Column of Honor: 08.11.07

Rivals (Part One of Three): McGuinness & Danielson

Stay in one promotion long enough and you’re bound to wrestle against most of the rest of the roster. Sometimes those fights develop over the months and years and the course of your career. Frequent sparring partners become rivals. Rivals sometimes become enemies. Some rivalries become the definition of an era in a wrestling promotion. Right now there are three men entangled in an all encompassing rivalry against one another: Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness and Takeshi Morishima. This is the first of a three part series investigating and analyzing the rivalry of these men.

Define Nigel McGuinness in one phrase: a will to win. His very first catchphrase in Ring of Honor—”in it to win it”–embodied the spirit of achievement and victory. However, define “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson in one phrase and it is very simply “The Best Wrestler in the World”. Danielson is the champion who knows how to win and does so every time. This in essence is the very crux of the rivalry between both men. Both men made claims on being the best, but ultimately only one proved to be the best and the other was left a step behind.

In 2006, Danielson and McGuinness were neck and neck as far as championships. Nigel was in the middle of a dominant run with ROH Pure championship. He fought and defended the belt, with its unique set of rules, against all comers. McGuinness thrived in the Pure wrestling rules context. He knew the inner workings of the match and all the best strategies to win. No one could stop him, although many tried.

Meanwhile, Bryan Danielson was quickly running up his own scorecard of victims and a ROH World title run that was gaining momentum and notoriety as the weeks and months went on. Danielson was the champion of the entire promotion and he went out and proved it every night. A multitude of attack strategies and submissions as well as a will to win no matter what proved to become the backbone of Danielson’s title reign.

Ultimately, the question was asked, by Nigel McGuinness himself, as to who was the better man between the two, or really, who was the best in promotion? Each was a champion in his own right, but only one could be the best. At the time McGuinness thought he was the best. In his mind he has always felt that way, because his dominance in the pure division was unchallenged. For his part, Danielson obviously disagreed and maybe even felt a bit slighted if bemused that someone would challenge him in the context of who was the “Best”.

The answer to the question did not come easily as in their first in ring encounter, wherein both titles were at stake, the match concluded in a count out victory for Nigel McGuinness. This was not the outcome American Dragon was expecting. Did he take McGuinness lightly as a result of his perceptions that the World title was far superior to any Pure champion? No titles changed hands due to the pre match stipulations, but McGuinness clearly had drawn first blood. The loss probably very quickly wiped away any bemusement about Nigel McGuinness and his challenge. Danielson ended up looking foolish and vulnerable. This was the very start of Nigel’s hopes, better yet his assuredness, that he was indeed better than Danielson.

The challenge was to find a way to defeat Danielson via pinfall or submission; that would prove to be quite difficult. When they next met in the ring at Generation Now, Nigel tried to up his game and match Danielson move for move. Danielson proved that he was smarter than McGuinness by crawling under the ring and reappearing on the other side. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book, but remarkably it worked and it led to a pinfall via small package.

Thus, we have the basic paradigm for the entire Danielson-McGuinness rivalry: when Nigel has shown improvement and tries to battle Danielson on his own terms, he is countered by Dragon’s skills. As great as Nigel has become with his array of attacks and impact moves, he has been repeatedly stymied by Danielson, who has proven to be that much better.

The Pure vs. World title at Unified gave proof—McGuinness brought with him a newfound intensity and determination to win. He took one of the worst blows to the head ever seen in an ROH ring—and still kept going. Nigel’s valiant attempts to win the World title that night ultimately ended in a loss. Danielson was able to repel McGuinness’ come back and finally obtained victory.

In their last singles encounter for 2006, McGuinness was able to force a draw, but could do no better.

In the span of time between January and May of 2007, Dragon took off for his shoulder injury. McGuinnness became the defacto face of the company. He reached newfound levels of popularity and as a result, increased his reputation with high profile matches against Jimmy Rave and Takeshi Morishima. However, once the former champion returned to the ring, their rivalry picked up once again. The same competitive yearning from their 2006 returned and for a very simple reason—both men wanted to become champion. In order to become champion, each man had to become the number one contender. Therefore, both men fought one more time, in a one on one match. Bryan Danielson once again defeated Nigel McGuinness.

In the recent $10,000 tag challenge, where both men were to pick partners and fight it out, for money as much as pride, Danielson proved not only to be the superior wrestler but also the superior intellect by goading his rival into selecting a team which did not stand up to his own. Danielson’s intellect proved to be superior that day as Nigel’s team fell apart—and Danielson was there to collect on that opportunity as well as collect on the money prize.

What can be the key to Nigel’s victory? He has attempted everything from submissions to devastating lariats. He has absorbed a tremendous amount of damage in these matches and proven his toughness by continuing to fight back. Is there anything left for Nigel to show Danileson that hasn’t been seen yet? Can Nigel outsmart Danielson or take advantage of a bout of overconfidence?

Yes, keep in mind the noble and honorable spirit of competition, because it’s in there too. However, these two are much further and far more deeply entangled in the mere occurrence of the fight. For two years now, it has been Danielson and McGuinness in the championship spotlight, but one man has succeeded far more than the other in that context. When we stack up one against the other, what Nigel McGuinness has yet to accomplish is victory against his rival and the achievement of winning the ROH World Title. This is the great divide between these two men.

ROH Results: Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 August 10th 2007 Roxbury Crossing, MA

Matches
-Jack Evans defeated Davey Richards via disqualification when the No Remorse Corps attack Evans.
-Lacey defeated Daizee Haze via pinfall with the Implant DDT.
-Chris Hero defeated Nigel McGuinness via submission in a match with pure wrestling rules.
-Matt Cross defeated Eddie Edwards in a Six Man Mayhem match that also included Delirious, Brent Albright, Pelle Primeau & Jigsaw. Cross hits the shooting star leg drop for the pin.
-The Resilience of Austin Aries and Erick Stevens defeated the No Remorse Corps of Rocky Romero and Roderick Strong. Aries pinned Romero with the 450 Splash.
-Bryan Danielson defeated Matt Sydal via submission with the triangle choke & MMA elbows.
-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima retained the title by defeating Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall with the backdrop driver.
-Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated Jay and Mark Briscoe in a Non-Sanctioned Street Fight. Steen with the pinfall after a package piledriver on a ladder.

