Column of Honor: 04.10.10: Bang & Blame

Welcome to the Column. Thumbs up to those of you who get the reference in this week’s column title. I’m going to skip the Fave 5 this week as I didn’t really see that much wrestling (although I suppose if I actually watched WWE and TNA’s televised shows that I still wouldn’t see that much wrestling this week–HIYOOOO!). However, you probably don’t want to read excuses or information on my private life like having to attend Jury Duty which was slower than a Larry Zbyszko stall session or Hulk Hogan trying to lift his leg up to do the big boot, nope. So let’s get right into the honorable action:

=”Bang”=

There were four huge explosions that occurred during Ring of Honor’s “Big Bang” internet Pay Per View last week in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, the show ultimately ended not with a bang but with a whimper, apparently not out of choice but out of necessity.

The show was a mixed bag in terms of both the overall presentation of the show over the World Wide Web and in the quality of the matches themselves, much like ROH’s first iPPV presentation, Final Battle 2009 back in December.

Early reports have the number of buys as in the 950 range, although that could increase with replays and future On-Demand purchases of the event, which received huge buzz and word of mouth around the major internet web sites and message boards thanks to the unlikely return of Christopher Daniels, apparently released from TNA wrestling in the past week. Daniels immediately contacted Ring of Honor to make his surprise and exciting return to the promotion, pulling it off without any major leaks to the internet.

However, that number is currently below the 1,100-1,200 buys for their first internet Pay Per View show. The buy number is still way above what was needed to guarantee a break-even on the show, according to both Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com and Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer. However, it is also very much below the hoped-for total of 2,400 buys as stated by ROH owner Cary Silkin in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. ROH Executive Producer Jim Cornette also had very high expectations for performance of the show, stating in various interviews that he thought it was possible that ROH could have a quarter of TNA wrestling’s total television Pay Per View buys.

Cornette along with show promoter Gary Juster went to a lot of effort to promote this show within Charlotte, with television appearances and a push in both Latino newspaper and radio markets. They hoped to appeal to the Latino community within the city by booking Mexican luchadores such as Cassandro and Blue Demon Jr. It seemed to be somewhat effective (they made their presence known with loud and boisterous cheers of the luchadores on the card), but the total attendance for the show was only 837 paid (an oddly specific number considering exact attendance figures are almost never released), which had to be considered a disappointment for both.

Unfortunately, while the unique gender-bending act of luchador Cassandro was well received by all in attendance, he suffered a broken tibia during his match against Rhett Titus (scheduled to be Magno). Much to his credit, Cassandro continued with the match and actually performed a dive before heading to the finish. The injury will take him out of a previously scheduled booking with CHIKARA for their King of Trios tournament, where he was set to team with Los Ice Creams. Curryman (Christopher Daniels’ hot and spicy masked alter-ego) was subsequently announced as his replacement on that team.

There was an eerie moment of déjà vu stemming back to Final Battle 2009 when Jack Evans and Teddy Hart scrambled to make it to New York City amid a terrible blizzard. Superparka was apparently late to the show, which meant the lucha tag match involving him teaming up with Misterioso against Blue Demon Jr. and Magno (Solar was scratched from the show) had to be pushed back to last on the card. It was an impossible task for those men to live up to the all-out frenzy of action that had occurred in the two ROH title matches (and it didn’t), but the push-back ultimately ended up working out for the best. The customers who were not fans of lucha could turn off the show or leave the building, while ROH still delivered the promised match to the fans.

ROH has been looking to expand into different Southern towns over the next year, but the fact of matter may be that the current economic situation in America is having slower but clearly tangible effects on this generation’s independent wrestling scene.

However, that’s not to say that new customers are not sampling the product. I was flipping through several message boards during my experience watching the show live as it happened, and caught the comments and reactions of quite a few first-time purchasers of the ROH product. Interestingly, the response to the show from these board posters was almost universally positive and enthusiastic as it related to the in-ring and overall show experience. Every new purchase and every new customer is important for ROH’s modest bottom line and at the least they may have created a few new longer-term fans that will purchase additional shows in the future.

