Column of Honor: 01.13.07

Welcome everyone. I thought I wasn’t going to make it in due to a massive headache, but a miracle happened—I watched some ROH and my headache went away! Proof that Ring of Honor is stronger than Ibuprofen.

I Side With Joe

If I were Samoa Joe, I would not be very happy with Ring of Honor right now.

Last week, on the Ring of Honor website, a column was published that detailed the tension building up between ROH and Pro Wrestling NOAH officials. This tension, the article specified, was all due to Samoa Joe’s words and actions directed towards the Japanese puroresu company. Especially insulting have been Joe’s comments towards KENTA and NOAH chairman Mitsuhara Misawa. At The Bitter End, Joe slapped the junior wrestler in a moment of incredulous action. Joe has also talked down NOAH at every chance, calling Misawa an “old man.”

The ROH article reports that NOAH officials have felt insulted and disrespected. While there have been profuse apologies to NOAH, both in conversation to NOAH officials and through ROH’s newswires, it is clear that a previously very strong relationship between the two companies that saw talent exchanges and big time, money match up could be in danger.

The potential to lose a profit making relationship with NOAH has sent the ROH officials into a spin zone. The article placed all the blame at Joe’s door with reports that “for the first time ROH officials are questioning whether Joe is acting in the best interest of the company.”

Well, excuse me, ROH, but what else did you expect?

Joe’s dislike for Japan has been very well known for a long time and he has been fighting this fight in ROH for the better part of the year. And only NOW Ring of Honor is trying to deal with the issue? It seems like ROH let the lion loose from its cage and walked away, and now that the lion is causing havoc, they are blaming the very animal itself for doing what comes naturally.

To place the blame on Joe is the very height of irresponsibility. Surely ROH officials knew what they would get from Joe in matches against Kenta Kobashi, KENTA and Marufuji. In fact, I would expect they gave their tacit approval for Joe to go out there and fight the good fight in ROH’s name. Joe’s match against Kobashi, for instance, would go onto sell major DVDs. It was the match that Joe threw down the “not in my house” gauntlet. If ROH officials didn’t know then and there what actions they could expect from Joe, then it is the suits and ties that are to blame for their own naiveté.

This article release by the ROH website makes it seem like Joe is the bad guy and out for his own interests. Of course Joe has his own interests—namely his pride and his reputation, but in fact Joe fights both for himself and for ROH. He always has said so, and he has always backed it up with his actions. Joe’s grudges against wrestlers in NOAH have always been both personal and professional, but ROH has not gone without benefit for them.

It is true that Ring of Honor was not built on the back of any one particular wrestler, but rather on a diverse and talent roster full of capable stars. However, if ROH has a face to its name, Samoa Joe would be the clearest choice. ROH’s reputation as a top promotion can be easily argued that it all stems back to Samoa Joe winning the ROH title in 2003 and his epic near two year title run. As the champion, Joe brought the people in, brought the attention from the press and from other countries. I would think that ROH does in fact owe more to Joe than how they are treating him now in their own press releases and news wires.

There have been several times in Joe’s run where it seemed like he could be in the wrong and appreciation by the fans was at risk. When Joe and Mick Foley were set to feud, people did not want to boo Samoa Joe even though he was initially positioned as the heel in the situation. This was another time when Joe disrespected a legend in order to gain credibility. However, the fan’s love of Joe and the fan’s love of Foley created a strange clash of reactions. People didn’t want to boo either man, even though in some respects both men were somewhat in the wrong. The fan’s willingness to boo Joe was most clear at All Star Extravaganza 2 when fans chanted “fuck you Joe” during his title defense against CM Punk. Joe put his feet on the ropes, clearly violating the rules of the sports, and the fans let him know about it. To those in attendance, it was shocking that Joe would be booed at all, much less cursed at. However, there is always the possibility that the fans will turn on a wrestler—any wrestler, even Joe.

Just not me.

