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Column of Honor 12.29.09: Final Column 2009 Part Three

December 29, 2009 | Posted by Ari Berenstein

Ring Toss
-The Voice of the People
-2009 Selected Reading: Columns from 411 Staff

=The Voice of the People=

Many fans and participants in the internet wrestling community have an opinion about the past year in Ring of Honor and what lies ahead for the company in 2010. In previous years of the column I have asked writers and friends of the column to participate in an elaborate award process. However, this year I decided to do things slightly different.

I wanted to get a diversity of opinions and responses about Ring of Honor in 2009. To do so, I enlisted the help of three distinct sources and pooled them together in this column. Responses came from:

1) The Ring of Honor Message Board, a diverse collection of ROH fans both new and old. They are never afraid to let their voice be known, whether positively or negatively about wrestlers, shows or any other issues regarding the company.

2) Writers from Pro Wrestling Ponderings, a fantastic website/ blog that arose out of the remnants of The Cool Kids Table and is devoted to covering independent professional wrestling.

3) Writers from right here at 411Mania.com, including those who have covered Ring of Honor at least in part during the past year.

I asked everyone who wished to participate to write a paragraph (short or long) expressing their thoughts (positive or negative) about ROH in 2009 and / or what to anticipate for 2010. As you will, some of them were able to put it all into one paragraph and some needed significantly more to express themselves. Collectively these writers, fans, message board commenters and friends represent The Voice of the People about Ring of Honor. Here’s what they have to say:

=The ROH Boards=

zombiegeeknecrocult: Alot of debating has been going on about ROH since Gabe got fired. People lost faith and claimed ROH wasn’t ever going to be the same. People claimed ROH would become stale and lose that entity that separated itself from TNA and WWE. And to be honest, at the beginning of the year, I was starting to believe the hype. Until one faithful weekend.

I’ve been a fan of ROH since about late 2004. A lot has changed since those 5 years. And after 5 years of being a fan, I finally got to go see ROH live when they came to my hometown of Houston, TX. I’ve been to a few wrestling shows in the past, but after witnessing ROH live, I can honestly say I will always be a loyal fan of ROH from now til the day I can show my kids the art that is wrestling.

After SCOH4 and TNP’09 I can tell everyone, the hype is bullcrap. ROH isn’t stale and isn’t going to fade away anytime soon. ROH is still the king of jaw dropping matches and has the hardest working roster in the USA. They do things you will never forget or that will leave you in awe.

I will admit, they haven’t been so good at having those surprise moments in storylines, that leave fans hanging on, but I think thats where 2010 comes in. 2009 they needed to find their rhythm and be comfortable, and 2010 is when they add to the rhythm and mix it up.

2009 defined this “new” ROH, if you want to call it new. 2010 should definitely be where all the curve balls and huge opportunities come. I can’t wait to see where ROH goes after a great year in 2009.

mbstubbs1: Too late. If only ROH could have had a TV show, PPV’s, Internet PPV’s, with the talent pool and the booking strength that was exhibited in 2004-2005. These could be the glory years but it was not to be. I didn’t miss a show for 5 years and now I haven’t even seen a show since Race to the Top Tournament and a couple of PPV’s that I didn’t pay for. If only all these opportunities would have come up when we had THE crew that built ROH instead of being left with a bunch of uninteresting cast-offs treading water on shows that used to be completely enthralling and now are barely even interesting. I never stopped *wanting* to love it, but it just isn’t what it used to be, it isn’t what I loved and what I couldn’t get enough of.

Generation of Swine: It started off slow but it got really, really good. January and February were nothing to write home about, but after March ROH put on a streak of shows with only a few clunkers. A streak that they hadn’t been on since 2006 or 2007. And it was thanks to a tag team division that has never been deeper.

cactusjack1483: For me, 2009 has been an enjoyable year certainly. I think some of the fears surrounding the company’s future due to the booking change were proven unfounded (at least in my mind). I think ultimately, with a company like ROH, it is not the booking that makes the product interesting for me. It is the wrestlers – and the quality matches they deliver. 2009 has delivered some excellent quality matches. All I hope for is 2010 does the same. In 2010, I would love to see more wrestlers in from Japan (perhaps some different wrestlers to those we are familiar with).

syxxpak: I just need a sentence:

Another great, action-packed year from ROH.

