Column of Honor: 02.17.07

Ring of Honor cannot run a bad show in New York City.

ROH Results: Fifth Year Festival Night 1: 2.16.07, Manhattan, NY
Matches
-Takeshi Morishima defeated Pelle Primeau via pinfall with the backdrop driver.
-Delirious defeated Adam Pearce via pinfall after leveling him with a headbutt with brass knuckles tucked inside his mask.
-Sara Del Ray and Allison Danger defeated Alexa Fisher & Daizee Haze via pinfall. Del Ray over Fisher with her underhook carry and suplex.
-Jack Evans won a Four Way Fray by defeating a returning Xavier (!), SHINGO and Jimmy Jacobs. Jack Evans eliminated Xavier after a backslide with a reverse bridging pin (!). SHINGO eliminated Jimmy Jacobs with a lariat. Jack Evans eliminated SHINGO via pinfall with the 630 splash.
-B.J. Whitmer defeats Brent Albright in the Tables Are Legal Match via pinfall with the Super Exploder from the top turnbuckle through two tables placed side by side.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels retained their titles from defeating challengers Austin Aries & Roderick Strong.
Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana defeat Jay and Mark Briscoe. Nigel pinned Jay after a double team chop block / lariat.
-Samoa Joe defeated Takeshi Morishima via submission (Choke Sleeper into unconsciousness).
-ROH World Championship: Homicide defeats Jimmy Rave. Homicide won via pinfall after a copkilla.

Angles and Issues
Gnome, Alaska’s own Pelle Primeau began the proceedings with an open challenge and said he wanted to crowd surf into the crowd following his victory. This led to “The Champ is Here” being played over the PA, to everyone’s delight, but NOOOOO, it was not Samoa Joe, but rather Takeshi Morishima who answered the challenge, and demolishing Pelle with a backdrop driver. Nigel came out to make the peace and get Takeshi to the back.

-A few segments later, Samoa Joe made his true arrival to the ring, where he stated he had just come from Scores helping to educate some college educations. He heard that Morishima had challenged him and he was ready for it right then and there. Nigel once again interrupted the proceedings and took Joe to task. Joe reminded Nigel where he worked, called him “Boy” disdainfully a few times, and eventually it all broke down into a pull apart, with Joe even briefly getting the choke on.

-During the tag title match, Austin Aries appeared to injury his knee or ankle, then while trying for a quebrada, he hit his head in a really nasty angle, This looked real and very serious and it shook up the match for a moment or two.

– Following the tag match, Roderick Strong turns heel and gives a back breaker to Aries, Davey Richards comes in with an evil grin and gets some licks in on Aries. Strong actually gets on the mic and cuts a heel promo, short but decent, declaring Aries held him back and that will happen no longer. They called themselves a new faction, called the No Remorse Corps. Jack Evans, former Gen Next member with Aries and Strong, ran in to prevent any further damage to Aries. Aries got on the mic and expressed shock that Roderick would say anything at all and disappointed that Strong turned on him this way. He said that he and Evans would take them on any day. Evans replied that he didn’t want any beef with Strong and he would try to find out what happened by talking to him. Aries then said Evans had his way of getting answers and Aries had his own way—kicking Strong’s ass.

Live Takes, Match By Match

Once again Chris and I were in the balcony, section 102, row A with an amazing panoramic view of the entire building. This time the view of the entrance ramp was not obscured, but we were next to one of the lights and that presented a bit of awkwardness getting in and around the seats for refreshments and such. We met some nice people including a young woman photographer / podcast person from the Angry Marks website. Stu Carapola was nice enough to join us during intermission to discuss the first half action, lambaste “greenhorn” Bobby Lashley and revolt at the ugliness that is the new look, same bad wrestling Gene Snitsky.

Takeshi Morishima is…very big. He is a very big man. Conversely, Pelle Primeau was…very small. He is a very small man. He also has a very cool theme song. Unfortunately he was killed, but at least he was killed quickly. Better to go out fast than delay the inevitable. This opening set up with Morishima coming out to Joe’s championship music served to piss everyone off and that was the intention. So at least we now know who is supposed to be the heel in all of this (as if Joe was going to get booed by the ROH fans on his last night in New York City…yeah, and pigs are flying over the horizon). Takeshi earned his fair share of boos during this segment, but during the match there were moments when a large percentage of the crowd would cheer for him on offense (sort of the way the crowd reaction worked during Joe vs. Kobashi).

Nigel McGuinness is an interesting case. The crowd is very much into him and they support him in his matches, but they favor Joe in a one on one confrontation. ROH has to be careful with how they handle his support of NOAH. It makes sense now considering they are building up to the tag match in Chicago with him and Morishima vs. Joe and Homicide. After that he’ll be in England, where no doubt he’ll have a ton of support and will be with a hometown crowd, but then he has to come back to America. Hopefully he will rededicate his love and attention to ROH in order to suck up to, err, win over the fans and make that last push towards a concrete main event status.

Delirious has become one of the most beloved wrestlers in Ring of Honor, period. He is entertaining, can actually wrestle within his gimmick and have it make sense…and he beat Adam Pearce and Shane Hagadorn. I find that last part most important. He beat them at his own game with the metallic object placed inside his mask. The crowd loved the “turn about is fair play” especially since Pearce defeated Delirious the first go around via the brass knucks. Amazingly, they did not act nearly as well for the same idea when Homicide used his fork on Jimmy Rave after Rave threatened Homicide with his own fork. In fact, Rave had more than his fair share of support and Homicide was even booed for using the fork. There will be more on that whole strange issue later.

