Column of Honor: 08.25.07: Part Two

Honorarium

– I’m in full anticipation for Matt Sydal showing up in WWE as Cody Runnels’ long lost evil twin brother from the mirror universe. That will be awesome

-So I put my dog in a Cravate the other day! She got out of it though, but I was only doing it lightly anyway. Now I’m going to teach her how to execute the cravate on humans and other canines. She’ll be excellent in my underground dog fighting league.

What? Too soon for a Michael Vick joke?

-So apparently, Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer don’t like people who wear masks. Batman and Robin, prepare to be jacked.

-I finally received my order of PWG DVDs, so hopefully soon I’ll be able to add some more of those onto the Independent Buy In list. My order of priority these days is ROH first, then CHIKARA, then PWG and then if I’m in the mood or morbidly curious I’ll check out some TNA or WWE.

-Speaking of spending money, man will I ever be dropping dollars tonight in Manhattan. I’ve been backed up on ROH shows (as you may have noticed, I haven’t commented on the newer releases these past few weeks) and have been waiting for the Buy 3, Get 1 Free sale at the ROH show. Even with that sale though, I may have to take out a bank loan to cover the bill for this shows’ merch pick ups. In addition to Domination (6/9/07), United We Stand (6/22/07) and the two Live in Japan Shows (7/16 and 7/17), I should be picking up the two latest SHIMMER DVDs. and at least one new T-shirt (likely the newest Nigel shirt released this week). Now I know you’re asking, “what about Respect is Earned?” Well, even if you’re not asking that, pretend to ask it. Thanks. Well, I’m getting the tab for that and a T-shirt (likely the new Aries) picked up by my bro as a belated birthday gift. Of course the funny thing is I’m doing the same for him in return for his upcoming birthday, so that’s an extra 40 bucks right there. PLUS I haven’t even mentioned buying tickets for the next NYC show. Yikes, that’s quite the final total there, barkeep.

Not to mention that I’ll have all this new footage to view and it’s the end of summer vacation. It’ll take quite a bit of time to catch up with it all, and no doubt it’s back to work before we get to that point. BOOOO!

-It’s not all piss and vinegar though. After all, I’ve been able to watch tons of DVDs over the last few days, and finally, like I mentioned last week, once again saw the much vaunted Murder City Machine Guns vs. Briscoes match fromGood Times, Great Memories. I have really been struggling with this one, because everyone on down the line here at 411 who has watched it has given it glowing reviews and many others on other websites are doing much the same. Yet when I saw it the first time, I was rather let down. Be it the “Overhype” theory, the not being there live theory, what have you, I just didn’t think as highly of it as everyone else. Had my ROH sense failed me?

Now that’s not to say I didn’t like the match. As I wrote when I first saw it, I’ll repeat that I thought it was a very good match. It just wasn’t a “great” match, much less a Match of the Year Candidate. Well, did my mind change on the second go around? What follows here is my definitive take on the match. I’ve listed my pros and cons and at the end of it, I’ll put it all together and see how I really, finally feel about it.

Murder City Machine Guns vs. The Briscoes

Pros:

+ Shelley and Sabin’s character traits shine through this entire match. They show signs of confidence, signs of arrogance and signs of worry. Sabin makes fun of Mark’s neck condition early in the match. They also display tons of team unity entering the ring and throughout the match. From Shelley patting Sabin on the head as the latter looks for solace from a Briscoes attack to the double muscle flex pose, these two are worthy characters and worthy challengers to the title.
+ Early chains, feints and reversals are impressive.
+ Sabin and Shelley execute clear heel tactics in the beginning of the match- the water spit, eye pokes, etc.
+ Both teams get a lot out of the small moves, which means the big moves mean even more when they are executed.
+ Speaking, of there is a lot of sharp execution of many moves, especially the Machine Guns’ double teams. They’re really honed these moves in Japan and other independent promotions.
+ Both teams makes sure to break up pins by using follow through. In other words they push their opponents off of pins and submissions, not just touching them with a pinky finger to make the ref stop the count. This makes the idea of winning the match and stopping the other team from winning very clear.
+ Good legal man consistency by both teams by pointing out to their partners who should go for the pin.
+ Some attempted tag moves “don’t work”, which isn’t done enough in many tag matches. Not all tag double teams should work 100 percent of the time, and so some backfire here to establish that it’s important when they do work.
+ Mark’s air guitar with the ROH tag title after winning the match—I made note of this in an earlier column and its just as awesome a “small touch” now as it was then.
+ The post match handshake and MCMG’s placement of the belts onto The Briscoes’ waists is a very nice touch of class for a team that wouldn’t be able to come back to ROH anytime soon.