Housemusic: Went to my first two ROH shows this year. PG:N2 and 7YA. Proving Grounds was a great live experience, my first indy show. I felt a part of it. 7YA was probably the greatest live show I have ever been to and I have been to Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Rumble, etc. I believe across every company in the wrestling business that ROH still has the BEST promos, and best wrestling. They still have their edge. I really got to say, their videowires have such a driving force behind them. I was upset about the entrance music change. Kinda killed things for me, but I’m over it now and back on board. ROH is the best wrestling company for me. I can’t wait till they come back to Florida and NY. Final Battle has some awesome hype to it. Hope it’s a great show.

kaz: Here’s the deal, I’m putting out an open challenge to any of the legion of ROH super haters out there. I challenge any of them to come up with at least 3 to 5 areas in which ROH has taken a decided turn for the worst ever since the booking change. I’m not asking you to come up with your own talking points; that is basically just your opinion, I’m asking you to provide your points and back them up with facts and data that proves your point beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I ask this because imo ROH has had a very good year all things considered. The TV show has been quite successful and I’m sure it has worked to produce new fans of ROH every week that it’s available for free online. The matches have maintained a consistent level of excellence, ROH has maintained their alliance with NOAH and other international feds, Aries has had a good strong title reign thus far, attendance hasn’t risen greatly, but it hasn’t fallen greatly either just as I’m sure many naysayers predicted that it would after the new administration came in. Additionally, many of ROH’s guys have gone on to have banner years here including Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, Kenny King, Austin Aries, Claudio, Hero.

I’m not saying ROH is/was perfect in 09(I still hate how they’ve totally misused Jimmy Rave since he returned), but when it boils down to the overall theme of what ROH is about, this company has more than held up its end of the bargain imo.

TheDrizzle: I’d say it’s been hit or miss. They took mega strides by getting themselves on HDNet and putting together a well structured show with easy to follow (for new fans) stories and they’ve done a great job building up people for the TV audience. They’ve had some great matches and built up some of the “future” guys well (Kenny Omega, Kenny King and Rhett Titus, The American Wolves) and since about June, they’ve been putting on shows that have increased in quality. On the other hand, they lost their top two stars and two guys with the most name value. Not only that but they struggled to put together a really great feud (The Wolves vs. Steen and Generico was very good). The ones they attempted weren’t especially appealing to begin with (Necro vs. The Embassy, Delirious vs. Dutt, Bison Smith vs. Danielson) but completely fell flat with live audiences. They also bungled their hottest commodity in Tyler Black for the past six months or so, only recently getting back to making him look like a legit threat. The TV show struggled early on to really gain its identity for a while. Jerry Lynn’s title reign was pretty bad as well, which was only magnified when he was put up against guys who were much more popular than him. Overall things have been hit or miss much like in 2008.

ninjaskryzpek: Black Friday Sale. This whole year I waited to buy any dvds until then. Nothing made me HAVE to get it right right away, especially this boring title run.

Skaterock: 2009 was definitely a year of transition. The first few months of 09 caused many of us to lose some faith and question the company that we all love very much. Sure enough though as the months went on, the shows got better, the booking got better, there were more DVDs to own than skip, and things are really rounding into form. I am really excited to see where 2010 takes ROH, especially with Cornette in the fold and ready to help improve the company.

dropoutslacker: As for me, I really loved 2009 Ring Of Honor. In fact, since I’ve been following the company, I’d say that so far this was my favorite year of shows right behind 2007.

I’ve loved just about every one of the shows all year long, I’m not “drinking the kool aid” I’m just stating the obvious. I like how in between the big shows, some of the Friday shows would feature a tag match like Insanity Unleashed, really good teasers for what’s to come.

I’ve enjoyed the shorter length of a lot of shows, less burnout time instead of those 4 or 5 hour Supercard Of Honor shows. I thought Jerry Lynn didn’t get a fair chance as champion, even though he put on good to great performances.

I’ve found myself enjoying shows like Eliminating the Competition, Insanity Unleashed and Validation more than the other shows because I don’t have this “overhyped” great show thought in my head that comes with a lot of big shows. I just enjoy them for what they are, great wrestling action.

