Generation Next was formed in the Spring of 2004 and originally comprised Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans. These four had all worked together on various east coast indies, as well as making a name for themsleves in CZW, IWA Mid South and on ROH undercards. However they had yet to breakthrough on to the main ROH roster, but that was until 5/22/04 and the the Generation Next show in Philadephia.
With TNA prohibiting many of it's big name stars like AJ Styles and Chris Daniels from working ROH after the 'Feinstein scandal' earlier in the year, ROH needed to create new stars and so booked a show based on the idea of allowing the next generation of ROH superstars to get a foot on the ladder. The original plan for the Generation Next show was to have 4 singles matches featuring young up and coming talent, which the fans could then vote on to decide which match they liked best. However, Shelly, Aries and co. decided to hijack the show and take their spots by force rather than rely on earning the fans approval. In the course of their first show, GenNext would target the Christopher Street Connection, Izzy, Dixie and Hydro of Special K as well as John Walters, Jimmy Rave and the Briscoes. The match which resulted from them taking on this final foursome would go for 40+ minutes and would go down as one of the very best multi-person tag matches in the company history and is still regarded as an all-time classic ROH match. GenNext had arrived and no-one was safe.
As ROH re-established itself following the departure of the TNA talent, GenNext would become the backbone of the company and the building blocks which booker Gabe Sapolsky would use to re-build ROH as a force in independent wrestling. As the first new generation of talent to come through ROH's doors since it's inception in 2002, it was up to GenNext to take on the mantle of those early ROH mainstays like AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Low-ki and Bryan Danielson and keep the company going. While it was Samoa Joe and CM Punk who were gaining all the plaudits for their 60 minute matches, it was GenNext who were keeping the undercard from going stale by having great match after great match. In their first year they feuded with everyone from ROH Pure Champion Doug Williams, to the Second City Saints of CM Punk and Colt Cabana, to legendary figures such as Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat. Despite being arrogant heels, GenNext would earn the respect of the ROH fans thanks to their phenomenal matches and it would only be a matter of time before they would become crowd favourites.
As 2004 drew to a close, it would be a crucial time for the group. From the beginning their mantra had been that they would stick together as a group, only until they had secured the top spots in the company and with it, the championship gold that would give them the power they craved. So, as Austin Aries earned himself a world title shot against Samoa Joe at Final Battle 2004 it was make or break time for GenNext. Despite Shelley achieving strong support from the ROH fans, it was Aries who had risen to the top thanks to his epic matches with Bryan Danielson, including a 75+minute 2/3 falls match in August. With a world title match which he believed was his for the winning, Aries turned on Shelley at Final Battle and ejected him from the group. He would go on that evening to get the upset win over Samoa Joe and end the longest championship reign in ROH history. With the gold and the power secured, Aries persuaded Strong and Evans to join him and the second phase of GenNext's existance would begin.
As a result of Shelley's behaviour towards the ROH roster during his time in GeNext, he struggled to find any allies for his pursuit of Aries and the World Title and so would have to go it alone. Building to a world title match at Manhatten Mayhem, Shelley would struggle in vein to compete with the group he had started. As Shelley persued the world title, Aries would undergo a gruelling schedule of title defences as he tried to establish himself as a champion in his own right and get out from under the shadow of Samoa Joe's epic championship reign. Despite strong title matches against Colt Cabana, Homicide,Bryan Danielson and James Gibson, Aries would ultimately lose the belt to CM Punk and be faced with a much more potent opposition for the remainder of 2005.
Having failed to earn the repect of the ROH lockeroom, Shelley decided to go back to what made him succesful in the first place and joined up with the Embassy of Jimmy Rave and Price Nana. Proclaiming that he hadn't 'sold out' he had in fact 'bought in', Shelley aligned himself with a group who were on the rise after many months of being a mid-card comedy act. Thanks to Rave's feuds with AJ Styles and CM Punk, the Embassy were close to over hauling GenNext's position as the top heel faction in ROH and so Shelley saw his oppurunity to get his revenge. The ensuing matches between the two factions would see both sides recruit new additions to the group to sustain the increasingly violent and bloody encounters between the two factions. For GenNext they would recruit up and comer Matt Sydal as well as form a short term alliance with AJ Styles, while Prince Nana would recruit the monster Abyss as his enforcer as well as bring in part-time members like Spanky. The feud would culminate in a bloody Steelcage Warfare match in December of 2005 and would see the members of both sides secure their positions as genuine top players in ROH as a result of this match and feud - as well as Generation Next becoming the top babyface stable now that the Second City Saints had gone on hiatus with the departure of CM Punk to WWE.
As 2005 became 2006, new ROH commissioner Jim Cornette would look to put a greater emphasis on the tag division in ROH and so, despite Evans and Strong being the tag team of choice for GenNext, it would be the team of Aries and Strong who would finally secure tag team gold for the group. Roderick Strong had been the break out star for ROH in 2005 as a result of some phenomenal singles matches against AJ Styles, CM Punk, Matt Hardy and Bryan Danielson (as well as winning the 2005 Survival of the Fittest, deafeating Aries in the final). However it was his teaming with Aries that would cap-off his phenomenal run and cement his spot at the top of the card once and for all. At the time of writing this, the pairing of Aries and Strong have become the longest reigning tag champs in ROH history, putting on some outstanding matches against the likes of the Briscoes, old rivals the Embassy, the Rottwielers as well as Cima and Doi of the Dragongate promotion in Japan. However, perhaps the most unlikely opponent they would have to face would be their own stablemate, Matt Sydal. Despite earning his GenNext stripes in the war with the Embassy, Sydal was persuaded to side against his teammates by his mentor AJ Styles which would lead to an outstanding tag team contest that would headline the Fourth Anniversary show in March of 2006.
Despite the possibility of a GenNext split developing as a result of Sydal's desire for gold, (he would also go on to team with Samoa Joe against Aries and Strong) the group approaches this weekend's final match as strong as ever. All four members have been courted by the DragonGate promotion in Japan, while Strong and Aries have also worked for TNA alongside Alex Shelley. As all 4 current members of GenNext return for one last match it will be interesting to see what will happen to these guys now that they are no longer grouped together under the GenNext banner. Will Sydal and Evans attempt to set up a rival group or will another band of young up and comers rise take on their title of the new generation? Certainly their final opposition of Davey Richards, the Crist Brothers and Jerelle Clark could more than take on the mantle. However would they have the success that the original four members have gone on to achieve? Who knows. Certainly, when GenNext was formed in 2004, no-one knew just how succesful these four would go on to be. As the spectre of TNA and other promotions such as Dragon Gate pulling talent away from ROH looms once more, this time it is the likes of Shelley, Aries and Strong who will be the ones making way for the new generation. Lets hope that the next generation of talent who comes along and takes their spots will achieve the kind of long lasting legacy that the original four have. If they do, then ROH is in a very strong position in the months and years to come. And you know this..................man!
No comments:
Post a Comment