Column of Honor: 02.03.07

Where Have You Gone (Samoa) Joe DiMaggio?

The News: …and for the first time in a while, it isn’t positive news for Ring of Honor. It is in fact perhaps the biggest potential blow to ROH since the departure of CM Punk due to signing with WWE.

Samoa Joe and ROHwrestling announced on its video newswire and news report on ROHWrestling.com that Joe will end his run with ROH, at the least on a regular basis as part of the “active regular roster.” Joe will fulfill his upcoming commitments to Ring of Honor, conducting a farewell tour throughout the Fifth Year Festival and then will be done with the company. Joe will finish his dates in England on the March 3rd and 4th shows in Liverpool.

Samoa Joe’s departure was foreshadowed in ROH newswires all throughout last week as a big bombshell news announcement that would change the landscape of ROH. The vague news bits indicated that this news wasn’t what many people expected. Certainly this announcement lived up to that particular billing. It also can be assumed that ROH knew at least for a bit of time before making the announcement that Joe would be finishing up his time in the company, hence the foreshadowing via their news center.

Joe appeared on the newswire, visibly broken up over this turn of event. “It has come to light that my tenure here in Ring of Honor will soon be coming to an end. Most of you know a great deal of my heart, a great of my soul, a great deal of who I am is linked to this promotion and what I did here,” Joe stated. He went on: “In my final run here…I will give you my best, I will give you my greatest and I promise you I will give you my all…I hope you will join me and the rest here as I am forced to say farewell to a company that I love. Thank you.”

No Joe in Japan: The news began earlier in the week when a report from the Wrestling Observer newsletter that Joe would not be able to make the scheduled ROH trip to Japan due to TNA commitments. This was a bit of a blow to fans who expected the NOAH vs. Joe storyline to be the centerpiece of the tour in the first place. Expected dream matches would not be accomplished, including a rumored match against Kensuke Sasaki or potential matches against Kenta Kobashi or Mitsuhara Misawa.

TNA’ed:Then on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007, the video newswire with Joe’s statement was released. It was soon followed up by a report from Mike Johnson and PWInsider: “Although not stated, the move is being made in order for Joe to dedicate his full attention to TNA and independent bookings that TNA set forth for him in the future. When asked for comment about Joe’s departure this afternoon, ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky declined comment, stating, “I’d rather not discuss the matter”.

In addition to the above, Dave Meltzer is going to report further on TNA’s involvement in this situation. in his Wrestling Observer newsletter that TNA didn’t want Joe to be a part of indie fed’s storylines anymore. On an interview with Meltzer for Figure Four Weekly audio show, Meltzer stated. “it’s just business…TNA didn’t want him working there. That’s all. They can book Joe if they want, but they I don’t think that they want him as a regular doing angles and being a part of the roster. As far as coming in and doing an occasional match when he doesn’t have another indie booking, I don’t think that they’re against that but they don’t want him coming in and being a part of other people’s storlines.” in other words that Joe can wrestle the occasional indy match “dream match” deal I guess, but he can’t be booked into long term feuds and stories anymore.

Yet that statement has been complicated as on his Firday news report, Bryan Alvarez reports that after the Fifth year Festivals Joe will be “exclusive” to TNA.

TNA has been involved in blocking and preventing talent from wrestling in Ring of Honor before, most notably when AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels were told that they could not wrestle for ROH following the Rob Feinstein Incident of 2004. Without two of its top stars from its first two years, ROH refocused on its other talent, and wrestlers such as Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Homicide, Bryan Danielson and Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans and Alex Shelley) stepped up to the next level. These men in particular were responsible for a number of high quality matches that helped save ROH’s reputation, box office and DVD sales.

Of that list, CM Punk is now in WWE ECW, Danielson is currently on the shelf, Alex Shelley is no longer booked in the company, and now Joe will be added to the list. On the other hand, Homicide is current ROH champion, Aries and Strong have prominent roles in the tag division, Jack Evans has returned from Japan a much improved wrestler, and there is a whole other crop of wrestlers ready to make their mark on the company.

Final shows: Joe will make his final appearances throughout February and then wrap up ROH action in England. Joe will fight Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Takeshi Morishima on 2/16 in Manhattan, a match that was foreshadowed back at ROH’s debut in the Manhattan Center in September of 2006. Joe will fight Davey Richards 2/17 in Philadelphia, Jimmy Rave in Dayton on 2/23, team with Homicide to fight Nigel McGuinness and Morishima on 2/24 in Chicago, McGuinness in England on 3/3. His final match will be with an opponent yet to be determined.

The Analysis:

While Ring of Honor has had to deal with many top talents leaving during the course of its near five year existence, from Punk to Christopher Daniels to AJ Styles to Steve Corino to Low Ki, no one has been tied to ROH more strongly over the last few years than Samoa Joe. In the short term and perhaps the long term, this loss is going to challenge ROH to overcome once again the challenge of being one of the largest indies on the wrestling scene and thus subject to these kinds of losses. ROH had already been pushing a whole bunch of new wrestlers towards the top of the card. So perhaps as far as talent and in ring quality goes, this will not hurt as bad as it first appears. However, there is no doubt that Samoa Joe has been one of the most popular wrestlers on the wrestling landscape. He draws in both the hardcore fans and the casual viewers. The bigger impact of his loss may be felt upon ticket sales, fan attendance and merchandise, if not from the hardcore ROH fan but from a casual fan once he or she realizes Joe will no longer be on the shows.

