Column of Honor: 05.19.07

Hey everyone, I’m still sick, but I’m still here. I’ve been drinking plenty of fluids and chewing down on plenty of sinus capsules, but to no avail. It’s all good though, because all the bedrest gave me plenty of time to think about and comment on ROH and that means ANOTHER huge column today! In fact, I have so many comments on the PPV and current DVD releases that I had to push back the Dear Delirious feature and some other commentaries I had planned until next week.

ROH Results: “Respect is Earned ” DVD + PPV Taping, New York, NY 5/12/07

Jay and Mark Briscoe launched Matt Sydal up in the air and blasted him with a flying closeline. The Springboard Doomsday Device put the capper on their ROH World Tag Team Title retention to the massive reception from the 1,300 plus in attendance at the Grand Ballroom. It was the conclusion to what became the show stealer, one of the best matches of the year and the match that will make ordering Ring of Honor’s first Pay Per View show a lock.

“Respect is Earned” concluded its filming with a very good (some have said great) tag team encounter involving ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima and the wrestlers who now have been established as top contender’s to his title. The returning “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson teamed up with Morishima to take on the new people’s champion in Nigel McGuinness and the very popular NOAH wrestler KENTA.

McGuinness, who had been pulled out of his appearance in the tag team main event in Hartford, CT the previous night, wrestled a great deal of the match with a separated shoulder and possible herniated disc in his back. At times the pain was obvious in the grimace on his face, but McGuinness solidered on. He and Morishima at times looked off their game, but the crowd was very forgiving and welcomed the four wrestlers fighting each other, even though the show had gone on for four plus hours by that point.

The Pay Per View, premiering July 1st on Dish newtowrk, In Demand and TVN Networks, will cut down that long running time (which at one point really took its toll on the crowd) to two hours. Even still, the two hours will be worth every cent of the $9.95 ($14.95 in some markets) asking price, thanks to the quality of the matches and the excellent promo segments done by The Briscoes along with Kevin Steen and El Generico.

The Briscoes are on one heck of a roll this year. There is a huge argument for the set of brothers from Southern Delaware to be voted in as the MVP of 2007. They have become credible main event players due to their tremendous matches, which boast of non stop action along with innovative moves. They have commanded the attention of the fans, both as strong protagonists (their run for the tag team titles earlier in the year), as weirdly charismatic wrestlers (with their down home southern style and “Man Up” call and response catchphrase) and as sympathetic characters (with Mark Briscoe’s concussion injury and its being played up in certain matches).

They even have a new set of rivals to keep things interesting in the tag division. Kevin Steen and El Generico had unspectacular runs previously in ROH, but they have come from out of nowhere (well, really, from other independent companies where they have plied their team) to become the team that is most threatening to The Briscoes run as tag team champions. The svelte Steen has shown a spectacular amount of brutality and merciless action in the ring. The masked El Generico can’t help but have the fan support behind him with his boundless energy in the ring. Together they are the “odd couple” of the ROH tag division, a wrestler closer to a heel teaming up with a babyface. The combination strangely works and is very intriguing. The middle of 2007 is set to be filled with great matches between Steen, Generico and the current tag team Champions.

It was a good show. It was a very good show. It was a great show even. It was not the best show in ROH history and may not even turn out to be the best show of the year (which so far should go to any of the March shows either in Liverpool or Detroit). In fact, there seemed to have developed a deep division within the respondents on various message boards as to the quality of the show. Some have even gone as far to call it “mediocre”. Other (including myself) have advocated that this is very good show and an excellent first show for Pay Per View This conflicting report is not the type of buzz ROH had in mind coming out of the show, even though publicly Gabe Sapolsky and Cary Silkin have had nothing but praise and positive response to the taping. As well they should.

The tapings went so well that it was not long before ROH disclosed that there will be a second live to tape Pay Per View show, June 23rd in Chicago, Il. That show will be headlined by Danielson vs. KENTA, as those two restarted their rivalry in New York City during the first show.

With any show that includes the quality of match like Briscoes-Castagnoli and Sydal, McGuinness / KENTA vs. Danielson / Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji-Rocky Romero, that should be considered an automatic thumbs up show. This was an excellent show, almost on par with much of NYC’s earlier outings and worth getting the DVD or the PPV.

Matches
-DVD exclusive: Brent Albright defeated Tank Toland via pinfall with the half nelson suplex.
-PPV: ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima retained his title by defeating BJ Whitmer with the backdrop driver.
-PPV: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Rocky Romero via pinfall with the Shiranui.
-DVD exclusive: Davey Richards defeated Erick Stevens via submission with the 14:59 (keylock armbar submission)
-PPV: ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay and Mark Briscoe retained their titles by defeating Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal. Pinfall on Sydal after the Sprinboard Doomsday Device.
-DVD exclusive: Sara Del Rey defeated Daizee Haze via pinfall.
-DVD exclusive: El Generico and Kevin Steen defeated the teams of Adam Pearce and Jimmy Rave, Mitch Franklin and Pelle Primeau as well as Irish Airborne in a tag team scramble. Package piledriver on Dave Crist for the pinfall.
-PPV: Roderick Strong defeated Delirious via pinfall with the Gibson Driver.
-PPV: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima defeated the team of KENTA and Nigel McGuinness. Danielson made KENTA submit to the Cattle Mutilation.

Angles and Issues
The Open Challenge: BJ Whitmer and Dave Prazak open up the PPV with Whitmer proclaiming that in ROH the wrestling does the talking and lays out the challenger: anyone, right now, vs. him. ROH World Champion Morishima answers and IT IS ON! Morishima obliterates Whitmer in a short but fun match, leading to:

The First Countdown: Nigel McGuinness comes out to a monstrous pop and lays out a challenge for Morishima (forgetting the words he so defiantly said to Samoa Joe just a few months back, you don’t call out Morishima, Morishima calls out YOU!). Bryan Danielson comes out, lays out his past history with his 15 month championship run and says that HE deserves a shot at the title. It breaks down into a fight and Danielson aligns with Morishima to take down McGuinness.