In 2010 I want to see more Tyler Black, a Roderick Strong title run and more emphasis on the ROH students like Grizzley, Titus and others.

scottiboi: ROH in 2009 and the new administration had to crawl before they could walk. But since June and Aries winning the title ROH has been running! The TV show has been a great way to exhibit the talent. Does it have great match after great match like live events? No but that’s the point. a new fan can watch the show look at the live event card and want to come see these guys against each other. Chris Hero and Davey Richards are becoming title threats and Tyler Black is getting back to that point. 2010 will be a great year if the talent can stay healthy and if we keep showing up. Let’s help ROH have another amazing year.

You can check out the full thread on the ROH Message Board for more responses and discussion here.

=Pro Wrestling Ponderings=

Madison Sanders: 2009 was a landmark year for me. Not only did I get a chance to go to my first ROH show, but also I got to go to a second one. The first one was Violent Tendencies (available at ROHwrestling.com) and it was unbelievable. I wasn’t disappointed when I left the fairgrounds that night. The co-main events were remarkable. I’d say if there was any first show to go see, I think the array of talent they had that night was what you wanted to see. I was disappointed that Danielson wasn’t able to be at the show that night. Little did I know, I wouldn’t get a chance to him in ROH again. However, Roderick Strong stepping in for him was well worth the price of admission. The good part is I was able to see Nigel McGuiness one last time before he moved on to kicking Kurt Angle’s ass all over TNA. Plus I got to see Ric Flair live. I did not get an autograph, but just to be that close to him was something I’ll never forget. That would have not been believable to me a few years ago. The second show, which is apparently called (wait for it…) Aries vs. Richards, did not disappoint either. This was special because I was able to some of the stars from other promotions that I normally wouldn’t be able to get a chance to see (Omega, Young Bucks, and Super Smash Brothers). I am pleased that ROH was able to bring them all to Detroit, and I was able to be there. The match between Davey Richards and Austin Aries was mind-blowing. Something unusual about the second show was there were almost as many people I was seeing live for the first time as people I was getting a chance to see again.

Be sure to visit Pro Wrestling Ponderings for all the latest on ROH, and all the shenanigans going on in the world of wrestling. While you are there, be sure to check out my column, “A Madison Moment”. New editions are usually up every Friday. Have a great holiday, and I’ll see you in 2010.

Kevin Ford: When Gabe left Ring of Honor in 2008, many fans were very hesitant to give the “new” Ring of Honor a fair shake. ROH followed up the booking regime with a good showing in Canada, an amazing disappointment in Dayton, a fantastic show in Chicago, an embarrassing showing in two new markets, and closed the year with a fantastic Philadelphia/New York City doubleshot. However, as most wrestling fans are inclined to do, they focused and complained about the negatives and barely heralded the postives. With Tyler Black not winning the title, Aries turning heel, the birth of the American Wolves, and Mark Briscoe injured, ROH was entering 2009 with great intrigue by fans and skeptics alike. ROH had lost some fans and needed to kick off 2009 with something big, Earth shattering, and colossal. Something to bring the fans back and make them want, nay, need to purchase every single DVD Ring of Honor put out.

Needless to say, the first three months of Ring of Honor were nothing but a slight whimper on the wrestling landscape. January and February were completely inconsequential (aside from their first ever HDNet TV tapings), March lacked any direction or substance outside of the 7th Anniversary show. April was crowded, as ROH ran every single weekend that month. The Wrestlemania weekend which always received praise from the past did not even come close to the predecessors of the previous few years (although, let’s be fair, some fucking great matches did occur, like Davey Richards vs. KENTA, Jerry Lynn vs. Nigel McGuinness, and KENTA/Tyler Black vs. Nakajima/Aries). The HDNet tapings were a success fantastic main events all around. The Canada shows were so lame that even when the two shows were cut down to one DVD, one match only stuck out as being special (the incredible 45 minute draw that was Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black vs. The American Wolves). The final weekend in Dayton and Chicago was also disappointing.

Then May came. With only two house shows, ROH put on a good show in Boston and a dreadful show in Edison. It didn’t help that Jerry Lynn told the fans to “go fucking watch WWE” afterwards.

