Paul London

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[stomperspc]

I was a big London fan in 2002-2003. Tim and I were talking about him the other day and both agreed that if he had stuck around on the indies, we are certain his indie/ROH run would be viewed in the same light as Danielson, Punk & Joe. He was a natural babyface. His run in ROH as a pushed wrestler only lasted 10-11 months but he packed in a lot during that time. The #1 contenders match versus Bryan from December 2002 was probably no worse than the the third best ROH match of 2002. His title match with Xavier from later that month was great in its ability to elicit genuine emotion from the Philly crowd by simply working a straightforward heel vs. underdog face title match. The 2 out of 3 falls Danielson match holds up really well (though it has been a year or two since I last watched it), as does the Styles match from the summer of 2003. The Joe title match was good considering that most assumed London was losing since it was his last announced show.

 

He had his moments in WWE but not anything that truly stood out. It is clear listening to him in interviews that even today he is still bitter about his time in WWE and it definitely crushed his spirit to some extent. I’ve liked bits and pieces of his indie work since returning (select PWG stuff, the ROH match versus Strong, ect.) but he’s broken down physically and not always motivated.

 

One of many, many “what if?” guys. London wrestling versus a heel Homicide and a heel Low Ki in 2004, going up against Generation Next in 2004/2005, and feuding with Jimmy Rave in 2005/2006 before or after Rave’s feuds with Punk and Styles all sound like great stuff. As it is, he is one of many guys with a lot of potential who was very good early on, but for reasons out of his control and some that were in his control, he never quite hit the peak he seemed capable of reaching.

[Dylan Waco]

My thoughts are close to stomper's though I do wonder if we don't underrate his WWE run some because he was never given a big time push. In real time I liked him as a cruiserweight, and I was probably higher on the Londrick team than most. As a t.v. worker I thought he was a strong performer in the WWE and I am a guy who puts a lot of stock in that sort of consistency.

[Timbo Slice]

In the early days of ROH, he was a Top 5 worker in my eyes behind Dragon, Lo Ki, Styles and Joe. I echo Dylan's sentiments about him being underrated because we thought he might get a bigger push than he did, but his stuff with Spanky was really fun and I actually liked the Kidman feud, as the No Mercy match might have been Kidman's best match ever and has one of the great SSP meeting the knees spots ever. He's one of the guys who I wonder what would have happened if he actually hadn't gone to WWE, because I think he matched up well with all the great workers that got big time indy runs in the mid 2000s. I'm not sure he'll make my list, but he's got a better case than many might think.

[Laney]

I don't see it for London. In 02/03 he had an awesome run, and was one of my favorite guys to watch during that time period. I don't remember anything memorable from his WWE run besides some fun matches with Jimmy Yang on Velocity. Post-WWE he seemed to have lost his motivation. An arguable two years as a top performer doesn't cut it for me.

[2PhoneShawty]

For sure he has more of a chance than Brian Kendrick, with his early ROH work and the cruiserweight division. But I don't know that he was that impressive in ring in those few years, to really have him on that list. Outside of that, he hasn't been very impressive with his post-wwe work. I remember the tag title run being good, and maybe he has more of a chance on the tag team list.

[Jimmy Redman]

Yeah Londrick need to be nominated if they aren't already.

[Cap]

I more or less agree with everything here, but would probably even put him above Styles when he was on his hot ROH run. Styles had the name recognition, but I think people on the boards I was lurking or posting on where much more positive about London's in ring work at the time. Low ki and joe were probably in their own league because they felt so new and fresh and Dragon was right there with them by being Dragon. London stood out a lot and really inspired loyalty from the indie crowds and that was almost ALL in ring work, not promos or charisma.

 

In short, I loved his ROH work, felt constantly underwealmed by his WWE work (but that probably isn't his fault), and like him post-wwe in flashes. Some of the spotty stuff he did in PWG stands out as fun stuff you can show non-fans and I think that honeslty counts for something when it is done well.

[WingedEagle]

Agree the PWG stuff is a definite positive for him as what I've seen lately still feels fresh and fun today.

[El Dragon]

My posts so far have been about building up a guys case and then tearing it down to show why they probably don’t make my top 100, while trying to give reasons why people should watch them and give them a chance. That is not how this is going to be. Today I’m going to cover the problems with Londons argument first, and then explain, my main counter argument.

First off, Londons prime, in terms of what we can safely say “this dude is having amazing matches” is quite simply way too short. His RoH run of getting actual matches of note is about a year (probably closer to 10 months), his WWE run is basically him never getting opportunities except for a brief really strong tag run, though not historically strong, and him bumping like a lunatic to get others over. His return to the indies has, sadly, been largely just a guy who doesn’t have the passion to be a truely great wrestler anymore. He also has never really been a great heel (though his time in LU was pretty fun). So, if you wanna build a case for him, you are basically taking his 10 month RoH run and saying “I’ve seen enough, he’s getting in!” and that’s a mighty big ask.

