Pro Wrestling Ponderings

This Saturday night, I will have the unique opportunity to leave my comfort zone and attend my first out-of-state wrestling show. While I am not a fan of the direction Ring of Honor has taken over this last year, I am intrigued by the concept of Survival of the Fittest. It is one of the most unique tournaments in professional wrestling, and this is probably my best (and possibly last) chance to see this tournament.

What I love most about what this tournament offers is the unpredictability. Ring of Honor takes 12 stars that are at various positions on the card and match them up against each other. Instead of going through various rounds, each of the six winners advance to the finals and the ending is a sometimes chaotic match with all kinds of upsets and different match-ups. In 2004, during the first ever Survival of the Fittest, Colt Cabana pinned then Ring of World champion Samoa Joe in what may still be the biggest upset in the history of the competition.

Speaking of the first ever Survival of the Fittest,  it came amidst the fallout of the Feinstein scandal and turned out to be the breakout performance of Austin Aries, a man who was only a couple months into his Ring of Honor career. Aries made it to the first finals, a trend he continued through the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Survival of the Fittest tournaments. Bryan Danielson is the man who would become the first winner after having an incredible ending sequence with Aries that would be the start of one of the finest rivalries in company history. Interesting to note that the 2009 version of this tournament comes the first week after the departure of Danielson.

Roderick Strong was a man who stepped up to the plate in the first half of 2005 by having great matches with Steve Corino, Samoa Joe, Alex Shelley, and CM Punk. Unfortunately, Strong wasn’t exactly picking up a lot of victories during this period.  That all changed in the 2005 version of Survival of the Fittest as Strong stepped up to the plate and beat Austin Aries, his partner in Generation Next at that time in another excellent final sequence. Strong was considered by many to be the MVP of 2005, and this was his first signature singles victory.

The next year exemplified just how unpredictable this tournament truly is. Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe would go to a 20 minute time limit draw. Davey Richards and Jimmy Rave, two man believed to be the favorites, lost in the first round. Two of the biggest singles stars in the company, Strong and Homcide, lost a tag team match to the Briscoes. At least Austin Aries got to continue his almost Susan Lucci like streak of making the finals but never winning. Delirious and Matt Sydal, two of Ring of Honor’s biggest underdogs, had a fantastic sequence to end the 2006 Survival of the Fittest. Sydal was primarily used in tag matches with his Generation Next teammates while Delirious was almost out of the company if not for a victory against Ricky Reyes over Wrestlemania weekend. In a year of unpredictability, it’s only Delirious came out of this tournament the winner.

In a sense, Ring of Honor took it’s biggest gamble by heading to the West Coast. Two nights before the chaos at the Cow Palace, Ring of Honor took Survival of the Fittest to Las Vegas. Chris Hero, a man who never seemed to be able to get any traction in the company, broke through in a big way by not only winning the whole thing but also eliminating the other five men. While there were no four star matches, I think 2007 is my favorite year because of how strong Hero was put over and the simple story the final told. To me, this entire tournament isn’t necessarily about having the best matches, but trying to actually put new guys over.

This leads into 2009. With new stars absolutely needed for Ring of Honor to continue its’ own survival, this might be the most important Survival of the Fittest ever. Perhaps this is a chance to elevate Kenny King or Kenny Omega over. These are two men that are highly regarded, but they haven’t won a lot of big time singles matches. Maybe Tyler Black can win this tournament and set up a world title match at Final Battle 2009, where he can once and for all take the championship he’s spent the last two years chasing. How about Claudio Castagnoli or Colt Cabana? Two guys who seem to have gone directionless the entire year. Maybe Chris Hero, Roderick Strong, or Delirious can win once again to give him something that no other Ring of Honor star can claim, being a two time winner of the biggest and most consistent tournament Ring of Honor has. Petey Williams and Rhett Titus might also win, but I’d prefer to not even think of that as a possibility.

What is needed almost as much as a winner is a clear direction, good matches, and clean finishes. No BS. Whomever is booked to win should do it in the cleanest way possible to establish that this is a wrestler who could possibly be the world champion. Even if King or Omega have to wait their turn, there needs to be the sense that these two are being elevated and might be the ones to win the belt in 2010. I guess you could say that while Survival of the Fittest might just be the name of the tournament, we’ll find out how fit to survive Ring of Honor really is.

Share This