Column of Honor: 10.28.06

I’d like to quickly send a shout out to Tom from Israel. Tom is a young ROH fan who was writing some of his own reviews (in Hebrew no less) of Ring of Honor events. We were actually in discussions to bring the Column of Honor over the land of milk and honey, but the ROH dedicated site he was working for closed down. An unfortunate turn of events I guess. Nonetheless I want to thank Tom for the offer and the correspondence. I didn’t know that Israel had a strong fan base but it looks like ROH not only has a good presence there, but worldwide!

ROH Results: Dayton, OH 10/27/2006
Matches
Pre Show:
-ROH World Champion “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson defeated Sal Rinauro via pinfall (small package) in a non-title match.
-Shingo defeated Jimmy Rave via pinfall with the Last Falconry (described as an Angle Slam move)
-Irish Airborne defeated Colt Cabana and Jimmy Jacobs via pinfall (German Suplex pin on Jimmy).
-Christopher Daniels defeated Brent Albright (no details available for the finish)
-Roderick Strong defeated Chris Hero in a Four Corner Survival that also included Tank Toland and Mark Briscoe. Strong made Hero tap out to the Stronghold.
-Austin Aries defeated Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall
-Davey Richards defeated Jay Briscoe via pinfall with the Butterfly Brainbuster.
-Delirious defeated Matt Sydal via pinfall with the Invitro Fertilization.
-Homicide and Samoe Joe defeated Steve Corino and Adam Pearce when Joe pinned Pearce with the Muscle Buster.

Angles and Issues

The Debuting Talents: In the pre show “M Dogg 20” Matt Cross made his debut and defeated Pelle Primeau via roll up. Good impressions about M Dogg’s performance from the crowd. Brent Albright lived up to expectations and fought a tough contest and was well matched against Daniels. Albright received a “Please Come Back” chant and teased not shaking Daniels’ hand, but he did it anyway. Finally, Tank Toland seemed to be the odd man out in the four corner survival match, but he made his presence known during the match and found an enemy in Chris Hero.

Connections: From the reports of the show, the booking seemed to be all about connections and flow from one match to the other. The opening contest with Danielson and Rinauro segued into Rave vs. Shingo as Rave came down, slapped Sal and challenged the Dragon Gate original to come on down and face him. There were also segues with the Strong and Aries matches and the Kings of Wrestling as their feud continues to roll forward.

Whitmer Threat: BJ Whitmer continues to make his presence felt on the October shows (as promised in the newswires) as before the Jacobs-Cabana vs. Airborne match Whitmer appeared and threatened to come back and break Jacobs’ neck.

CZW Gold Brand Toilet Paper: To further the KoW-Strong and Aries feud apparently Aries was able to procure one of the CZW tag belts and, um, well. He wiped his ass with it. Hmmm, yes. That’s disgusting.

Inside a Plastic Bag, No One Can Hear You Scream: In the show ending angle, with the Briscoe brothers looking on as “bouncers”, Corino and Pearce broke out the plastic shopping bag and choked out Homicide (last seen in ROH at Sign of Dishonor where Rave did the same to AJ Styles). This led to a cavalcade of wrestlers running out to stop the attempted homicide, of well, Homicide. The students couldn’t do it and Irish Airborne couldn’t do it. Aries and Strong ran off the Briscoes and finally Davey Richards, Delirious and Matt Sydal ran out to run off Corino and Pearce.

Honorarium
UK Edition

-There is no doubt in my mind right now that Bryan Danielson is THE MAN. Having just finished watching his string of title defenses from the UK weekend, good god, has he ever shown just how great he can be in this wrestling industry. Danielson comes through with two incredible promos and two tough title defenses at theAnarchy in the U.K. show—he is the MVP—and he was injured and bloodied up DURING the show!

-Danielson vs. Strong IV is another must see title match. It’s a shorter match but these two go at it and just throw everything at each other and everything clicks together. It may be even better than their 56 minute match (although I’ll have to rewatch it to be sure).

-After watching the UK shows, my top 10 list for match of the year is completely altered and wrecked. On the one hand I feel like screaming because now there will be more consternation for my Final Column column. On the other hand, the smile on my face after watching these shows is not coming off.

