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Chris Hero's Note to the Fans and First Indie Bookings

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Hero's schedule is becoming illuminated
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

No sooner did Kassius Ohno become Chris Hero once again did the news surrounding his indie bookings start to swirl. He was confirmed for Pro Wrestling Syndicate and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla right out of the gate, and soon after followed Dragon Gate USA, Florida Underground Wrestling, Dreamwave Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, and of course, his first stomping grounds, IWA Mid-South, which has returned back to regular action after owner Ian Rotten was "miraculously cured" of cancer in the words of friend of the blog TJ Hawke of Free Pro Wrestling. His opponents have been announced for most of those shows, and I will run through them with some commentary:
  • Pro Wrestling Syndicate This Saturday, at WrestleBowl, vs. Hurricane Helms: PWS is the first out of the gate to book Hero, because of course they are. The Jersey promotion with deep pockets and gonzo booking tendencies does not disappoint by putting Hero up against the Hurricane in what could be a pretty solid matchup. This match might be the most like Hero's work as Ohno in NXT because both guys are now WWE alumni, but he's also probably an ideal opponent for Hero given that he's also been in the indies for awhile as well.
  • Dragon Gate USA This Sunday at their Brooklyn show, vs. Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship: On paper, this match is a no-brainer to sign, but Jeff Paternostro melted down on Twitter at the "logic" behind the decision. I actually agree with him. This match isn't being held on an EVOLVE show, so why put him against Gargano when the opportunity will be there in the future to do so? Why not put Hero against Akira Tozawa or CIMA or Jimmy Susumu? Gabe Sapolsky is going through the trouble of flying in a bunch of dudes from Japan; why not maximize the potential?
  • IWA Mid-South December 6, at the Big-Ass Christmas Bash, vs. Trik Davis: I don't know much about Davis, so I can't really comment.
  • Dreamwave Wrestling December 7, at the Fight Before Christmas, vs. Prince Mustafa Ali: Again, I don't know much about Ali, but I do get the deal that he's a rising star out in those Mid-South/Southern Illinois/Iowa promotions. I like the idea of Hero going into the smaller, more localized companies and wrestling the big swingin' dicks there.
  • Combat Zone Wrestling at Cage of Death 15, December 14, vs. Drew Gulak: YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. (Did I mention I will most likely be attending this event?) YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES. YES.
  • Pro Wrestling Guerrilla December 20 and 21, All-Star Weekend 10, vs. Adam Cole for the PWG World Championship night 1, and vs. Gargano (if he wins the title) or vs. ACH (if he loses) night 2: I have thoughts on this development, more than just for a blurb on a list.
The biggest problem I have with Hero's slate so far, aside from agreeing with the Dragon Gate kvetching, has nothing to do with him and everything to do with Super Dragon's booking. Honestly, I don't begrudge Dragon for switching around the PWG cards to allow Hero entry. He's the wrestler equivalent of found money at this point, so why not put him in immensely crowd-pleasing matches? However, PWG is a company that doesn't run angles often, so when they do, the matches contained within those stories gain elevated importance. So, when Candice LeRae got her non-title match with Cole bumped from night 1 of All-Star Weekend and shuttled into a tag match with Joey Ryan against the RockNES Monsters? Yeah, my heart goes out to her. She had a chance to showcase herself, and boom, the rug gets pulled from underneath her.

I would have felt similarly bad for, say, ACH or Peter Avalon or even Drake Younger (even though he's had a few shots at the title already), even if I can't completely shake the feeling that LeRae was so easily cast aside because of her gender. Regardless, I still think taking the Cole/LeRae match off the table is a shitty move regardless of who was coming in. In fact, Dragon didn't even need to shuffle the card around at all for night 1. Tony Nese was a late addition to the card as well, and to the best of my knowledge, Nese/Hero hasn't happened yet. Then again, all this kvetching could end up being for naught anyway, since PWG has set the standard that its top wrestlers oftentimes can go twice or more a night. Even though the card is packed to the gills as it is, nothing says Cole and LeRae couldn't wrestle twice. I also think the "Davey Richards flake-out factor" is in play as well, since he's been known to bail on PWG cards from time to time.

Either way, I'm disappointed that the LeRae/Cole match for now is off the table, just as disappointed as I was when I heard Hero wasn't going to be with WWE much longer. He actually addressed his release yesterday, however, via his Facebook page. The message is public, so head on over and read it if you will. The most jarring thing to me is the complete and total lack of bitterness or enmity Hero has for WWE. One could argue that he has to be diplomatic lest he incur the wrath of the McMahon Machine, but either way, his reaction seems like a healthy one. I've learned from my own experiences that pining for a job you lost is not the best course of action. I don't think him getting back to WWE is completely out of the picture; if his Kings of Wrestling tag partner Claudio Castagnoli/Antonio Cesaro can get back to the machine after getting released once, Hero can as well.

In the meantime, Hero is going to be wrestling in some pretty nice matches going forward, especially against Gulak at CZW. I don't want to tell anyone how to feel about his release at all (again, I'm still unhappy that he got let go), but man, if he had to get fired, his November and December already are turning out to be one hell of a silver lining.

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