Funny enough, it was after this that ROH began picking up some steam. The shows in June and July saw some excellent matches, with the debuting Young Bucks, House of Truth, and appearance by Lance Storm to make the shows exciting and fresh. We saw KENTA come in for a weekend, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black end their feud, and Jimmy Jacobs leave the company forever. Ring of Honor put on some good shows. They didn’t stop there! Their August HDNet tapings had some jaw dropping matches, including Chris Hero vs. KENTA, Sweet N’ Sour Inc. vs. KENTA and The Hybrid Dolphins, and a very good main event with Aries vs. Danielson. Danielson and Nigel leaving made September a special month riddled with fantastic matches. Glory By Honor VIII may go down as one of the best shows the company has ever produced.

However, there’s a problem with this. The fans still don’t care. Tickets and DVDs aren’t being purchased like they used to. People are getting free tickets to the TV tapings and choosing not to go. Why? Because Ring of Honor has led the fans to a state of apathy. The first third of the month was so uninteresting and inconsequential, that many fans left altogether. It doesn’t help that Ring of Honor has been putting on a consistently good product for the past six months because not enough people care enough to watch it. They had the opportunity to turn the fans on their heads with some great storylines, kick ass matches, and fresh faces from the get-go and they didn’t capitalize in the slightest. When they began to panic, things turned around and got better. But it’s too little too late. It doesn’t help when all their rivals picked up their game as well. CHIKARA had an excellent 2009 with many new fans jumping on board. PWG has an absolutely astonishing year with almost every show being a “Show of the Year” candidate. Former ROH Booker Gabe Sapolsky fulfilled many fans dreams by bringing Dragon Gate to the United States. Furthermore, his associates Full Impact Pro, AAW, and his new promotion Evolve seem to wish to enter 2010 with a bang. All the other independent companies have gained the money and attention they used to give to Ring of Honor by stepping up their individual games.

Ring of Honor needs to open 2010 the way they should have opened 2009; with a bang. Start with Final Battle, a show an unprecedented amount of people will have the opportunity to see live. This show can’t just have good wrestling; we’ve seen that it takes more than that for fans to stay loyal and feel they must see every show. They need intriguing, compelling storylines that makes the fans say “Wow, I can’t wait to see what happens next.” Ring of Honor also now has Jim Cornette by their side, the guy that many say booked the best television product for the better half of the decade in Ohio Valley. Cornette seems to be behind the company 100%. Hopefully the company utilizes him to his maximum possible potential to put out the best product they can. Hell, the first HDNet show of the Cornette regime was my favorite HDNet show ever. If ROH can keep this steam and compel their audience to stay with them or come back, they have the chance to stay in good shape. And I hope they do.

Kevin Ford is the writer of Contemplating CHIKARA for 411Mania and cohosts the PWP podcasts with the Jerome Cusson and the rest of their staff. ALSO be sure to take Kevin’s two awesomely fun quizzes through Sporcle: Name the Members of The Embassy and Name the Members of Sweet & Sour Incorporated.

Chris Gee Soon Tong: 2009 had to be the most mercurial year in the short history of Ring of Honor. You could say that the year actually began in 2008 with the departure of Gabe Sapolsky, at least to many fans this is what set the tone for 2009. But 2009 had much more to offer and as I re-read the results of the past year, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps it could just be the “in-the-now” perception that gave the events a lower perceived feel than if we were to subjectively look at them as standalone accomplishments. There were a lot of ups and downs in 2009 no doubt, but to say that I was not entertained or still very positive about ROH’s future would be a lie. I have always heard rumblings of the possibility of Ring of Honor closing its doors and this year the feasibility seemed even greater in the minds of the fans. Constant reports of lowered DVD sales alongside pundits saying that the ROH product was not what it once was at the hands of Adam Pearce were rampant. Some would even go as far as to say that the opening of several new indy federations may be that final nail in the coffin for the arguable #3 promotion in the USA today despite the fact that some of them haven’t even had more than four events, hell some of them haven’t even had one yet. OF course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my number 1 peeve of 2009 and that was the continuity of the DVDs, PPVs, and TV tapings. I do hope that ROH looks into the future to possibly present TV tapings faster to the audience, albeit I understand the likely hood of “live” ROH TV though it would seem that the dropping of PPVs for internet live showings could actually mend that issue. But despite that rather large inference of negativity, there were lots of good throughout the year. Events such as Steel City Clash, Supercard of Honor IV, Take No Prisoners (2009), Tag Title Classic, Manhattan Mayhem III, and End of an Age made the first half of Ring of Honor as entertaining as it had been in the last three years previous. Death Before Dishonor VII weekend for me started the second half and those two events are as great a double shot as you’re going to get in ROH. The action that weekend to this day are still lauded by some as the best this year alone. Of course a sadness befell the indy scene this year with the loss of American Dragon Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, but these two were honored during the Final Countdown Tour which practically took over the last half of 2009. I was able to see Danielson in Chicago on this tour and it was one of the most fun nights for me and my ever present companion. It sure as hell beat WWE’s The Bash which we unfortunately also attended, so to anyone who wants to say that Ring of Honor isn’t up to par with what it used to feel like, take this into consideration, do you really want to spend money at a WWE event? To close out 2009, Ring of Honor has some of the best events yet to appear on DVD as only the presale for Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown- New York recently came to fruition, loudly hyped as possibly the best overall show and there are still eight more shows to watch. I argue that despite the slow start 2009 had for some, that ROH for my money and my entertainment still had much to offer and hopefully will continue to offer in the future.