The show itself, while not perfect, was certainly worth the $14.95 purchase given it had three amazing matches that highlighted the best of the ROH wrestling style–fast-paced, aggressive and all out action (Davey Richards vs. Kenny King in a Pick 6 match, The Kings of Wrestling winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles in a match against The Briscoes and a Triple Threat elimination match for the ROH World Title between champion Tyler Black and challengers Austin Aries and Roderick Strong). In some ways, these matches actually felt like they belonged in an old school ROH event, further emphasized by Daniels’ return and concluding the show with a spotlight match featuring wrestler not normally involved in the company.

Unfortunately, this also meant the show length was unwieldy long, running almost as long as Final Battle 2009. The fifteen minute delay at the beginning of the show (which now well makes sense given the situation involving the luchadores in the main event) as well as a special bonus show during intermission involving Cornette, Bobby Eaton (member of The Midnight Express, Dennis Condrey was scheduled at one point but could not appear due to signing a contract to work with WWE in their Florida developmental territory) and NWA referee Tommy Young. The long show time treaded the line of burning out the fans both live and at home to the point of exhaustion, although there did always seem to be points of recovery for the fans, even in the main event lucha tag attraction.

ROH ran into trouble their first time out due to audio problems and break-ups in the stream of the show. There were definite improvements in both aspects of the delivery system for this second iPPV and overall the presentation came across as smoother, but problems were still evident (and given the limitations of the format may not ever be one-hundred percent fixed to satisfaction). The video feed through my computer slowed down several times, which forced a “restart” of the stream (GFL had the good wisdom to provide a restart button as well as a troubleshooting system for those who were watching the show through their service). Audio for commentary provided by Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak sounded leveled, consistent and clear, except for during Cassandro vs. Titus. The crowd noise so overwhelmed the system during that match that Kelly and Prazak came across as whispering to each other. That issue was corrected during the half-time show and there were no other audio problems to speak of. This time around they even managed to get three men talking simultaneously and clearly on the air during the ROH World Title match, as Jim Cornette provided guest commentary.

The philosophy seems to be for Ring of Honor to give as much as possible to the fans for these internet Par Per View showcases. However, even with a half-time show and deliberate breaks for video packages, spending four and a half hours in a row watching a wrestling show through a computer can become an exercise in tediousness after a while, no matter the quality of action presented on the show. The option is built into the gofightlive service that a customer can go back and watch the show as much as desired, but it’s difficult to turn away from access to a live presentation given the “need to know” what is happening as it happens. There definitely is a limit to the viability of these internet Pay Per View broadcasts in that only so many people will feel the effort is worth the purchase, although for now the number of buyers is more than enough to suggest that ROH should continue to run these iPPV shows. They make a tidy but respectable profit due to the low costs involved in the delivery system and that money will add up over time.

For more results as well as my thoughts and review of the matches on the “Big Bang iPPV”, check out the Instant Access report on the show.

=”Blame”=

“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels walked out to the thundering distorted guitars of Marilyn Manson’s “Disposable Teens”, providing perhaps the biggest bang to the wrestling system of Ring of Honor’s entire internet Pay Per View program. Daniels’ appearance caught everyone by surprise, creating a genuine “must-see” moment for both newer fans who knew Daniels from TNA and the long-time ROH faithful who knew of his importance as it related to ROH history. The situation became the talk of the TNA locker-room in the following days, as it became clear that Daniels’ days in that promotion were done.

It was just after Davey Richards declared himself on the hunt towards becoming the best wrestler in the world, having defeated Kenny King in an exciting and competitive match. The win launched Richards into fifth position on the Pick 6 ranking system and puts him on the beginning of the road towards challenging Tyler Black for the ROH World Title. However, the moment would soon be interrupted by blue lights dimming the Grady Cole Center and the familiar chords of music blaring. Out walked Daniels in blue dress shirt, vest and trademark sunglasses.

The crowd was somewhat taken aback to see Daniels on an ROH internet Pay Per View (TNA talent are not allowed to appear on ROH televised shows and that would likely include this format). Then they erupted with chants for Daniels, shouting out chants of “Fall-en Angel” and “Fuck TNA”. Daniels referred to himself often as “The Fallen Angel”, the iconic nickname he had for many years in both ROH and TNA. He claimed he was sick and tired of being “held back” (an obvious shot across the bow to TNA) and that he was back in ROH to prove that it was he who was the best wrestler in the world. He then challenged Davey Richards to a match sometime in the near future. Richards quickly accepted. Daniels then gave his “that’s the gospel” catchphrase and walked out and to the back, leaving a wake of proton-like fans buzzing around the nucleus of the ROH ring, no doubt talking about what had just occurred right in front of them.