Angles and Issues

Jack, No Longer Sitting in the Corner: The focus of tonight’s show was in part the future direction of Jack Evans as it concerns himself vs. the NRC. Evans was attacked by the NRC in the opening singles match, only to be saved by The Resilience. Later in the night, Evans returned the favor by getting the save for The Resilience after their tag match against the NRC. Evans declared he would have his own crew ready to fight the NRC next time in Boston.

Lacey String Title Belt: Lacey earns a shot at the SHIMMER Championship tomorrow in Philadelphia. SHIMMER champion Sara Del Rey watched the number one contender’s match from the ROH entrance stage and awaits Lacey’s challenge tomorrow.

Lariat Express: After dealing with much interference from Sweet and Sour Incorporated during his match against Chris Hero, Nigel McGuinness earned a measure of revenge by lariating Bobby Dempsey all to heck.

Mysterious voices: For those that doubted its legitimacy, Project 161 is the real deal. In the middle of the McGuiness-Hero match the house lights went out and a voice could be heard over the house mic saying: “Project 161 Is Real. Project 161 Is Coming. Be Ready. No One Is Safe. Project 161.” More on this later in the column.

Aries Hurt: According to reports, Aries came away limping from the match and may have badly hurt his leg. Aries has a history of leg problems this year.

Sydal Not in the Money: Bryan Danielson agreed to put up Matt Sydal’s share of the $10,000 in their match. It looks like Sydal won’t get it though, as he lost the match.

Steen You Soon: After winning the main even street fight, Kevin Steen demanded an ROH World title match for the next Boston show.

Return Date: October 5th, 2007

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 08/11/2007 Heading into Death Before Dishonor V Night 2

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 13 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: Brent Albright, 8/11/07, Philadelphia, PA

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)
V.12 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (7/16/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.13 defeated Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/10/07, Roxbury Crossing, MA)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 10 successful defenses)

Next Defense: Steel Cage Match vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico, 8/24/07 Hartford, CT

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)
V.8 defeated Jimmy Rave & Genki Horiguchi (7/17/07 Osaka, Japan)
V.9 defeated SHINGO & Susumu Yokozuka (7/17/07 Osaka, Japan)
V.10 defeated “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness (7/27/07, Long Island, New York)

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

What Am I Doing in New Jersey?
You already know that ROH will tape its third PPV on September 15th in Chicago. Now we have huge news on ROH’s fourth PPV taping. ROH will tape its fourth PPV on October 6th in Edison, NJ!!!

Edison will represent the third city hosting an ROH Pay Per View. You would have thought the PPV strategy would have been just to run NYC and Chicago, since those are the biggest markets and the ones that translate best to tape. Instead, ROH is rewarding different venue with a PPV with the locations for two more PPVs yet to be announced. Edison has been at times a great venue, demonstrating incredible love for the wrestling (look at Final Battle 2005, Fight of the Centuryand Fighting Spirit as recent examples). However, Edison can also at times be spotty, with strange occurrences (such as the infamous Grannies) and sometimes quiet crowds. Hopefully the very idea of a show being a PPV taping will amp the crowd up considerably and that can carry throughout the night.

On the Streets of Philadelphia
One more match has been added to this Saturday’s event in Philadelphia. It will be Jack Evans vs. Deranged.

Deranged follows Cloudy & Cheech as former Special K / Lacey’s Angels members receiving a second look by ROH.

Extra Track From The Japanese Release
The DVDs for “Live In Tokyo” and “Live In Osaka” are about to go into duplication. These will be two of the most unique DVDs in the ROH video series. The editing and camerawork was handled by Samurai TV in Tokyo and Gaora TV in Osaka giving the production a different feel. In addition, you have the unique reactions of the Japanese crowds and a new mix of talent on both shows. You will still get the great matches you’ve come to expect from ROH as well as backstage promos, bonus material and more including a diary from the road on the Osaka DVD. Look for these releases in the upcoming weeks.

The matches and the extras as well as new camera angles and production make these releases not just a curiosity but actually very compelling purchases. Puro fans have already seen a handful of these matches on Japanese TV and have been generally positive about the shows. As far as the diary, let’s hope this is the written diary from Gabe on screen or maybe a video diary or documentary of the whole experience.

A Few Good Men
The ROH Wrestling Academy is ready to start its next class in late September. If you are serious at being a pro wrestler we suggest you consider the ROH Wrestling Academy. Delirious is the head trainer and you will also get a chance to learn from all the greats that come through ROH. There is a new, more affordable pricing plan for the ROH Wrestling Academy. Check the article on the main page of ROHwrestling.com for all the details.

Word on the street is that Delirious is going to bring in Hallowicked, Dr. Zero, Dragon Dragon and Los Ice Creams as special guest instructors.

Canadian-Mexican Bacon
Kevin Steen & El Generico have been added to the 9/14 Detroit and 9/15 Chicago events.

Both of these men continue their breakthrough run in ROH and by these shows they may be the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Or perhaps they will receive another title match for the Pay Per View since that is where it seems to be heading.

Greed Is Good
Bryan Danielson still has the entire cash prize from the $10,000 Tag Team Challenge from 7/28 in Edison, NJ in his possession. Danielson captained a team that consisted of Matt Sydal, Austin Aries & Jay Briscoe. Danielson contends that he is just letting the money accumulate interest in the bank right now. Sydal’s agent Larry Sweeney is looking into serving Danielson with legal papers to get Sydal’s share.