There are several reasons why TNA might have pulled the plug on Joe’s stay in TNA, besides the stated one of not wanting Joe involved in storylines. Joe has been positioned in the upper crust of TNA for sometime now, and there is a ton of speculation that Joe will be champion soon, perhaps by the March or April pay per view. Thus, to protect Joe’s image, TNA would want to stop Joe from going out on other indie shows. It is on these shows where Joe might have to job, possibly excessively—and that could get in the way of whatever TNA has planned for him on television.

TNA may possibly be tightening the reigns of their talent contracts and independent bookings as a whole. ROH and Gabe Sapolsky has stated in the past he has downplayed TNA stars in ROH because of this very thought. Ironically, two of his current champions are currently featured on TNA.

The thing with Joe’s contract is that I thought his contract specifically prevented him being prevented from working ROH, or at least I remember reading that online several years ago. Maybe they got rid of that part for his newest contract extension.

Joe’s knee injury is also still a matter of concern. Joe has been injured several times over the course of the last year and his most recent knee injury may still be fresh in his and TNA official’s mind (although if the latter was true, then perhaps they wouldn’t have put him in a thirty minute Iron Man match in his first match back for the company). A reduced schedule will allow Joe to heal up and recover his body. It’s not like Joe will have to do a lot in the ring in TNA given the fact that there are barely any matches or any match length on their television shows. Less time in the ring is good for Joe, bad for viewers.

The “Nothing Left for Joe to Do” argument: A few people have come up with the idea that Joe has nothing left to accomplish in Ring of Honor. I reject this idea on principle.

I find that the wrestler _____ has “nothing left to do” argument is ALWAYS weak, no matter to which wrestler you are referring. It’s like when WWE “creative” says to its talent that “we have nothing for you”…well, you’re CREATIVE, how about you go about and be, I dunno, CREATIVE and think of something! I don’t expect Gabe to find himself in this situation, even with a man tenured as long as Samoa Joe. Hey, its Samoa Joe—there will always be something interesting to do with a man of his talents and personality.

Fans who are stating this “nothing left to do” argument are missing out on a ton of items left on the table for Joe to accomplish in Ring of Honor. Just because Joe isn’t in the main event situation or a part of the top storyline does not mean that there is nothing worthwhile to involve Joe in for ROH. I can think of several things right off to bat you can do with him:

-Win the ROH tag titles and fulfill his quest to win all the ROH gold.
-Win the ROH world title and become the first two time ROH champion.
-A FULL Heel turn on Homicide or Nigel McGuinness.

While in an interview with PWInisder, Gabe Sapolsky makes the claim that the fans would not turn on Joe, but let’s be real. Fans once chanted “fuck you Joe” during a title match with CM Punk. If you can get the fans to shout that, a heel turn is not an unrealistic possibility. Not that I want to see Joe as a heel myself, BUT the point is that it is possible to execute the heel turn; the option exists to do something along those lines.

-Continue the NOAH angle and fight the top talent from that company throughout the Spring and Summer. For instance, Joe has never fought KENTA one on one, so that match is still on the table.
-Build up a Joe vs. Chris Hero feud to give us the one on one match we never saw during the ROH vs. CZW issue.

That is just the logical stuff. While it’s clear that Joe was running out of fresh match ups with the longstanding members of the roster, the new infusion of talent from guys like Matt Cross and Brent Albright could have helped ease that worry.

Why this will hurt ROH short term: Joe’s leaving takes away an incredibly established draw. Joe appeals to a diverse audience: casual fans, diehard fans, men, women, children, aliens, Yes, I said aliens come from outer space to see Samoa Joe. well, maybe not. Joe is cool, Joe is bad, and that factors in to people wanting to see him do what he does best. The lack of Joe in matches could lead to less ticket sales and less DVD purchases, at least in the immediate short term after his final run. Unless ROH can come up with another hot story or rivalry, I’d expect at least a slight downturn in the live numbers.

Why this may turn out to be a positive for ROH: The loss of Joe is the gain of other wrestlers on the roster. ROH has done this dance before. More established wrestlers go out, new talents step up and make their mark. There is still a wellspring of talent from the national and international independent scene to draw from. While none of these men will be the “next” Joe (like none of the current WWE wrestlers will ever be the “next” Rock), some wrestler is going to get the opportunity and will take advantage of it.

This turn of events could especially help Homicide. I mean the reaction he got last week in New Jersey was frighteningly negative. Samoa Joe was unquestionably the crowd favorite (a crowd made up of a lot more casual fans than usual). Homicide’s title run is still a question mark (as have been, to be honest, most wrestlers starting out a new ROH World title run). If Homicide was facing someone like Jimmy Rave, I’d expect Homicide to benefit from a lot more support from any crowd.

The “Fuck TNA” contingent: Whenever something bad happens to ROH that could possibly linked to the actions of one Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling Incorporated, these fans waste no time to unload a salvo of negativity. Yet, this is one of the few times where these fans would actually be justified in their reactions. There is no doubt now that this is a TNA decision, one that directly impacts Ring of Honor. However, something to think of: the last time TNA had such a direct hand in influencing the course of ROH history, it turned out so much for the better. A new era occurred for Ring of Honor. If the roles were reversed at this point, I doubt TNA could do the same.