Daniels was one of the three men along with Bryan Danielson and Low Ki (both now signed to WWE) involved in the main event to the very first Ring of Honor show, The Era of Honor Begins, February 23rd, 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Every great babyface needs a great antagonist, and Daniels served that function in the opening year of the company, feuding with Ki, Danielson and AJ Styles. Daniels was synonymous with Ring of Honor just as much as he was with TNA in those early days of both companies, perhaps even more so given the comparative roles he played with each company.

He was the very first top heel in Ring of Honor, flaunting the Code of Honor back in the face of the promotion and the fans. Daniels formed the very first heel stable in ROH, known as The Prophecy. They were hell-bent on destroying the tenets of ROH and rebuilding it in their image. Not only did Daniels enact a master plan to have Xavier win the ROH title from the first champion Low Ki, but Daniels and Donovan Morgan were the very first ROH World Tag Team champions in the promotion (he would go on to have a second tag title run in late 2006 with Matt Sydal / Evan Bourne). Daniels even “converted” Steve Corino’s sister Allison Danger to his side, thus dropping the first bomb in a short-lived war against Corino and his “Group”, but beginning a very long-term association with Danger as his valet / accompaniment in ROH.

The Prophecy versus Second City Saints in 2004 was supposed to be a longer term feud between the two top heel stables spurred on by Daniels convincing BJ Whitmer to attack CM Punk’s girlfriend Lucy-fer (TNA’s Daffney) and then revealing the plan after Punk’s long search for the truth about who attacked her. The Saints retaliated in a six-man match during The Battle Lines Are Drawn, destroying Daniels with a Pepsi Plunge through a table. What was only supposed to be a short-term injury angle actually became Daniels’ first exit from the company, as TNA pulled its talent from appearing for ROH in the wake of the bad PR from the Rob Feinstein scandal.

Eighteen months later, the dramatic return of Christopher Daniels at Death Before Dishonor III along with CM Punk’s ROH World Title win and heel turn launched Ring of Honor into one of its most well-remembered angles, “The Summer of Punk”. CM Punk had signed with WWE, but was still the ROH World champion and threatening to take the title belt to WWE. Daniels played the returning hero, intent on making Punk pay both for putting him out of ROH for all of that time but also to rescue the title from his grasp. It was almost a sure thing that Daniels would win the title at this point, but instead he and Punk fought to a one-hour draw at The Homecoming and it was James Gibson (Jamie Noble) who unseated Punk for the title at Redemption after his own eight-month chase of the title. Gibson would then lose the title just six weeks later to Bryan Danielson so that he could also head off for another stint with WWE. Daniels would continue on with ROH through the next several years while also achieving new career highs with TNA, including participating in the first three-way match between he, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles, and becoming one of the more recognizable names in the X-Division (still a very reputable part of that company, right before losing its luster due to being treated as a joke and an after-thought).

The beginning of Ring of Honor’s televised Pay Per View era heralded the departure once again of all TNA-contracted talent, including Homicide and Daniels. “The Fallen Angel’s” final promo at Good Times, Great Memories was a massive heel turn, mocking the idea of a “farewell speech” (it was actually Colt Cabana’s official goodbye show) and pushing his valet Allison Danger down to the ground in an act of cold and violent rejection. Daniels put the ROH crowd to task by claiming they made too many demands on the wrestlers and that they turned their backs on the wrestlers even when they went all-out for the fans. It was a fantastic final showing for Daniels, as his words not only had a very real semblance of truth (ROH fans having a penchant for quickly and almost without reason turning on babyfaces like Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli) but they were true to his “Fallen Angel” character developed in ROH over the years, delivered with conviction and for all intents and purposes would be the last time ROH fans would ever see him at one of their shows.

Little did they know that ROH would soon begin to bring back TNA talent for some of their non-Pay Per View shows, or that when Daniels returned three years later it would be minus his TNA contract. The fan reaction to Daniels’ surprise return last week was measurably large—the words Daniels said back in April 2007 long forgotten or swallowed up by the energy and the excitement of the moment.