If ROH officials and other wrestlers such as Nigel McGuinness wanted to manipulate the fans into thinking Joe is in the wrong here, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to successfully do so. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that they also have their own interests at heart if they would do so—namely money, importing big name wrestlers from Japan for money matches, and oh yes, money. If it came down to brass tacks, ROH is making the smart business call—keep the relationships with other wrestling companies on an upbeat note.

ROH obviously wants to keep their Japanese allies happy, both in NOAH and Dragon Gate. Of course, that will come at a cost—perhaps angering the Samoan Submission Machine. Of course, no one likes to see an angry Samoan Submission Machine.

And while it is a boon to watch some of the great Japanese talent make appearances and fight some awesome fights (some of the best of 2006 in fact), the use of Japanese are not the be all, end all of the company either. ROH owes its home grown talent some consideration as well, guys like BJ Whitmer, Jimmy Jacobs and Colt Cabana. They are the work horses of the company, the ones who are at every show giving it their all. They don’t wait to swoop in for the big shows and the big money—they are there for the long haul, not just the one time appearance.

Samoa Joe is one such man. He has been there for the company more times than can be counted. He has busted his hump, has been the champion we expected of him, has been the spokesman for ROH we all thought he could be. Now, when he needs some support from those he counts on inside the company, he may find very little words of encouragement or support.

What of the fans? Will they turn their backs on the man who they championed, for the latest name from across the ocean?

For one, I’ve made my decision.

If it comes between making a choice between the NOAH wrestlers and Joe, the choice for me is all too easy.

I choose Joe.

Take The Pepsi Challenge & Win!

J.D. Dunn laid down the gauntlet to WWE fans after watching this past week’s edition of Monday Night Raw and the horribleness that was fake Donald vs. fake Rosie (Ace Steel aside). You know, you’d think they would have learned from the whole fake Razor Ramon vs. fake Diesel incident. You’d think.

The Pepsi Challenge works in the same way of its namesake—it’s a taste test. ROH vs. WWE, which tastes better for your forty dollars worth of pay per view money? Instead of purchasing the upcoming No Way Out PPV (which with the exception of the 2001 and 2004 versions, has largely been horrible in quality), Dunn wants frustrated WWE fans and blind ROH haters to give the product a fair chance. Spend $40 (USA) during one of ROH’s many sales and purchase Death Before Dishonor IV, Sign of Dishonor, Escape From New York and Redemption.

I can personally recommend in addition to those DVD’s that you should complete the whole set of Punk’s run and pick up Fate of An Angel and Punk: The Final Chapter. You get so much wrestling product for your money compared to a three hour WWE pay per view (if it even hits the three hour mark, which it never does).

I challenge the ROH fans who read this column who have friends who strictly follow WWE to give them the Pepsi Challenge. Lend them your copies of ROH DVDs, or even better, buy them some DVDs as an early birthday present or whatever. Sit them down in front of the tele, Clockwork Orange style (well, then again, maybe not) and challenge them to see which product is better. If they do not at least acknowledge that ROH has some great wrestlers and great matches, I’ll eat my ROH Ski Cap.

Anyway, I’m gonna up the stakes here. The person who sends me the best story of how they convinced a WWE fan to give ROH a shot will WIN themselves a copy of Straight Shootin with Jim Cornette & Bill Watts Volume 2. send your story in. Deadline will be three weeks from now, 2/04/07.

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 01/13/2007

ROH World Champion—Homicide(champion since 12/23/06, NEW ROH WORLD CHAMPION)

Next Defense: Chris Hero, 1/26/07 Braintree, MA

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal (champions since 11/25/06, 1 successful defense)

Next Defense: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, 1/27/07 Edison, NJ

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

New Talents for March ’07 ROH UK Trip

Emailer tnarvdwwe sends in this great tip about some of the talents appearing for ROH during its next two night stand in England on March 3rd and 4th in Liverpool:

So, I got in the mail today My 2 new ROH DVDs, which are Honor Reclaims Boston and The Bitter End. Both are cool. So with it, it had a promotional card about the Ring of Honor shows in the U.K. in March. On it, it had more talent that are gonna be there. It said Jimmy Rave, BJ Whitmer, Colt Cabana, Roderick Strong, Matt Sydal, and UK’S own… Pac are gonna be there. Looks very interesting now!

