Column of Honor: 07.21.07 Part Two

Race to the Top Tournament “Top Form”

Long time readers might be aware of my patented never coming, copyright nowhere in sight, Survival Score System! I used a matrix of factors during the Survival of the Fittest Tournaments to determine who might make it into the finals. Of course, the blasted thing ended up being completely inaccurate and unreliable! Of course, that won’t stop me from bringing it out again! I’ve been working out the kinks in the system, y’know, banging on the machinery (because it always works when you hit the machine on the firtz) and I think this time I may have it all worked out… maybe.

Here is the Race to the Top Tournament Top Form—a capsule profile of the participants in the sixteen man single elimination tournament. Four factors determined the participants’ final score—experience in the wrestling business and in ROH action, strength, power and wrestling ability (of all forms including technical, brawling, submission and flight), stamina (how much of a beatdown the wrestler can take and how long he can wrestle in a match) and finally the ability to finish a match (finisher power, determination and ingenuity in finding a way to win when it counts).

Bracket A
BJ Whitmer
Strengths: Whitmer’s power moves are a true advantage against the rest of the field. An array of suplexes, powerbombs and strikes including the shining knee and a fine lariat are offensive moves with oomph to them. Most people forget he also has a devastating jumping tombstone piledriver (The Adrenaline Spike) that he can bring out as a “one and done” finisher. Whitmer also has a never say die attitude that can get him past the scrapes and bruises of a particularly painful match—that can take him far in the second night if he makes it past the qualifier.
Weaknesses: Whitmer’s temper has been getting the best of him lately—he needs to use that as a motivating factor and not a distraction that could get him disqualified. Whitmer is also on a several show win streak and that could play heavily on my mind.
Top Form:
experience (25): 23
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 21
stamina (25): 22
ability to finish (25): 13
= 79 points

Pelle Primeau
Strengths: Pelle has come a long way in a year, adding both in ring experience and a wider repetoire of moves. Pelle loves performing combination moves, like his double stomp, senton, elbowdrop, la majistral combo. He also has a quick stunner to roll up that has caught many an opponent by surprise. With the Top of the Class trophy in his possession, Pelle has a renewed confidence in himself, even if he is still usually the underdog in his matches. He’s plucky, tries hard and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score the upset.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately experience and stamina are a worry for Pelle. He still doesn’t have enough ring time to truly feel out what it is to perform in the big moment. He also doesn’t have a ton of tournament experience. Pelle also gets beat up a lot, and while he can take a good licking, his small frame can’t last for long against larger competition continually pounding on him.
Top Form:
experience (25): 5
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 10
stamina (25): 10
ability to finish (25): 8
= 33 points

Davey Richards
Strengths: Richard’s strikes pose a constant and consistent threat for any of his opponents. He can do a quick hit or a stiff hit and still make a dent in the armor of his opponents. His moves hurt. He also has a far more arrogant attitude thanks to his time in the No Remorse Corps, and with that comes supreme confidence in his abilities and little regard for his opponent’s well being. He will do anything to get the win, and that makes him dangerous. Richards also has plenty of tournament experience in both ROH and other independent wrestling companies.
Weaknesses: Richards may be full of himself and full of confidence, but he needs to realize he isn’t the only one out there who has the talent to pull off the W. An overconfidence could lead to an under estimation of his opponent. Richards may take the wrong opportunity to gloat that he’s “winning”, and then he will get caught unawares by his opponent. Richards’ overall wrestling experience leaves something to be desired, as there are other wrestlers in the field who have put in far more time in the business than him.
Top Form:
experience (25): 15
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 21
stamina (25): 20
ability to finish (25): 20
= 76 points

Jigsaw
Strengths: A student of Mike Quackenbush, so he has been trained well and knows his stuff. He has a great superkick and an awesome finisher known as the “Jig and Tonic” (which resembles the impact driver that Sydal used sometimes in 2006 ROH action). Jigsaw also has a strange charisma about him and gets the fans behind him easily, which results in a confidence boost and an ability to generate a second wind of momentum for himself in matches. Jig has been in plenty of tag tournaments over in CHIKARA and has won the Young Lions Cup there and most recently the King of Trios tournament along with Quackenbush and Shane Storm.
Weaknesses: Jigsaw is still relatively young to the business, and therefore sometimes reaches too far out of his skill set and gets caught trying something wacky and high risk., The level of competition in this tournament is ratcheted up far beyond the previous tourneys with which he has been involved. Can Jigsaw’ stamina hold up?
Top Form:
experience (25): 10
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 15
stamina (25): 11
ability to finish (25): 13
= 49 points