-I don’t know why, but the U.K. fans seem to have this love hate relationship with Spud. They booed him during both shows as he made his entrance…but they chanted “woah oh!” to the chant of his theme song. Then they booed him during the match when he tried stuff in the ring, and then they cheered him when he did his flippity do dah dives outside of the ring. Anyone from the UK care to comment on this conflict of emotions when it comes to the smallest non little person in the wrestling industry?

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 10/28/2006 (heading into tonight’s show in Chicago)

ROH World Champion—American Dragon Bryan Danielson (champion since 9/17/05, 33 successful defenses)*, **, ***
ROH World Tag Team Champions—Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) (champions since 09/16/06, 1 successful defense)****

*ROH World and Pure Titles Unified on 8/12/06, Pure Title is folded
**Dragon makes successful defense of ROH title at ETW promotion in Texas on 6/10/06.
***Dragon retains the title in defense of ROH title in Connecticut on 9/30/06.
****Kings of Wrestling put the ROH tag titles on the line during a tournament on a CZW show 10/14/06. However, ROH officials are not recognizing this match as an official title defense.

ROH News
(via the ROHnewswire… and other sources when attributed

Claudio, Hero to WWE?
Several reports from F4W and PWInsider and even here at 411 have mentioned that Claudio Castagnoli recently had a tryout at Deep South Wrestling, the WWE developmental company. Claudio’s tryout was a huge success and this has the rumor mills spinning that he could be offered a contract at any time. Reports also have WWE interested in Chris Hero as they recently watched a video tape of him and were impressed by his size.

So could the Kings of Wrestling be heading to the Titan Kingdom? It’s certainly an interesting possibility and something that has huge ramifications on the independent scene. Both men are top indie talents and have made their way to the main event scene of a number of different organizations both small and large. They are the Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling and Chikara Tag Team Champions (or Campeones de Parejas, as it were). If KoW were to leave, then their dominance of these companies will have to come to a screeching halt. This certainly makes the last few months of ’06 very interesting in each company’s tag team division.

November 3rd Match Additions
Matt Sydal pinned ROH World Tag Team Champion Chris Hero on 10/7 in Detroit. Now Sydal & partner Christopher Daniels say they want a World Tag Team Title shot vs. Hero & Claudio Castagnoli. The champs say that Sydal & Daniels have to prove themselves again. This all leads to ROH’s return to the Boston area on 11/3 when these two teams meet in singles competition. It will be Sydal vs. Castagnoli and Daniels vs. Hero on 11/3 in Braintree, MA. ROH’s return to the Boston area keep getting better and better.

New matches are always a good thing and these are first time combinations for Ring of Honor. Daniels vs. Hero should be really good in particular. For being the tag team champions, Claudio and Hero certainly are wrestling in a bunch of singles matches lately. They also seem to be losing most of these matches. Of course these all lead up to the tag team title rematch against Aries and Strong on November 4th.

November 4th Match Additions
It was revealed in the new ROH Video Wire that Jimmy Rave will team with Bryan Danielson to take on Samoa Joe & Nigel McGuinness on 11/4 in Philadelphia. Rave is searching for a new identity now that The Embassy is no more. He desperately needs to get back on track and this high profile match will be very important for him.

We have two fresh matches to add to the 11/4 Philadelphia event. Newcomers are looking to earn jobs and upcomers are want to climb up the card at the expense of ROH veterans. “M-Dogg” Matt Cross, who ROH officials are very high on, will be tested on 11/4 when he faces “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels with Allison Danger. This will really prove if Cross can make it in ROH. Four Corner Survival Action will see ROH veteran Colt Cabana vs. upcomer Pelle Primeau vs. newcomer Tank Tolland vs. a fourth to be announced soon.

Jimmy Rave is in a steep downward spiral and so this main event match may end up being the ultimate salvation of the former crown jewel…or it could drag the ROH champion into the abyss. I was expecting Brent Albright to get the upset win against Christopher Daniels, but Daniels stuffed him. I don’t expect M-Dogg to pull the upset over the Fallen Angel but he should make a good showing for himself, just like Albright. Toland is getting a second shot in another four corner survival match. I like that idea a lot—he can show off his skills a bit, get himself adjusted to the ROH style and it also helps the fans accept Tank as a presence in ROH.

