Jeremy wrote:
Roll-ups aren't decisive in the least. During the entire ANX VS WGTT feud, ANX never were able to decisively beat either Haas or Shelton, rather Titus and King lost repeatedly, were out-smarted, whatever. The one time they DID beat WGTT was with a roll-up and they were immediately laid-out after the match. Rhett has been feuding with them all year, and he's still not up to a level where he can beat them with his finisher? It still has to be by a roll-up? The feud needs to end, it's made Titus look like a total jobber and there is still no reason WGTT should be as protected. They need to lose decisively, plain and simple.
In regards to Lethal winning, he didn't need it. He has a title match coming up, so he's already at the level. If Davey won, it would have actually given him a nice win after returning from a hiatus. The SOTF I think should be used to elevate an upper midcarder to a main event run. Lethal already IS one of their bigger attractions and like mentioned getting a title shot. Was him winning the whole thing really for the best?
If Lethal VS Steen main events Final Battle, it would remind me very much of John Cena VS Triple H from WrestleMania 22. Yeah, it would be a good match, but is it really the best they can offer at their biggest event of the year?
In regards to The Headbangers.... wow. Them being the Guardians of Truth was bad enough, but I never thought I'd see the actual Headbangers in Ring of Honor. That's a new low for the fed.
I agree the feud should end, but it was not happening in that match, (much as we would wish it otherwise.) And I'm pretty sure it was BJ who got the roll up, and he hasn't beaten anyone since his return. Having him suddenly team up with Titus and having them destroy WGTT out of the gate is not the way things to kick things off with a new pairing unless you're giving them some huge push. And this is a continuing feud rather than the end. I am happy they're apparently giving BJ something to do, as I am up on him. And if they decide to keep he and Titus together, I'm hopeful they'll be a good addition to the tag team picture, which is needed badly. They won't be ANX, but they will be good unless they totally don't click.
Maybe we'll get lucky and that ending we want will come in a loser leaves town match? I can dream, can't I?
Yeah, you pointed out a lot of the cons to Lethal winning, and there are a few more. He was by no means a clear cut choice (not my first choice for sure). As to Davey winning here, I think they're pushing the idea of Davey's big return win to take place at the ippv (Lord help us if Jay wins that as well). That's the bigger match (GBH is bigger than an SotF houseshow), and Jay getting this win over Davey adds to that match as more incentive for Davey to win, while making him look somewhat vulnerable to Lethal. Jigsaw was right that the same thing could have been accomplished in the middle of the match, so Lethal winning SotF to add to the return match at GBH was far from a necessity.
For all my naysaying, I am more in your camp and was hoping for O'Reilly winning it, despite the cons to that. But as I mentioned before, only Roddy winning doesn't have any downside of the guys that could win.
I could have lived with anyone other than Mondo winning.
I think it's early to call Lethal Steen for FB. Not that it's outside the realm of possiblity. But Jay's already gotten his 'Killer Instinct' push, and I don't think they're so in love with him he'll get yet another world title push so quickly. Especially if he drops his match to Davey, which I think is a lock with the way the finals turned out. But ROH continues to surprise me. Sadly, the surprises are rarely good.
In regard to the Headbangers, as low as that is, there have been other low points. Abdullah the Butcher main eventing. Konnan getting a huge push only to get gassed 5 minutes into his match. Someone letting CM Punk fight Terry Funk, who could barely get into the ring (I'm sorry, I used to love Terry, but he looked like a pathetic old man and even Punk couldn't make anything redeeming about it). Jeff Hardy's botchfest. Ox Baker teaming with Special K. Jake 'the Snake' Roberts being the surprise Dreamer had in his feud with Lawler at the ppv (Oops, wrong fed). But, yeah, unless they have the Bangers drop their matches to get over younger teams like the Bravados, this is a bad idea. And there would still be better ways to get younger teams over than recycling the Bangers.
Maybe they'll end up in a loser leaves town match as well? I can dream about that too, can't I?
But what I really want more than anything is matches that look good in the ring. No matter how well booked something is, if it doesn't deliver in the ring, then that's the true failure (see the Nigel/Black/Aries 3 way at Escalation for an example). NigelLikesMcguiness was there and said it delivered, and if it did, then it was a good job. Maybe not the best possible, but I don't demand perfection, just something enjoyable. *shrug*