Column of Honor: 01.20.07

“Welcome to Oz…don’t be afraid, welcome to Oz.”

5 Questions About ROH in Winter 2007 You Need Answered

1. Should ROH Fans Take Jimmy Rave Seriously?

Absolutely! Now, many fans have questioned Rave’s abilities in the past, but if you haven’t seen the new Jimmy Rave, then you don’t know how far the man has come along. Rave had an amazing 2005 as far as rising up and becoming a force to be reckoned with on the heel side along with the rest of The Embassy. His 2006 was less than effective, often losing feuds and becoming closer and closer to just an insane madman embittered by his losses. However, somewhere around October of 2006, things began to change for Jimmy. He found a new sense of himself as well as a new sense of cunning. Combined with a vicious new finishing move, a twisting variation of the ankle lock, Rave began to change his losing ways. Most impressively, he was responsible for ALL the eliminations during an 8 man tag match during night 2 of The Chicago Spectacular and then came up with two victories during the course of Final Battle 2006 to earn an ROH title shot.

If you’re not taking Jimmy Rave seriously after that, you are missing the boat and seriously making a mistake. Jimmy Rave is a changed man. He is a serious threat to the ROH World title and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he actually won the title sometime in 2007.

2. Will This Be The Year Samoa Joe Turns Full Out Heel?

ROH has certainly been hinting about how fans should view Joe’s actions in insulting the NOAH wrestlers (see last week’s Column of Honor) and Mitsuhara Misawa. Joe has always been in ROH a wrestler that the fans love and appreciate, but there has been a few times where it seemed Joe would go heel. Joe on his ROH shoot interview says that he believes it is up to the fans to view his actions in the ring. If the fans believe he is a heel, then he is a heel. However if there ever may be a point and time when Joe turns heel in Ring of Honor, it may be coming up very soon. Whether it is Joe snapping in a moment of insanity or whether he feels justified or whatever reason, we could see a heel Joe this year in ROH.

If I were booking, I wouldn’t do it. Joe is just too much a name value guy—a draw for the crowd for both ROH traditionalists and those who recognize his name from TNA. Similar to the Steve Austin turn at Wrestlemania X-7, if the people don’t want to see it, then it may probably be too much of a risk to pull off. Then again, if there is someone who the crowd favors more than Joe, it may be Homicide—so if he were to turn…maybe it would be the Notorious 187 who would serve as the catalyst.

3. Can ROH Bring A Better Show to Detroit Than WWE Wrestlemania 23?

The answer is pretty much YES. Consider that last year’s “Wrestlemania weekend” shows (Supercard of Honor and Better Than Our Best) were widely considered top three shows of the year. These shows had some of the finest wrestling in ROH all year, with the Dragon Gate six man tag, Dragon vs. Strong, Dragon vs. Storm and Homicide vs. Colt Cabana ripping up the scene. Consider that this year several storylines are already very hot and getting hotter. The announcement of more international talent (see below) will help make the shows grander and more newsworthy. Most certainly that weekend will also see matches revolving around the Joe vs. NOAH issue, and that will bring both the hype and in all likelihood the quality wrestling. Then, consider WWE is going to run Wrestlemania 23, in all likelihood with Undertaker vs. Batista and Great Khali vs. Hogan on top. Now I actually want to see Taker vs. Batista and I think they should run that match for many reasons I won’t get into here. However, there is a very large chance that their match will indeed not be match of the year, or in fact the match of the night or in fact better than the main events of the ROH shows. In the end, I don’t think ROH is going to go wrong with these shows.

4. Will The Briscoes Man Up In The Tag Division?

The Briscoes will already have a huge amount of clout if they bring home the GHC Jr. Tag titles to America and to ROH. Those titles for the Briscoes are a symbol of their excellence, a reminder that they have manned up already. ROH has already begun to promote 2007 as The Briscoes’ year through several articles on their website, and it seems to be that Jay and Mark aim to accomplish exactly that. With a hugely impressive win against The Kings of Wrestling at Final Battle 2006 (although there is a need for a blow off in that series) and a potential win upcoming against Aries and Strong, there should be enough momentum for The Briscoes to defeat current champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal, perhaps as soon as during the Fifth Year Festival.

5. Will Low Ki Return to Either Help or Fight Homicide?

On a recent interview with Inside Pulse, Gabe Sapolsky said that Low Ki would not return. However, he also said the same thing about Chris Hero, and Steve Corino…many, many times. Also, I saw Low Ki myself at the ROH Final Battle show, quietly taking in Homicide’s title win. Sure he didn’t come to the ring and stayed in the tech section, but it still makes one wonder if Ki will eventually resurface. If he comes back, he could help Homicide as a part of the Rottweilers, or even more intriguing is a possible turn on Homicide. Somehow though, I don’t think its going to happen. Low Ki could have returned at any point in the past few months to impact the Road of Homicide, and yet it didn’t happen. I don’t think we’ll see Ki return anytime soon.

