Column of Honor: 11.25.06

My hand is burning up from writing a million bazillion words in a twenty four hour span. How does Larry Csonka do it? He must get good medical coverage for the Carpal Tunnel syndrome.

ROH Results: Long Island, NY 11/24/2006
Matches
-In a SHIMMER Four Corner Survival that also included Daizee Haze and Allison Danger, Lacey defeated Nikki Roxx via pinfall with an Implant DDT.
-Nigel McGuinness won a Gauntlet Series match. Brent Albright tapped Pelle Primeau in the first match. Albright defeated Jason Blade via submission. BJ Whitmer pinned Albright. Jimmy Jacobs defeated Whitmer with a roll-up for a sudden elimination. Nigel McGuinness was last in and defeated Jacobs with the lariat.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) defeated challengers Austin Aries and Roderick Strong via pinfall after interference by Shingo who put Strong through a table. Hero used the Hero’s Welcome for the pin.
-Shingo defeated Mark Briscoe via pinfall with the Last Falconry.
-Jimmy Rave defeated Homicide with a roll-up for the upset win.
-Samoa Joe defeated Jay Briscoe via musclebuster.
-Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels defeated Davey Richards and Delirious with the BME / Sydal Press combination on Delirious.

Angles and Issues
-The Briscoes continue their issues with Homicide, attacking him after his match with Jimmy Rave until Samoa Joe made the save. This was the final set up for their elimination tag match tonight in Edison.

-Jimmy Jacobs reportedly put on a hell of a fight trying to defeat Nigel McGuinness. He almost won the match several times before Nigel put the match away.

-Mostly positive reports coming from the ROH message board about the match quality and fan behavior, although later in the column I have a letter from a fan at the show who would disagree with that assessment.

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 11/25/2006 (heading into tonight’s show in Edison, NJ)
ROH World Champion—American Dragon Bryan Danielson (champion since 9/17/05, 34 successful defenses)*, **, ***
ROH World Tag Team Champions—Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) (champions since 09/16/06, 3 successful defenses)****

*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

At Least It’s Not In a Tent
Posted to the ROH message board on November 20th:

The Ring of Honor live event scheduled for 12/22 in East Windsor, CT has been moved to the Connecticut Expo Center, 265 Reverend Moody Overpass, Hartford, CT 06120. Their website is www.ctexpocenter.com.

If you are holding tickets for 12/22 in East Windsor and can not attend the show in Hartford please contact us immediately at [email protected] for information on getting a refund.

I had a funny feeling about the East Windsor show…and it looks like Ring of Honor did as well, because this time the change in the show comes out with plenty of time and plenty of options (attend the show or get reimbursed) for fans. The tent issues from September just would not work out repeatedly. Maybe the one time, even with the torrential rain, it would be understandable, but if there were problems a second time in the same venue, it would have led to a lot more visible frustration and fan discontent.

Radio City Christmas Spectacular…Oh Wait…Wrong Spectacular
There is lots of news on both nights of “The Chicago Spectacular” in an article on the main page of ROHwrestling.com. Get tickets now for just $10 for the 12/8 & 9 events at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago Ridge, IL. New Matches for 12/8 include Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal & Shingo in Dragon Rules Match and Homicide vs. Brent Albright. New matches for 12/9 are a Six Man Captain Match with Bryan Danielson & ??? vs. Delirious & ???, Samoa Joe vs. Mark Briscoe and Davey Richards vs. Jay Briscoe.

The details of the six man tag for 12/9 in Chicago are developing. Bryan Danielson will lead one team against another team led by Delirious. The match will be held under regular rules. Both men will choose the remaining two members of their team. Bryan Danielson has already selected his team and it will be Jimmy Rave & Jimmy Jacobs. Danielson enjoyed teaming with Rave on 11/4 in Philly and feel that they have excellent chemistry together. Danielson selected Jacobs because he believes Jacobs is a killer since he was able to put BJ Whitmer out of action. We aren’t sure who Delirious will select yet and we might not know until 12/8.

