wrestling / Columns
Column of Honor: 07.17.10: Fifth Year Festival: COH
Welcome to the Column. Though I began writing for 411Mania back in 2004 it was actually July 15th 2005 that I began writing a regular weekly about Ring of Honor and my thoughts about the world of professional wrestling. It’s been going strong for five years now, aside from a three-month sabbatical last year and the odd week off here or there. From the looks of things, the column is set to continue onwards and there are quite a few big announcements from me (both related and unrelated to the column) to come. Thanks to all for reading, whether it’s been for one week or since the beginning—and whatever your opinion of me, Ring of Honor or independent wrestling, I do appreciate it.
Since this is indeed the big five year anniversary of the Column of Honor, it seemed necessary to have some news equally major enough to match the occasion. So without further ado, I would like to announce the official launch of AriBerenstein.com, the new home for my writing, including original poetry and coming soon, poetry e-books for sale and download!
Of course, wrestling fans and Column of Honor regulars may need a little more incentive to visit the site than just poetry. So that’s why starting today there will be additional Column of Honor content available through AriBerenstein.com. It begins with Column of Honor: Reborn, a redux version of the first-year of my columns covering Ring of Honor and the rest of the world of professional wrestling. These are updated editions, edited for content and appearance. I’ve re-written or added to some of the features and improved the look and flow from the early days to more closely match the contemporary style of the columns in 2010. The first four editions of Column of Honor: Reborn (covering the July 2005 events and the Summer of Punk) are available through this link. I’ll be adding these redux versions several columns at a time over the next several months, so you can go back in time and read about what was going on back when in ROH history.
In addition, I will look to add some newer content about ROH and the world of professional wrestling. So, once again, please check out AriBerenstein.com and keep an eye out for more announcements! Your support and readership is appreciated!
Ring of Honor made the official announcement earlier this week that Glory By Honor IX would take place at the Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center in New York City on September 11th, 2010. Additionally it is the next internet Pay Per View available through GoFightLive, the second of four shows in the series that will emanate from NYC.
There are high expectations for this show, riding off the wave of positive reviews from the last iPPV (Death Before Dishonor VIII). That show presented four successful marquee matches including a definitive match-of-the-year-contender in Tyler Black versus Davey Richards. It has set the benchmark for the effort Ring of Honor can give their customers in this format, in much the same way that Man Up became a standard of excellence for their televised Pay Per View series from 2007-2009. The question will be if this becomes the insurmountable Everest that Man Up became for that era in the company, or if ROH can match the effort and continue the hot streak of major shows in 2010.
The one-hour finish to the first internet presentation (Final Battle 2009) came under criticism and The Big Bang peaked with the two title matches (the Lucha Libre tag main event was a situation forced due to travel complications). However, both of those shows had matches (Richards vs. Kenny King) and events (the Kevin Steen turn) that demonstrated the importance of these events. ROH has smoothed out many of its continuity issues by using their television tapings and house shows to lead into the major iPPV events. In many ways, it’s a similar strategy and layout to when WWE built up to its “big four” shows in the 1980’s (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Survivor Series).
ROH has certainly made it a difficult task to match or excel what they have already accomplished on these previous shows. Expectations have been raised given the success of Death Before Dishonor VIII. However, there is already so much anticipation, maybe too much, that this event will live up to the last.
It’s way too early to speculate about the featured matches for this show or if they can come close to the likes of Black vs. Richards and Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling, especially since there are six additional weeks of tapings for HDNet, six house shows and almost two months between now and September 11th. However, there have been major foreshadowing of matches involving Tyler Black against Christopher Daniels (the first of which was a non-title match that took place last night at the television tapings) as well as the much-teased and not-yet-delivered first-time Daniels vs. Richards match.
Unfortunately, the more time that passes between the latter match actually occurring, the more ROH risks this becoming a Samoa Joe vs. Low Ki 2 situation. Joe and Ki (now wrestling as Kaval on WWE NXT) wrestled at the first Glory By Honor event, in what became a neo-classic and early talking point for ROH as the place to find the best in independent wrestling. Eight years later, the match doesn’t hold up so well compared to some of the other marquee ROH matches that have occurred since then. However, its legacy as the match that made Joe’s name in ROH (not to mention converting many followers to ROH) is still intact.
Since the first bout was so well-received and well-remembered it was only natural to expect that at some point they would cross swords again. 2005 looked to be the year to do it, what with Joe and Jay Lethal (his protégé at the time) feuding against Homicide and Ki for much of the year. Lethal and Ki would wrestle for much of the summer, with Lethal being dominated by Ki while showing heart and fighting spirit. That feud led to Glory By Honor IV when Lethal fought against Ki in what looked to be the feud ender, a Fight Without Honor. Surprisingly Low Ki, the heel, won that match.
Then, an impromptu rematch occurred halfway through the event, with a face-off between Lethal, Joe and The Rottweilers leading to Lethal demanding another shot. Despite Lethal’s solid popularity with the fans, it was clear that what was left on the table (Joe vs. Ki) was the more appealing match. Lethal would win the second bout against Ki, but his popularity in ROH would soon plateau. It led to an ill-fated heel turn and a quick departure from the company so that he could concentrate more on his burgeoning run in TNA.