I didn’t realize Ring of Honor was encouraging its wrestlers to seek investment opportunities! Just make sure Danielson doesn’t invest in Twinkies. Let’s hope Sweeney is providing Sydal with a 401(k) plan because I don’t think he is getting any of that money back…with interest.

This PAC-Man is Guaranteed to Wrestle
ROH officials are very excited to announce that PAC will make his ROH debut in the United States on 8/24 in Hartford and 8/25 in Manhattan. We’ll have news on his matches next week in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire. Many ROH fans know PAC from his bouts at the last UK events. PAC will bring his unbelievable high-flying to Hartford and Manhattan.

PAC has already hit the West Coast a ton with his appearances in PWG. Those matches seemed to be well received. I’m not sure about the East Coast reaction, as Manhattan especially can be a very tough crowd when it wants to be. PAC is going to have to be on his game and preferably have a good quality opponent such as Claudio or Matt Sydal.

1000000n1
Another match has been signed for 8/24 in Hartford. For reasons that we aren’t sure of, Adam Pearce has challenged BJ Whitmer. You know Whitmer will never walk away from a match and has accepted. “Caged Rage” in Hartford will witness Pearce vs. Whitmer!!!

Hmmm…Pearce challenging BJ Whitmer…out of nowhere…for no good reason. I don’t get ROH booking sometimes. Nope.

Special Report: Project 161: Week 2: REAL!

Roxbury Crossing, MA, August 10th 2007:

“Project 161 Is Real. Project 161 Is Coming. Be Ready. No One Is Safe. Project 161.”

That was the announcement coming over the loudspeakers last night at the show in Boston, confirming what has been building up over the last two weeks, that the so called “Project 161” erm, project, is indeed real. Well, really an angle anyway. This is the beginning of what should be a near month and a half long build to the expected debut date of September 15th, 2007 of whatever it is that this Project turns out to be.

We left off last week with the abusedsociety.com and nhsociety.com websites taken down, but they were soon replaced by a new and active website www.project161.com. Like the first website, there were creepy messages (albeit a new design with men dressed in skull paint), new images with mouse rollovers (if you put your mouse over a part of the website a hidden picture or message appears) and even, yes, a hidden blog (upper left hand corner of the website). This is the very essence of what an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) website does (for further reference, I discussed ARG’s in last week’s column). You have hidden secrets to discover, cryptic messages and such adding onto the game.

Around the same time, ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky left a message on the ROH message board declaring the “prank” (his term) was dealt with and that people shouldn’t worry about his safety. Many posters commented that this was his subtle way of saying this was indeed all a work, that he would not personally be involved in it and that the game was now back on.

The secret Project 161 Blog began with the blogger writing dark and grim stories, with telling themes of neglect and abuse and the consequences thereof. People started to make wild guesses as to the involvement of past ROH wrestlers due to one phrase or another as written in these messages. Some have speculated Special K would be involved after there was a reference in the first blog to “the kids you forgot.” Now, I tend to think this isn’t a literal message but rather a metaphorical context to mean the people who have been neglected. However, it is interesting that Special K members are returning to ROH. This may or may not be a red herring.

Another story referenced highway 915, a direct reference to 9/15, the date of the third ROH PPV and the 161st show.

Later on, the messages changed from more of an allegorical nature to directly confrontational as the writer began to challenge blog respondents. The blogger also provide a direct challenge / threat o ROH in and of itself. One of these message said: “RING OF HONOR, WE ARE COMING. AND WE ARE COMING SOON.” Another: “I’d call it a war, but it’ll be more like an occupation, because there will be no struggle, simply annihilation.”

So the goals of this group can be speculated to be not an invasion and corporate take over, as was the case with the famous nWo vs. WCW angle. The Prophecy wanted to take over and remake ROH in its own image. Not so with Project 161. They just want to destroy ROH and be done with the whole thing.

In the fifth posting, the blogger indicated that the people involved in this scheme have been involved with ROH before, again leading to more speculation that someone from the past is returning in this angle.

What is fascinating about the blog is that If you write comments, 161 may react to it in follow up postings, as he had done with some of my and others’ comments. I specifically and deliberately used quotes from movies such as Fight Club and The Matrix to counter some of 161’s rhetoric In the next blog, 161 made derogatory comments about using movie quotes as the platform through which to view one’s life.

Heading into Death Before Dishonor weekend, one of that website’s first statements was a play on that title, stating simply “There Will Be Death Before Dishonor” (this message has now changed). Later on, a picture of two children holding custom titles was posted as a mouse rollover to a faded ROH logo. These children are believed to be The Briscoes, as referenced in this article (thanks to Chris Miccio for the link): “We’ve got pictures of them when they were little guys holding up those replica belts. They said that is what they were going to do,” said Mrs. Pugh.”

The mouse rollovers also changed to pictures of the Boston Tea Party and signing of the Declaration of Independence—events linked to Boston and Philadelphia, locations for each night of the Death Before Dishonor V series.

That leads us to where we currently are, with the “lights out” and PA speech from last night’s show while a poster dubbed “HonorCantCure” was on the message boards rubbing the “attack” in the faces of those on the thread. A weird side note is that while this poster was listed as making only 3 posts, when it was quite clear he made much more than that in this thread.

Tonight is night 2 of Death Before Dishonor-will something happen to The Briscoes on this night? Will Project 161 make itself more known by the end of the night?

What we can we conclude about this whole situation is that like it has been said, Project 161 is very much now a part of the story for Ring of Honor. Judging by responses to the Death Before Dishonor night 1, ROH is going to need to make careful steps in how its uses the angle on its live shows. Some fans who don’t check out the websites are going to be confused. Another issue will be to make the angle look as much like “Guerrilla warfare” against ROH as possible. Lights out attacks may not be so effective this time, but paper fliers and weird, inexplicable events occurring on shows may work better than the standard professional wrestling tactics used in other “invasion” angles. ROH has begun this angle out of the box and now it needs to continue the progression of the story by doing the same.