A Six Man Mayhem has been added to 12/9 in Chicago for the second night of “The Chicago Spectacular.” The match has Pelle Primeau vs. Dave Crist vs. Jake Crist vs. Matt Cross vs. Trik Davis vs. CJ Otis. Six Man Mayhem always brings exciting action to the card!!!

The idea of a Captain’s match, at least the ones in Japan and in the Smackdown video games, is that the match is elimination rules until one of the captains get pinned or submitted. It’s a pretty cool stipulation style that hasn’t been done much in the United States. Of course with ROH being America’s closest connection to Puro, it’s just a slight surprise that this match style is being imported. Actually, it’s hard to believe that ROH didn’t get to this sooner!

Aries and Strong up against Sydal and Shingo is quite the interesting match up…Matt Sydal just cannot get it out of his head that Aries and Strong have his number! This has really been a year long storyline where he just cannot find the right partner to beat them as a team. He might have that partner to do so in Daniels, but the fact that he is giving Shingo a shot…well, aside from the fact that they have both wrestled in Dragon Gat, it’s just an odd pairing Shingo has quite the grudge against Strong as he repeatedly beats up the man.

The students and younger wrestlers are getting the spotlight on one of the events. ROH is beginning to incorporate more of its students into the main show matches, and so far it seems to be working well. Shane Hagadorn has found a nice niche as the manservant to Adam Pearce and Pelle Primeau is underdog wonder. Irish Airborne have looked better in recent events and do well in six man mayhems. CJ Otis is a new pull up—he has been a part of the student match pre show over the last several months.

Get Samus Aran!
Lacey is throwing some money around in search of a bounty hunter to help Jimmy Jacobs fight BJ Whitmer & Colt Cabana.

Seriously, it would be way cool to have the Metroid hunter come over and throw some exploding missles at BJ Whitmer and Colt Cabana. BJ would probably get hit by them and just shrug them off (because he’s hardcore) and Cabana would probably try to look underneath the suit in a misogynistic yet clever manner.

FIPping off
Some clarification on FIP involvement in ROH since the FIP title is coming to ROH. There will be more consistency with the ROH and FIP characters and storylines, but you will still see unique matches in FIP that you won’t see in ROH. Certain talent, like Dave Prazak, will have different goals in the different promotions, but there will be more consistency. FIP will also focus more on different talent than ROH. FIP is adding new talent like Larry Sweeney, Hallowicked, Gran Akuma and Eddie Kingston next month. FIP will still have a nucleus of ROH wrestlers like Roderick Strong, The Briscoes, Davey Richards and others. New FIP Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong states his goals with the FIP belt in the new ROH Video Wire now at ROHvideos.com.

Well, I can’t say that I’m too happy to see FIP and ROH come together more coherently, but it is a sound business strategy to combine efforts. Creating more brand value to FIP, if done right, will lead to better DVD sales and prestige for the Florida independent promotion. Roderick Strong IS the right guy to get this done, because he can put on awesome, hard hitting matches that are compelling enough to make you want to watch more. I just would rather guys like Dave Prazak stay the Dave Prazak he always been in ROH. I don’t want him to start cackling like a madman during his commentary about how Danielson was screwed out of the FIP title or taking his DP Associates stable
on the road to fight Irish Airborne or some such regular ROH team. At least for the here and now, the newswire is claiming that won’t happen.

FIP adding on some of the more well known indie workers like Larry Sweeney, Hallowicked, Akuma and Kingston is smart—there has been clamor over the last few months for some or all of these men to appear in ROH. If the only ROH related spot you can watch them is FIP, then that may lead to added purchases.

I still say Sweeney would be an awesome fit for ROH itself and Hallowicked has been teaming up with Delirious in Chikara, so it would be entertaining to see them enter the tag division and see what they can do.