For all of the buildup to the bout, Joe vs. Ki 2 never came to be in Ring of Honor. Low Ki left in early 2006 after disagreements with the way he was booked. Instead, the rematch eventually occurred in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla during the main event of the All Star Weekend V Night 2 event. Joe won the rematch with the muscle buster.
The lesson here is that even though long builds usually lead to worthwhile pay-offs, when it comes a match that the fans want to see happen-it’s better to pull the trigger while there is still the chance of it happening than to never see it come to pass. ROH needs to get on the ball and deliver Richards vs. Daniels before it’s too late. Time is running out and for all of the teasing of the one-on-one bout, it’s unclear when or if it will actually happen-at Glory By Honor IX or elsewhere.
What is known is that weekend will be a busy weekend in the Tri-State area, with EVOLVE wrestling running an afternoon matinee show in Rahway, New Jersey as a part of a “WrestleReunion” event. The event has already confirmed the appearance of Bryan Danielson on the card. Danielson’s immediate future seems to be continuing his new run on the independent circuit. He has been booked for the Dragon Gate USA (wrestling SHINGO) and EVOLVE (Bobby Fish) cards for late July and now in September, including the September 11th date and September 26th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Ring of Honor fans in New York City and those ordering at home on internet Pay Per View should not expect Danielson to appear on Glory By Honor IX. It was revealed that the WWE no-compete clause in Danielson’s contract actually runs past the September 11th date of show. It is extremely unlikely Danielson makes his way to iPPV, as Danielson cannot wrestle or even appear on any promotion’s television or Pay Per View product during that timeframe. The best hope for any Bryan Danielson appearance in ROH may lie in a non-televised bonus match taped for DVD that occurs after the internet Pay Per View goes off the air (this is how Dragon Gate USA got around the no-compete—his match will not air on PPV but will be a bonus match for DVD).
Danielson’s future career decision is difficult to call, but his current availability for independent bookings is not guaranteed to last for any significant amount of time. He could just as easily re-sign with WWE or hop onboard TNA as he could stick around and continue his world tour of the independents. It is true that Ring of Honor’s success from a creative and financial standpoint this year puts the company in a position where they can “take or leave” booking Danielson. However, it would be an astounding scenario if indeed they don’t book him for any shows at all while he is still available for independent bookings.
Danielson has been deeply tied in with Ring of Honor since the beginning of the promotion in 2002. He was in the main event of the first show. He was one of the longest reigning champions in ROH history (third overall behind Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness / Desmond Wolfe). He was a huge draw for the company and one of the wrestlers they used to push the beginning of their HDNet television show. There is also a natural expectation that Danielson would appear for ROH since it was his most prominent workplace before signing with WWE. The fan demand for Danielson is certainly present as well. Given how important Danielson has been to the company, for him not to appear at all for the most prominent of all independent companies would be a shock to the system.
The announcement of Glory By Honor IX was not the only major ROH news that was discovered this week. Additionally, a member of the ROH message board named “fudge” found a page on GoFightLive set up for Final Battle 2010 (http://www.gofightlive.tv/showEvent.do?eventId=734), which indicates it will also be an internet Pay Per View on Saturday December 18th. No location was mentioned on the page. The board thread has since been deleted (ROH hates when this sort of news leaks out as opposed to their official announcement of it) and the GoFightLive page now reads “TEMP” in bright underlined yellow and “GoFightLive Boxing” underneath it. Interesting, but since nothing official has been announced, this becomes a “wait-and-see” situation…at least until Glory By Honor IX takes place, when ROH announces its next show in NYC. It will become quite clear then whether or not New York will place host to Final Battle 2010 and the final internet pay per view of the year.
After five years of ROH coverage and attending plenty of shows, there have been plenty great times, great memories and not-so-great times and not-so-great memories. Although technically my first live Ring of Honor show was At Our Best in March 2004,I’ve chronicled the action and my thoughts from each live event I’ve attended from the beginning of the column through the present. That in mind, here is a capsule summary of are some of my favorite and least Ring of Honor favorite moments, matches and shows that I’ve witnessed since 2005, the year that I began to write the column. These are my personal favorites (and least favorites), not necessarily the best-of-all-time, but they stood out enough to be noted and collected together here in this feature.
Favorite Live Show – Manhattan Mayhem I: One of the best top-to-bottom shows Ring of Honor has ever run, and it still stands the test of time. This was the first show in the New Yorker Hotel venue, so the unique nature of that debut show certainly makes it memorable to me. The intimacy of that venue and how everyone was so close to the ring and to the wrestlers really brought a one-of-a-kind intensity to every match not even replicated by other New York venues (though the Grand Ballroom comes the closest). Yet it was the hard work of everyone on the roster at the time that really brought it home. The interruption of The Rottweilers and the chaos they brought leading to the impromptu main event definitely gave this show a “New York edge” and an attitude that was compelling-the extra intangible that made this one a must-see and one of the company’s best-selling shows in its history.