We can now look forward and count down the days until September 15th, because things will go down that night that may change the very nature of Ring of Honor and its history.

Hero’s Sandwich

Here we go again, its time for another week of greatness, another message from on high, its time for another week of the Hero Sandwich, the award winning and the single most widely recognized segment in this Column of Honor. It is I, your hero, Chris Hero, back again to tell you what’s what, and how things really are. This week, I’ll have to keep my comments short and sweet, because I need to get back into the gym to prepare for another big match in an ROH ring, this time, a tag team match in which I will team with the always-excellent Jigsaw against the Swiss Idiot and the English Wanker (you know who YOU are).

Let me start by talking about my match with the aforementioned wanker from last night’s event in Massachusetts. I know that many anti-Heroites believed that this match would serve as my comeuppance in my battles against that bloody git McGuinness, what with it being held under the old-school pure wrestling rules. Sure, he was the last champion of that division, but that’s only because I wasn’t here for that long when that belt was still in play. It would have just been a matter of time before that title, like ALL titles, would be strapped around my svelte waist. So, back to last night’s events. If you didn’t know, or haven’t heard, I made McGuinness tap out like a little bitch to the Hangman’s Clutch, my famous Step-Over-Toe-Hold version of the Cravate, just like I said I would. Yes my friends, the summer of the CRAVATE and Chris Hero has truly kicked off. I dominated Nigel in HIS match, with HIS rules. Well, his rules for the most part with a few, very minor adjustments that we don’t need to get into during this segment, due to the need to keep things brief. What does that say about me? That says that I am truly the best PURE WRESTLER alive today, as I have been saying, ad-nauseum for the past decade. I am the logical successor to the greats such as Johnny Saint, Billy Robinson, Dory Funk, Rick Steamboat, and Bob Backlund. I am the man who will carry the mantle of the BEST PURE WRESTLER deep into the 21st century. Now, I know that many of the message boards and news sites are twisting what happened in this match, by saying that Sweet & Sour Inc. vigorously interfered in this match, and that is why I won. To that I say, watch the DVD when it comes out, and you will see a true wrestling classic. I would NEVER need any help to win a match, let alone one against poxy rubbish such as McGuinness. To those out there who are slandering the name of Chris Hero, I say this: Watch your mouths, punks. You never know when a cravate might be coming YOUR way!

The next order of business regards my old friend and tag team partner, Claudio Castagnoli. So, I watched Claudio get the tar beaten out of him by our Godzilla-esque champion, Takeshi Morishima last night, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy that match. Sure, Castagnoli did get in some nice offensive maneuvers, but we all knew that that Swiss Idiot was born to lose, and that’s just what he did. I’ve said a thousand times that the only person on the ROH roster that even stands a chance against Morishima is me, and that the only reason that that match has yet to be booked is because Gabe Sapolsky is an anti-Heroite, which is patently offensive. He is so obviously against me that he will not put me into a one on one match with the “Pillsbury Doughboy”, because he fears my greatness. Sure, he’ll throw mediocre talents like Whitmer, Pearce, McGuinness, and Albright into the ring with him, but isn’t it odd that all of those second level talents get a shot before yours truly? I think that Gabe fears Chris Hero, because he knows that I wouldn’t be an “office champion”, who does his bidding. Chris Hero is beholden to no man or God. Chris Hero is his own man, and doesn’t need to follow the demands of anyone except those demands that I place upon myself. Come on Gabe, you know the fans want it, PPV wants it, and the WORLD wants it. Book Hero vs. Morishima for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship, and I guarantee ROH’s biggest gate and DVD sales of all time. It’s what everyone wants, and you know it. BOOK IT!!

Lastly, I feel I need to address a situation that occurred last night during my match with that blinding, bottle well gone, daff, done in, rabbited on, prat of a tosser McGuinness. Abruptly, during the match, the house lights went off, and a voice from the beyond bellowed out this statement: “Project 161 Is Real. Project 161 Is Coming. Be Ready. No One Is Safe. Project 161.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a huge fan of self-promotion, but to interfere with MY match? That’s just wrong. Don’t you “project 161” people know who I am? I’m Chris Hero, the greatest wrestler and performer alive today, and the main reason why the people in the venue paid their hard earned money to be there. Now, sure, I can see the logic in making your “announcement” during my match, because you knew that everyone would be seated and deeply focused on the in ring doings and not wandering around aimlessly at the merch table or stuffing their maws with the terrible concession stand food or sugary drinks. But, think about it, “project 161”. Do you really want to anger Chris Hero and Sweet & Sour Incorporated? I think not. We expect a full apology for this offense tonight at the show in Philadelphia. If we do not receive this apology, as the DVD title says, THIS MEANS WAR!! No one interferes with or interrupts a Chris Hero match and gets away with it. Be warned “161”, I am a dangerous enemy, and if you know what’s good for you, follow my instructions to the letter. Don’t get on my bad side, or you will face the same wrath that ROH did when I invaded with my old CZW friends and wreaked havoc upon them for months. I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE, PROJECT 161!! Don’t tempt fate, if you know what I mean.

With all of that in mind, I will take my leave again for another week. Sadly, I must announce that I might be taking a short vacation over the Labor Day weekend, and I might not be able to fill your need for Hero that weekend. I hope that you blue collar types will understand that even I, Chris Hero, need some time off, every once in a while. It’s not easy being this great, and sometimes, it’s even a bit of a burden, not that any of you would understand that concept. Oh well, I guess its time to go back to the gym with Tank, Larry, Matt, and Blobby, I meant Bobby. We are doing an awesome glute and leg workout this morning, so check out my ass tonight if you’re at the show. It looks awesome, or so the ladies tell me. On that note, until next week, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers!