Bracket B
Erick Stevens
Strengths: Power, power and more power. Erick Stevens comes in and dominates matches with his mass and his power moves. He and Brent Albright are the grapplers with the distinct power advantage in tournament and they are in separate brackets so it’s conceivable these two may eventually meet during the tournament. Stevens also has a ton of motivation to prove himself as a top tier athlete in ROH. He is already the Full Impact Pro Hertitage champion, so he knows what it is like to achieve and be successful. The question becomes can that success in Florida translate to ROH. The crowd has also taken to Stevens and have been impressed with his outings in the company. Crowd support may make him out to be one of the more resilient wrestlers here.
Weaknesses: Like a few other wrestlers in the tournament, Stevens is relatively young and inexperienced in bigger match situation. Against wiley veterans such as Chris Hero, Stevens may find himself being taken advantage of and falling victim to cheating gone undetected by the referee. Another weakness is his technical ability, which is not up to par with his opponent in this bracket. Albright needs to minimize that weakness and focus on his strengths to get out of the first round.
Top Form:
experience (25): 12
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 22
stamina (25): 16
ability to finish (25): 13
= 63 points

Chris Hero with, Tank Toland & Bobby Dempsey
Strengths: Hero is a multi tool player. He can go technical, lucha, high risk and he can be as dirty as he wants to be. That is one hell of a dangerous package in a tournament like this. Don’t forget about his Sweet and Sour Inc. entourage headed up by Larry Sweeney. These men are a great distraction to opponents and can help Hero pick up the advantage in times of need (not that he would ever need it, as he would tell you himself). Hero has also participated in tons of tournaments, most recently winning the WxW sixteen man tournament in Germany and then Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup 2007 down in Florida. Hero has the stamina and the staying power to go over an hour in matches so endurance is a big factor in his favor should he make it out of the qualifier. Hero is the odds on favorite to win and make it a tournament trifecta in 2007.
Weaknesses: Like Davey Richards, Hero suffers from overconfidence bordering on arrogance. If he underestimates his opponent or takes time to goof off and strike a pose, as he is want to do, he is risking getting caught and hurt badly by his opponent. Hero may come out to Superman’s theme, but he’s not invulnerable. He’s lost his fair share of singles matches in ROH. Also, if Sweet and Sour Incorporated get caught by the referee doing something underhanded, they will be ejected from ringside and there goes his back up.
Top Form:
experience (25): 25
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 22
stamina (25): 22
ability to finish (25): 23
= 92 points

Delirious
Strengths: No one quite knows where the lizard man (allegedly) is coming from when he wrestles. He throws his opponents so off kilter that they forget they actually have to do something against him, like wrestle. Delirious plays the mental game very well and he has some high powered offense to take advantage of momentum. He has a number of finishers, including the Cobra Stretch, Shadows Over Hell, Chemical Imbalance II and the Bizarro Driver and any one of those four is good enough to get the win. Delirious is no stranger to tournaments, winning 2006’s Surivival of the Fittest tournament. He’s also riding high off a huge win against Roderick Strong and can look to capitalize on positive momentum. Delirious is at his best when he’s riding a win streak.
Weaknesses: Of course, sometimes Delriious, own craziness gets the best of him and his tactics can backfire. Against tough competition in the tournament, that can be dangerous and shut the door completely for a tournament win. Delirious’s stamina is also still a question mark, as while he can take a licking, he certainly doesn’t match up to guys like Albright and Hero, who have superior cardiovascular conditioning.
Top Form:
experience (25): 22
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 18
stamina (25): 18
ability to finish (25): 20
= 78 points

