOAH show (since dream matches like Samoa Joe/Akiyama and Samoa Joe/Sasaki are out the window).

2. Homicide, despite an epic build to his title win, has very little to do as champion. He's the big babyface champion, a total badass, cares about the title - OK, so what? Going into his reign, he had already finished all of his lingering feuds - so the crop of immediate challengers was pretty slim. Furthermore, Homicide is a character wrestler and a brawler - he isn't exactly known for great, non-gimmick singles matches. Any quick evaluation of Homicide's best ROH matches reveals that he's mostly shined in street fights, cage matches, crowd brawls, and a few tag matches with former partners Low Ki and Rocky Romero. Homicide was not going to be putting on classic after classic with every star and scrub on the roster the way Bryan Danielson was able to do.

3. NOAH gets to take a look at how Morishima handles a big singles championship. The ROH title scene is one hell of a proving ground for a wrestler, especially if Morishima picks up a traditional Ring of Honor championship schedule when he returns (which will supposedly be right after March). ROH champions take on challenger after challenger, and the demanding schedule forces them to think creatively and do something different with every defense. In addition, Morishima's position as the odds-on favorite going into every single one of his defenses will give NOAH a better idea of how well Morishima can put over an up-and-coming talent - and Morishima himself gets the experience to figure out how, if he can't do it already.

4. ROH establishes that the big badasses that Gabe imports from NOAH and Dragon Gate (since it looks like he will continue bringing in such wrestlers on a regular basis) are perfectly capable of winning the belt. Morishima's position as the monster heel taking the title back to his home country enhances this concept by giving fans a reason to cheer the champion in the event of a foreign challenge. This will add bigger heat to all international title defenses, as it's clear that such defenses are going to continue for the foreseeable future.

5. NOAH gains a solid midcard singles title that it can use to build up future stars. The Openweight Title was axed recently, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was done at least partly due to the incoming ROH World Title. Misawa has proven himself willing to make the ROH Champion look good - hence Bryan Danielson making pretty much the entire NOAH jobber brigade tap to Cattle Mutilation. Perhaps the ROH title is going to be used as a way of putting over both gaijin threats and the occasional future ace. Add in the fact that the booking of the title from the outset - Morishima vs. KENTA - gives NOAH the opportunity to put on main-event level title matches without any kind of fudging about with weight class, and NOAH makes quite a gain in this additional singles belt.

[heyguesswhatidid]

Not to mention, Morishima got a hell of a reaction against Joe on Friday.

[Boomaga]

And a hell of a pop when he won the belt in Philly on Saturday! I don't think consistent "MORISHIMA!" chants denote a Pro-Homicide crowd.

[Murf]

This is something I did up myself and posted on a local site. I'd like to hear what my fellow ROHcrappers think of it:

A lot of ROH fans are having differing opinions about the change. It certainly does have its flaws and perks, and it's hard to summarize everyone's arguments into one post regarding the change, so I'll give my two cents.

Homicide's title win was much in line with CM Punk's, a way to say thank you. Cide has been there since day one and never won a belt, and he finally won that last December, ending what some may say was the greatest ROH World title run in the company's now five year history by defeating Bryan Danielson (other ROHbots will say Joe's was the best run, and both can be argued for. Keep in mind that Joe's run lasted longer and made the belt a WORLD title). People who follow ROH know of the Road of Homicide that lasted most of the last half of 2006, and it's conclusion at Final Battle. Given that Dragon HAD to go for surgery and recovery, and the way the story panned out, we all kinda knew that Homicide was going to win the title. Many thought it was a bit too WWE/Stone Cold for ROH, but I think it worked perfectly.

Homicide is a bit like John Cena as a champion. He's more interesting when chasing. As champ, Cide was probably going to serve more as a transitional champ, and so has happened. A lot of feuds Homicide had were settled in 2006, and while I would have like to have seen Cide vs either of The Briscoes, I can't complain.

Then there's the darker, smarkier side of it all. I think this has to do with the same reason Joe is leaving ROH, which we all know why that is. Along with Punk, Joe and Homicide are the Three Kings of ROH, and eventually, you have to move on.

Now, onto Takeshi Morishima.

One of the complaints about Morishima I hear all the time is that he doesn't look scary at all.





That dresses like Huggy Bear on the way to the ring.

That's true, however.



He is a BIG. MAN.

He's a somewhat new name to a lot of North American fans, but NOAH fans are familiar with his work overseas and his tag title runs with Mohammed Yone and his recent matches with Mitsuharu Misawa. He's often called the modern day Stan Hansen (and appearance wise, a Japanese Greg "The Hammer" Valentine). The man is a monster. He has one of the stiffest lariats you'll see from a guy whose last name isn't Hansen, Kojima, or even Kobashi. He's a great wrestler who's really come into his own recently. And I looooooove that Backdrop Suplex.



Damn son.

I think what I like most about this change is that it's different for many reasons. No one has ever come over to ROH like this and won the World title so fast. This was Morishima's SECOND match in ROH, after losing to Samoa Joe the night before. The change came out of nowhere. I really don't recall an event that surprised so many fans like this. When you watch wrestling and angles, you get a sense sometimes about titles and when they'll change, but this was STRAIGHT out of left field. You look at it, and think "Okay. Cide just won the title. They're not going to waste over 8 months of stories just to lose to a guy in his second ROH match who's back to NOAH in Japan next week anyways".

WRONG.

This opens up a LOT of things here. It's a shame the Joe vs. NOAH feud had to end with Joe leaving ROH next month, but who knows what will happen at this point. Right now, BJ Whitmer is next in line and is the last chance ROH has to take the belt before Morishima takes it to Japan (which he will defend against KENTA on March 4th). So there is a LOT riding on BJ this weekend, since if Morishima retains, the belt will NOT be defended in the UK or the big Wrestlemania shows in Detroit during Mania weekend. At this point, there is no real threat from ROH who can take the belt back from Morishima. Besides Joe. And who knows. Maybe Joe will take it back this week.

That's one of the great things about ROH. It's damn near impossible to predict title matches sometimes. 2006 was a bit of an odd year for title changes in ROH too. The Pure title was removed. You kinda knew the KOW could take the belts from an injured Aries and Strong at Glory By Honor V: Night Two (which they did), and you knew Homicide would beat Danielson for the World title at Final Battle 06. But at the same time, no one really saw SyDaniels beating the KOW. It was starting to show that the Kings would lose it since they lost their other belts (CZW, Chikara, add rumors of Claudio leaving), but no one saw Daniels and Sydal winning it.

So, with Morishima taking the ROH World title like that, we have something big to remember the Fifth Year Anniversary by, and it also freshens things up in ROH, while at the same time, further adding the spontaneity that has made the company what it is today. At first, I hated Cide losing. Now it could be the start of something huge in ROH. It opens up a lot of possibilites, and is going to create a damn fine story of when and who from ROH get the title back from Morishima.