The talk of the internet for the next twenty-four hours was how TNA could have released Daniels and how much they did not appreciate one of their founding fathers of the company. Here was someone who gave them one of their best matches of the year (in the reprise of the three-way match involving AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, this time involving the TNA Heavyweight Title) just a few months previously. Yet under the new administration of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, Daniels was jobbing to Val Venis, who had not won a Pay Per View match with any major company in over ten years (and who then promptly left TNA a few weeks after his debut), cut off in promos and squashed by Kurt Angle in a minute (when just a year earlier he was going full-tilt with Angle in competitive, twenty-minute matches on iMPACT!).

It is patently obvious that Hogan and especially Bischoff have their favorites, and that did not include Daniels, who signed with WCW right at the end of its existence. Unfortunately he injured himself in the ring thanks to an errant moonsault, which put him out of action with a broken neck until well after the fallout of the WWF buyout of WCW and ECW. That may have been enough for Bischoff to sour on him, but that was a full ten years ago. So much has changed in the wrestling business, including the physical qualities necessary to get over with the crowd.

Daniels gained the most familiarity and popularity by wrestling for TNA and ROH in the era after the end of the first “Big Three”. It was also clear that Bischoff and Hogan didn’t pay attention, didn’t know, or didn’t care about what Daniels had done for TNA before their entrance into positions of power.

There was the criticism that Daniels didn’t have the “body” or “height” to impress the new regime. That is a ridiculous assertion that is easily knocked off when the industry is currently a place where smaller wrestlers such as CM Punk and AJ Styles have made their mark and have become very over the fans, have sold oodles of merchandise and have become valuable name commodities to sell their particular company’s product to potential customers.

Another criticism is that Daniels is that of age. At 39, Daniels is not the youngest wrestler in the industry, but age almost seems a ridiculous notion to criticize when Ric Flair just wrestled for TNA and he is well into his sixties. Considering the new regime spent its first weeks using a storyline in which two sides argued over who would push the new and young talent in ROH and then following it up with introducing former WWE talents, age-ism just seems to be a politically expedient way to explain away what happened to Daniels these past four months.

Daniels was clearly not one of the favored talents by the new regime, but even so, it just appeared plainly foolish and ridiculous that TNA could treat one of their own in such a way—someone who sacrificed his body in Ultimate-X matches (risking his life to jump onto the criss-crossed cables without a net) and who was such a helping hand to many other wrestlers. AJ Styles often talked about how Daniels helped him out at the beginning of his career. He was the man who provided so much support to his peers and the generation after him, which included Homicide, Joe and Styles.

It is amazing to look at how terrible that “next generation” of talent is faring under the new regime, even compared to their shaky and unstable booking during the last three years wrestling in TNA. Homicide has never recovered since getting stuck on top of the TNA Asylum cage roof during the January 4th debut of iMPACT in the Monday night time slot. Samoa Joe was stuck in the middle so many other huge angles playing out around him, was set up as a challenger to AJ Styles for the February Pay Per View and lost an interference laden match. He then lost by pinfall to Orlando Jordan, who like Val Venis was a former WWE wrestler but was so far out of the spotlight that a loss to him made Joe look incredibly weak and lame. Then Joe was kidnapped by mysterious Ninjas and went missing for nearly five weeks with almost no mention of the situation by the commentators. He appeared briefly for a fifteen second segment on iMPACT several weeks ago and has not been seen since.

AJ Styles is the current TNA Heavyweight Champion and someone who has managed the best under the new booking, but even he is not immune to some quizzical decisions. Styles could have easily become the true face of the promotion to push to a prospective audience looking for “young”, “fresh” and “exciting” talent. However, just six weeks into the new regime he was turned heel and paired with Ric Flair as “The New Nature Boy”. It was a very uncomfortable and unnatural fit for Styles, but he has made the most of the new angle and has adjusted decently.