A Man Servant In Need is A Man Servant Indeed
One more match has been signed for this Saturday’s event in Chicago. The opening bout will see Adam Pearce & his new man servant Shane Hagadorn take on Irish Airborne. Hagadorn was frustrated in trying to defeat Irish Airborne last June, can the Pearce & Hagadorn combo be a new force in ROH tag wrestling?

Hagadorn is 0-2 against Irish Airborne, but now that he has found his place in the circle of life that is ROH, as the man-servant of Lt. Commish Adam Pearce, I think that is all about to change. It’s onwards and upwards for Hagadorn in ROH, and that means he gets his ultimate revenge against the Irish.

Shingo for the Win
Shingo has told ROH officials that he has made a commitment to ROH because he wants a title belt. The ROH titles are all very prestigious in Japan. Shingo can make his star in Japan by winning a belt. He will need wins this weekend against Roderick Strong and Jimmy Rave to get into title contention. Shingo will be someone to keep an eye on in ROH.

Shingo’s involvement with ROH for the next few months looks to be the start of a “work the way up the ladder” storyline. Big wins against Rave and Strong will give him credence for ranking into an ROH World title match against Danielson or whoever is the champion.

Dragon Gate Visitors
Dragon Gate will be sending one of its top stars to 12/22 in East Windsor, CT and 12/23 in Manhattan, NY in addition to the already booked Shingo. This will be one of Dragon Gate’s top main eventers. There is going to be a tournament in Dragon Gate in early December and we will not know who is available until the tournament is over. This individual will be in main event quality matches on both nights.

No early speculation just yet, but anyone whose been in ROH before is certainly welcome, including CIMA and Genki Horiguchi. I’d like to see if BxB Hulk can make his way to America. Of course, let’s get Jack Evans back sooner rather than later!

November 24th Long Island, NY Match Additions
The second main event quality match for 11/24 in Long Island has been signed. In late 2003/early 2004 Samoa Joe and Jay Briscoe had a memorable feud over the World Title. It ended in the bloodbath Steel Cage Match during “At Our Best” that has gone down as legendary. They have yet to collide one-on-one since that crimson covered contest. Now over 2 1/2 years later Long Island will see Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe!!!

I was at the At Our Best show and that cage match still remains one of my favorite matches I’ve seen live. It was stiff, it was gruesome and it was great. A bleeding and beaten Jay Briscoe just dripping blood has certainly become one of the most memorable visuals in ROH history, and it’s been a part of many recap packages. Joe vs. Jay has a lot to live up to.

November 25th Edison NJ Additions
A big rematch from “Glory By Honor Weekend” has been signed for 11/25 in Edison, NJ. It will be Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards. No hype is needed here.

OH MY GOD ITS ARIES V RICHARDS THIS THING IS GONNA BE GREAT I MEAN LOOK IT’S AUSTIN ARIES IT’S DAVEY RICHARDS GOOD GOD THIS WILL BE AN EXCELLENT MATCH THESE TWO ARE SO EVENLY MATCHED MY GOD THESE TWO WILL GIVE US THE FIVE STAR MATCH OF THE MILLENIUM CENTURY HOUR MINUTE!

(looks up and re-reads the newsbit) )
Oh…um, sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.

…Now it’s time for
Hero’s Sandwich

Yes everyone, I’m back again this week—did you miss me? I’m ready once again to make your lives miserable, if for just a few minutes at a time. Not only is your hero extremely busy, out defending my vast collection of belts and ruling the independent wrestling world with an iron fist, I’ve also been making some very interesting contacts lately. Seems like the Kings are getting the attention of some important people…and that means more money, more power and more tag team gold. I know you love it.

Anyway next week I’m taking off again—because quite frankly I’m not certain if you clods even deserve my whimsy on a biweekly basis, much less a weekly basis. However, don’t you worry, my presence will indeed be felt in this column as I’ve reached out to my loyal amigo—that means friend you singular lingual morons—Claudio Castagnoli, who will fill in for my absence. You losers are so lucky.

This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

ROH Preview: ROH in Chicago Ridge, IL October 28th, 2006

Frontier Fieldhouse
October 28th, 2006- 7:30pm belltime
9807 Sayre
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415

No DQ, Must Be A Winner, Non-Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe

5 Things You Need to Know About This Match:
1. These two have been feuding on and off for almost the entire year in various matches and non-match confrontations.
2. In their two singles matches this year, no one has scored the decisive pinfall or submission.
3. The ROH title is not on the line for this one but if Joe wins he certainly has to be in line for a title shot.
4. Danielson has been master of the fat joke, just peppering his promos left and right with disparaging remarks on Joe’s weight.
5. Joe is going to kill Dragon.