Pro and Con

+ / – Mark’s head injury (stemming back from the missed shooting star press into a concussion that wiped him out on 3/30/07) is worked on subtly in this match BUT it is not made a big deal out of by the wrestlers as far as a hugely important move that takes out Mark or anything resulting in a direct control segment for the Machine Guns. More on the latter point in a bit.

…and now…you know after the good, there’s gonna be some bad.

Cons

– One of my major bones to pick with this match is the switch of the Machine Guns in match psychology from the heel position to the face role. While Shelley and Sabin start out as heels with heel tactics, half way through the match they become faces in peril (see next point) From there on in, the crowd gets behind them to make the comebacks and the match devolves into an indy super team dream match. There’s going with the crowd, sure, but then there’s completely abandoning your face / heel position. That’s a major no-no and it happens over and over again.
– There is a distinct lack of a definitive heel control segment (as is usual in Briscoes matches, but highlighted even moreso by the lack of heel / face lines halfway through the match). The faces (I should clarify, The Briscoes) dominate the control segments here. Murder City Machine Guns get the face hot tags (yes, plural) because of this when they shouldn’t be anywhere near a hot tag.
– There are chain wrestling sequences but no real body part is worked on by either team, aside from the subtle work on Mark’s head which doesn’t really lead to any major near falls.
– There are few instances of sloppiness from the teams but the ones that are noticeable are really noticeable. At one point, Shelley jumps out of the ring as opposed to being knocked out by Mark’s rotation kick. Later on there is a delay in Mark’s switch jump moonsault that is awkward and it looks like Shelley is catching Mark as opposed to being hit by him.
– The Briscoes’ tag combination moves in this one (especially late in the match) are contrived and unwieldy.
– The very finish of the match, with Jay jumping off the top to add a legdrop to Mark’s Cutthroat Driver, doesn’t hit the target or look very impressive in adding any additional power to the move. I know that it was supposed to look like it created extra momentum (take a pen and lay it on the flats of your fingers, then push down on one side—it will flip over), but it didn’t seem believable in the visual execution. The Guns had kicked out of the first Cutthroat Driver, why kick out of this one?

Final overall thoughts: Yes, this may have (“may have?”) come across as overly thought out, overly geeky, overly nitpicky, but this match has been haunting me the last two months and I needed to break it down like this to get it out of my system. Overall, I did find this to be not just a good match, but a “great” match, albeit a flawed great match. The crowd loved this one live and with good reason—it’s an incredibly competitive, back and forth match. However, there are too many things that irk me about the match for me to join the chorus of praise for the match. I found several other Briscoes matches this year in my opinion to be better than this one. All in all, this one may have crept into the lower tier of my top ten matches of the year, but there are a ton of matches left to watch and it will likely still be out of the ten at the end of the year.

My final star rating: ****

Honor Culture
As many of you may or may not realize, wrestling concepts seem to tie together interestingly to real world concepts. Many names of moves for instance, are allusions to peoples, places or things. Wrestlers might have nicknames or personalities that tie into other cool snippets of socity. ROH is no different. So on a regular basis, I will check in with a dose of the Honor Culture and show you where these lines between wrestling and the so called “real world” cross over. For example:

Culture Lesson 6: Ole! is an Onomatopoeia that has Many Meanings

In ROH, “Ole!” is a common expression used by the Masked Candian-Mexican luchador El Generico. He uses it is a term of endearment, a rally cry and an expression of excitement for his in ring actions. He wears the word on his tights and sometimes on his cape. In effect, it is the very motto by which El Generico live, breathes and wrestles. Ole!

Credit: Onlineworldofwrestling.com

Of course, the ROH fan base has long been known to do the “Ole Chant” (more on that in a bit) to support Samoa Joe as he sets up his patented Ole kick. Joe sets up an opponent on the outside of the ring. He sits them down nicely on a chair, but what comes next isn’t so nice. Joe confidently strides to the other side of the ring barricade as the fans chant “Ole” over and over again. Joe slaps the hand of a lucky fan that will not wash said hand ever again and then takes a huge bull charge towards his seated opponent. He finishes up his run by extending his boot to the jaw of the opponent at a rapid speed, easily disorienting and possibly concussing the downed man.

As Samoa Joe has left ROH and El Generico has found a more permanent place on the roster, the Ole chant has been used to help support the valiant young wrestler. The fans chant it in tune to his entrance music (see below) and sometimes in the match to help Generico fight back and make a comeback.

Of course the world of wrestling also has another type of Ole—the always good humored Ole Anderson. Yes I know I’ve made that joke before, but it’s still funny.

In the Mainstream, an Ole! Also has many meanings, most importantly it is a Spanish word expressing approval. Most of the time you’ll find it said during bullfights, as a toreador (bullfighter) eggs on its bull and performs his many passes.

