Column of Honor: 07.24.10: To Squash or Not To Squash?

Welcome to the Column.Thanks to those who commented last week congratulating on the five-year mark-the support is appreciated. Five more years? Let’s start it one week at a time.

Results of last week’s ROH on HDNet tapings can be found here for July 16th and here for July 17th.

Last week’s Ring of Honor on HDNet tapings maintained the status quo for the promotion’s major storylines heading into the fall and the upcoming Glory By Honor IX Internet pay per view in September. While it is unclear what the main event matches will be (Jim Cornette stated on a recent radio interview there would be a “triple main event”), there were definite hints that it could include Christopher Daniels or Roderick Strong challenging for the ROH World Title against champion Tyler Black. Both of them were arguing about who deserved to challenge Black, with Daniels claiming that he proved to be at least the equal of Black after wrestling to a twenty-minute draw. Meanwhile, Strong retained his guaranteed world title shot (from winning the “Toronto Gauntlet” at Death Before Dishonor VIII) by defeating Davey Richards. This could lead to Strong claiming his title shot at the September 11th show in New York City (the scene of the last major Black vs. Strong title fight). It could be one or the other in singles action if not a multiple man format.

In the meantime, Kevin Steen continued his quest to teach ROH World Champion Tyler Black a very valuable lesson about his relationship with the fans, while also continuing to feud against former tag team partner El Generico and his supporter Colt Cabana. The Briscoes also continued hostilities against current ROH World Tag Team champions The Kings of Wrestling, leading one to believe they could be headed for one more rematch for the titles, perhaps under some stipulation.

The biggest news was the start of the Tag Wars 2010 tournament, with two matches reaching decisive conclusions. Both Dark City Fight Club and The Bravado Brothers advanced to the finals of their block (more on The Bravado’s surprising win below). There was also an angle where the disagreement between Davey Richards and Shane Hagadorn came to a head, with Richards essentially dumping Hagadorn and deciding he no longer needed his services. Richards and his American Wolves’ teammate (and current, but for some reason not-defending ROH Television champion) Eddie Edwards seemed to be cool with one another, although it appeared that Edwards did feel some sympathy towards Hagadorn. Their business together could still continue even though Richards no longer wants him around.

Programs are plugging along, which makes sense as far as telling coherent storyllines and wrestling feuds with a beginning, middle and an end. Very clearly ROH is in “the middle” aspect of many programs, advancing towards the next two major Internet Pay Per View events that could bring resolution to many of these programs by the end of the year.

Another aspect of the HDNet tapings continues to occur–and that is the usage of squash matches. There looks to be an average of one squash match per episode, though their presence was somewhat reduced in number compared to previous tapings.

The likes of Eddie Edwards, Colt Cabana, The Briscoes and The House of Truth went over ROH students as well as several younger prospects on the independent wrestling scene such as Mike Sydal (the brother of Matt Sydal, a.k.a. Evan Bourne) and Jay (J.) Freddie. Sydal has less than two years and Freddie has just over two years experience in the wrestling world, yet both will be featured in several matches on the television show in the weeks to come.

J. Freddie made his name in 2CW in northern New York state, impressing many with his work there. He has developed enough to where Davey Richards praised him greatly after their match which took place two weeks ago in that promotion. Richards said Freddie’s match against him was a test to see if Freddie was ready for bigger opportunities. The next week he was in Philadelphia for two nights of ROH television tapings (thanks to Mike Campbell for the information). It says a lot about a younger wrestler’s abilities to earn the praise and compliments from Richards, who is currently at the top of his game and on the upper card or main event level of many rosters around the North American independent scene.

Unfortunately for Freddie, Sydal and others, their appearances during this past weekend did not lead to any victories. Instead, they were used as “enhancement talent”, jobbing to the established and veteran wrestlers on the ROH roster.

Should these young wrestlers be jobbed out in squash matches? Is it ultimately detrimental to the likes of the ROH students and younger wrestlers to be shown repeatedly on the HDNet program losing in squash matches? Are squash matches even necessary anymore in Ring of Honor, especially for their television program?

Most wrestling fans know the purpose of a squash match is to highlight the strengths and superiority of a “superstar” wrestler through a mostly one-sided contest. WWE programming used to be filled with such matches all the way through the early 1990’s. In fact, today’s formatting of Ring of Honor on HDNet looks and feels remarkably similar to that of WWE Raw from 1993-1996. Those shows would generally feature several preliminary matches with a “Superstar” defeating a jobber, vignettes and skits building up programs and leading to later Pay Per Views (which ran quarterly until late 1995, and then monthly). There would be the main event featuring marquee superstars in more competitive matches, some of which had conclusive finishes and other times resulting in disqualifications or count out rulings to push an upcoming match. Ring of Honor is now using such a show format as their building blocks to their larger DVD shows and quarterly Internet Pay Per Views.

The Monday Night War against WCW necessitated that WWE provide its audience with a more robust, entertaining and competitive wrestling show. That meant boosting the quality of the wrestling matches and increasing the presence of “important” bouts with name-brand superstars matching up against each other. The number of squash matches per show was reduced and for a while eliminated almost entirely from their major shows (Raw and later Smackdown). Squash or enhancement matches were reserved for the “B-shows” such as Metal, Jakked, Velocity, Heat or more recently the newest incarnation of the WWE Superstars program.

In recent years, WWE has reintroduced and occasionally sprinkled in squash matches into their main programming, but for the most part they have continued to stay away from them in favor of matching up the name wrestlers against each other. Contrast that to Ring of Honor’s program on HDNet, which has not shied away from using squash matches. Through the eighteen-month run there have been one or two such matches per episode, on average.