Special Challenge Match
Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels

Aries and Daniels have clashed before in ROH in tag matches as well as in TNA, but this is a big one on one match that can do one of two things—boost Aries back up to the top of the contendership for another tag title match, or continue Daniels’ win streak that he seems to be developing since losing to Aries at the Survival of the Fittest match. A lot of pride is at stake in this one

Special Attraction Match
Steve Corino vs. Delirious

I have no idea what to expect of this match. It’s a potential clash of styles and could be really good or really ugly. It’s also a clash of reason vs. lunacy. Corino has been on fire lately with his promos and could really unleash a verbal assault on Delirious…but who knows if he would understand it?

ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette Will Be In Attendance

Cornette has been sick as a dog lately, coming down with laryngitis and is finishing up his current run of shows, including this show and all the way up to November 4th in Philly. Expect him to make Homicide’s life a living hell as much as he can until then, and then the other shoe will drop and Cornette may very well be taken out.

Grudge Match #1
Davey Richards vs. Mark Briscoe

Why Hold a Grudge? #1
-Davey just won a singles match against Jay last night in Dayton.
-Now he comes for the other Briscoe brother.
-The Bikini Shop Incident is still embarrassing.
-Someone has to man up.

Grudge Match #2
Matt Sydal vs. Jay Briscoe

Why Hold a Grudge? #2
-The Briscoes defeated Matt Sydal and Davey Richards on 8/13 in England.
-Jay Briscoe was eliminated by Matt Sydal in the Survival of the Fittest finals.
-This is unfinished business.

Tag Team Challenge Match
Colt Cabana & Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey vs. Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro

The most unlikely of tag team pairings is back again as Cabana and Jacobs continue this strange love triangle storyline. They lost last night in Dayton but they luck out tonight with the slumping and ailing former Embassy. Or is it Rave and Rinauro who have lucked out? Neither man can buy a win these days, but they may stand a chance against another team who really can’t get along. Lacey may be the real key here—what she does and how it affects Jimmy Jacobs are of utmost importance.

Bonus Match
Roderick Strong vs. Shingo

I believe these two have previously tangled down in Florida for FIP. Strong is back from an injury that took him out of his singles match against Chris Hero in Detroit a few weeks back. A win will be important for each man to keep his respective momentum going from last night’s show.

Tag Team Attraction
Irish Airborne vs. Adam Pearce & Shane Hagadorn

As mentioned in the news section, this is ultimate revenge for Shane Hagadorn after losing two matches in June to this team. There is a very realistic chance he will get that elusive win here. Then we get to hear him brag about it forever—grrrreat.

ROH Preview: ROH in Braintree, MA November 3rd, 2006

Braintree National Guard Armory
275 Union Street
Braintree, MA 02184

After two years absence, Ring of Honor is finally back in Massacheucets. The first show outside of Philadelphia was in Boston, and now Boston is back in the fold. This is the Friday show for a double shot weekend that not surprisingly closes on Saturday November 4th in Philadelphia. Six matches so far are set for the show, with a few more I’m sure to be added this week. I’ll preview what has been announced thus far and catch up with the results in the next column.

ROH World Title Match
Bryan Danielson defends vs. Delirious

Crazy doesn’t mean stupid. Delirious, somewhere in that half reptilian brain of his, recognizes the importance of the ROH World championship. He wants to be champion and even more so he wants to do it while defeating American Dragon. Dragon has twice stopped the big D from winning the title and now Delirious has won his way back up to contention for one last shot at making his somewhat insane dreams come true. Will Delirious fly over the cuckoos next on his quest to become ROH champion?

Special Attraction
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. KENTA & Davey Richards

KENTA’s first of his final two appearances in ROH for the year 2006 is right here in this match. He teams up with his storyline apprentice Davey Richards to take on the former tag team champions. This match is interesting in that other than his last match, the title fight against Dragon, the only other loss KENTA has in ROH was in teaming up with Richards on 8/4 against the Briscoes. At the same time, Aries and Strong should be gearing up for their title rematch against the Kings. This is a very difficult match to have the night before their title shot—they could be hurt and worn down and be ripe for the picking for Claudio and Hero.