Dragon Does Japan
ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson is currently on tour in NOAH where he has won his first two matches. This is Danielson’s first tour of NOAH and all reports indicate that the Japanese fans are very familiar with Danielson and his rivalry against KENTA. It is clear that ROH has a strong following in Japan.

Danielson tapped out Ricky Marvin in a six man tag match thanks to the Cattle Mutilation, then the next match he won over Taiji Ishimori, a young and really freaking fast junior who I have seen in action on some Japan DVDs and am most impressed with. Since then, Danielson has been on the losing end of several six man matches, but he has never been the one pinned or submitted. On November 23rd, Danielson submitted Ishimori again. Danielson’s tour is all leading up to the big rematch against KENTA, where I’d think KENTA would go over in a non title match.

Added to 12/22
A huge Four Corner Survival has been added to the event featuring four of ROH’s biggest stars. It will be ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide vs. Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness. There will be a lot of ramifications coming out of this match especially with Homicide getting a World Title shot against either Danielson or Joe the next night in NYC. The ROH World Title will not be on the line in this Four Corner Survival, but pride will be at stake.

Danielson and Homicide were in a similar Four Corner Survival match back in July at War of the Wire II. Joe and McGuinness are the new participants and its interesting that Joe fights Danielson in December, so he could ostensibly be the champion walking into this match—which could really change the vibe and outlook of the whole thing. McGuinness can position himself as a top contender going into 2007 with a win over any of these men, although the stip where he can’t fight Dragon for the title is still in place.

Returning Gifts Early
Jack Evans will make his return to ROH 1/26 in Braintree, MA.

El Generico has been added to “Final Battle 2006” on 12/23 in Manhattan, NY.

New roster videos are coming soon to ROHvideos.com. If you haven’t already make sure you watch the current roster videos at www.ROHvideos.com because they won’t be up much longer.

It’s great to know that Evans is finally returning from the Land of the Rising Sun. A recent promo from the September 22nd newswire shows that when he gets back, he may be heading for the titles. El Generico has been a charismatic wonder and has shown lots of it in matches in PWG. Considering the older roster still has Jimmy Yang, a new and updated roster video series is welcome..

Pearce’s Challenge
Check out the main page of ROHwrestling.com to read Adam Pearce’s challenge to Homicide. Will Homicide accept the challenge for a first time ever in ROH Strap Match on 12/9 in Chicago? Find out next week.

This is a great write up—I don’t know if it’s really Gabe behind it all in a Pro Wrestling Illustrated like kayfabe, but these quotes from wrestlers and especially the Pearce “promo” are top flight reading. I read it and it really helps make a convincing case for Pearce’s challenge to Homicide.

Now it’s time for
Hero’s Sandwich

Aries and Strong? Check.
Daniels and Sydal? You’re next.
It’s looking to be a PERFECT weekend.

This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

ROH Preview: ROH in Edison, NJ November 25th, 2006

Inman Sports Club
7:30pm belltime
990 Inman Avenue
Edison, NJ 08820

Elimination Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight
Homicide & Samoa Joe vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe

The third match of the tag series starting back at GBHV N2 and followed up at Motor City Madness when Mark Briscoe did an absolutely crazy shooting star press off a Ruder truck onto Samoa Joe. I have not gotten the chance to see that match but if that is any indication of how far they will take the fight, the Edison NJ crowd will be in for a hell of a great match. They also better be ready to get out of the ice rink and to the outside…or they can just stop at the arcade games, pop in a quarter and play some classic X-Men.

ROH World Tag Team Title Match (if champions retain on 11/24)
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defend vs. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal with Allison Danger

This is match that follows up on the singles series between the two teams just a few weeks back. Daniels also has a score to settle with Hero because he ounched Allison Danger right in the face. It was a very sickening thing to occur. Sydal and Daniels’ combo moves have been amazing, including the BME / Sydal Moonsault Press as a finisher. The moves are flashy yet full of impact and together it is a believable enough series to end the match. The Kings will need to counteract the chemistry of Sydal and Daniels with their own double team moves. This is a very believable spot for a title change and if it does happen would be the resolution of a year long storyline where Sydal has been trying to find the right partner to win the ROH tag belts. He may have found the right partner.

Grudge Match
BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey

The Itchy and Scratchy of ROH in 2006. These two have fought and fought, almost killing each other several times in the process, but they keep getting back up and want some more. I expect more hard hitting action, perhaps spilling into the crowd. I also expect Lacey to become more involved in this match than usual—Jacobs needs the wins and so does Lacey’s Angels.

FIP Heavyweight Title Match
Roderick Strong vs. Shingo

This is a match I expect to be very good and this style of match will become Strong’s calling card in ROH for 2007. I think if anyone can pull up the value of the FIP title it is Strong. Shingo has liked to put Strong through tables, and I think the tables will be turned on him for this one. However, this looks to be just the start and not an end of a longer term rivalry between these two.

Special Challenge Match #1
Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards

A rematch from GHBV N1…the tent prohibited a lot of high flying in that match and it was mostly a ground game. We shall see if either man opens up the aerial playbook for this match. Richards has beaten Aries in other promotions, but Aries has the “hometown” advantage of sorts going—he is an integral part of ROH and the crowd support he gets during his matches can give him that extra adrenaline boost. Richards may not have an answer for Aries brainbuster either.

Special Challenge Match #2
Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave

Nigel basically challenged Jimmy to get serious and Jimmy took offense to that. Do you realize that if Rave beats Nigel tonight that he basically will have repeated his awesome feat from the 3rd Anniversary Celebration Nights 2 and 3? He beat AJ Styles and CM Punk on consecutive shows and became a top heel in the promotion. In defeating Homicide last night and Nigel tonight, Rave is basically back in the game and basically back to where he ought to have been over the last few months. He regains his credibility and his main event / upper card spotlight. I know people criticize Rave for not being all that flashy, but he’s a heel—he does what he is supposed to do to get heat. I think he could be a big part of the main event scene in 2007, and a win over Nigel will help position him as such.

Special Attraction Match
Delirious vs. Jason Blade

I expect this to be a squash. Blade makes very infrequent appearances in ROH. Delirious has really been fumbling around and not doing much since winning SOTF 2006 and losing the title match against Danielson. He could use a win to lift him up the cards.

Do Or Die Match
Brent Albright vs. El Generico

I’ve always been very impressed with Albright ever since I saw him on an OVW tape up against Kenny Doane (KENNY!). This is the second comedy / squash match on the card although I expect this one to be slightly more back and forth than the Delirious match. Generico is a fun watch and it should be interesting to see his reaction when in the same ring as an intimidating presence such as Albright.

Top Of The Class Trophy Match
Shane Hagadorn defends vs. Bobby Dempsey

Hagadorn has held onto that belt for some time and the Dempseys always seem to be the perennial contenders for it—maybe one of these times one of them will actually win the thing.

The Ring of Shame: Shane Douglas

While I remain one of the more positive Ring of Honor homers on this here website, I have to admit…sometimes ROH has gotten it wrong. While I usually choose to look on the sunny side of all things honorable, once a month I will take a look at an incident or a match that has occurred in Ring of Honor that…well, wasn’t quite honorable. In fact, these incidents are far from what I expect out of Ring of Honor, but more like a company that was named…Ring of Shame. Hence, I give to you the column of honor equivalent of Wrestlecrap, the headshaking, fist wagging, embarrassing moments in ROH history, all bound together in one volume known as The Ring of Shame.