Nowadays, when there is a “jobber match” on television, it seems to take on the atmosphere of being unwanted and unnecessary. My impression from match reports and crowd reactions from these shows is that generally there is an increasing lack of patience for squashes, wanting there to be more “marquee” offerings on the show.

Ring of Honor has built a reputation over the years based on in-ring excellence in the ring and the promise of a superior wrestling product. When selling the dedicated and committed ROH fan on a new live show and its eventual DVD release, the presence of squash matches, or even readily apparent one-sided domination somewhat dilutes the selling point and the reasons to purchase these shows.

A favorable comparison may be found in the music industry. Music listeners are looking for great albums chock-full of quality songs (“singles”, “hits” or epic tracks). An album with too many bad songs can weigh down the value of purchasing an album, especially in a culture where the physical product has been rendered obsolete to some degree. it is very easy to download music by the song, whether through legitimate purchase or illegal download. Ring of Honor currently does not give fans the ability to order “a la carte”, but their customers do weigh the worth of purchasing a house show DVD by the number of quality matches found on a given show. There are wastelands of threads on many forums over the last eight years discussing the most important and worthwhile ROH shows that newer or ongoing fans to purchase. Invariably, the suggestions are the shows with the “biggest hits”–the better matches and the ones that deliver the most “bang for your buck” (no pun intended or directed at the former Young Bucks).

If that seems unfair, it’s still nonetheless true. Yes, not every match can be a home-run, four-star plus quality match, just as not every song by a musician can be their biggest and best number; However, ROH has been known to put on shows filled to the brim with such high quality matches. There is far more reason to purchase a show that is consistently a cut above in terms of quality and action such as a Supercard of Honor V or Death Before Dishonor VIII as compared to a show with a less competitive card such as CIvil Warfare or Buffalo Stampede 2 (which will actually be bundled in with the Death Before Dishonor DVD set).

The differences between the former and the latter shows are the number of competitive matches compared to the number of “squash” matches. Supercard had one match that on paper appeared to be one-sided (Erick Stevens vs. Grizzley Redwood) and it actually was far more competitive than one would have expected. Death Before Dishonor VIII had no squash matches and only one match that had an obvious result (All-Night Express versus Cheech and Cloudy) that was nonetheless entertaining and presented a competitive, back-and-forth battle between the two tag teams. The first five matches of Buffalo Stampede 2 are either squash matches featuring a regular ROH performer against a non-regular, or ones containing an easily predicted result. It’s not a very good selling point when half of the show is built in that manner.

Ring of Honor does not charge the fans directly for their HDNet show, but it is not a “free show” either (unless you are watching it through the ROHBrazil YouTube channel or other sources, but that’s not transmitted or officially condoned by ROH or HDNet). Customers pay for a subscription to the HDNet channel. Some ROH fans have changed cable or satellite systems in order to be able to do watch the show. So while it may not appear on the surface that the squash matches on the television show are depriving their customers (and fans) of any intrinsic value, they are actually giving the customer matches of far less quality than what is possible and what should be expected as a customer for that pay channel.

Now, let’s not get too carried away with the notion that a squash match can’t provide some sort of intrinsic value or worth, much less that it somehow cannot be a source of entertainment in its own right.

Squash matches have many purposes for a wrestling company, and they have a place in the overall scheme of a wrestling show. It may be that these kinds of matches are needed in order to introduce a new talent or reintroduce a wrestler under a different gimmick. The promotion may want to push a certain talent, but to do so slowly and in a naturally progressive manner.The squash match, pitting said wrestler against an unknown or “average joe wrestler” is a quick and relatively painless method of giving this prospective new superstar wrestler a good head start in making a name. These matches give the wrestler the opportunity to spotlight their abilities and specialities. They show both the fans and the promoter what he or she has as far as talent and potential for usage in future programs. It also gives the wrestler an easy win without putting him or her over any of the established roster. This helps to avoid or deflate a “too much, too soon” reaction from the fans in case they don’t “buy” that this wrestler would be able to defeat the more well-known and accepted opponent.

It made sense to include squash matches at the beginning of the Ring of Honor on HDNet television series involving the top-line ROH wrestlers because it was the start of something new for the promotion. ROH wrestling was not a new product to its hardcore audience, but they would be virtual unknowns to the prospective new viewers who would be added on through HDNet. ROH began to mix “top-line” main events that adhered to the core ROH style, such as Bryan Danielson against Austin Aries in episode three, while also featuring the mid-card talent in squash matches to demonstratethat the audience should be paying closer attention to a select group of wrestlers over others. For example, The American Wolves utterly decimated Orange Cassidy and Leslie Butterscotch in a squash match early on in the show’s history, thus putting the audience “on notice” about their act.

In the case of The American Wolves, they were pushed as a duo to be feared, obviously gearing them up for a tag title run (or at least featured title match) against then-champions Kevin Steen and El Generico. The latter were also introduced and given several matches where they won. However, they were not dominating the competition, but rather pulling out the win in somewhat competitive bouts that would showcase their heart and determination as champions.

The problem with using squash matches for this reason, now nearly a year and a half into the run on HDNet is that at this point the talent has been properly introduced and many are familiar to the viewing audience. Yet Kevin Steen and The Briscoes, for instance, were still featured in squash matches on the latest set of tapings. Do we really need to see The Briscoes beating up on “nobodies” when we already know of their reputation as a bunch of bad-ass ass-kickers? It’s seems redundant and repetitive, especially for any ROH fan who has watched and followed the product for a decent period of time.On the other hand, it makes sense for ROH to use squash matches whenever debuting new or returning talent appearing on HDNet for the first time, such as when “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown made his debut in late 2009 and when Steve Corino returned to ROH after a long absence.