Six Man Tag Team War
Steve Corino & The Briscoe Brothers vs. Homicide, Samoa Joe, & ???

Joe and Homicide are short one man on their team right now—and that could be costly. They are not short of potential partners who have grudges against the Briscoes—EVERYONE hates them nowadays. However, these so called “everyone” are all occupied with other matches—Delirious, Richards, Sydal, even Aries and Strong, all booked. This leaves the “who” as a huge mystery and it could possibly even be someone from outside of ROH who is not even yet booked on the show.

Special Challenge Match #1
World Tag Team Champion Chris Hero vs. Christopher Daniels

Have you ever noticed just how many wrestlers there are industry wide with the name Chris? It’s getting to where it’s just so hard to keep track of them. Anyway, these two men named Chris have fought against each other in other promotions such as PWG and they have been great as far as quality and meshing together well. Of course I expect such things from people named Chris.

Special Challenge Match #2
World Tag Team Champion Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal

Claudio impresses me with his use of angles to hit the European uppercut from any position, high or low, near or far. If Sydal thinks that he will be safe in the air, he will have another thing coming—that is Claudio’s forearm directly into his chest cavity.

SHIMMER Special Challenge Match
Daizee Haze vs. Mercedes Martinez

Hooray for the ladies back on the card—Haze has acquitted herself incredibly well in SHIMMER and along with Mercedes is at the forefront of representing that company and women’s wrestling on the independent scene as a whole.

Don’t Sleep On…

Much of the time, word of mouth spreads about a mega match in ROH along the lines of American Dragon v. KENTA (and of course, rightfully so) that some of the really good quality matches that would otherwise get some attention drop off the radar. So every month, I’ll comment on a few of the matches that I feel deserve some more lovin’ than they are currently getting. For instance:

ROH Pure Championship: Nigel McGuinness vs. Delirious (Time to Man Up)

-The penultimate Pure title defense for Nigel and he is sure to make sure it’s one of the best. The title goes out on a high note with Nigel and Delirious pulling out all of the stops on their offense in order to get the crowd into frenzy. It gets to the point that they believe the title will change on just about any move at all. Nigel uses two Tower of London cutters on Delirious and he. Just. Will. Not. Die. It takes effort and sheer will to get the win in this one. Make sure you check this out before the Pure title becomes as out of style as making jokes about the Olsen twins. .

Nigel McGuinness vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Lethal vs. Claudio Castagnoli (Fight of the Century)

This is not even a guilty pleasure, but just a pleasure of a match to watch. Almost every show it seems has a four corner survival—perhaps it’s too overused. However, every once and a while a great four corner match like this comes along and sticks out from the crowd. The match essentially works to service the Claudio vs. Daniels issue and Claudio does everything in his power to avoid contact with Daniels, but McGuinness steals the show (and later the match) with his work. Lethal makes a nice one off showing in his home state and helps fill out the match. This was a favorite of mine live and on tape it translates even better because the camera is able to catch everything.

Colt Cabana vs. Chris Hero (Unified)

Oh yes, I am indeed recommending that you watch a Chris Hero match…will wonders never cease. Well, actually, I like to think it was mostly Cabana who did the work here. Cabana is unsung hero of the UK shows, as since he is a veteran of the European tour at this point, he has become the favorite foreign son of Good ol Britannia. Leading the charge to ward off the influence of Hero on these shows, Cabana finally gets Hero into a one on one match up and…dominates. Surprisingly enough this is Colt’s match most of the way here and it is great to see Hero get his ass handed to him. Then when hero gains control the heat of the crowd is turned way up. Both men worked crisply and there were no noticable flubs. Check this match out for a great one on one encounter.

-ROH World Tag Team Championship: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. The Briscoes (Unified)

Finally, amidst all the talk of which Dragon matches are better and which Dragon match is going to be the match of the year comes this spoiler of a match. Very few are talking about this match but they should—it is absolute perfection. It is about as good as tag team wrestling can get nowadays, and we have seen some amazingly good and great tag matches in ROH this year. This one I watched and in mind a thought popped into place—this may be the best match of the year, let alone the best tag match of the year. I watched it with my jaw dropped for the last five minutes but really the entire match is out of this world. Perhaps the one flaw I can find is that Aries was injured during the match but even that is not noticeable until it’s pointed out at the very end of the DVD. CHECK THIS MATCH OUT! If there is any match you internet fans should not miss out on, it’s this one. Lucky enough you can get this and the World vs. Pure unification match on the same DVD.

