Column of Honor: 09.25.10: Casting Call: NCIS

Welcome to the Column! Lots on tap this week, including plenty of ROH wrestling news, but first, a divergence into TV land!

There is a thought held by some that everyone has a doppelganger, or a double, out there somewhere in the world. I’m not sure it’s specific as to every individual person, but I do believe there are some definite physical types that people generally fall into—obviously some of it is in the DNA and the social hereditary features, but other times it is a matter of form or style that creates the closeness in appearance. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve been told I look like Newman from Seinfeld or Drew Carey—and I can see why—we’re all overweight white guys (them more than me though, let’s get that nice and straight) who are shorter than average, wear glasses and have short haircuts. It’s a weird feature of life, but there it is in a nutshell-there is someone we all look like out there.

On rare occasions I try to run a “Celebrity Look-a-likes” feature in the column. There are some amazingly close similarities between wrestlers from all sorts of federations and current actors, musicians and entertainers. That in mind, the light-bulb went off. Who would I cast if I were going to use men and women from the world of professional wrestling to fill the role of a specific television show? What if I were to cast professional wrestlers in the roles of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a.k.a. NCIS?

NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service is a procedural drama featuring military police investigations run through the Navy Yard. Led by former Marine Gunny Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the NCIS unit solves a new crime every week, in-between cracking wise with each other over their wacky personalities, at the same time remaining a close-bonded family that would stick their necks out for each other in a heartbeat. NCIS was a solid success for CBS, but really began to hit its stride three years ago when USA Network ran syndicated re-runs of the show. The show expanded its audience and actually helped to grow the ratings for the first run episodes on CBS channel. Last year NCIS (which is itself a spinoff of the long-time drama series JAG) bore a spin-off show, NCIS: Los Angeles, starring LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell. NCIS began its eight-season last week and in tribute, here is my casting call for wrestlers to play the roles of the characters for this prestigious show.

While Gibbs leads his team in solving a crime every week, Vince McMahon is the head of his corporate wrestling empire, leading his crew of wrestlers and staffers in developing six plus hours of television in that same time frame. Gibbs is a stern albeit nurturing father-figure to the rest of his agents with a surprising sense of humor, and so is Vince McMahon. Gibbs has his fifty unwritten rules his team must learn (#9- “always carry a knife”) and a few that McMahon would agree with (#6—”never say you’re sorry; it’s a sign of weakness”). Mr. McMahon has a very clearly expressed rule as well: “don’t cross the boss”. Both men have a natural distaste for lawyers (that’s rule 13). Both are the alpha males of their kingdoms-although Harmon plays Gibbs as someone who commands without having to say a word, although he will if necessary kick his staff in the ass (verbally) or slap them on the back of the head (physically) to motivate them towards getting the job done.

Honestly though, wouldn’t it be great to hear that gravely “Mr. McMahon” voice utter such Gibbs expressions as, “Whattya Got Abbs?”,”That’s Good Work” or just call out the names of his team with verve and gusto: “McGee! DiNozzo! You’rrrrrrre fired! No wait, get me my coffee!” Seeing Vince McMahon head slapping someone would be pretty entertaining as well—he may just do that in real life in WWE headquarters in Stamford.

Since Special Agent Gibbs is like a father-figure to his team and Vince McMahon is playing his role, might as well cast the real life son of the boss, Shane McMahon, to play the suave second-in-command: Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo!

Shane McMahon is no longer connected with WWE, having divested his shares in the company. He was an executive in charge of New Media and was an on-screen character for many years, including during the prime WWE Attitude era where “Stone Cold” Steve Austin often warred against the McMahon family.

Michael Weatherly plays DiNozzo as a quasi-annoying but good-hearted playboy who is caught between growing up and finding his next fling. Shane-O-Mac shares some of those attributes—his on-screen character fluctuated between hero or villain, but like DiNozzo he believed in his family (team) and did what was necessary to protect his mom and sister against such cretins as Undertaker (during the Ministry of Darkness days) and Kane. His character also grew annoying from time-to-time, including his tendency to overuse a quirky boxing shuffle he used in between punches.

Shane put his body on the line frequently in matches, including taking huge dives off of the top ropes. DiNozzo is also willing to sacrifice a physical beating in order to accomplish the mission, such as when he took some massive blows to the jaw and body while on an undercover op posing as an assassin who wanted to retire with his wife. Both are also quick with a quip (especially DiNozzo with his movie references) and have a deeper inner sense of self and value than they wished to let on. As both have grown older, they both have continued to learn and grown (and yet somehow remain devilishly handsome at the same time). Sounds like a good fit to me.

Abby is the best in the business of forensic sciences-if there’s something to discover through a Mass Spec, she’s on it. Abby has a heart of gold and a wacky, often peculiar personality, perhaps driven by too many servings of Caf-Pow drinks. She’s also Goth in fashion style (and lifestyle—she’s been known to have a casket in her place). No matter what, Abby believes in science and in Agent Gibbs. She will always do her best to get to the bottom of when things get hinky.