A squash can also be very entertaining on its own particular merits, especially with the right wrestlers doing the squashing. When it comes right down to it, professional wrestling is the performance and depiction of physical violence. There is nothing more pure and possessing of the essence of violence as a thorough and vicious professional wrestling squash match. It is the equivalent of watching a rout during a ballgame-unrelentingly simple yet clear and definitive. One person is the superior of the other. The audience knows it, the participants know it–and nonetheless, it must be seen through to its inevitable conclusion. Along with that comes the “Fight Club” effect–sometimes people just want to see one person beat the ever-loving crap out of another person. Wrestling squash matches deliver that in spades.

Case in point, squash matches which have involved Dark City Fight Club or “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown. These bouts entertained the audience through the unrestrained domination of the team or wrestler. In truth, their particular brand of violence and destruction was compelling and quite entertaining to see. Their overwhelming beatdown of opponents demonstrates the wrecking ball mentality. These decisive matches were reminiscent of the ass-kicking efforts delivered by the Road Warriors, Demolition, The Steiners and other countless dominating tag teams. The short match length of these squashes meant they were innocuous and didn’t wear out their welcome. It was also just pain fun to see, for example, Jon Davis pouncing the hell out of someone or Rasche Brown bringing the pain with his flipping spear or burning hammer moves.

However, eventually the squashes had to end and ROH had to move these talents onto bigger and better things–namely more involved programs and feuds. That wouldn’t have been possible if they continued to spend their time on HDNet squashing the ROH student squad.

Then there are the variations on the theme, which give the squash match some color and variety. Kevin Steen’s recent showcase against Bobby Shields was especially worthwhile television viewing because of the added-dimension of Steen and his mentor Corino providing their own commentary to the beating. This was an old Jerry Lawler trick, but it remains entertaining even in 2010, thus proving that yes, sometimes oldies can still be goodies in professional wrestling. The stick work didn’t feel outdated because of the efforts of Steen and Corino and so the squash match became something worth a viewer’s time and attention. It didn’t matter that this was a “squash match”–it was a good wrestling match.

However, the Steen vs. Shields match does reveal a problem in terms of the disconnect between the fan and the squash match. That match put an emphasis on pushing Steen as a villainous heel. However,it was far easier to enjoy and to be entertained by Steen’s “devilish” actions in that match (and other similar ones against the likes of Alex Payne and Bobby Dempsey) than it was to hate him for it or even to feel empathy for the victimized jobber.

In the past, the squash match was used to highlight the superstar wrestler, but while the preliminary talent was dominated, they were also able to gain some notoriety of their own. Wrestlers such as Frankie Williams, Barry Horowitz and The Mulkeys were some of the regular jobmen who got over in WWE through frequent appearances on television. They gained the reputation of taking some brutal beatings and then returning for more every week. Any weakling can get beat up once, but it took a real man to keep coming back for more. Fans seemed to be able to relate and empathize with these wrestlers, even getting behind them and pulling for their rare comebacks against the stars.

While such a phenomenon of the underdog has been reproduced in the following decades (with the likes of Spike Dudley, Mikey Whipwreck and Colin Delaney), more and more it seems that there is far less empathy and understanding given by fans to the wrestler who is being squashed. This goes for both ROH and throughout the wrestling world. For example, it took a much longer for fans to care or treat Zack Ryder with any kind of respect after his move this year to the Raw brand because he was repeatedly jobbed out in the weeks and months afterwards. It has only been since Ryder was given the role of a WWE Pro on their NXT program that Ryder has seemingly clicked with the WWE audience.

Furthermore, the stop-and-start pushes in WWE for Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne (while neither are officially “jobbers” they have lost many times when they really should have won) slowed down and hurt their popularity with the audience. It is difficult to support newer or younger talents who are not given a consistent push by the company. It makes them seem to be not as legitimate as other, higher profile stars. Of course, there is always the case of taking a veteran wrestler and turning him into a jobber. When a guy like William Regal is made to job repeatedly in comedy matches, it makes him appear to be weak and foolish. There has been a scary lack of heat by fans for Regal’s matches on Raw these past few weeks, despite his immense talents and ability to portray the heel.

In ROH, guys who are constantly losing such as Bobby Shields and Andy Ridge are not gaining the empathy or cult-like fan base that can eventually be progressed to the next level…and the stop-start pushes of guys on the level above them (such as Grizzley Redwood, Super Smash Brothers or The Embassy) threaten to adversely affect their perception among the fan base.

In many cases, the squashed wrestler is actually a member of the ROH wrestling school. This has actually been a constant problem for ROH throughout the years, in that they feel the need to book the students on main ROH shows, yet they can’t have unknowns or rookies going over the veteran or regular talents. Therefore they job the students, who become regulars on the pre-show or the undercard. However, the more the students job, the more they gain the reputation of simply being jobbers and therefore the longer it will take for them to move away from that label. It took years for Rhett Titus to outgrow the designation of being from the ROH school…still, he remains on the undercard for shows and does the job more often than not (on the recent set of tapings he lost in singles bouts to Jerry Lynn and Christopher Daniels, despite ROH attempting to push him and King more seriously in the tag division as The “All-Night Express”). His progression is slow, but he has made it past the “jobber” status, through no help of the ROH system but rather because he found the right character and was given a chance to connect with the fans. While ROH has begun to take steps to give their students a platform to shine through their Pro Wrestling Respect shows, the transformation from “student” to legitimate part of the ROH roster remains a painfully slow process.