The women’s match was a huge disappointment for me. I don’t understand why this is the case, but the ROH women put on a MUCH better match on the SHIMMER video releases. Is it because they are more comfortable with wrestling in front of the fans in their VFW hall in Chicago? Is it because of the higher stress factor of wrestling in ROH? Is it the booking method in ROH for these matches, which sometimes turns what should be a good women’s outing into a vehicle for advancing storylines and angles (such as this match, where Lacey made her presence and took out Daizee from the rest of the match). Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above.

I don’t get it. I also don’t get some of the male ROH fans. I thought we were supposed to be “better” than the WWE fans in that we appreciate all forms of wrestling, including a women’s division. I thought we weren’t just about tits and ass, but rather we were for giving the women a chance to wrestle seriously, without the trappings of a Divas match. Yet, the biggest pop the women received was for a spot that showed off Allison Danger’s white underwear. That’s a WWE Divas spot we all popped for.

Look, I think Allison is hot and I won’t deny that the new girl, Alexa, was also amazingly off the scales hot, but when I’m at ROH show, I’m about the wrestling first, the hotness second. Apparently I’m one of the few people who thinks like that these days. We haven’t come as far as we thought, baby.

The Four Way Fray was excellent quality and like I suspected it provided a change of pace (i.e. a faster match) than a normal Four Corner Survival. In some ways this resembled the old Scramble matches, just tighter in move execution and psychology. Since they have formed a makeshift team for a tag title shot in It made sense for Jack and Shingo to team up to eliminate the other opponents until they were left Yet this match did not feel like a tag team match in the way many 4CS matches break down.

The appearance of Xavier was a shock to some fans although it made sense in that Xavier filled in one year ago in Long island at what became Unscripted II. This being an anniversary show, it also seems to be apropos that X returns. Xavier appears to be the designated NYC replacement when someone gets injured or is unable to perform. At first he received a quiet reaction, as perhaps many new fans did not know of him as well. He was introduced as the “second ever” ROH champion, but won over the crowd through his work. Xavier is another interesting case. In my mind, he was the worst ROH champion, sometimes drawing that dreaded “X-Pac” heat, but you can make an argument that he played an important role as the first heel champion, and for that reason in fact helped pave the way for Joe’s run. I do have to say that Xavier did a fine job here in the limited time in the ring, well, except for the Muy-Thai knees that never seem to get over. He did do a pretty wicked combination of moves that ended in a piledriver.

However, the Four Way Fray match was indeed the Jack Evans show. From an extra long and jacked up pre match dance and flip routine, to hitting a billion cool looking moves and mixing in some great strikes and selling, this may have been one of Jack’s best performances(although not technically perfect in execution since he did slip out of the turnbuckle and then overshot the 630 a bit). The crowd absolutely loved Jack and they were roaring his name in unison during several moments. You wouldn’t expect it from first glance, but he has shown over the years that he has electric touch with the fans to make them react to whatever he is doing. It sucks for us ROH fans that Jack tours so often with Dragon Gate (although I’m sure it’s great for his wallet), because ROH could really do something with Evans if only he was here on a more regular basis.

I should also note Jimmy Jacobs new ring attitre, a black leather jacket. Jacobs looks more like a dirty bum than ever before, though I’m sure that’s the desired effect. Shingo is still hugely over as the Mullet guy, but hey, dude needs to go with that. You need to capitalize on whatever gets you over with the crowd. I don’t exactly get the wrestling fans’ constant obsession with men wearing outdated hairstyles, but rock on fans. Cheer the Mullet. Fear the Mullet. Be the Mullet.

Joe came to the ring, for real this time and was treated as THE conquering hero of the day. It was indeed the Joe Farewell Tour and the love was all out and non stop for the man who will no longer be with the company. Sure Joe said all the right things, put over the right message about how ROH will carry on without him. He’s probably right; it just won’t be the same when he has to go.

The crowd loved the Tables are Legal match. It started with a bang, with Albright tossing Whitmer and going directly through a table within the first three seconds of the match. I guess there will be no tease in this match—just bumps and crashes galore. The crowd went crazy. You know, wrestling fans and tables—they are the perfect couple. The only problem with a tables match was the exorbitant amount of time it takes to set up the tables and then set up the spots. It can be very exposing live when it takes so long. Even with four tables already set up around ringside, Whitmer and Albright had to pull out MORE tables. I believe there were almost ten tables used in total. I guess ROH got a bulk discount at the local lumber yard.

The two most important bumps, the ones everyone will most remember, were Albright’s Razor’s Edge to Whitmer from the ring through two stacked tables on the outside, which topped what happened at Final Battle 2006. The final tables spot will also be remembered, with Whitmer using a table on the top turnbuckle as a plank and then giving a Super Exploder off the top through two tables placed side by side.

To say the crowd exploded for these moments is an understatement. Sometimes that’s what’s really important, especially in the context of what else is on the card. This was your hardcore spotfest, and to that end it was sickingly great. So what if it was all and only about the tables… that was the point of the match The crowd was buzzing throughout, wondering what these crazy fucks were going to do next. The crowd was forgiving of the time taken for setting up the spots.

That being said, when Brent Albright gets over more than BJ Whitmer (who the match was supposed to get over), then you really have to re-examine what you bring to the table (no pun intended). Albright displayed more charisma destroying a table with one kick than Whitmer did most of the match. That’s right, when a table prematurely broke, Albright got mad, cut a promo on the table, and then SMASHED it to pieces. It was a hilarious moment and got Albright over huge. Albright may have actually become made in this match, at least to the NYC fans that saw him tonight as one of the toughest ass kickers on the roster.