Take The Pepsi Challenge & Win! WEEK TWO

J.D. Dunn continues to run the Pepsi Challenge, so I will continue to piggyback off of his stroke of genius.

I challenge the ROH fans who read this column who have friends who strictly follow WWE to give them the Pepsi Challenge (ROH Death Before Dishonor III, Sign of Dishonor, Escape From New York and Redemption). 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 tickets…and believe me, I DO NOT like the taste of cardboard.

Now then, 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 two weeks from now, 2/04/07.

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 01/20/2007

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, 2/16/07 Edison, NJ

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

Ace Steel Signed to WWE
Amid the massive releases of wrestlers in WWE, the E also surprisingly signed two wrestlers to developmental contracts. One is Cassidey Riley, formerly of TNA. The other is Ace Steel, veteran of the independent wrestling scene and one of ROH’s own. Steel would occasionally do some spot work for WWE and last week he portrayed Donald Trump in the big fake Donald vs. fake Rosie match that set the world on fire (rolls eyes).

Anyway my speculation would be that his involvement impressed Vince and the boys in the back enough for him to get signed. It’s great for him I’m sure, but that it had to come to being involved in a beyond hackneyed skit for Steel to get the deal sealed speaks volumes about WWE, but then again (to rip off of Sean O’Haire, that’s not something you don’t already know

Meanwhile Colt Cabana remains unsigned-not that it is a bad thing for ROH fans who want to see Colt being the Colt we all know and love, but my god, the Second City Saints reunion is right there for the WWE if they are smart enough to do it.

Kings Curtain Call
A very interesting three-way match has been signed for 1/27 in Edison, NJ. It will be ROH World Tag Team Champion Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli. We’ll see exactly where Hero and Castagnoli stand with one another in this match. If Hero wins the ROH World Title on 1/26 in Boston he will defend it against Samoa Joe in Edison and Homicide will take his spot in this three-way.

Right off the bat we should get some movement on The Kings of Wrestling issue. As is the case with three ways, all three men should fight each other, but what if on this one Claudio and Hero refuse to wrestler each other…and they stick to it all the way through? That would be a hell of a situation. If Hero wins the title on 1/26 he doesn’t have to worry about that calamity in the making, but he would have to fight Joe, so really he’s SOL there as well.

Scary Music From The Vatican Gift Shop
Jimmy Jacobs has sent in a new music video for the next ROH Video Wire. We don’t really know what to make of this demented video.

OH BUT I DO! Get the Hannibal Lecter mask and restraints, because SCREAMO Jimmy Jacobs has taken over!

The video, “Kiss2Kill” is quite frankly the best of the three videos done so far. Jacobs is decked in black My Chemical Romance style and goes all depressed and sick. And I love it! I won’t spoil the whole video but you should really check it out here and judge for yourself how far off the deep end Jacobs’ character has become. It is perhaps the most perfect and logical progression yet for Jacobs.

International House of Pancakes
Dragon Gate stars Naruki Doi and Shingo were announced last Friday for ROH’s two night stand in Liverpool on March 3rd & 4th.

ROH officials are currently negotiating with Doug Williams to make a return to the United States.

There will be international talent heading to Detroit for the 3/30 and 3/31 events. We’ll have more news in the upcoming weeks.

Speaking of international talent, it looks like one of the open contracts that ROH has sent overseas for a World Title shot will be signed for 2/17 in Philadelphia. Check back next week for more news.

Doi and Shingo are solid additions to the tour in the UK, and most of that roster is already shaking out. With Joe on the roster for the trip (so long as he’s healthy) as well as other wrestlers, ROH fans in UK are going to get different combinations than last time and thus should continue to get their money’s worth for these shows. ROH isn’t naming many names yet, but they are putting out the promise of international talent on many shows in the next few months. Doug Williams is a good choice as he has always been a fan favorite with the ROH faithful since his debut with the company in 2002. The overseas talent getting a title shot may end up being Williams, someone from NOAH, Dragon Gate or someone completely out of left field.

Northern Rednecks Take Japan
Jay & Mark Briscoe are on fire in NOAH right now. Not only did The Briscoes win the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Titles on their first night from Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura, but they have gone undefeated by winning matches over duos like KENTA & Atsushi Aoki and Naomichi Marufuji & Taiji Ishimori. The Briscoes have also been on the winning sides of some six man tags. Nigel McGuinness is also faring well on this NOAH tour as he has yet to be pinned.

The Briscoes had the big win and are taking Japan by storm, but it’s still a question of if they bring home those belts. Whether or not that happens, their trip should by all means be considered a success.

Tables For Two
We will let the cat out of the bag and announce a grudge match for February 16th in Manhattan. It will be BJ Whitmer vs. Brent Albright in a Tables Are Legal bout. The stipulation is simple enough, tables are legal in this match. This is as a result of the last NYC show, which saw Albright throw Whitmer over the top rope and through a table on the floor. Now Albright is coming to finish the job and Whitmer wants revenge.