The Second Countdown: A short time later, Nigel is given another introduction and lays out the challenge to both Danielson and Morishima. They have an encore, which was either intentional OR possibly a reshoot for the PPV in order to get to what comes next. McGuinness is down but is saved by Pro Wrestling NOAH’s own KENTA. The main event is set

Rhyming Claudio: Claudio Castagnoli not only has new shorter hair, but he also has a bit of a new twist on his gimmick. Everyone loves saying “HEYYYYY!” when he is in the ring, so now Claudio rhymes his statements with that word. “HEYYYY! I have something to (SAYYY!) My partner for TO(DAYYYY!)…is Matt Sydal!”

Well, Sydal doesn’t rhyme with all of that, but it was a good enough effort.

A Stage Has Been Errected: As Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard pump the crowd up and go over live dates on the stage with General Admission seats, El Generico and Kevin Steen interrupt and lay down the challenge. Steen wants a title shot. The Briscoes tell them to MAN UP and come on down and chaos ensues. They do a pull apart brawl that is separated by many ROH students and surprisingly former ROH regulars Azriael and Deranged. In particular one sick spot is when Steen just LAUNCHES someone (maybe Deranged, maybe not) THROUGH the space in between the second and third turnbuckle corner TO THE OUTSIDE. It was as sick as it sounds. Then Generico and Steen kill some more students with their package piledriver into brainbuster combination. Finally, Generico FLIES with a flip senton to the outside onto a pile of bodies and The Briscoes as the scene fades out with everyone still throwing down on each other. THIS WAS AWESOME. One of the best pull apart brawls I’ve ever seen, maybe even right up there with Austin and Tyson in the building up of Wrestlemania XIV. It was that good. I think El Generico and Kevin Steen have made their point: they deserve a shot at the tag team titles.

The Return of Homicide: Hometown boy Homicide made one last appearance in front of the NYC crowd to say goodbye. This was not recorded for DVD or PPV. More on this later.

Guardrail Blues: Roderick Strong continues to lay the beat down on Delirious with guardrails, including a post match powerbomb on one that was bridged between the ring and the standing guardrails. OUCH.

Time For A Belting: After the main event, there was a bit of trouble brewing with Danielson and Morishima. Danielson had grabbed the ROH World title belt and looking at it as if it was his. Morishima said “Nuh-uh” and when Danielson tried to give him the title back, Morishima got him with the backdrop driver! So then McGuinness tried to give Morishima the belt, and the Japanese big manwaylaid him with the belt lto massive boos!

Return Date: August 25th, 2007

Live Impressions / Analysis and Anecdotes

Among many things to be excited about, it was the return of Bryan Danielson and the surprise appearance of Homicide that made me emotionally pumped up and excited to be at the show. According to Gabe Sapolsky in an interview he did on Wrestling Observer Live, the latter appearance will never see the light of day on PPV or DVD taping. These appearances were hugely special moments, made even more real by the fact that these two wrestlers (along with The Briscoes) are the last remaining of the old Guard.

It was great to see Danielson again and clearly I was not the only one. The crowd clearly missed him and eagerly chanted his name and his catchphrases—”best in the world”, “i have till 5!” and “you’re gonna get you’re fucking head kicked in” (yes!) all made their dramatic returns. While Dragon received face pops when he first came out, his quick heeling out, split the vote. Yet the end of the show was all about Danielson, as he was the last person in the ring at the end of the show as a cover version of “The Final Countdown” played in the background. He received a great ovation from the crowd for his effort and for his return.

The crowd overall was good, but it had its ups and downs. There was definitely a difference in the vibe of the crowd from the last three NYC shows, and that too has its pluses and its minuses. I think the crowd was hyped up, maybe too hyped up for action. Normally the NYC crowd is very demanding, but the vociferous nature of the chanting and other reactions (some even before the show began) even caught me off guard.

In fact, I think the crowd was a bit too “ECW” like for my tastes. There were chants with cursing in it, including the dreaded “You Fucked Up” chants, some of which were not even justified. Listen, if a wrestler recovers quickly from an error, a near miss if you will, you don’t have to point out obvious. There have been many fans complaining on boards (ridiculously I might add) about the “This is Awesome” chants, but to me I think the “You Fucked Up” chants are worse. With those chants you are telling the audience who is watching that you know the match is of a lower quality. Why should they continue to watch it then? This is the exact opposite of what ROH needs. Likewise were the “This Match Sucks” chants which erupted during a slow section of the Delriious-Strong match from one side of the arena. As a point of fact however, a large majority of the crowd was very much into the match, giving Strong the vaunted “Roderrrrick” chant and constantly showing support to Delirious with the “Bah Bah, Bah Bah” chants. There was nothing actively bad was occurring, certainly NOTHING on the level of a Gene Snitsky match, but because some in the crowd were tired and burnt out, the chants began and caught enough steam to be noticeable on PPV unless there is some judicious editing to be done.

I think the hardcore ROH fans are going to need to accept this notion: that with larger numbers of fans in attendance, the more mainstream a response the fans will have to product. Mob rule and group think is a harsh mistress. Some may have thought that the hardcore fans could “train” the newer fans to act the “ROH way” as fans or whatever that means, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Add to the fact that NYC has always been very demanding about having an “action” oriented product and that fans can get very uncivilized, well then there you have it. The times they are a changing.

Albright-Toland was a fun match, power vs. power. It was a bit unexpected to see these two fight each other, but these two guys gave it a go and were well received by the crowd. Toland’s jumping jacks while on the wrestler is great and entertaining stuff. Even funnier is when Bobby Dempsey, now under the tutelage of Tolland, worked out with a muscle flexer and did squats on the outside for most of the match.