This was also a significant and telling moment about BJ Whitmer. After Whitmer did the match and did with his victory pose, there was a crowd chant for him to break the other table left unbroken (the one bridged on the top rope). In effect they wanted him to top Albright. However, Whitmer did not give that to the crowd. This was the second time in the match he didn’t acquiesce to fans making a request of him. I believe the other was when fans chanted “one more time”, requesting a third exploder through a table propped up against a turnbuckle. You know, when the fans tell you what they want, as a face, you should do it. When the fans chant “one more time” at Samoa Joe during the Ole kick portion of his match…does he NOT do it again? Of course he does, or at least makes the attempt before getting cut off. Whitmer need to learn to really be a man of the people, or else he is not going to get to that major level of overness with the crowd. Right now people respect his bad ass qualities and his willingness to take major damage to entertain the crowd. If he truly wants their love however, he needs to go with the flow. In other words…BJ, BREAK THE TABLES!

I don’t know if Albright will ever be placed in the main events, but he should be. I doubt it will happen, because there will be the fear that he can be re-signed at any moment by WWE. I do not understand how they missed the boat on him. ROH can really benefit with Albright on the roster once Joe is gone in early March.

The tag team title match was on afterwards, and it being a more technical match following a hardcore match with an amazingly high level of violence, it was not as well received as it should have been. The NYC crowd for once faltered by not getting into the first half of the match, refusing to clap or chant, even starting to turn on a fine but perhaps routine showing from all four men. Then something extremely horrific happened. I’m not speaking of Christopher Daniels’ Goldberg-esque facial hair.

Austin Aries seemingly tweaked his knee during the six man tag at the Edison, NJ match. He walked away limping, but I had doubts as to whether this was legit or just selling from the match. Again on this show, Aries seemingly tweaked his knee or ankle on a move and began to writher in pain. This apparent injury woke up the crowd as Aries worked through the pain. However, what came next was sickening, as Aries went for a quebrada moonsault off the ropes and came up lame. Perhaps the ankle injury prevent him from getting enough spring off the ropes, but for whatever reason Aries fell way off the mark, and on top of his head in awkward angle. Some forum members were comparing it to how Hayabusa broke his neck and paralyzed himself and knowing that now, it makes the situation even more horrific.

Yet, strange and probably ass backwards as it sounds, the injury, legit or not, may have been the best thing for the match itself. The crowd was now completely into the match, wanting to see what was going to happen next. The match became a bit of a train wreck, but you could see Aries and the others were going to great lengths to salvage what they could. They went on for a few more minutes until Aries took the fall. Though Daniels and Sydal left the ring as champions, it was Aries and Strong picking up the standing ovation.

Then—the Roderick Strong turn. Completely unexpected, although widely predicted to happen at some point…just not now. Again, with hindsight, the turn right now makes perfect sense. Aries and Strong were on losing streaks as a team, failing to regain the titles and mostly due to an injury from Aries. Davey Richards was on a losing streak since mid November and hinting at a heel turn. Gabe likes to bring his wrestlers down before he builds them back up with a new gimmick or heel turn. Looking back on it, that IS EXACTLY what he was doing with Richards and to a lesser extent Strong (who had switched focus from tag wrestling to defending the FIP championship).

The whole turn also completes a full circle with the history of Generation Next. Aries turned on Alex Shelley and cast him out of the group, now Strong returns the favor by turning on his long time partner Aries. Even better is once again Jack Evans has been placed in the middle of the situation. He is torn between his former partners and doesn’t want to take sides. I was praying and hoping and openly begging for Jack not to turn, because he had been so over and so successful on the show. It definitely seemed like it could happen at any moment, and down the line it could still happen.

As far the new stable name, the No Remorse Corps, well…there could have been better names, but actually I kind of like it. It has a nice ring to it and fits in quite well with Richards and Strong’s mentality. Though perhaps they should drop the “corps” and just go by the name of “No Remorse”. THAT sounds vicious. I wonder who else will join their new faction (called as such by Strong)…perhaps Rocky Romero? I think that would be a great fit.

It was a forgone conclusion match, bit it wasn’t, as Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness defeated the Briscoes in what would have to be considered a mild upset. Amazingly this match continued the Manhattan Center trend of the post intermission match turning into an amazing match, hotly contested and just as good as the other high profile matches on the card. You had the tag titles match at Glory By Honor V, the Nigel-Rave match from Final Battle 2006 and now this match. Cabana and Nigel really impressed with some new double team moves, including a walking Tower of London, with Cabana elevating one of the Briscoes head downwards at a sharp angle. That move got incredible heat. The fans stayed with the finishing series, but didn’t pop as much for near falls because people kind of snapped back into the idea that while Colt and Nigel were rolling, The Briscoes would inevitably pick up the win. Cabana and Nigel’s finish—a variation of the Total Elimination style move (chop block / lariat as opposed to leg sweep / high kick) was out of this world. All four men performed better than already high expectations. The Briscoes took a loss but may have found their next rivals, especially if they win the tag belts in Chicago.

Joe vs. Morishima came next, to the surprise of myself and others who believed this would without question be the main event. A sign of the changing times I guess, as the message is being sent to expect someone else besides Joe in that main event slot. I was also surprised at the no entrance open to the match, but the fans took to it right away and I guess we had already seen their entrances earlier in the night. This was just about the ass kicking.

The match did not have the same exact feel of Joe vs. Kobashi. There wasn’t the same awe that fans had for that match—that they were in the same venue as a legend such as Kobashi. That extra something special pushed that match to greatness. What made this match the bees knees was the big man vs. big man aspect. The people who knew of Morishima viewed him as a monster and a threat to Joe, and the others who didn’t quickly found a respect and appreciation for the NOAH wrestler. These two had some great exchanges, and surprisingly Joe dominated the match, rocking Morishima soundly several times. While Morishima had several moments where the building was shouting his names, the fans clearly sided with Joe. They wanted him to win here, to finally defeat someone from NOAH. They wanted him to go out of New York with a win, and finally, he did.

Joe owned that place before, during and after the match. It was all love for Samoa Joe.