However, even though Styles is the champion, he hasn’t been presented as being worthy of the belt, with recent losses mounting against him. This includes being pinned in three straight weeks by three different wrestlers in non-title matches—Pope D’Angelo Dinero, Abyss and Jeff Hardy. The loss to Pope made sense at the time since he was a future challenger for the TNA at Lockdown, but the booking of Pope has similarly been muddled by an equal amount of wins and losses and the match hasn’t been actively promoted in the build up to Lockdown.

The loss to Hardy in particular was maddening considering he was two days away from being involved in a criminal proceeding against him (which has since been delayed until May). If Hardy had to go to trial during that period Styles would have lost to a man who could not return the favor to the champion when it counted. Hardy has not been anywhere near the World Title picture in the weeks since, thus making the loss superfluous. Styles, while maintaining a top position in the company, is not booked anywhere nearly as strong as he needs to be considering his role as world champion.

As Ginsberg wrote in his poem Howl: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving / hysterical naked”.

It is somewhat mind-boggling to see such promising wrestlers take their leave of TNA to head for greener pastures and that TNA does not understand the quality of talent they are losing. Since the new regime in TNA began, they have hired and released not just promising talents such as Consequences Creed and Cheerleader Melissa, but wrestlers who have proven their worth to the company such as Amazing / Awesome Kong, and Christopher Daniels. In addition, long standing TNA wrestlers Petey Williams and Sonjay Dutt were gone from TNA last year, and Shawn Daivari was released as well. In the case of Kong, she clearly wanted out of the company, and Daniels probably wasn’t thrilled with what his career in TNA had become (as evidenced in his return promos to ROH).

These are all twenty-first century wrestling talents who have been shown the door. Some of them worked for ROH previously and have resurfaced there to varying degrees of success. Dutt is now making infrequent appearances for the HDNet television tapings and Williams is still being used for Canada shows. Daivari is being given a chance with The Embassy. Meanwhile, Amazing Kong will appear for Ring of Honor on May 8th in New York City, while Daniels will make his first wrestling appearances for ROH on May 7th and 8th (although not against Davey Richards, who will be wrestling in Japan on those dates).

The question of course becomes: will there be more? Will other name talents either be released or walk away from TNA out of frustration? It would be an amazing (although somewhat unlikely) turn of events to see even more former ROH talent such as Samoa Joe and Homicide return to ROH on a long-term basis.

ROH’s use of former TNA talent is both understandable (considering many did work at one point or another for them either before or at the same time as their stint for TNA) and frustrating, because the move works in the same way as when TNA brings in former WWE talent. The new hires seem to fill in spots that other promising independent talent could take and then use to climb up the ladder of the independent wrestling scene.

However, in the case of Christopher Daniels, his return to ROH, for however long, is not only understandable, but it is of the utmost importance to plug him in high on the card. Daniels has the name value of being a TNA talent but also the longstanding history and connection to Ring of Honor. He also has many different and fresh matches available to him, including the match against Richards (which just two years ago would not nearly be as huge or as important as it is in 2010), new matches against Tyler Black, Kenny King, Kevin Steen, El Generico and Eddie Edwards. There are also reprises against the likes of Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jerry Lynn (who he fought in TNA) and Colt Cabana.

Daniels seems to be headed into a heel role in matching up with Richards—he and ROH are no longer fighting the crowd’s urge to cheer him on. However, it will be hard to imagine the ROH faithful booing him at least during these initial return appearances. The return of a founding father or important name to ROH such as Christopher Daniels is a moment that many long time fans have been waiting for and is an important indication to newer fans that ROH wants to continue to develop and to grow. His return now has helped to give ROH not a huge amount of buzz and excitement for the rest of the year. In that regard, Christopher Daniels was the true big bang of the show.

As of 04/10/10

ROH World Champion: Tyler Black (champion since 02/13/10, 2 successful defenses)

–defeated Austin Aries on February 13th, 2010 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Kenny King (Dayton, OH on 04/23/10)

–Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match in Phoenix, AZ on 3/27/10
–Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match in Charlotte, NC on 4/3/10

ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (champions since 04/03/10, NEW CHAMPIONS)

defeated The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) on April 3rd, 2010 in Charlotte, NC to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. TBD

ROH World Television Champion: Eddie Edwards (champion since 03/05/10, 2 successful defenses)

–defeated Davey Richards in the finals of the HDNet Tournament on March 5th, 2010 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. TBD