MsChif is a former SHIMMER and NWA Women’s champion using an imposing Goth appearance and a physical in-ring game to garner victories and championships. She’s been known to unleash frequent high-pitched screams at her opponents—intimidating and disorienting them with loud noises! Her wrestling moves have painful sounding names like the “Desecrator”, “Obliteration” and “Unhallowed Grace”, all of which sounds like the names of bands that Abby likes to play in her lab while working.

What readers may be surprised to learn is that MsChif also has a degree in genetics and a day-time job in microbiology—she’s a devoted scientist just like Abby! That and her Goth style make her a perfect call to play Ms. Scuito-she may just infuse the role with a little more splash of green than black as compared to the ineffable Pauley Perrette.

The legendary David McCallum (The Man from UNCLE) plays his character with the Donald Duck-inspired nom de plume with an aging grace and joi de vie. Ducky is very fond of his English roots and his days as Eton Medical School. He has a penchant for telling stories about his life as he examines the corpses in autopsy, most of which are only tangentially related to the case. He loves talking to the bodies and listening to what they have to say as well. In recent years his autopsy skills have been compounded with a degree in forensic psychology. That way he knows both about how they lived and how they died. He is a great friend to Gibbs, though sometimes they do have their tiffs and disagreements. He is also there as a support to the rest of the team when needed, because then he can rope them into coming to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Jim Ross has been involved in professional wrestling for over thirty years, most well known for being the Play-by-Play announcer of wrestling programs including Monday Night Raw during the boom period and most recently WWE Smackdown! Ross is often considered one of the best men on the headset, both for his ability to call the matches and the amount of knowledge he has about the backgrounds of the wrestlers and the overall history of the business. Ross would often be able to recall the past athletic and college endeavors of many of the wrestlers, all the while enthusiastically telling the story of the match in the ring. While he no longer commentates on live programs, Ross is still very active in WWE behind the scenes, including travelling to the WWE developmental leagues and working with the younger talent. Ross is very fond of his Oklahoma roots, and until recently owned his own restaurants there (he still sells his family BBQ sauce online).

Jim Ross, an Okie playing a role played by a Scotsman? Works for me. I like the idea of keeping Ducky with some sort of accent, plus Ross would be able to infuse the role with his unique colloquialisms such as “Taking him to the woodshed”, “tougher than a two-dollar steak” and of course “business is about to pick up”, whenever a new clue is to be revealed. There are some nice parallels as far as intellect and unique character traits. Plus it would be fitting to have J.R. there to keep Mr. McMahon on his toes in this drama given their unique love-hate relationship in real life (McMahon has fired and rehired Ross on several occasions).

Timothy McGee was a recurring character on season one that made it to the full-time Field Unit and became the “Probie” agent of Team Gibbs (DiNozzo will always and forever refer to him that way). McGee is a computer whiz (and graduate of M.I.T. as he loves to constantly remind his teammates) and has hacked into many secret restricted files from countless government agencies (always on the hush-hush) in order to help Gibbs gain that needed final clue to solve the case. He has grown into his role over the years, becoming more confident and secure in his position in NCIS. He used to date Abby, but they have developed a deep friendship over the years and share an appreciation for science and technology.

Believe it or not, but McGee was actually the toughest to cast on the basis of physical similarity. Sean Murray has a very “everyman” appearance both in body type and facial structure. That makes it very difficult to match him up to anyone in the wrestling business. The closest I came was Chris Sabin, currently one-half of the TNA Tag Team Champions Motor City Machine Guns. Sabin, like Murray, has a rounded and oval face and somewhat similar nose structure. However, where Sabin and McGee match-up is in the love of technology. Sabin is an avid video-game player, like McGee. He also sported tights in years past with “Alienware”-like logos, so it’s clear he’s a big computer-tech guy. That’s enough for me to make the call, but maybe the readers out there have a better suggestion.

Former Mossad Liaison Officer and now fully-naturalized American citizen and NCIS Probie Agent Ziva David is a dangerous beauty who has learned how to be more open with her emotions all the while adjusting to the idiosyncrasies of American culture. Ziva is a great fighter, trained in many combat systems and is an expert knife thrower and a crack shot. She is also well very in several languages, although she sometimes stumbles on American colloquial expressions. Trained to be an assassin by her own father Eli (who has become the Director of Israeli Mossad), Ziva was forced to kill her own brother after learning he was a terrorist. She stopped his attempt to kill Agent Gibbs and was soon invited by then Director Jenny Shepherd to join NCIS.