The “I understand” contingent: A lot of fans have been accepting of the news. ROH viewers know the story by now, and it’s not like the loss of Joe was never going to happen. The fact that it took so long may have been the bigger surprise. These fans may be upset or angry, but they understand that these things happen in wrestling across the board.

The ‘It’s a work” contingent: There are a few fans who believe this is all a setup, claiming “work” (usually making one-word posts stating as much). Remember that CM Punk was scheduled to make his “final” appearance at Death Before Dishonor III, but instead that led to an ROH World title win and an extended stay for Punk for another two months. Would ROH go with lightening striking twice with the same kind of situation for Joe on his way out? I can’t deny the possibility that this whole thing could be a work in the mold of Punk’s final run. I just don’t think that is how this is going to work out.

My personal stance: A few months ago I wrote in a “The Apocalypse Is Not Happening Today” feature that losing Samoa Joe would not be the end of ROH. I stand by my thoughts from that column. This is not the end of the line for ROH. However, it is a blow. It will take some time for this all to sort out, but losing Joe will definitely hurt, especially in the short term. It takes away from what ROH was trying to do in Japan; it takes away a major baby face that had become synonymous with the company. Joe is one of the best in the business and not to be able to see him live will be a hit for me. Of course I will still be attending ROH shows, but I can’t deny that this one hurts. Bottom line, THIS SUCKS.

Jolting Joe has left and gone away, Hey, Hey, Hey.

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 02/03/2007

ROH World Champion—Homicide(champion since 12/23/06, 2 successful defense)

Next Defense: Jimmy Rave, 2/16/07 Manhattan, NY

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 Manhattan, NY

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

BASH Brother to ROH?
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that of all the recent WWE releases, ROH is most interested in bringing in the man formerly known as Doug Basham.

That’s fine and all, as Doug has a ton of talent and all, but why not go ahead and bring in Danny Basham (a.k.a. Damaja) as well? I think both would fit in damn well with the rest of the roster, and finally, we’d actually be able to see them, you know, wrestle to their potential.

ROH in England-Cards Announced
ROH released a near complete line up of matches for its international showcase in England. These shows will wrap up the Fifth Year Festival and the Samoa Joe Farewell Tour.

Saturday 3rd March

ROH World Title Match
Homicide (champion) vs. Davey Richards

Samoa Joe Vs Nigel McGuinness

2 out of 3 Falls
Delirious vs. Matt Sydal (ROH World Tag Team Champion)

FIP Heavyweight Title
Roderick Strong (champion) vs. The UK’s very own PAC

ROH vs. Dragon Gate Challenge
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Naruki Doi & Shingo

Tag Team Grudge Match
Colt Cabana & BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Jimmy Rave

SHIMMER Special Attraction Match
Sara Del Rey vs. Allison Danger

Sunday 4th March

Samoa Joe’s final ROH match

Fight Without Honor
Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave

Falls Count Anywhere
BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Battle Of The High-Flyers
Matt Sydal vs. PAC

Special Attraction Match
Colt Cabana vs. Delirious

From the newswires:
Hometown Hero
Nigel McGuinness is ready to return to his home country on March 3rd and 4th. ROH will present consecutive shows in Liverpool to close out the Fifth Year Festival. We encourage you to check out both night’s of action to get the most out of what will truly be an epic weekend. McGuinness has already signed for two main event caliber matches after what happened last weekend. March 3rd will see Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe in a rematch of last Friday’s event. These two have a storied history and now it comes to Liverpool. March 4th will see the end of one of ROH’s hottest feuds. In a rematch of last Saturday’s show it will be Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave, but this time it will a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR!!!

McGuinness and Joe have been frequent opponents over the last two years, and with this being in McGuinness’s home country, the series takes an important turn in its finale. McGuinness seems to be being positioned here for a great weekend if he can conclusively defeat both Joe and his current bitter rival Jimmy Rave on back to back shows.

Sydalitude
ROH World Tag Team Champion Matt Sydal has been getting cocky since he won the belts alongside Christopher Daniels. Former champion Austin Aries has taken exception to this and challenged Sydal to a singles match. It will be Aries vs. Sydal on 2/23 in Dayton.

I haven’t seen this new “cocky” persona of Sydal play out on ROH DVDs yet, but if he is getting ahead of himself…Austin Aries should put him in his place. Young man!

Out of the Haze?
Daizee Haze suffered a concussion and a huge welt on her head on Friday night. She is doing better now and is looking forward to getting revenge on Lacey.

The new video newswire shows some of the huge bumps Haze took in that match, including a sick looking German Suplex by Brent Albright. Hopefully Haze will take it easy for the meantime and heal up her injury. So far, Rebecca Knox and Mercedez Martinez have suffered concussions and have not returned to the ring—so careful is the watchword, so to speak.

Defending the Lords’ Throne
ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal are in for a tough weekend when the Fifth Year Festival kicks off. They are already scheduled to defend the belts against Austin Aries & Roderick Strong on 2/16 in Manhattan. Dragon Gate asked for a rematch after the classic World Tag Title Match on 12/22 in Hartford that saw Shingo & CIMA challenge for the belts. The rematch will happen on 2/17 in Philadelphia. This time it will be Daniels & Sydal vs. Shingo & Jack Evans on 2/17 and if Daniels & Sydal make it past Manhattan with the belts they will put them on the line in Philly. If the belts aren’t on the line this match will still take place as scheduled.