Going Home

**The Independent Buy In**
Support independent pro wrestling, ROH or non ROH, I don’t care. But if you out there are spending so much time complaining about how WWE sucks, then dammit, spend some money so you won’t have to spend so much time complaining. This list stays in the column and will be added to as the year goes on. Remember: don’t bow out, BUY IN!

Recommended for purchase:
**IWC No Excuses (Styles vs. Matt Hardy, John McChesney vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Jason Gory vs. Shima Xion)
**FIP New Years Classic (Strong vs. Joe, Homicide vs. James Gibson)
**Hardcore Homecoming (2 Cold Scorpio vs. Kid Kash, 3 Way Dance Barbwire Match Funk vs. Douglas vs. Sabu)
**TNA Lockdown (AJ Styles vs. Abyss, Daniels vs. Skipper, Lethal Lockdown 6 Man Tag, AMW vs. Team Canada + Bonus Chris Candido tribute)
**ROH Fate of an Angel (James Gibson vs. CM Punk, Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Hardy, Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave)
**TNA Anthology: The Epic Set (available only through Walmart and Walmart.com at a ridiculously cheap price) (Victory Road 2004, Turning Point 2004, Lockdown 2005)
**ROH Redemption (4 Way Title Elimination—Punk vs. Gibson vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Matt Hardy vs. Homicide, Gen Next of Aries, Strong and Sydal vs. The Embassy of Rave, Shelley and Abyss)
**ROH Punk: The Final Chapter (CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana plus post match celebration, Matt Hardy vs. Roderick Strong, Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal vs Low Ki and Homicide, Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Rave)
**IWC Summer Sizzler 2 (AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Steve Corino vs. Shirley Doe, Glen Spectre vs. Chad Collyer, Shima Xion vs. Nigel McGuinness)
**ROH Glory By Honor IV (Dragon vs. Gibson, Styles vs. Rave, Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal) **ROH Joe vs. Kobashi (Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi, Christopher Daniels vs. Matt Sydal vs. Azriael, Gibson vs. Yang)
**TNA Best of the X Division MATCHES Volume 1 (Joe vs. Sabin, Ultimate X AJ vs. Williams vs. Sabin, Ironman match: AJ vs. Daniels)
**FIP Bring the Pain (Punk vs. Danielson 2/3 Falls, Aries vs. Strong)
**OVW October 2005 Television Showcase (Ken Doane vs. Brent Albright III, Johnny Jeter vs. Matt Cappotelli, and CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk)
**OVW November 2005 Television Showcase (CM Punk vs. Ken Doane (c)—TV Title, CM Punk vs. Brent Albright, Matt Cappotelli vs. Johnny Jeter (c) II-Heavyweight Title)
**ROH Unforgettable (Samoa Joe / Low Ki vs. Homicide / Kenta Kobashi, Dragon vs. Strong, Daniels vs. Yang, Cabana vs. Evans)