Grizzley Redwood, Cheech & Cloudy and The Super Smash Brothers seem to be trapped in the next level above the dominated squash victim. They have become ROH’s “jobbers to the stars”, in that they have somewhat of a fan base who likes to see them wrestle. They will occasionally pick up a win here and there to keep the seed in the fan’s mind that they have a chance of winning, but more often than not they will lose to the competition higher-up on the roster ladder. Ultimately, that becomes as much of a Catch-22 as being an out-and-out jobber. It’s a particular shame for a team like Cheech & Cloudy or Super Smash Brothers, where so much more can be done to capitalize on their act. Both teams have the experience in the ring and an interesting gimmick that can be used to market them to the ROH audience.

The Super Smash Brothers in particular have an appeal in their video-game influenced characters. Although aside from their names and gear, you’d never know that was their gimmick in their appearances for Ring of Honor. SSB tones the video game shtick way down in ROH, focusing more on their athleticism than any video-game inspired moves or taunts. They have been very underutilised thus far in ROH and hopefully that will change beginning with the set of recent tapings, despite losing all three of their matches. It should be noted though that these losses included a competitive showing against The American Wolves and that perhaps that effort will help to turn more heads and give notice to their presence in the tag division.

There was also a surprising loss to The Bravado Brothers during Tag Wars 2010. While that result produced a small uproar from ROH fans, The Bravados winning that match isn’t too much of a problem. They have been booked similarly to the SSB. Tthey have been treated as jobbers for the past year and could use the win to help begin to elevate or to improve their reputation with the fans (which is part of what the Tag Wars program is all about). It seems they’re dedicated enough to stick with wrestling as a profession and ROH is set on using them, so why not try to work with them and see what they got? They could end up becoming the Dunn and Marcos of this era (and that’s not an insult, as The Ring Crew Express built up an incredible popularity with the fans from 2003-2005).

As far as the Super Smash Brothers, ROH should definitely make them regulars and do something with them–a feud with House of Truth would work, as would one with All-Night Express. Think Kenny King and Titus could get some heat by making fun of video gamers and nerds while propping up their style and bedroom skills? Absolutely they could, and it would also give the tag team division extra depth beyond the upper tier of the perpetually feuding Briscoes / Wolves / Kings of Wrestling.

There are still several relevant uses for squash matches in this era of professional wrestling and just because you or I may not be so willing to watch them doesn’t necessarily prove that they shouldn’t be taking place. As a fan watching a television show, it is difficult to have to sit through a barrage of squash matches. Luckily, there is such a thing as a fast-forward button, and those who watch through the internet have the benefit of skipping to different segments and avoiding the problem altogether. It doesn’t serve the best interests of ROH to have people skipping and fast-forwarding through segments, but that means that the booking needs to rise to the occasion and give fans a reason to watch that particular style of match. Giving fans more matches like the perversely humorous Steen versus Shields squash or a Road-Warriors influenced one-sided thrashing by a team like Dark City Fight Club helps the wandering eyes of the wrestling fan to stay focused on the product and prevent them from changing the channel.

Squash matches don’t need to be eliminated entirely from ROH on HDNet, but it is time that ROH began to exercise some restraint in their usage and presence on television. Ultimately, it may be better to showcase a team like Super Smash Brothers losing to The American Wolves in a close and heated match than it would be to have them be dominated and decimated by The Embassy or The All-Night Express (which has happened in the past).

Of course, there does need to be a clearly defined hierarchy in any wrestling promotion–there should be champions, contenders, the middle of the pack and the underdogs struggling to rise up from the bottom. However, those on the bottom are done no real good if in the end they remain at the same level after experiencing repeated and crushing losses. Wrestlers need to be shown climbing up the rankings, making small but clear improvements in their ability. That improvement has to be demonstrated eventually–and that comes with winning against the competition. The more these aspiring talents are showcased in short squash matches, the less chance they have of getting over with the fans and being able to move up the ladder.

Yes, there is the age-old practice of “paying dues” in professional wrestling and so it goes for Ring of Honor. The House of Truth had to do job multiple times over the last year before they made it to the next level. Now they are featured in a package with upper card talent Roderick Strong.They are the ones winning and defeating the “jobbers” in squashes on HDNet. Once upon a time, the likes of Claudio Castagnoli, Kevin Steen and El Generico were on the pre-shows or undercard, losing to the established ROH talent of that era. They made it through and have become integral parts of the company.

Squash matches have their place, even though fans may be frustrated about having to see them. Everyone has to job at some point, or else soon enough no one will have a job.

For Scott Hardie, who asked me to come up with a best of HDNet ranking system, and well…I don’t believe this is exactly what he expected, but it’s what he’s going to get.

It’s not all bad to watch squash matches where the results are obvious. Here are some of the more entertaining squashes thus far on the HDNet series. For clarification, I determined a “squash” match to be where the wrestler being squashed gets less than 25% of the offense in the match, and thus several matches like Chris Hero vs. Bobby Dempsey or Austin Aries vs. Grizzley Redwood wouldn’t qualify for the list. Those are more of “jobber to the stars” matches than out-sand-out squashes. On we go and the beatings will continue until morale improves:

1. Kevin Steen vs. Bobby Shields (Episode 63): Corino and Steen perform commentary and stand-up comedy while taking great pleasure in beating up their victim. Steen essentially wrestles with one hand since he uses the other to hold the mic to talk while administering the beating. The most perverse and enjoyable moment comes when Steen and Cortino proclaim Steen’s virility…and the potshot against announcer Mike Hogewood was nice as well.

2. The American Wolves vs. Orange Cassidy & Leslie Butterscotch (Episode 8): Richards and Edwards commit the utter obliteration of the two lanky skinny dudes with horrendously horrendous names. Its a feast of mammoth proportions for The Wolves. First they go after Orange Cassidy and beat him up so badly that there isn’t so much as a “hot tag” as a “flop backwards and hope for the best”. Then when Leslie foolishly tags in, he gets absolutely zero offense in. He gets pinned about a minute after that. Hogewood outright stated during this match that he did not to put any faith in Cassidy and Butterscotch, and he had good reason.

3. Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. James Stone (Episode 55): Stone looks like an absolute geek with his indie-rific wrestling attire. He makes the mistake of insulting Brown by putting a cigarette in his mouth before the match. WRONG MOVE, Stone! Brown quickly teaches him that smoking is bad for your health, as is wrestling Rasche Brown.

4. Kevin Steen vs. Alex Payne (Episode 42): Payne had made the big mistake of verbalizing his dislike of Steen’s betrayal of El Generico. Yeah, because the absolute right move in that situation is to call-out a psychopath on his morality and ethics. Steen just absolutely mows down Payne during this one as payback. A ridiculously painful looking powerbomb and then the Package Piledriver probably could have ended it, but Steen prolongs the pain by using a crossface for the submission and a sharpshooter after the match to drive the point home even further. Doom, thy name is Kevin Steen.

5. Brent Albright vs. Ernie Osiris (Episode 15): Osiris was still in his “hobo” days with The Embassy and actually enjoys a short advantage (though not landing a single offensive blow) due to his stink (which I guess could be considered offensive) and Albright’s hesitance to lock up with him. However Albright does live up to the crowd’s “Albright’s gonna kill you” chant, smashing Osiris with a closeline, killing him with an air raid crash and then almost comically picking Osiris up in a Canadian torture rack position, drops him repeatedly on the turnbuckle, back of the head first. The half-nelson German Suplex is academic.

6. Colt Cabana vs. Tony Kozina (Episode 42): Colt makes Tony out to be an absolute fool, treating him like a child and then using his grappling ability to put Tony in some embarrassing holds. Tony spins, spins, spins like a beautiful butterfly in the air after a punch to the jaw. Colt picks Tony up after a two-count off the Flying A**hole, which gives Tony a short return volley off the springboard bulldog. Colt with the Billy Goat’s Curse gets the win and ends the humiliation for the veteran Kozina.

7. Bison Smith vs. Sal Rinauro (Episode 25): I don’t know if former Embassy member Sal Rinauro thought he had gotten back in the good graces of Prince Nana, but he was absolutely led like a lamb to the slaughter against the massive Bison. Poor Sal Rinauro. Dude looked like he was going to cry two minutes before the match even began. Then he stupidly provokes the bear (well, Bison) by ducking and slapping him in the face. Bison gets the chokeslam, but picks him up at two to unleash more punishment. Rinauro tries to run away, but Bison launches himself into the crowd and lands on Rinauro on top of the rows of chairs. Bison drags the dead carcass back to the ring, press slams him in and mercifully it’s over. Sorry, Sal.

8. Eddie Kingston vs. Sal Rinauro (Episode 24): This time, Sal is thrown to the wolves by Shane Hagadorn, forcing him to fight Kingston to somehow prove Chris Hero is tougher than everyone. Okay. Well, the fight last all of thirty seconds, though Sal did humor the crowd by getting on his knees and praying before turning around to face the knock-out blow of Kingston’s straight right and spinning backfist. Sorry again, Sal.

9. Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. The Set (Episode 49): This was a “handicapped” match…but it was against The Set and not for them. Brown has no problem with this one, crushing Lance Lude onto Jay-Sinn with the pancake Burning Hammer and covering both for the win.

10. D-Lo Brown vs. Alex Payne (Episode 16): You don’t mock the head-bob, and D-Lo made Payne learn that lesson here. The throw-ace crusher was sick and it just gets worse from there with running closelines, a shining wizard and a massive powerbomb with folding press for the pin.

1. Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Chris Jericho : WWE Monday Night Raw began with a really great twenty minute opening match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Title match at Summerslam. My theory is that sometimes WWE likes to have a great match just to show that it can. It started out a bit slow, but really picked up through the last ten minutes. The fans were going crazy for Randy Orton whenever he was on offense or attempting to nail the RKO. The back-to-back RKOs on both Edge and Jericho at the end looked impeccable, which makes for two weeks in a row that he’s been involved in memorable spots involving his finisher.

2. The Miz is Money in the Bank: That was one heck of an exciting segment on Monday when The Miz nearly cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot on Sheamus. He had the right scenario–an already tired champion, furthered by his own attack from behind and the use of a Skull Crushing Finale on the briefcase. The fans were buzzing about the potential title change (helped a lot by Miz’s body language and selling of his awareness of the importance of what was happening). While The Miz was frustrated by R-Truth’s interference, that development leaves the door open for more teasing of the cash-in for the rest of the year (and likely beyond). A slow build for Miz where he is always a threat to take the title is going to work well towards pushing Miz further up the WWE roster, perhaps to his own championship.

3. Kevin Steen: As you’ll see below, the man continues to roll with some of the best promos in Ring of Honor (and perhaps all of professional wrestling). His character has completely gone off the deep end and that change is clearly represented in the dramatic monologues (more like verbal manifestos) he crafts against the likes of El Generico, Colt Cabana and Tyler Black. You do not want to get on Steen’s bad side…and well, you may just want to avoid him altogether for fear of some “unwanted physical contact”. Bad touch Steen, bad touch!

4.Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger, two out of three falls: I’m still a huge Rey Mysterio fan, so I’ll take any main event Mysterio action that I can get. The leg injury angle forces them to work a “smarter, not harder” take on a typical Mysterio match. I liked Swagger using amateur wrestling as a base, but taking his time and measuring Rey for the moments where he could use the anklelock.The result is a very good main event for this week’s Smackdown, albeit a slightly muffed finish where Swagger didn’t go completely over on the crucifix (Rey moved and it worked out fine anyway).