The Fifth Year Festival has a tough schedule for ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal. It will be Daniels & Sydal vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe on 2/24 in Chicago. If Daniels & Sydal are still the champions the belts will be on the line in Chicago!!!

Ah, see, criticism equals results. Last week I write that Daniels and Sydal have not been defending the titles enough and look to be goldbricking their run. This week, three title matches announced, and at least two are potential title change matches. Daniels and Sydal finally fight Aries and Strong in tag competition (originally scheduled for 12/9 but the match was changed due to an injury by Sydal) and The Briscoes get their shot after running roughshod over NOAH and defeating Aries and Strong last weekend.

Hello Angels
The Dangerous Angels of Sara Del Rey and Allison Danger will be holding an all female training seminar at the ROH school the second week of February. This four hour clinic will involve in-ring training with Del Rey and classroom training with Danger. Both women have traveled all over the world and will be bringing a combined twelve years of experience to this seminar. This is for females of all skill levels looking to take their talent to the next level. Both Del Rey and Danger will be scouting potential SHIMMER talent. Pre-registration is required. Please contact [email protected] to register or with any questions.

And a million ROHfan boys are priming the emails as we speak.

Another Rocky Sequel
Rocky Romero made some headlines in his first weekend back. Friday in Boston saw him score an impressive victory over Davey Richards. However, before the match he had some words with fellow Rottweiler and ROH World Champion Homicide as well as Julius Smokes. Romero then walked out on Rottweiler partner Ricky Reyes last Saturday in a bout against The Briscoes. Is Romero still with The Rottweilers? Romero is set to tour NOAH so it looks like we won’t get any answers until Detroit on March 30th and March 31st.

You’d think they’d keep The Rottweilers strong with Homicide as champion, but you’d think wrong. It looks like Romero is being set up as a rival to Homicide, but with his NOAH commitments, we won’t see this develop until the Spring.

FREE MATCHES
There are new, complete matches now at www.ROHvideos.com from recent ROH DVDs. Check out Christopher Daniels with Allison Danger vs. Matt Cross, Brent Albright vs. Trik Davis and Delirious vs. Jason Blade. The best part is that you can watch these matches for FREE to get a taste of ROH. Spread the word around the internet because there is no excuse not to check out ROH at ROHvideos.com and on Youtube.

The Daniels vs. Cross match is a lot of fun, really showing off Cross’s unique offense. Albright vs. Davis is an out and out thrashing and Blade vs. Delirious is surprisingly competitive and well wrestled, despite one obvious flub. If you haven’t seen these matches, I’d recommend checking them out and then washing it down with a nice palette cleanser in the WSXtra program…featuring among others, the Xtra lovely Lacey.

Hero’s Sandwich

So, I’m sure that all you ROHbots, especially your defacto leader Ari, are all really happy that I didn’t win the ROH World Title last weekend in Boston. Yeah, yeah, yeah…laugh all you want. Laugh until you’re sick. See if I care. Damn, I wish you would get sick so I wouldn’t have to look at your ugly faces anymore. I have only one thing to say about the events of last Friday night. It was a conspiracy between Homicide and the ROH front office to beat me. It was a fast count by “Fat Pants” Todd Sinclair, and that Cop Killer maneuver should be outlawed. It creates an unsafe working environment for a superstar of my level. It is because of this unsafe environment that I will take the advice of my team of physicians, as well as my Super Agent, Larry Sweeney, and not participate in the 5th Anniversary Festival. Instead, I will travel to the Orient, to work for a much more civilized and talent friendly organization, PRO WRESTLING NOAH. While there, I will undoubtedly gain great insight into the Puro style, and add many more interesting and lethal techniques that will help me get another chance to take what is rightfully mine, the ROH World Title.

On a positive note, I was successful in my 3-way match with the “Never Will Be” Christopher Daniels and that Swiss idiot, Claudio Castagnoli. What a simpleton Claudio is. Doesn’t he know to never turn his back on an opponent? What a tool. I also must send a heartfelt thank you to the many “Heroites” in attendance in Edison, New Jersey. I even got to lay eyes on the author of this sham, The Column Of Honor. At least one of his friends has the sense enough to support me, and for that I say thank you. Maybe one day, Ari will be as intelligent (and good looking) as his buddy. Keep up the good work, pal.

Now, before I leave you after just a brief missive, I need to speak on the biggest ROH news story since my arrival. So, it seems that my corpulent Polynesian friend, Samoa Joe will be departing the Ring Of Honor ranks. In my opinion, it couldn’t have happened soon enough. Talk about an individual who has been living off his reputation for way too long. In recent weeks, Joe has become everything that I, Chris Hero am not, which is fat and lazy. Yes, it is true that Joe has had some of the best matches in ROH history, but that is all in the past. I truly think that he is leaving because he fears Chris Hero. That’s right, I said it. Samoa Joe FEARS Chris Hero. Now that that overweight slob is on his way out the door, Gabe and Cary will HAVE TO turn to me to carry the load, and meet all the contractual demands that Larry and I have made. The top salary in ROH. A Private and luxurious dressing room. Limousines. A huge fruit basket. Boars Head cold cuts. A giant bowl of M&M’s, with all the brown ones taken out. And of course, filet mignon and Dom Perignon before all of my matches. Oh, and a 6 pack of clean, white tube socks at every event. Voya con dios, Joe. Your departure makes me THE MAN in ROH.