BJ—GET THE TABLES!

Yeah, that’s all I’ve got.

Philadelphia Frenzy
Another huge match has been signed for 2/17 in Philadelphia. It will be Roderick Strong vs. Delirious and if Strong is still FIP Heavyweight Champion the belt will be on the line!!!

A grudge match has been signed for Philadelphia on 2/17. It will be Austin Aries vs. Claudio Castagnoli!!! Aries requested this match since he wasn’t able to gain revenge on Castagnoli and Chris Hero last time in Philadelphia. Aries feels that he needs to gain a clean win over Castagnoli in Philadelphia to truly put the issue behind him. Castagnoli needs a big win here. These two had a good match in Dayton and are now looking to take things to the next level.

Aries and Strong have continued their trend of spending some shows teaming with each other and on others going down the singles route. Strong’s responsibilities as FIP champion give him more of a direction in ROH singles competition, meanwhile Aries has been holding onto grudges as of late. The direction of Claudio’s character by the time we get to 2/17 will be something to look out for, as it could affect his behavior in this match.

She Hasn’t Started Yet, But She’s Already Better Than ECW’s Rebecca
Rebecca Bayless will be joining the ROH team as a backstage interviewer on DVDs starting with the next shows.

To that I say…HALLELUJAH! It wouldn’t be unfair to say that I (and most other ROH fans) have a bit of the puppy love for Becky. It will be excellent to see her back with ROH given her lengthy absence (I believe it was either an injury or time off for college). Now, sure, having a female backstage interviewer is kind of the cliché at this stage of the game and maybe ROH would be better off served not going down that route. However, I believe Rebecca Bayless is going to do right by this role, whether or not it’s played seriously or as more of a “Maria” type interviewer. She also has history with ROH, so it’s not like some random bimbo who sleeps with the champion who gets a position with the company. Not that I’m naming any names, DiPietro, Batista. Nope, no names needed.

Hero’s Sandwich

Once again, its time for you Ring of Honor lemmings to rejoice and recognize that the greatest wrestler alive today is back for another week of the “Hero Sandwich”. Yes, my segment still has the poor pun for the title, as Larry Sweeney hasn’t been successful just yet in getting these 411 people to give in on the name change. Oh well, all in good time. This week, just like all the previous weeks, I have been inundated with email, cards and letters from all of my adoring fans, and even though it may not seem like it, I really do appreciate all the kind words. Yeah, right. You’re all a bunch of nimrods, who have too much free time on your hands. Get out of the basement, and get a job! That goes especially out to Ari and all his loser friends. You know who you are. Now, onto the important business of the day. This week, I will be giving you mental midgets a quick look into my extreme training regimen in preparation for my World Title match with HOMO-cide on January 26th. My super agent, Larry Sweeney has gotten together an elite group to guide me on my way to the top of the ROH ranks, and they have been putting me through my paces. Here is a look at my schedule.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Cardio work with Jack La Lanne. Say what you will about him being an octogenarian, but the man is tireless. He has worked with me at a level you out of shape losers couldn’t even comprehend. My stamina is at a level unmatched in professional wrestling, and maybe even in the world. Mr. La Lanne is quite an inspiration to me, and he should be for you as well!

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday: Heavy lifting with the Hulk himself. NO, not that Hulk, the real HULK, Lou Ferrigno! Ever since I started working with Lou, my strength has reached incredible levels. Lou has been using new and interesting techniques with me, so top secret that I refuse to divulge them, even to Larry and Claudio! Now, if only Lou would wear the green body paint, I think I would be even more motivated than I already am. I have also consulted with Nikolai Volkoff on some of the older Soviet-style workout routines, and have gotten some excellent ideas. The next time you see me in the ring, it will be abundantly clear to all of you that I am in tip-top physical condition, and ripped to the max!

In addition to the physical workouts, I have also been in close contact with some of the greatest minds in the world to help me harness my inner chi, and to tap into levels of my own intelligence that I didn’t even know existed. I have spoken at length with Dr. Stephen Hawking on the physics of the ring, and how I can use science to make my maneuvers even more dangerous and innovative than ever before. I have also discussed in ring techniques with the great Hiro Matsuda, Mr. Fuji, Nick Bockwinkel and Verne Gagne. These men have a combined century of experience, and its obvious to me that they see me as the logical inheritor of their collective greatness, and therefore, have shared so many secrets of the ring with yours truly than with anyone else. Mr. Gagne even told me that I am a million times better in the ring than his son Greg ever was!