This definitely bolsters up the roster for the international tour, as all of those wrestlers mentioned were over (whether as a heel or face) during the last trip. Pac is also hugely popular in his native homeland and this will be the first opportunity for him to mix it up in Ring of Honor. There’s always a ton of buzz around him, with comparisons to Jack Evans as being one of the top high flying wrestlers in the world. However, I still can’t get over that name—he has to alter it in some way or else I will be stuck envisioning Sean Waltman in his place in perpetuity. PWG’s upcoming DVD for All Star Weekend 4 set has a dream match with him vs. AJ Styles, so maybe I’ll check that out. Maybe we can get the parallel match to that in the form of a Pac vs. Sydal or perhaps Pac vs. Evans match somewhere on this trip. Thank you to tnarvdwwe for the email tip!

Briscoes Take Japan
Jay & Mark Briscoe made history on their first night in NOAH. The Briscoes defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura on January 7th in Tokyo to win the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. This is a significant accomplishment in the careers of Mark and Jay. They now hold two belts as they are the current FIP and GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.

A big tag team match has been signed for 2/17 in Philadelphia. New GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe will take on El Generico & the returning Kevin Steen!!!

The news that The Briscoes had won the GHC Jr. Tag titles broke several hours after I posted last week’s column. They bested the GHC Jr. team for the titles with their springboard version of the Doomsday Device (Japan loved their Road Warriors). It is a very significant win for a gaijin tag team to come in and win a Japanese title, but even more remarkable was that they did it in their very first match! This is a unique accomplishment that shows the deep respect that NOAH and ROH have for each other. If anything, I would have expected a NOAH team to come over to America and win an ROH title first. Now while this is a boon for The Briscoes career, we shouldn’t get too giddy. There is still a possibility The Briscoes will drop the titles before heading back to America. Of course, should The Briscoes bring the titles back to ROH and defend them here that would raise the prestige and importance of those titles. It also works both ways as the match against El Generico and Kevin Steen would be more important and a bigger draw if it were a featured title match for the GHC belts.

Whitmer to Challenge for ROH Title
No one has paid more dues in ROH than BJ Whitmer. He has sacrificed his body in his feuds against Jimmy Jacobs as well as CZW. He always goes above the call of duty for the ROH fans. Now on February 23rd in Dayton, Whitmer will get a chance of a lifetime. BJ Whitmer will challenge for the ROH World Title on that night. This is the same building where Whitmer’s flesh was torn in his barbaric win at “War Of the Wire II” vs. Necro Butcher. Now he will be rewarded with a title shot. It will be ROH World Champion Homicide vs. Whitmer, but if Homicide loses the belt the match will be changed so Whitmer faces the current champion. ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal will also put the belts on the line if they are still champions on 2/23.

Whitmer did headline the War of the Wire II show, so a show headlined by a Whitmer title match isn’t totally out of the question. To me, however, that combination still screams out “B show.” A title change may shake my opinion, but I would expect or hope that ROH would add another huge blockbuster match to that line up, especially given it is the exact five year anniversary of ROH. In fact, now that I mention that, this match certainly is ringing the alarm bells that something could change between then and now.

NOAH Says “No, Joe”
NOAH will respond to Samoa Joe’s challenge for 2/16 in Manhattan at the end of this current tour in two weeks. Needless to say, NOAH officials are not happy with Joe’s challenge. The ROH organization apologizes to Mr. Misawa for Joe’s comments last time in Manhattan. Joe has refused to issue an apology himself. This is definitely a situation to keep an eye on.

A huge match has been signed for the Boston event on January 26th when ROH returns to action for the first time in 2006. You have seen the feud simmering between Samoa Joe and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Nigel McGuinness has basically told Joe to cool it. Now they will fight it out. It will be Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness on January 26th!!!