Honorarium

-After next week it will be a full six months since Takeshi Morishima was crowned as champion. This puts him up with Austin Aries and right behind Bryan Danielson in terms of length of reign. It has been a six month run of terror and destruction and no one has been able to take out the big man. As much as Morishima seems to be cruising along on his title path, then again his level of competition seems to be increasing with each match. Even mid card wrestlers such as SHINGO have been able to get the most out of their challenge.

-What if The Colony is behind Project161? Those damned dirty ants!

-Isn’t it funny how horrible TNA can become with everything in their favor from talent to a money bankroll to national television exposure to mainstream mentions? Yet they still can’t bust out of that 1.0-1.2 range. Contrast that yet again to ROH, where they have done so much with not as much money, star power or mainstream coverage.

-Stu mentioned in this week’s Friendly Competition that he has all but stopped watching wrestling on national television. This week I had to stop and think to myself about that very same notion. I too have stopped watching all wrestling on television. No Raw, ECW, TNA or Smackdown. Just two to three years ago I was still watching most shows regularly if not every week. Now, they are no longer priorities anymore. There is simply no one left that I want to watch in WWE with the exception of Booker T and CM Punk, yet each man is simply not enough to motivate me to turn that TV. I tried to remember to watch Punk vs. Morrison in the “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” match—I simply fell asleep and woke up too late to see it. I really haven’t regretted it. Right now my current viewings are of ROH, CHIKARA and PWG DVDs; I really haven’t regretted it.

-Was the WWE Dating Game funny (I caught it on You Tube)? Of course it was. Was it wrestling? Of course it wasn’t. WWE stars are going to appear on Family Feud soon. I say that’s wonderful; WWE should keep their game show appearances separate from their in the ring action.

-There appears to be lots of buzz coming off of the first Death Before Dishonor show, mainly from the top two matches—the title fight between Claudio and Morishima and the non sanctioned brawl between The Briscoes and Steen-erico. Words like “crazy”, “insane”, “intense” and “violent” have been thrown around. I have to say, I didn’t think Claudio would have the crowd convinced that he was capable of winning the title, but according to reports, the fans were rabid on multiple occasions to see him win it. I think that’s great—for him and for the company. When a crowd latches its hopes onto a wrestler in this way, the message is one of support and interest. I hope ROH can maintain that level of support for Claudio over the next few months as he turns his attention toward Chris Hero.

-ROH really isn’t doing me any favors by having great match after great match on its card. How can I decide on my matches of the year when every show there is a match of the year candidate? Damn you ROH for having too much good wrestling!

ROH Preview: ROH Death Before Dishonor Night 2 August 11th 2007—Philadelphia, PA

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

Non-Sanctioned Philadelphia Street Fight
Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero & Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries, Erick Stevens, Matt Cross & Delirious

This is the big one…the biggest battle in the war between the NRC and Resilience comes to a head here in this match. The fallout between the two factions (and perhaps the role of Delirious in this angle) will be determined and the costs will be far reaching. Austin Aries returned after a two month absence to re-energize his faction, and it has worked. The Resilience has come away with more victories than defeats since June 23rd and now this is their chance for their greatest victory. The biggest problem is that Austin Aries may have suffered a really bad knee injury last night in Roxbury Crossing. No doubt he is questionable for the match. What is not a big question mark is how well the team will do without him. Horribly, judging from past history. Strong, Romero and Richards have their backs against the wall with huge loses in recent weeks, but they maintain a killer instinct and are vastly more dangerous than ever before. Matt Sydal was brought in through Larry Sweeney as a sort of hired gun and the answer to Delirious’ involvement. Both of those men still have issues to settle (and they may never fully come to a reckoning). The street fight rules and unsanctioned nature of this bout means anything can and will happen involving brawling around, weapons and crazy attacks. Will there be a clear cut winner tonight? Will we get answer as to who is better between Aries and Strong once and for all? The war awaits these two teams…

ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima defends vs. Brent Albright

Something doesn’t seem right about this defense. Two months ago, when Albright won his Four Corner Survival match and earned a title shot for this weekend, it seemed that huge things were in store for Albright. Since then however, his involvement in the main event picture has been slow played, if no played at all. Albright comes in to this title match without much hype or fanfare. This is highly suspicious, because when that happens, sometimes the upset win soon follows. Just ask Austin Aries, who most fans didn’t believe would defeat Samoa Joe at Final Battle 2004.. In the blink of an eye he became the new champion. Albright could do the same, as he matches up exceedingly well against Morishima. They can go power move for power move and Albright can definitely hang with the champ in that category. Albright even has a definitive advantage in terms of technical and submission wrestling. His ability to take apart an opponent’s arm and shoulder is unparalleled. The crowbar is a dangerous submission move. I don’t think Morishima’s body has been put to the test in such a way where he gets worn down and worked on. Will Albright find the key to win in the submission hold he holds so dear?

Dream Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush

The title very simply says “Dream Match” and ROH matchmakers couldn’t be more right on about this one. Danielson vs. Quackenbush is a highly anticipated encounter between two incredibly capable wrestlers. Both men have been veterans and name players on the independent scene. Both men have trained some of the next generation of wrestlers. Both men have their own sense of honor and respect. Their skills as wrestlers, teachers and competitors will be put to the test in this match. I expect a lengthy encounter matching up both grapplers’ proclivity towards submissions and pinfall combinations. I also expect a bit of an air game to develop in the match, with Quack using his Lucha moves early on to throw off Danielson’s game plan and later exploding in the air with hurricanranas and flying moves to the outside. This match is very appropriate to occur in Philadelphia, the birthplace of ROH and the mainstay of CHIKARA and its top star in Quackenbush. Ladies and gentlemen—THIS match is professional wrestling.

