by eastbay510 » Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:27 pm
Ok, so I have had a lot of discussions on Twitter about who should win the PWG Championship at Mystery Vortex(assuming it's Ricochet's final show). Almost everyone thinks it should be Keith Lee, some feel Chuck Taylor regains it. I feel like neither option is ideal, in my opinion Sammy Guevarra is undoubtedly the man who should represent the promotion in 2018.
First of all I wanna eliminate the possibility of Chuck Taylor regaining the championship. When he beat Zack Sabre Jr. for the belt at Pushing Foward Back it was an incredible match, probally the match of Chuck's career, but let's be honest, it was a gold watch. A lifetime achievement award. He is not the guy you want representing your company long term, and with him already having a title run under his belt(pun intended) the law of diminishing returns defiantly applys here.
Keith Lee is the guy I really wanna talk about, he is the man pretty much everybody wants to beat Ricochet. I get it, I really do. He is an incredible professional wrestler, he had a 5 star(according to Meltzer) match at BOLA with Donavan Dijak on his way to the finals of that tournament, he is probally the most over performer on the PWG roster, and one of the biggest stars currently on the independent circuit.
And that is why I feel he absolutely should not win the PWG Championship at this time.
In my opinion Lee would be a fine champion, but to me it is the safest most uninspired booking decision Super Dragon can possibly make. I love Keith Lee, but he is everywhere, and is currently the WWN Champ. If they put the belt on Lee it is just doing what everyone else is doing, why not doing something ballsy? Do something shocking and push someone that isn't getting pushed everywhere yet?
To me Keith Lee is a better wrestler than Sammy Guevarra at this point without question. But to me Sammy would be a much more interesting story. People keep telling me Sammy will be ready in about a year, or that he is green. If you feel he is an undeserving champion at this point is that a bad thing? It worked pretty good for Jimmy Havoc in Progress when he had never even won a match before defeating Mark Andrews in controversal fashion. And this opinion that he is green is not something that should be worried about, considering the quality of his PWG performances thus far.
So far in PWG Sammy has a 3-1 record, his only loss at the hands of Jeff Cobb at BOLA. His loss was the only match of his that he failed to hit the 630, PWG's most protected finisher(along with Cobb's Tour of the Islands, oh hey, that's an intresting potential story for a title match...).
With Lee as champ you know he will have good to great matches, with Sammy you will have good to great matches that make sense story wise, let me elaborate:
-Jeff Cobb:
No brainer there. As I said before, the two most protected finishers in PWG. Who can hit their's first? Also Cobb is the only person to beat Guevarra.
-Rey Fenix:
With his victory over Zack at BOLA Fenix should be in line for a title shot at some point. With Sammy having experience in Mexico for The Crash this is a match for people who think Sammy is too green to be a main eventer. Guevarra has victories over Luchadores Rey Horus and Flamita in a PWG ring, and on top of all of that Fenix and Guevarra were originally scheduled to face off as part of that Lucha 4 way at All Star Weekend night 1 that got turned into a triple threat.
-WALTER
WALTER has been on fire since his PWG debut. The story of this match makes sense, the punk kid high flyer vs giant ass kicker who's entire ethos revolves around respect and honor. This would add a ton for Sammy's development, as it would show he can take an absolute beating.
-Keith Lee:
So my prediction is Keith Lee wrestles for the title at Mystery Vortex, he loses, and Sammy comes out and takes the title from Ricochet(tell me that wouldn't be an incredible match?). It's a story they have done twice, so it isn't a huge stretch that PWG would revisit this angle. Keith Lee loses to Ricochet at both the finals of BOLA and for the title at Mystery Vortex, while Guevarra wins the title in Ricochet's final match. Sammy can absolutly rub that in Lee's face. The chase is often better than the actual run for faces. Have Lee chase Sammy and win the title in a few months, make the fans really want it.
This is an insanely long post, but my point is PWG can go down a couple paths. They can do what's safe, what everyone else is doing, or they can take a chance do something ballsy, push a guy that isn't everywhere yet, a guy who can give you not only great matches, but matches that make sense. Ultimately PWG will continue selling out shows in seconds no matter who is champ, but they have a chance to do something artistically bold at Mystery Vortex. They can be the first major independent promotion to get behind Sammy Guevarra. I just hope they take that path.