You can read my opinions of the Joe / NOAH situation earlier in the column. I was speculating a few weeks back that Joe vs. Nigel would occur in NYC, but unless they rematch it, I was wrong. Boston gets that match instead. So one of two things will happen-either the rematch or perhaps some other NOAH talent will indeed be making an in-ring appearance to fight Joe.

I-C-O-N
The 1/27 Edison, NJ event will be called “Battle Of The Icons” focusing on the main event pitting ROH World Champion Homicide vs. Samoa Joe.

You know, there was another fight about a decade ago that was tagged with the title “Battle of the Icons”—the match was Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper. That begs the questions—which one here is Hogan and which one here is Piper?

Hero’s Sandwich

Openly rejoice and celebrate, your wrestling icon, Chris Hero is back. I am taking a few minutes out of my busy training schedule to address you simpletons yet once again. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to receive an overwhelming number of emails from my many fans over the past week, most of which were inquiring as to how I was going to defeat that ghetto lowlife, Homicide when we meet in Boston on January 25th. Well, firstly, there is NO WAY that I would tell you all the tricks I’m working on for this match, but what I will tell you is that I have never worked harder in my life in preparation for a match in my entire wrestling career. My arms are stronger than ever, and I believe that when I put the cravate on HOMO-cide, I just might have the power to make his bald head burst like a giant pimple. Now, lets be honest with ourselves. If that happened, I don’t think it would even injure him, as its readily apparent that HOMO-cide has no brain. Think about it. If he did have any kind of intelligence, he would have never scheduled his first title defense against a talent of my caliber, unless he WANTED to lose the belt that fast. If he had half a brain, he would have offered that match to a washed up has been like Christopher Daniels or a never will be like Jimmy Jacobs. Thanks to my amazing agent, “Sweet-N-Sour” Larry Sweeney, that match is mine, and therefore, as you all know, will be another big win for Chris Hero.

One of the other emails I received this week, from an obviously genius level fan, asking me what I would do when I win the ROH title. Well, what I would do is hold that title until I retire, and completely dominate the entire wrestling world. I would make the ROH Title a truly and completely legitimate WORLD TITLE, and be the most honorable champion of all time. I would defend that belt in the great tradition of champions such as Ric Flair, Jerry “The King” Lawler and The Honky Tonk Man, and take on all comers, in all places, and NEVER surrender. I would find the best talents to defeat, and do it in all kinds of matches. In fact, my agent, Larry Sweeney already has my first title match already planned out. We will be bringing a legendary name out of retirement for a very special match. It will be me, Chris Hero taking on Jake “The Milkman” Milliman, a legend of the AWA, in a “turkey on a pole” match. I can tell you right now that this has Match Of The Year written all over it.

One last email I received asked me how I would prevent another disappointment from happening, like what happened when I had my last ROH Title match, just about one year ago, when Brian Danielson defeated me in Philadelphia. Now, as you all remember, Danielson cheated like a fiend to defeat me, using every dirty trick in the book. This year, I am more prepared to deal with chicanery like that, and I might even have to use some tricks myself. After much reflection, it seems to me that the only way to really get ahead in this company is through cheating, so if its good for the goose, it must be good for the gander, and I think that HOMO-cide should be very careful. I have 2 words for him to consider tonight. GHETTO SPORK!! You ROHbots haven’t seen ANYTHING yet!

Alas, it is time for me to once again to go back into seclusion in my top secret training facility to continue to sharpen my unrivaled technical skills. I will return next week to this column, written by this semi-intelligent baboon next week, when I will have some last minute thoughts on my victory celebration, as well as on the topic of my close friend and former (and maybe future) tag team partner, the “most money making man” Claudio Castagnoli. Until then, this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Damn, I hate that stupid name. Something has to be done about the title of the segment. I’ll have to see what Larry can do about that..