The Terry Gordy comparisons for Takeshi were aplenty, and with that being a little before my time, I’ll take it at its word. Personally I think he uses the butt a little too much in his offense, but as stated before, whatever works for you, you have to do. .

Finally…the main event. I have a lot to say about this whole thing, and not much of it is positive as far as my feelings towards certain fans cheering for a certain Mr. Jimmy Rave. IN NEW YORK CITY, where Rave hate has always been at the top of the charts. In December, no one could stand Rave as he won two straight matches. NOW, because some people believed that Rave was going to take the title, the man was just as cheered as Homicide. Let me say that again. CHEERED AS MUCH AS HOMICIDE…IN HOMICIDE’S HOME TOWN. These bandwagon jumpers are absolutely pathetic in their fickle nature. Surely these are the same kind of people who cheered for the Los Angeles Lakers just because they signed Shaq and Kobe. How many of these fans were shouting Homicide’s name to the ends of the Earth at Final Battle? You all should be ashamed of yourselves.

Jimmy Rave is the worst of scum and yet NYC cheers for him. This town can be a strange place. I love it, but sometimes I don’t understand it. They like the heels just as much and sometimes more than faces (see HBK-Sid Vicious from Survivor Series 1996). Yet when Homicide turned the tables on Jimmy Rave with the fork, he was booed.

This is not to say that Homicide was hated, but there is something of a backlash brewing about him as champion. Perhaps it is because some of the casual fans watch Homicide as a heel in TNA and don’t get he is supposed to be the top face of ROH. Actually, I think it is a clear lack of faith in the mind of some of the hardcore ROH fans—they were with him the whole way for his run to the title, but as soon as he gets the belt, there is a cut off of support because he is a “short term” champion, or he hasn’t proven himself to be a worthy champion, or he can’t have great main event matches or some other such bull shit. Of course I may look like a fool if Homicide drops the title to Morishima tonight in Philadelphia.

I don’t want to neglect to mention that there were many Homicide supporters. There was a good contingent of fans chanting for Homicide’s name before, during and after the main event. Puerto Rican flags were up and about, and there were many call and response chants of “Bleeydat” and “Yeah Yeah Yeah.” I just believe that Homicide should have received an even better showing of support from his fans. They need to be loud, rowdy and into their man. He needs support on his comebacks.

Of course I think Homicide needs to grow with being the champion as well. There does seem to be a bit of growing pains or adjustment in the way he wrestles a match. He is trying hard to stay true to his thug roots and yet put the shine on his technical abilities. I think he and Rave did a good job in starting the match fast and furious, with a lot of crowd brawling. I think Rave’s heat segment was a bit pedestrian, and the heel hook should have been the focus right from the start. Homicide no sold the initial work towards the move and that hurt the middle of the match. It didn’t help that Rave did some plain work on the leg. He needed to get creative and innovative in how he attacked the leg…and that didn’t happen.

I (and many others judging by the audible gasp) was in complete shock that Jimmy Rave used the Rave Clash off the second rope. Rave has been barred from using that move ever since he lost a finishers match against AJ Styles at Glory By Honor IV. Surely valid and hefty fines will be leveled against this miscreant for feeling he is above the law.

I did like Homicide’s final comeback and the Cop Killer he landed was an absolute monster of a move. He definitely needs to use that move to end the match whenever possible, because the fans completely buy into it as the match ender.

I will say that as a sign that perhaps I have overstated my case on Homicide was that as i was leaving the Manhattan Center and hit the streets of NYC, there was a large group of exiting fans chanting “Homicide! Homicide! Homicide!” All the wrestling fans were smiling and nodding in approval while the non wrestling fans walking across 8th Avenue just gave weirded, freaked out looks to the throng of exiting ROH fans. I’d like to know what the cops were thinking about all of this.

Riding home on the NYC subway with Chris we actually met some of Chris’s former students, who are now teachers themselves. It was a night of teachers going to see wrestling I guess. Anyway, great conversation on ROH, Puro, WWE, TNA, UFC and Boxing…all on a moving train. It was like Speed but without a bomb and Keanu Reeves. Good times.

Overall, this was another amazing night of wrestling action for ROH in New York City. You cannot go wrong for your money, whatever seat in the house.

Fans who predicted the end of ROH or that 2007 won’t compare to 2006 are now being shown to be sorely mistaken. We are one show into the Fifth Year Festival and things are kicking into high gear.

ROH Call
ROH Champions—As of 02/16/2007 (heading into 5YF N2)

ROH World Champion—Homicide(champion since 12/23/06, 3 successful defense)

Next Defense: Takeshi Morishima, 2/17/07 Philadelphia, PA

V.1 defeated Chris Hero via pinfall / Cop Killer (1/26/07 Braintree, MA)
V.2 defeated Samoa Joe via pinfall / Lariat (1/27/07 Edison, NJ)
V.3 defeated Jimmy Rave via pinfall / Cop Killer (2/16/07 Manhattan, NY)

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal (champions since 11/25/06, 2 successful defenses)

Next Defense: SHINGO and Jack Evans, 2/17/07 Philadelphia, PA

V.1 defeated SHINGO and CIMA via pinfall / SSP & BME (12/22/06 East Windsor, CT)
V.2 defeated Austin Aries and Roderick Strong via pinfall / SSP & BME (2/16/07 Manhattan, NY)

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

Davey Richards was a late scratch from ROH action last night and tonight in Philadelphia due to an undisclosed injury. According to an update from Gabe Sapolsky on the rohwrestling.com message board after the NYC event, Richards will now fight Joe on the 2/23 Dayton event.

What, is Davey fighting a168 hour flu? He’s too injured to fight now but he’ll be okay in one week’s time? Come on man.

No word on Austin Aries after falling hard on his head and perhaps tweaking his knee.

