Oldschool
09-04-2009, 09:50 AM
http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/article.aspx?id=2968
Chris Hero has seen many different phases in his wrestling career, but his current incarnation is without a doubt the deadliest. Dubbed “That Young Knockout Kid” many months ago, Hero has evolved into a vicious striker with some of the most devastating elbows and kicks in ROH. In his words, “I concuss with my kicks and I KO with my elbows!” This addition to his arsenal has turned Hero into one of the most complete athletes on the roster as in the past he has proven himself equally adept at technical wrestling as he has become with his strikes. Regardless of the occasionally questionable methods employed en route to his victories or the allegedly loaded elbow pad currently in Eddie Kingston’s possession, Hero has slowly climbed his way to the top of the heap here in ROH. The true evolution came after Hero made his initial voyage to Pro Wrestling NOAH, spent six weeks living and training in their dojo, as well as competing against the best talent NOAH has to offer. Ever since that initial voyage, Chris has been on fire.
After closing out 2008 with a pinfall loss to Jerry Lynn at “Final Battle 2008” as part of a Four Corner Survival, Hero was out of ROH for two months until “Eliminating The Competition” where he and Eddie Edwards dropped one to Jay Briscoe & Kevin Steen (Generico had been injured by Davey Richards). Hero’s impressive debut on HDNet in a victory over Necro Butcher was marred by a loss in a rematch of the aforementioned tag match.
But Hero is nothing if not determined and bounced back with two consecutive victories at “Stylin & Profilin” and “Insanity Unleashed”, the former in a tag and the latter over Jay Briscoe. Two six-man matches at “Supercard of Honor IV” and “Take No Prisoners 2009” went 1-1, and two victories in Canada (as seen on “Double Feature II”) helped propel Chris Hero towards a title match against Jerry Lynn at “Never Say Die” (also based on a victory over Jerry at “Driven ‘08”).
In April an old foe returned to haunt Hero in the form of Eddie Kingston, and at the HDNet tapings Hero skated out with a DQ victory when Kingston would not stop assaulting Chris despite the official’s count. And unfortunately for Hero he still had to get through both Colt Cabana and Tyler Black in route to his title match, and ended up dropping each contest at “A Cut Above” and “Homecoming II” respectively. Coming into Boston and his World Title match, Hero trained as hard as he ever had before, and it was evidenced as he took Lynn to his absolute limit, forcing the veteran to dig down deep in order to pull out the victory. While it may have been a loss for Hero, the bout raised his stock like no match before and showed him to be a true player in the World Title picture.
Hero departed for Japan once again shortly thereafter, picking up an impressive victory over Sonjay Dutt at “Validation” before he departed, and returned to “Death Before Dishonor VII” after another six weeks in the dojo. Waiting for him in Toronto? A meeting with Lance Storm, the man Hero attacked from behind at “New Horizons” one year earlier. The first night of this annual event Hero teamed with Davey Richards in a losing effort against Storm & Kevin Steen. The following night Hero had to go one-on-one Storm in what may come to be the last match of Lance’s wrestling career. Suffice to say it was a classic confrontation, one where Storm proved he could still go like few others, but Hero proved he was just one step ahead. With a slight assist from Shane Hagadorn and that notorious green elbow pad, Hero defeated Lance and possibly brought an end to that man’s wrestling career.
Coming into another set of “ROH on HDNet” tapings, Hero made a bold challenge. He wanted to face GHC Jr. Champion KENTA in a singles match. ROH & NOAH officials quickly came to an agreement to make this happen. It proved to be another top-shelf Hero match in a string of them, but in desperation for a victory, Hero attempted to use his “loaded” elbow pad on KENTA. Eddie Kingston quickly came to ringside and stripped Hero of his pad, giving KENTA the opening he needed to get the win.
Now Hero stands upon the precipice of two of the toughest challenges of his ROH career. In Dayton, as part of the “Final Countdown” tour, Hero will face Bryan Danielson in singles competition for the first time since “Undeniable”. As stated elsewhere, both men are very different athletes than they were in late 2007, and this is likely to end up a striking battle. Hero is one guy who would take great pleasure in ringing Danielson’s bell as he heads out of ROH.
As for Hero’s other challenge, well, it’s a guy who wants nothing more than to ring Hero’s bell…actually with Kingston it’s more like watching Chris bleed out in the center of the ring. This is bad blood on a level rarely seen: it transcends promotional barriers, transcends pro wrestling, and will probably never truly be settled. Kingston’s dream is a world without Hero, and the same can be said for Hero’s feelings about Eddie. NYC and “Glory by Honor VIII” will be both man’s opportunity to make their dreams comes true.
But if Hero can survive both these challenges and continue impressing ROH officials at the level he has in recent months, how long will it be before Hero gets another opportunity to become ROH World Champion? It has only been four months since his last shot, but when a fighter is competing at this level consistently, how long can he be denied???