…This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

Monday Night ROH

The wrestling television and shows that I tuned in for during the week:

Monday 01/08/07: WWE Monday Night Raw (First 15 minutes, Cena Interview): The report from the Observer was that a “marquee” fight was going to be signed for this show. Well, other than Donald vs. Rosie. Anyway, I just wanted to confirm whether or not Cena would be fighting Umaga on this night (and perhaps telegraphing a hot shot title switch), but instead we get The Great Khali. Great. What marquee value that man has in the ring. I cut out after that. Raw had been pretty decent enough over the past few weeks (although of course stuck in a treadmill of repeated events in the plot), but from what I read, not this week. Ace Steel played a fake “Donald Trump”—and the ROH fan that I am was happy for him, but that doesn’t mean I’d go out of my way to check out what has already become one of the early candidates for worst match of 2007.

By the way, one of the most infuriating moments was right at the beginning when Vince McMahon—VINCE MCMAHON–gets on camera for this promo and says “Hi, my name is Vince McMahon.” I freaking hate these my name is promos, but WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!! OF COURSE WE KNOW YOUR NAME IS VINCE MCMAHON! YOU ARE FREAKING VINCE MCMAHON! WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!

Okay…time to go back to wrestling where my intelligence is NOT insulted.

PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006 (Night One): Instead, I popped in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s spectator highlight, Battle of Los Angeles 2006. I ordered the thing a few months back, but for some reason or another (mostly ROH DVDs arriving and taking precedence) I could not get to the DVD other than the two opening matches (very good ones between Cabana and Sabin, Generico and Delirious). With matches such as CIMA vs. M-Dogg20, Steen vs. Sydal and Romero vs. Strong, I can honestly say I got the better end of the bargain. Dragon Kid vs. Quicksilver is sloppy and a cluster, but all the other matches are winners, especially the fight between Romero and Strong. I’m always a bit hesitant to watch Romero and Reyes in singles matches, but they usually prove me wrong with good performances. Romero in PWG is a beast, and Strong is at the top of his game and has a lot of fun with his chops and strikes. Topping it all off with an 8 man tag between The Dynasty and Petey Williams vs. Homicide, Excalibur, B-Boy and the pimpin’ Human Tornado which is the usually good but overdone highlight film festival and you’ve got a great night’s worth of wrestling action. And no Great Khali to be found.

Tuesday 01/09/07 ECW on Sci Fi (Punk vs. Holly): So Punk loses and the internet is up in arms about it. Supposedly, Punk is in the doghouse once again as Meltzer (supposedly) reports in the new Observer that Arn Anderson verbally ripped him a new one and basically saying that he shouldn’t be as popular as he is, that it was a “fluke” (YEAH RIGHT!) and demanded that homage be paid to Hardcore Holly. Well, Arn Anderson ripping on CM Punk, what else is new?

I have no problem with Holly winning this one. I think if you’re going to do something with Punk and Holly, then at this point a face loss was needed to extend the program. I’m sure Punk was fine with losing, even if the internet and common sense understands that with the push he had received (no matter who decided it) that you don’t undercut a guy who is gaining popularity for a mid card veteran in a stalled career. To me, Punk has way more upside than Holly at this point, but after all, that is not how the WWE does business, for better or for worse. Sometimes the WWE just jobs a guy to see how they react to it.

Thursday 01/11/07 TNA iMPACT!: I haven’t watched iMPACT in three weeks, but tuned in for this. I liked this episode. Given how bad the show has been, with frenetic angles, millions of promos and very little wrestling action, tonight was decent enough both in the ring and in the storylines. There was actually some decent in ring action this week, with the six man tag highlighting the show and hyping the respective PPV matches. As for the potential drawbacks, well VKM was limited to a minute of pre taped, innocuous promo time. Team 3-D were a surprise positive with their promos in the army tank (though maybe one too many promos on the show ) and Joe looked and sounded like the Samoa Joe I know and love. Also, anyone catch rib on “ECW Extreme Poker” during the PCS segment? Good stuff. Of course, with Russo booking it can’t be this decent every week, but I guess I got lucky in catching a relatively sane and logical show.

Wrestling Society X-Over

This week MTV launched the Wrestling Society X website for its show which will premiere on January 30th. While only the one minute trailer, some pictures and profiles were available thus far, there is a ton of potential there for a fun show. There is also something there for indie wrestling and ROH fans as many known wrestlers will be making their appearance on the show. Here’s a look at how some of the ROH talent comes across in their WSX incarnations.

