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| Alright, imagine this, only with ladders Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
In 2011, El Generico emerged from his blood war with Kevin Steen as the last man standing in that feud. He bounced around, but he never really found a foothold in the company before leaving quietly after Final Battle that year. Regardless of whose fault it was (read, it was ROH's), that battle took a lot out of Generico. He didn't have a target after the war was over.
Steen, even in defeat and exile, did. He spent his year on the outside trying to get back in if only just so he could spit in the face of the authorities running the show. When he got back in 2012, the world was his oyster, a shellfish he violently cracked open and swallowed whole. Was it fair that the one who was meant to be banished got to conquer the company and the victor had really nothing left? Well, said victor doesn't think so, which is why he's back to finish the job that he thought should have been completed in 2010.
That's how the story is framed here. This isn't a cheap tack-on, as if a match the magnitude of a Ladder War for the ROH World Championship could feel like one. Ask 100 wrestling fans in the know if they're sick of Steen vs. Generico, and I bet 98 will say no, they're not. I'm part of that arbitrarily decided 98% group, by the by. I could watch Steen and Generico wrestle a million times and not imagine it getting old. Sure, they may have done the ladder match before last year in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but they're both pros. They'll find a way to do it differently, do it better. They always do.
Of course, the spectre of Jay Lethal inserting himself in the aftermath concerns me a lot. Again, I hearken back to the original indie-promotion-gone-big, ECW, and their trampling all over Tommy Dreamer's original title win. They could have waited a week or a month to put the belt on Justin Credible. He wasn't going anywhere. The results would have been the same. It's all about moments, and sometimes, wrestling promoters just don't fucking get that. Hell, sometimes, wrestlers don't get that, since this was apparently Dreamer's idea. Then again, it had to be okayed by someone, right? I question the judgment of any wrestling booker who'd trust the creative prowess of a guy who at that point was probably already in double figures of concussions.
If Jay Lethal leaves Final Battle as ROH Champion, it will be a failure. If it's Steen or Generico, it will be glorious success, the end of a war, resolution that is both final and satisfying. Let's face it. It doesn't matter who wins. All that matters is that it ends, that there's a finish with some finality. It doesn't have to mean the end of their matches against each other, but it does have to be the end of this long-raging maelstrom. The issue has to end, and when ROH does a Ladder War, it usually does so with finality.
As long as the iPPV stream holds up, Final Battle will be judged by what happens in the final match of the evening. Everything else will be a nice bonus, and believe me, there are some pretty cool matches lined up in the undercard. Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin will probably hoss it up pretty good. Jerry Lynn and Mike Bennett could be really cool too since it could very well be both guys' final ROH match ever. But yeah, the main event is what you're coming for.
And hopefully, whomever wins, ROH will leave it well enough alone and wait until the new year to start something with Lethal.
Steen, even in defeat and exile, did. He spent his year on the outside trying to get back in if only just so he could spit in the face of the authorities running the show. When he got back in 2012, the world was his oyster, a shellfish he violently cracked open and swallowed whole. Was it fair that the one who was meant to be banished got to conquer the company and the victor had really nothing left? Well, said victor doesn't think so, which is why he's back to finish the job that he thought should have been completed in 2010.
That's how the story is framed here. This isn't a cheap tack-on, as if a match the magnitude of a Ladder War for the ROH World Championship could feel like one. Ask 100 wrestling fans in the know if they're sick of Steen vs. Generico, and I bet 98 will say no, they're not. I'm part of that arbitrarily decided 98% group, by the by. I could watch Steen and Generico wrestle a million times and not imagine it getting old. Sure, they may have done the ladder match before last year in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but they're both pros. They'll find a way to do it differently, do it better. They always do.
Of course, the spectre of Jay Lethal inserting himself in the aftermath concerns me a lot. Again, I hearken back to the original indie-promotion-gone-big, ECW, and their trampling all over Tommy Dreamer's original title win. They could have waited a week or a month to put the belt on Justin Credible. He wasn't going anywhere. The results would have been the same. It's all about moments, and sometimes, wrestling promoters just don't fucking get that. Hell, sometimes, wrestlers don't get that, since this was apparently Dreamer's idea. Then again, it had to be okayed by someone, right? I question the judgment of any wrestling booker who'd trust the creative prowess of a guy who at that point was probably already in double figures of concussions.
If Jay Lethal leaves Final Battle as ROH Champion, it will be a failure. If it's Steen or Generico, it will be glorious success, the end of a war, resolution that is both final and satisfying. Let's face it. It doesn't matter who wins. All that matters is that it ends, that there's a finish with some finality. It doesn't have to mean the end of their matches against each other, but it does have to be the end of this long-raging maelstrom. The issue has to end, and when ROH does a Ladder War, it usually does so with finality.
As long as the iPPV stream holds up, Final Battle will be judged by what happens in the final match of the evening. Everything else will be a nice bonus, and believe me, there are some pretty cool matches lined up in the undercard. Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin will probably hoss it up pretty good. Jerry Lynn and Mike Bennett could be really cool too since it could very well be both guys' final ROH match ever. But yeah, the main event is what you're coming for.
And hopefully, whomever wins, ROH will leave it well enough alone and wait until the new year to start something with Lethal.