2006 List
*ROH This Means War (Bryan Danielson / Roderick Strong, AJ Styles / Austin Aries, Claudio Castagnoli / Alex Shelley)
**ROH Vendetta (Bryan Danielson / Roderick Strong, Eight Man War: Generation Next + AJ Styles / The Embassy, Samoa Joe / Christopher Daniels)
**ROH A Night of Tribute (Bryan Danielson / Christopher Daniels, Aries + Strong / Joe + Lethal, Colt Cabana / Homicide, Claudio Castagnoli / Milano Collection AT)
**OVW December 2005 Television Showcase (CM Punk (c) vs. Ken Doane vs. Brent Albright—3 Way Dance TV Title, CM Punk vs. Brent Albright—TV Title)
**SHIMMER WOMEN’S ATHLETES Volume 1 (Cheerleader Melissa vs. MsChif, Sara Del Rey vs. Mercedez Martinez, Lacey vs. Daizee Haze)
**TNA Bound For Glory 2005 (Iron Man 2: Styles / Daniels, Monster’s Ball 2, Joe / Liger, 10 Man Gauntlet, Jarrett vs. Rhino)
**TNA Genesis 2005 (Jarrett & AMW / Rhino & Team 3-D, Styles / Williams, Elimination X: Joe, Daniels, Shelley, Strong / Sabin, Dutt, Aries, Bentley; Christian Cage Debuts)
**ROH Steel Cage Warfare (Generation Next / The Embassy, Dsanielson / Romero, Joe / Lethal, Corino / Homicide )
**ROH Final Battle 2005 (Low Ki / KENTA, Danielson / Marifuji, Claudio / Nigel, 4CS: Daniels / Joe / Lethal / Whitmer )
**ROH Tag Wars 2006 (All three Trios Tournament 2006 matches, Generation Next / Danielson and Lethal, Low Ki / Christopher Daniels )
**BCW International Incident (Jarrett / Raven, Daniels / Sabin, Petey Williams / Jerry Lynn, Bobby Roode / Abyss)
**SHIMMER WOMEN’S ATHLETES Volume 2 (Four Way Elimination Match: Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey vs. Mercedes Martinez / MsChif vs. Beth Phoenix / Alison Danger vs. Rain)
**PWG Astonishing X-Mas (December 16th, 2005) (Super Dragon vs. Kevin Steen / Eight Man Tag / Strong & Evans vs. Human Tornado & El Generico / Colt Cabana vs. Scorpio Sky)
**ROH Fourth Anniversary Show (Generation Next / Styles & Sydal, Danielson / Rave, Homicide / Cabana Ghetto Fight, CZW all out brawl)
**ROH Best In The World (KENTA &Marifuji / Joe & Dragon, Strong & Evans / Briscoes, Shelley / Daniels, Shimmer 4 Way)
**ROH Dragon Gate Challenge (Daniels / Joe, Generation Next / Blood Generation, Styles & Sydal / Dragon Kid & Horiguchi)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2005 (2 DISC) (Steen/Dragon, Styles/Evans, Dragon/Reyes, Romero/Kazarian and tons more)
** ROH SUPERCARD of Honor (Danielson / Strong III, Do Fixer / Blood Generation, AJ Styles & Matt Sydal / Austin Aries & Jack Evans, Joe / Jacobs / Daniels)
**ROH Better Than Our Best (the whole damn card. No really, the whole damn card)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 3 (Knox / Danger, Del Ray / Haze, Cheerleader Melissa / Shantelle Taylor)
**FIP Big Year One Bash Night 1 (Strong / Gibson, Spanky & Rinauro / Rave & Lethal Homicide / McGuiness)
**IWC Super Indy V (Low Ki / Abyss, Sydal / Petey Williams, Delirious / Sydal, Shelley / Reyes, Gambino Bros. Moving Co. / Burning River Brigade—M Dogg 20 and Josh Prohbition)
**Hardcore Homecoming: November Reign PLATNIUM EDITION. (Lynn / Polaco Cage Match, Douglas / Pitbull Gary Wolfe Dog Collar, Matt Hyson / CW Anderson. Bonus DVD: Sabu / Al Snow, Chris Benoit / 2 Cold Scorpio, Psicosis / Rey Mysterio Jr., Lynn / Polaco)
**UWF-TNA Hardcore War July 9th, 2006 (Styles / Joe / Daniels, James Gang / AMW / Team 3-D (No Finish), Jarrett / Rhino, Lynn / Williams, Lethal / Dutt, Abyss / Runt)
**UWF-TNA Monster’s Ball July 10th, 2006 (Rhino / Joe / Abyss, AMW / Daniels & Styles, Homicide / Lynn, Lethal / Jarrett)
**Colt Cabana’s European Vacation II – World of Cabana
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 4 (Rain / Sara Del Rey, MsChiff / Cheerleader Melissa Falls Count Anywhere, Daizee Haze / Rebecca Knox).
**ROH The 100th Show (Team ROH vs.Team CZW, Danielson / Delirious, Aries & Strong / Homicide & Reyes, Daniels / Castagnoli)
**ROH Ring of Homicide (Homicide / Necro Butcher, Aries & Strong / Briscoes, Daniels / Sydal, Danielson / Delirious, McGuinness / Lethal)
**ROH In Your Face (KENTA / Joe / Danielson, Homicide / Hero, Whitmer / Jacobs, Richards / Rave)
**ROH Throwdown (KENTA / Strong, Danielson / Whitmer / Jacobs, Pearce / Necro Butcher, Rave / Joe / Delirious / Richards)
**ROH Chi-Town Struggle (Danielson / Cabana, KENTA / Aries, ROH vs. CZW, Briscoes / Rave and Kennedy III)
**IWC Summer Sizzler 3 (Shirley Doe / Dennis Gregory IWC World Heavyweight Championship, Delirious / Troy Lords IWC Super Indy Championship, Kings of Wrestling / Rickey Reyes and John McChesney, McChesney / Shima Xion, Burning River Brigade / Cleveland Mafia / Gambino Brothers Moving Company IWC Tag Team Championship)
**FIP Impact of Honor (Aries & Strong / Fast & Furious ROH Tag Team Title Match, Bryan Danielson / Colt Cabana ROH World Title Match / Davey Richards / Shingo Takagi, Steve Madison / Erick Stevens)
**UWF-TNA House Show July 22nd, 2006 (Monster’s Ball Rematch: Samoa Joe / Rhino / Abyss, Jay Lethal / Alex Shelley / Daniels and Styles / James Gang)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 5 (Daizee Haze / Rebecca Knox 2 out of 3 falls, Sara Del Ray / Mercedes Martinez No Time Limit, Allison Danger / Cheerleader Melissa)

