ROH Focus: As Their Final Battle Approaches, a Look Back at Steen vs. Generico

If you haven’t been paying attention to Ring of Honor throughout 2010, chances are you’ve missed out on the best feud of the entire year.

At the Final Battle 2009 Internet pay-per-view, Kevin Steen and his longtime tag partner El Generico lost a highly competitive match to The Young Bucks, one of the fastest rising teams in pro wrestling. Given the toll that injuries had taken on Steen’s body heading into the match, the loss was nothing to hang their heads about.

After the match, Steen took to the microphone and launched into what appeared to be some kind of retirement speech. He thanked the fans for their support over the years and addressed his mounting injuries. All signs pointed to Steen taking some time off, at the very least.

Instead, “Mr. Wrestling” shocked the ROH world by turning an embrace with El Generico into a groin shot followed by a brutal assault with a steel chair.

One of the most beloved teams on the independent scene was no more.

Shortly after Final Battle, Steen revealed an alliance with one of the most dastardly characters in wrestling history, “The King of Old School” Steve Corino.

Colt Cabana, a longtime friend of Steen and Generico, joined the side of “The Generic Luchador” to do battle with the evil partnership of Corino and Steen at The Big Bang in April, which marked the first time that Generico squared off against his former partner.

In the months leading up to the iPPV, Steen explained his actions, citing the fans’ constant “Ole!” chants towards Generico as one of the many reasons why he assaulted his friend. He claimed to be sick and he suffered from the disease that was El Generico.

While the tension built, Generico refused to strike back at his one-time best friend. The masked man finally let loose at The Big Bang, snapping on Steen after he used a steel chair on Cabana to cause the disqualification.

That set up one of my top matches of 2010, a tag team “Come As You Are” Chicago street fight that took place at the Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 event. The level of violence that these four men brought to the ring that night matches anything I’ve ever seen from ROH, as the bad blood finally reached a boiling point.

Generico and Cabana picked up the win, but the feud was far from over.

Death Before Dishonor VIII marked the next chapter in this rivalry, when Steen and Generico finally went one-on-one, six months to the day that their friendship was destroyed by a steel chair.

The show was set to begin with Up In Smoke taking on the All-Night Express in tag team action, but Generico couldn’t wait to get his hands on Steen. He stormed the ring and demanded that his former friend come out and fight.

Steen was able to emerge victorious after a back and forth battle, but it would not be enough to put an end to the hatred between these two.

Their rematch at Hate: Chapter II saw the introduction of another deadly weapon, the steel chain. Steen nearly choked the life out Generico with his new favorite weapon, which lead to a tag team chain match at Glory By Honor IX.

Generico and Cabana won the match, but Steen and Corino raised the stakes of this war when Steen was able to remove the mask of Generico in a post-match brawl.

Since GBHIX, Steen has done numerous promos talking to, and in some cases wearing, the mask and even attempted to sell it on eBay. He continues to play mind games with the man he spent so many years teaming with, but Generico’s anger has escalated over the past few months.

Losing his mask may have been the final straw that sent Generico over the edge. The darker side of his persona has been slowly gaining control. He now dons an all black mask and seems as focused as he ever has on hurting his old friend.

Even Cabana, who has stuck by his friend’s side during this year-long feud, has begun to distance himself from the situation.

It has been nearly one year since Final Battle 2009, and the 2010 version will be headlined by a “Fight Without Honor,” that will most likely put an end to this epic rivalry.

If Steen loses, he will leave Ring of Honor. If Generico loses, he will unmask and reveal his face for the world to see. The stakes have never been higher for these two men.

ROH has done a masterful job of building this feud over the course of 2010. It has clearly been one of the focal points of the promotion and a major part of their weekly HDNet program.

No feud in all of pro wrestling in 2010 has been able to match the intensity and emotion of this one. It all comes to an inevitably brutal conclusion at Final Battle.

The matches have been violent, the promos have been outstanding, and the tension has been building and building. On December 18, in the Manhattan Center, the same place where it all began last year, Steen and Generico will truly have their final battle.

ROH Final Battle 2010 - El Generico vs. Kevin Steen - Hype Video