All that said…. I’ve seen enough, he’s getting in. 

I can break down Londons matches if I wanted too, as he has some absolute classics to his name in that 10 months. London/Danielson remains my favorite Danielson match of all time, if not my favorite match outright, London/AJ is an outstanding war, he brings Xavier to the best matches of his career, etc. But the thing that makes this London run so incredible to me goes beyond that, and I want to go into those first

First off,  let’s talk about degree of difficulty of what London did. As basically a pure white meat babyface with no real hook, London goes from unknown student from the TWA (Not even the one RoH initially pushed: that was Michael Shane), to what is pretty clearly the ace of the promotion in 12 months. He does this in a promotion that is largely built around “workrate” in a promotion in which he basically becomes the lead babyface by surpassing Low-Ki, AJ Styles, and Bryan Danielson, to the point he routinely has the crowd behind him in matches against the other 3. That’s an incredible leap for a guy to make in a year. Let’s also factor in he did this in the Northeast in a post ECW world, largely in Philly. Have I described enough of why this is incredible? Because I have another note to consider: with the possible exception of Trevor Lee in CWF Atlantic (which has an asterisk: Lee was the home town boy who attended shows for years, where as London was some nobody coming in from Texas at the start), Paul London is the last true White Meat Babyface to become a promotion ace. And he did it in front of arguably the most cynical fan base in wrestling. That is genuinely one of the most incredible feats I think wrestling has seen in quite a while, and it has been completely lost to time.
 

Second, Paul Londons connection to the RoH fanbase largely led to a lot of modern wrestling “culture”. This could be viewed as a negative, but I think it’s clearly a positive because how genuine the reactions were. Basically, everyone that knows of Paul Londons RoH run know the famous chant associated with London was “Please Don’t Die” due to his incredibly risky high spots he hit in his Street Fight with Michael Shane, the Denton jumping off the ladder and then the Shooting Star Press off a ladder that was barely being held together. People forget that the much more famous “Please Don’t Tap” chant also originated with London, with the RoH fan base trying to keep him from tapping out to Bryan Danielson. That Danielson/London match (which is fucking incredible and basically the apex of Londons rise to Indy superstar) also featured the first ever dueling chant I can find in the US, with the crowd heavily split on who they wanted to secure the win in that match. And while I’m not a big fan of large scale chanting in most wrestling due to how largely forced it’s gotten, every single big chant for London matches at this point tends to be original, and done due to an actual sense of desire to see Paul London win. Not to see him have a great performance, but actively to see him get his arm raised. And, as stated, this is in the Northeast with a crowd that for basically everyone else in the company, largely just cared about how good the wrestling was, not who would score the win. 

So, I suppose the question follows, if London had such an awesome connection to the crowd, how did he achieve it? He had literal all timers around him fighting for the top spots, yet London somehow came from this the guy the crowd was most engaged with, so there had to be some meat there. And boy was there. Let me lead with London being a next level bumper and seller. His bumping prowess was always a bit famous, even in his WWE run (his rumble elimination from Snitsky is probably 2nd only to the Taka one for most painful looking elimination in the history of that match), and that can’t be understated, but his selling is even better. Watching him work a match with a bad wheel against Danielson was basically perfect, one of the best limb selling matches I’ve seen. London in general is outstanding on the defensive side of wrestling, showing great in ring fire at the correct moments to keep the crowd engaged and waiting for comebacks. He’s just as at home in a 50/50 as he is working from underneath. His offense was quite good, and his ability to work the mat is incredibly underrated, looking every bit the part of a rival on the mat to Danielson and Styles in there matches against each other. Basically, name a tool in the toolbox you want from a firey babyface, you got it. Only thing we really don’t have in that year is a straight up by the books brawl, as the Shane street fight is more a stunt show (though a damned good stunt show)

Basically, Paul London is, very clearly imo, the lost great wrestler of the last 20 years. If a young guy came up right now with all the physics tools and the attention to detail he has, he’d be rising into the AEW upper card already. Sadly, London was stuck working nothing matches on WWE C shows until he was basically mentally finished. Most people will find there isn’t enough here, and I can’t even blame them. But I’m giving one of the best talents I’ve ever seen his time in the sun. For a few brief months, he went up against guys like Danielson, Styles, Ki, and Joe, and not only did he hold his own, I legitimately think he was better then them, and that’s pretty damned incredible.

At present time Paul London is 69th (nice) on my list. He will make my top 100, most likely at spot 99. There is a possibility I will find 100 wrestlers better then him career wise. That’s really unfortunate for some of them, because London will make my top 100 no matter what, and some others I enjoy will have to enjoy spots 101-105. Go watch RoH London, cause he’s outstanding.