In her several years with the team, she learned how to investigate crime as well as trading barbs and flirtatious moments with DiNozzo. She returned to Mossad at the end of season six after feeling betrayed due to the death of Mossad operative Michael Rivkin, who she was seeing but knew was conducting an illegal operation on American soil. DiNozzo killed Rivkin, but it was involuntary manslaughter, done to save his own life. Ziva didn’t see it that way—she returned to Israel and began a secret mission to hunt down a terrorist in Somalia. Ziva was captured, and after NCIS (at DiNozzo’s behest) was the tem that rescued Ziva and not her own father, she realized the mistakes she made in who to trust. She resigned her commission in Mossad and took earnest efforts to become an official member of the NCIS team. She is likely the most experienced probationary agent ever.

Cheerleader Melissa is an eleven-year veteran in professional wrestling, whose father and uncle also wrestled. She won the 2004 Cauliflower Alley Club “Future Legend” award early on in her career. Don’t let her looks or her pom poms fool you—she is a bad ass, who can wipe the floor with anyone, female or male. She spent several years in TNA under a mask and a jilbab (cloak) as “Raesha Saeed”, the spokesperson for Amazing Kong. She also wrestled at times there under the Cheerleader Melissa name as well as “Alissa Flash”. Melissa has wrestled for SHIMMER, NWA promotions and all over the world, proving herself to be one of the best in the ring.

Obviously Ziva and Melissa share a few similarities, including their ability to kick ass and take names. I doubt Melissa would have many problems portraying Ziva as a fierce fighter. There is also somewhat of a physical likeness between Cote de Pablo and Melissa, but of course the main commonality as far as looks go is the brunette hair. Could Melissa swing an Israeli accent? Well she already used a Middle-Eastern accent for her portrayal of Saeed, so no worries there either.

Dr. Mallard’s assistant in Autopsy has taken all of the valuable lessons from his years in training and has developed into a more experienced (though still slightly awkward) version of him. Palmer is smart (often smarter than he lets on) and had a number of world travels during his studies abroad before he joined up with NCIS. He’s still slightly intimidated by Gibbs’ presence, even after all of these years, but he has been accepted by Team Gibbs, especially DiNozzo (who has even enlisted his help with some detective work from time-to-time).

Todd Grisham has been a play-by-play announcer and backstage interview for WWE’s Smackdown! and Raw properties. He has never been the coolest guy on the program, but that’s not his purpose on the show. He serves as the lens through which viewers see and experience the WWE Universe through his commentary. He, like many of the other less physically imposing commentary members, knows that he has to take the blows occasionally–and has been the butt of put downs by the heels on the roster.

Both Jimmy Palmer and Bourne have small frames, are boyish and somewhat geeky, but can move past that and rise to the occasion when necessary. I think Grisham can hold his own on commentary after many years of experience in WWE and would be fine in what is a smaller part on the show.

Leon Vance became Director of NCIS at the end of Season Five after the murder of Jenny Shepherd. He immediately disbanded Agent Gibbs’ team and it seemed that there would be an antagonistic relationship between the two. As it turns out, Vance broke the team up in order to start a mole hunt, as one of the members of the new team was betraying their country by selling government secrets. Gibbs convinced Vance to reform his team of DiNozzo, McGee and David after that situation was resolved. However, the two have been dealing with issues of trust ever since. Vance wants Gibbs to follow his lead and not buck authority, while Gibbs is concerned that whoever has the head chair doesn’t abuse its powers (as Shepherd eventually did).

Vance is a hard-driving boss but ultimately one who cares about his men. He is protective and strong in resolve. He knows how to deal with inter-office and international politics, often from a position of strength (and if not, he is deft enough to maneuver around problems and accomplish his office’s agenda). He is a great family man, a father to two children and a husband who dearly loves his wife.

Ron Simmons is a great choice for the role of Vance based on similar appearance and the ability to effectively communicate toughness. Ron Simmons has an intimidating presence and he can stare and scare, or say “DAMN!” and get his message across simply. Simmons was an All-American football player at Florida State (also playing with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL at one point) and had a long career in professional wrestling, slamming down opponents with his powerful Spinebuster. On occasion he also sported a similar mustache as Carroll’s Leon Vance character. He would imbue Director Vance with the toughness and strength which Carroll has infused the role in the past three years). Mostly though, it’s about the mustache.

Be sure to watch NCIS every Tuesdays at 8PM on CBS!

The following is the list of the top six contenders for the ROH World Title. Anyone who is ranked in the Pick Six can challenge for the title, but preference in scheduling and opportunities is given to those ranked closer to the top of the list.

–Six months in the making, Davey Richards and “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels will finally wrestle each other in one-on-one action on October 16th in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. Richards and Daniels are arguably two of the best singles wrestlers on the roster. When Daniels returned to ROH in April, he came out and immediately challenged Richards’ claim of being the best in the world. It seemed there would be a “dream match” showdown sooner rather than later, but weeks stretched into months as differences in booking, availability and programs pushed this match back, almost to where it seemed that this match would never actually take place. Finally it is on the books and will main event the Chicago show. Richards has been guaranteed already an ROH World Title shot at Final Battle 2010 in December, but Daniels is placed number two on the Pick 6 rankings. A win against Richards could squeak Daniels into a title match either before or on that date.

-Of course, interestingly enough, both Daniels and Richards will be paired up the night before their singles encounter October 15th in Dayton, Ohio. They will team up together at the behest of ROH in a high-profile ROH World Tag Title opportunity against the current champions The Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. The Kings have dominated the tag team division since reuniting last December and winning the belts in April. Richards is used to teaming with his American Wolf counterpart, current ROH Television Champion Eddie Edwards. However, Edwards will be on tour in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH with ROH World Champion Roderick Strong. There are quite the few implications of Richards receiving a tag title match without Daniels, but most likely this will be a situation where Richards and Daniels cannot co-exist and that leads to a successful defense for the champions. As I wrote in this week’s 411Mania Buy or Sell, it not the most original idea, but it has worked before—Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson had an epic title match against Richards and Edwards (when the Wolves were champions) in 2009.

-Four matches have been announced for the two-night ROH on HDNet television tapings in Philadelphia, including Homicide’s first official match in his return to the promotion. On October 1st, 2010 Davey Richards will fight Shawn Daivari. Homicide will fight against Necro Butcher in a “Butcher’s Rules” match. That’s a pretty intriguing booking, because those two had some magic working during their few brief encounters during the ROH vs. CZW war in 2006. “Butcher’s Rules” is essentially no-DQ and anything goes, which works well with Homicide’s style. Honestly this could be one of the first matches in a long while that could truly showcase Necro Butcher and give him fresh life in the promotion. Finally, Colt Cabana and Erick Stevens face-off, with the winner receiving a Television Title match on the next night of tapings. It’s uncertain what that means for Eddie Edwards’ “Ten Minute Hunt” challenge, but hopefully it means the end or at least a downplaying of that as a mechanism for driving the TV Title programs.

-Colt Cabana will end his grudge against Steve Corino as a part of the El Generico vs. Kevin Steen feud on October 16th in his hometown of Chicago. Stipulations and details are yet to be announced.

-Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly will be teaming up on October 15th in Dayton, Ohio. It should be interesting to see the reaction of the crowd to these two newcomers and also if the team becomes a regular unit or instead is used to begin a program between the two with one going heel and the other face. Cole and O’Reilly have wrestled against each other in other promotions and apparently working to impress. Colt plays the heel in CZW and several other independents, but a character direction in ROH for each man has yet to be determined and should shake out shortly.

-Ring of Honor is about to begin a Trial Series concept for their newest signees and younger wrestlers. In Japan, a young wrestler goes through a Trial Series against veteran competition, usually as a way of learning the ropes with veteran talent and gaining more experience in higher-profile situations. Here, ROH will use the concept to gauge the progression and placement of the younger wrestler with five matches against veteran and top competition over a three month period of evaluation. It’s a surprise this concept hasn’t been used sooner in ROH considering its influences from Japan, but given the need to expose and get over new talent; this is probably “right place, right time”.

According to the ROH press release: ” The ROH Trial Series will put a young wrestler in a position to test their ability, their value, and their passion through a series of five matches over a three month period against established Ring of Honor wrestlers. After an individual wrestler’s Trial Series is completed he will be evaluated by ROH Officials as well as by fans on rohwrestling.com. A decision will then be made on that wrestler’s significance to the ROH roster based off their win-loss record, fan interest, skill, talent, and heart.

Andy “Right Leg” Ridge is set to be the first of the participants in this concept, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see newcomers such as Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Mike Bennett eventually get their turns running the veteran gauntlet. Ridge’s matches will take place starting October 15th in Dayton, Ohio and run through Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 17th for five matches in total.

-ROH has been updating its website more frequently with feature columns and this week saw the debut of Colt Cabana’s “audible article”, available through this link. Interesting idea, and considering Colt already hosts The Art of Wrestling Podcast it seems to be a natural fit. Mazel Tov, Colt!

-With Delirious off of television as he continues the role of booker for the promotion. Therefore Daizee Haze will begin a new program where she is looking to start a new chapter in her ROH career. She asked for tougher female competition to be brought into ROH. Hopefully that means the beginning of adding more women as regulars, because it does get redundant to see Haze and Del Rey either fighting each other or winning squash matches against women who could be regulars and make for a better, more in-depth women’s division. As usual, I’ll raise up my hand to request Cheerleader Melissa and I’d also love to see MsChif, the Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews) and Amazing Kong back as regulars.

-Rickey Reyes will back in ROH for the Dayton / Chicago double shot. The Briscoes have been confirmed for both shows as well.

-The Bluegrass Brawl DVD (July 22nd from Louisville, Kentucky) is in stock finally and available for purchase. The DVD was initially delayed after ROH was dissatisfied with the quality of the transfer and video production.

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 Thursday, September 23rd, 2010.

1. The Chances of Jericho Ever Coming (to ROH)?

If I’m playing Oddsmakers, I’d say it’s about zero percent for the next two months, zero percent for the next three years and maybe two percent for after that. Jericho is about to begin a two-month tour for his band Fozzy, which is a part of why (SPOILERS AHEAD) he will been written out of WWE next week. Jericho is likely not going to be interested in wrestling for any company during that timeframe. After that tour I can see Jericho either re-signing with WWE (if he hasn’t already) for 2011 or deciding to explore his other career options (music, acting and hosting game shows with wacky concepts) similar to when he took his first extended break from WWE in 2005. The only way I can see Jericho making any sort of appearance ever for ROH would be long after that.

2. So Do You Really Want Davey Winning at Final Battle?

Um, yes, absolutely. Don’t get me wrong—I did say to give Roderick Strong a chance as ROH World Champion in last week’s column, but it’s also obvious that Davey Richards is super over with the ROH fan base right now. He needs to win the ROH championship as soon as possible…and Final Battle 2010 is that “as soon as”. Here’s the thing-an argument can be made that ROH under Gabe Sapolsky waited too long to pull the trigger on Nigel McGuinness winning the title. ROH under Adam Pearce definitely waited too long on Tyler Black winning. It would behoove the newest ROH administration not to make the same mistakes and allow time (and the fickleness of the ROH fan base) to interfere in the potential success of Richards as a champion. Sometimes a long chase to the title isn’t necessary. Samoa Joe won the belt in his first title match—and his run is one of the best in ROH history and changed the promotion forever. Strong should have a nice chance to shine in the Fall and Winter, but Richards should definitely win the title at Final Battle 2010.

3. Hero vs. Richards = Danielson vs. McGuinness?

In this thread the reader was comparing the possible series of matches between Chris Hero and Davey Richards (now that an American Wolves vs. Kings of Wrestling seems inevitable) to the long running and highly acclaimed series of matches between ROH legends Bryan Danielson (current Daniel Bryan in WWE) and Nigel McGuinness (Desmond Wolfe in TNA). Danielson vs. McGuinness was one of the best series in the company, ranking up there with Joe vs. Punk and Danielson vs. Aries). They fought over who was the better champion, who was the better wrestler and who was the better man. In the end, Danielson won the series, but both became better wrestlers as a result of their frequent battles from 2006-2009.

I’d have to say though that if there was to be any comparison made between Danielson vs. McGuinness and any modern day grudge series in the promotion, it would actually be Richards vs. Roderick Strong. It’s a rivalry with deep historical connections (with them being former tag partners) that is a constant high-quality wrestling match in the ring. It’s a combination ROH has already repeatedly used to elevate the quality of their shows and one they will probably continue to book over the next few years. Hero vs. Richards hasn’t really been done in ROH and so while it could be a great combination (as it has been for other promotions such as PWG), it’s yet to accomplish that in ROH.

4. The Trial Series, Predictions?

I expect Andy Ridge to kick people many times with his right leg…and then get destroyed. If he is booked against Kevin Steen during this series, he might as well call ahead and schedule his hospital stay in advance.

5. ROH Stars Most Deserving of a Shirt?

I’m almost shocked there hasn’t been a new Christopher Daniels shirt on sale—when he returned in 2005 his “second coming” shirt was a huge hit. Also, while not a shirt, a Colt Cabana “polka dot smiley” Yarmulke would be bananas.

6. Rate Tyler Black’s Title Run?

B+. His championship run started off slow with no defenses in his first six weeks as champion, but then it kicked into high gear. Black had a number of terrific title defenses including the obvious first-mention of Davey Richards at Death Before Dishonor VIII, as well as great battles against Roderick Strong and Chris Hero. His heel turn and final weeks as champion not only vastly improved his promos but it embraced the dislike of Black (which varied depending on the venue but ever-present in bigger cities such as New York and Toronto) and used it to end his story as champion and his run in ROH. Obviously there is the question of what could have been had he not signed with WWE, but for what there was plenty of it was well worth watching.

This show was bundled with Death Before Dishonor VIII as a bonus disc.

It appears like Ernesto Osiris may be slipping back into his oily and greasy roots, judging from the pre-show promo with Nana catching him playing a Lotto scratch-off and smoking some butts. Recidivism is an ugly sight to see. Nana wants him to be serious because he’s in the opening match against “the crazy one, you know the one who runs around the ring a lot?” Well said, Nana.

Eric Santamaria and Shane Hagadorn are the commentators for this event. Now I feel like saying some “Santa Marias” for sure.

Why violet, you’ve gone violet! Good lord are the lights too bright and the reds too fuscia. There’s a grainy filtering effect from one camera angle, one solid hand camera look at then the over exposed stationary camera. I may not know much about video production, but I know this much: this sucks.

Delirious vs. Ernesto Osiris is a fine but ultimately inconsequential opening squash match. The crowd likes Delirious and it’s only the first bout, so they react well enough for it. Nana gets some shots in and Ernesto actually controls a good deal of the match, but Delirious rebounds back with the Shadows Over Hell and Cobra Clutch for the tap.

Tyson Dux talks about the long and winding road (cue McCartney) and pumps up ROH and his Ten Minute Hunt match on the card against Eddie Edwards. Good, solid stuff, textbook even. Grizzly Redwood has relieved Shane Hagadorn as he accompanied Edwards to the ring. Edwards still plays the heel, as this was recorded before the Wolves ditched Shane.

Dux is from Windsor, Ontario Canada, birthplace of The Windsor Knot. Well, no, not really. From that overexposed camera he appears either to have jaundice or has gone nuclear. Actually, I guess that will count for everyone on the show. It’s a nice technical wrestling bout—nothing overly flashy until the final three minutes when Tyson breaks out his heavier offense such as his nice DDT variation. The time count actually does work to add some drama to it, especially since Tyson is one of the first to push Edwards to that limit. The crowd chants “break the window”—I have no idea why or what about, because I don’t actually see windows in the arena. With one minute left, Edwards goes for the Achilles Lock but Tyson kicks his way off, leading to a roll up sequence ending with Edwards using the ropes for leverage for three.

Steve Corino is outside the building cutting a promo (third one of the DVD) where he labels Buffalo the worst wrestling city in America—well, he’s isn’t that far off to be honest. Corino talks about Black and how he and Steen have differing opinions about him. Corino thinks he’s a scumbag while Steen thinks they can work with him. Good talk from Corino pumping up Steen as the next champion. “I’m gonna make you a man in Buffalo, but one day you are going to thank me.”

Nana is back with Shawn Daivari…Ernesto is there too, selling his chest and throat from the Delirious match. Daivari’s opponent is Colt Cabana. This time the awful camera makes Daivari looks Puerto Rican. I kid you not. This is the typical Cabana comedy open, until he takes a bad fall at the hands of Nana and Osiris, holding onto his feet during an attempt at a springboard quebrada moonsault. Nana and Osiris cheat to win on the outside while Daivari fills time with Standard Generic Heel Offense. Some fan cuts a super enthusiastic and patriotic promo to encourage Cabana on the outside. It apparently works wonders as Cabana fires back and almost wins with the cartwheel into the butt-butt. Nana tries one too many time to interfere and gets snookered into the ring, where Cabana gives him and Osiris what-for. Daivari tries to win with the Camel Clutch, but Cabana powers out of it, into the Billy Goat’s Curse for the tap-out.

Pee Wee (who looks like a scrawnier Marty Deeks from NCIS: LA, to tie it in full circle to our feature presentation above) versus Roderick Strong…I think we can all connect the dots on this one and see where it’s going before it even gets there. Strong doesn’t get quite the righteous beat down right away though, as Pee Wee runs and flies around to unsettle Strong…that is until he just about KILLS Pee Wee on a body slam INTO the apron corner on the outside of the ring. GOODLORDALMIGHTY. Now the righteous beat down begins. He unleashes a chop so loud it probably could be heard in outer space. From that one camera angle Strong and Pee Wee look like they’re fighting in some Martian Lava Pits. They exist you know.

Instead of “Twinkies”, the crowd chants “Chicken Wings” after Sinclair’s count. At first I thought they were chanting “Tanquerays”, but that’s not Sinclair’s reputation. Strong violently headstomps Pee Wee and Hagadorn is marking out on commentary. Pee Wee rebounds with a springboard dropkick and a combo sequence that ends in a Fisherman’s Suplex for a two. Strong responds with his own combo ending with the enziguiri and the backbreaker for a close two. Pee Wee surprises with a small package for two. Pee Wee misses the moonsault and Strong finishes from there with the double knee gutbuster and the sick kick. Best match of the disc so far but that’s not saying much.

Up in Smoke take on The Kings of Wrestling in non-title action. Yes, the new Kings of Wrestling theme song is EPIC. Hero has always been up on it with his knowledge of the rap game and throwing that in his theme music. After being the face commentator for the previous four matches, all of a sudden Eric Santamaria starts making fun of Up in Smoke’s height and talking about how they got this match because ROH wanted to throw a bone to the local guys. Weird. Sure, Cheech and Cloudy are the clear underdogs, but that makes their opening volleys that much more effective in terms of telling a great underdog story and getting the crowd to be excited about their effort.

Best “wow” moment of the match comes when Cloudy is lifted up into the a fireman’s carry by Hero, who holds him up for Claudio, jumping up to the middle turnbuckle and completing an awesome gutwrench suplex. If anything, The Kings have such impeccable timing with their combination moves and their location around the ring. Cloudy really works the lead-in to the hot tag with some lucha drags and out-manuevering Hero and Claudio and then Cheech really makes an impression with a fast and fun comeback, blitzing both Kings. He moonsaults to the outside in a fantastic dive, then a minute later gets full rotation on a snap powerslam on Hero for a close two.

Up in Smoke get their Hang Ten (Le Bombe des Quebecers) for two. However, The Kings are right back with consecutive German Suplexes for a close two. Claudio displays some monstrous power by doing a crazy rotation flapjack, just throwing Cloudy down. However, Cloudy blocks a running European into an ace crusher and tags Cheech back in. Cheech gets another chance with his hurricanrana. It gets a bit messy from here (and I think Turner lost track of who was legal), but Cheech and Cloudy keep impressing with awesome double teams including a double stomp into a sunset bomb. Then the killshot for Cheech as he jumps over the rope-right into a massive KO elbow from Hero on the outside. Cloudy keeps coming back with amazing hope spots despite being isolated—and then he gets killed by Hero with an spinning elbow. KRS-1 ends it but an impressive little match here that I wouldn’t mind watching again—there really even weren’t any big video quality problems that distracted from the match.

The Intelligent, Sensational Destroyer Dick Beyer (with the mask on as expected, wearing a blue shirt and some jorts), his son Kurt, Tyler Black and Dennis Napollo (apologies if I got that wrong as it was hard to make out) are out to thank ROH for contributing to a local charity fund and put over the show.

Kenny Omega is in with a rare promo hyping up his match with Austin Aries. He says his title aspirations are “for the birds” but he’s here for REVENGE! He says this is a far wackier manner than I ever could describe.

Austin Aries fakes out the crowd by coming out to “The Final Countdown” and a velour towel over his head, pretending to be Bryan Danielson. From the comfort of my home and three months removed, this is quite funny, but I’m sure the folks in Buffalo didn’t much like it at the time, when it could have been reasonably assumed Danielson would be making a return at some point to the promotion.

This match didn’t receive much of a good rep after the show, but I really liked it. They basically pick up where they left off from the big title match at The Omega Effect (November 2009), weaving their sequences and trademark moves into their battle. Aries remains athletic and uses a lot of his technically sound moves, but he stays heel by cheating when appropriate. Omega makes several attempts at Croyt’s Wrath but when he finally hits it Aries is able to grab the ropes. Omega gets into position one more time for the move and absolutely crushes Aries with it, floating over into the pinfall. Anyone who bought the Death Before Dishonor VIII DVD shouldn’t sleep on this match.

The All-Night Express rush in to stomp on Omega after the match, but that prompts The Briscoes to come out and start their match. The Briscoes dominate, until Aries resurfaces (replete with pipe and smoker’s jacket) and the ANE duck out to receive some advice from their manager. They’re able to sucker Jay in to start the heat. Hagadorn on commentary has some clever comebacks on Sanatamaria after being badgered about Hero’s loaded elbow, including claiming he keeps it on the side of the ring hidden from view because he doesn’t want it to get ripped. He’s starting to get into the flow of being a heel commentator, like excusing away all of Aries actions and playing dumb about his own throughout the night.

This is essentially every Briscoes vs. All-Night Express tag team match they’ve had over the last few years, but all four men do work hard and put in the sweat and effort of the match so they definitely deserve credit in that regard. For me, having seen them go at it at Supercard of Honor V it’s a bit too familiar for me to be all that excited.

Titus and King do work in an impressive new variation of the blockbuster double team, with Jay being smashed right into King’s knees at the same time. Kenny King runs his double knees into Titus by mistake, and then gets double superkicked. However, Aries gets on the ropes as The Briscoes prep the Doomsday Device and blows smoke in the face, allowing for Titus to roll up Jay for the win (while holding the tights and King holding back Mark from the save). They say hey to the ladies after the match as well.

Main event of the show is ROH World Champion Tyler Black against Steve Corino in non-title action. In the previous match Hagadorn claimed it was because Tyler was afraid, which Santamaria denied…but as it turns out Shane may have been on to something. Cruise announces Steve Corino as weighing in as “327 pounds”. Ha! Remember when Cruise was doing all those special introductions for Corino back in 2004? Must have been one for old time’s sake. Corino goes to town on an overweight fan to make up for it. Oh man, this is hysterical. I love this guy when he goes on a rant. Then he threatens Bobby Cruise again and calls another fans’ mom fat because he (the kid) made her that way. LO FREAKING L. Then Corino sets his sights on Black, calling him a fake and dressing him down…not with his eyes, mind you. Then Corino claims Steen will be next champion. He offers Black that they don’t have to wrestle. He will still be around after Black has faded away, because Corino is a legend. He wants Black to give him the belt so he can give it to Steen. Black gives him the belt alright, handing it to him, and then punching him down to start the match. This is a must-see promo right here, although given the video quality, maybe you should avert your eyes.

Corino almost immediately wins with an inverted piledriver and sliding C for a near-fall. However, Black is able to regroup and take over on offense. Corino uses Bobby Cruise as a human shield to avoid Black diving on him. Poor Bobby, I hope Steve didn’t ruin his tie. It’s obvious that the Corino’s advantage is brawling, so he turns the match into a down and dirty fight. He even pulls out the fork (which was referenced in their later HDNet match which I wrote about last week) and just unleashed on Black’s forehead. Later on, Corino distracts Sinclair and is able to use a chair on Black’s leg without getting caught. Smart man this Steve Corino. Right into the Figure Four. Black kicks his way out of it, and tries to comeback. Black’s selling of the leg while doing aerial moves is spotty—he started off well by landing on one knee during the backflip, but then didn’t sell when doing the flip tope or springboard closeline.

Corino comes back with a hard closeline. Lots of referencing of Homicide by the Santamaria and Hagadorn…hmmm… Corino continues to target the knee and leg, back to the Figure Four with the ankle hook as well. Black makes the ropes. Black gets an old school airplane spin and Hagadorn references Bryan Danielson, nice. Black with an awesome pele kick, F5, for two. Black rolls out of the Phoenix and Corino gets a nice roll through for two, and then the Black superkick rally kills Corino. Bucklebomb, “Send this to Steen Motherf**ker” superkick, pinfall. A solid main event, although the whole show was obviously overshadowed by Death Before Dishonor VIII.

It’s a shame, because from Kings of Wrestling vs. Up In Smoke onwards this was a very decent show, but it’s likely to be forgotten due to the inconsistent video quality and it being bundled with DBD 8.

Other bonuses on this disc include Richards vs. Black from Proving Ground 2009 in early 2009, the vignette of Delirious drinking red wine and promising Red Delirious against Austin Aries and some video wire content. Not too bad as a bonus disc for what was the best show of the year, but it was the right call not to sell this show separately.

Kings Highway & Selected Poems, an e-book of original poetry and photographs is now available through AriBerenstein.com and the “BUY NOW” button directly below (you don’t need to have a PayPal account to purchase).The e-book is twenty-eight original poems (34 pages total) in a .pdf format, for a NEW and lower price of $5.00.

-With PayPal Account: After signing in and completing the purchase, you will be returned to ariberenstein.com to the download page. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours with a password for the download page. Enter the code and you will be able to open or download (right click, save as) the file (.pdf format).

-Pay with the Credit Card Option: After entering your information (DON’T FORGET YOU MUST INCLUDE AN ACCURATE EMAIL ADDRESS), you will be taken to the receipt page where PayPal gives you the chance to print out a receipt. This is a legal requirement. After that, you must click on the “Return to Merchant” link in order to return to the site. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours with a password and link to the download page. Enter the code and you will be able to open or download (right click, save as) the file (.pdf format).

The poems explore the life and scenery in Brooklyn and Manhattan, from the famous Times Square to the Kings Highway train station. The route is homeward bound to the neighborhood of Old Mill Basin in Brooklyn, from childhood to adult life and back. The poems range from dramatic verbiage to light-hearted humor, but they all represent my experience in the city I love and call home. Sample poems from that e-book are already available for free on my website. More information can be found on the purchase page. Thanks in advance for your support!

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 next three editions of Column of Honor: Reborn (covering the August 2005 events and James Gibson’s ROH World Title run) are now available through this link, including August 13th, 2005 Reborn (with a BRAND NEW addendum to my article on Gibson), August 20th, 2005 Reborn and August 27th, 2005 Reborn.

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.

Meanwhile:

Michael Bauer and I rock this week’s 411Mania Buy or Sell discussing, ROH, DGUSA and CHIKARA.

The CHIKROHSSOVER between Kevin Ford and I concludes in this week’s edition of The CHIKARA Special. You’ll be able to check out my report and opinions on last week’s CHIKARA show in Brooklyn as well as his thoughts on the previous night in Baltimore, Maryland.

Kevin has been quite the busy guy as of late, writing up plenty of other CHIKARA DVD reviews, including this year’s Young Lion’s Cup. Check out his reviews of YLC 2010 Night One, Night Two and Night Three.

Randy Harrison also covers the ROH news including the Dayton show in his Bell-to-Bell News Report.

Hubbard continues the end-of-week breakdown for ROH on HDNet through 411’s Wrestling 4R’s, this week reviewing Austin Aries vs. Delirious in a Lumberjack match.

I’ll be back next week with thoughts on Hate: Chapter II with the second Steen vs. Generico singles match. Thanks for reading and for your feedback.

BROOKLYN!
–Ari–