5. Bret “Hitman” Hart : I know his physical condition means there isn’t much he can do inside the ring other than put the sharpshooter on someone, but it still feels good to have him on WWE television. Those who were around and watching Hart during his heyday probably feel similarly. Given the history of his family and all the trials and tribulations, just seeing him out there for a few minutes with the rest of the babyface wrestlers is a positive.

BONUS-ANTI FAVE 1: “Dashing Cody Rhodes Grooming Tips” Oh my god did I hate this segment. From the horrible Bon Jovi “Living on a Prayer” rip off intro music and the “DC” initials in the style of Dolce and Gabbana’s logo to the rip-off Enya new-age background music to the DISGUSTING usage of still photos of someone’s horrible nose hair–this was one of the most painful wrestling segments of the week that was also not a phony ECW reunion on TNA. Is this really the best way for Cody to get heat with his “Dashing” character–giving men grooming advice? We should thank him and put it to practice. Just don’t show unnecessary nose hair photos or use muzak while doing so.

–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

–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: 07/22/10

1. Roderick Strong
2. Christopher Daniels
3. Kevin Steen
4. Colt Cabana
5. Chris Hero
6. Davey Richards

The Pick 6 Series matches scheduled for July are as follows:

July 24 – Chicago Ridge, IL
(1) Roderick Strong with Truth Martini vs. Austin Aries

Tyler Black brings it with his best promo to date while champion, but Steen trumps him with one hell of a closer, proclaiming himself to be the “anti-christ of Ring of Honor” and promising to make Ring of Honor “something out of the scene of a Serbian horror film.” My god, that man is on fire with promos right now. He also makes an amazing point about the behavior of the fans and how they may react the next time he wrestles for them. Steen’s rationale behind winning the title, to help drive the fans towards supporting Black to get it back is just downright psychopathic. Okay. I’m ready for that title match now! Titus was pretty solid although he and King need to know when to pass the baton between each other (they saved it in the end with all of the word play about Kings and royalty). On the other hand, Necro’s bald head is not a change for the positive.

-You can read about the results from the 7/22 Louisville, Kentucky show here and here.

-ROH message board member Liger138 discovered a rare easter egg for the Supercard of Honor V DVD. Select the “matches” option from the main menu screen. Then move down to the listing for the No DQ 34th Street Death Match between Kevin Steen and Colt Cabana.Press right so that the yellow colored arrow disappears and then press enter on your remote / computer. You’ll see a short clip of the broom sweep boy (who looked eerily like Chuck Taylor) and his misadventures with the thumbtacks after the match concluded. Unfortunately this didn’t include the events after the Delirious vs. Austin Aries match where he also had to clean the ring, including the “Golden Snack Cakes”. His misfortunes during that effort and the mocking from the crowd resulted in him giving the “up yours” fist to the crowd. Still, this is a nice funny little moment to enjoy.

-ROH’s trip into Kentuckiana began a little early this week.411 reader Dillon J. wrote in to describe the OVW debut of none other than Austin Aries: I attended last night’s OVW TV taping and I thought I’d pass this along. In what seemed to be an out with the old, it was announced that Brent “Beef” Wellington was offered a WWE developmental contract and it was his last night. OVW Champion James Thomas challenged Wellington to a match but before anything could happen, Wellington was jumped by Ring of Honor’s Austin Aries, who was making his OVW debut. The main event ended up being Beef Wellington & Lowrider loosing to James Thomas and Austin Aries.

-It looks like Jerry Lynn will indeed be wrestling against Rob Van Dam for TNA’s Hardcore Justice Pay Per View. It will be very interesting to see what, if any, backlash this will cause against him by ROH fans or if it will affect his future matches in ROH. My opinion is that it really shouldn’t matter. Lynn does have the right to take other bookings and this is hardly the first case of an active and regular ROH wrestler appearing on a TNA show. Samoa Joe, Homicide, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Raven, Christopher Daniels and others have done the same over the years. TNA and ROH keep separate universes and separate continuity and while ROH will name check them during press releases when bringing TNA talent in like the Machine Guns and Young Bucks, they don’t really acknowledge them on the DVD or iPPV..Let Lynn and RVD have one more run in the sun, so to speak. It was one of the better in-ring rivalries in ECW and I don’t mind it happening again; only shame is that it doesn’t take place in ROH, as was suggested last year in this very column.

-CM Punk looks a bit like one of the mad Russians with the bald head and beard combination. Like a younger Boris Zukhov or Nikita Koloff. Still don’t quite get why WWE didn’t go with a mask vs. mask or mask vs. title stipulation against Rey Mysterio for SummerSlam considering it was right there. A Punk vs. Big Show feud doesn’t do much for me. I did like the way Joey Mercury (exposed as the Straight-Edge Society masked man) sold the Big Show’s knock-out punch. He was out on his feet, then slumped face down.

-Amazingly found this on a ticket seller website:

HIS STORY INSPIRED A NATION. HIS WRESTLING INSPIRED THE WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT.

FELA! is the true story of the legendary Irish WWE Superstar Sheamus O’Shaunessy, whose soulful albino skin ignited a generation of fans in the WWE Universe.

Inspired by his mother, an Irish lute player, he defied a corrupt and oppressive midget leprechaun and devoted his life and wrestling to the struggle for freedom and human dignity.

FELA! is a triumphant tale of courage, passion and outrageously colored hair and skin, featuring Sheamus’ captivating wrestling and the visionary direction and choreography of Tony-Award® winner “Little” Evan Bourne. Playing On Broadway now.

****

Here’s something new I’ll do from time to time in the column–take some of the questions up for discussion on the ROH forum and provide you with my own take These questions were available on the first page of the ROH board on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010.