By the governing body of the New York State Honorability Commission, elected into the Ring of Shame for November 2006:

The Franchise Can’t Be Saved

“The Franchise” Shane Douglas has been a man in and around controversy in the wrestling world. He has been outspoken (some would say a blowhard) when it comes to his career and how it has turned out for the better and for the worse. I personally have thought Douglas had and has a ton of talent and ability, and throughout his career he showed that through his promo style or in his matches. I liked him teaming up with Ricky Steamboat, hell I even liked him as Dean Douglas! To be honest, I’m pretty sure I’m one of the very few (and Shane himself) who thought that Dean Douglas should have been given a chance to run with the WWF Intercontinental belt back in 1995. However, Shane’s career went in other directions, and the anger and frustrations in larger companies fueled his career to success in the Indie wrestling outfit known as Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Shane has quite the love-hate relationship with certain fan, especially those on the internet, which never fails in telling it like (they think) it is. However, in June of 2005, Douglas was riding a wave of popularity and approval thanks to his involvement in what was billed as a “Harcore Homecoming.” This was his version of the ECW reunion that WWE was planning on putting together, done to ensure that the vision of ECW remained intact. After all, fans and wrestlers alike didn’t really know what to expect out of this new ECW: One Night Stand special that the big wigs in New York were presenting. Maybe it would have the initials, but would it have the heart? The soul? The defiance of a rebel outfit sent on showing the rest of the wrestling world that its sum could be something more than its parts?

No one was quite sure of the answers, so Douglas made sure to change the questions by setting up his own event, in Philadelphia at the former ECW Arena no less (WWE was running Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan). Douglas’s event on June 10th, 2005 used talent from both the WWE run event and ECW alumni who would not be appearing live on pay per view, such as Tammy Sytch, 2 Cold Scorpio and Jerry Lynn . It was a very smart call, because not only could these wrestlers use the pay day, but these wrestlers were an important part of the history of ECW. As it turned out, Douglas was right in his estimation that another ECW reunion was needed, and the event was a smash success.

Still, eyebrows were raised when Douglas was announced as appearing at the ROH special show at The Supper Club. It was to take place of all days, on June 12th, 2005, the same day as the ECW: One Night Stand pay per view. It was a specific marketing plan by Ring of Honor to promote their show in the afternoon and allow the event to be close enough to the Manhattan Center to allow fans to attend both shows. There was some heavy discussion on the boards about Douglas’s role—many feared the worst that he would go on an uncontrollable rant against all his enemies, especially the ones running a few blocks away. Many ROH fans did not want to see that happen, especially instead of some of the great wrestling action that they wanted to see on an ROH show.

So when Shane Douglas made it onto the ROH stage, the fans…actually popped. Quite a bit, to be honest. Attending the show live, I saw many people hold up the “Triple Threat” hand signal, welcoming Douglas into the ring, where two wrestlers were about to have a match. Of course, Douglas the proceeded to beat the piss out of them and used his stupid Belly to Belly Suplex (sorry, it was so totally unbelievable . to use that move as a finisher, even in 1996) to clear the ring. The fans popped for this. So far, so good…but them, Douglas took the mic.

He received a few face pops, most especially for thanking the fans for making “Hardcore Homecoming” a few days back a huge success. However, Douglas made that fatal mistake—he told a lie in front of a “smart” crowd. Wise to the internet, avid readers of wrestling news—these fans knew that Douglas had not been allowed to wrestle at ECW:One Night Stand because of his contractual status with TNA. Yet, when Douglass claimed he was invited to wrestle the show and didn’t because he wanted to stick it to Vince, the fans booed. They saw through what he was saying, saw the mistruth in it…and they didn’t like what they heard. So the fans started to get on Douglas, get on him pretty bad. It was not as bad as the Jeff Hardy incident, but it was pretty awful on it’s own accounts.

At first, Douglas tried to roll with the reaction and proceeded with his promo, but eventually, he had heard enough, and (planned or not) he began to turn himself heel on the mic. He became enraged, outraged that the fans would turn on him after he provided them with such a quality show just a mere TWO days ago (and really, the man DID have a good point there). Douglas turned around his compliments about ROH, basically said that the promotion couldn’t wipe the ass of ECW, and then he threw down the mic and walked off, to a hailstorm of booos and cat calls.