Chris GST is the writer of Strikes & Bumps and well as the man behind the Ring of Honor Live Journal Community.

Jerome Cusson: When I think about Ring of Honor in 2009, there is one thing that sticks out. Regardless of everything that’s happened, this is the first time since I started watching the company that it is no longer the wrestling company I’m most interested to see in 2010. At this point, it’s barely in fourth or fifth. PWG and CHIKARA have each had amazing years. PWG had great shows throughout with match of the years practically falling out of the sky while CHIKARA’s storytelling and attention to detail made up for some of the in-ring work that had something to be decided. Dragon Gate USA also put on two excellent Pay-Per-Views and by using some of the Japanese talent ROH once used, more luster was lost. ROH still had some excellent matches and some good shows, but when I think about this past year, the one thing that comes to mind is the fact that ROH is no longer the best independent wrestling company in North America anymore. As negative as I can be accused of being, I hope ROH comes back stronger in 2010 and realizes just what made them so special.

Jerome is the head guy behind all the great podcasts, reviews and columns available from ProWrestlingPonderings.com.Check them out.

=411Mania Staff=

J.D. Dunn: I think this really was a crossroads year for ROH. The fans started the year loving Tyler Black and anointing him “next world champ,” but thanks to a year of constant stop-start booking, the fans turned on him (which was really more about turning on his push). The feud with Jimmy Jacobs seemed to stretch on for years. By the time he was ready to ascend at the end of the year; the fans were sick of him and had moved on to Davey Richards. Many of the ROH fans seemed to lose faith, with many people complaining that there are no must-buy DVDs anymore. HDNet showcases great matches, but the week-to-week soap opera we’ve come to expect from wrestling just isn’t there yet. The wrestling is still fantastic as the American Wolves, Briscoes and Steenerico really carried the year, but ROH is becoming a promotion less than the sum of its parts. With Dragon Gate (and possibly EVOLVE) emerging as a great workrate organization, and CHIKARA and PWG booking great show-to-show storylines, ROH has to answer the question of why people should spend money on them in 2010 rather than their indie competitors.

J.D. Dunn is one of 411’s foremost and prolific reviewers of professional wrestling.

Aaron Hubbard: As a reviewer for ROH Wrestling on HD Net, I’ve had the privilege of reviewing some of the best matches this year for 411 Wrestling. With as many quality matches as there have been, it’s hard to pick the best of the bunch. Here’s a list of twelve matches that made reviewing the show a treat.

ROH World Tag Team Title: Kevin Steen & El Generico © vs. The American Wolves
I actually didn’t review this match for 411, but I’m going to include it anyway. This match was a Tables Are Legal match and it was terrific. The teams had history with each other that had been brewing for months, but thanks to Generico’s knee injury this was still a fairly fresh match-up. The match is the only title change on the HDNet Tapings so far, and I’m glad it happened because hopefully we’ll get another title change at some point in the future.

ROH World Title: Jerry Lynn © vs. Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson
No match was more hyped on the show than this first ROH Title Match, and it had to deliver. Thankfully, the four men got twenty minutes to work and busted out all the stops. Some of the spots in this match made my jaw drop and they whole thing flowed very well and built to the finish. These four great performers turned in a great match and defined the ROH Title for HDNet viewers. Even at the end of the year, the four-way stands as one of the best free TV matches of the year and one I’ll probably watch again in my free time.