SHIMMER Title Match
Sara Del Rey vs. Lacey

Speaking of Danielson’s trainees, Del Rey has more than made good on her potential and the teachings of her mentor. Del Rey is the newly crowned SHIMMER champion and her aspiration is to make a dominant run with the title in the same way as Dragon did with the ROH World Title in 2006. Lacey remains a top woman’s wrestler in the independent scene. Her heel tactics and attitude will mesh well against any babyface, but when you have a hard hitter such as Del Rey to go up against the dynamic is increased dramatically. These two have not had a bad match in SHIMMER, but they have to face the increasing presence of the “ROH curse”, where women’s matches are for some reason not of the same quality and not as well received. Del Rey has her work cut out for her as a champion; hopefully she will go out there and demonstrate her worth.

Falls Count Anywhere Match
ROH World Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico

The Briscoes-Steenerico tag team feud goes to the singles circuit as fans get to see two stipulation matches featuring members of each team. Mark Briscoe matches up against the more sympathetic of the challenging duo in El Generico. Mark feels Kevin Steen took advantage of him by attacking his concussed head. Even though El Generico does wish for good sportsmanship he is not blameless, as he has followed Steen’s lead all the way through. Falls Count Anywhere is a great stip for these two, as you can bet they will brawl and fly around the ringside area. Get ready for a SSP or one of Generico’s patented dive through the ring into a tornado DDT on the floor.

Lights Out Match
ROH World Tag Team Champion Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen

I have to fault ROH here—I still don’t know what the hell a “lights out” match actually is. The newswire usually does the job of explaining stipulations, but not this time—a rare misstep in hyping up matches. I would presume this is a knock out or last man standing style match, but I don’t really know. Maybe you have to turn off the light switch in the arena to win. Well, one thing that is clear is the grudge between both sides. Both men will go at it with stiff shots and tons of brawling. The other partners may even become involved in this one. Also, given the events of last night, Project161 may take this match literally and “turn the lights out” on this match. That’s my “cello” (411’s term for “out there”) prediction for this match: A non finish or Briscoe loss due to being destroyed by unseen forces turning the lights out

Tag Team Challenge Match
Claudio Castagnoli & Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero & Jigsaw with Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland, & Bobby Dempsey

This has a bit of the lucha “Parejas increibles” style to it, with wrestlers you don’t often see paired together utilized as partners. The story was that Sweeney thought Jigsaw had the clue to taking out Claudio, but they haven’t had much history in CHIKARA and especially ROH to warrant Sweeney shelling out the dough for his services. Sweeney may have made a costly error here, because Nigel and Claudio are definitely the stronger pair here. They have a common interest—taking out Hero, Sweet and their whole unit. Claudio and Nigel were rivals back in 2005, but that all seems like water under the bridge compared to the bad feelings against Hero & company. They will take it all out on him tonight.

Special Attraction
Jack Evans vs. Deranged

Deranged returns to ROH action for the first time since Fall 2005. He made a cameo getting his ass handed to him by Steen and Generico at Respect is Earned. Now he gets a full opportunity to make his way back to the big show. He matches up well against Evans in terms of speed and agility. Evans however has grown by leaps and bounds since 2005 and will look to use this match as a “statement” about his abilities and his future as a top guy in ROH.

Plus preshow action with: Pelle Primeau, Shane Hagadorn, Eddie Kingston, Cheech, Cloudy and others!!!

I am in particular very excited and optimistic about the returns of Cheech and Cloudy. Their tag team wrestling is very good and both have improved so much since their last go round in ROH. Cheech in particular has always had a goofy charisma about him, but his wrestling has improved tremendously. Even Cloudy, who I was never high (get it?) on to begin with, has improved since his old ROH days. I hope they take advantage of their chance and that the crowd gets behind their showcase.

Meanwhile, “The King of Diamonds” Eddie Kingston also gets a tryout match, filling in for the injured Sexxxy Eddie. One Eddie for another. Kingston hasn’t been too high on ROH’s priority list for bringing in new talent, but again an opportunity presents itself and hopefully he can take advantage of it. King is not the best technical wrestler by any means and his “look” is that of your average beer drinking wrestler, but his charisma and character are right on and if that comes through then again the hope is to see more of him in ROH in the future.

Looks like Quackenbush has been putting the good word for the CHIKARA crew doesn’t it?

Honor Culture

Culture Lesson 5: When in doubt, use the Contra Code for extra lives

In ROH, The Contra Code is a move performed by Jimmy Jacobs. It is a variation of the Shiranui / Sliced Bread # 2. Jacobs grabs the head of his opponent, runs up the turnbuckle pad and hops over while still holding onto the head. The impact is in effect and inverted DDT with even more power due to the momentum of the fall and the angle upon which the opponent falls on his neck. Jacobs calls the move The Contra Code as a tribute to the well known game code (see below). Jacobs was also involved in small angle over the use of the move in 2005. Spanky became upset at Jacobs for using the move since it was basically his version of the Sliced Bread # 2. A quick Honor Culture cross reference—of course this is a reference to something being “better than sliced bread”. Sliced bread was one of the more awesome innovations of the early twentieth century. See, a two for one this week!

Credit: onlineworldofwrestling.com

In the Mainstream, the Contra Code (also known as the Konami Code) is a series of button pushes that initial special features in a video game. Kazuhisa Hashimoto developed the code initially in 1985 / 1986 for the game Gradius due to its high difficulty level. The code was most famous for being used in the NES game “Contra”. The code was a boon for a gamer due to the game’s difficulty in that if you were touched by a character once you were dead. When you input the code (up up down down left right left right B A start) you received 30 lives and 3 extra continues. The Contra Code showed up in this form and other subtle variations in other games and has been made mention of in other games, websites and songs.

Culture Connection: I freaked out when the code only gave me 10 lives in “Contra 3” as opposed to the expected 30 lives. Damn you Konami! That game was a bitch and a half worse than the original! However I have to give credit where it’s due, the code has been incredible useful many times in my video game playing and its always a fun reference in conversation with those of my generation. We know what the code is all about.