And sayonara to all you rejects as well. I will return next week with the first in a series of messages from the “land of the rising sun”. This has been your Hero’s Sandwich. And when I come back, the name of this segment will change. Mark my words…

…This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

Take The Pepsi Challenge & Win! LAST TWO DAYS!

It’s the last two days going for the Column of Honor’s version of the Pepsi Challenge, and the entries have now been coming in. Today is the last day to get your email to me to be entered into the contest. After that we head into the judging round and I will announce the winner in the next column.

So for the last time, let me re-emphasize that this is a challenge to the ROH fans as inspired by our own J.D. Dunn. Give the Pepsi Challenge (ROH Death Before Dishonor III, Sign of Dishonor, Escape From New York and Redemption, or really, any ROH DVD) to a long time WWE fan. 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 homemade Delirious mask. I’ll wear a billboard that says “I AM A ROHBOT!” I’ll become a fan of Chris Hero. Wait, no, scratch that last one.

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 is the end of the day TOMORROW, 02/04/07. The winner will be announced in next week’s column.

ROH Results: 1/27/07 Edison, NJ: “Battle of the Icons”

Matches
-Jimmy Rave defeated Nigel McGuinness in an “I Quit” match due to ref stoppage when Rave trapped McGuinness in the ropes with his ankle submission and Nigel refused to submit.
-Adam Pearce defeated Pelle Primeau via pinfall with a piledriver.
-Chris Hero defeated Christopher Daniels and Claudio Castagnoli in a three way dance with a roll up on Claudio while Daniels was distracted with agent Larry Sweeney.
-Jimmy Jacobs defeated BJ Whitmer in a Last Man Standing match when Brent Albright interfered to assure Whitmer could not stand after a ten count.
-The Briscoe Brothers of Jay and Mark Briscoe defeated The Havana Pitbulls of Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero via pinfall with a J-Driller on Ricky. Romero walked out after a disagreement with Reyes.
-Colt Cabana and Sara Del Ray defeated Brent Albright and Lacey in a mixed tag match when Del Ray pinned Lacey with a double underhook suplex.
-The team of Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans defeated the team of Davey Richards, Delirious and Shingo. Aries pins Shingo after the 450 Splash.
– Homicide retained the ROH World Title by defeating challenger Samoa Joe with two lariats, a lariat from behind and then a final lariat for the pinfall.

Return Date: April 14th, 2007

Angles and Issues
Vomit: Well, Jimmy Rave winning always makes me close to throwing up …damn, I hate that Jimmy Rave. In all seriousness though, Rave unexpectedly threw up while holding McGuinness in a cross face during his I Quit match with Nigel McGuinness. Gabe Sapolsky ran out to check on his condition, and the two finished up the match. No real word on what happened there or an update on Rave’s condition.

Flushing the Good Will Away: Just when the ROH fans were coming around on Todd Sinclair, Fat Pants flushed it all away. Sinclair bought himself a ton of credit after refusing to allow the ROH World title match in New York City to end under less than clean circumstances. However, in Edison, Sinclair was involved in not one but two suspect finishes. First, Sinclair stopped the “I Quit” match WITHOUT Nigel having said that he quit. Nigel was propped up against the ropes, clearly in trouble but with a possibility that he could work himself out of the position, when Sinclair called for the bell. The fans…were not happy in the least. Then, Sinclair did not stop his count when Brent Albright stomped Whitmer down as the man was getting up right before the ten count. Sinclair should have stopped the count and restarted after Albright struck Whitmer.

Coming away limping: Austin Aries came away limping from the six man tag, perhaps spraining his ankle at some point towards the match. No word on any injuries or his status as well.

Lacey and Daizee, S-T-R-I-P-P-I-N-G?: The feud between Lacey and Daizee Haze escalated as both men verbally and physically assaulted each other. Each implied to the other that they would be better off stripping than being a wrestler. While Lacey has the last word on 1/26 in Braintree, on this night it was Daizee standing tall, throwing down dollar bills on a downed Lacey.

The Live Reaction:
Homicide’s Haters: It’s amazing that Homicide is so beloved in New York City, and yet if you went across the river on this particular night, you would never find a man so disliked. A wide majority of the fans in the crowd were supporting Joe over Homicide (I was not one of them). The question is if this reaction was due to who Homicide was facing or if it is Homicide himself. The latter is the more scary thought. It was only several months ago that Homicide was at the height of a new wave of popularity in Ring of Honor. It was at the Ring of Homicide event in Edison, NJ, where Homicide faced down Necro Butcher to an amazing positive reaction from the crowd. Now in the same town, with a crowd full of more casual fans, he couldn’t have been more disapproved. Maybe, if he wasn’t facing Joe, maybe he would have been the fan favorite. Yet this time, people were picking Joe over Homicide in this match and Homicide clearly wasn’t happy about it.