Finally, I have been learning how to deal with foreign objects, especially forks, from the two of the greatest masters of violence, Abdullah the Butcher and The Great Kabuki. Even though it is sometimes hard to understand what they are saying (not so much like dealing with Claudio, or HOMO-cide for that matter), I have learned so much from them it should be illegal. Now, I can work a ghetto fork even more effectively than HOMO-cide himself, and swing a kendo stick with even more force than that drunken buffoon, the Sandman! Abdullah has been kind enough to volunteer to second me to the ring on that magical night, but I declined, as I feared for his safety around the ROHbots who will be in Boston that night, as well as in the interest of speed, as Abdullah would take way too long to reach ringside. He is, after all, quite old and out of shape. However, when we celebrate my win, Abby will be right there, sharp object in one hand and a champagne glass in the other.

Now that you have some idea of how hard it is that I’m working out these days, I have to go back to my secret training facility, where I will be getting a motivational workout from my close personal friends, Tony Robbins, Pat Reilly, and Lance Armstrong. Until we meet again, this has been your “Hero Sandwich”…ugh…that damn title has to go.

…This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

Monday Night ROH

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

Sunday 01/14/07:TNA Final Resolution Does anyone remember the amount of angst and anger expressed by the IWC in the weeks after Kurt Angle was announced as coming to TNA? From the rooftops of their IRC chat rooms and forums they shouted, “HOW DARE THEY BRING HIM IN! He’s going to hurt himself, and then what?” Well, I have to say…these people were proven right…but there is an awful lot of silence nowadays on the IWC about it all. It’s like we’re inured to the whole prospect of Angle getting injured to the point where when he actually gets concussed, there’s little to no reaction about it. Anyway, Joe vs. Angle was very good in my opinion, even without considering how the concussion affected the match (Joe had to lead the match through Angle’s wonky head injury). However I will say this, it makes sense that Angle was injured because I felt from the start of this match, when Angle’s fireworks didn’t go off properly, that something would go array during the match.

My favorite match of the show was the three way between Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin. Lynn is just so solid—he is almost automatic in that ring, even at 43. Daniels and Sabin have come together in matches often enough to where it shouldn’t feel fresh, but yet it does work out. They putt off something new every time out. I loved the spot where Daniels gets caught upside down in the ropes leaning outside of the ring and Sabin just dropkicks his head off from the apron.

Bob Backlund in TNA is a riot—the man’s gimmick (or is he living the gimmick and we just don’t know) is priceless and his interactions with Shelley and Starr were very apropos given the shenanigans of the whole PCS deal. Now…I never thought I’d have to write these four words in sequential order—but, here goes…BIG FAT OILY GUY. He has got to go! It was a one note joke intended as a parody of something done in another company for no good reason whatsoever—and now, for no good reason whatsoever, THIS company is choosing to do the same! It’s no longer a joke, now it’s pathetic and insulting to my tastes, not to mention visually repulsive to the eyes. Who did TNA fans piss off to deserve this? I DO NOT want to see this shit on television.

Speaking of shit I did not want to see on TV, the Christy Hemme involvement with VKM was absolutely unnecessary and ridiculously abysmal. I actually liked where VKM was going with their promo before Christy interrupted, but then it went downhill. Its amazing when even the smartest fans will turn on a “woman here me roar speech”, but hey I’m one of those pansy ass male feminists out there and even I hated this segment.

**By the way, recently one of my friends noted that I may be the ONLY male Tori Amos and Ani Difranco fan who also watches professional wrestling. And is straight. Any others like me out there?

Seriously, counting Donald vs. Rosie, this skit, and ECW from last week (see below), 2007 has absolutely found itself at a new low for wrestling. I am BEGGING for Ring of Honor to begin to run its shows at this point, just so I have something else to discuss.

TNA continues to have good to great WRESTLING matches on its pay per views, but just as often they will run horrible “sports entertainment” skits and segments–which for the most part absolutely do not work. Right now, I find myself in the same position I was in with WWE in late 2002 to early 2003—the sports entertainment is horribly bad, but there is enough great wrestling for me to be able to stomach it. The question is when does TNA become like WWE in 2006-2007: horrible skits with even more horrible wrestling? When that happens, I’m done with TNA.

Monday 01/15/07: WWE Monday Night Raw (last 15 minutes: HBK vs. Edge and Randy Orton) Taking a break from grading final exams long enough to check out the main event, and I am glad I did. HBK pulled off an incredible one man army act in this main event. I continue to be awed at this man’s talent and ability, even as he progresses into the later years of his career. The man can pull the crowd into a match with his comeback like no other. One on two against Edge and Orton and he has the crowd riled up and ready to see him take it to the bad guys. Even better was the genius move for Orton and Edge to call for the stripping of all the crowd signs so that no pro-DX materials were available. Someone at creative must have had a brain cramp and something GOOD actually came out for once.

PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Two (Austin Aries vs. Disco Machine) Finishing up my break I decided to at least break the ice off of the second DVD for PWG BOLA 2006 night two. Aries and Disco had a nice and solid opening match. Nothing too mind blowing, except for one spot where Aries has ducked out for a minute and Disco surprises him by running through the space in between the turnbuckle post with a tope. That was sweet. The other thing I noticed was the running commentary with Excalibur and Bryce Rembsurg. Excalibur is as HIGHlarious as always, while Bryce sounds a bit nervous and high strung, but he has a lot of potential. After this match, it was back to the grind of marking papers.

Tuesday 1/16/07: ECW on Sci Fi: The most awful wrestling show I watched this week, and that INCLUDES the CM Punk match. You may be surprised to know but I absolutely hated that Punk-Striker match. With the crowd mostly dead for that match, it seemed like they were wrestling in a vacuum. And yet, they really didn’t give the crowd much to cheer for. The match was long for the sake of being long, and Punk was not on his best form today. While I appreciated the grappling and chain section in the early moments of the match, there didn’t really seem to be anything there in terms of drama or build.

Then, I had to watch one of the most amazingly horrible moments ever, as Monty Brown, oh wait, excuse me WWE, MARQUIS DE SADE…no wait, that’s not it. Ok I know, I know, Marquis Cor Von made his debut. Even better, he was fighting against Cassidy Riley—TNA on ECW on Sci Fi! Entering to some of the most horrible entrance music since Rob Conway or X-Factor, Cor Von was built up as “The Alpha Male”, but was nothing like his TNA character. Honestly, I don’t know how to react. I liked Brown and thought he could have a very decent chance in WWE of making an impact, but no like this. They took away his name, his NFL identity, and they took away the pounce (which the crowd popped for) as a finisher. Brown did save the moment somewhat by being able to show more moves than ever before, and the promo he cut shows that he CAN do some serious talking, but I just get the feeling that the Cor Von character may be stuck in just as much traction as Brown found himself in TNA. Yet somehow…I can’t wait to see him again! Bobby Brown vs. Monty Lashley is just waiting to happen!

I won’t even go into detail the disaster that was Test vs. Lashley vs. RVD. Botched moves, botched placements, horrible selling—it was rank amateur hour on national television. Teddy Hart may be able to have a more tightly focused match than these three.

Thursday 1/18/07: TNA iMPACT! (last half hour including Angle vs. Styles) Not much to say about this one other than the fact that Angle made AJ look like a 3 year old child in the ring. The match was structured like something out of Saturday Night’s Main Event in the 1980’s with the face dominating the entire match, the heel cheating, then we cut to a commercial break and when we come back, the face is making its comeback. Way to make a TNA original look like a bitch. By the way, I then went on to play this match on Smackdown vs. Raw 2007. That match was eons better than this one—and in my match, AJ Styles won.

Friday 1/19/07:Totally Tool Wrestling: The Greatest Show Ever! (First half of DVD) So for a few years now I’ve heard of the TTW product but haven’t gone out of my way to order it. I mean, I like comedy wrestling…but enough to buy a full DVD? Well, I was feeling in a wacky mood the other day, and I thought, hey, why not? So I clicked onto Smart Mark Video and placed an order for this DVD, its sequel (“We’re Sorry About Last Year”) and two Chikara DVDs (see below) as a sampler of the product. This show…is really…something let me tell you. It’s a backyard production. But that is just part of the charm of it all. From a commissioner decked out in a Superman costume, the entrance way falling down, Blackula, a midget (um…excuse me, little person) as ring announcer, a horrible Egyptian wrestler to a Mormon wrestler…how can you go right? This is not great wrestling, but it is funny…in many, many ways.

WWE Smackdown! (Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero, Deuce, Domino & Cherry debut) Believe it or not, I was actually trying to time it so that I could catch The Greasers debut. Hey, I have a soft spot for these guys from watching OVW tapes. I managed to tune in in time to watch a really nice US title match between Chavo and Benoit. It was no-DQ and lo and behold, they were actually able to work the stips very well into the match. There were teases of formerly illegal objects which led to their use later in the match. There was an awesome triple vertical suplex sequence involving chairs and the US title belt. I actually was more impressed with Chavo than Benoit in this match, although Benoit was his usual genius self. Then came the debut of Deuce, Domino and Cherry and boy did they not disappoint. From the vintage car to the combs to their (familiar to me) mic act involving getting angry because people are looking at Cherry—these guys were great. Then they actually had to wrestle. Still, I feel this gimmick is going to work, at least for a good while, because they have solid characterization to work off and they help to fill out the tag division. Plus, JBL’s “shoot” on Johnny Ace was hysterically funny.