This…was not good. Whatever had been the intent of Douglas’s interview, it was not met well at all by the fans. So later on in the card, after Samoa Joe had defeated Nigel McGuinness in a very good (but not blow away match) in came Shane Douglas to confront the big Samoan. At first the fans were still all over Shane, booing and verbally taking Douglas apart. Humorously enough, there was one female fan in the balcony who was a total Douglas supporter, and he shrieks and screams were so loud and piercing that even Joe had to note that one of Douglas’s rats was in attendance. Finally, Shane Douglas stated that he watched some more ROH action and had turned his perspective around, saying the now famous line “Ring of Honor IS the shit!” The fan’s reaction to this statement putting over their home company? More boos.

When Bruno Sammartino put over Ring of Honor back in September during Glory By Honor V weekend, the fans went ape crazy. But backtrack more than one year previous, the fans didn’t want to hear from Adam (or Shane) about the greatness of the company. The fans just didn’t believe it coming from Douglas’s mouth.

When the DVD release came out, Douglas’s involvement had been cut down tremendously. The Joe-Douglas encounter, which had gone on for several minutes, was clipped to just a few seconds. Apparently, even Ring of Honor didn’t believe it coming from Douglas’s mouth.

Other Inductees to the Ring of Shame:
The Carnage Crew Bag Incident
The Jeff Hardy Boo Bird Scandal
Slugger
Teddy Hart Jumps Onto People
Konnan Stinks Up ROH

Going Home
Ringtones

This is from jmaberry, who has some interesting things to say about last night’s show in Long Island:

I read in one of your recent articles that you were missing your live ROH
fix. Me too man, and I even went to the show in Philly on the 4th. I love
wrestling, and I love to go to wrestling events. But nothing gets me more
jacked than going to an ROH event. No one puts on a show like Cary and the
boys in that lockerroom. You know you’ve found something special when your
appetite is already wet for another event when you’ve just sat through Glory
By Honor V Night 2, am I right?

I would hardly blame ROH on this matter, not at all. It’s just that the
crowd is filled with too many casual fans who know nothing about what’s
going on. It’s just teens or rude men who buy tickets the day of because
they think the roster is identical to TNA’s. Like I’ve said, I love this
company because I love wrestling, and as far as I’m concerned, this company
is wrestling. Without ROH, I would have much less of a reason to watch
wrestling. But when it comes down to Long Island, don’t expect me to shell
out money anymore to go to Sports Plus. Because when I hear some boy shout,
“Smackdown is better,” that’s when I get up and say “let’s leave NOW.”

I’m sorry to hear about the craptacular experience you had at the show. What you describe about the fan reaction, I am not surprised to hear. Unfortunately, Long Island has really earned its bad reputation over the last few events. It really did have a solid start back in the summer and fall of ’05 (topping out with Glory By Honor IV) but in 2006 it is one of the black sheep venues.

At least it will be quite sometime before the possibility of a LI return (announcement was April 13, 2007). That should give us plenty cushion in between ordeals at the Sports Plus.

JustinShaq wrote back early last week:

Hey Ari thanks for the feedback, I’m hoping for a great 2007 for ROH, my ideal matches for the card would have to be Jack Evans and Matt Sydal vs.Aries and Strong I think this could be great also if they brought Low-ki back I’d match him up against Davy Richards I was just wondering what your ideal cards for the 5th Anniversary show and the UK show are. Also who do you think the KOE cup ROH representor will be, I think it’ll be Danielson (although I’m pulling for Jack he’s my favorite) do you think Angle’s ever gonna come to ROH TnA seems to be dictating he’s schedule. One final question do you know much about Blkout the CZW faction I wanted to see them in action since I heard they’re really talented!

I don’t think Low Ki / Senshi will be back in ROH–you never say never in wrestling but I think this time around the breach between the two sides is much more permanent and difficult to resolve than ever before. I also think we’ll see Evans matches up against Sydal in 2007 as opposed to teaming up with him, esp. if Sydal is teaming with Daniels on a regular basis.