KENTA vs. Roderick Strong
Both of these guys had fantastic years, even more fantastic than what they usually have. This has always been a dream match of mine, because the two fit very, very hard but have also have completely different styles. While the match was more of a scrimmage than an actual full-blown match, I still enjoyed every second of it and it turned out being a fitting tribute to Misawa, who passed days before the show aired.

ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries ©
I was very glad that I got to see these two lock-up one more time before Bryan left. They have amazing chemistry together and can always be counted on for a good match, and can also be counted on to deliver a match that’s different from their previous matches. This one was the Aries vs. Danielson TV Main Event, and aside from the fact that they were using their own offense, this match would have been at home on Smackdown! This was Aries’ cocky heel act mixing perfectly with the athlete and worker that he once was and produced a fine ROH Title Match.

KENTA, Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Chris Hero & The American Wolves
With the animosity between Steenerico and the Wolves and KENTA and Hero, this one had aggression to spare. Steen in particular showed a mean streak, spitting in the faces of everyone. Hero and the Wolves had a great heat segment that would make the Four Horsemen proud and built to the huge hot tag. They worked the formula to perfection and the payoff after the hot tag was off the chain. I actually underrated this match when I first saw it but it is really quite excellent.

Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black III
Looking back on this match after Final Battle is kind of bittersweet. Danielson worked so hard to help put Tyler Black over as the next big thing, and this match was excellently built to. Black needed a one-on-one victory over Dragon almost as badly as he needed the title, and this served as a wonderful passing of the torch. Unfortunately, Black dropped the torch, and a lot of the impact of this match is lost.

ROH World Tag Team Title: The American Wolves © vs. The Young Bucks
If the British Bulldogs and the Rockers ever wrestled each other, I have a feeling the matches would have looked a lot like this one. The teams have run neck and neck over who the top tag team of the year is and I was glad to see two of the freshest teams in ROH battle each other. This match showed that even without the Briscoes and Steenerico, ROH’s tag team division is in good hands. A very fresh match-up that delivered fast-paced action from the Bucks and hard hitting action from the Wolves.

KENTA vs. Chris Hero
Lost amidst the talk of how much Davey Richards has broken out has been Chris Hero’s improvement. Hero has finally got over as the Young Knockout Kid and not just a comedy wrestler, and it speaks a lot that I was looking forward to this match as much for Hero’s strikes as I was KENTA’s. While the match was marred with Eddie Kingston interference and the “Misawa Elbow”, it was still a terrific battle of strikes that was another in a streak of great matches that both men had this year.

Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong vs. The American Wolves
I reviewed this match on my birthday and it was one heck of a Birthday Present. These four have been the aces of the television show in my opinion, with their hard-hitting offense and technical mastery. This followed the psychology that a great tag team will always beat two great singles wrestlers in a tag team match. While not my favorite match from any of the four-men on the show, it was a darn fine showcase.

#1 Contender’s Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
These two teams have a lot of history and always had good matches together. This was of course no different. I put this match on par with their encounter at Driven and it was an example of what made these two teams so great. Considering that Steen & Generico are no more and the Briscoes may be WWE bound, I’m glad we got to see these two teams hook up one more time and show why ROH has the best tag team division in the business.

KENTA, Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero & The American Wolves
I think this match was a little better than the other six-man tag that was almost identical, but a lot of that had to do with there being more storylines going through this one. Bryan was about to leave ROH and Hero and Richards were on his list of opponents to face before it was over. Hero and Richards had personally been trying to get victories over KENTA in very stiff, hard-hitting matches. Strong and the Wolves had history going back over a year. So virtually every combination in the match was a match that I wanted to see. But it wasn’t just a tease for future matches, because the match itself was excellent of its own accord.

Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong
While there may have been a few matches on the show’s history that were technically better, there wasn’t one that meant more to me personally than this one. I’m a huge fan of both men and I was glad that Bryan put over one of his old rivals on the way out. These guys had incredible matches for the ROH Title and this was quite the reminder of the quality between these two. Really, of all the matches on the show, this was the one most exemplary of the ROH Style and how the company can provide matches that you simply won’t see on the other programs.