Favorite Live Match – Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (Joe vs. Kobashi): 2005 was filled with remarkable matches, many of which I had the ability and privilege to see live and in person. It’s difficult to ignore the Bryan Danielson vs. James Gibson title match, or the Punk vs. Strong match at the Supper Club, or Punk vs. Strong at the New Yorker or even Low Ki vs. KENTA from Final Battle 2005 in Edison, New Jersey. Yet Joe vs. Kobashi tops it all, not necessarily just for what the in-ring action, but for the live atmosphere and experience of being there. This match and being there live was a truly religious moment—the over a thousand fans who packed the venue and marking out was the epitome of the live ROH experience and the highest of highs that were possible to feel as a wrestling fan. It was like the home team hitting a grand slam to win the World Series—it was that loud, that joyous and that special a moment. I doubt anyone else who attended the show will forget that night.
Least Favorite Live Show – Fate of an Angel: Not so much due to anything done by the wrestlers, because if anything this show became one of the better remembered ones in “The Summer of Punk” series (due to the Punk vs. James Gibson and Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Hardy matches). However, the building was so hot and humid throughout the entire night, maybe rivaling the Dayton Oven in terms of how much it took out of you just to sit there. I may have lost several pounds that day just packed into the mass of humanity. Even worse was that there were overhead ceiling fans in the building, but whoever was in charge of the building never bothered to turn them on.
Least Favorite Live Match – Nigel McGuinness vs. Colt Cabana (Escape From New York): Poorly explained and poorly conceived—the European Rules style matches were a disaster from the start. The count when someone fell and the breaks after three-minute periods is not how I like my pro wrestling. The presentation of this match did not endear me or any of the other fans to this style. Cabana and Nigel could have wrestled a better match if it was under normal rules. Future European Rules matches in ROH suffered similar fates.
Strangest Moment at a Show: The first thought that comes to mind is the moment when some fan shouted “You f**king suck Azrieal” during the three-way match between Christopher Daniels, Matt Sydal and the aforementioned “f**king suck” Azrieal during Joe vs. Kobashi. It came right as he was about to hit a huge move springing off of Sydal’s back to deliver a spinning DDT. That was such a disproportionate amount of anger and hate directed at Azrieal by that one particular fan and to this day it’s still baffling as to why he felt the need to vocalize his hatred for Azrieal. A close second would have to be the Shane Douglas promo at The Future Is Now that went horribly wrong and turned the crowd on him such that even Samoa Joe couldn’t help save him to save face.
Favorite Live Show – Death Before Dishonor IV: Being there live for the conclusion to the ROH versus CZW feud was a thrill. Itwas the culmination of a great invasion angle, but the true payoff was in seeing the interaction of the fans. It was truly a “Yankees fans / Red Sox fans” situation and the other side was the enemy. The live atmosphere was made because of the fans in attendance—from the back-and-forth of different fans lining up outside to each group choosing a side of the building to fill up and create a “cheering section”. I was on the ROH side knowing across the building was an entire section dedicated to cheering the CZW crew giving it just as good as they were taking it. The back-and-forth became a part of the story as much as the developments during the Cage of Death. Final Battle 2006 and Glory By Honor V Night 2 run a close second and third—they were major shows of course, but that just makes them that much more enjoyable to attend.
Favorite Live Match – Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (Glory By Honor V Night 2): Another bout helped by the atmosphere of the fans, as Danielson’s title run was very much in jeopardy and KENTA was clearly on the attack and ready to win. Being there front row, I could clearly see the thunderous impact being made onto Danielson’s body with every one of KENTA’s kicks. It was impressive to say the least.
Favorite Live Post-Match Moment- Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide (Final Battle 2006): One of the best victory parties ever—EVER! The New York fans were jumping for joy, hooting and hollering and chanting for their hometown boy finally coming through and winning the ROH World Title. There were people even hugging Homicide! It was another home-team-wins-the-pennant situation and it will go down as one of the most exhilarating moments in ROH history.
Least Favorite Live Show – How We Roll: From seating problems to weird people sitting around us getting into fights with other weird people sitting around us to an overall very weak card, this show was not a lot of fun to attend. Yes it was great to see Christopher Daniels and Christian (Cage) live and in person, yes it was fun to see Colt Cabana yuck it up with Captain Charisma and yes it was fun to see Danielson shake his head at everything, but not much else. The Long Island shows had large crowds, but not much enthusiasm or interest. It made for a lousy live atmosphere that mostly made me wish that the end of the show would come as quickly as possible.
Least Favorite Live Match -Jake Crist vs. Marcos / Ricky Reyes vs. Dave Crist (In Your Face- June 2006): what a strange and heady back-to-back combination of matches this turned out to be. They were so awful tone was left off the DVD entirely and the other thoroughly edited. Trust me; ROH did the DVD-purchasing customers a favor, because it was a chore to make it through these bouts, more so than even the some of the undercard matches from the doldrums of ’08-’09.
Strangest Moment at a Show: When Steve Corino convinced a rotund fan to take his shirt off at Fight of the Century in mid-August of that year. It still gives me nightmares sometimes. How and why did he even get the guy to do it?