–Eddie Edwards defeated Colt Cabana in Philadelphia, PA on 3/6/10
–Eddie Edwards defeated Petey Williams in Mississauga, Ontario on 3/20/10

Pick 6 Series

Rankings as of: 04/03/10
1. Roderick Strong
2. Kevin Steen
3. Chris Hero
4. Delirious
5. Davey Richards
6. Kenny King

The Pick 6 Series matches currently scheduled are as follows:

April 23rd-Dayton, Ohio
(3) Chris Hero with Shane Hagadorn vs. Petey Williams

April 24th-Chicago, Illinois
(1) Roderick Strong vs. (5) Davey Richards

Christopher Daniels’ Back in ROH

Catch Up on the ROH World Television Title Tournament

The Art of Pro Wrestling with Colt Cabana and Sonjay Dutt

-Ring of Honor recently replaced their title belts. Here is how the NEW Ring of Honor World Title and the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Titles shape up:

-Here is how the card for April 23rd in Dayton, Ohio is shaping up:

ROH World Title Match
Tyler Black defends vs. Kenny King

Pick Your Poison Match One
El Generico faces Steen and Corino’s choice: Roderick Strong

Pick Your Poison Match Two
Steve Corino & Kevin Steen face El Generico’s choice: The Briscoes

Tag Team Challenge Match
The Dark City Fight Club vs. The American Wolves with Shane Hagadorn

Pick 6 Series Match
(3) Chris Hero with Shane Hagadorn vs. Petey Williams

The major scenarios for this show involve a “pick your poison'” situation whereby if Cabana and Generico wanted the Chicago Street Fight match against Corino and Steen for the next night Chicago, they would have to agree to allow Steen and Corino to pick Generico’s opponent. Steen claimed he was coerced into agreeing to the tag match on the Big Bang show, so this was his leverage play. Cabana will not be at this show (he is booked for CHIKARA’s King of Trios in Philadelphia on this night), so in storylines he will not be there to protect Generico. The match against Roderick Strong is interesting-as Strong is playing more of a tweener role and is more concerned about his future than the well-being of others. That means Strong will want to unleash the punishment on Generico in order to prove himself worthy of another title match against Black.

Jim Cornette saw what was developing in this scenario and decided that to make things fair, he would allow Generico to pick Steen & Corino’s opponents for the night in a tag match. If they didn’t go along with it, Cornette would fire them. So Generico picked The Briscoes, just off from losing the tag titles and itching to lay the beat down on someone, anyone, so that they can prove they belong back on top of the tag team division. This is a layered and intriguing scenario and should tell us a bit more about where each of these talents is heading in future ROH storylines.

Kenny King receives his first real chance at the ROH World Title on this show, which is a rare title match (considering the new booking philosophy of spacing out title matches) for a Friday show. King and Black have proven chemistry against each other, so expect a good outing from both although the chances of a title switch are likely infinitesimal.

-Here is how the card for April 24th in Chicago, Illinois is shaping up:

Main Event #1- ROH World Title Match
Tyler Black (if still champion) defends vs. Chris Hero

Main Event #2- Come-As-You-Are Street Fight
Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. Steve Corino & Kevin Steen

Pick 6 Challenge Match
(1) Roderick Strong vs. (5) Davey Richards

Tag Team Action
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Austin Aries & Kenny King

Only three matches announced but it’s very clear these are the most important matches of the two-show weekend. Black vs. Hero will be a chance for Hero to become the first-ever double champion and will be the first time the title is at major risk against someone other than Aries or Strong (I still wouldn’t expect the switch though). Cabana is back playing “Hometown Hero” in what will likely be one of the more violent and bloody matches of the weekend. Now that Generico has “flipped the switch” and has little-to-no problem fighting against his former tag partner, expect Generico to go full bore in this one and come up with some spectacular action and hits against the opposition. Generico can go in street fight situations, just look back at the matches against The Briscoes in 2007 or the recent PWG Reseda Street Fight against Chuck Taylor.