Chikara: The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (First three matches up through and including Lance Steel vs. Lance Steel) Finally, before I completely crashed for the night, I managed to give the boys at Chikara a try. The show opens with Claudio rocking a doo rag and cutting a funny promo. His opening match against Equinox was ok, but not spectacular by any means, well, except for when Claudio rockets the little masked lucha guy out about ten feet over the ropes. Anyway, the true stars of the small portion of this DVD I watched were HYDRA and ULTRAMANTIS BLACK! If you’ve never heard of Ultramantis, well, this dude…er…masked villainous insect like creature is awesome. I’ve heard his commentary on the Chikara Podcast a Go Go but hasn’t ever seen him in the ring, but this cat, er…masked villainous insect like creature…can go. Hydra’s gimmick of being a monstrous like lackey who overestimates his strength is also great. They had a nice match against The Colony, a bunch of masked ant wrestlers…who come out to appropriately enough Dave Matthews Band’s “Ants Marching.”

Even better entrance music is Lance Steel (both of them) coming out to music from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The deal with Steel is that there are two of him, both plucked from the past to come wrestle in Chikara, but one Steel was plucked out about three years later than the other. They had formed a tag team named “Lancelot” (get it?), but at this point they are feuding with each other because one Lance supports Dragons while the other thinks it is his mission to hunt and kill all Dragons. Yes, that is incredible character work right there. Anyway, Lance fought himself, which is actually as funny as it sounds. It was also a pretty good match, but I guess that’s what happens when you know yourself so well.

I am looking forward to watching more Chikara action. If you can forget about the fact that its taped in an American Legion Hall and suspend disbelief enough to think insects and lizard beings can talk and a knight of a around-ish sort of table can fight himself, then you’d be okay with watching some of this company.

ROH Preview: 1/26/07 in Braintree, MA

8:00 pm belltime
Braintree National Guard Armory
275 Union Street
Braintree, MA 02184

World Title Match
Homicide, with Julius Smokes, defends vs. Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney

The Homicide title run could not get off to a more difficult start. Not only does ‘Cide have to defend the title against one of the most dangerous men on the roster, but he also has to do it in the not so friendly town of Boston. Of all places to start out his run as champion, Boston could be the worst choice for this New York born and bred Yankees fan. Homicide is going to have to demonstrate the qualities of a champion right away—the ability to take adversity and spin it to your advantage. He will have to channel his ability to overcome Hero’s size and power. The lethal closeline and Cop Killer moves are a must for Homicide to overcome Hero’s challenge. While in the past, most first ROH World title defenses did not seem like there could be an immediate title change, this is not the case here. At the end of the night, Hero may be the new ROH world champion, to the chagrin of many ROH fans.

2/3 Falls Match
Austin Aries & Roderick Strong vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe

These guys spent most of 2006 in a bitter struggle for tag team supremacy. Now they both stand on the outside looking in at the ROH World Tag Team Champions of Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal. While Aries and Strong have a title shot upcoming, The Briscoes, the current GHC Jr. Tag champions, are bringing increased prestige in Japan and a determination to become the next ROH champions. The Briscoes have been in some great 2 out of 3 falls matches back in 2004, and I believe this one will live up to those past matches.

Special Challenge Match
Samoa Joe vs. Nigel McGuinness

The match that should have happened at Final Battle 2006 (and really should have happened on 2/16 in NY, but no, I’m not bitter, not at all) takes form here. Joe and McGuinness are no strangers to each other, as they had several battles in 2005, including Nigel defeating Joe for the ROH Pure title. They have not really tangled all that much in 2006. This match now has a new sense of freshness and a new purpose. Nigel is the frontline defense for the honor of Pro Wrestling NOAH. If he can defeat Joe, he stuffs the big Samoan’s challenge right in his face. If he loses, then NOAH is going to need to get serious about sending some of their wrestlers over to fight Joe, because he will be doing more trash talking than ever before.

No DQ Mixed Tag Team Grudge Match
Colt Cabana, BJ Whitmer & Daizee Haze vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Brent Albright & Lacey

Everything in this issue has tied together nicely for this match. BJ Whitmer and Colt Cabana have common enemies, and Haze has been brought in over the last few months as a counter to Lacey’s presence. Whitmer owes Albright from taking a powerbomb over the top rope through a table at Final Battle 2006. Jacobs has become more vicious and demented since Lacey was spiked by Whitmer, and he can’t forget that Cabana had his way with the love of his life. It all breaks down right here in this match and it will be a wonder to see if anyone is going to survive with the No DQ in effect.

Special Challenge Match
Davey Richards vs. the returning Rocky Romero

Davey and Rocky against each other assures fans of one thing: lots of kicks and strikes, and stiff ones at that. Rocky always seems to work up to his opponent’s level, so I think this match could really be the one that steals the show. The crowd may be split on this one as far as who they favor more.

Four Corner Survival Match
Christopher Daniels vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Shingo vs. Jason Blade

It’s great to see how even in matches that seem thrown together there is a spate of history among the participants. Rave and Shingo met at the Suffocation event (10/27/06), meanwhile Rave and Daniels were just involved against each other in another 4CS back at Final Battle 2006. Blade is in again playing the role of the home area hero, as he does in most four corner survival matches. Rave is on fire in matches and I expect he is going to once again sneak his way into getting the ankle lock twist onto some unsuspecting opponent for the tap out victory.