Going Home

Ringtones

A correction from jtpwright about the Albright vs. Evans match from Race to the top Night 2:

I was at the show, Evans pinned Albright, but Albright
literally kicked out at 3! No screw job really. Think
of when Undertaker FIRST beat Kane at Wrestlemania, he
got the 3, but Kane still fought out to show he wasn’t
completely defeated.

Albright’s foot was never on the rope though. Hope
that clears things up.

Cool, thanks for the correction and the UT-Kane example is a good comparison because I totally get what you mean about what happened. I was going by the initial results of the show and didn’t spot any corrections about the match in reviews of the show. jtpwright wrote back as well with this response:

Not a problem, i’m always happy to help out a fellow
ROH supporter. Everyone in the crowd just happened to
be in shock that Evans got a 2 count on Albright, much
less a 3(BARELY a 3). Albright still came out looking
strong, and will probably murder Evans in a rematch 🙂

Jay

I actually think it might be worse that Evans barely defeated Albright. Evans looks lucky more than skilled coming out of that one. He just had a huge win against Strong in Japan—I would have believed in the clean upset. More on Rave below.

seanb is in to talk Project161:

I just posted a bulletin about project 161 on myspace, and now my homepage isn’t working. Coincidence!?!

Seriously, I think this a genius bit of marketing, as it gets a lot of people talking and actually getting into the storyline. Also, it’s mostly free and easy. Good on ROH I say. I thought the Rave story was fishy as well, as I’ve never heard of Rave being a jerk before, and suddenly he’s bursting into the office and all that. Claudio as the winner of the Race to the top is an odd choice. He’s already as over as he’s gonna get for now. Winning the tourney didn’t do much for him. The $10,000 match, I think, was a bit silly all in all. Ya know, at the beginning of the project 161 section, I thought that this whole thing was going to end up in a name change for ROH. It wouldn’t have surprised me THAT much, considering how far away ROH has gotten from its routes. Just because I’ve included him in every other email I’ve sent you, could this new stable be the “crew” that Jack Evans was talking about!?!

I won’t fully believe Jimmy Rave is gone until September 15th rolls around and Rave ISN’T a part of the Project 161 reveal. Then I’ll buy it as legitimate…until then, in my mind there is a very real possibility its part of the whole angle.

I actually think Claudio CAN get much more over than he is now…he is an incredibly compelling character and someone I think the fans can connect to even with the language problems. Plus, Claudio is awesome enough in the ring as it is but he seems to get better and better with every match–that’s the combination ROH wrestlers need to get to the top of the card. I don’t see the title change and like you I’m also not sold on him having to be the winner of the RTTT, but I guess I’ll take a wait and see approach to how it all plays out.

You and that Jack Evans talk! I’m excited for Evans this weekend, as he has some good match ups with Richards and Deranged. I don’t see the No Honor Society or Abused society or whatever they’re called fitting Evans’ style.

Jeremy wants to see the return of “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels and I can’t blame him:

With the whole Project161 thing, think it’s possible it involves the return of Daniels? I mean, his departure from the company at GTGM was really… awkward. Here’s one of the first guys you think of when you think ROH, there since show one, founding father and all that jazz and he goes out like that? Left a bad taste in my mouth. With the references to prophecy and the whole mood of the thing, it makes me wonder.

Great column!

Yeah Jeremy, I’m really with you on the whole Daniels deal. Realistically its not going to happen due to the TNA issues, but man oh man is this ever tailor made for Daniels to return and once again try to tear apart ROH. Although I think The Prophecy wanted to tear down ROH and remake it in their own image, but this new No Honor Society or Abused Society or whatever, I think all they will want is destroy all of ROH and be done with it.

I’d love to see Daniels return someday. He never seems to get his just due as a part of being one of ROH’s founding fathers. Thanks for the compliments!

Finally Jeff W. from Honesdale, Pa. writes about a touchy subject—the ROH fan base on the message boards:

“love the column, you do a great job with your coverage of all things ROH. I don’t know that there is a better source for information on the best wrestling promotion up and running in the U.S. today (although, as a Pennsylvanian, i must give a shout out for CHIKARA). In the few years that I’ve been an ROH fan, I’ve never used the message board for any posting, but more for results of the live events. In the last few months though, i have started to browse the threads more frequently, and what I’ve found is that there are two types of ROH fans on those boards. The first are the thoughtful, insightful, and dedicated fans, who always stress the positives of ROH and will stand by and support it at all times. The second kind of fan is the one that i think in some ways, makes it intimidating for a new ROH fan to feel at home. This fan criticizes everything that Gabe does, and has the attitude that they are smarter and in some ways superior to every other wrestling fan, and even to Gabe. I don’t understand where all of this comes from, considering that ROH puts out an amazing product. So, here is my question to the master of all things ROH. Why is this? Why such a schism in the ROH fan base or message boarders? Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work on the column. And tell Chris Hero when you talk to him again that he’s a dirty liar and a cheat.

I have to somewhat agree with what you say about the message board—there are both positives and negatives to it, as with any message board. I happen to think the 411board can be even tougher with its criticisms and attitude, but then again that is what a message board is for—to express all points of view. I do have to admit I get frustrated at times by those boarders who are quick to criticize angles before they have a chance to play out or just flat out bash wrestlers. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but it’s infuriating to see stuff like “Morishima (or Danielson or insert wrestler X) is too predictable” or not good enough or whatever is the flavor of the day criticism. I see those posts and think “You can’t really think that can you? You MUST be a troll or something.” It makes no sense to me personally to think these things about the wrestlers, much less post them on the boards. There is also a tendency to overreact to one (ONE!) report on a show as opposed to waiting for a number of those in attendance to get back and post so you can get a consensus opinion.

You’re also just as likely to find intelligent and good natured discussion of ROH issues on that board. I recently enjoyed several survey style threads asking about things such as a poster’s choice of entrance music if he / she were to be a wrestler, how you got into wrestler / first memories, and so on. The pick ems and rankings vote are also a great bit of extra fun on the board (although I refrain from doing them).