El Generico
Strengths: The generic Mexican-Canadian luchador is another fan favorite who gets a ton of help from the crowd. They are the “sixth man” so to speak in his matches. Don’t underestimate his size, because his offense packs some punch. His brainbuster, whether it’s to the match or the turnbuckle, carries some violent impact. As does his running yakuza boot. Generico also has championship experience, holding the current PWG Heavyweight title—he knows what he needs to do to capitalize on big moments.
Weaknesses: Generico has a decent overall package, but doesn’t excel in any one area perhaps besides flying. He is a jack of all trades, master of none. When dealing with aces such as Hero or Delirious, that could be a problem. Strength is also a mitigating factor. While size doesn’t stop Mr. Ole, Generico simply doesn’t have the upper body strength needed to pick up larger opponents. If he makes it past Delirious (a wrestler of a comparable build), that could play a factor in later tournament matches.
Top Form:
experience (25): 15
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 15
stamina (25): 18
ability to finish (25): 15
= 63 points

Bracket C
Claudio Castagnoli
Strengths: Now more than ever, Claudio has become a complete wrestler. His European uppercuts may be his trademark, but if you don’t see through that to some of his other potent offensive moves, then you’ll more likely be staring at the lights at the end of the night. The Match Killer, Alpamare Waterslide, Riccola bomb and so many more moves have that right combination of finesse and impact. Claudio is a veteran of the rings at this point and is a ring leader. He always does extremely well against smaller competition and that’s who he faces in this bracket.
Weaknesses: Claudio is sometimes too easily distracted and for a man of his experience level, often he should know better than to turn his head away from in ring action but he does anyway.
Top Form:
experience (25): 25
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 22
stamina (25): 21
ability to finish (25): 24
= 92 points

Hallowicked
Strengths: Like Delirious, Hallowicked sometimes uses unorthodox in ring and psychological tactics to throw off the game plan of his opponent. The “Graveyard Smash”, a jumping sit out spinebuster—is an impressive and impactful finisher. ‘Wicked has also fought the men in his bracket before and that could help give a level of comfort and confidence in taking them out.
Weaknesses: His relative inexperience in an ROH ring could be a detriment. He faces familiar competiion in Claudio (and Sydal or Quack should he advance) and these men are likely used to Hallowicked’s ways and will not be too intimidated by them.
Top Form:
experience (25): 10
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 12
stamina (25): 15
ability to finish (25): 15
= 52 points

Matt Sydal
Strengths: Sydal is well built for speed and high impact and he does both very well. He has a litany of flying moves and also likes to attack from different angles, using backflips and springboards to set up moves. Sydal has a ton of tournament experience in both ROH and on the indie scene. His smug attitude actually seems to help him in the ring rather than be a hinderance. Of course, if he needs help, he can now call upon the services of Larry Sweeney and Sweet and Sour Incorporated.
Weaknesses: Sydal’s durability has been tested and often he comes through, but repeated high impact moves have been able to allow an opponent to get the pin. Sydal also has trouble deciding what move he will use as a finish and therefore runs his repertoire out too soon, allowing his opponent to come back from big moves if done earlier in the match.
Top Form:
experience (25): 21
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 23
stamina (25): 21
ability to finish (25): 19
= 84 points

Mike Quackenbush
Strengths: “Lightening” is his nickname and ever it is apropos for a man like Mike Quackenbush. Mike is fast on his feet and quick to pull the trigger on his aerial skill set. He is well versed in Lucha, such that he can run circles around his opponent and have the guy not knowing whether he is coming or going. Quack also loves to chain moves together and loves submissions and pinfall combinations. You can’t underestimate his technical abilities, honed in part due to his friendship with “Reckless Youth” Tom Carter. Quack’s years of experience make him a true ring veteran and his countless tournament plarticipations, from CHIKARA to IWA:MS Ted Petty Invitationals to CZW Best of the Best means that Quack can go far in a field, even one such as the Race to the Top tourney.
Weaknesses: Quack evidenced a large amount of shock that his big moves did not lead to pinfalls during the Four Corner Survival match at A Fight at the Roxbury. This lead to him being open repeatedly to his opponents’ counter attacks and especially from his blindside. While Quack has made only a handful of appearances with ROH, the wrestlers in the field are very familiar to him…except Matt Sydal. This is a rare combination and if Quack doesn’t scout Sydal’s moves, then he may not make it through the opening qualifier.
Top Form:
experience (25): 25
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 22
stamina (25): 22
ability to finish (25): 22
= 91 points