Invasion of the Grannies / Wrestling Stereotypes Come to Life, news at eleven:

It may have been one of the most SURREAL moments ever in attending an ROH show. It was a wrestling stereotype come to life. During the ROH World title match of all things, Julius Smokes engaged in a bitter exchange of hostilities…with near septuagenarians. In other words, the WRESTLING GRANDMOTHERS TOOK OVER! I was half expecting next that someone would rip a young kid’s autograph book in half. The grandma’s stealing the show Maybe the revolution of the crowd erupted several times when the grannies and Smokes exchanged dialogue, pretty heated at that. You know, it’s never happened before, but on this night, Smokes was outtalked by someone in the crowd. The whole scene obviously distracted the crowd, and pretty much shocked the heck out of Joe and Homicide, as you could tell by their facial reactions that this sort of deal was not expected.

Thinking back, the whole episode with the Grannies shouldn’t have been all that surprising considering that back in August in Edison, Steve Corino was able to send one particularly corpulent fan in the crowd over the edge to the point where he took off his top. Yet it was a shock and a surprise…and funny. This whole scene was even more over the top, and unforgettable.

Too many unclean and / or messed up finishes really hurt this show. Half of the matches ended with a screwjob, a run in or a garbage finish. It’s a rare thing for ROH to run a show with this many finishes, and usually they aren’t remembered fondly. They can get away with it once in a while, but with so many screwy finishes, it was definitely overkill.

Quiet and weird crowd reactions continue: It’s hard to explain, but sometimes quiet crowds come off as if they’re paying diligent attention to the show and other times, it seems deathly. The latter definitely seemed the case for a lot of the show. Not to say there weren’t loud reactions and such, but many times you could hear a pin drop, and to some extent that is worrisome. Not to mention the crowd left deflated after Homicide pinned Joe, a finish most seemingly didn’t want to see.

Now that I think of it, perhaps the crowd turned on Homicide because they see him in TNA as a heel. Maybe it was a natural reaction given the unusually casual fan crowd.

Overall it was an entertaining and fun show, not at the level which I’ve come to expect for ROH but as always miles ahead of the majority of stuff you’d see on any given week on free television.

Honorarium

-Isn’t it funny that a company that bills itself as “Total Non-Stop Action” and has a slogan of “We Are Wrestling”…has almost no wrestling on its show? Yeah, so funny it’s criminal. Meanwhile WSX has half the time and almost five times the action. Even WWE is outperforming its alternative nowadays (although WWE almost never blows its Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania build up). I barely watch TNA television anymore and in fact watch more WWE wrestling (after I swore it off, but you know how that goes with addictions and such) at this point than TNA. Now THAT is a scary thought. I will never forgive WWE for what amazing low standards they have, but amazingly enough, even with Joe, Angle, Christian, Rhino, Styles, Daniels, Sting, Aries, Senshi and Abyss…WWE is having better matches thus far this year than TNA. That is the cold, hard truth.

-I’ve been impressed with Jacobs and Whitmer a lot—they’re kind of like the Tom and Jerry, or the Itchy and Scratchy of this roster. They keep fighting and destroying each other, and then they come back for more. They seem to be well matched, they have great matches against each other and their encounter (wasn’t really a “match) at the “Dethroned” show is a must see, well, until the abrupt ending.

-Also a must see from the same show is the Kings of Wrestling vs. Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal tag title match. I may not think much of their tag title reign right now, but the match where the so called Lords of the Ring won the titles is a fun and energetic match. I am very impressed with Sydal’s flying abilities, as he keeps adding these crazy moves that you don’t think have a chance in hell of working and yet they actually do. Daniels is also looking particularly well in matches over the course of the last few DVD releases.

The Honorable Debating Society of Honor

Here’s a new some time feature that I’m going to run in the column. From time to time I give my best bro Chris the opportunity to speak on ROH issues in this column. Well, now every month or so Chris and I are going to be doing what we usually do on any given day, that is, discuss the issues that are going on in Ring of Honor. Every month we’ll take a different discussion point and have at it. It’s the great debate come to the column of honor.

Now, seeing as how our AIM conversation seemingly flowed well into this kind of feature we had been planning it made sense to use a recent conversation it for the first debate. In the future the formatting for this section might take a bit of a different look. For now, here is our back and forth, point-counter point arguments, live as they happened and transmitted directly into your home.

In our first debate, we go back and forth on ROH in Japan and whether or not ROH wrestlers should be doing the J-O-B on the S-H-O-W. Also, keep in mind this was before the news broke about Joe leaving ROH.