Lacey: While the lovely Lacey is demure and all business in ROH, it looks like her WSX personality will be mostly pleasure. Instead of looking for top prospects for her Lacey’s Angels group, Lacey serves as a co-host and interviewer for the WSXtra internet show which will run in conjunction with the 30 minute on air show. If you look at some pictures of her on that website, you’ll also notice a cosmetic change or two, namely highlights for her hair and a new, punk-ish wardrobe. I’d agree with 411 writer Nick Marsico, the makeup and production values make her look five times as beautiful (and usually she looks great as it is).

Jimmy Jacobs: Jacobs seemingly retains most of his Emo character for the WSX show as part of the Do It For Her (D.I.F.H.) tag team. Whoever the “her” is that they are “doing it” for, it doesn’t look like it will be Lacey. Pictures show Jacobs sporting his dyed red hair and holding onto the emo-phone (hold it up and wave-you’re a star!); there may be plenty of positives in store for Jacobs in WSX.

Matt Sydal: ROH fans know that Sydal can do the plucky babyface character right on, but THIS may be the character he was destined to become. Handsome Matt Sydal, a magazine model who thinks he’s prettier and better than you. Wow. That is just one hell of a brilliant characterization. Sydal even looks like someone straight out of one of those massively annoying Ambercrombie & Fitch catalogues and that look that appeals to this MTV generation (and to perverts). Sydal will be managed by indy wrestler Valentina, and together they look to be THE power couple of WSX. Sydal’s reputation may be upped big time due to this character, and I wouldn’t mind at all if Sydal brought this personality to ROH whenever he turns heel.

Matt Cross: While Cross is just beginning to make appearances in ROH, he is one of the most well traveled U.S. indie wrestlers of the last five years. His personality essentially remains the same—a tough straight-edge athlete, but in WSX Cross has been paired with the infamous Teddy Hart as a tag team. This could be a great idea, as Hart’s personality and moves meshes extremely well with Cross’s style.

Matt Classic: While this mysterious masked man has never once appeared in ROH, there seems to be something…mysteriously similar about him. Aside from the HIGH-sterical pun in this veteran’s name “Mat-classic, get it?” There is another ROH wrestler that is “Classic” in a sense. I wonder if this man ever met up with M.C.?

Jack Evans: The Prince of Park-land retains every bit of the high flying hip hop character that we all know and love and brings that to the MTV generation in WSX. Evans could be the biggest success out of all of the wrestlers because he has something in his character that a lot of the MTV viewers can connect to. If this was a few years ago, perhaps his potential for success would be even higher, but I think in 2007, Jack will make it.

The Ring of Shame: Jay Lethal

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 January 2007:

Jay Lethal: Tonight Is The Night He’s Been Waiting For

February 2005: It was the Third Anniversary Celebration: Part One in the Rex Plex new Jersey. It was the beginning of the end for that particular venue—one that had served ROH above and beyond. It was ROH’s MSG in those early years. As such, it as a venue that deserved a great send off show. On DVD, it got off to a rocky start via one Jay Lethal promo. In doing so, it gave life to perhaps the most often quoted comment on the ROH message board and would eventually wind its way to right here and right now, in the Ring of Shame.

Jay Lethal was actually at a career high in ROH at that point. While very successful in his homestate’s indie promotion Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Lethal wrestled in ROH as Hydro, one of the very many Special K ravers and party goers. However, when he decided to clean up his life, change his name and get serious under the tutelage of Samoa Joe, Jay’s career began an upward trend to this point in time.

Fans took to Lethal—his enthusiasm and his fire, and his speed and versatility all began to shine through. However, one thing fans never saw from Lethal was much promo time. Lethal was clearly a man of action rather than words. In December of 2004, fans at the Rex Plex roared in joy as Lethal used his actions to slap the ever loving hell out of all the members of The Embassy.

