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Samoa Joe challenges Mick Foley

Critic of the DawnPosted on 12/05/04 at 16:22:55

In Ring of Honor, CM Punk has been a thorn in ROH Champion Samoa Joe's side for the last 9 months, facing Joe in two title matches and battling to a 60 minute time limit draw both times.  Last night, Samoa Joe finally gained a decisive victory, trapping Punk in The Choke and causing him to pass out at just over 30 minutes.  ROH officials have declared that this will be CM Punk's last shot at Joe, but that announcement paled in comparison to what happened after the match.

Samoa Joe actually challenged Mick Foley to a match.  For those who aren't aware, Foley's policy thus far has been not to wrestle on indy shows so any WWE matches he works will be more significant (plus he's accumulated quite a few injuries) and because indies can't afford to pay him nearly as much as as WWE can for what would probably turn out to be a more demanding match.

So my question is this: is Mick Foley enamored enough with the ROH product (keep in mind he's made an unadvertised appearance for them with no charge) that he'd make an exception for Joe, whose 21 month title reign has been the longest in North America in quite some time?  Foley has stated that he thinks Joe especially but also CM Punk would do well in WWE, so do you think he'd consider lying down for Joe to help advance his career?  Or is this just a storyline which will result in an escalation of the Foley/Steamboat feud?

If Foley DOES agree to a match, should ROH promote it as being for the ROH Title?  On one hand, it'd be a huge draw, but on the other Foley hasn't done anything to earn a shot aside from being the huge name that he is, there's no way he'd actually win the title, and he's not the worker he once was outside of a Hardcore environment, so the match could possibly end up not living up to the hype (although Foley has a way of delivering under pressure), and finally the match would be a huge draw even without a title stipulation.

Thoughts?

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
TerryFunkaPosted on 12/05/04 at 22:37:55

The thing is even if Foley would agree to a match, Joe would be the obvious winner.Like you said Foley has injuries, Foley doesnt wrestle Indy's etc.So while their would be people who want to see it and it would help advance Joe's career, it wouldnt be a question in anyones mind Joe would win.
Rick GarrardPosted on 12/05/04 at 22:59:34

I kinda hope Foley wins the title, brings it to RAW, tells Joe that if he wants it, to come and get it.  Thusly bringing Joe finally to WWE.  

Of course, Foley should then proceed to "lay down" for CM Punk on RAW, setting off a RAW feud between Punk and Joe, and hopefully with Steamboat as their backstage booking agent.  :)

One can dream, right?
Critic of the DawnPosted on 12/05/04 at 23:36:54

That would be a fun angle, but:

1) WWE would never go for it because no other titles in the world can mean anything in comparison to theirs.  If they were willing to do such an angle, they'd have had Rhyno bring back the ECW belt long ago.

and

2) ROH would be hit very hard by the loss of their two top names, to say nothing of the fact that their top title would basically be taken from them.  Granted, its exposure might create awareness of the product,

Being the board's resident ROH mark, I'd be sad to see Joe and Punk leave Philly, but as a fan of both men I understand that they might be able to make more money working for WWE if they got a push.  Considering their past treatment of talent like Spanky, London, Rhyno, etc, it's not hard to believe that both Joe and Punk would end up on Heat or Velocity quickly despite their enormous talent.

As for the question, I'd love to see a match and even though his victory would be a foregone conclusion, a victory over someone with the reputation of Mick Foley would add tremendously to the prestige of the Ring of Honor Title and get Joe even more over than he already is.  Even if the match was poor, the crowd would be hot as hell for it, because outside of The Rock, Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan there really aren't many wrestlers who are as close to universally loved as Foley is.

My instinct is that they're not going to actually deliver a match, however.  Foley actually pushed heavily for Punk/Joe III, claiming that Joe's refusal to accept the challenge proved that he was softcore and had a severe case of Steamboatitis.  I expect that Foley will turn down the match, only to be called on it by Steamer, who will no doubt call him a glorified stuntman, say Ric Flair was right about him, and further their feud.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
TerryFunkaPosted on 12/05/04 at 23:45:17

I think, or atleast I hope people like Punk,Joe, and to a lesser extent Hero don't make it to WWE.I see them being the next Styles,Daniels and Corino wwe misses out on.I hope they make it to TNA though because TNA is in need of talent that not even they can screw up.
Critic of the DawnPosted on 12/06/04 at 06:10:50

I wouldn't mind seeing Punk and Joe in WWE because they could at least have a chance of making decent money there, but I don't want to see them go (back in Punk's case - he's a former member of Raven's gathering and was thoroughly wasted) to TNA.  TNA doesn't really offer significantly more money than most indies and it has in the past pulled wrestlers on their roster out of ROH when they started to make an impact.  ROH was actually forced to strip AJ Styles of the Pure Wrestling Title because TNA pulled him off of their shows right after he won the belt.  And Christopher Daniels, who has never gone farther than the Tag Team Division in TNA, was pulled at the same time simply because he's consistantly been a main eventer in ROH.  They're still allowed to work other indies, but Ring of Honor is singled out despite not being competition.

It goes without saying that most Ring of Honor fans think about as highly of TNA as ECW fans thought of WCW.

Eric "Critic of the Dawn"
blslivewirePosted on 12/11/04 at 11:52:00

I used to hate it when my favorite ECW wrestlers "sold out" to the big 2. But now that I have to support myself and one day a family in the real word, I completely understand. Considering these guys only work in wrestling until they're 40(if they're lucky) that leaves another 25 years before Social Security kicks in.

Who could blame a guy,working for an independent, who makes scraps and risks his body for a living for going for the big bucks int he WWE, even if it mean less attention.

Though I hate seeing the indies robbed of their talent, they're a lot better at producing new star than the WWE is.
TerryFunkaPosted on 12/11/04 at 20:22:39

The thing is , while indies can produce stars its the wwe that allows the superstars national and world wide exposure on tv.