The other major news broke from wrestlezone.com about TNA’s plans to stop allowing other TNA wrestlers from wrestling in ROH. It was said that by the end of the year, Homicide, Austin Aries and Christopher Daniels will be removed from the ROH roster.

I don’t doubt this news at all. I think it’s been expected by a large number of fans. If this I true, so long as the withdrawals are handled a bit at a time and not all at once, ROH should be able to get along. As far as TNA goes, well let’s just say they are not in my good graces right now, not by a long shot.

And as far as that goes, as much as I love Joe, I am getting a bit sick and tired of wrestlers at an ROH show telling fans not to boo TNA because they sign the paychecks. You know what? FUCK THAT. I will boo TNA whenever the goddamn well I please, especially at an ROH show and especially to vocalize my disdain at what they are doing to a product I love. I understand the wrestler’s position as far as making money; now please understand my position as far as not being able to watch five consecutive minutes of that television show nowadays without wanting to vomit. Anyway. More on this later.

Bruno Sammartino’s appearance in ROH will not only be his only scheduled appearance for ROH but it will also be his only scheduled appearance in the Detroit area for the weekend. This means he won’t be showing up at the WWE Hall of Fame Awards / Wrestlemania weekend.

On a Pro Wrestling NOAH website posting pictures of Joe-Morishima match, Morishima was claimed as having said he didn’t lose the match because he never tapped out and he will seek a rematch. In the immortal words of Arnold Shwartzenegger, “QUIT WHINING!”

“GET TO THE CHOPPA!”

This from the update on rohwrestling.com

Rave On My Wayward Son
Rave took ROH World Champion Homicide to the limit last night in Manhattan. Rave even used the Styles Clash, a move he is banned from using. ROH officials originally were going to suspend Rave for tonight. However, Joe told ROH officials to let him dish out the punishment in the ring. Rave attacked Joe just a few weeks ago in Boston. Now tonight Joe will make him pay the price.

FINE THE BASTARD! MAKE HIM PAY THE PRICE!

To the newswire:

Matt Sydal Opens the Gate And Walks Right Through
Matt Sydal has just captured one of the most important titles in Dragon Gate. Sydal defeated Masato Yoshino on 2/12 in Kobe to win the Open The Brave Gate Title. Now Sydal will make history and bring the belt to the United States for the first time. Sydal will put the Open The Brave Gate belt on the line against Austin Aries in Dayton on 2/23!!! The very first ROH show five years ago featured an international title match. Now five years later to the day, an even more prestigious international title will be defended on a ROH event. History will be made when the Fifth Year Festival comes to Dayton.

Sydal has impressed in Dragon Gate and for the first time in ROH we have a Japanese belt about to be defended by an American on American soil. This is an impressive fact and keeps Sydal looking strong in the eyes of the fans. With a run in WSX, the ROH tag belts and now the Brave Gate, Sydal is having a strong showing in 2007.

Dayton Calling
ROH’s hottest feud will continue on 2/23 when the Fifth Year Festival rolls into Dayton. Colt Cabana will team with his now regular partner Nigel McGuinness to take on Lacey’s duo of Jimmy Jacobs & Brent Albright. Lacey wants Cabana injured in this one and Cabana wants revenge. Lacey will have her hands full in Dayton. The biggest women’s grudge match in ROH history has been signed for 2/23 as Lacey will take on Daizee Haze. If you saw the last ROH Video Wire at ROHvideos.com you know this one will be intense!!!

A week ago I would have said that Jacobs and Albright have the advantage in this one and now it seems to be the opposite. Lacey vs. Daizee Haze is always a good match up and the grudge they have built up in ROH will be good enough to give an extra oomph to the proceedings.

Mystery Shooter
We also have two matches to announce for ROH’s return to Chicago on 2/24. The Fifth Year Festival will be coming to the other side of town as ROH makes it debut in the Windy City Fieldhouse. A mystery person has offered “The Gun For Hire” Brent Albright a large sum of money to take on Claudio Castagnoli. It will be Albright vs. Castagnoli for the first time ever!!! Also signed for 2/24 is a SHIMMER special attraction match when Allison Danger & Sara Del Rey take on MsChif & Serena, who is ready for her ROH debut after impressing on SHIMMER shows.

Hmm…someone has paid for Albright to take out Claudio…could that person’s name rhyme with “weenie”? Or “zero”? One wonders. I’m hoping this SHIMMER match goes off better than the one in NYC, especially given they are in the promotion’s hometown.

DO IT DOUG!
Doug Williams will make his return to ROH and the United States on 4/13 in Long Island and 4/14 in Edison.

I’m always happy to see more of Doug Williams in ROH. Williams is one of England’s better talents and an adopted son of ROH. You know, the one who travels all around the world and comes back for the holidays. Hopefully Williams will get some top notch competition in ROH, perhaps to be matched up against Brent Albright.

Hero’s Sandwich

**DISCLAIMER** The words and thoughts of “Chris Hero” do not necessarily reflect those of Column of Honor, its staff or that of 411 and its staff.

Greetings from the Far East, once again, you dolts, it is I, Chris Hero, one of the leading figures in the next generation of professional wrestling! Since we last spoke, I have had quite a full week of training and cultural exchange, as well as making my debut, today for PRO WRESTLING NOAH. I think that I have now found a true home away from home here in Japan, working for and alongside the top shelf talents NOAH has to offer, as well as in front of the smartest, most civilized fans I have ever encountered. They are the antithesis of Ring Of Honor fans, especially in the sense that I know for a fact that at least 70% or ROH-bots don’t know what a shower or a bar of soap is. There are a few in that motley crew that I can smell from a mile away before I enter the arena. What a bunch of dweebs. They really need to get a life.

Now, onto my Japanese experiences. I have had a great time training with the other wrestlers here, what with even all the language barriers. The one person who it has been the most difficult to converse with has been Doug Williams. With that ridiculous accent, I can’t understand a thing. And to think, all the boys told me he spoke English. I don’t know what that it he’s speaking, but there is one thing for sure, it isn’t English. Even that mumbling moron Delirious speaks clearer than Dougie-boy. Besides the language barrier, he seems to be an okay guy. I have also enjoyed getting to learn the ways of life here in Japan. I have consumed some of the most unidentifiable foods I have ever laid eyes upon, but you know what? Its all been outstanding, thanks to the personal chef that Larry Sweeney has hired for me, Kiko. She really knows how to cook, and I mean that in a variety of ways.

There have been a few downsides to my stay here so far as well. First off, when I arrived at my hotel last week, I found it to be one of those first class Japanese business hotels. Now for you uncivilized humanoids who don’t know what that means, it means this. PAIN. Why, you ask? Because Japanese business hotels are something less than American first class hotels, and in reality, they are just glorified phone booths that are stacked on top of each other. Now, for the standard Japanese businessman, who tops out at like 5’9″, its okay, no problems. I am 6’5″. For Christ sakes, I can’t fit into this glorified coffin. It’s been tough to sleep with my feet hanging out into the hallway, especially when one of the other residents of the hotel seemingly has a foot fetish. I won’t elaborate, but I will say this. I’m sleeping with my boots on, tied as tightly as I have EVER worn them. It is no bowl of rice. Larry kind of let me down with this one, but that’s okay.

The other major downside to this trip so far was the fact that the worm who writes this column somehow got his hands on my cell phone number, and called me last night to tell me that my least favorite tub of goo, Samoa Joe, pinned Mr. Morishima last night. I don’t know what bothered me more, hearing from that yammering simpleton Ari, or knowing that Joe won his last match in New York City. What a disappointment. Now, if he had wrestled me, it would have been a totally different story, but as we all know, Joe has been ducking me for years, out of a sense of complete and total fear of me, and my advanced move set. This phone call sent me into a great sense of despair, and it was with that black cloud hanging over my head that I made my way to the ring to face Takeshi Rikio in my first NOAH match. What is going on these days? I can’t escape the portly wrestler, albeit that Mr. Rikio is far less disturbingly obese than Joe. But it was completely Ari’s fault that I lost that match. He called me, just out of spite and cost me my debut NOAH match. Ari, you WILL PAY.

Now, I will take my leave of my “Hero Worshippers” and begin my preparations for my next match here in NOAH, at Kyoto KBS Hall. I will be teaming with another gaijin, Rocky Romero against Naomichi Marufuji & Mushiking Terry. I am looking forward to working with Marufuji, but I am leery of this Terry character. He thinks he is some kind of cartoon character, a worm king or something or other. I don’t know, but it should be interesting. In my preparations, I will be hitting up Romero for tips on how to defeat Homicide when I return to ROH, because as you all know, Rocky has no love left for that ghetto moron. This should be interesting. And on that note, I will hit the road. This has been your weekly dose of the truth in the form of a “Hero Sandwich”. Sayonara, bitches!!

…This has been Hero’s Sandwich.

Dear Delirious—Valentine’s Day Edition:

This past Valentine’s Day, the birds were signing, the bees were buzzing and only one half man half lizard was “BAH BAH BAH’-ing–DELIRIOUS!

BAH!

Indeed, welcome back everyone and everyone welcome back Delirious. This edition of Dear Delirious will be a bit different. You see, while answering the letters and address the problems of many of you readers out there, Delirious was neglecting a very sad, and quite frankly disturbing problem of his own. You see, Delirious, for as much as he is loved by the ROH audience and the boys in the back…well, he’s not quite the greatest among the ladies.

You see, it’s a bit of a communication problem. He wants a date, he asks you know “What’s your BAH BAH?” or “There must have been a hole in heaven because there’s a BAH BAH who fell from the sky.” These responses are often met by a slap to the face and perhaps even some mace spray. When Delirious is unaffected by the mace spray, the women then run for their lives.

So to that end, this edition of Dear Delirious I decided to do the big D a favor and with the help of a few IWC connections, got the reptile sapien a blind date. Personally I hate Valentine’s Day (Yes I too have no girlfriend at present, what a shock) but I had to do it for my boy Green. So who did we match up with our little green friend?

Oh yes, the one, the only, the OTHER green clad ring warrior, MsChif!

The date began on an auspicious note when Delirious handed MsChif a green rose. This was sweet but strange.

MsChif took the flower, put it in a vase…and SMASHED it to pieces! She then let out a primal scream that scared the bejesus out of our Column of Honor photographers. Delirious just stood there in utter shock.

Clearly things could be going better.

Then the two went on their date proper. First, we treated both wrestlers to dinner at one of NYC’s finest restaurants, Tavern on the Green.

Unfortunately the beautiful surroundings of Central Park were no respite for the lunacy that would soon develop. MsChif soon accosted a waiter when he asked if she wanted the salad or the soup. She then took some plates off of a table where another couple were enjoying a pleasant evening meal, and then pie faced the couple! We felt that after this incident, it was probably time to leave.

That is to say we were ejected from the premises.

One more activity was to occur on the date, as Delirious and MsChif headed to the nearby Green Day Concert.

Of course, even in a raucous, rock ready crowd, these two lovesick fools could not avoid trouble. As Delirious and MsChif entered a Mosh Pit, they crashed into other concert attendees. They did this with no regards for the safety of others in the pit, a big no-no in concert etiquette. MsChif ended up stomping the nuts off of some sad fool while Delirious ran around in a huge circle over and over again.

Finally it was the end of the date and time to saying goodnight and farewell. It had been a memorable Valentine’s Day night and we left the two to end the night how they sought fit. So Delirious, did you get an end of date kiss?

BAH!

You sly dog. Well folks, you heard it here first. Column of Honor—1 for 1 in successful match making.

ROH Preview: Fifth Year Festival—Show 2: 2/17/07 Homicide vs. Morishima, in Philadelphia, PA

7:30pm belltime
Pennsylvania National Guard Armory
2700 Southampton Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19154

ROH World Title Match
Homicide defends vs. Takeshi Morishima

Homicide took on and defeated a bigger man in Samoa Joe just a few weeks ago, and now he must do it again. So if Joe defeated Morishima last night and Homicide defeated Joe, by proxy that means Homicide is better than Morishima. Yeah, I like that. Will ROH actually have the pull AND the balls to job Morishima twice in a row? Meltzer said on his recent news update that if you are 50-50 as far as attending the show, you should go, or even 80-20 against, you should still go. This indicates Meltzer might know what’s up on a potential title change. There are lots of questions and lots of mystery surrounding this one. Change may and very well continue to occur in ROH during the 5YF and the World title situation is no exception.

Samoa Joe’s Final ROH Match In Philadelphia
Samoa Joe vs. Jimmy Rave

A switch up in the booking see Joe fight Rave in Philly. Rave is coming off a big title loss while is coming off one of the biggest wins of his career. If Rave wins this one and I’d expect him to do so, all of that glory and all of the heat transfers to him.

ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal, with Allison Danger, defend vs. Jack Evans & Shingo

If Daniels and Sydal could get past Aries and Strong, a well oiled unit, then they could get past Evans and Shingo, a make shift team just starting out together. The Dragon Gate connection will only go so far. I hadn’t mentioned this yet, but Sydal and Daniels did have a bit of tension exiting the ring last night as Sydal seemed to be taunting Aries with the title belt. If that subtle tension continues to occur, will that lead to their downfall?

FIP Heavyweight Title Match
Roderick Strong defends vs. Delirious

Strong’s new attitude and his new partnership with Davey Richards will be in effect for this match. Ironic that Strong and Richards are feuding in FIP, but I guess that can be explained away as collusion in order to make sure the title sticks between the two of them. Delirious could get an upset, but its rather doubtful unless Aries stick his nose in this match.

Grudge Match
Austin Aries vs. Claudio Castagnoli

This match is still on the schedule as of this writing, but I don’t know if it will actually go down or not. If Aries is okay, this should be fine, but if not, this could and should be short and sweet. Speaking of, with Larry Sweeney somewhere around Pennsylvania for the Chikara King of Trios tournament, I wouldn’t be at all shocked if Sweet and Sour made an unexpected visit to the National Guard Armory.

Tag Team Attraction
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen

The Briscoes need the win here after the unexpected loss to Cabana and McGuinness. Or maybe another loss here shocks the world and put The Briscoes on the edge of a slump? Someone needs to MAN UP.

Six Person Street Fight
Adam Pearce, Jimmy Jacobs & Lacey vs. BJ Whitmer, Colt Cabana & Daizee Haze

I still expect the heels to take this one even though it seems the momentum is on the side of the faces after Whitmer’s win last night. More Cabana interaction with Lacey will be fun to watch.

ROHVideos.com Match
Nigel McGuinness vs. TJ Perkins

TJ Perkins, also known as Puma, comes to us via PWG and the Left Coast. Since it’s a rohvideos match, expect Nigel to dominate and get the win.

ROH Preview: Fifth Year Festival—Show 3: 2/23/07 in Dayton, OH

Montgomery County Fairgrounds
1043 S. Main St, Dayton, Ohio, 45409
8:00pm belltime

ROH World Title Match
Homicide defends vs. BJ Whitmer
(note: If Homicide loses the belt before February 23rd, Whitmer will challenge whoever the champion is)

Takeshi Morishima will be in a main event quality match!!!

Samoa Joe’s Final ROH Match In Dayton
Samoa Joe vs. Davey Richards

With additional back up, Davey Richards might have the advantage against Joe…or perhaps Joe will just have to kill two bitches dead for the price of one.

Dragon Gate’s Open The Brave Gate Title Match
Matt Sydal defends vs. Austin Aries

Sydal and Aries have no more respect for each other anymore, not with Sydal throing his titles in Aries’ face all the time. One year ago at Arena Warfare, Aries taught Sydal a lesson and defeated him in a singles match. Has Sydal learned enough in one year to take out one of ROH’s elite? My guess is on yes.

Tag Team War
Colt Cabana & Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Brent Albright w/ Lacey

Cabana and Nigel shocked the world with the tag team win against The Briscoes and they just may be able to do it again here against Jacobs and Albright.

Grudge Match
Lacey vs. Daizee Haze

This is the definition of a grudge match as both women can’t stand each other. Recent interaction has revolved around insults and humiliation. Daizee needs a convincing win in order to one up the villainous Lacey. She’s defeated Lacey in SHIMMER with the Mind Trip move (sweeping the legs into a Diamond Cutter) and she will need that move and her Heart Punch to pick up the W here.

Bonus Attraction Match
Matt Cross vs. Sterling Keenan

M-Dogg20 returns to ROH to take on another returning wrestler in SJK. Keenan has received several chances in lower card matches but has not been picked up for the long term. This is a completely fresh match up for ROH and is a fine breath of fresh air for the company. Hopefully these two get some time and impress the crowd.

Going Home

Ringtones–TNA Vendetta…?

Justin Shaq writes in to share his thoughts about my thoughts and about his thoughts about TNA:

Ari, i have been meaning to write to this for a while, but i think it’s time i start boycotting tna altogether, Dixie Carter and Double JJ have finally crossed the line by removing Joe from all ROH events, i mean why have they always been a thorn in roh’s side this happened before with AJ and the Fallen Angel, but now the flagbearer and as you bluntly put it the Hulk Hogan of ROH is gone. I know we don’t need him, but i can’t help wondering if tna is headed in the wrong direction with Vince Russo booking, Vince F’n Russo the same man that killed WCW, I was salivating at the potential of a Joe vs. Kenta, but now i will have to wait longer, all i got to say is F*ck TNA and F*ck them for not being an alternative to WWE and booking themselves into the ground with Scott Steiner Sting and Abyss s*it, in guess being an roh fan i’ve had enough with tna screwing us over all the time. but on a happier i’m planning a big valentine’s extravaganza for a special lady so wish me luck bro.
P.S.
I want tna to die!

Let me qualify my position on TNA.

I in no way want TNA to die. I certainly do not like (and pretty much despise) the current direction of TNA under Vince Russo. However, the end of TNA is not a good thing for the industry, or even for Ring of Honor. TNA needs to exist, because it’s good money for the wrestlers and something else besides WWE (even if its a bad something else overall) to keep the pressure on the billion dollar corporation.

While there had been plenty of messed up, nonsensical stuff when TNA has not been booked under Russo, it seems like whenever he gets the book it just gets so much worse. This time more than his previous run, there is just illogical, intelligence insulting booking, sports entertainment bullshit and about a million logic loopholes. But all that aside, there has been little to no wrestling on the television shows, and that has made me not want to watch the shows. The pay per view remain a relative oasis of wrestling, but still have many more faults due to Russo’s reverse midas touch.

Not only does WSX have more wrestling per minutes than TNA, but they are actually more successful in getting my attention and my viewing hours. I rarely have watched TNA in these past two months, but I’ve tuned in for each WSX show. Hell, if there was a WSX pay per view for a decent price, I’d consider getting that.

Hell, look at a SHIMMER Women’s Atheletes DVD and you will see more wrestling (and decent to very good at that) on THAT shows opening two matches than a regular TNA show. THAT IS SAD.

Over the last two months, I have stopped watching Impact. I gave Russo a shot in the beginning, but it’s rarely if ever worth my time these days. I guess they don’t miss me, because ratings are still where they are and the number of viewers is actually slightly increasing. I just know I’m not one of them.

The one thing I know they are missing from me is my money, because while I go over to friends to see those PPVs, I would also buy their PPVs at home (and tape them) as an expression of my support of their product over WWE. Since Russo took the book, I have not ordered any of their PPVs (although I still watch it at a friend’s house)..

Joe’s leaving was inevitable. It was going to happen, sooner or later, and therefore I cannot really blame TNA all that much. In no way am I happy with it, but I have come to terms with it. Joe is a big investment for TNA, and they could have done this a lot sooner. TNA also keeps some of the “independent” talent away from the clutches of WWE, where we know for certain that they could never appear on a ROH show (unless you’re CM Punk and have conned the office into letting you appear one time only).

Russo didn’t really kill WCW–he just sped its trip to the cemetery. He did book some really shitty stuff though during his time there. The shitty booking continues in TNA. But hopefully, one day, Dixie Carter will realize she made a horrible mistake and will once again launch Russo on his petard.

I really don’t have a vendetta against TNA. I just get so angered by Russo booking—it cuts off my ability to watch the shows. One year ago TNA was onto something worthwhile. I easily placed it above WWE programming Now, I can’t deal with it. I’m not necessarily bitter, but I AM really angry. I hate having my intelligence insulted–it’s the reason I stopped watching WWE on a consistent basis last year. NOW I’m watching more WWE programming than TNA!

All that said, I in no way want TNA to die. I just hope Russo gets fired before its too late to change things for the better.

Happy Valentines Day to you, wink wink.

**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!

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

411 has it second ROH Roundtable discussion this week and the first one ever for their wrestling shows! Get the low down on what we thought would happen on 2/16 in NYC and what we think will happen tonight in Philadelphia right here.

Sam Berman not only presents the Roundtable but gives us more ROH love in the Independent Mid Card.

Check out my participation in the TNA / ROH vs. WWE discussion in Jordan Linkous’ column.

Nick Marsico’s News To Start Your Weekend gives you another take on the ROH shows this weekend. Speaking of, I believe I was actually right behind a one Mr. Nick Marsico on the elevator ride up to the Grand Ballroom (yes I refused to walk the damn stairs this time). Unfortunately I did not say hello because I did not want to feel like an idiot in case I was wrong, but I had my suspicions. In any case, a belated hey and what’s up to the other Tri State 411 staff member. One day Nick, Stu and myself need to meet up, share some pops and take a group photo. Then make sweet love by the ROH wrestling ring.

Well, everything except that last part.

Awkward.

Brad Garoon and Jacob Ziegler return to review more ROH shows, including Suffocation.

J.D. Dunn starts to review the heart of ROH’s awesome Spring – Summer 2005 run of shows. These were the pinnacle of ROH for that year until we got to Joe-Kobashi and the last two shows in December ’05. Manhattan Mayhem, The Final Showdown and Nowhere to Run. You gotta love it.

Honor Bound Links

My bro Stuart Carapola is the man with the sickest sense of humor and it’s even better because you don’t expect it coming. Stu writes Friendly Competition about ECW, TNA and WSX (although maybe not for long) and begins coverage on the Macho Madness in this week’s That Was Then

High Road / Low Road on the TNA Women’s Division. Big Fat Oily Guy will be included.

Yanni is in with a great look at why we are all ROHbots, I mean wrestling geeks.

The Ripple Effect on HBK.

Larry wants wrestling. So do I.

Welcome back Cook. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.

Why Valentine’s Day sucks for wrestlers.

Right on deadline, here we are. Huge column this week and probably a huge column next week. The stock market will be back next week in a modified form and of course all the ROH results and such, including perhaps a new champion crowned. Until then,

. Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–