Favorite Live Show – Respect is Earned: Although I don’t know if Ring of Honor should repeat this experiment there was something to say for the excitement of going into this show blind. The matches weren’t known, or the order, or what if any titles would be up for grabs during the show. All the fans knew was that this was the first Ring of Honor Pay Per View event and it was the dawn of something new and possibly very crucial to the future of the company. That’s all the New York fans needed to electrify the arena and get into the show. The results were a mixed bag of action in the ring, but a plethora of memorable moments: The return of Bryan Danielson and his involvement in the main event feud with Morishima and McGuinness; The Briscoes putting the belts up in a fast-paced and thrilling battle against Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne); Steen and Generico running through the crowd and beating up all of the students and security. It all added up to an evening where the whole was more than its parts.
Favorite Live Match -Danielson vs. Morishima (Manhattan Mayhem II) : In 2007, it was difficult to imagine a situation where Bryan Danielson would be the underdog, but here it was against the larger, more powerful and dominating presence of Takeshi Morishima, at the time cruising as the ROH World Champion. It was crazy to watch Danielson use his “rope-a-dope” strategy…and to see that it had dividends! Of course, Morishima would fight back, corner Danielson and smash him into pieces (legitimately-the broken orbital bone wasn’t obvious to those live, but it was clear something had gone wrong somewhere for Dragon). It may have actually been this match that Danielson consecrated his presence in ROH as the folk hero people proclaimed that he was, both before and after his effort here.
Least Favorite Live Show – Battle of the Icons: As I’ve written about several times over the past five years, the Edison, New Jersey crowd was at its worst and most apathetic during this show. They had been a mixed bag in previous shows, but I don’t believe there ever was a greater confluence of weird and out-there fans combined with those who just couldn’t care one iota than this show in January 2007.
Least Favorite Live Match – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Age of the Fall (Glory By Honor VI Night 2): BOTH of them. First of all the disqualification finish in the one-minute match third from the bottom on the show (which nearly caused a riot among the fans) and then the heatless, overdone and difficult to watch street fight that was the main event of the show over the New York City appearance of the late Mitsuhara Misawa. Just really poor booking decisions about the end to the first match and the placement of the second led to some very difficult moments to sit-through. Fans would have been better off just leaving after the Misawa vs. KENTA bout.
Strangest Moment at a Show: The Grannies versus Julius Smokes at Battle of the Icons in January of that year. No doubt about it—this was the stuff of “you had to see it to believe it”. The septuagenarian grannies engaging in a verbal war of words against Julius Smokes during the main event title match face-off between Samoa Joe and Homicide—simply surreal. Funny? Undoubtedly, yes. Unbelievably poor timing? Oh, absolutely.
Favorite Live Show – Death Before Dishonor VI: It’s easy to remember this show for the Hammerstein Ballroom losing their mind for Tyler Black nearly winning the ROH World Title and for Brent Albright coming through and winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title. However, this was actually my first show downstairs at The Hammerstein, having missed A New Level in May. I was treated to a dead center view of ringside via the first balcony…and it was awesome.
Favorite Live Match – Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima (Final Battle 2008): Another centering view from the first balcony, made even better by being able to see Bryan Danielson’s leap onto Morishima while taking in the emotion and volume of the crowd singing along to “The Final Countdown”. The match rock and rolled from there—and it was an awesome experience to see Danielson go at it against Morishima, bloodied up and still standing, waiting to take the blows and give it right back to him.
Least Favorite Live Show – Not Applicable: I only attended three shows live and in person in 2008, the least amount I’d seen since 2004. None of the shows I went to deserve to be listed here.
Least Favorite Live Match – Chris Hero vs. Delirious (Death Before Dishonor VI) : It was my favorite show, but also my least favorite live match—I just felt it was too slow a pace and not nearly up to the standards of their capabilities.
Strangest Moment at a Show: The guy in the El Generico mask on the balcony for the Hammerstein Ballroom shows / Austin Aries punches a fan who goes after him, Paul Turner beats down his friend (Final Battle 2008). It takes a lot of guts (or something) to wear a Generico mask and cape, but there was this faithful Generico fan in attendance at the Hammerstein Ballroom shows that would make the rounds and do exactly that. It also takes a lot of guts and a hell of a lot of stupidity to go after the wrestlers. They WILL beat you down without a moment’s hesitation if you cross that line. Some stupid guy decided to cross Aries, and he got beat up for his troubles. Then the guy’s buddy decided to stick his nose in it, but referee Paul Turner handled him! Turner’s efforts have become legendary and have spawned chants of “Next World Champ” whenever ROH runs in New York City.
Favorite Live Show – Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown: Obviously the farewell to Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness was notable for its historical meaning, but also because it was a celebration of both men and their talents. The show also had Ladder War II (see below) and the return of Jim Cornette, but I actually found the undercard and the first half to be my favorite parts of the event.
Favorite Live Match -Ladder War II: American Wolves vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown) : Just pure craziness to see all four men take some of the stuff in this match, and for Edwards to wrestle with that broken arm. Since I was on the floor as opposed to the balcony, the volume of all the bumps was turned way up—and that really upped the impression that was made.