Chris Hero has seen many different phases in his wrestling career, but his current incarnation is without a doubt the deadliest. Dubbed “That Young Knockout Kid” many months ago, Hero has evolved into a vicious striker with some of the most devastating elbows and kicks in ROH. In his words, “I concuss with my kicks and I KO with my elbows!” This addition to his arsenal has turned Hero into one of the most complete athletes on the roster as in the past he has proven himself equally adept at technical wrestling as he has become with his strikes. Regardless of the occasionally questionable methods employed en route to his victories or the allegedly loaded elbow pad currently in Eddie Kingston’s possession, Hero has slowly climbed his way to the top of the heap here in ROH. The true evolution came after Hero made his initial voyage to Pro Wrestling NOAH, spent six weeks living and training in their dojo, as well as competing against the best talent NOAH has to offer. Ever since that initial voyage, Chris has been on fire.
After closing out 2008 with a pinfall loss to Jerry Lynn at “Final Battle 2008” as part of a Four Corner Survival, Hero was out of ROH for two months until “Eliminating The Competition” where he and Eddie Edwards dropped one to Jay Briscoe & Kevin Steen (Generico had been injured by Davey Richards). Hero’s impressive debut on HDNet in a victory over Necro Butcher was marred by a loss in a rematch of the aforementioned tag match.
But Hero is nothing if not determined and bounced back with two consecutive victories at “Stylin & Profilin” and “Insanity Unleashed”, the former in a tag and the latter over Jay Briscoe. Two six-man matches at “Supercard of Honor IV” and “Take No Prisoners 2009” went 1-1, and two victories in Canada (as seen on “Double Feature II”) helped propel Chris Hero towards a title match against Jerry Lynn at “Never Say Die” (also based on a victory over Jerry at “Driven ‘08”).
In April an old foe returned to haunt Hero in the form of Eddie Kingston, and at the HDNet tapings Hero skated out with a DQ victory when Kingston would not stop assaulting Chris despite the official’s count. And unfortunately for Hero he still had to get through both Colt Cabana and Tyler Black in route to his title match, and ended up dropping each contest at “A Cut Above” and “Homecoming II” respectively. Coming into Boston and his World Title match, Hero trained as hard as he ever had before, and it was evidenced as he took Lynn to his absolute limit, forcing the veteran to dig down deep in order to pull out the victory. While it may have been a loss for Hero, the bout raised his stock like no match before and showed him to be a true player in the World Title picture.
Hero departed for Japan once again shortly thereafter, picking up an impressive victory over Sonjay Dutt at “Validation” before he departed, and returned to “Death Before Dishonor VII” after another six weeks in the dojo. Waiting for him in Toronto? A meeting with Lance Storm, the man Hero attacked from behind at “New Horizons” one year earlier. The first night of this annual event Hero teamed with Davey Richards in a losing effort against Storm & Kevin Steen. The following night Hero had to go one-on-one Storm in what may come to be the last match of Lance’s wrestling career. Suffice to say it was a classic confrontation, one where Storm proved he could still go like few others, but Hero proved he was just one step ahead. With a slight assist from Shane Hagadorn and that notorious green elbow pad, Hero defeated Lance and possibly brought an end to that man’s wrestling career.
Coming into another set of “ROH on HDNet” tapings, Hero made a bold challenge. He wanted to face GHC Jr. Champion KENTA in a singles match. ROH & NOAH officials quickly came to an agreement to make this happen. It proved to be another top-shelf Hero match in a string of them, but in desperation for a victory, Hero attempted to use his “loaded” elbow pad on KENTA. Eddie Kingston quickly came to ringside and stripped Hero of his pad, giving KENTA the opening he needed to get the win.
Now Hero stands upon the precipice of two of the toughest challenges of his ROH career. In Dayton, as part of the “Final Countdown” tour, Hero will face Bryan Danielson in singles competition for the first time since “Undeniable”. As stated elsewhere, both men are very different athletes than they were in late 2007, and this is likely to end up a striking battle. Hero is one guy who would take great pleasure in ringing Danielson’s bell as he heads out of ROH.
As for Hero’s other challenge, well, it’s a guy who wants nothing more than to ring Hero’s bell…actually with Kingston it’s more like watching Chris bleed out in the center of the ring. This is bad blood on a level rarely seen: it transcends promotional barriers, transcends pro wrestling, and will probably never truly be settled. Kingston’s dream is a world without Hero, and the same can be said for Hero’s feelings about Eddie. NYC and “Glory by Honor VIII” will be both man’s opportunity to make their dreams comes true.
But if Hero can survive both these challenges and continue impressing ROH officials at the level he has in recent months, how long will it be before Hero gets another opportunity to become ROH World Champion? It has only been four months since his last shot, but when a fighter is competing at this level consistently, how long can he be denied???