Bracket D:
Jack Evans
Strengths: Evans is in top form going into this tournament, having learned so much from his extended stays in Japan. These days, not only does he perform smarter and more accurate aerial moves, but he also is a very competent striker. Evans has picked up his game and his intensity has matched his ability. Evans also brings a ton of experience having matured and made himself a better fighter. He has been in Survival of the Fittest and even PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles. He knows how to make it through to the later rounds.
Weaknesses: Evans’ stamina and durability are still a worry. He can take a licking and keep on ticking, sure, but when paired off against a wrestler like Kevin Steen, who loves those high impact moves, a few hard shots may be enough to put him out. The 630 Splash continues to remain a high risk move that is difficult to pull off and is not the best risk-reward move. I wish Evans had a more solid “out of nowhere” finish that he could use instead.
Top Form:
experience (25): 20
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 18
stamina (25): 19
ability to finish (25): 18
= 75 points

Kevin Steen
Strengths: Steen may not be the most handsome wrestler in the world, but he may be one of the most vicious. Once he gets in that ring, he will tenderize his opponent, and then he’ll smash him with some damn hard high impact moves. Steen can also fly, as his ring attire will tell you by the image of him doing a moonsault.
Weaknesses: Overconfidence could get the best of Steen, as it might with most heels. Stamina for a man of his body mass is a question, although he has pulled out longer matches against the likes of Super Dragon in PWG. If he makes it to the quarterfinals, can he wrestle three matches in the same night?
Top Form:
experience (25): 18
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 21
stamina (25): 18
ability to finish (25): 20
= 77 points

Brent Albright
Strengths: “He’ll kill you—and then he’ll go to work on you.” That’s a line from the movie Oceans Eleven, and it’s applicable to “Gun for Hire” Brent Albright. He is one of the bigger men in the company and he can use his suplex and throws to his advantage against smaller competition, such as Matt Cross and Jack Evans, both of whom are in his bracket. Albright has the power moves, the technical skill and the submission know-how. Like Chris Hero, he is that triple threat, multi tool player who can do it so much in the ring.
Weaknesses: If anything I would say Albright’s weakness is that he doesn’t really fear anyone and that is a dangerous quality to have against underdogs. If Albright doesn’t take his opponent seriously, then he can get caught with something really good and throw him for a loop. His other vice is money—what if Matt Cross or someone else buys him off with enough money to throw his match? You never know…especially about that Matt Cross guy…just kidding.
Top Form:
experience (25): 23
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 25
stamina (25): 21
ability to finish (25): 22
= 91 points

Matt Cross
Strengths: Like Jack Evans, Cross is going to come barreling at his challenger full force with high risk flying moves. Cross has a lot of heart and will take a whooping in order to give one in return. The Shooting Star Legdrop is a thing of beauty, but like Evans’ 630, it requires it be hit at just the right moment. Cross does have a ton of experience around the independent scene, so while he may not have overall strength of his opponents, he is savvy enough to know what to do in case he gets in trouble.
Weaknesses: Like Jack Evans, Cross’s high risk moves will either be accurate and effective or totally bomb and kill his hopes for the win. Can Cross come up with the big one when it counts? He is a big (but not the biggest) underdog in the field.
Top Form:
experience (25): 20
strength, power and wrestling ability (25): 18
stamina (25): 13
ability to finish (25): 13
= 64 points

So there is your tournament breakdown. The Top Form is telling you that Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Brent Albright and Mike Quackenbush have the best chance of making it through, while Pelle Primeau, Jigsaw and Hallowicked are your tournament underdogs. I refuse to make predictions about who is actually going to advance and win this thing, because I get this stuff wrong every time! Seriously, I’d have a better chance of being right just picking names out of a hat rather than go with my gut.

Going Home

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JustinShaq wants to talk about his fave wrestler Jack Evans!

What’s up man, I’ve been thinking about what Jack Evans stable might look like and then it hit me what about BLKOUT I mean Eddie Kingston was in FIP and Jack Evans was an honorary member at the cage of death, plus the thugs mentality of Blkout may always be open to fight at any time which may be an obstacle for the NRC. I KNOW jack has strong Japan connections, but I think this would be a better scenario, thoughts?

I don’t quite see BLKOUT as being the guys to back up Evans. They don’t come across as trustworthy and loyal enough to stick with Evans through that war against the NRC and they always have their own agenda. BLKOUT is generally heel in other promotions, so I don’t think they’d fit with Evans as the never say die baby face. I think maybe Evans would find a better fit with the CHIKARA guys like Quackenbush and Jigsaw, enlisting them as a core of speed and flight to combat the NRC. I guess we’ll see soon enough because I think the Generation Next feud is going to pick back up any day now.

Ryan wants to take me to task for my comments last week about Briscoes vs. Murder City Machine Guns, among other things:

I can’t believe you don’t have Good Times, Great Memories on the Independent
Buy-In list. Surely that is an oversight, no? There’s more than enough
good stuff on there to warrant a recommendation. I may be biased because I
was second row for this show, but I thought it held up pretty darn well on
DVD.

In all seriousness, though, keep up the great work on Column of Honor. It’s
nice to see ROH represented by a true ROHbot on 411. Although, if I had one
request it would be to get rid of that dastardly Hero and his sandwich and
return to us the glory of the Mid-Column Olay!

You’re right, leaving off Good Times, Great Memories the Indie buy in list was an oversight…I’ll add it in for the next column.

I will give the Briscoes / MCMG match another go round sometime this summer and see how I feel about it. You have a point with the “over hype” theory, and I know some people have suffered from that for Joe-Kobashi and a lot of other big time matches. Meanwhile I was there live and know it was one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen. I’ll see how I feel about the match on the second go round.

No East Coast bias here (well…slightly maybe…), Chicago has a tremendous history of great ROH events. Nowhere to Run, for instance, from 2005 remains up there as one of my personal favorites. It’s just a bit irksome how you second citiers managed to get that 3rd PPV instead of us here in NYC! rrr…

Sadly the days of the Mid Column Olay are over for now…Joe is gone, although El Generico is here and could qualify. Hero has wormed his way into the column and people seem to dig it (although I can’t see why), so it’ll be there for the foreseeable future.

Seaneb14 wants to know what now about the ROH World title:

Well, to follow up because the inevitable didn’t happen and Morishima kept the title, who do you think has the best chance now. I still think, because the Tokyo show came first and Morishima regained, had they changed the card and had Jack go over in Osaka it would have been awesome. I’m thinking they may go with whoever wins the “race to the top tournament” that may be better than Ted Petty this year. Right now I think that Delirious, Dragon, Strong, and Aries have the best chance of winning. Personally I think Delirious would be a cool choice, as he’s over, has improved insanely over the last few years, has a good number of new opponents, and has nothing else to do. Having Strong/Aries win the title would freshen up the stable wars, but really I don’t think the stable wars needs freshening up at this point. I’ve pointed out the problems with a Dragon win before. It may still go on Nigel, but after 30 losses at this point, it seems unlikely. They may have just put off the switch in order to get a Dragon/Shima match, but they could’ve just done it non-title.

At this point I personally think the reign is losing a bit of steam. Morishima isn’t a big name and doesn’t have enough talent to have a long title reign. I like the guy, but having a year long reign just doesn’t seem right. I see where they’re going with him getting closer and closer to losing, but still pulling it out. At this point I hope they have something good in store, or all the payoff won’t live up to all the buildup, which is something I don’t expect from ROH.

I still think McGuinness will win the title. His on again / off again friendship / rivalry with Morishima has been the story of ROH World title run, and I don’t think that story is over or will end until McGuinness takes the title from him. When that happens, I’m not sure. I don’t think Dragon takes the title in August at NYC unless that match is announced as a taping for PPV as a surprise and the title change happens there. I think the way the PPVs have progressed Danielson logically deserves a title shot, and logically it would take place or be shown on the third pay per view. I would love to see a three way dance between Danielson, McGuinness and Morishima, maybe for the fourth PPV, and maybe McGuinness would get the win there. No matter what though, I’ll still hold to the thought that McGuinness has what it takes to be champion.

He really hasn’t had all that many title shots, just two with McGuinness and four with Danielson in 2006.

2006
-Weekend of Champions night 2 defeated Danielson by countout, but didn’t win title
-Generation Now loss to Danielson
-Unified loss to Danielson
-Epic Encounter II time limit draw to Danielson.

2 draws, 2 outright losses.

2007
-Fighting Spirit loss to Morishima
-Tokyo Japan loss to Morishima

2 outright losses.

That’s hardly all that many title shots and I think everyone who believes Nigel doesn’t deserve another go or that his momentum or reputation has been lost is being short sighted. It will be easy to get McGuinness back into contention with a major win (perhaps against one of the current top contender, and especially a win against Danielson) and get him that “one last shot” to win.

I’m still very excited for the upcoming matches in August and think Claudio and Brent Albright will put in some very impressive performances in their title shots. The fall is currently a bit hard to predict but for right now there seems to be a good amount of matches for Morishima to wrestle.

John Maberry is in with Race to the Top predictions:

Since I’m sure you will be doing major hype for the Race To The Top
Tournament since it starts next Friday, I thought I’d throw my two cents in
and make some predictions. Of course, as we both know, predictions are hard
to make in regards to ROH, but we might as well give it a go.

Of course, this is all hypothetical/theoretical/whatevertical and I will
probably be wrong. I just hope my Quarterfinals look mostly like that or
else I might have to retire from predicting. Anyway, I like forward to
reading your column this weekend and hearing some of your predictions.

Well John, sorry to say but I am NOT making predictions this go around. No, no, simply put, I always get them WRONG! I am willing to make myself look like a jackass once in a while…but EVERY tournament? Gabe Sapolsky, you got another thing coming! (Chris Hero) So whoever will win, will win, but I won’t have a say in it (Chris Hero)! Nope, (H) not a (E) word (R) out of it from (O) me.

Overall I like your breakdown and figuring out who goes where, but it is anyone’s tournament and a lot of breaking out can be done from the wrestlers here. It’s their opportunity to shine—hopefully they will go all out for it.

**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)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 8 (Sara Del Rey / Mercedes Martinez, Daizee Haze / Tiana Ringer, Nattie Neidhart / Portuguese Princess Ariel, Allison Danger / Lufisto)

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)
**Good Times, Great Memories (ROH World Tag Team Titles: Briscoes / Murder City Machine Guns, Roderick Strong / Jack Evans, ROH World Title: Morishima / SHINGO, Austin Aries / Rocky Romeo, Adam Pearce / Colt Cabana, 6 Man Mayhem: Deliirous, Quackenbush, Hallowicked, Jigsaw, Akuma, Primeau) (NEW ADDITION)

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

This was a fairly large week for Ring of Honor coverage on 411. In addition to Matt Short’s Tokyo run down (link above), we’ve got:

Buy or Sell with moi vs. Stu in an ROH debate throwdown!

Brad Garoon tackles the FIP universe with his review of Florida Rumble 2006.

J.D. Dunn is on a roll in his 2007 coverage…will he catch up to the famous duo of Garoon and Ziegler? This looks to be THE reviewing feud of late ’07. Anyway check out Dunn covering the Fifth Year Festival: Chicago, Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool, Fifth Year Festival: Finale.

Then hope over to Garoon and Jacob Ziegler’s double shot of ROH reviews with All Star Extravaganza III and Supercard of Honor II.

Samuel Berman was traveling to New York this week, so no Independent Mid Card, but check out a new edition coming very soon.

Honor Bound Links

The Friday / Saturday News team comes at you with “ACTION PACKED NEWS COVERAGE!” Or something like that. First its lead anchor Nick Marsico giving you The News to Start Your Weekend. Next is the other lead anchor John Meehan giving you The Saturday News Spectacular! At 411, we’re GIVING YOU DA NEWZ!

Stuart Carapola finishes out his series That Was Then (for now) with Mr. Perfect. A fine way to finish. Then he picks up the ECW and TNA coverage with Friendly Competition. Stu also does quadruple duty with Buy or Sell and this week’s Fact or Fiction.

The 411 crew gives its predictions for WWE Great American Bash

Zac continues Christmas in July (not here in NY!) with his Ripple Effect column.

Yeah Bayani, I used pics of Megan Fox to get extra hits for last week’s column. Did it work? I know I ended up clicking my column several more times than usual…um, I mean…um…check out Bayani’s TruthBTolditsareallygoodcolumnandlet’spretendthisneverhappenedandmoveonk?

Alex Mattis covers the rest of the independent scene with his Best of the Rest.

The Big Boss Man from Cobb County Georgia gives us the 4R’s.

Michael Weyer focuses on The Heels of wrestling.

Ask 411 some questions…we won’t even charge you for the information.

Well I’m heading out to eat some Cheetos in my underwear, since that’s what all wrestling fans do, right Glen Beck? Never mind, don’t get me started…

Next week, Race to the Top results and the return of Dear Delirious!

Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–