“Ole!” has made its way as popular soccer (football) chant as another expression of support and approval.

Finally, Bouncing Souls have recorded their own version of the Ole chant and turned it into a punk song. Its also El Generico’s theme song.

Culture Connection: It’s a simple, three letter word, but it has so much more a depth of meaning. It’s a powerful word of encouragement, a song to sing along, and a motto to live by. There’s no better way to end this edition of Honor Culture than by saying it again—Ole!

Going Home

Ringtones

crazymccrazyson writes to CoH about a very big concern of his—the treatment of the Philadelphia area by ROH:

Hey Ari,

I’ll still read the Column of Honor, because you’re awesome. But otherwise, I guess I’ll either start going to Chikara shows, or maybe even CZW shows (a disgusting concept, but they did pretty much carry RoH in Philly last year). Or just give up pro wrestling. But I’m done with Ring of Honor.

Thanks for writing in again. As always, I appreciate the compliments about the column because I really do hope I do a good job with them.

You have the right to your opinion and you have a somewhat legitimate gripe as far ROH concentrating the “A++” main events in NYC and Chicago while not front loading as many big time matches for Philadelphia, the first ROH home base.

I do have to say though, that maybe your expectations of the ROH product have been raised to too high a threshold. I mean you pretty much said in your description of the show that the Philadelphia card had many “good” matches and that “the title match was well done” and that Quack / Danielson was “good (but a little short).”

Yes, you pretty much paid for show with “a bunch of good and short matches.” I would say, aren’t you happy that you got “good” matches? Looking at the results from DBD V, I wished I was able to be there for either show. I’ll be pretty honest, in today’s wrestling landscape; including the overall indie landscape “good” wrestling is not in the majority. When you have good wrestling and a source that you know will continue to provide mostly good wrestling (and often better than that) on a consistent basis, wouldn’t you want to hold onto that? From watching CHIKARA shows, let me tell you I love their atmosphere and many of the comic elements, but if you’re looking for better than “good” wrestling matches, much less “Great” matches, well you’ll find far more in ROH than CHIKARA on any given show. Yes, Quack, Hero, Claudio are your three givens to have good and above matches with anyone up and down the card. The rest are not a given. Hallowicked, Chuck Taylor, Up in Smoke, F.I.S.T. Larry Sweeney and Eddie Kingston, they always try hard, but there have been times when matches they have wrestled have been off “par”. Then you have some of the students and lower card, and sometimes their matches can be quite brutal. It’s a fun show. a “good” show overall, but compare that to what you find on ROH on any given show and live and on DVD, ROH comes across as the superior product.

PWG seems to be equal to ROH as far as having good and above matches and like ROH they have quite awesome matches usually at least once a show. The thing is though, there is different talent and different “big” matches there that you won’t find in ROH, but you also won’t find the ROH big matches in PWG. Another thing with them is their staggered DVD release dates are even worse than ROH. It’s hard to keep up and being on the East Coast, it’s impossible to go to a live show.

Should we even get into what we would see on a regular basis these days in TNA and WWE? They’re both a wreck for different reasons. Even for free tv, you won’t get your money’s worth, what with insane and nonsensical angles, rushed wrestling, total nonstop Angle, too much McMahons, etc etc. “good” wrestling on those shows is hard to come by.

I know you’re miffed NYC is getting such a huge showcase. I love the town of Philly and I know ROH has deep roots there. I don’t think Gabe and ROH disrespect the town to the level you seem to believe in your email. Look at the history of great matches you guys had in the last year alone. Albright-McGuinness, Danielson-Quack (hey I wanted to see that much live so badly but I didn’t get the chance to, but YOU did), McGuinness-Danielson (which I can’t see until LATE September and I’m dying to see it), Steen & El Generco vs. The Briscoes, Morishima vs. Homicide (a rare world title change), Daniels & Sydal vs. Evans & SHINGO, Cage of Death,

That’s an impressive list of big marquee matches in the last year alone. I can’t agree with you when you say ROH has abandoned the Philly market or that “Gabe gleefully shits on” the market. Especially when rumors are that 11/2 in Philly Misawa will come in and wrestle. Yes we get him 11/3 here in NYC, but Dayton, Chicago, Boston, Edison, they all WON’T get him. You and I may very well get to see ANOTHER Japanese legend (just like with Kobashi in 2005 and if i recall that show was awesome and that dream tag match was almost as awesome as Joe vs. Kobashi) come November.