Grudge Tag Team Match
Delirious & Pelle Primeau vs. Adam Pearce & Shane Hagadorn

Ah, the epic Primeau vs. Hagadorn feud, take 3,902. Delirious and Pearce have also been going at it for a long while, dating back to September of ’06. This should be fine, lots of wackiness and a chance for Pearce and Hagadorn to display their heel teamwork.

Bonus Match
Jack Evans vs. Eddie Edwards

Jack is back from his tour of Japan and ironically enough he has to face off with another American wrestler who routinely tours Japan in Eddie Edwards. This will be Edwards’ second match in ROH and another irony being that his first match was against Evans’ former partner in crime, Austin Aries. This will be a spotlight special for Evans as he gets back into the swing of things in ROH, but Edwards should get enough in to make a showing for himself.

Going Home

Ringtones

JustinShaq writes in again with a googolplex worth of questions, but all of them fine ones and worthy of answers:

As always I wanted to ask your opinion on some issues i was pondering on. Firstly I am stoked for the WSX premiere on jan.30th and do you think it’s possibly they could give so competition to wwe and tna, because my favorite magazine pro wrestling illustrated and a lot of other wrestling websites excluding 411, seem to mention wwe and tna and I’m sick of it, i mean how much more often are we going to hear about john cena edge and even the biggest piece of crap known as the great khali. the reason I’m talking about wsx so much is because of there adding roh and dragon gate talent to there rosters, and I feel that this could lead to more nationwide attention for such deserving wrestlers as jack evans matt sydal h.a.g.e and masato yoshino. However i think they should add tag titles to there resume as they seem to have a lot of tag teams already, do you think this will happen. My next issue seems to be that of new talent, being that 1pw closed down and gabe seems to have a strong eye for talent, do you think English wrestlers such as pac, jodie fleisch johnny strom and pac have shots at roster spots, necro butcher also seems to be working in fip and being that kingston is there to, do you think they might offer blkout or butcher a roster spot and have them feud with hero. finally what roh wrestler should wrestle the great khali in a dream match
Thanks for answering my questions.

I’m actually very excited about the WSX show as well–it’s looking like a fun and guilty pleasure type of show–and I think I can actually use one of those nowadays. Also looking forward to seeing some of the hard working indie wrestlers getting a chance to shine a national level. I don’t think they have a chance to compete with WWE, but they may give TNA a bit of a rumble because it seems at least from the trailer that their program is what TNA should have been but isn’t–TOTAL non stop action (well and some music too, but I guess you can’t win them all–how ironic is it anyway that the one show that MTV puts music on is a wrestling show?).

WWE would be out of the question, for just about everyone really. You have to keep in mind that no matter how good or bad the quality of the show, WWE will ALWAYS get the most coverage, because it is THE brand name of the business–sort of how the NBA or NFL gets the most coverage even though there are other national (or international) leagues based on basketball or football. But hey, I like John Cena and Edge–they are the two stand outs of the last year. They actually put effort into what they do and you can see their passion through their characters. I would rather see them than a McMahon on my TV any day of the week.

Evans and Sydal I think are really going to benefit from the television exposure–it will up the amount of indies who want to book them, and will probably up their asking price as well, which as an indie wrestler is always a paramount point.

WSX, from reading the spoilers, definitely is focusing on the tag division (it also helps put more guys out there on screen in the limited amount of time they have), but no news on a tag title–perhaps in season two.

Jody Fliesh and Jonny Storm actually were frequent appearances on the early ROH shows in 2002, but I really wouldn’t want to see them back on a regular basis. Both can get UBER ridiculous with their spots and their long term psychology and selling haven’t really improved–so I can’t see them as a long term fit within the current ROH scene. But they can have great matches on the odd show or two-so for at least the shows in England I’d like to see them appear. I still haven’t been able to check out Pac except for a highlight film or two–he seemingly has a ton of potential but he also needs to learn to slow down and start selling more in his matches. But then again maybe I shouldn’t be too judgmental based on one or two video packages.

I have no idea if Blkout will appear although I predicted they would in Final Column. With Necro getting booked in FIP, I think an appearance or two in ROH during 2007 wouldn’t be too out of the question. We shall have to wait and see.

Finally, NO wrestler should wrestle Khali in a dream match–if he showed up in an ROH ring I think I would probably commit mass homicide. Well, to seriously answer the question, maybe match him up with Evans–the biggest David vs. Goliath match possible.

justinbrown16 has one simple question for me:

Your powers in markish writing are astounding, at least that’s what I hope
you’re attempting???????

If you are referring to the “I Side With Joe” feature (actually I mistakenly wrote back to him I Side with Punk, but either way), then, yes that’s what I was attempting. Hope you enjoyed it.