Finally, Strong vs. Richards is quickly becoming the “Aries vs. Danielson” style of rivalry in that these two will fight each other every so often and test out their skills against each other. In this case, the number one spot for the Pick 6 is at stake, which means the most solid positioning on the rankings list and top priority for a title shot. Both men want to challenge Tyler Black as soon as possible. The winner will likely be able to grab enough leverage to do just that—and for Strong that could be as soon as May 8th in New York City (if it’s Richards he’ll have to wait until he comes back from Japan).

-Direct from the ROH Newswire: Ring of Honor is proud to announce that we have become a sponsor for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Philadelphia! The first 10 people to buy wristbands to attend ACS’s April and May Happy Hour events at Mad Rivers Bar & Grille will receive a FREE pair of tickets to the May 21st and 22nd ROH on HDNet National Television tapings at the Arena in South Philly! ACS will also raffle off more tickets throughout their events in addition to other great prizes! For more information about the ACS Happy Hour events or the Philadelphia Relay for Life, visit www.phillyrelay.org.

-This just in from Lower Delaware, Delaware: After downing multiple shots of Manischewitz and Budweiser, Jay & Mark Briscoe are finally heading towards the Reseda, California area to participate in PWG’s Titanica show. Unfortunately, they are so drunk they are crawling on their hands and knees off the bar stool to get there. Look, they may get there in timeto fight The Young Bucks for the PWG Title and they may not, PWG fans, you know the deal. Cross your fingers and wish upon a star and maybe, just maybe, they’ll make it to the show, this time.

Lot’s of feedback to get to this week, including this comment on Aries vs. Black vs. Strong from last week:

I think maybe it’s too early for this match. It’s just too hard to see Black losing the belt this quickly. They needed more of a slow burn.

Posted By: Denton56 (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 12:43 AM

I doubt Aries or Strong will be the ones to take the strap from Black. Personally I hope Black’s retention means ROH is moving on from Aries as a challenger to the title so that the title defenses don’t become too derivative. Aries does have a feud with Delirious waiting in the wings to pull him away from the championship hunt. I’d look forward to a one-one-one title match between Black and Strong, but hopefully ROH does begin to mix up some of the challengers with other members of the Pick 6.

Berenstein, list the TV title. I know Edwards hasn’t defended yet, but he’s the champ, it’s an official title, why not? Wouldn’t hurt to let people know who’s got that strap.

Posted By: Ed Die Ed Wards (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 08:45 AM

You’re right and I apologize. Edwards not being listed on the ROH Call feature was an oversight. It has been corrected.

Using SDvR2010 as a simulator? that game is absolute shit and not fit to be a real wrestling simulator. Should have used Fire Pro Wrestling Returns instead.

Posted By: Guest#3574 (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 06:34 PM

Smackdown vs Raw simulations are retarded.

Posted By: Guest#9491 (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 07:44 PM

The simulations weren’t meant to be taken too seriously—they were just last minute add-ons as a result of remembering Wilcox’s idea from the news columns a few years back and having the time to actually do them. I was just trying to interject a small amount of playfulness to the column, that’s it and nothing more.

[Re: Cena] I know what you are saying, but what in the BLUE HELL would the fans do?

Posted By: Huh? (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 12:10 AM

That’s exactly the point—Cena called the fans on their bullying and as usual, with bullies, they backed down—some actually even cheered for him because they were “live and on camera and oh my god he’s coming this way!” They were marks who when called on it, backed down and crumbled. I applaud Cena as a performer and a person for standing up to such booing and catcalling over the years and not letting the pressure get to him. Oh and one last thing, I don’t actually believe ALL of Norway hates Cena. Just most of Alesund, Moss and Lillehammer—but they’re still upset over the 1994 Winter Olympics and the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan scandal. Cena is a huge fan of Tonya Harding by the way—BOO THAT MAN!

Shimmer already did Kong vs Melissa on Vol 16

Posted By: Cleavy (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 12:21 AM

Thanks for the reminder. I actually have seen the match and it was a bit shorter in length than you’d expect but still really damned good. I just hope either ROH or SHIMMER can book a reprise right now, considering both are free and clear of TNA and there should be a bit more latitude in booking the match.