Romero-Marufuji was a tremendous match and the crowd was with that match 100% and totally hot for the ending. To me it was a smart way to start the PPV proper. It was a match to show fans exactly how an “honorable” ROH match was done–focus on the wrestling product, build up the match, have a hot finish.

Briscoes vs. Sydal and Castagnoli was off the charts awesome and easily in the top 5 of the year right now. Of course Matt Sydal had to go and prove once again that he was a super tag MANWHORE. I mean Jesus, talk about living up to your internet stereotype. The aftermath with Generico and Steen destroying everyone in their path was nuclear hot and well presented. Although this was his first appearance in New York, Steen was over to a shockingly large degree

Claudio Castagnoli may have done one of the greatest Giant Swings in all of existence. He carried one of the Briscoes and walked around this ring, giving an impression they could both fall at any time or hit the sides of the ride. It was like riding a tiltawhirl machine. It got a humongous ovation, deservedly so.

The tag scramble was impressive, even with a “jobber” team in Mitch Franklin and Pelle Primeau (both of whom have made huge strides in the last few months) and the inclusion of Irish Airborne (ugggh). Thankfully they didn’t screw up anything and the one who looks like Randy Orton received “RKO” chants. Me? I can take them or leave them at this point. What was most surprising in this match was the reaction to Rave and Pearce. I mean, these guys are heels, but they had positive face pops. It was surreal, especially when all the “Repo Man” chants of the last seven months were paid off when Pearce put on a Repo Man mask. Everyone popped huge! It was clear physical proof that Pearce is somehow a cousin or brother to the one, the only, Barry Darsow.

While the ROH look will mostly remain unchanged, there were some small additions to the style and presentation of the product. A new “ROH” stylized block logo spotlight shone on the ring and reflected to the wall on the back of the room, making for a cool visual. Also new for the pay per view was a live segment done by Dave Prazak and Lenney Leonard on the Gen Admit stage. The visual of them doing the live read while Jay and Mark Briscoe celebrate in the background is going to look tremendous on Pay Per View.

While Homicide was careful not to bury TNA and often referred to handling LAX business (to massive boos from the pro-ROH crowd), he made it clear in his goodbye speech that he was wanting to return to ROH sooner rather than later. His partner in crime, “J-Train” Julius Smokes, marked the end of an era by dropping a “Rottweilers” T-Shirt in the ring and pouring some beer. One for me, one for my homies. It was a surprisingly touching, yet clearly ghetto, tribute to the man called “The Notorious 187.”

No, I don’t like TNA right now for various reasons, but fans need to realize something–TNA was responsible for allowing this to happen. They could have just said “No!” and that would be it. A good PR move? Maybe. But again, they could have just as well said “no.” How do we say farewell to Homicide? With an “F TNA chant”.

The funniest moment for me personally was my intermission bathroom adventure. Hold your jokes now.

It was after the whole Briscoes-Claudio / Sydal match and the hot Generico-Steen confrontation segment. I thought it was intermission time, since nothing was going to top the emotion and the reaction of that segment. So I went ahead to the bathroom to get a quick head start on everyone else, thinking I was clever and all that. But then Bobby Cruise gets on the stick and says that someone wants to make a special announcement and has a message for the fans.

I’m like “Nahh, it can’t be Homicide.” I keep walking.

Then I hear the trademark sirens from Kill Bill go off and “The Truth” start to play. My reaction? “OH SHIT!”

I’m almost to the bathrooms, which are two flights down and in this like catacomb like hallway with twists and turns. It’s very out of the way and annoying to get there. At that point, I HUSTLED my ass back inside the venue. I’m running through the twists and turns, bounding up the steps. There is no way I’m going to make it back to my seat in the balcony, so I just got to the ground floor and got in as close as I could to the whole deal. I get there just in time to catch Homicide entering the ring and begin his farewell speech.

So now I can honestly say I held it in for Homicide.

It was fun coming into the building and seeing things develop and take shape. We spotted Bobby Cruise walking around and heading to the back to prepare for the show. I was with my running buddy Chris as usual, but we were joined for dinner at the Tick Tock Diner by Danny and Josh, two great guys from my borough of Brooklyn.

Intermission was hellafun as well, as I’m walking around everywhere and seeing Josh, then Danny, some others I know from the shows. Then I bound back up to the balcony and I was able to have a good (although too short) conversation with the one, the only Stuart Carapola at the show. Unfortunately, Nick Marsico was not spotted during the show, although I was looking. From reading his report, I guess I would have had to go to a bar in Brooklyn to find him. Except you don’t usually find me in bars in Brooklyn, so there goes that idea.

Del Rey and Daizee Haze…well, they tried. They put on a decent effort, in fact better than most other women’s attraction matches I’ve seen live for ROH, but they were put in the death spot coming out of intermission and a lot of the rowdy NYC crowd didn’t give them a chance. This is where the troubles of re-education come in. the women put on a spectacular four corner survival match last year at the Best in the World event inside Basketball City. They received a standing ovation that night. Over a year later and acceptance of the women wrestlers seems to be worse off. I know that misogyny and wrestling go well in hand, but ROH fans can never pretend again to be better than the WWE crowd reacting to a DIVAS match. We are just as bad, and sometimes worse. How about that for fan hypocrisy?

The only bad patch in the show was Delirious-Strong…the crowd was tired after an incredible first half plus of wrestling and they did a slower, methodical match. Strong got the heat too much and it hurt. Whether it was a tired crowd, a slow burn on the heat segment or things just not clicking between the two wrestlers as might happen on any given night; this was one of the weaker matches.

On the subway coming home, we had more great wrestling discussion, including one with someone who came to the show and was a total stranger to me. He said he was training with Johnny Rodz-that’s pretty cool to me. I wrote this in my last live report from New York, but I still find it amazing that a group of guys can be riding on the trains and have an extended conversation about wrestling, MMA and boxing. And I know we can’t be the only ones, because there were 1,300 other fans in attendance that night.

As a long standing ROH fan and avid watcher and just as a wrestling fan, I usually want an epic one on one title match to main event the shows. However, the main event in this situation is much more than that epic match. It set up FOUR potentially amazing matches (which again, newer fans will likely have to get the DVDs to see occur): Danielson-KENTA which we know about, the Morishima-McGuinness rematch which we know will happen, McGuinness-Danielson which seems fresh once again and of course Danielson-Morishima. The tag match was a way to get new fans thinking about all four guys and the possibilities of them fighting it out one on one, which in all likelihood most of these matches will happen in 2007.

If I am a new fan and I watch that epic one on one main event, I leave the PPV satisfied. However I don’t necessarily have a compelling reason to order other DVDs because the issues between the competitors have been settled. With this tag match, I leave the PPV satisfied AND I leave wanting to see more action, because issues have yet to be settled.

I do think this show will leave a very good impression in the minds of newer or first time purchasers. I’m thinking ROH not only set up it’s future programs tonight, but also advertised shows after the event, which news fans will then buy on DVD, which is in part the idea of the PPV. Get the fans wanting more–more ROH. get them to buy more product. Very good to great matches in quality like Marufuji-Romero, The tag titles match and the tag main event will do exactly that.

I also think that ROH should not have anymore cards in the future go unannounced. Sometimes the hype can get to be too damaging to the realities of a situation. . I do think that if the full card had been announced, a large number of those who were complaining about the show would have left satisfied. It’s better to know what you’re going to get going in, so you won’t set yourself up for disappointment. And then again, I didn’t expect the tag titles match to be as awesome as it was, and that was the greatest surprise of them all tonight

Tentative PPV Format

It’s looking like this is how it’s going to go on the PPV:

0-Open credits and BJ Whitmer’s challenge
1-ROH World Title, Whitmer vs. Morishima (**1/4)
2-Nigel, Danielson and Morishima encounter
3-Marufuji vs. Romero (***3/4)
4-Nigel, Danielson and Morishima encore (w/ save from KENTA)
5-ROH World Tag Titles: Briscoes vs. Claudio and Sydal (****1/2)
6-Prazak and Leonard live shill, Generico and Steen challenge Briscoes and chaos ensues
7-Strong vs. Delirious (**)
8-Main Event Tag: KENTA and Nigel vs. Dragon and Morishima (***1/2)
9-Show close with Morishima post match beatdown of Dragon and Nigel.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 05/19/2007

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 7 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: Jay Briscoe, 6/08/07 Roxbury Crossing, MA

V.1 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (2/23/07 Dayton, OH)
V. 2 defeated KENTA via pinfall / backdrop driver (3/04/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.3 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/14/07 Edison, NJ)
V.4 defeated Austin Aries via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.5 defeated SHINGO via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/28/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.6 defeated KAZMA via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/06/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.7 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/12/07 New York, NY)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 4 successful defenses)

Next Defense: The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero), 6/09/07, Philadelphia, PA

V.1 Ultimate Endurance: defeated Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin, Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw, Hallowicked & Gran Akuma (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.2 defeated Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (4/28/07 Chicago, IL)
V.3 defeated BJ Whitmer and ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima (5/11/07, Hartford, CT)
V.4 defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (5/12/07, New York, NY)

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

It’s Easier the Second Time Around

From ROH’s news article:
Ring Of Honor will bring its second pay-per-view taping to one of its best markets on June 23rd. ROH’s second PPV will come to you direct from Chicago Ridge, IL at the Frontier Fieldhouse. Tickets are now on sale at ROHwrestling.com or by calling 215-781-2500.

Be there live to witness ROH’s 2nd PPV taping. There will be some special main events for the live crowd that will only on the DVD. This will be the biggest ROH event ever to come to Chicago. Get tickets now and experience it for yourself!!!

It has already been announced at www.ROHwrestling.com that the June 23rd Chicago show will now be the second PPV taping!!! Just signed for this event is a tag team grudge match pitting Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico. If The Briscoes are still tag champs the belts will be on the line. This joins the already announced match of Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA. There is no guarantee both of these matches will be on the PPV so you will need to be there live to see them for yourself.

There was a lot of mentions in previous interviews with Sapolsky that the next PPVs were uncertain as far as format. They could be greatest hits, collections of matches from shows or a PPV concentrating on one specific wrestler. Things have looked to change, at least for the next show. Not only did the first tapings go well, but now we get a confirmed second set of PPV tapings. Whether the whole tapings comes from Chicago or just these two matches has yet to be stated, but I’d bet it would be a full taping since Chicago is one of the better venues and cities for ROH.

You’ll also notice that CONTINUITY~! is occurring here, as matches and feuds from the first show are IMMEDIATELY playing into the second show. Well played.

Finally, something to notice is that the tapings are well in advance of the on air date. This means that ROH will be undergoing a bit of a time paradox in the next few months. There looks to be a “DVD” timeline where events will carry over as usual from DVD to DVD. However there is also a “PPV” timeline, which will have the main event angles and such carry over from show to show. Also, by the time September hits, other huge marquee matches in these storylines, including rematches and such may have also taken place. I like this idea a lot, because it continues to serve the long standing fans, but also will carry a wave of new fans into other shows and DVDs. The wait time for some of these DVDs will be slightly longer than the usual wait time fans have experienced in recent years, but the quality of the matches should make the wait well worth it.

June in Bloom for Great Matches

Two huge matches have been signed for the June 8th return to the Boston area. Jay & Mark Briscoe successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Titles against ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima & BJ Whitmer last Friday in Hartford. Now Morishima wants to return the favor and show he can beat a Briscoe.

Also signed for June 8th in the Boston area is a grudge match featuring ROH’s hottest feud after the events of last Saturday. Mark Briscoe will be in singles action against Kevin Steen!!! The hatred is rising. Mark wants revenge for Steen attacking his head after Mark had a concussion. Steen wants to prove he is ROH World Tag Team Title material. This one will be a war.

Another big tag team match has been signed for 6/9 in Philadelphia. Kevin Steen & El Generico have definitely made an impact recently. They will be faced with a team that almost won the ROH World Tag Team Titles in their ROH debut in St. Paul. Philly will witness Steen & Generico vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw on June 9th!!!

A very interesting Four Corner Survival has been signed for 6/8 in Boston. It will pit Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush. How will Hero and Castagnoli interact on the night before they go for the ROH World Tag Team Titles? There are a lot of great match ups in this one!!!

I know Marsico did this yesterday in his News To Start Your Weekend, but it was such a good idea I’ll repeat it here. This is what the ROH’s line ups look like:

June 8th-Roxbury Crossing
ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima defends vs. Jay Briscoe
Grudge Match
Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen
Four Corner Survival
Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush

Morishima-Jay Briscoe is an obvious call back to Joe-Jay from years past. Jay has actually had a fair share of title shots and I’ll be damned if he doesn’t perform well in those situations. Mark vs. Steen should be a great grudge match since there is now a very valid reason for them to fight (Steen took advantage of Mark’s prone state in Edison, NJ). Quackenbush’s placement in the 4CS creates an awesome interweaving of ROH AND NON ROH issues, as Quack and Hero are fighting in CHIKARA, Hero and Claudio have issues both in ROH and in CHIKARA and Nigel and Hero have heat (storyline) stemming from the events of All Star Extravaganza III and Supercard of Honor II. Three matches in and this is looking to be a memorable, must-see show.

June 9th-Philadelphia, PA
World Tag Team Title Match- 2 out of 3 Falls
Jay & Mark Briscoe defend vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero
Tag Team Action
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw

See below for the blurb on the KOW reuniting. These two teams tore it up at Final Battle 2006, and now in a 2 out of 3 falls match there is a ton of stuff they can do to take that match and bring it up an extra notch. Also this should be the beginning of the real, full time feud between Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. That or there’s a swerve and Claudio comes back into the fold with Sweet and Sour International. Quack and Jigsaw get to have another shot as a team (since during their debut in St. Paul Jigsaw got ko’ed) and against the hot team of Steen and Generico we should get another tremendous match up.

June 23rd-Chicago Ridge, IL (2nd PPV Taping)
Glory By Honor V Night 2 Rematch
Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA
World Tag Team Title Match
Jay & Mark Briscoe (if still champions) defend vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

The PPV tapings are going to bring about the biggest matches of this particular month. Danielson vs. KENTA should just be the beginning of huge marquee matches in the main event over the next few months, but even so this is a long awaited rematch of what I considered to be the Match of the Year. You have to expect that these two are going to have a great match. Will it live up to the first fight? I don’t know, but it may get close. Briscoes vs. Steen and Generico will bring all the issues between the four men to a head. I don’t expect it to be the last match between these teams, but rather another in a long line of encounters for the rest of the year.

Kings Reunite Supreme?

A very surprising ROH World Tag Team Title Match has been signed for June 9th in Philadelphia. Claudio Castagnoli has been granted a rematch from last Saturday’s show stealing World Tag Team Title Match vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe. Castagnoli can once again pick anyone in the locker room that he wants as his partner. Castagnoli has revealed his choice and it is his former ROH World Tag Team Championship partner Chris Hero!!! Hero has split from Castagnoli after signing with super agent Larry Sweeney. Now Hero will reunite the team to go after the titles. Here is the most interesting part. Since these teams have split their previous two encounters last December, this one will determine a decisive winner of the series. This World Tag Team Title contest will be 2/3 Falls!!! Check out Briscoes vs. Hero & Castagnoli in a 2/3 Falls Match for the ROH World Tag Team Titles on June 9th in Philadelphia.

The re-teaming up between Castagnoli and Hero was not so much the surprise as the circumstances surrounding it. This is a high stakes match up for the former KoW and maybe the only way Hero would have agreed to it. Whether or not Hero is fully committed to this match, only he knows… which brings us to…

Hero’s Sandwich

Greetings, yet once again my Hero-ites, it is I, Chris Hero coming to you live (sort of) from Hollywood, California. You ROH-bots might be asking “why are you in Hollywood, Mr. Hero? Are you being cast in a major motion picture? Are you going Hollywood on us?” and to answer your questions, I will say this. I don’t have to “go Hollywood”, as I’ve always been “Hollywood”, and the movie industry has been knocking at my door for years. But in all honesty, I’m here in this 5 star hotel (that’s ***** for you IWC geeks out there), because I am competing in this weekends Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Tournament, and that will make me to keep this weeks message short and to the point.

Unfortunately, I have been forced to team with the Swiss Idiot, Claudio Castagnoli, and it is because of that, that I am quite nervous as to the possible outcome of this event. In prior days, when Claudio was a better wrestler, I would have boasted that it was inevitable that the Kings of Wrestling would dominate the event, and walk away with the PWG belts. However, since that WWE developmental contract fiasco, Claudio has been a different man, a broken, pitiful man. A man who can’t hold up his end of the bargain in a tag team match. It’s just sad to see what he has become. I, as the philanthropist that I am, have agreed to work with him both this weekend and on June 9th in Philadelphia, in a desperate, last ditch attempt to resurrect his faltering career. Hopefully, Claudio can return to his prior form, and maybe, just maybe, I would consider allowing him back into my circle of friends (and my fave 5 list for my cell phone plan), and ultimately, after he proves his worth, back into the greatest tag team in the world, THE KINGS OF WRESTLING.

Now, onto more pressing issues. ROH held their first Pay-Per View taping last weekend in New York City, and as you all know, I was not included on the card. Fortunately, I was kept abreast of the proceedings by my super agent, Larry Sweeney, who was in attendance, and in the corner of my trainer, Tank Toland as he faced Brent Albright. Albright, as usual, cheated and used old-school chicanery to defeat Tank, but that’s a story for another day. I guess the big news of the night was that former ROH World Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson returned to action in a tag match with the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Morishima against KENTA and the world’s biggest wanker, Nigel McGuinness. That’s what they made the PPV main event, by the way. What a joke. Four talent less hacks in the ring together. What is this? The WWE? I thought ROH wanted to make a splash for their first PPV. This main event will be an albatross around the neck of ROH as they attempt to enter the “Big Time”. I mean, who besides the ROH-bots who were in attendance would want to watch these 4 losers work a match? If the main event featured yours truly, you know it would have been a PPV for the ages, with a buy number that would rival that of the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight a few weeks back. With Chris Hero in the main event, the sky is the limit.

I also heard that my old friend HOMO-cide made a special, and contract violating appearance at the intermission of the show. From what I was told, he blubbered on in his broken English mixed with tears about how much he loved the fans, ROH, and the rest of that kind of rubbish. What you all need to know that he is a liar, and 110% full of crap. If he loved you all so much and cared that much about ROH, he would have never signed that TNA contract in the first place. Sure, you might say that he did it to put more money on the table for his family. Yeah, right. I know for a fact that he was making more than enough money at his side job at McDonald’s to pay for his 14 illegitimate kids. What a piece of trash. All I know is that ROH is a better place without that thug, and as soon as I can, I will be “dropping the dime” on him, and contacting TNA about his appearance. As you may or may not remember, I did spend some time in TNA a few years back, and it will be easy for me to get HOMO-cide into some hot water, just like I’ve done to that elfin midget, Austin Aries. Yeah, that’s right, I am behind his current limbo situation, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. What a shame for these two, huh? I love every second of it. I hope they rot on the vine, and disappear back into the hellholes that they crawled out of in the first place.

As I said to you before, I will be keeping this week’s edition brief, so not to be accused of being a liar, I will. I need to get back to my training, and to try to get through the granite-like skull of Castagnoli to create some sort of game plan in our opening round match against the Briscoe Brothers. You all know how I feel about those inbred rednecks, so I’ll hold back at this point. Mocking them and their “Deliverance” upbringing would be tantamount to fishing with dynamite, so I’ll leave it alone. I’ll let my work in the ring this weekend and later, in the 2 out of 3 falls match in Philadelphia on June 9th. That is all, my Hero-ites. This has been your weekly moment of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers!

PPV Predictions: Shutout City

So last week I set up what I would have booked to be the card for the ROH PPV. I laid out my reasons and I thought it was a pretty damned good card. I also said that the next week I’d check back and see how I did. Man am I ever going to live to regret this…

-ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima II

Didn’t happen, although given the end of the show where Morishima lays out McGuinness with the belt, it could be sooner rather than later. 0 for 1.

-ROH World Tag Titles: The Briscoes vs. KENTA / Marufuji

Didn’t happen, as KENTA and Marufuji were used for different purposes on the show. 0 for 2.

-Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero

Didn’t happen, as instead of a re-introductory warm up for Danielson, the maroon warrior was sent right up to the main event. 0 for 3.

-Delirious and Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong and Davey Richards

While these men did engage in singles action at the show, they did not fight in a team team grudge match. Still the closest I got to a correct prediction, but close doesn’t count in fantasy booking. 0 for 4.

-BJ Whitmer vs. Brent Albright

Didn’t happen, as these two are now completely done with their issues. 0 for 5.

-Claudio Castagnoli vs. Tank Tolland (w/ Larry Sweeney)

I may have been about two months ahead of time on this match. This will happen in the future, but did not happen at the PPV. 0 for 6.

Yes, ZERO FOR SIX in predictions. I GOT NOTHING RIGHT.

That’s right, I got NONE of my predictions for matches right. Looks like Gabe and I do not have some sort of super ESP psychic love connection. Maybe it’s better that way. So as it turns out, I am not Nostradamus and I am indeed NO-stradamus. I mean, I’ve had better luck asking the ladies out on a date than predicting this card. And the bad luck streak doesn’t just extend to these matches. Look below for further proof.

Honorarium

-So two weeks ago, this is what I said about Ken Kennedy winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title:

-Mr. Kennedy, your NEW WWE World Heavyweight champion. You heard it here 263rd.

Edge is your new World Heavyweight Champion. I was wrong.

And last week, this is what I said about the possibility of Homicide making a “farewell” appearance for Ring of Honor in New York:

” How awesome would a farewell speech or even a farewell match be tonight in New York? It would be a great surprise and a treat for his hometown and his ROH fans. That said, I don’t put much stock in this being more than one wrestler’s pipe dream. Unless TNA is willing to do some public relations repair with the ROH fans by allowing Homicide onto the card and unless Gabe is willing to do it (and thus take some of the attention off of his new direction), this will not happen.”

Homicide makes one of the best surprise appearances ever last week. Once again, I was wrong.

So the question I have to ask myself for this week is, what will be the statement I make this week that I will turn out to be wrong about next week?

Here it is: This week, I will win a million dollars.

Ari Berenstein-the IWC writer who when he is wrong, he knows it, and admits it!

-So finally, finally, FINALLY, TNA fans have reasoning behind why Christopher Daniels has been wearing a Sting mask upon his entrance into the ring. He is some sort of disciple to Sting although honestly he’s coming across more as an obsessed stalker. Like the guy who just can’t stop hanging around the girl who doesn’t even want to give him the time of day. Shame, shame, Daniels. You used to be the swami, the leader of the pack and the head televangelist of The Prophecy. Now, you are the follower.

-So apparently the new in thing for Ring of Honor is the use of the GUARDRAIL! It’s the haute couture nuveaux fashion of 2007, no doubt. Nigel McGuinness used the rails to effect massive damage on Jimmy Rave during their match in Liverpool. And it was cool, very cool, to see Rave get repeatedly destroyed on the rail (although I’m sure it wasn’t a picnic for Rave). Likewise, NRC member Roderick Strong has picked up on the guardrail trend and is using the barrier and the solid sheet metal ROH signs to punish his opponents with (you guessed it) no remorse. Strong will rip out a section of rail and position in on the floor, usually so he can hit the Gibson Driver powerbomb onto a prone opponent. He did it to Aries at SCOH II and he has done it to Delriious on more than one occasion. So future opponents, look out when Strong is moving the furniture, because he aims to deal pain to you right quick.

Comments on All Star Extravaganza III / Supercard of Honor II:

– For those fans of Chris Hero wondering when more attention was going to be paid to him, well, All Star Extravaganza III and Supercard of Honor II are going to be the DVD releases for you. While a lot of attention is going to be paid to the presence of the Dragon Gate wrestlers and the finale of the BJ Whitmer-Jimmy Jacobs feud, these DVDs also feature strong showings from Hero and his entourage of Sweeney, Toland and at SCOH II none other than Mr. annoying, Johnny Fairplay. The opening four corner survival at ASE III is one of the funnier and entertaining matches of the year. Of course a lot of this is owed to Colt Cabana, but Chris Hero (and Sweeney on the outside) plays off of Cabana to a great extent. I’m cracking a smile a mile wide after watching that one. The angle with Bruno Sammartino is also incredibly entertaining. Sweeney and Hero’s act (but Sweeney especially) shine so huge here and because of that, Bruno comes off as even more of a hero (no pun intended) during that segment.

By the way, in a fancy white suit, aviator sunglasses and sporting a marvelous “orange” colored tan, Sweeney is a shade away from being THE spitting image of Brother Love.

-It’s funny how even though ROH fans expressed their obvious discontent with the use and the presence of Johnny Fairplay, going so far as to chant “You’re not famous”, they were very willing to cheer like mad when McGuinness busted his jaw with the lariat. The explosion of cheers from the fans was right up there, and to be honest, the moment will be a huge and lasting visual for the year. Also ironically enough that even though Fairplay is “not famous” that ROH may very well receive the most exposure ever from whatever footage makes it to air on VH-1 for Fairplay’s reality show. ROH using Fairplay’s fame to get their name out there? Weird. But hey, it may just get over Sweeney, Hero and Nigel at the same time. You can’t turn down such a great opportunity.

Actually, did this show air yet? Does anyone know? I tend to stay away these days from reality show fair or the non music video music video channels. Anyone with an update hit me up on email and let me know.

The fact that this match will end up as a part of a television show explains why Nigel came out to way less than awesome and generic entrance music. No Oasis to be heard from whatsoever. This is an omen that has been extended a bit to the upcoming ROH pay per view, although some of those new themes actually sound decent enough.

-Larry Sweeney’s promo style in Ring of Honor is different than pretty much anything I’ve seen before—and I’m not completely sold on it but it seems to work for him. Sweeney has become king of the “interrupting” promo—cutting off whoever is doing a promo in the ring, he’ll walk right out and just start talking. And then he’s walking! Walking and talking down to the ring until he gets right into the ring and right into it with whatever protagonist is in the ring.

-Erick Stevens was serviceable enough in his first promo for ROH, but it was short and he almost tripped over a line and thus lost a bit of confidence towards the end of it. Nothing too end of the world, and really just a way to establish himself and who he was, which honestly, was more important to do in the ring than on the mic. Stevens was incredibly fun as the no nonsense tough guy in these short matches. The potential is definitely there to be capitalized on. Let’s just hope he doesn’t get lost or pigeonholed by the fans as “that choo-choo guy.”

-Mochizuki vs. Richards: a great kicking contest. And by that I don’t mean to denigrate their efforts in wrestling. This is actually a very good compliment, because these guys manage to come at it from all angles with kicks and other moves. The finishing sequence in particular is an eye opener as Mochizuki just unloads these big strikes to take out Richards. I also noticed in watching Mochizuki during this match and the Dragon Gate main event that he strikes differently, with most of his kicks placed with his ankle at an acute angle. It’s a different way to go about using kicks, but it looks impressive so nothing is really gained or lost with the use of a different technique.

-After seeing the horrific bump that Mark Briscoe took on his head that caused him to sustain a severe concussion (Don West would call it a SUPER SEVERE CONCUSSION), what is truly scary is not the fall, but the reaction to it from the fans. The match was going along pretty decently until Mark’s bad landing, but the crowd just got taken right out of it with that move. It was a scary quiet. To be honest, while the match continued in order to get over the story that Jay had to fight on his own, they could have taken it home a lot earlier and had the same effect. No matter what these guys did to each other, it just didn’t “feel” right. Nothing got pop or heat except for the finish and the title change. And when that happens, you might as well have just cut out the middle man and gone right to it, especially so that Jay could get back to Mark and check up on his that much faster.

I do have to give a lot of credit to the work done post production by Dave Prazak, Lenny Leonard and Gabe, erm, Jimmy Bower. Knowing what they knew weeks later, that Mark was going to recover and that he would continue to wrestle, these three took the incident and treated it incredibly well, in fact as best as they could under the circumstances. At the same time that they expressed their concern and got over the crowd’s concern about the injury, they were also able to change their announcing “on the fly” as it were, to address how the injury affected Jay Briscoe, both emotionally (as the psychological impact of his brother being hurt on the floor while he had to continue to wrestle and couldn’t check on him) and in terms of ring psychology (Jay was now on his own and had to win the title two on one). They also did something very clever. Although we never “heard” it, Bower related the conversation that Mark had with Jay, telling him to go on and to continue to wrestle. The commentators also treated the injury seriously but not in that “Owen Hart has just died” tone of voice. Rather, they were matter of fact and up front about the situation, and at the same time gave “status reports” that Mark could feel his legs and arms and could talk, so that while there was drama in the situation it did not at any time feel over manipulative or exploitive or tacky. This is a hard line to walk and I think they did about as good a job as they could do with it and serve all the “masters” of the situation–the need to be serious in reporting, to be respectful to what happened, and to use the injury as best as they could to sell the rest of the match.

-The situation was such that when the Motor (Murder? Uma? Oprah? Who knows?) City Machine Guns came out for their dramatic and surprised appearance and then Shelley used Mark’s injury as part of the storyline; it came across as a dastardly dick heel move. It got over how callous Shelley and Sabin really were. Maybe he would have regretted the line had the injury been really as serious as all that, but since it wasn’t and once again viewers had the foreknowledge of knowing Mark was okay, it was more of a “storyline” heat than a “this is real, how dare they say this now?” heat. There is a huge difference between the two, especially when it comes to the lines of good taste.

-Why you can’t neglect to watch Evans vs. Strong and Aries vs. Strong: These two matches have become the de-facto showdowns in the Gen-Ex breakup. Now that Aries is in limbo and Evans is over in Japan for the foreseeable future, these matches are what remain of the trio’s “factional warfare” feud. It’s a shame to see this issue end (at least for now; if Aries comes back this will pick up again) because these matches were good, I mean really, really good. Evans has just flat out become as close to a “complete” wrestler as he is going to get for his present level of experience. He has totally impressed me with his moves, his strikes and his use of psychology. Evans even has a very well done “serious” promo that gets over his grudge with Strong. A few weeks ago I had expressed concern that even though Strong had been revealed as the attacker on Evans back at the FYF: NYC show that Evans had not done enough to sell the grudge. I take that all back as the promo and the comments he makes while on the way to the ring are dead on for what his character has gone through in his relationship with his friend and now enemy. Kudos to Evans on that as well as some slick moves and dodges during the match. This encounter easily surpasses the match they had on the FIP Strong vs. Evans show.

As far Aries vs. Strong, it’s a bit slower going and more methodical than Strong’s encounter with Evans, but by the halfway point the match and the atmosphere pick up. The post match attacks work as well.

-Some weeks I just don’t understand the internet and how people write their opinions about a wrestler. What I mean by this is that the IWC and the forums can be schizophrenic to an amazing degree. It’s hard to trust what people are saying about a guy when the love and the hate changes from week to week. Look at comments made about Jimmy Rave and BJ Whitmer. Jimmy Rave has some fans who love him and some fans who absolutely hate him. When Rave was preparing for his ROH World Title shot in February, there were pockets of message boarders absolutely ready to riot in protest. They hated that Rave was “being pushed” down the throats of fans. Afterwards? “Rave Wave” threads and increased support for the guy. Upon his return these last few weeks, Rave has received some scary pops, positive response for a guy who is supposed to be a heel AND hated by the internet crowd.

The same goes for BJ Whitmer. Some days this guy is more hated than Hitler. Another wrestler who some message boarders complain is overpushed, boring and not worth being used on the roster. Whitmer was absolutely abhorred by the Connecticut crowd—they didn’t want him to have anything to do with the main event. Whitmer receives a massive crowd pop in NYC (although that may have been more of a by proxy reception because ROH wisely and intentionally sent him out with Prazak as the point man for all the hype). Then he gets SQUASHED by Morishima to an even bigger pop. Then things seem to turn around on the message boards and there is actually some reasonable discussion on the pros and cons of the guy. I’m sure next week there will be a thread somewhere proclaiming Whitmer to be the anti-christ.

Personally I think both men still have a lot of room to grow as wrestlers (different areas for each), but honestly these two are probably in the upper half of the wrestlers you will find on the independent scene.

Going Home

ROH @ 411 This Week

Hot off the press is J.D. Dunn’s reviews of A Night of Tribute, Steel Cage Warfare and Final Battle 2005, some damn fine Ring of Honor programming.

Brad Garoon and Mike Bauer do battle in a game of wits of cunning, ah hell, nah, it’s just 411 Buy or Sell featuring comments on ROH news.

The Fifth Year Festival review coverage kicks off with FYF:NYC as done up by Garoon and Jacob Ziegler.

Honor Bound Links

Meehan has YOUR Saturday News Spectacular.

411 Staff members (although not me this time) cover WWE Judgment Day 2007 in a roundtable review.

Samuel Berman covers an old ECW Independent Midcard favorite, Tajiri vs. Psichosis.

Feltham with the Quick Talkdown on the ending of the Brand Split, at least in spirit if not in name.

Joe Estee covers The Keys to the Game.

Column of Honor favorite Stuart Carapola strikes fast and strikes hard with That Was Then and Friendly Competition, where Jim Cornette can strip you of your title without any rational explanation.

Larry Csonka has the 4R’s to your life.

Rob Halden still thinks You’re An Idiot.

Bayani is having a gay old time at the PWG DDT4 Tag Tournament. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, Truth B Told Bayani is very popular among mixed company, and mixed drinks. Strange things happen when you mix Bacardi and Bayani.

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for the awesome 411 Sunday Paper columns, including your looks at Japan with Destiny and The Navigation Log. Then hit The Triple Threat and Stu’s Ominous news report to psyche yourself up for the WWE PPV.

I want to apologize to some of the readers who entered the Colt Cabana contest who I said I would get back to personally and then didn’t. Its one of those “I meant to do it but time kept slipping by” deals. Again I’m sorry for not getting back to you guys, usually I am very good on the email.

Until next week, drink plenty of OJ, take your vitamin C caplets, say your prayers and WATCH INDEPENDENT WRESTLING!

Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–