Least Favorite Live Show – 7th Anniversary Show: I don’t think the undercard lived up to the expectations—including Jerry Lynn matched up with Mike Quackenbush. Colt Cabana’s return woke up the crowd and the Wolves vs. Steenerico bout was inspired, but everything else seemed deadened, from the crowd reactions to the entrance music. Nigel and KENTA pulled out a miracle of a solid title match considering the injury factor. However, I did walk away from this event feeling it didn’t quite satisfy like it should have—and that is the story of ROH in 2009 for some.
Least Favorite Live Match – Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Rave (Manhattan Mayhem III) : Just pure torture to sit through. A horrendously done match equaled by a tortuously long post-match beat-down on Necro Butcher than went on FOREVER with no one coming out to help Necro until Colt stopped eating his Knish enough to waltz down and (eventually) stop it. No wonder Necro eventually joined up with The Embassy—he certainly didn’t have any friends on that night. This match is proof that I don’t think everything ROH does turns to gold.
Strangest Moment at a Show: The “Twinkies Match” at Glory By Honor VIII. This became the equivalent of an Austin Powers joke in that it became funnier the more people said the word, then it stopped being funny but people still said it, then it became annoying, then insufferable and then really funny again. Runner-up goes to Manhattan Mayhem III and the ace crack-shot who came up with the policy of having attendees leave their umbrellas at the door and then placing them all randomly and haphazardly on tables at the end of the show. The crowd at the end of the show trying to find their umbrellas (when a good one-third of them were the crappy, dime-store generic kind) was insane. Dumb decision.
Favorite Live Show – Supercard of Honor V / 8th Anniversary Show (tie): Hate to go with the copout here, but both of these shows were very enjoyable live experiences and really demonstrate the comeback year ROH has undergone. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to excuse the disqualification finish to Kings of Wrestling vs. Motor City Machine Guns, but the rest of that match was so excellent and the card so stacked with enjoyable matches that the show as a whole overcomes that hiccup. The same can be said of the DQ finish to Cabana vs. Steen at the Anniversary Show. That card was so well built and solid, leading up to the title change that it is an unqualified success. I greatly enjoyed attending both of the Grand Ballroom events this year. They helped to remind me of why I was a fan of the promotion in the first place.
Favorite Live Match -Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries (8th Anniversary Show): Not only was this another live moment that had people caught totally absorbed into the event as it was happening (like being in the middle of the Nigel McGuinness tug of war at Final Battle 2007 or Ladder War 2), but it gave me some personal satisfaction to see and to hear the New York crowd go from being sixty-percent against Tyler Black to being one-hundred percent in support of him in the moments leading up to him winning the title.
Least Favorite Live Show – Not Applicable
Least Favorite Live Match – No Rules: Eddie Kingston & Necro Butcher with Gypsy Joe vs. Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan with Prince Nana / Steve Corino vs. Colt Cabana (8th Anniversary Show): All due respect to Kingston for putting his body on the line with some wicked painful table bumps on the table that wouldn’t break, but this match was Necro Butcher’s tennis shoe-ugly. It’s hard to include the latter choice because the post-match confrontations involving both Corino, Cabana and then the one-on-one between Steen and Generico was pretty damned great, but the match itself was sunk by the beginning monologues that the live crowd wasn’t putting up with on that night, plus the body of the match itself was non-descript. When comparing that match to all the other great ones on either 8th Anniversary of Supercard V, this one is pretty clearly at the bottom of the list.
Strangest Moment at a Show: The elevator ride up to the Grand Ballroom was delayed by two people who didn’t understand that there was a weight limit and that they needed to get out and wait for the next one. The operator had to tell them several times that they couldn’t stay on, but they were “hard of hearing”. Eventually they did get out and wait for the next ride. Gotta obey the elevator operator man, man.
ROH World Champion: Tyler Black (champion since 02/13/10, 6 successful defenses)
–defeated Austin Aries on February 13th, 2010 in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense: vs. Kevin Steen (Chicago Ridge, IL on 07/24/10)
–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
–Tyler Black defeated Kenny King in Dayton, OH on 4/23/10
–Tyler Black defeated Chris Hero in Chicago Ridge, IL on 4/24/10
–Tyler Black defeated Roderick Strong in New York, NY on 5/8/10
–Tyler Black defeated Davey Richards in Toronto, Ontario on 6/19/10
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (champions since 04/03/10, 2 successful defenses)
defeated The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) on April 3rd, 2010 in Charlotte, NC to win the championship.