Lethal was in his first major program, against Prince Nana’s crew and his stalwart Jimmy Rave. Also involved was the ROH Pure champion John Walters. When Nana’s man could not best Walters for the Purte title, The crown prince of Ghana, West Africa bought the services of the champion. Walters, a very capable technician, gave Nana’s camp some leverage in ROH. Meanwhile, Lethal had worked his way into contention for the Pure title. On that cold Feburary night, Lethal would face Jimmy Rave in a number one contender’s match. The winner would go onto fight John Walters later that evening.

Lethal wound up winning his contender’s match but losing to Walters in a match that immediately followed the victory against Rave.

However, what most fans remember from that night was not the match, but the promo that opened up the DVD. It was the promo that set the tone for the night. Samoa Joe pondered his fate against Mick Foley and the henchman he would fight, as well as his upcoming title rematch against ROH champion Austin Aries. As Joe left, the camera panned to Jay Lethal, still in the room. Clearly the man had something to say. And say something he did, something no one will ever forget. Fist pumped in the air, Lethal wore a wacky grin and shouted:

“TONIGHT…IS THE NIGHT…I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!”

It was goofy. It was kitch. It was cheesy. It was…not very good at all.

After all this time and after all the movement in Lethal’s character via training with Joe and getting out of the Special K lifestyle, that was all that was said. A typical babyface, “COME ON BABY!” promo. One line. No inspiration, no motivation. It had about as much depth as an athlete saying “it is what it is” during an interview. Even goofier was the cheery intonation in which Jay stated the line. Come on, Lethal—you’re going to war against rivals for a chance to receive a top prize in the sport you love! Isn’t there anything else you can say?

Look, I’m sure that night was the night Jay Lethal was waiting for, but it was also a night most ROH wrestlers and most fans were waiting for. It was the third anniversary show—EVERYONE was pumped for it. Plus, generally, every show is the night wrestlers are waiting for. The question is… why was this the night to wait for?

Well, we wouldn’t be able to find the answer.

It wasn’t the worst promo in the world; it wasn’t even a very bad promo. However, the one liner became subject to much ridicule among the fans and unfortunately, there was not much more to say after that. Lethal is a great wrestler, and in TNA he’s done better with his promos (especially if you can catch the uncut version of the PCS push up contest on You Tube). But…not on this night.

You couldn’t repress the memory of this promo if you tried.

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
The Franchise Can’t Be Saved

Going Home

Ringtones
We get a huge sound off from Paul (Chl0rofrmperfume) this week in regards to Claudio Castagnoli and other topics.

Great column as always but the whole Claudio thing is absolutely mind boggling. At first, I really didn’t care what it was, but now I’m somewhat intrigued. I have a feeling this he said/he said thing won’t stop anytime soon until we finally know what’s wrong. Claudio has been around for a pretty good while on the indy scene and conventional wisdom tells me if there was a serious problem with his work visa, someone would of picked up on it by now and he wouldn’t be wrestling in the states. Of course we all know how people work and there are definitely ways to get around this, but I’m going to side with him on this one. WWE is notorious for cutting talent in January/February and after WM so this doesn’t come as a shock. They probably realized that their developmental territories were crowded as it was and figured there was no need for him. Big mistake on their part. Him and Hero are the two most skilled big men today. Call me crazy, but they remind me of the Undertaker in a very evolved form from the early 90s. A very big guy who is agile and quick on his feet.

Final note, I demand a DVD copy of your Joe/Punk match as well as you doing your best Dave Prazak impersonation during this.

Claudio and Hero are definitely some of the taller men on the indie scene, and especially with their lean body types, they stand out from the rest of the pack. WWE is definitely making a mistake right now by letting him go before even giving him a shot, but I have a feeling Claudio hasn’t completely lost his chance at being in the WWE. They’ll come around again. I always have conversations with my buddy Chris about Hero’s rare gift for getting heat in a scene where heels are often just as cheered for as the faces.

Hero just irritates people by breathing and being who he is. This quality is really going to get him far in ROH, maybe as far as Punk had gone in ROH as a heel.