Hey bud, your column is awesome and I’m a massive fan of your perspectives. I was at the show (posted a comment on Part 1 about my brief thoughts) but I want to add one more thing to see what you think. I met both Silken and Gabe this past weekend and I have to say the ROH boss seemed like a sleezy car salesmen whereas Gabe was super devoted to making his product come off well and wouldn’t sit down the entire weekend. What do you think about these guys at this point? Thanks

Posted By: Darkdan (Registered) on April 03, 2010 at 01:40 AM

Thanks for the compliments and taking the time to comment in the column. In my few interactions with Cary Silkin he was nothing but professional, personal and classy to me and the fans around him. He almost always closes out the ROH shows I have attended by going out to the front doors or foyer and shaking the fans hands, thanking them for coming and asking what they thought of the show. That’s a grand gesture that Vince McMahon never makes and that Dixie Carter only does during the times in which she makes appearances for TNA fan festivals. As far as the “used-car salesman” moniker? Its professional wrestling boys and girls—almost everyone involved has a bit of that quality in them. Not that I can begrudge it–they almost have to because they need to sell—tickets to shows, t-shirts and gimmicks, personal photos and autographs. It’s how wrestlers make a profit. It’s hard not to come across like a pitchman when by necessity the merchandise and ticket tables are right up front and in your face.

I think the main problem with the 60-minute draw is Aries just finished up a series of matches where he was out to prove himself in title defenses against Davey, Omega and Colt but now he’s just 180’d again to eing afraid of Tyler.

Posted By: Guest#8490 (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 01:12 PM

You know, that is a great point and something I have glossed over in my continual revisiting of the issue. Aries had wrestled some flat-out fantastic title defenses against Richards and Omega just the month prior to the title bout against Black, not to mention he had already proven he could defeat Black definitively since he pinned him to win the title back at Manhattan Mayhem III! The only justification I can see in terms of the progression of title defenses would be that Aries actually lucked out in retaining the title against Colt Cabana when he fell through the broken cage at Reverse the Curse in early December and so maybe he felt that was too close of a call and needed to wrestle anyway he could in order to ensure he never came that close to losing the title again.

Column of honor my ass, this should be the column of disgrace. No mention of the Nasty boys becoming the biggest free agents in the wrestling world right now. Nor no mention of Ahmed Johnson making his return to the WWE (finally) this Monday night. Time to rename this post.

Posted By: Vic Tomato (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 03:30 PM

You forgot Christopher Daniels as a “free agent”. Also I’m not ashamed to admit that Ahmed Johnson was one of my favorite wrestlers back in 1996. True story.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What the hell was that awful video? I would have been better off never seeing that. EVER!!!!

Posted By: Los Loser (Guest) on April 03, 2010 at 05:42 PM

Look man, I warned you before the video, didn’t I? I hope you have your eyesight back by now.

Listen, Ari, you’re a competent writer and everything, but please, PLEASE, stop telling us every time you ‘call’ something before it happens. Wow, you guessed some shit, you must really know how the business works.

Posted By: Guest#0733 (Guest) on April 04, 2010 at 07:28 AM

It’s amazing to think that I am criticized at times for taking things too seriously after reading comments such as this one. I was simply expressing my joy at seeing something happen that I predicted essentially the same way my friends and I shared those moments watching Wrestlemania live as it happened. I didn’t intend for my comments to come across like I was doing an “OMG LOOK HOW SMART I IZ” move. Just like with the SDvR ’10 simulations, I was trying to inject some light-hearted and good-natured moments into the column. However, if it makes anyone feel better, let’s burst my bubble. I did NOT call ShoMiz retaining the titles at Wrestlemania, horribly blew my call of Sheamus defeating Triple H and I certainly did NOT call Hart vs. McMahon becoming a ten minute exercise in patience. So there, I am now full embarrassed, ashamed and disgraced. I hope Vic Tomato is happy.

Head on over to TwitterNation and follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.

411 Buy or Sell gives us Gerretsen and Harris debating Daniels return to ROH among other independent wrestling topics.

Check out more of 411mania’s coverage of the latest ROH iPPV with Lansdell’s Big Bang Play by Play.

My Facebook friend Geoff Eubanks is Optimistic about Smackdown and he tells you why.

The 411Mania writers give you their top five Shawn Michaels matches.

High Road and Low Road on Jack Swagger as WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

That will do it for this week’s Column. Next week, a look at ROH’s best heel and face turns. Until then,

BROOKLYN!
–Ari–