Next Defense: Ultimate Endurance vs. three teams TBD (Charlotte, NC on 08/28/10)
–Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin by DQ after The Briscoes interfered in New York, NY on 5/8/10
–Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in a No DQ Match in Toronto, Ontario on 6/19/10
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: 06/22/10
1. Roderick Strong
2. Christopher Daniels
3. Kevin Steen
4. Chris Hero
5. Davey Richards
6. Kenny King
The Pick 6 Series matches scheduled for July are as follows:
July 22 – Louisville, KY
(4) Chris Hero vs. Colt “Boom Boom” Cabana
July 24 – Chicago Ridge, IL
(1) Roderick Strong with Truth Martini vs. Austin Aries
-Evan Bourne’s Shooting Star Press Countered into an RKO was perhaps the coolest moment of the week (well, before we get to the Money in the Bank Pay Per View, where there may very well be loads of innovation in the ladder matches). The timing was absolutely impeccable and even more amazing that they got the move right on live television. If this were the Olympics, that would be like a 10.0 on the degree of difficulty. Sure, Bourne had to go under Randy Orton two weeks in a row, but really, he is positioned as under Orton so it’s not like being treated this way is going to hurt him anymore than it has already. The best part of watching it was to see the immediate reactions of all the fans on the hard camera side. All of the body language and mouths agape—the very thought in their heads of “Oh my God I can’t believe I just saw that! Did YOU see that?” Now THAT my friends, is what marking out for professional wrestling is all about.
–SHIMMER Volume 28 DVD Thoughts:
While SHIMMER 28 may not be match-for-match the best show from a technical perspective, it certainly is one of the most fun and entertaining from top-to-bottom DVDs in the now four-year long series. I enjoyed watching this show at home almost as much as I do watching live wrestling from the Hammerstein Ballroom. Every match had something that made me smile, laugh, feel awed, shocked or overjoyed. In that respect, this show had to be considered a success.
SHIMMER 28 also backs up the varied emotions and quality entertainment with some excellent in-ring action, including the deservingly hyped and heralded Sara Del Rey versus Ayako Hamada attraction match, a SHIMMER three-way elimination match between champion MsChif and challengers LuFisto and Amazing Kong, an intense face-off between Allison Danger and Nicole Matthews as well as a surprise gem in Cheerleader Melissa versus “The Rate Tank” Kellie Skater. These matches featured strikes, power moves or weapons shots that need to be seen to be believed—they are that visually impressive and in the case of Del Rey and Hamada, surely hurt like hell upon contact.
One of the criticisms I hear from some about why they can’t watch women’s wrestling, especially done in the SHIMMER style (borrowing a more real approach from its brother company ROH and its Joshi forebears in Japan) is that it’s uncomfortable or strange to see women beating each other up. Unfortunately for these fans, the above matches on this DVD are as physical as ever. Del Rey vs. Hamada is second only to the MsChif vs. Cheerleader Melissa street fight from Volume 4 as far as intensity and physical exertion. Cheerleader Melissa just about turns Kellie Skater into street pizza after smashing her in the head into the steel barricade at ringside almost a dozen times—each one more progressively brutal than the last. It looked like an amusement park thrill ride gone horribly wrong. Amazing Kong uses her Spiral Bomb several times in the main event to drop her opponent to the mat. Allison Danger hurls herself at full speed into Nicole Matthews in order to exact some revenge in spite of her real enemy (and Matthews’ tag partner) Portia Perez not being present at the event. These women do not spare the effort to have a physical wrestling match. As a result, those who love that style of match, whether or not executed by a man or a woman, will walk away thoroughly impressed and satisfied.
However, there were several matches early on in the show that had a more light-hearted tone, including the opener in Portuguese Princess Ariel against Malia Hosaka. The latter once again brings “Lexie Fyfe on a Stick” (i.e. a cardboard cut-out of her tag team partner) to ringside with her. In an amusing sequence of events, Malia pantomimes her desire to tag out to Lexie on a Stick. Ariel catches up with her and flips her back into the ring. However, Malia is actually successful the second time she attempts the tag, throwing the cardboard onto Ariel! The referee is helpless to stop it. Instead, he just goes with the flow, moment and counts the pin. Ariel obviously and easily kicks out and smartly reverses position and pins the cardboard Lexie! Hey, turn about is fair play you know. Anyway, Malia quickly puts a stop to that and soon the ref has had enough and EJECTS Lexie on a Stick from ringside! Malia throws a huge fit and another referee, PJ Drummond, pulls the cardboard and walks her (it?) to the back, all the while giving her (it?) a good talking to about her (its?) actions. It was simply genius physical comedy that had the fans in an uproar.
The crowd has some real fun harassing the team of Kacey Diamond and Sassy Stephie. They really pick on Kacey, who speaks French and pretends she cannot understand the fans. Well, they play that tune as well, heckling her because they can’t understand her either. Ashley Lane and Neveah also have some fun in the early moments, tricking Stephie into repeatedly doing a pump-handle on Kacey’s arm. Lane and Neveah play the plucky babyface role well (a far cry from Lane’s role in TNA) and their cohesion as a team and ability to put on a good match may be even better than when they were the SHIMMER Tag Team Champions.
Nikki Roxx defeats Wesna Busic in what is a surprising upset to me, especially since Busic and Melanie Cruise dominated Lane and Neveah on Volume 27. Then Daffney completes her heel turn, not by going “psycho Goth girl” on the usually bubbly Rachel Summerlyn, but rather going “rogue mentor” and bashing her for not being a good wrestling student. Their match ends in a quick DQ due to excessive violence perpetrated by Daffney, but that is actually very understandable considering this seems to be just the beginning of their new-found rivalry. The mean quip at the end about Rachel never improving is the final straw and the fans really let Daff have it. She touched a raw nerve with the crowd and its clear their support and sympathy is with Summerlyn.