1. When did you get into ROH?

I first began to hear of Ring of Honor through Justin Baisden’s reviews here at 411Mania. His coverage of the promotion in 2002 and his enthusiastic play-by-play recaps of these new-to-me independent talents caught my attention. His descriptions played in my mind and I just HAD to see for myself what he was raving about. I purchased four of the first six shows in early 2003 (actually skipping the first-show, The Era of Honor Begins, for some reason I can’t even recall). Round Robin: Challenge was the first show I ever watched. Christopher Daniels had me intrigued with his opening DVD promo, and the three-match series involving him, Low Ki and Bryan Danielson throughout the show had me hooked and sold. So yes, it goes to show that the reviews 411Mania has up in the lower right hand side are read and do lead to future DVD buys.

2. What would you have thought if D’lo won the title?

The questioner was referring to when Nigel McGuinness fought D-Lo Brown at Proving Ground 2009 Night 2 with the ROH World Title on the line. It was D-Lo’s first match in ROH and only about two months before Nigel lost the belt to Jerry Lynn at Supercard of Honor IV. Nigel was brusied and worn down after a year-plus of a demanding ROH tour circuit and high-profile title defenses. D-Lo was on the comeback trail after a very short stint in WWE did not work out, but he had always possessed an intangible charisma that worked for him. Could he have come in to ROH and become an impromptu ROH World Champion on his first match ever in the company?

ROH has never done a title change with someone making their first appearance for the company, although they have come close: Takeshi Morishima won the belt in February 2007 in just his second match and third overall appearance. That said, D-Lo Brown was probably not the right guy to do something crazy and unpredictable like change the title on a first appearance. He just didn’t have the kind of legitimate “main event” presence or imposing look that Morishima brought to the table. You’re telling me that after Nigel McGuinness had put away some of the bigger ROH and international names–and he’d lose the belt after all that time and effort to D-Lo Brown? No, that wouldn’t really work out too well in my opinion.

It’s not that Jerry Lynn turned out to be all that much better in terms of fans’ response ro his championship win and what they did with his short run, but at least he had a previous history with ROH and had already been incorporated into storylines. The “veteran makes the big journey to the top” is a decent story to go with in terms of building a program, but ROH made the mistake of overselling the story to its fans. Still, D-Lo Brown winning the title would have been an ever greater huge “what the?” moment for ROH…and I believe the ROH fans would have reacted even worse to that call than what actually happened with Lynn.

3. When will the Wolves brake (sic) up?

Not as long as they wear a seat belt. Only kidding. Yes, the poster who asked the question misspelled the word, but the sentiment is an interesting one. It’s clear from the results of last week’s HDNet tapings that The Wolves are moving out of the “status quo” in terms of their future. Richards has now made an aggressive move against their long-time manager Shane Hagadorn. While he and Eddie are seemingly cool with each other after this event, Richards still no longer wishes to associate with Hagadorn. Edwards’ motivations and reaction to this situation is still uncertain, although from reports that Edwards helped Hagadorn up off the mat (after being pushed down by Richards), he doesn’t seem too eager to leave the managerial services of He Who Wears the Ugly Hat.

This new conflict leaves a lot in the air about the future of The American Wolves, more than when HDNet play-by-play man Mike Hogewood would routinely comment that there were “rumors” of The Wolves breaking up (when all it had been was both men deciding to focus more on singles competition rather than tag matches, which led to their paths crossing during the Television Title tournament). There really wasn’t much “fan buzz” about The Wolves breaking up around that time, but the issue is relevant now that ROH is seems ready to move forward on the storyline

How long The Wolves remain as a team all depends on two things: one, if Davey is serious about retiring from professional wrestling at the end of the year; two, if Ring of Honor wants to give Edwards a final push up the singles roster as a result of that departure.

ROH can go with an American Wolves break-up angle right now, but they would be missing out on an easy lay-up in booking Wolves versus Kings of Wrestling matches (presumably for the ROH World Tag Team Titles) for an Internet Pay Per View or for one (or more than one) of the house shows during the Fall season. It would be far more intriguing to have Richards and Edwards continue their relationship, either as full-on babyfaces or with Edwards choosing to retain Hagadorn’s services while at the same time matching up against Hagadorn’s other team. It creates some drama around Hagadorn’s loyalties and also lead to a later pushing of dissension between Richards and Edwards if that situation ends up costing them a win of the tag titles. Edwards’ betrayal can come right around November or December, thus pushing a “final encounter” between Richards and Edwards, perhaps under loser-leaves town circumstances, which could then lead to working Richards’ departure into the storyline.

However, if Richards wishes to stay on the active roster past 2010, there may be more worth to keeping The Wolves team alive and well for as long as possible. It keeps a top-tier team in the division, stabilizing its marquee status and adding potential draws in matches against the likes of The Motor City Machine Guns (should they be brought in for future bookings) and other up-and-coming tag teams.. A Richards / Edwards break-up could still happen, but delayed for as long as necessary in order to continue to sell The American Wolves as a draw to the ROH audience and giving a guaranteed “worth your money” tag match to any ROH event.

It should also be kept in mind that a “violent betrayal” storyline was the cause of the end to the team of Kevin Steen and El Generico. It may be too soon to go again with a betrayal to end a tag team (for example, Edwards attacking Richards to reveal he has chosen Hagadorn over his tag partner). The Wolves could just choose to peacefully go on their separate ways and leave each other to an individual hunt. So yes, the probability is that at some point in the near future there will be an American Wolves break-up, but when and how it happens is a matter of conjecture at this point.

4. Rave return?

At several points in the past few months the question has been asked by fans on the ROH forum–when will Jimmy Rave return to ROH? He was last seen getting beaten and bloodied up at the hands of Necro Butcher. If there is ever a time when Rave’s return would make sense, it would be now, as Necro has joined up with The Embassy as the “new crown jewel”–a position formerly occupied by Rave.