I haven’t bothered to do much research on BLKOUT…doesn’t really interest me all that much but I believe they are along the lines of a Rottweilers like faction.

Thanks also to shunts-axe for writing in and complimenting my work on TWIH and COH.

**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)
** ROH Fight of the Century (ROH World Title: Joe / Danielson, KENTA / Richards, Daniels / McGuinness / Lethal / Castagnoli, Ultimate Endurance)
**ROH Unified (ROH World vs. Pure Title: Danielson / McGuinness, ROH World Tag Team Title: Aries and Strong / Briscoes, Cabana / Hero, Richards / Rave)

I’m still working on getting through Battle of Los Angeles 2006, but slowly but surely I’m getting through it and as soon as I’m done I’ll put it on this here list—it’s certainly worthy of it from what I’ve seen. I also just purchased a whole bunch of stuff thanks to Black Friday, so the queue is building up loooooong lines now.

ROH @ 411

Wow, for the first time in weeks, not a whole lot of ROH reviews or commentary around this week at 411. Clearly there must be some sort of clerical error here. I swear to god I sent those bribes…errrrrrrrrr, “gifts”, out to the 411 staffers.

Honor Bound Links
Double M has your Rasslin News while Nick Marsico is back with the Friday News to Start Your Weekend and to defend Vince Russo—although that may be a suicide mission if I’ve ever seen one.

Time to self promote a little bit. I’m handing The Week In Hardcore, our ECW related weekend column, for the second of three weeks. Ring of Honor fans especially should be interested to know that I, um, I mean “CM Punk” is bringing the forces of HONOR to ECW for a little “invasion”. Be sure to give the column a read as I’ve got ROH “guest stars” galore in this one and next week, it’s ROH vs. ECW in a 5 on 5 Extreme Rules Survivor Series match. Be there!

As you can tell by my in-depth comments on the Survivor Series Roundtable, I’m pyshced for the first time in months for a WWE PPV. Yes, I am probably ordering this one (my first since ECW: One Night Stand 2) to see CM Punk in action as well as some fun looking traditional elimination matches (I’ve been a mark for them ever since I was a kid). This doesn’t mean I’m back as a full time WWE fan, although if anyone could make me come back for good, it may be CM Punk. Or Monty Brown. Or Claudio Castagnoli. I haven’t decided yet. Check out Lenny Hayhurst’s Survivor Series Preview.

Steve Cook, it should not surprise you at all that I stop watching ECW usually after the CM Punk matches. Though I’d bet Traci would be shocked to learn that you stop watching ECW usually after seeing Kelly Kelly on the screen. If you know what I mean. If you don’t, Ask 411—which means, you should ask yourself.

Stuart C sends his regards from vacation in Christchurch and the rest of NZ, but the real regards come from his analysis of HBK in this week’s That Was Then.

Bayani is on a wrestling binge—believe me I know where he’s coming from—my whole life has basically been a wrestling binge. I feel bloated and nauseous.

Sat and Uncle Trunx go High Road / Low Road on Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle

Michael Weyer gives the spotlight to the Series…but not the Gobbledygooker. For shame Michael.

Larry Csonka has only two R’s in his name–where does the extra r come from? Is his last name really Csonkar? Is the r silent?

Ah…beginning and ending the column with jokes about Larry C–that’s true comedic genius along the lines of Stephen Randle.

That will call it for the day—time to chill out and…mark about 5 classes worth of tests. Well, that Thanksgiving turkey did me in for the past two days so I have no one to blame but myself. Anyways, next week, results from Edison, The Apocalypse feature is back with a new reason not to fear the demise of honor, and lots more.

Final Column 2006-5 Weeks and Counting. Last year, we had some big name 411 columnists help out and contribute their memories and awards in the year that was. Time to marshall the troops once again.

Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari—