Column of Honor: 06.30.07

ROH Results: June 23rd 2007 Chicago Ridge, IL PPV Taping

You can check out full results through this link. I apologize for not having the results form up (only second time in column history), but I’m just not up for it right now.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 06/30/2007

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 11 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: Nigel McGuinness (opponent TBA), 7/16/07, Tokyo, Japan

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)
V.8 defeated Jay Briscoe via pinfall / backdrop driver (6/08/07 Roxbury Crossing, MA)
V.9 defeated Roderick Strong via pinfall / backdrop driver (6/09/07 Philadelphia, PA)
V.10 defeated Jimmy Rave via pinfall / backdrop driver (06/23/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.11 defeated Adam Pearce via pinfall / backdrop driver (06/23/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 7 successful defenses)

Next Defense: SHINGO & YAMATO, 7/17/07, Osaka, Japan

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)
V.5 defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero) (6/09/07, Philadelphia, PA): 2 out of 3 falls- 2 straight falls
V.6 defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (6/22/07, Dayton, OH): 2 out of 3 falls- 2 straight falls
V.7 defeated El Generico & Kevin Steen (6/23/07, Chicago Ridge, IL)

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

ROH Debuts on PPV This Weekend

As we’ve known for a while now, DISH Network subscribers get first crack at ordering the Ring of Honor Pay Per View special Respect Is Earned this weekend. The official debut is Sunday night, July 1st, 2007. Tune into channels 455 and 472 at 8pm for the show.

The countdown is now a week for TVN Networks and twenty days for inDemand / OnDemand stations.

Now, Ring of Honor could not have anticipated what would happen with the Benoit family tragedy and the current negative publicity the WWE (and thusly all of professional wrestling) would be under this week. I don’t think there should be any direct impact specifically connected to the thought that “oh wrestling? Ell that Benoit guy was a wrestler and he was a murderer, so I’m not going to get this PPV!” ROh has from the beginning counted on getting impulse buys from curious viewers. I think a greater concern would be the “internet audience that knows of ROH but doesn’t buy the product for whatever reason but would give it a try for ten bucks on PPV.” Have many of those kinds of fans been disillusioned by the past week’s horrific events? Does anyone want to watch wrestling this week? It’s a curious question.

The multiple replays and taped show format may be the very boon that saves the PPV (if it so happens that it needs to be saved) from a poor performance due to wrestling’s worst nightmares coming true.

For a more detailed breakdown on what you will see on the first ROH Pay Per View, check out my May 19th edition of Column of Honor.

Aries Officially Returns, Signs ROH Contract

Austin Aries is back to stay in ROH!!! Aries has signed his ROH contract and will be on every show after ROH’s tour of Japan. Aries has made it clear that he is after the No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero. The Resilience now have their leader back and faction warfare is back on ROH!!!

This was the news that had me on cloud nine over the last weekend. As most readers know, I’ve had the “Free Aries” watch going on for over a month now and I thought I might be able to shelve it eventually, I’m happy to do so much sooner than planned.

Aries and TNA agreed to a release the week before his return to ROH, where ironically he was met with “Aries”, ROH!” and “Fuck TNA!” chants. Again, it’s not the popular frame of thought, but if it weren’t for TNA coming to terms with Aries, we might have not seen him again in a ROH ring for quite some time. TNA could have refused to let him go, and things could have become mighty ugly on all sides. I give credit to TNA for taking the right way out for all parties.

ROH now gains a key player on its roster—a senior member who is basically at the height of his popularity without even stepping back into the ring just yet—almost a Matt Hardy going back to WWE in 2004 situation. The fans have a demand for it, and now they will receive what they want.

Not only is Aries back full time for Ring of Honor, but fans can IMMEDIATELY see a video promo he did after his return in the new ROH videowire. I was marking out like crazy for it… even though he’s only really been gone for two months, it feels like forever. It’s a fun promo, even though I agree with everyone who says he does look like Joey Ryan with that new hairdo. But then again, maybe Joey Ryan looks like Austin Aries with the new hairdo…did you ever think about that?

Hero Also Signs Contract, Sweet and Sour Inc. Happy

Aries wasn’t the only one to sign a ROH contract over the weekend. Chris Hero has officially signed with ROH after an intense negotiation by his super agent Larry Sweeney. It was a busy weekend for Sweeney who has also signed Matt Sydal over the weekend to a contract with Sweeney’s Sweet & Sour Incorporated. Sweeney made sure ROH officials met all his demands when it came to Hero.

Hmmm…looks like after all those complaints and calls for the Hero Worshippers to riot in “Hero’s Sandwich”, Hero got what he wanted after all. Again, Hero signing with ROH is a terrific move for both Hero and ROH. It looks like Hero and Sweeney will have the next great “super stable” along the lines of The Embassy. I also expect Hero to position himself as a top contender for the ROH World Title after over a year of working hard and proving himself in the company.

ROH Announced 7/16 Card for Japan, McGuiness vs. Morishima to headline

Last week, ROH released the card for their second night of the Japanese tour to take place on July 17th 2007 in Osaka Japan. This week, ROH officially announced the card for the first show, including the big title match most people were speculating about for a while now.

7/16/07-Differ Ariake

1. Jimmy Rave vs. BJ Whitmer
2. Jack Evans & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero
3. Fight Without Honor: Delirious vs. Roderick Strong
4. American Dragon vs. Go Shiosaki
5. Jay & Mark Briscoe/Naomichi Marufuji vs. KENTA/Ricky Marvin/Matt Sydal
6. ROH World Heavyweight Title: Takeshi Morishima © vs. Nigel McGuinness

This is the more NOAH centered show and you can immediately tell because of all the NOAH talent slotted on the card and in particular because of matches two and five. NOAH loves those tags and especially match five looks like it could fit naturally on any show run by NOAH. The Briscoes teaming up with Marufuji while KENTA, Marvin and Sydal form a sort of “all star” striking and flying team is quite the exciting prospect. It also puts Marufuji and KENTA across the ring from each other—which will be an ROH first as they are usually teaming up with each other when appearing on American soil.

Go Shiosaki has a good size and build and a lot of prospective talent, but his match with American Dragon looks fairly uneven in the favor of the Ring of Honor side. Evans is returning to ROH action and is about to pick up his feud with the No Remorse Corps. His is a dream tag of sorts with Kotaro Suzuki. The tables may be starting to turn for the NRC given their level competition is about to increase.

Delirious and Strong have been locked in a feud since February when Strong injured Delirious. I’m happy to see them transplant a “pure” ROH feud and bring it to the Japanese fans. This is prove it or lose it time for Delirious since he has been only 50-50 in tag matches against the NRC and has come up empty handed in singles matches against Roderick Strong.

Is Nigel winning the title in Japan? I kind of think so. The stars seemed to be aligned given Morishima’s lack of being booked on future ROH shows, the “big match” feel these two have when put together and the fact that this is a rematch and Nigel is riding a wave of momentum thanks to pinning Morishima in a tag match back on June 22nd.

Then again, would it make sense for there to already be a new champion the month of your ppv debut with another man set to be on television as champion? That would be confusing for the PPV buyer the new fan who buys a PPV anyway. Besides, Bryan Danielson has yet to receive any title shot, and he will be seen getting the big win against McGuinness, the current #1 contender, at the second ROH PPV shown in September (look, I’ve gone cross eyed).

I think I would wait until the 3rd PPV taping in September for the change, perhaps to Danielson or perhaps to McGuinness via a three way dance (which had been hinted at during the first PPV taping). The September taping would air in November, plenty of time for the timelines to come together without any real awkward continuity problems.

Matt Sydal Gets TNA Tryout…Sweeney’s Fault?

According to PWInsider.com “Matt Sydal, who works regularly for Ring of Honor and in Japan for Dragon Gate (and was featured as the heel model character in Wrestling Society X) is scheduled to appear at the Impact tapings this Monday in Orlando, Florida.”

This is a bit of a shock to the system of ROH fans who had become comfortable with the new roster and that certain ROH wrestlers were under contract and would not be “stolen” by TNA or WWE. Sydal may be one of the few wrestlers to not be under contract, or it may be an opportunity for Sydal that ROH does not want to stand in the way.

Gabe’s smartly worked response on the message boards put the whole thing in kayfabed terms: ROH Gabe posted: To clarify, this is the work of Larry Sweeney. Sydal signed a contract with Sweet & Sour Inc. and now super agent Larry Sweeney is shopping him around for the highest dollar. Sydal is still scheduled for all upcoming ROH shows.

That’s pretty damned hilarious. It puts all the heat on Sydal and Sweeney to make them even more heinous in their actions.

Sports Plus Long Island Show Changed to Deer Park Community Center

“Race To The Top: Night 1” will be the biggest tournament in ROH history and it will kick off on July 27th in Long Island. Due to Sports Plus closing its doors at the end of June, this huge event has been moved to the Deer Park Community Center in Deer Park, NY on Long Island. All tickets already purchased for Sports Plus will be honored at the door in Deer Park. This is a small venue with really intimate seating so we urge you to get your tickets now at www.ROHwrestling.com or by calling 215-781-2500.

Ring Of Honor
July 27th, 2007- 8pm start
Deer Park Community Center
41 Homer Avenue
Deer Park, NY 11729

DPCC is a smaller venue than Sports Plus and if it looks anything at all like the college community center that ROH ran sometimes in early 2003 (Round Robin Challenge II: Retribution in West Mifflin, PA), ROH is going to need to do their best to dress up the locale to bring it up to par.

One of the things I remember from that show was a girl who was up in the bleachers. She looked straight ahead or down on the floor the entire show. She did not move once. She didn’t applaud once, or chant or shout. She was just…there. A wrestling zombie. I couldn’t help but look at her and she if she moved at all, but she didn’t at all.

Race to the Top Tournament Field Announced, Briscoes vs. McGuinness / Danielson

Long Island will see the eight first round matches in this 16 man single elimination tournament that will conclude the next night in Edison, NJ. There will be much more besides the tournament matches in Deer Park. Nigel McGuinness & Bryan Danielson teamed up on June 22nd in Dayton, OH to defeat the NOAH all star duo of ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji. ROH officials believe that this has earned them a World Tag Team Title shot. It will be ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. McGuinness & Danielson and if The Briscoes are still champs the belts will be on the line. It doesn’t get any bigger than this when arguably the best team in the world takes on two of the top singles wrestlers going today.

First round of the “Race To The Top” tourney with:
-Making his ROH return Jack Evans
-BJ Whitmer
-Brent Albright
-Chris Hero
-Claudio Castagnoli
-Davey Richards
-Delirious
-El Generico
-Erick Stevens
-Hallowicked
-Jigsaw
-Kevin Steen
-Matt Cross
-Matt Sydal
-Mike Quackenbush
-Pelle Primeau

Plus more to be signed with Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, Jimmy Rave, Gran Akuma, Daizee Haze and more!!!

The Briscoes have had to deal with super teams before in their title runs, most notably during their first run whenever Samoa Joe would try to find a partner to take the belts from them. I believe Danielson was even one of those partners. McGuinness and Danielson are definitely a super team, but they have huge egos and they don’t really get along that entirely well. While they might outmatch Jay & Mark in technical prowess, The Briscoes’ cohesion and unity will keep them ahead of their competition in this match.

Most of the mid card of the ROH roster is in the field for the Race To The Top Tournament, so this is truly a valid opportunity for these guys to start breaking out of the pack. There are a few wrestlers who are more “upper card” such as Albright and Castagnoli who could be a spoiler. My guess is the finalists will be Hero and either Claudio or Davey Richards.

Third Pay Per View to Chicago

We want to thank the great fans of Chicago for creating a tremendous atmosphere for ROH’s second PPV taping last Saturday. ROH is thrilled to announce that we’ll return to Chicago to tape PPV #3 on 9/15. Tickets are on sale now at ROHwrestling.com. Chicago made it so special the first time that we will do it again in September.

Woah, woah woah…wait a minute! What happened to New York City? We were the first! We were absolutely insane with our atmosphere! We should get another shot at it!

Okay, I’m sounding petty and jealous…but damn it I am!

I could have sworn the August 25th, 2007 show back in Manhattan would have been the third PPV. Actually its smart to hold off on the taping until mid September in order to get a closer time period to the November timeslot it will occupy. ROH will also be able to distribute all of its summer shows without much delay.

SHIMMER Action This Weekend

SHIMMER Women Athletes will hold a live event this Sunday, July 1st, at the Citrus County Auditorium (3610 S. Florida Ave/Highway 41) in Inverness, FL. Bell time is 6pm. Doors open at 5pm. Tickets are only $10 for adults and just $5 for kids 13 and under, and will be available at the door. The show is suitable for all ages. “American Angel” Sara Del Rey will defend the SHIMMER Championship against Lacey in a rematch of the tournament finals, Amazing Kong will battle Nikki Roxx in a rematch from Volume 5, Allison Danger faces Cindy Rogers in a 2 out of 3 falls contest, MsChif vs. Daizee Haze, Cheerleader Melissa vs. Rain, plus Daffney, Serena Deeb, The Experience, and more SHIMMER stars in action! Visit www.shimmerwrestling.com for more information on the show.

Sounds like a great card with tons of matches centered around established rivalries from earlier shows. Del Rey gets to show her stuff as champion, Kong will be massively intimidating (and probably as massively over as Nikki Roxx) while MsChif vs. Haze is an intriguing match up of the color green vs. green (both like to include the color into their wrestling outfit). Danger and Rogers have a grudge based off of Rogers’ heel turn. This might be their “All Star Extravaganza” of SHIMMER shows given the strength of that card. These are solid and exciting matches delivered by the women wrestlers and again I feel everyone should check out at least one SHIMMER DVD to see women’s wrestling done right.

ROH vs. CHIKARA, Round 1

In a Chikara Podcast exclusive video, CHIKARA Director of Fun Leonard F. Chikarison has announced a dream match for its August 5th 2007 “Maximum Overdraft” show would feature a ROH vs. CHIKARA dream match between current ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes and CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas Gran Akuma and Icarus (F.I.S.T.)

No doubt this match has come to fruition because of the success of the CHIKARA wrestlers including Gran Akuma at the FIP and ROH shows. F.I.S.T. have slowly but surely built up the prestige and value of CHIKARA’s main titles. They have succeeded in defending their titles against the teams that have proven their value by winning three matches in a row. Since The Briscoes don’t have said matches, the match will be non title at least on the CHIKARA side. It remains to be seen if The Briscoes will put up the belts should they still have it come August 5th.

Hero’s Sandwich

This week, for the first and only time in my life, I have nothing wrestling related to say. All pettiness aside, this is not the time, nor the place for me to say anything. It would be totally and utterly inappropriate. But next week? That’s a different story.

Going Home

Ringtones

This was a huge email week, so I’ve posted them all here with my responses.

seaneb14 has a very interesting suggestion as to who should be next in line for champion:

Who should really get the title off Morishima. Jack Evans. Not a joke. You have a guy who is universally loved by both Japanese and ROH fans. He’s becoming so scary good in the ring that it’s hard for anyone to keep up. The match itself would be great. Evans on the defense the entire time. Getting pumbled and stretched beyond belief. Hitting a few high spots here and there to make it look like he has a chance. Getting the match to go on longer than most Morishima matches. Tiring him out. Finally Morishima gets tired and sloppy. He goes for the backdrop driver to put an end to this nonsense and go back to being a pimp, but Evans gets out of it. He hits a flurry of kicks straggering the big man. He goes for a dropkick, but Morishima pushes him out of the way and gets pissed and even more sloppy. He goes for a lariot, but Evans ducks out the way. He pushes Mori onto the middle rope and hits a 619. A lariot by Evans takes Mori down. He goes up and hits the 630! 1…2…3! The crowd goes nuts and Evans is the champ. Out comes the lockerroom to congratulate Evans on his win. Out comes Roderick Strong and the NRC to stare down the new champ. Roderick makes the that’s my title gesture, because he has 2 wins over Evans. Morishima hands the title to Evans and walks away. Now you have a champion who’s flexible in that he can work with small guys and have spotfests, but can work as the sympathetic babyface to the big guys. He has a number of opponents such as Nigel, Dragon, Morishima, Strong, Richards, Sydal, BJ, Jacobs who all have a legit shot at the title. He can defend against Dragon Gate guys while in Japan. Evans Vs. CIMA, Shingo, Dragon Kid would be great matches and help get the title over more. I think it’s the best move possible. Do you think it would work. I know he’s in Japan a lot, but so is Morishima now. He would stop by more frequently if the title was on him, and I think the ROHbots would go nuts for it. He could be a transitional or long running champ, because the fans would dig it either way.

Seriously, that is a great scenario, and kind of reminds me of Eddie Guerrero-Brock Lesnar from No Way Out 2004. The huge underdog throwing everything he can against the giant, who gets overconfident and ultimately loses because of it. However I think you also provide your own negative to the situation in Evans’ availability. Evans’ stays in Japan are incredibly long, like two to three months at a time. With ROH basically running every two weeks, it would take some very difficult and well thought out planning to make sure Evans could fulfill both his international commitments and his commitments as champion to ROH. Yes, Evans defending internationally on Dragon Gate shows would be very good for the reputation of the title as a “world” title, but ROH is still predominately an American promotion and if he can’t make the dates in the U.S.A. on a regular basis, he shouldn’t be on top. There were major concerns about Morishima and whether or not he would be able to make the ROH dates in concert with his NOAH obligations, but to his credit and NOAH’s, Morishima has made appearances on every show since April. Would Evans be able to do the same as champion?

I think the current booking right now is clearing positioning three people as the main contenders to take the title from Morishima: Danielson, McGuinness and Albright as a potential dark horse candidate. I don’t think Evans will be the right choice for now, but in the future it could work against a similar giant sized wrestler like say Albright. Everyone has their time to shine and I think Evans will definitely make his mark in ROH as a champion. Maybe ROH World, maybe ROH tag and maybe even FIP champion, where he could face off directly against Roderick and take what’s important to him.

sean then came back in with a second email about the subject, posted after the Benoit tragedy:

Hey, man. I know this a rough time for all wrestling fans, so reply when you fell up to it. Right now I’m just trying to get things back to normal. I’m really having a hard time figuring out other solutions for the title. Danielson as champion, in my mind, doesn’t work. It would be fun to have him be the first 2 time champ, but who does he defend against? There’s almost no new blood for him to face. He had a good year and a half reign where he did almost everything he could do. They don’t seem to ever want to pull the trigger on Nigel, because it’s hard to book him as champion. His character is too much of a guy who always comes this close, but never gets it done. His heel pure title reign worked, because he was heel, but I don’t think they’re going to turn him again. What I think may work, is if they have Nigel almost beat Morishima. Maybe even somewhat injure Mori. Then the next title shot, Dragon wins the title against the weakened monster. Then have Nigel pull an Owen after Dragon’s win, just staring at him from the entrance. Then you have a feud to work, with Nigel being pissed because he was the one who should’ve beat Morishima, and Dragon wouldn’t have won if it weren’t for him. I have no clue, but knowing Gabe’s booking, he probably has something grand in store for the big switch. Also, why do you think that none of the “Big names” in NOAH aren’t going to be at the Tokyo show. No Misawa, etc. Later man.

Second response: Danielson may not have as many ready made opponents who are fresh out of the box for a second go round as champion, but there are a few such as Claudio Castagnoli. Chris Hero (he only had that one shot) and Brent Albright. I think the more important factor here is what would you be able to do storyline wise with Danielson as champion and I don’t think it would be different enough from his first title run at this point in order to give it another go. That is the opposite of what a second run for Austin Aries would look like, as he not only has plenty of wrestlers who he hasn’t matched up with yet in ROH, but you look at the NRC storyline and can see just how much the ROH World title could play as a sort of “pride war” between Aries and Strong (and even Evans). The thing is, Danielson is clearly being positioned back in the main event and is a prime suspect for another title run simply because he is in that upper tier already.

Regarding your comments about Nigel being the guy who is “this close”; that is the story of Danielson, CM Punk, James Gibson and even Homicide. Each man was “this close” to winning the title on several occasions and was devastated when it didn’t happen. McGuinness had a few shots against Danielson and one so far against Morishima, and now its his turn to play the “this close” card. The thing is in ROH, eventually “this close” leads the way to a dramatic and title win and “VICTORY!” The last few months has been “Nigel’s story” so to speak and I think Gabe will end it with a title win, if not in Japan, then at some point in 2007.

As for why no bigger name such as Misawa on these cards, well, ROH wrestlers are typically more junior size and style wrestlers. Having big guys like Misawa, Rikio and Takiyama would make the ROH guys look dwarfed in size. It’s about the perceptions of appearance. Plus who would you match them up against? It looks like Hero, Castagnoli and Albright aren’t on the tour (as yet). Those are the bigger guys on the roster and the ones who would have a shot of looking like they can hang in there with the big guys. Yes, we know they can, but to the Japanese fans, who knows? Their culture has always been about pairing big with big and small with small. Maybe ROH is holding off announcing more matches (six for each show is kind of low) so we may see those talents yet, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

John Mabery also wants to talk the Japan shows:

I’m sure by the time you’ll read this, you’ll have seen the cards for the
Japan shows next month. But if you haven’t, check them out so I can discuss
some points with you.

I know ROH likes to do the long term booking thing, but at the same time I
can’t help but be weary that they could risk missing the boat again on some
big potential matches based on logical booking. It’s a double-edged sword
really, and I know either way the matches will be huge and spectacular, but
I just think they need to be more careful when building up things like this,
especially “dream matches” with Japanese talent.

I can’t really disagree with the points that you’re making. ROH did miss out on Samoa Joe-KENTA and that’s one of their biggest mistakes (besides missing out on Joe-Ki II) that they’ve made. That said, there’s only so much that can be done at any time.

CIMA / Delirious would be an excellent match that previous booking has hinted towards. The only major point against it is that is hasn’t been played up or played out in any real way via promos or mention from the announcers. In storyline, Delirious is more occupied with the NRC. I think while the match would be great, there would be no current or pressing reason for them to go at it. I see KENTA and CIMA teaming up as the bigger selling point on the 7/17 show. That is a dream pairing for the Japanese fans because even though NOAH and Dragon Gate have crossed over on each others’ shows, KENTA has never done anything with that and it would be his first interactions with CIMA. I think fans would be really into that.

As you mentioned, Briscoes are already rematching with Suzuki and Marvin for the NTV Cup… I don’t think ROH wants to step on anybody’s toes when it comes to that match. I would love to see a six man tag with each team adding a partner, but ah well.

Ultimately I am disappointed so far with the undercard of the Japan matches (I don’t think Danielson or McGuinness are being used right), but there is a lot of good stuff happening in the upper card and main events. Given the ROH World title match between McGuinness and Morishima for the NOAH show, we could be looking at an automatic success no matter what else is on the card. They work too well together for them be a let down.

This leads to a good segue for my good IM buddy Paul, who chimes in on McGuinness vs. Morishima:

NEW CHAMP!

Morishima’s reign of fluffyness ends here.

Well, I wouldn’t characterize Morishima’s “reign” as “fluffiness” although perhaps that word applies to some other…character descriptions about him. I think as the months progressed he’s had a good title run. Obviously he has been protected in most matches to be presented as this big and strong monster, but along the way he has had very good give and take matches with McGuinness, SHINGO and Strong. Some fans have taken to him and some have not—I think that particular issue of crowd interaction and crowd emotion will always be a sticking point with the American fans—not because he is a foreigner (since the fans connect very well to Marufuji and KENTA and CIMA), but because Morishima doesn’t wear his emotion on his sleeve. He doesn’t use his face to express emotions as much as he should and he comes across as a more stoic fighter than anything else. I agree that the timing seems right for a switch, see my comments above in the news.

Stu Carapola gives me a fun topic to work on to block my mind of the whole Benoit situation:

I’d imagine a question you get from time to time would be something along
the lines of “If you wanted to make somebody an ROH fan, which 3
shows/matches would you show them?” Well, I have a similar question, which
is…if you had to pick three ROH wrestlers to show somebody to try and
convert them to ROHism, who would it be and why?:

Really good question Stu, and quite frankly I need something to take my mind off the Benoit stuff.

Austin Aries–I can’t quite explain it, but the casual (not hardcore ROH fan) really gets into his act. On separate occasions, I’ve shown two wrestling fans who hadn’t seen any ROH wrestling the Aries-Joe Final battle 2004 match. Both times each remarked at the talent of Aries. He’s very exciting in the ring and for a smaller guy one of the more charismatic types. He just pops off the page as a “lead” guy. I should note one of my friends was aware of Samoa Joe at the time, but to the other friend he was also a revelation.

Jack Evans–You cannot watch one of his matches and not be impressed by his high flying ability. You can’t take your eyes off of him because of 1) the attitude of his character and 2) the insane moves he pulls off. I’d stick to showing late 2006 / 2007 matches though because that is when he really tightened up his act and became more accurate with his flying. He doesn’t crash and burn nearly as much as he did years ago.

Bryan Danielson–When you look at wrestling and wrestlers, Danielson is who a “pure” wrestler is supposed to be. He is a modern day throwback (i know that’s an oxymoron) to guys like Sammartino and Backlund. I think there would be a little resistance because of his appearance, but once someone sees him in the ring, its hard not to like his act.

I think I would give honorable mention to Claudio, because his improvement in the ring these last few years is tremendous and he is always coming up with something new and different and yet it’s something that works well within the match. And who doesn’t like European Uppercuts?

**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)
**ECWA Super 8 Tournament 2001 (Danielson / Low Ki, Danielson / Reckless Youth, Low Ki / Billy Fives, Danielson / Spanky)
**ROH FWA IPW:UK Frontiers of Honor 2 (Sydal / Richards, Cabana / Burridge, JC Thunder / Nigel McGuinness, Danielson / Brookside / Stone)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Two (Necro Butcher/Super Dragon, Hero/Horiguchi, Evans/Castagnolli)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Three (Generico / CIMA, Hero, Claudio, Necro, Romero / Cabana, Quicksilver, M-Dogg 20, Delirious, Generico / Sabin, Richards / Strong, Evans/ Horiguchi, Richards / CIMA)
**Chikara The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (Quackenbush / Akuma, Steel / Steel, Sweeney / Kingston, Hair vs. Mask: Jigsaw / Icarus)
**Chikara King of Trios Night One (Order of the Neo Solar Temple / Los Ice Creams, Miyawaki, Yago & KUDO / Iron Saints, Sweeny, Eliis and Ryder vs. Neo Solar Temple POSEDOWN, Shima Xion / Nobutaka Moribe)
**SHIMMER Volume 7 (Daizee Haze/Cheerleader Melissa, Mercedes Martinez/LuFisto, Sara Del Rey/Nattie Neidhart)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Two (Sabin, Shelley and Dutt vs. Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Shane Storm / Hallowicked, Cheech and Cloudy vs. Lince Dorado, Pantera and Sicodelico Jr. / Olsen Twins vs. Miyagi and Yago / Quack T-Shirt Squad vs. Boyer and 2.0)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Three (Pantera, Lince Dorado & Sicodelico, Jr. vs. Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm / Kings Of Wrestling vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli / Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Ray / Mokujin Ken vs. Mecha Mummy / Matt Sydal vs. Hallowicked)
**UWA Hardcore: Hour of the Dragon (Ultimo Dragon / Black Tiger, Chris Sabin / Josh Prohibition, Mike Quackenbush / Claudio Castagnoli, Tyler Black / Josh Ambercrombie)
**Fight Sports Midwest: Chapter One (Samoa Joe / Eddie Kingston, Larry Sweeney / Bryan Alvarez, Josh Ambercrombie / Austin Aries, Hydra / “Old Timer” Jeff King) **Fight Sports Midwest: Chapter Two (Alex Shelley / Low Ki, Mike Quackenbush / Tiger Mask IV, Human Tornado / Josh Ambercrombie)

**CHIKARA: Rey De Voladores (Chris Hero / Claudio Castagnoli, Chuck Taylor / Lince Dorado, Cheech & Cloudy / F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma & Icarus), Chuck Taylor / Ricochet / Pac / Retail Dragon) (NEW ADDITION)

“Rey De Voladores” translates to King of High Fliers and this show features an 8 man field that is vying for said prize and said title. The tournament is bracketed into two four man elimination style matches with the winners facing off in a one on one match. The matches are fun, albeit sloppy at times. The better of the two blocks is the one where England sensation, “The Man that Gravity Forgot”, PAC, gets to show his stuff. This man has made his mark in PWG and on the two ROH shows in the UK and he also stands out against the competition in CHIKARA. Lince Dorado and Chuck Taylor make it to the finals and have a very solid outing, dominated by Taylor. Although for some reason on this show (and on “Time Will Prove Everything, which I also purchased but am not recommending) he doesn’t shine as well as he did in his first few appearances for the company (King of Trios Tournament). It may be Lince Dorado is more accustomed to six man situations, but he came off sometimes as a bit lacking in confidence, messing up on one or two moves. It was surprising to see Taylor control the match the way he did, but it does provide a strong story for the bout. Generally though I’m impressed by Dorado and he’s got the skills to do well in the sport if he’s a bit tighter in his moves.

The rest of the show is solid if weaker than past CHIKARA DVDs I have purchased. The middle of the show is particularly slow and off, and that’s surprising given you have a Larry Sweeney match and Eddie Kingston in the mid card. I’m happy that Shane Storm finally used the STOP / SLOW sign in a match on a DVD I purchased (I was thinking he didn’t know how to use it ala Shane Douglas and his skateboard when he was in WCW). Eddie Kingston is a riot but his “match” with Hallowicked isn’t a match but rather an extended (but fun) beat down. Lance Steel returns as a rudo “black knight” and unfortunately that becomes a one note joke. The show turns around with a wicked (and at times disgusting) encounter between BLK OUT and The Colony. Sabian and Joker are rudo to the core and some of their tactics may be well over the line of good taste (but I guess that’s really a compliment since that’s how they work best).

The real reason to get this DVD is Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli. These two guys turn in the performance of the night against each other. It’s twenty minutes of wrestling—and really good wrestling at that. The advantage of not only knowing each other but work with and against each other for so long is that now when these guys are paired up, you’re guaranteed to get something worth watching. This is the match where Mike Quackenbush is special guest referee and if Hero loses, he must become Claudio’s butler and if Claudio loses he must rejoin the Kings of Wrestling. Quack’s ties with both men come into play rather quickly, leading up to Quack vs. Hero at “Anniverario?”

The main event is the Campeones de Parejas between Up In Smoke and Team F.I.S.T. This is the match where Cloudy projectile vomits several times, thanks in part to Akuma kicking the ever loving hell out of him. The good thing is that the commentary team uses that unfortunate event to play into the match. They praise the courageousness of Cloudy and how Cheech needs to rally from behind because of the dangerous situation. In effect, they turn a negative into a positive. Aside from the vomit incidents (there’s more than one), the match is actually very enjoyable. Up In Smoke look like they have a real shot at winning the titles thanks to their combination attacks, until Cloudy goes and pukes and then their title shot goes, well, up in smoke.

The ROH List
**Fifth Year Festival: NYC (Samoa Joe / Morishima, Homicide / Rave, Briscoes / Cabana & McGuinness, Albright / Whitmer, Evans / SHINGO / Xavier / Jacobs)
**Fifth Year Festival: Philly (Homicide / Morishima, Sydal & Daniels / SHINGO & Evans, Briscoes / Generico & Steen, Castagnoli / Aries, McGuinness / Perkins)
**Fifth Year Festival: Chicago (Morishima & McGuinness / Joe & Homicide, Cabana / Jacobs, Strong & Richards / Aries & Cross, Daniels & Sydal / The Briscoes, Albright / Castagnoli)
**Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Joe / McGuinness, ROH World Tag Team Titles: The Briscoes / Doi & SHINGO / FIP Title: Strong / PAC, 2/3 Falls: Delirious / Matt Sydal) **Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Joe / Homicide, Fight Without Honor: McGuinness / Rave, ROH World Tag Team Titles: Doi & SHINGO / Richards and Strong, Sydal / PAC, Falls Count Anywhere: Whitmer / Jacobs)
**All Star Extravaganza III (ROH vs. Dragon Gate 8 Man Tag, Strong / Evans, Mochizuki / Richards, Cabana / Sydal / Hero / Pearce, Homicide / Daniels)
**Supercard of Honor II (CIMA, SHINGO and Yokosuka / Dragon Kid / Saito / Mochikzuki, Strong / Aries, Whitmer / Jacobs, Evans & Doi / Richards and Romero, McGuinness / Hero, Daniels & Sydal / Delirious & Jay Briscoe)
**Fighting Spirit (ROH World Title: McGuinness / Morishima, Jay Briscoe and Erick Stevens Mark Briscoe / El Generico & Kevin Steen, Evans & Delirious / Strong & Romero, Claudio / Romero, Cabana / Williams)
**The Battle of St. Paul (ROH World Title: Morishima / Aries, FIP Title: Strong / Daniels, Delirious / Stevens / Romero / Evans, Albright & Pearce / Homicide & Cabana/ ROH World Tag Titles Ultimate Endurance) (NEW ADDITION)

I’ll have comments on this DVD and “Good Times, Great Memories” in next week’s column.

This section needs your help! If you want to recommend some good independent wrestling to your fellow internet readers out there, drop me a line for the column.

ROH @ 411 This Week

Brad Garoon provides the SHIMMER love with his review of Volume 3

Garoon and Ziegler team up for their review of Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool.

One more from Garoon as he takes on the best of Naomichi Marufuji as GHC Heavyweight Champion.

It’s the last week of Briscoes month for Samuel Berman in his Independent Mid Card as he looks at Briscoe vs. Briscoe III back at FYF: Finale

Honor Bound Links

The 411 Independent Draft continues onward. I’m really excited about this project and hope those of you that click onto my card will enjoy my presentation. As well as the others, but…mine more than theirs…hehe. Anyway, check out Rounds 6-15 in the draft and then our post draft card hype.

I’m going to give PWG a bit of indie love here by linking to Magnus Donaldson’s reviews of 44 Ways To Kill You With a Pimento and Battle of Los Angeles 2006 Night 1.

Speaking of PWG, it’s the Buy or Sell showdown the wrestling zone staff has been waiting for as Michael Bauer faces off against PWG’s favorite nacho purchaser Bayani Domingo in a battle for world dominance.

I just want to point out a few of my favorite Benoit related columns over the last few days.

John Meehan has perhaps the DEFINITIVE look at the week that was in his Saturday Spectacular. It’s an incredibly long look at all the sides of the story in the Benoit murder-suicide situation, including countering many of the arguments made over the last week affixing blame t certain peoples and / or causes. It’s pertinent, well argued and thus will probably offend a ton of people.

Samuel Berman has the bravest and one of the most personal write ups I’ve ever seen in the history of 411 Mania and it is absolutely a must read. I’m very proud of him as a fellow writer and a fellow person that he put his story out there.

More about it from Bayani, Sforcina and Stuart.

For non-Benoit related columns,

Check out: Ask 411, You’re An Idiot, Friendly Competition and High Road / Low Road.

Finally of note this week, the Copacabana in NYC is closing down this weekend to make way for a subway extension. It’s actually the third time the club has closed or changed locations and the owner is vowing to move it to another location. It just goes to show you that like Colt Cabana and his move to OVW, you can change the location, but the identity and its soul remains the same.

Next week I’ll be on vacation upstate in New York. I will have the column up and write it myself, but most likely it will be a day or so late.

For those of you ordering the PPV this weekend, enjoy you lucky dogs! Send in some correspondence with your thoughts about the show! You know, you can do that whole “thumbs up / thumbs down” “best match / worst match” deal or just whatever comes to mind.

Stay strong everyone. Have a good July 4th weekend! Brooklyn!
–Ari–