Apparently there’s a “Tonto” Dance Party hosted by the International Home Wrecking Crew…and you’re not invited! It’s their prize for defeating the combination of Jessie McKay and Tenille .My guess is this is where the “Tonto” craze began and it carried over into Ring of Honor for their SoCal Showdown party featuring Todd Sinclair. Well, I don’t blame them—it is an irresistible little ditty.
There is some definite indication that the crowd is becoming tired about halfway through the show, but Kelly Skater and Cheerleader Melissa weren’t going to live with a half-assed crowd reaction. Melissa’s tour around the ringside helps set the tone, but the energy really comes when Skater dares to be stupid. Not only does she steal Melissa’s pom-poms and mock her with a fake cheer move, but then she has the absolute temerity to SLAP Melissa right in the face! She must have a death wish to be so brazen. The crowd immediately lights up with “ooohs” and a collective thought of “Oh no she didn’t”. This was a sure-fire way to take what looked like a severe mismatch (given Skater’s skinny frame-she only thinks she’s a “rate-tank”) and injects some drama into the proceedings.
After that, Skater and Melissa have the fans’ attention (and the DVD viewer) all the way through the short, but definitely physical match. Skater upped her profile through this match (and the promo that preceded it where she basically no-sold Melissa’s rep-won’t make that mistake again). Melissa roughs up Skater throughout, but it’s the repeated big swings into the ringside barricade that ring out most clearly. This moment needs to be seen to be believed.
As does the Del Rey versus Hamada encounter, which featured some of the most brutal hardcore women’s action to-date on a SHIMMER show. The match actually quickly deteriorates into a DQ call after Hamada gets the best of Del Rey so badly that a chair is used. However, the decision is made to restart the match under no disqualification rules. From there it gets even crazier, as the traditional steel chair and the ones with fixed upright backing (used for seating) are brought into play. As in Hamada and Del Rey not just throwing each other into rows of these things, but using them as blunt-force weapons and bringing them down on each other’s head—hard. YIKES.
It’s not just the weapons, but the physical hits that keep on coming here. It leaves the viewer awestruck and amazed that this kind of violence is occurring, so again, this won’t be the kind of match that appeals to all. It also isn’t a technically perfect match, in that some of the strikes are sloppy and a spot or two are overly telegraphed (especially Hamada’s take on a Van Daminator). Like with Richards vs. Black though, it is somewhat of a nit-pick to discuss it, but it also can’t necessarily be ignored. However, like Samoa Joe used to say of brawls, it’s supposed to look real and actual street fights are never “technically perfect”. Del Rey and Hamada are fighting it out every step of the way—and the suspension of disbelief created is never lost.
Hamada has some very close falls, including an impressive looking folding powerbomb. However it’s Del Rey who goes over (somewhat surprisingly) with a massive jumping piledriver that’s enough for three.
Another unexpected outcome is Nicole Matthews winning against Allison Danger, albeit due to a perfectly timed “Cheat to Win” strategy. Matthews enters ringside with both SHIMMER Tag Team Title belts (partner Perez is still out with the coughcough “Swine Flu”). At first it seems bringing out both tag team titles is only in service of stoking Matthews’ ego, but there is more at play. After a back-and-forth match where Danger is able to get out some aggression on one of her rivals, Matthews uses the art of misdirect to distract special referee Daizee Haze. She takes one of the belts and threatens to use it-so Haze takes it from her. While Haze is putting the one belt away, Matthews grabs the other and clocks Danger right in the head, allowing for the pinfall. It’s a major win for Matthews, who as noted in the Volume 27 review has begun to swim in deeper waters against the upper tier of the promotion.
Danger has been feuding with Perez for a while now but this was the second match of her comeback-and the first one against her rivals. The routine method of this sort of feud would be for Danger to win and to move past the roadblock of Perez’ tag partner, in order to get to the match against her main rival. This is a twist in the storyline, albeit not an illogical one. Danger is going to have to work much harder now to exact some payback against Perez and The Canadian Ninjas.
The main event three-way elimination match for SHIMMER Title also features a unique finish—Amazing Kong’s first clean pinfall loss during nearly four years in the promotion, stemming all the way back to her debut at Volume 5. Before then, Kong’s only losses were a disqualification call against her as well as a knock-out decision against Sara Del Rey (Volume 15). The match is shorter than one might expect for a main event, but it is the right call given it follows Hamada vs. Del Rey and the heavy-hands of all involved. Best to get right to it and let the wrestlers drop the big bombs to see who’s left standing afterward.
Kong handily eliminates LuFisto about four minutes in with the Sprial Bomb (which is how she also defeated MsChif during their last encounter). All three women were working hard, with no downtime at all in this opening period. MsChif’s big highlight before then is her flipping DVD slam off the top rope on LuFisto for a close fall. That leaves it down to Kong and MsChif, with both reprising spots from their first bout (Kong bending her in half with the torture rack). However this time, MsChif survives the rollercoaster speed and power of the Spiral Bomb. She uses her ingenuity to reverse a top rope powerbomb and hit the Desecrator from higher ground. It’s enough to knock Kong down-and-out for the three-count. The win was MsChif’s most impressive thus far as SHIMMER champion as obviously the first pinfall loss for Kong was an important and well-built moment in the promotion’s history.
It’s easy enough to give SHIMMER Volume 28 my highest recommendation, but it certainly earned it.
–ROH on HDNet Thoughts
Episode 62: June 21st, 2010
The show aired two days after the Death Before Dishonor VIII iPPV and as such it was a complete placeholder of a show. Inconsequential and absolutely not worth watching. Really, nothing happened, other than The All-Night Express getting a win over Jerry Lynn and Delirious in a long (fifteen minutes plus) match. That’s about it, really. There were some squash matches and for the life of me I can’t even remember who was in them. There weren’t even any clips shown from Death Before Dishonor VIII–that would wait until next week. So yes, this episode sucked. SUCKED.
Episode 63: June 28th, 2010
On other hand this edition of the show seemed to have something interesting or entertaining occurring in every segment. This was the very definition of “must-watch”, thanks to the efforts of Kevin Steen and Steve Corino, movements in several ROH storylines (the Necro Butcher heel turn and the progression towards a Tyler Black versus Kevin Steen rivalry) and two really good matches to close the show (House of Truth versus Up in Smoke and Tyler Black against El Generico in a non-title match).
The Steen & Corino segment has to go down as one of the funniest and most entertaining of the year. They pulled the Jerry Lawler trick of commenting over their own match, and well, the results really speak for themselves:
My favorite moment (and its hard to nail it down to just one, but I did) was when Steen takes his shirt off and Corino proclaims “Oh my god, HDNet, the divorce rate has just skyrocketed!” Then Steen calls out to a youngster in the crowd: “I’m your father kid!” Just, pure, pure genius. Also of note is Corino’s send up of play-by-play man Mike Hogewood’s catchphrase and Hog’s exasperated reaction to it all.
I loved that Bobby Shields just gave in to the verbal intimidation while Steen had the crossface locked (while still grasping the mic). Steen totally sold it to him that he should tap out…and then he did! Great job by all involved and I’d love to see more of this done by Steen & Corino. It doesn’t just have to be on the HDNet shows, they can do it for the house shows as well.
Necro Butcher’s heel turn was what needed to be done to salvage something out of a dead-end storyline that just wouldn’t die. The “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy is old, but it’s also tried-and-true and it worked fine here. Its believable (and also socially relevant!) that Necro wouldn’t have enough money to pay the hospital bills, so rather than keep on slugging along, he sold out to the guys doing him harm. I didn’t like so much the “Prince Nana was the only one who called me” line, because it exposes the babyfaces like Grizzly Redwood and Rasche Brown as heartless, which is likely not the intended thought you want to leave your viewers. It’s hard to feel sympathetic for Grizzley being set-up when it’s made out that he sort-of deserves it (though he does a good job pairing off with Erick Stevens here during the match, much like he did at Supercard of Honor V).
Rasche Brown’s save of Grizzley works, because it gives The Embassy the next protagonist to work against and also demonstrates that Brown is not so invincible—he needed a challenge in order to progress his placement in ROH and Necro will provide that.
Finally-the “crown jewel” robe actually works for Necro. However, the robe and the suit together? Utterly ridiculous.
Up in Smoke and House of Truth bring a very hotly contested bout—quick pace, flashy moves from both teams. I liked it. It was obvious who was going to win (The House is being built on HDNet and in the coming weeks will have a new addition), but how we got to that point was entertaining. Then Dark City Fight Club cut a cool little promo that parallels their team with The Kings (they fought on the next episode). It’s a different take on the team, hinting at their newfound babyface run that’s coming down the pike.
Finally, Tyler Black and El Generico had what I am now going to be terming an “HDNet Special”, i.e. an ROH main event style match that ends via disqualification, interference or a no-contest in order to advance a feud or storyline. In this case, both are rolling along, with Generico even dominating at the end, when Kevin Steen interferes in the match by stomping down on Generico and causing the DQ. Steen’s superkick is on the money and pops the crowd something fierce. Up to that point, both men were really rolling, with the highlight being the sequence where Black works his way towards successfully executing the leapfrog double stomp on the turnbuckle and then Generico recovers enough to throw his flip Van Terminator (sans weapon). The Ole kick to Pele kick right before that also worked well for me (Black’s reach on those is just so impressive). Despite the finish, this match (and the episode) is definitely worth checking out.
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Kevin Ford is running a special contest featuring CHIKARA and independent referee Bryce Remsburg in his CHIKARA Special.
Aaron Hubbard has his R’s of last week’s episode of ROH on HDNet.
That will call it for this week’s column. Thanks as always for reading and for your support over the past five years. My new website and several other opportunities about to come down the pike, so I’ll be updating and hoping you all come along with me on these good journeys.
BROOKLYN!
–Ari–