After my Ambercrombe & Fitch / perverts rip in my comments about Matt Sydal in last week’s column, 411’s own resident fashion plate Stuart Carapola wanted to chime in with a defense of the “less reputable” as he calls it:

Now I’m just about as big a pervert as they come, but even *I* am not into
Matt Sydal’s little Abercrombie and Fitch look. You know, people look at
the guys wearing stockings over their face and peeping into people’s windows
at night and they think they know everything about us…

It’s okay man, I won’t judge.

**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)

Over the last week I’ve received a great amount of feedback with Independent Buy In recommendations—great work readers! Let’s see what you all out there think we all out there should check out.

**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 6 (MsChif / Melissa Last Woman Standing, Rebecca Knox / Allison Danger Pure Rules)

Adam Nelson suggests:
While I haven’t received it yet (since it just went up on the ROH site), I’d like to nominate Shimmer Vol. 6 for the Independent Buy In. With MsChif v Melissa (Last Woman Standing) and Rebecca Knox v Allison Danger (Pure Rules) as the two big matches, I can’t see it being anything less than amazing.

Matt (Gohan6482) suggests:

You might as well add Nights 2 and 3 of BOLA already… I was there live, have the DVD’s as well, and they’re really good shows as I’m sure you know/are gonna find out.

Also from PWG in 06:

**PWG Hollywood Globetrotters (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong and Jack Evans; Cape Fear (El Generico and Quicksilver) vs. Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost); B-Boy vs. Frankie Kazarian; Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin.)

**PWG Beyond The Thunderdome (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. AJ Styles and Chris Daniels); Cape Fear vs. Arrogance; Joey Ryan vs. Chris Sabin)

**PWG Enchantment Under The Sea (Cape Fear vs. Briscoes; Matt Sydal vs. B-Boy; Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Arrogance; Austin Aries vs. Kevin Steen)

All of them really good shows, especially for PWG’s standards.

**wXw World Lightweight Tournament 2006 (Ares / Baron von Hagen, Pac / El Generico, Quackenbush / Roudin, 5 Way Tournament Match)

Jean (Blackmunk) suggests:

I have a suggestion for the Independent Buy In: wXw World Lightweight Tournament 2006, arguably the best European show in 2006. It took place September 16 (same day as GBH Night 2) in Essen, Germany. I attended the show live, and it was just as great live as it was on DVD. The Show had a great World Title Match between Ares and Baron von Hagen, a great match between Pac and El Generico (with some of the worlds greatest flips by Pac), a great 5-Way Final Match of the tournament with the winners of the matches (which all took place at that show): Mike Quackenbush vs. Marc Roudin, Tommy End vs. Carbon (The only bad match of the evening), Ricky Marvin vs. Taiji Ishimori, Emil Sitoci vs. Tengkwa and the before mentioned Pac vs. Generico. There was also a fun Tag Team Match between Kevin Steen/Bad Bones vs. Steve Douglas/Iceman, with Steen just being one the world’s most entertaining heels.

The Show is available at ROHWrestling.com order at smartmarkvideo.com, you and all the readers should check it out!

My many thanks to Adam Matt and Jean for taking the time out to send in their suggestions—you heard them guys—get shopping and pick em up!

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

Ziegler and Garoon hit the big one, ROH Glory By Honor V Night 2.

Samuel Berman gives us the crossroads of ROH found within OVW in his latest and excellent Independent Mid Card.

Garoon goes solo with Saturday reviews for FIP Second Year Spectacular Night One and SHIMMER Women Athletes Volume 5.

Honor Bound Links

I have to give props to Michael Weyer for perhaps one of his best columns even, on the subject of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Awards issue, which until about 2000 was a must buy for me.

Double M and Nick Marsico are your weekend news anchors.

Nick, the ladies don’t want shorter… although, perhaps in that category I can’t help them (that’s what she said). Believe me, sometimes I wish I wasn’t such a damned long winded writer. Shit just comes out (wow that sounds wrong) and its not until afterwards I’m like “holy crap that’s a long column. Maybe I’ll shorten it up next time.” Then it just repeats over and over again (no, not like a stomach condition). Kind of like this column is now getting to that point.

Stuart loves your email for his That Was Then column and a little bit of Friendly Competition never hurt anyone…except Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles.

The Ripple Effect on Randy Orton…will it tear a hole in the fabric of the time-space contiuum? Oh I hope so.

Csonka remembers Bam Bam Bigelow and comments on Black Thursday 2007.

High Road / Low Road on the 30 minute Iron Man match.

Bayani is in with Truth B Told as the faces and heels turn.

Once again that will do it for me and the column. Next week ROH kicks back into gear with the start of the 2007 season and two shows in Boston and Edison. I’ll bring you the results of the former and the preview of the latter.

Brooklyn! DAH EM-BAH-SEE!
–Ari–