Aaron Hubbard is the writer of The Wrestling Bard and writes 411’s weekly HDNet reviews.

Jasper Gerretsen: There is a term in music, especially pop music, called the ‘hook’ of a song. It’s the part of a song that’s designed to stick in your head, to make the song memorable. The use of hooks in pop music has become so popular that for over three decades now the songs that make it to the radio have been determined by companies that hold surveys in which they expose the test audience to ten seconds of music to determine the commercial viability of new pop songs, compiling data to sell to radio stations the world over.

This term also applies to wrestling entrance themes. A good wrestling theme will tell the audience exactly who is coming through the curtains about two seconds in. This can be anything from a guitar riff to a sound sample to a catch phrase. The ticking clock in the first version of MVP’s theme, the drums and squeals for Shawn Michaels, the threatening Indian tones of The Great Khali’s heel entrance music, the approaching horses in the themes for the Four Horsemen. All are incredibly recognizable to anyone who has heard them more than once, and will instantly get the crowd in the right mindset for the upcoming match or segment.

When describing ECW compared to WCW and WWF in the nineties, Paul Heyman used the analogy of grunge and metal of the same era to the hair metal of the eighties that he considered those companies to still be stuck in. Part of Heyman’s counter-culture approach was giving his wrestlers entrance themes drawn directly from the musical tastes of their fans, bands like Pantera, Alice in Chains and Metallica. They managed to get away with this because they were too small to be noticed and because musical copyright enforcement wasn’t nearly as important in the pre-Napster era.

Like many other independent companies, Ring of Honor has used songs from commercial artists for its entrance themes, with wrestlers generally having the liberty to pick songs according to their own musical tastes. Ring of Honor wrestlers have come through the curtains to anything from Christina Aguillera (Spanky) to Weezer (Austin Aries) to Dimmu Borgir (Delirious). Many of these songs have exactly the same hooks and were perfect to get the crowd pumped. No theme is a better example of this than Final Countdown for Bryan Danielson. It might be hilariously cheesy, but Bryan Danielson made it work.

Like ECW, Ring of Honor was able to get away with using copyrighted music because they were too small to show up on the radar. All this changed when the company got its own television show on HDNet. Rather than waiting for the cease and desist notices to come in, ROH made the call to stop using copyrighted entrance music all together, both for the TV show and the DVD tapings. In my opinion, this has somehow made their shows just a little less enjoyable.

Of course, Ring of Honor doesn’t have a Jim Johnson, Dale Oliver or Harry Slash to make their entrance themes in house. Instead, they seem to be making do with anything from karaoke versions to fan contributions. Unfortunately, none of the new entrance themes have the recognizability of the old commercial themes. The few themes that are still easily recognizable are the ones that use sound bites, like the ones used by Roderick Strong and Rhett Titus. The pounding on the barriers just doesn’t sound the same, and El Generico’s entrance just isn’t as electrifying without the fans singing along. I understand why they made the choice to give up on these songs, but I really hope they’ll be able to do better than what they’re using now.

Jasper Gerretsen is the writer of That Was Then, Is This too?.

Many thanks to everyone above who gave their time and effort and their opinion for this column feature. Please do check out Pro Wrestling Ponderings and the 411Mania writers for more great writing.

=2009 Selected Reading: Columns about Ring of Honor and Independent Wrestling=

Let the voice of the people continue, with these fine writings from the 411 family of authors. Here is the past calendar year of ruminations and ramblings about ROH and the independent wrestling world:

[Alphabetical by Last Name]

Ari Berenstein
Column of Honor: Battle of the Books
Column of Honor: Ghana Slumdog Millionaire
Column of Honor: Lynn-ch Mob
Column of Honor: The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
Column of Honor: The List Issue 2009
Column of Honor: Special Edition: Danielson, The Desire for Success and The Damage Done to Ring of Honor
Column of Honor: Not Done Yet
Column of Honor: Leaving Ground
Column of Honor: Survival of the Fittest 2009 Tournament Preview Edition
Column of Honor: HDNet Taxi Cab Confessions Part One
Column of Honor: HDNet Taxi Cab Confessions Part Two
Column of Honor: Head to Head
Column of Honor: The Independent Stretch Thin
Column of Honor: The Battle Waged, The Battle Lost