Eventually though, I’m not sure I can let the negatives go even though I want to do so. I can’t let myself have a negative attitude based on a few respondents but I get frustrated and sarcastic in some responses, because of it. I never flat out want to be a jerk about these things, but there is much room for improvement there (as there is anywhere on the net, just check out Ain’t It Cool News talkbacks for the height of snobbery). My advice to you–just to point any idiocy’s you find to a friend and have a good chuckle…or a hold up a fist of rage at it and then let it go.

**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

(Full List Returns Next Week)

**CHIKARA Anniversario? (Hero / Quackenbush, Hallowicked / Kingston, Pantera & Lince Dorado / Castagnoli & Sweeney, Worker Ant / Hydra, Player Uno / Shayne Hawke) (NEW ADDITION)

This is the first night of a two night anniversary celebration for the Lucha inspired promotion run out of Philadelphia. Five years of wackiness, masked insects, dragons galore, knights, kings, quacks and more.

As the months have gone on, CHIKARA has become my second choice indie product to purchase after ROH. Now, the wrestling is often not up to par with ROH. In fact, the younger wrestlers are oftentimes sloppy and prone to make more mistakes than ROH or other promotions. You won’t get a definite match of the year contender on every show and there are often matches which I regret having watched (like the way I feel when a Chris Masters match is on my TV).

What CHIKARA does provide is a fun and entertaining alternative to ROH, which tends to be more on the serious side. The joy of watching Ultrramantis Black or The Colony do their shtick is terrific. You see the little things added to their characters (such as track jackets for The Order of the Neo Solar temple and the saluting elbow attacks of Soldier Ant) and you can tell a great deal of care has gone into the development of the style of the show.

Even the environment in which CHIKARA does its shows has a great impact on the overall enjoyment. The show on the 26th in Hellertown, PA has the ridiculous short to the ground ring and a smaller crowd. It’s in a veterans hall for crying out loud! Yet this show is in many ways superior to the next day’s show in the ECW / New Alhambra arena. That show, dubbed “Anniversario!” (note the subtle difference), is one I cannot recommend despite the great angle involving factions of The Kings of Wrestling. There might be a normal sized (though beat up) ring, more people, better stage and lighting production values and other features, the cold crowd and wrestling that is incredibly off the mark as far as execution and match quality means that I can’t add it to the list. Seriously though, I don’t know what was worse—people constantly messing up moves or the really crappy near silent reception most wrestlers (even Quackenbush!) received during this show. Oh and there’s that freaking annoying superfan who dresses up as a new gimmick character every time (At “Rey De Voladores” it was Hurricane, tonight it’s the Hulkster). Seriously—THIS is called becoming a part of the show and its far worse than anything I’ve seen at an ROH show.

At any rate, there is one bonafide great match on this DVD and it is the main event, two years in the making in CHIKARA for Chris Hero vs. Mike Quackenbush. This is the match to get the DVD. Form the start the intensity factor is there and you can tell its going to be really good. It is. These two are tight, work as if they hate each other and that the win means something. You forget about the veteran hall, about the short ring and focus on these two and their grudge and that is what wrestling is all about.

There are several other strong matches to add to the value of purchase, and that includes another vicious grudge match—this time between Hallowicked and Eddie Kingston. These two are crisp and do a great but short strong style grudge match. This is easily the # 2 feud in CHIKARA right now and it’s sold expressly on Kingston’s promos where he expresses his hate for Hallowicked and then their battles in the ring.

Pantera and Lince Dorado vs. Claudio and Sweeney (Claudio is indentured to the Kings in CHIKARA storylines) is another recommended view. Claudio is so on at this point and the luchadores are not far behind. Sweeney is entertaining as always on CHIKARA shows, both in the ring and on commentary. His recruitment of “Simply Marvellous” Mitch Ryder is a thing of beauty to see.

There is also the wonderful antics of Player Uno (who has improved at a marked pace) and the “pause” button and seriously, isn’t this the PERFECT gimmick to actually USE the Contra Code button combo? That has to happen in a match one of these days.

There are a few misses on the show. F.I.S.T. (Akuma and Icarus) vs. Dragon Yuki and Kagrra is proof that not every wrestler that comes out of Japan is good. Brodie Lee shows promise but his match against Equinox is a bore. Ryder vs. Shane Storm is below par and Storm seems to have actually regressed these days. Max Boyer vs. Create a Wrestler? Horrid. Let’s hope CAW is eons better as Moscow the Communist Bovine (yes you read that right).

This DVD is worth your purchase due to the top matches on the card and the wacky comedy factor. Of note as bonuses are two intro videos celebrating the fifth anniversary of CHIKARA and the bonus Podcast a Go Go’s included on disc 2. I can’t neglect to mention the awesome cover. Most CHIKARA DVDs are based on famous comic covers and this one is based off of “The Dark Knight Returns” and the famous shot of Superman vs. Batman in the silhouette. Superman in this case is Chris Hero and Quack is Batman. It’s a knock out beautiful cover, poster worthy. Pick up “Anniversario?” (with a question mark) at smartmarkvideo.com.

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

Buy or Sell is the big showdown between Stuart Carapola and Samuel Berman as its ROH Death Before Dishonor weekend preview talk, Chris Hero talk and more.

J.D. Dunn is having an All Star Extravaganza… III!

Check out the ROH Roundtable for all of 411’s ROH staff picks for Death Before Dishonor Night 2 including the debut of Larry Csonka!

Samuel Berman returns to ROH with his Independent Mid Card coverage of one of my favorite matches of 2005, James Gibson vs. Spanky.

I’m literally on my last line before I need to edit this into two parts. That means no Honor Bounds Link for this week–sorry. Next week: DBD V Night 2 results, the rivalry between McGuinness and Morishima and a preview of Caged Rage in CT. See Ya!
Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–