Sure, it would be a logical twist for Jimmy Rave to return as the rebellious babyface ready to take out The Embassy due to being insulted that Nana would choose anyone else to be his top man, much less the very person who “drove him out of the company” in the first place. Just don’t get your hopes up. Rave has a rocky relationship with the higher-ups in the company–and that means it is quite unlikely to see his return. Frankly, I have baffled by the sheer number of requests for his return–but it seems the people want to see it happen and you’d think that ROH would put personal disagreements aside for the better business deal. There is money to be made in an Rave vs. Embassy feud–and the angle is actually far more interesting than anything they’ve done with that group in the past year (and that’s including pitting the Dark City Fight Club and Skullkrusher Rasche Brown against them).

A quick side note is that Rave and his wife are celebrating the birth of their first child (source:Wrestling Observer) so congrats to him on that. It seems he has a “crown jewel” of his own to support.

5. Steen and Generico the most over rated (sic) feud?

Absolutely not. In my opinion, just about everything has been firing on all cylinders with this feud from the very beginning up through the first singles match between the two at Death Before Dishonor VI. There has been a clear story built in from the beginning–that Generico has been hesitant to attack his former partner and that Kevin Steen wanted nothing more to do with him. Colt Cabana’s encouragement to Generico has been excellent–beginning as just friendly advice but progressing into a near insatiable desire for retribution that threatens to cross the line and make them just as crazy as Steen. Meanwhile, Steve Corino is pulling strings and making good on threats, while also using every manipulation possible to achieve the goal of destroying Generico and Cabana. The usage of the young Colby Corino in this feud may seem to be over the edge, but I believe it has been effective (albeit in small doses). It demonstrates that his father will go to any lengths, even using his own son as a tool for distraction. Colby has not been over-exposed in this program…yet. Hopefully it stays that way.

All told, the strands of the feud have been woven together to create an awesome operatic drama, but it has been backed up with the kind of violence and grudge match action that satisfies the fan base. ROH has really brought back a compelling hardcore style match with this feud not seen done well in years. The “Chicago Street Fight” from Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 is still being talked up as one of the better matches of the year.

Even better is that the feud has also benefited the supporting players. Steve Corino has always been one of ROH’s most underrated heels throughout his several runs with the company, but his interviews and support of Steen during this feud shine through just as well as his promos during the Homicide feud in 2003. Colt Cabana has actually found his stride in this program as the support system for El Generico. Before then, Cabana was struggling to find an effective place on the card–but now, his character has a direction and a purpose. Even his in-ring work has seemingly improved in both tag and singles action surrounding this feud. “Wacky Cabana” is good for a laugh in backstage vignettes and skits, but “Serious Cabana” brings it in the ring and fits more comfortably in this era of the ROH product.

The one threat to this feud becoming overrated or missing the mark is what ROH does next with the feud. After six months, where can the storyline progress from here? Is the inclusion of Steen’s burgeoning grudge against ROH World Champion Tyler Black too much to add to this program or will it lead to some interesting twists and turns? ROH must move carefully with what they do next–they can’t keep the feud restricted for fear of becoming redundant, but they can’t add too many more characters for feud of stretching it too thin. They also can’t go so far over the line with craziness that it becomes slapstick or cartoon. However, for right now, this has been one of the best feuds of the year in Ring of Honor.

6. Will the World Title be on the line with pure title rules?

I doubt it, so long as Tyler Black is champion. The pure rules division was based more on a technical exchange and usage of strategy involving submissions and rope breaks.Black relies more on a hybrid of impact and flying to work his match. I don’t think he would fair well in the “pure rules” environment and the last thing that should be done right now is to place limitations on Black in the ring during his championship matches or place him in situations that could “expose” him. Its clear that Black is at his best when he goes “all-out” in his particular style of match such as seen at Supercard V and Dishonor VIII. While I enjoyed the Pure Title division and its matches more than most, that kind of match seems to be in ROH’s past and it probably should stay that way.

Wrestling fans and Column of Honor regulars can find some extra content through my personal website AriBerenstein.com. Column of Honor: Reborn is 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.

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

If you’re interested in getting into MMA or any strength / conditioning program, then visit MMAprofightshop.com for your fight gear and equipment needs. The website is run by my good friend Dave Maswary, who is a wrestler, martial artist and aspiring MMA fighter. He’s trained and prepped with accomplished MMA guys in Brazil and is overall good people. Check out the website and join his Facebook Page.

Mike Campbell worked hard on his review of The Best of ROH on HDNet Volume 1, so while I neglected to mention it last week, please be sure to check it out. Mike also named his daughter’s stuffed bear after me, which is perhaps one of the greatest honors and compliments I’ve ever received. Although Ari means “lion” in Hebrew, so he just named a stuffed bear “lion”. That’s okay though, my sister has that beat-she’s named her two cats “Duck” and “Fish”. Yup.

Jack Bramma gives high marks for The Big Bang ROH internet Pay Per View from April.

Kevin Ford reviews the first two post-WWE contract independent wrestling show appearances from Bryan “Daniel Bryan” Danielson–and luckily enough for Ford, the uber CHIKARA fan, they hapenned to take place at CHIKARA’s We Must Eat Michigan’s Brains and Faded Scars and Lines. Also be sure to participate in his ongoing contest to write Bryce Remsburg’s “Wrestlicious Rap”!

Aaron Hubbard supplies the 4R’s of last week’s Ring of Honor on HDNet.

That’s it for this week’s column. Next week I’ll report on the results of tonight’s Chicago Ridge show (Black vs. Steen title match, Wolves vs. Bucks, see my summer preview edition for a full preview) and any other ROH news that comes up. Thanks for reading.

BROOKLYN!
–Ari–