Ari: So, JOE-MORISHIMA @ 2/16 in NY…and 3 more dates confirmed, 2/17, 2/23 and 2/24…he’s fighting Homicide on 2/17 for the title…something tells me a new ROH champion will be crowned on that date.
Chris: So he can defend it once, and then lose to Joe on 2/24?
Ari: He’s fighting Joe in a tag match on 2/24, unless they switch it out, I don’t think that’s what they would do. Perhaps, he holds the title until the England shows, loses it there.
Chris: Nope. He won’t leave the states with the belt, just like with the Briscoes.
Ari: Well, the Briscoes title win makes a bit more sense now because it’s a bit of tit for tat.
Chris: They won’t let the title leave the states.
Ari: Maybe Morishima doesn’t win against Homicide (or Joe). Maybe he beats Joe, loses to Cide.
Chris: See, I think it’s the other way round.
Ari: you know what? I have no freaking idea when it will happen, and that’s the greatest thing about the next few months.
Chris: I don’t think that they should make Joe job for another NOAH guy. I love Puro, but give it back. Gaijin visit and lose, why not the other way around?
Ari: Well, actually The Briscoes and Nigel went mostly undefeated this time around…and Danielson before them had just the one loss to Kenta. It makes sense to go tit for tat.
Chris: How many times has Joe lost to a NOAH guy? Or in a match with the NOAH guys? What’s that? EVERY TIME??? It’s time for them to protect Joe’s status better.
Ari: Technically just one match he lost on his own–the Kobashi match, and he was not the loser of the fall in the tag match vs. Kobashi in Philly or vs. KENTA and Marufuji in NYC or the 3 way w/ KENTA and Danielson.
Chris: but he was on the losing side. He needs a win vs. a NOAH guy. Not McGuiness or Williams.
Ari: It was honor in defeat–he didn’t lose any steam b/c of the losses in any of those occasions. He actually didn’t back down from KENTA at all in the post match stuff.
Chris: That’s great from a storyline perspective, but if I was Joe I’d be pretty pissed that I cant get a W vs. an outsider, ever.
Ari: Agreed that he needs a win against a NOAH guy or a few of them
Chris: Come on. Think about it. Joe should KILL KENTA. He took KOBASHI to the limit. they’re different animals. So, Joe can take a huge guy to the limit and drop a match, but not a 180 pounder?
Ari: That’s why as much as I’m pumped for the Morishima match I actually think it’s too soon for that one. I would rather have Joe kill KENTA or Yone first, set up the Morishima stuff for May. Keep in mind this is a 180 pounder who is one of NOAH’s top acts and a deadly striker. And a very over fan favorite with the ROH crowd
Chris: The problem is that they’re way TOO respectful of the NOAH guys. And Joe is the top act for what? 2 American companies?
Ari:But that respect has turned into more of a solid relationship and that has led to more marquee names from Japan coming over (which by the way is the exact point I argued against two weeks ago in COH). Morishima and KENTA are the future of NOAH. they need to be established as well.
Chris: I just think it hurts ROH’s status if ROH guys almost never beat the NOAH guys. It makes them seem “minor league”.
Ari: Well, there is that.
Chris: In Japan, yes. Establish them at home. Not at the expense of guys who are on ALL your cards.
Ari: Then again, they did tie the series against AJPW back at Final Battle 2003 and they lost 2-1 against Dragon Gate back in March of 06 , so they have never really won against the Japanese contingents.
Chris See, AJPW needed ROH as much as ROH needed AJPW in 2003. They were having ALOT of issues back then, and from what i hear, still are.
Ari: Well I think ROH just by having exposure in Japan established them as not the minor leagues but as something important -to have working relationships with TWO Japanese companies is a very good thing for press and exposure.
Chris: Then they should win matches here, not just in Japan, like WCW and NJPW did with Flair and Fujiami in 1992/3, its gotta balance itself out.
Ari: Do you think that Morishima will go 4-0 on this trip? I don’t.
Chris: Joe is ROH’s star. He should be treated as the star. No. 3-1
Ari: He is treated as the star because he is getting first dibs on these large type of matches.
Chris: But the star also gets to go over 99% of the time. It’s the defense of his “turf”, just like they did with Flair. I have no problem with gaijin dropping matches in Japan, but when the Japanese come here, they should show the proper respect too, and do the job, not all the time, but at least a fair amount of the time.
Ari: I mean they are trusting Joe to work these matches and do his best, But wait a minute…wasn’t the great thing about the ROH-CZW invasion angle that CZW took out ROH on their own turf , several times, until ROH fought back? The whole thing wouldn’t have been as over if ROH dominated that issue.
Chris: That was a storyline point. The stuff with NOAH and DG are just special events.
Ari: Well, I can’t disagree with your last point there (showing respect). Also, I’d argue that the whole KENTA deal between Danielson was a storyline progression leading up to their big title match…same principle.
Chris: I just don’t like them allowing their own workers to be made less important by putting over visitors. That’s all.
Ari: If Danielson had won the tag match and the triple threat, KENTA wouldn’t have been as much as a threat to the title as he was on 9/16
Chris: But why is it okay for Danielson to get the win, but not Joe?
Ari: Danielson was the champ. Joe was not
Chris: So? Joe is the fucking flagship. He’s the constant. Missed what? 3 or 4 shows since he became a regular? And even when he’s hurt, what does he do? Show up, play a role. He’s a team player. maybe that’s why he’s cool with doing the job, but it just makes him look weaker than they should allow him to look…I even think TNA is doing a better job “protecting” him now.
Ari: Understood. The one thing we have to wait and see on is what happens in this series of matches. It might change the W-L record for Joe considerably. He may very well go over Morishima, then KENTA, Yone and Marufuji, Esp. if the end game is to lead to a Kobashi or a Misawa match.
Chris: It would just upset me if a “young boy” like Morishima came into ROH and just dominated. It’s not like he’s Kobashi or someone of that stature.
Ari: I mean, what if Joe goes through all those guys, and Misawa has to come to stop him? By the way I disagree with TNA protecting him. And two losses to Angle is not really protecting him. In fact I’d argue Joe has lost a lot of momentum since that series.
Chris: I doubt that will happen. Misawa hasn’t been in a ring stateside in YEARS. Well, when Joe takes the belt in March/April, we’ll see.
Ari: Why would Joe bring his name into it? Maybe the plan all along is to get to Misawa.
Chris: Because he’s the boss.
Ari: Yeah, but what will that title win mean at that point? Especially if he takes any more losses to Angle.
Chris: I really just think they’re overdoing the respect to the Japanese visitors.
Chris: No. he’s gonna beat Angle.
Ari: Well…its funny because you know I do too, but I just happen to think there are several ends to what they are doing that in a way justify the means.
Chris: Are they special attractions? Damn straight. Do they help the gate? Yup. But I think most people in the venues want to see ROH guys go over. Like we all know. I love the Japanese talent, but I’ve always wanted to see MY GUYS win. Well, maybe except when Joe and Kobashi fought. That was just too good to care who won.
Ari: Well, I want to see Joe win too…he is MY GUY too you know. I think he’ll get those wins as well…but when they happen, they will mean that much more because he had to fight to earn them
Chris: I just think they need to be careful with who they ask him to do the job for. That’s all. He deserves better.
Ari: By the way…those “ends” I was talking about? Well, ROH just officially announced its debut in Japan.
Chris: I know. One special attraction night with NOAH and one with DG. Great idea, but if the ROH guys lose their matches out of some respect deal, its bullshit. Cary and Gabe have to understand that all the deferential treatment will make them look weak. Minor league. That’s all I’m saying. At least maintain a balance.
Ari: Maybe they do, but they’re willing to accept that for now in exchange for a longer term goal of expanding the company internationally. Like I said, ultimately I agree with what you’re saying, but I just understand and accept what it is for now.
Chris: Yeah. A credible American wrestling company getting treated like a red headed step child by the Japanese promotions. Just remember they need ROH just as much to get a foothold in the US market too. Even when NJPW and AJPW did the summit a few weeks ago, they split, and by no means is AJPW on the same level as NJPW these days. if you want to look “big league” you have to be big league, and don’t let other promoters walk all over you.
Ari: I don’t think ROH wrestlers being dominant in Japan is being treated like a red headed step child bro.
Chris: What major singles win does a ROH guy have?
Ari: Dude, The Briscoes just won the GHC Jr. belts and thrashed anyone and everyone in their path. Danielson went almost undefeated in his last tour–if they really were red headed stepchildren, then they’d be jobbed out every night.
Chris: And did it for what? 3 or 4 matches? It was just a promotional move.
Ari: They had more than those matches
Chris: No. they do the job in their OWN rings.
Ari: So do the NOAH guys bro it DOES cut both ways.
Chris: I just don’t like them making their own guys seem lower than the NOAH guys. The Briscoes were in 3 or 4 six man matches with a regular NOAH guy (Nigel), so it’s a little different.

