 La Faccion Ingobernable is the hottest heel stable in wrestling today. Coming into a place like Ring of Honor, and taking over the way that they have, is admirable on many levels. While I am not a fan of their “ungovernable” approach, to utilize it as they have, in Ring of Honor, a company founded on the principles of honorable, and respectful professional competition, is a feather in their cap, for sure. Many wrestling stables have been compared to the greatest stable of all time, The Four Horsemen, and most don’t pass the sniff test. While no one in “LFI,” is like anyone else that was ever a “Horseman,” their approach is almost exactly the same. La Faccion Ingobernable members are capable of defeating any opponent, on any given night, fair and square, in the middle of the ring. Yet they often chose to cheat, manipulate, and twist the rules. They are known for gang warfare, and proudly admit to wanting to humiliate their opponents more than they want to defeat them in a wrestling match. Ring of Honor World champion Rush, is one of the hottest young wrestlers in the world today, and could be having classic matches with many different opponents, but instead chooses to be propped up by his “familia,” much like the infamous Ric Flair chose to do in his prime. Dragon Lee is the workhorse of LFI, can hang with anyone, and really comes across as an “enforcer.” Kenny King is the Outsider that has found his place among family, that includes Bestia del Ring, is the well-seasoned vet, and a legit father figure! Top all of that off with Amy Rose, as their official manager and you have something special. Again, while I am not comparing styles to the great Four Horsemen, I am comparing the approach that LFI is using to dominate Ring of Honor. Jim Crockett Promotions was my all-time favorite wrestling period, and I can clearly see similarities. I mean if you want to be a dominating heel stable, it would be smart to copy the style and efforts of the original Four Horsemen. One thing that the Horsemen never had though was a legitimate, solid, well oiled, stable of “good guys” as protagonists. While many good guys teamed up to face the Horsemen throughout the 1980’s, there was never a group as tightly bound, and driven, to do what was right by wrestling, by JPC, or by the NWA, as the Horsemen were in doing whatever they wanted to do. This is something that Ring of Honor has, that is making all the difference in the storyline, in the angle, of La Faccion Ingobernable. The Foundation, Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, and Rhett Titus are a well-oiled, strongly united, driven, and passionate stable that stands in the face of LFI, drawing a line, and daring them to cross it. Once crossed, The Foundation will never cower, never back down, never give up, and not turn on each other. I would argue that the more strength that LFI gains, the more determined The Foundation is to set things right. Ring of Honor has something the Four Horsemen never had, they have a stable of good guys determined to “do wrestling right!” Next week these two stable square off in the ring. On March 22nd, four days before ROH’s 19th anniversary show, La Faccion Ingobernable take on The Foundation in an 8 man tag match on ROH TV. If you want to see what I am taking about in this article, if you want to see one of the best heel stables in wrestling today get something the Four Horsemen never had, tune in with me, tune in to ROH TV for Wrestling Done Right!
0 Comments
 Ring of Honor's use of LFI (La Facción Ingobernables) as real "bad guys," legit pisses me off, as a fan. It's been so long since I felt this way while watching wrestling, it feels kind of weird. Some would call me a "mark" for feeling this way, but they don't get it, at all. This is how wrestling is SUPPOSED to work. The heels aren't supposed to be cool, and likeable. They are supposed to inspire disgust, and hatred toward them, without having "go away" heat.
Over the years, since the near destruction of “kayfabe,” nearly all wrestling organizations across the world have struggled greatly to introduce “bad guys,” or “heels,” in their companies. For the most part, heels have been smarmy, cocky, arrogant, characters that typically attract male fans to their side. Think of “The Bullet Club” for example. Have they ever really been heels? Fans have flocked to them, and bought their t-shirts until they were out of stock. Few actually booed them, and even those who did, or do, only do so because they are popular, not because they are legitimately hated. I’m not picking on the Bullet Club though, they are just an easy example. Recently, La Facción Ingobernables won the Ring of Honor World tag titles by cheating behind the referees back, using a closed fist for the second time (something that in the Pure division is an instant disqualification) defeating beloved Pure wrestlers, the former champs, Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham, in a match of their own, a Pure Rules match up, only the second ever Pure tag team match. If that wasn’t enough, on that same program, Ring of Honor World Champion faced the much heralded, and respected, Shane Taylor, for the title. Taylor, a Ring of Honor “lifer” at this point, having worked his way up to this match, voted into it by the fans, on Ring of Honor’s official Facebook group, seemed to be a favorite going in. His longtime friend, but La Facción Ingobernables member, Kenny King, was conflicted for several weeks leading up to the match. Numerous times we saw King arguing with his faction members about fighting Taylor honestly, and honorably. It seemed King had heat with his friends for this, as they don’t care about anything but humiliating anyone that would dare cross them. After nearly 20 minutes into the brutal World title bout, Rush slammed into the referee, and got a steel chair out from under the ring, ready to wrap it around Taylor’s head. Instead, King rushed to his friend’s defense, only to then turn, and nail Taylor with the chair himself, giving Rush the win, retaining his title. While I am sure there are plenty to La Facción Ingobernables fans, I assume most are Lucha fans, supporting anyone of that style, and most others are just fans of the “bad guys” because that’s the cool thing to do. The presentation, and use of La Facción Ingobernables has been done better than any heel faction that I can recall in a long, long, time. They have legitimate “heat,” and in today’s wrestling world, that is so difficult to garner. This is simply yet another thing Ring of Honor is doing perfectly, and why they are clearly the world leader in Wrestling Done Right! |
Archives
December 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed
