Column of Honor: 10.02.10: Which Side of ‘Cide?

Welcome to the Column.

He has been a “Natural Born Sinner”, “Notorious” and a “Demon (who) Has Risen”. He has been a thug with a heart of gold, a Rottweiler and a “Latin American Xchange” member. He has been a TNA Tag Team Champion and a Ring of Honor World Champion. He is Homicide and he has returned to Ring of Honor with a purpose—to become ROH World Champion one more time. In the process he has shaken the top core of the ROH roster and has left many questions hanging without many answers. Most importantly: which side of Homicide will emerge in his return to Ring of Honor?

When Homicide debuted in Ring of Honor he was a part of the Natural Born Sinners tag team with Boogaloo, wearing orange jumpsuits to symbolize they were something akin to hardened ex-convicts. They wore horror movie masks like Leatherface and Jason and Boogaloo even brought a chain saw to the ring. The first impression they gave the fans was of an unhinged and maniacal tag team bent on murder and destruction at the least. They fought vicious and bloody street fights against the likes of Da Hit Squad and The Carnage Crew, unhesitating in their willingness to hurt their opponents, draw blood or otherwise create havoc in the tag team scene.

Boogaloo had a falling out with the promotion and soon Homicide was given the green light to go into singles competition. His motivation was clear: he wrestled to provide for his family and for his children. His mission was to become champion and be the lead man in the promotion. This was a new side of Homicide—more honorable and respectable than fans had seen of him. Further, fans learned that he had been the trainer of some of the top ROH talent at the time such as Low Ki, Amazing Red and Da Hit Squad. Homicide was there to stick up for and support his friends in feuds and bitter wars against other Ring of Honor competitors. While he may have come from tough roots and had been hardened by the streets of Brooklyn, New York, Homicide was above all else, a man who stood by his friends and family.

Or so it seemed.

Unfortunately, the quest for the ROH World Title became something of a maddening obsession for “The Notorious 1-8-7”. Homicide’s frustration grew more with every close call and near miss. He was desperate to win. However, he could not find a way to take the title from Samoa Joe, thus beginning a years-long rivalry that would change Homicide…or perhaps reveal an inner darkness that had been there all along, just waiting for the right catalyst in order to make its presence known.

The demon within Homicide had risen and it had taken control. Homicide was now all-too willing to take any measures in order to win the title, including extreme acts of violence (choking Samoa Joe with a noose and lighting Joe’s face up with a fireball) and outright theft (stealing the “new” ROH World Title belt specifically designed for Joe). Homicide’s thug side, his street roots, had come to the fore. He formed The Rottweilers, a gang comprised of friends and like-minded individuals, in order to stick it to ROH, dishonor the promotion and tear it down if possible.

Homicide had become an agent of chaos—a whirling dervish of intense anger that could not be contained. Upon his entrance, Homicide would run around ringside, tossing tables and picking up chairs, while his Rottweilers spokesperson Julius Smokes would be causing distraction, making crazy faces and whooping up even more folly. The Rottweilers, when entering the arena as a mass (as evidenced by their actions at Manhattan Mayhem I in 2005) would be one of the most imposing and threatening forces in all of the promotion. They were all dangerous, but Homicide most of all.

Surprisingly another side of Homicide would emerge in late 2006 during the promotional war between Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling. Some in the ROH locker room had appealed to Homicide for help against the hardcore warriors from CZW. They knew that Homicide had the edge and the expertise in those kinds of matches that could help turn the tide in the favor of ROH. There seemed to be an internal struggle within Homicide—should he continue to look out for himself or should he look out for someone and something far greater than him? While he had continued to express hatred for ROH during the previous years, flaunting his disregard for authority in matches against Bryan Danielson among others, this situation struck a chord within ‘Cide. Ultimately he decided that he both look out for himself and his “home” promotion. It is no exaggeration that Homicide turned the tide of the CZW vs. ROH feud, getting the better of the likes of Necro Butcher and Chris Hero (the invading forces) and being the nail in the coffin of the CZW team when he inserted himself into Cage of Death at Death Before Dishonor IV. In saving the promotion Homicide leveraged his assistance for personal favors and requests, most importantly for an ROH World Title shot.

The “Road of Homicide” demonstrated once again the side of Homicide that was more honorable—or at least by the definition of his own code of honor. Of course, he was just as violent as ever, but this was Homicide more as John Wayne-style outlaw than the Scarface of years past. He had been betrayed by then-ROH commissioner Jim Cornette, but now he would fight tooth and nail, facing and overcoming any obstacle in order to reach his title shot and win the ROH World Title. It was his personal integrity and a desire to become a champion that was demonstrated on this six-month journey to the top.

One other side to Homicide is clearly his love of New York City and his cultural roots. He wears the Yankee caps and pinstripes just as often as the Puerto Rican flag. When Homicide finally won the ROH World Title at Final Battle 2006, the achievement was just as much for him as it was for the New Yorkers in attendance—those who were his friends and family and those who were his longstanding fans who traveled the road and all of its ups and downs for the past five years with him. The celebration was a living and breathing thing unto itself—and it caught Homicide up in rare emotions for his career—exhilaration, happiness and perhaps relief. Finally, the one side of Homicide that had never been revealed before came to the forefront: Homicide, the champion.

It was only a few months later that Homicide had his farewell in ROH, which had begun their Pay Per View era. Homicide was no longer allowed to appear according to the stipulations of his contract with TNA. Around that time, Homicide would join with Hernandez (and for a time, Konnan) as a part of LAX (Latin American Xchange), a rebellious group akin to The Rottweilers that possessed an extreme amount of pride in their heritage to the harm of everyone else in their path. This was a trait that had always been a part of Homicide’s personality in ROH, but was taken to a higher level in TNA, hence the catchphrase “To Live and Die in LAX”.

They were just as violent and just as angry as The Rottweilers in ROH, but perhaps even more dangerous because of their beliefs and justifications of how they were abused and mistreated by TNA officials (which interestingly enough also included Jim Cornette). When the talent of the team could no longer be denied, LAX was embraced by the fans. However, Homicide’s rattlesnake-like nature soon resurfaced—and he betrayed Hernandez, who had been his partner for over three years—joining World Elite. His reasons were selfish and self-centered, but no one would stop him. Eventually though he would see the error of his ways and make an effort to patch up his relationship with Hernandez, coming to his aid after an attack by Matt Morgan. Most fans assumed that an LAX reunion would be a certainty, but it never happened.

That brings us to the here and now, as Homicide has left TNA and is now focused on his independent wrestling career, including a second run in ROH. He made his auspicious return three weeks ago at Glory By Honor IX–to the massive cheers and support of his hometown New York fans. Interestingly enough, fans and ROH wrestlers and officials witnessed all sides of Homicide’s character during this return: his love for New York (wearing a Twin Towers shirt and of course a Yankees cap); his desire to be champion (challenging the newly crowned Roderick Strong and vowing to defeat whoever was in his way to get that shot); his selfishness (ruining Strong’s long-awaited title win that he had been working towards for years); his predilection for violence (threatening to kill Strong’s manager Truth Martini and hurling similar threats towards the new champion); above all else, his own personal code of honor.

Homicide’s first opponents in ROH represent two directions he can take in the promotion. A first-time ever encounter with Kenny King (October 15th in Dayton, Ohio) could be a great platform to demonstrate his wrestling ability and athleticism. However, matches slated against Necro Butcher and Kevin Steen pull Homicide into the all-too familiar vortex of brawling, physical and perhaps bloody fights. There is no doubt that Homicide will be at ease going punch-for-punch against Necro or that such an encounter can easily spill out of control.

Meanwhile, the match against Kevin Steen (October 16th in Chicago, Illinois) is exceedingly interesting. Kevin Steen is at an apex of ruthlessness and depravity thanks in part to his mentor (and at one time Homicide’s long standing blood enemy) Steve Corino. He has cut loose in his feud against former tag partner El Generico, using weapons and mind games and leaving a path of destruction in his wake. One could even say his actions border the edge of sanity. He is incredibly dangerous both in and out of the ring—and it appears at times that a win isn’t always the most important aspect of wrestling for him these days as opposed to just inflicting ungodly amounts of pain and torture upon his opponents. In effect, the Kevin Steen of today is very much like the Homicide of years past…and possibly the present.

Aside from a two-show special attraction appearance in 2008, it has been three years since ROH has been the “Road of Homicide”. Much has changed in the promotion in his absence, but it seems that Homicide is still the same unpredictable yet intriguing personality he was back in 2006. He is a street king; a family man; a samurai; a champion.

Most importantly, he is the ultimate x-factor in Ring of Honor as it reaches the end of 2010. No one knows which side of Homicide will emerge on any given show. Heaven help us all.

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.

-For the latest on last night’s HDNet tapings, which included a new twist in the Steen vs. El Generico feud, click here. Spoiler warning does apply.

-According to last week’s Wrestling Observer, two of the company’s five front office employees were laid off this past week. One has been with the company from its onset. The other, wrestler Shane Hagadorn, will continue to work as talent. Both will be offered essentially part-time positions.

-In more positive news, HDNet and consequently ROH on HDNet will be expanding into eight new television markets carried by Comcast beginning on September 30th: Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, Portland (Oregon) and San Francisco. I think the Boston, Chicago, Philly and Detroit expansions are the most important, obviously due to ROH frequently running shows in those cities. Fans that follow the product their can now more easily catch up on the television version of the promotion as well as any new viewers that are picked up will now have exposure to the product.

-Kevin Steen has begun to write an advice column through ROHwrestling.com. The twist is it’s a heel advice column, with Steen insulting the writers and unleashing his crazy and twisted personality just as much as it is giving actual help. Its shades of the old school Eddie Elner columns from Pro Wrestling Illustrated (some of my favorite pages from that magazine). He wrote his most recent column while wearing the El Generico mask he stole at Glory By Honor IX and eating a banana, including posting a picture of him doing so as proof. That is one sick, scary ass dude.

-ROH World Champion Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries in a non-title match will main event one of the episodes that will tape tonight at The Arena in Philadelphia. It will be the third singles match between the two to run on HDNet.

-ROH announced a “Holiday Gauntlet” match that took place at last night’s tapings. The idea was to take eight of the sixteen top names and have them wrestle in a Gauntlet match, with the winner receiving a $10,000.00 bonus. The episode with the match will air during Christmas week. Remember when there was an eight-man tag match with Danielson’s team against McGuinness’s team (Race to the top Tournament in 2007)? Danielson won that match and the $10,000 prize money and then pocketed / banked Matt Sydal’s share so that it would accrue interest. Ah, good times. See, sometimes Danielson wasn’t a socialist—so those fans who received free WWE programs from that one episode of NXT should count themselves as very lucky.

-Ring of Honor’s annual Wrestlemania weekend shows have been confirmed for Friday, April 1st and Saturday, April 2nd 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia with Ring of Honor running Center Stage Theatre. That venue was where WCW used to tape its weekend Saturday Night episodes. It’s actually a very cool looking building, with a real theatre style set up, bucket seats and all. However, it only seats about 800, which would be the lowest attendance figures ever for ROH’s shows during their WM weekend run. The April 1st show runs at 8pm while the 2nd goes at a 1pm matinee. Tickets went on sale this past Wednesday through the rohwrestling.com website. DGUSA / EVOLVE booker Gabe Sapolsky confirmed on Facebook that Dragon Gate will be running shows during that weekend as well, though he didn’t release any details as to dates and locations. It will be the second year in a row that DGUSA runs alongside ROH and WWE that weekend but it remains to be seen if DGUSA chooses to go head-to-head again with ROH as they did for one of their shows during this year’s Wrestlemania weekend festivities.

-ROH World Champion Roderick Strong’s first title defense will take place November 13th in Mississauga, Ontario against an opponent to be determined. Strong will appear on this weekend’s tapings and then he will travel to Japan with ROH TV Champion Eddie Edwards to participate in NOAH’s NTV Jr. Tag Cup tournament.

–Survival of the Fittest 2010 will be held November 12th in Dearborn, Michigan. The tournament looks to remain the same as far as format with six qualifying matches and a six-man elimination final. Previous winners have been Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), Roderick Strong, Delirious, Chris Hero (who ran the field and eliminated everyone in his final, by hook and by crook) and Tyler Black. SOTF is one of my personal favorite annual tournaments on the independent scene, behind only CHIKARA’s King of Trios and PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles.

-Signed for October 15th in Dayton, OH: Homicide vs. Kenny King in a battle of a “Rottweiler” vs. a “Pretty Boy Pit-bull”; Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Kevin Steen & Steve Corino and Jay Briscoe versus Rhett Titus.

-Signed for October 16th in Chicago, IL: Colt Cabana vs. Steve Corino in an “I-Quit” match to finish their part of the Generico vs. Steen grudge feud. According to a stipulation from this story, if Steen wants to be at ringside, he will be forced to be placed in a straightjacket! That’s crazy, but I think that’s the point (as well as to see how Steen will escape the jacket or be able to cause mayhem even when he’s still in it). The Briscoes vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling in a non-title “Elimination Rules” match will also take place.

-Tyler Black made his official FCW debut Thursday night in Florida. As expected, he had a name change and was billed as “Seth Rollins” (my guess is after musician Henry Rollins). The name change isn’t one-hundred percent confirmed.

-FINALLY after years of waiting, a Chris Jericho DVD set has been released. Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho, is as great as promised and worth the wait. You can recertify me as a Jerichoholic because I watched this one as soon as it came through the mail and blasted through all three discs in a matter of days.

Not only is the packaging awesome, but the DVD menus immediately rocked my world because it incorporated the Jericho Countdown Clock, not to mention the great art direction of the menus themselves.

The extras are brilliant, with Jericho’s “1,004 Holds” and “Conspiracy Victim” vignettes and rare post-show after-tape segments including an amazing exchange between Jericho and Austin and a shorter but just as awesome verbal confrontation between Jericho and an old man from last year on Smackdown. Of course, the matches really make this worth the money, with the early footage and then some of the more recent classics including the ladder match against Shawn Michaels and the Extreme Rules PPV match against Rey Mysterio. All the Jericho one-liners and shtick collected together in one set lives up to the expectations-its one killer line after another.

The documentary was great, with Jericho speaking one-hundred percent straight-up about his career. He had no reservations about talking the ups and downs of everything he has done in his twenty-year career. In fact it may be one of the few WWE DVDs where a wrestler treats the viewer without kid gloves, using wrestling terminology not to use it but rather because it flows naturally from Jericho’s brain to his mouth. In other words—he’s not protecting the fans from the business so much as incorporating them into it and his career. It does a tremendous job covering Jericho’s early years and his time in WCW, with plenty of information about the Goldberg-debacle where Jericho essentially built the program all by himself which never paid off with a match.

If there is one criticism it would be that the documentary did get caught up late in the running time with WWE’s tendency to fill out its documentaries with too many long and over generalized praise segments to the detriment of being more specific about some of a superstar’s later WWE career. It definitely glossed over some really cool stuff with the Trish-Christian triangle as well as the recent past with Big Show and The Miz (which both would have taken place in time to make it on the doc before DVD production). I would have loved extended coverage on the Batista-HBK-Jericho angle (it’s covered but the promo where HBK outed himself as faking the injury was not included) that led to the heel turn. Still, it does include the most important components of the 2007-2010 run, so this is me making minor quibbles about what is otherwise an amazing set. Any Jericho fan isn’t going to go wrong with it.

Also, somehow I knew the DVD would start with a preview of “Legendary”, causing me to break out in riotous laughter over the now infamous line said by Patricia Clarkson “I want my son back, but I still don’t know how!”

-Just something to think about, no more, no less: five years ago, when Matt Hardy was fired from WWE after revealing the details of Edge’s affair with Lita, the internet wrestling community in general galvanized around him in support. In addition, the constant chants of “We Want Matt” could be heard all over WWE television due to the WWE audience, both hardcore and casual fan. It was fan demand that led in part to his return to the company. At the time Matt was posting videos online about the situation and beginning his reality show project, leading to that one strange segment where he ran over a picture of Lita with his truck. Now, with Matt Hardy acting “strange” (i.e. claiming he has a separate identity and “shooting” on WWE and his career) via YouTube videos, the reaction from the internet in general is completely the opposite compared to 2005. There is so much more derision and insult of Hardy now than then (actually beginning last year with his noticeable weight and gut gain), but in effect nothing about what Matt has done as far as his usage of the internet to communicate with the fans has changed.

-I was thinking…Julius “J-Train” Smokes (hypeman for The Rotweilers and The Vulture Squad stables in 2005 and 2007 respectively) was billed as “The Devil’s Son-in-Law”. So his wife was the Devil’s daughter? First of all, what would she look like? Second of all, why would Julius want to marry her? Third of all, what did he say to the Devil when he wanted to ask for his approval of the engagement? Lastly, who paid for the wedding? I know typically the father of the bride traditionally takes care of the bill, but do you really want the Devil paying the tab? He’ll probably want your eternal soul in return. That’ll last way longer than any take-home cake you keep in the freezer.

ROH now has three volumes of their HDNet television series available. Here is a comparison of what’s included on these sets to my rankings of these matches from my Final Column Top 100 Matches of 2009 List, available here and here.

Volume 1

Number of Matches on Top 100: 5 out of 10; Highest: 8th, Lowest: 69th

1. Grudge Match: Tyler Black vs, Jimmy Jacobs- Episode # 1
2. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries- Episode # 3 (placed 69th)
3. Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega- Episode # 4
4. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black- Episode # 6 (placed 40th)
5. Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries- Episode # 7
6, Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black- Episode # 8 (placed 54th)
7. World Tag Team Title Match: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Rhett Titus & Kenny King- Episode # 9
8. Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny Omega vs. Kenny King- Episode # 10
9. World Tag Team Title Tables Match: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The American Wolves- Episode # 11 (placed 17th)
10. ROH World Title Match: Jerry Lynn vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries- Episode # 12 (placed 8th)

Volume 2

Number of Matches on Top 100: 5 out of 11; Highest: 12th, Lowest: 95th

1. ROH World Title Match: Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Hero- Episode 13
2. Kenny King vs. Kenny Omega- Episode 14
3. KENTA vs. Roderick Strong- Episode 14 (placed 44th)
4. Fight Without Honor: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious- Episode 15 (placed 95th)
5. World Tag Team Title Match: The American Wolves vs. Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black- Episode 15(placed 75th)
6. Austin Aries, Kenny King, & Rhett Titus vs. Jerry Lynn, Kenny Omega, & Erick Stevens- Episode 16
7. Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe- Episode 16
8. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black- Episode 18 (placed 12th)
9. Kevin Steen, El Generico & KENTA vs. The American Wolves & Chris Hero- Episode 17 (placed 60th)

Bonus:
-Delirious vs. Jerry Lynn- Episode 1
-Non Title Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe- Episode 2

Volume 3

Number of Matches on Top 100: 5 out of 11; Highest: 15th, Lowest: 93rd

1. Davey Richards vs. El Generico- Episode # 20
2. Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black- Episode #21
3. Non Title: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong- Episode # 22 (placed 54th)
4. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus- Episode #24 (placed 93rd)
5. Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn- Episode #24
6. Dark City Fight Club vs. Young Bucks- Episode #25
7. Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe- Episode # 25 (placed 64th)
8. KENTA, Bryan Danielson, & Roderick Strong vs. The American Wolves & Chris Hero- Episode # 26
9. Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King- Episode #30
10. ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson Episode #30 (placed 23rd)
11. Chris Hero vs. KENTA- Episode #29 (placed 15th)

This is July 23rd from Collinsville, Illinois. I’m watching the show despite not having Bluegrass Brawl available on DVD. From a video quality standpoint, the inconsistency problems from the previous two shows are gone. Now all that remains are the general ROH video issues that I always complain about but never are corrected (hot lights and occasional whitewashing of the wrestlers cough, cough). The DVD comes with a commentary off option, as opposed to the Death Before Dishonor VIII release.

The Bravado Brothers (entering ringside to essentially no crowd reaction) start off against The House of Truth (Raymond & Able) with Truth Martini, who despite being the heels generally cheered for over The Bravados. Standard tag action here with The House occasionally popping the crowd with their tag combinations, most of which look cool and haven’t been overexposed. The Bravados looks solid and actually work a nice hot tag / comeback at the end, but it’s obvious they have a while to go before really being taken seriously against the top names in the company. This match was a solid enough start in that direction though. House of Truth wins with their wacky wheelbarrow/ groin bulldog combination which really needs a name because I am going to get tired of writing “groin bulldog” pretty quickly.

Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens is next—I’m sure Jerome Cusson is very pleased about this match being booked on another ROH show. Nana sees Fat Pigs everywhere. Stevens pops me with a “what do you know about Shrimp Cocktail?” Classic EM BAH SEE. If you like watching Erick Stevens hurl little dudes around the ring, this one is for you. Grizz gets dominated but them runs through an extended comeback including one of my favorites, his swinging tornado DDT. Grizz wants to dive from the top rope onto Nana and Stevens, and if you’ve been following your Adam Pearce-era ROH then you know this is the cue for Necro Butcher to run in and throw a chair at Grizzly to draw the (unnecessary) DQ. Don’t tell me that there couldn’t have been a finish in this one before all the craziness that was to come—Grizzly wouldn’t have been hurt by a loss and another upset win on Stevens would have popped the crowd and not taken anything away from him.

Necro attacks until Rasche runs down and SMASHES through Stevens with a huge spear…and both he and Necro clear the Student Stooge Squad and referees so they can fight. Grizz pulls Nana down off the ring as the fight spills outside. Turner calls for the bell though this match never really got started. Rasche throws Necro off the apron to the outside and celebrates in the ring with Grizzly. He then tosses Grizzly out onto everyone else—people seem to love to do that.

As of this DVD Roderick Strong was ranked number one on the Pick 6, so he puts that spot on the line against Colt Cabana. Crowd is very hot for this one right away, chanting for both wrestlers. We even get the handy dandy Pick 6 graphic to keep DVD purchasers up-to-date. Cabana tries to hug Truth as opposed to shaking his hand. Give hugs, not drugs. Then Cabana hugs a “heavy-set” fan in the crowd and allows a lady to pat his ass. Maybe we’re getting a bit carried away here… finally the bell rings and we get to the officially condoned male hugging, erm, grappling.

Cabana is outside the ring hugging more fans and asking for their advice. I hereby dub this “The Hugging Match”. Back in and we get…wrestling-yay! Cabana clears out Strong and now he’s asking Giuseppe DiLorento for advice. This is one strange match. Truth trips Cabana off the second turnbuckle and then pretends to read from his book. I write “pretends” because (choose your own punch line):

1. There’s nothing written inside that book.
2. He doesn’t know how to read.
3. He’s blind (why do you think he wears those Ray Charles sunglasses?)
4. Wrestling is fake and so is literature.
5. Reading is Fundamental.
6. Take a look; it’s in a book, the reading rainbow.

Anyway, the action does eventually pick up with Strong laying the chops and strikes and the moves and the whatnot on Cabana. Colt uses a mule kick to the heat as an equalizer and ducks and weaves into the Boom Boom jabs. Strong stops him with a chop, but Colt gets the bionic elbow anyway. Several Snuka chops from Colt, then the Flying A**hole and the closeline for a close-two. Strong knees Cabana hard on the jaw and it definitely rung his bell—and busts open his lip. Cabana is never the same after that though he gets one last salvo with the gutbuster using the turnbuckle. Strong wins with the sick kick (making an appropriately and audible sick sound) after Truth hits Colt with the Book of Truth from behind.

American Wolves vs. Generation Me, formerly known as The Young Bucks. I love watching their matches, but hate doing play-by-play because they’re just too damn fast with their combinations and sequences. Great for the fans, horrible for my typing fingers. The Bucks receive a nice ovation, but The Wolves are massively over. The Bucks get on the microphone and go heel by calling back to their current status in TNA and going by the names of Jeremy and Max. There has to be other examples, but turning heel based on a name change is unique enough. Richards has a rather, um, un-PG, un-PC response to their comments.

The Bucks do the heel thing and slap Edwards and Richards in the face and then duck out of the ring. Surprisingly though, most of the match is dominated by The Wolves. Edwards and Richards kick their asses all over the ring; kick being the proverbial word as both love kicking Gen Me in the chest, in the head and in the back of the spine. What puts it over the top is the little extra touches The Wolves throw into this one: the extra spring in Richards’ step, the extra height Edwards gets on his jumping enziguiri. There are a few unique double teams as well, with Richards getting his Tequilla Sunrise-like arms-in cloverleaf and Edwards adding extra torque by pulling back on Richards’ head. Then the Wolves throw in an ode to the British Bulldog with the powerslam / flying bulldog combination, with Edwards almost pulling Richards down mid-flight with his arms right into his opponent. I also liked Richards low bridging the ropes so that Edwards could hit another jumping enziguiri.

The Bucks, erm, excuse me, Generation Me are not without their own response. Some of it involves heel tactics like low blows (Jeremy catching Davey right in the nether regions with a mule kick) and eye rakes, and a lot of it involves a surprising amount of brawling. Max and Jeremy do not back down from the strike fight against The Wolves—using rapid forearm and elbow volleys to go toe-to-toe and of course bringing in their superkick series at various points, breaking up attempted double teams and turning the tide their way. The best moments are when Gen Me connects on superkicks where you wouldn’t expect them—using the seams and holes on headscissors or attempted submissions in order to catch the Wolves in a position where they can’t easily respond to the attack. Jeremy does throw in a few of his flying moves (the backflip to the quebrada is as seamless and beautiful as always) but it’s not to impress the crowd, just to keep on offense.

The Bucks gets close to the win when they use a superkick to reverse Richards’ attempted tombstone and get their own for a very near fall. A short time later, The Wolves respond with their superkick into German Suplex into pinning roll, but it’s broken up. The Wolves stop More Bang For Your Buck in mid-combination, with Eddie catching Jeremy in the air , holding him in powerbomb position for Richards to come down with the Lungblower and flowing right into the Achilles Lock (with vicious boots to the head as well) for the tap-out. This is the first truly great match of the show. It’s billed on the back of the DVD as “must-see” and I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I’d definitely classify it as “you’ll really want to see”.

Richards gets on the mic and pumps up the crowd on Eddie Edwards performance (the crowd did love him). Though, I’m not a fan of his breaking kayfabe by mentioning to the fans to disregard what they hear about “characters” and “storylines”. I know his effort is to focus on how The Wolves are the real deal and a well working unit, but he can do that without the kayfabe breaking verbiage. He demands another tough opponent for whenever ROH next comes back to St. Louis, so just like his match with Omega and this one he can steal the show again.

Next up is the first of two six-man matches on the card, as the proven combination of (at the time) ROH World Champion Tyler Black teams up with Jerry Lynn and (Red) Delirious to fight against their common enemies of Austin Aries, Kenny King and Rhett Titus. It’s a solid battle, with a few nice trios team-up spots from both teams to spice it up. The heels try to do the face spot of triple dives and end up hitting squadoosh, but then the faces are able to complete triple baseball slides and triple dives. Aries and his men (wearing hideously ugly baby blue tights) isolate Delirious and then Jerry Lynn. At one point they get an innovative one-two combination-the All-Night start it off with the catapult into a blockbuster on King’s knees, tag right to Aries who does his springboard elbow into the ring. Tyler Black gets to a babyface comeback with his usual rally offense, but the real deal is saved for Delirious, who outsmarts King and Titus and then headbutts Aries as he launched off the top rope. A few moments later Daizee Haze distracts Aries enough for Delirious to small package him for three.

The heels do get some revenge when they surround the ring, allowing Aries to fireman carry Haze and take her to the back, with Lynn and Delirious chasing them. That leaves Black in the ring about to leave when Steen runs down and levels him with a chain to the head. He beats up Black some more until the Ole! Soundtrack kicks in…and El Generico rushes the ring right into Steen, clearing him out with a closeline over the ropes and following him to start a heated brawl on the outside.

The show and this match was subtitled “Hate” and that’s a perfect appellation—as the bitter enmity between the two sides continues. This match has more goodness, following a similar progression as their first singles match from Death Before Dishonor VIII with just a shade more outside brawling than the first go around. There’s actually some clever inclusion of the front row here, including a fan wearing an El Generico match. When Generico is on offense he tells the guy to slap Steen and he does a few times, but then when Steen has control he winds up right back near that fan. He slaps and chokes Generico around and then demands that fan take off the mask (of the real Generico, mind you, not his own). The fan refuses multiple times and that only angers Steen to attack Generico more.

Lots of Ole kicks in this one, as well as a few attempts at the turnbuckle brainbuster, but Steen is able to block or push Generico off and feed right into his own offense. Generico’s big new inclusion is a massive spinning DDT onto the steel ramp near the stage. Steen comes back and gets a fireman’s carry into a (rare at this point) moonsault for a close two. Steen’s incredulous look at close pinfalls is a sight to behold. His fisherman’s brainbuster from the top only gets two during his match (remember he used a wrench right before it during DBD 8). Steen gets an excellent looking superkick to counter Generico’s running Ole kick.

Generico comes back with an ole kick that drops Steen to the apron, and then another one from the apron that drops Steen to the floor. Steen pulls out a chair and when Generico goes for his (always awesome) outside running DDT through the turnbuckles, Steen just plasters him with the chair and stops him mid-track. Generico just hangs in-between the second and third turnbuckle in pain. The referee calls for the DQ and awards the match to Generico, but they continue to brawl with Steen gaining control. He grabs the chain and hits Generico, then chokes the referee—fine that man! Cabana runs down only to be hit with the chain, but Generico is up again and attacks. He grabs the chain, wraps it around Steen and throws him over the top rope to clear him out just as the other refs and the Student Squad B Unit run down to try to control the situation. Generico breaks free and chases Steen to the stationary camera stand. He places Steen on a nearby table, climbs up the station and splashes through Steen! Excellent moment that delivers a modicum of revenge for Generico. This was an excellent follow-up to the first singles bout, again with plenty of appropriate hatred and I understood the DQ in this situation given Steen had a title shot the next night.

The second six-man tag grudge is the featured main event between The Kings of Wrestling and Sara Del Rey against The Briscoes and Amazing Kong. It turns into quite the excellent bout with plenty of brawling, huge heat segments and exhilarating close-calls late in the match. The rules are set early when Amazing Kong doesn’t back down when Claudio and Hero enter the ring off of Del Ray tagging out. Men can go against the women and vice versa. It helps that Kong and Del Rey are two of the toughest women on the independent scene both by their appearance and by their in-ring physicality. Del Rey gets plenty of shots in on the Briscoes—meanwhile Kong gets to bowl over anyone in her path, including a pretty amazing jump off the corner apron onto The Kings, Del Rey and Shane Hagadorn late in the match.

The Kings show they are great at doing the little things to build up heat (even while a portion of the crowd loves them)—their constant annoyance shots on the wrestlers in the corner waiting for the legal tag really get the fans biting. They also double tag (from one and then immediately to the other) so that they have all three of their team in the ring at the same time. Hero and Claudio incorporate Del Rey on ref distractions as well as bigger sequences like their multiple big kicks and again during the giant swing to the dropkick. Kong takes a huge KO elbow shot from Hero and kicks out to a terrific reaction and later on is able to retaliate with an Awesome Splash from the top rope for a near fall.

The Kings run through a lot of their major arsenal including when they block the Doomsday Device and get their Doomsday European. Their attempt at the KRS-1 is stopped though, leading to a roll up win for The Briscoes. This was an action-heavy, match from the start with a fun back-stretch that was very suspenseful with the push-saves on both sides, breaking up the falls at the last second. I went in not remembering the results of this show, so I was biting a few times at the end. Jay & Mark prove they can still go tit-for-tat against the current champs while the door is open for the Kong vs. Del Rey singles bout the next night in Chicago.

All-in-all Hate: Chapter II succeeds with a top-heavy second half of effective attraction and grudge bouts. In that respect it proves to be similar to the formula of Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies II from April. Definitely a should-buy alongside the next night’s Salvation event in Chicago Ridge.

Kings Highway & Selected Poems, an e-book of original poetry and photographs is now available through AriBerenstein.com. The e-book is twenty-eight original poems (34 pages total) in a .pdf format, for a NEW and lower price of $5.00.

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:

I appear for the second week in a row for 411Mania Buy or Sell, this time with Sam BERMANNNNN! discussing, Japan wrestling, EVOLVE and ROH.

If you haven’t read my report of CHIKARA’s Brooklyn show, it’s available as a part of my CHIKROHSSOVER with Kevin Ford in his 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 also debuts his ROH reviews for 411Mania, giving his own thoughts about Hate: Chapter II.

Aaron Hubbard presents his Top Ten list of ROH World Champions in the history of the promotion in The Contentious Ten. Hubbard also gives you the DL on the latest ROH on HDNet net in this week’s Wrestling 4R’s.

Some more ROH on HDNet discussion is available through JP Prag’s Hamilton Avenue News Journal.

Next week results from the HDNet tapings See you then and thanks for reading.

BROOKLYN!
–Ari–