So there you have it-strong point made by both sides of the argument. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Send your feedback and decide.

Going Home

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

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)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 6 (MsChif / Melissa Last Woman Standing, Rebecca Knox / Allison Danger Pure Rules)
**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)
**wXw World Lightweight Tournament 2006 (Ares / Baron von Hagen, Pac / El Generico, Quackenbush / Roudin, 5 Way Tournament Match)

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

This was a very busy week for Ring of Honor DVD reviews as our veteran tag team unit of Brad Garoon and Jacob Zeigler put their review skills on display with their write ups of ROH Survival of the Fittest 2006 and ROH Motor City Madness.

J.D. Dunn is a singles reviewer sensation as conquers not only the present of ROH with a review of ROH Honor Reclaims Boston>, but he also rips right through 2005’s shows. Starting with the infamous ROH Best of the American Super Juniors Tournament and then the much better, but underlooked ROH Stalemate.

Samuel Berman comes back to the Independent Mid Card to focus on a great find—Danielson vs. Rave from last year.

Honor Bound Links

Mr. Meehan joins the ranks of the ROH Weekend Warriors with his debut as the NEWWWWWWWW Saturday News Update Spectacular Watchamacalit Goodness. Just click, its great stuff.

Nick Marsico comes correct with his Friday news to start your weekend even though by this point it’s already started. Just click, its also great stuff.

Stuart Carapola brings in his Friends for some Competition. Then, Stu’s That Was Some Point in the Past focuses on Hulk Hogan’s friends who turned into competition, brother.

High Card / Low Card on Last Man Standing, Cena vs. Umaga.

Zac Calhoun addresses the roster concerns of Smackdown.

Larry Csonka has a ton to rant about in the 3 Rs.

Michael Weyer focuses the spotlight on No Way Out.

I don’t know how he did it, but Bayani was exactly right about what I was doing when the news about Joe broke. I am now looking for hidden cameras in my house. THIS IS NOT BIG BROTHER BAYANI! I AM ONTO YOU!

Samuel Berman got locked in his Attic.

Fact OR Fiction

Ask 411 OR Ask 411

The Goodness, for goodness sakes.

One more week in and one more week out. Time to punk the time clock and get outta here. Next week I’ll be bringing back one of my personal favorite features that I’ve tackled-the ROH lookalikes! Some of the more regular features that I do such as “Dear Delirious” and “The Money Players” will also resurface soon. Thanks for chilling out with me on this weekend. Be cool, and don’t harm any squirrels as a result of Post-Samoa-Joe-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Brooklyn! DA EM BAH SEE! Late.
–Ari–