Homicide’s run is still up for debate, but he hasn’t made any defenses yet so I don’t know how to judge it one way or the other. I can definitely see a longer reign than most people had predicted thus far (even me). Maybe four or five months, we shall see. I will maintain this switch was the right thing to do—right crowd, right time, right moment.

I don’t think there was as much hatred for Jarred David as you believe—There were definitely some who were coming around to David on commentary. He had certainly improved quite a bit before he had to step down from the booth. I also think it’s a matter of who is coming back—Leonard was given high marks on color commentary by just about everyone. Fans are happy to see him come back.

Does anyone want to take Paul’s challenge of listing some top Dave Prazak moments?

I can tell you only this much: Joe’s action figure vs. Punk’s action figure is going to a one hour draw.

**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!

2006
*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)
**ROH Glory By Honor V Night 2 (ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson / KENTA, GHC Title: Naomichi Marufuji / Nigel McGuinness, ROH World Tag Title: Aries and Strong / Kings of Wrestling, Samoa Joe & Homicide / The Briscoes)

2007

**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night One (Strong / Romero, CIMA / Cross, Deliirous / Generico, 8 Man Tag) (NEW ADDITION)

While I’ve commented on the matches above, I do want to make mention of two other things related to the BOLA. First of all the DVD once again has an awesome full motion menu screen with captures of the wrestlers doing their poses and talking smack. Well, except for Roderick Strong—they have a stationary shot of him and it gets shaken and stirred up in a comedic fashion. These full motion menus are really amazing and PWG outdid themselves on it. It’s also split into the competitors for each night, so every round of the tournament is reflected in the menu screen for that show. The other thing is the always entertaining commentary—this time with Disco Machine and Taro. These two (as well as Excalibur when he does commentary) do a great “Mystery Science 3000” style commentary on the matches. Its not your traditional commentary that’s for sure—especially when they talk about being drunk, the legalities of advertising Miller Light beer, and the fines handed down for hitting an Enziguri in PWG (banned!). Great stuff and as always if you find you are not into their commentary you can just watch the show straight through without it.

If YOU (yes, YOU!) would like to contribute your own additions to the Indy Buy In list, contact me and let your voice be known!

ROH @ 411 This Week

Speaking of the Third Anniversary Celebration, J.D. Dunn hits all three nights of action in his reviews. Part One was main evented by the Scramble Cage match where Dunn and Marcos proved even underdogs have their day (just like ROH, by gosh, what a symbolic moment!) Part Two was notable for James Gibson’s debut and AJ Styles’s return, while Part Three found Rave going back to back with upset wins and Aries outsmarting Joe to remain ROH champion. J.D. even went back and reviewed the Do or Die show that was the afternoon show at the Rex Plex—now THAT’S attention to detail.

Jacob Zeigler and Brad Garoon head towards glory as they review Glory By Honor V Night 1.

Samuel Berman concludes his two part look at Matt Sydal vs. Delirious, then and now.

It’s WWE vs. ROH and the BATTLE OF ENGLAND as William Regal fights Nigel McGuinness, provided to you by Jordan Linkous and Sam Berman. Wow, okay, I have to make sure I play that match in Smackdown vs. Raw 2007.

Brad Garoon reviews FIP Heatstroke Night Two and Richards’ big win in a tag match against Bryan Danielson.

The ever present and ever effervescent Nick Marsico contributes lots more ROH thoughts and news.

Honor Bound Links

I give some very positive thoughts about TNA in the Final Resolution Roundtable. Shocking, I know.

Phil Feltham discusses the Hart Foundation: Generation Next, so to speak.

Stu is in with Friendly Competition and That Was Then.

High Road / Load Road on HHH’s Quad.

The Ripple Effect on Bobby Lashley.

Goodbye Steve Cook, for now. Sleep well, and dream of large women.

3R’s.

Bayani focuses on championship material in his latest Truth B Told. Bayani’s column IS championship material.

Thanks to Chris Miccio this week for the food.

Next week we’re back with the five questions you need answered for 2007 (for real this time) and a preview of the January 26th show in Boston.

Brooklyn! DAH EM-BAH-SEE!
–Ari–