**ROH Death Before Dishonor IV (CZW vs. ROH Cage of Death, McGuinness / Strong, Dutt / Danielson) (NEW ADDITION)

** ROH Fight of the Century (ROH World Title: Joe / Danielson, KENTA / Richards, Daniels / McGuinness / Lethal / Castagnoli, Ultimate Endurance) (NEW ADDITION)

**ROH Unified (ROH World vs. Pure Title: Danielson / McGuinness, ROH World Tag Team Title: Aries and Strong / Briscoes, Cabana / Hero, Richards / Rave) (NEW ADDITON)

ROH @ 411

Brad Garoon reviews FIP Strong vs. Evans, which has, well, Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans. Duh.

Douglass Nunally (who is on the F4W board and stirred up a boat load of 411 forum talk with his column on Kurt Angle a few weeks ago) carries over his Column O’ Nonsense column to this very website. I’d like to think it isn’t on a dig on my column, especially since Douglass encourages you to go find ROH and other indies and give em a shot.

Honor Bound Links

Melchor brings the Saturday news. You know, my dog never brings me the Saturday newspaper, she just tears it up instead.

Marsico is full out going George from Seinfeld (I’M BACK BABY!) by unleashing his full personality and persona that he brings into Rocketbusta Radio and putting it into his Friday news reports. He is also extremely complimentary about my columns, and thus I will mention once again that Marsico is once again a fine, upstanding human. What do you mean by this word “cronyism”?

Stuart’s hardcore is not yet up this week (and take thatany way you want) but he does have part 5 of his ongoing That Was Then novella about Bret Hart and HBK. He better be careful, or else his series is going to be as long as The Piledriver Reports history of the WWE series. I mean how much Vince McMahon can one person take before they piledrive themselves into the earth?

Bayani tried to form his own independent wrestling organization. Bro, I dunno, playing EWR might be easier is all I’m saying.

Weyer goes old school the right way by going back to Magnum and Nikita. Ah, smell the NWA!

I have no idea who Uncle Trunx is and what he did to poor Rajah, but since he and Sat plugged my column not once but twice in the same sentence, I will be most proud to do the same for High Road / Low Road. And I won’t ask about Rajah ever again, um, I mean who? (please don’t kill me and put me into a carpet and throw me into the Hudson guys, okay?)

A tremendous Fact or Fiction reading this week.

Cook is in with his Ask 411 column. Hopefully he had a good time in Dayton last night.

John Gregory is reviewing the IWA:MS Ted Petty tournament from 2004, chock full of the current and former ROH roster and other very well known independent workers. It is can’t miss independent action. Check out his reviews of discs one / two and disc three.

It’s time to bring us to a close this week in the column of honor. Next week I’ll have all the results from tonight’s show and 11/3 in MA, plus a preview of 11/4 in Philly. Delirious will be back for more advice from the depths of his own mind. Then it’s something I’m really excited about and am looking forward to presenting to you—American Dragon vs. American Dragon. That’s right—figure that one out—the mind boggles.

The countdown begins…9 weeks until Final Column 2006. It’s going to be HUGER than HUGE.

BROOKLYN! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–