I think you’re dealing with the overall disappointment with one show that didn’t live up to the hype for you. That’s fine, because I’ve gone through that myself (in particular I stopped attending the Long Island shows in 2006 b/c of the poor atmosphere and let down shows). ROH is far from perfect. However, I think when you look at the landscape of pro wrestling and what’s out there, they are certainly better than the big 2 and in my opinion still a better bang for your buck compared to even CHIKARA or PWG and especially CZW (which almost nearly lost its entire fanbase earlier in the year due to massive discontent over the Eddie Kingston incident and a history of hot shotting shows and fucking things up in general).

I don’t know if these things will change your mind. Maybe you should take a show off from Philly if that would be a good use of your discontent. By all means do try out alternatives, CHIKARA and PWG in particular you will likely enjoy. Maybe write a polite email to ROH. But to just blanketly walk out on a promotion after one “lame” show which all in all you described as “good”, I just can’t get with that. I stuck around with WWE and TNA through far worse things than only “good” shows. Hell I stuck around through Katie Vick!

Crazy wrote back with this further response:

Wow, thanks for the very detailed (and clearly well thought out) response. You made an extremely convincing case, and I really liked your take on other much hyped indies in comparison to RoH. Having very limited dollars, any money I spend on wrestling is on RoH, which makes my exposure to other indy feds through a) seeing their stars on RoH shows or b) reading about them on the internet. I appreciate the take.

PS – I appreciate you printing my first letter, but don’t think I’m writing these long letters to try and take over your column. You’re just the preeminent expert on RoH and I wanted your thoughts on some of these things.

To go in reverse order, I don’t think that ROH is going to have Philly be a permanent Friday show venue. Don’t know for sure, but it’s just my inclination because of the Misawa possibility. However, remember that just this year NYC also had a Friday show, and it was to allow Philly’s show to be on Saturday.

I think that if you don’t want to pimp ROH to your buddy’s, then don’t. ROH works in part on word of mouth, but you’re not obligated (or paid) to do that. It’s ROH’s responsibility to sell itself, not yours.

I see your point about main event quality matches. NYC is certainly having an abundance of them for this one, and ROH has gone so far as to name the show Manhattan Mayhem II, in homage to the first NYC show ever (and one of the best cards ever). That show didn’t even look as stacked as this one, but it turned out to be quite the deep card with excellent match after excellent match.

Should Philly have gotten one of the top four matches on the NYC card? (sidenote: I’d make the argument that Hero-Claudio is a marquee match but isn’t quite main event level a match just yet in ROH, but that’d be a bit too lengthy of a digression) Probably. I really don’t know what to say to rebut that point, except that NYC being the biggest venue for ROH at this time (and you’re suggestion of an MSG PPV show is apt), it should also house the biggest or memorable matches. You saw the biggest matches for WWWF or WWF / WWE in MSG, likewise you see some of the biggest matches for ROH in Manhattan Center. All told, ROH does provide bigger matches to other venues, especially Chicago and Philadelphia. Maybe not at the same ratio, but they’re there nonetheless.

To justify Aries vs. Strong vs. Evans, it was after all; right here in NYC where that whole break up situation occurred. I think it’s appropriate to see this match here. Come to think of it, all of the marquee matches had such huge build up moments in NYC (KoW splinter at Final Battle ’06, Danielson is laid out by Morishima at Respect is Earned, Generico and Steen, while started in Philly, challenged Briscoes and had that awesome free for all also on PPV. It all connects from show to show.

I will also say this–I’m a bit upset that NYC hasn’t gotten another PPV taping yet, however, I understand the situation and strategy ROH is employing in using them and spreading them around other venues. I won’t complain too strenuously, especially given the strength of the matches on this card.

I think fans in all regions have to understand that they’re going to get some big matches, but not all of them. They may even get some matches that aren’t so attractive. Hell, even we in NYC are getting one or two “bum” matches, such as Nigel vs. BJ. I’m not too geeked up for that one.

I suggest anyone who is feeling what crazy has to say here to try some other independents, especially CHIKARA and the 8/5 “Maximum Overdraft” show which was just released. You’ll get some good quality wrestling, good comedy and maybe a break from ROH is in order for some people. But don’t give up on all wrestling or all of ROH!

JustinShaq racks up frequent emailer miles and wants to talk about Sydal’s decision to leave.

Dear Ari,
For once in my life I don’t want to talk about Jack Evans! However I do feel that the other best high flyer on the ROh roster is making a tremendously terrible decision. Matt Sydal is a gifted athlete and should be able to showcase his talents, but in WWE I don’t feel he’ll be able to do that. You don’t see a lot of crisp move to move ablity on WWE as most of the wrestlers or sports-entertainers rely on strikes such as punches or chops. Sydal regularly relies on his speed to do such maneuvers as headscissors the most beautiful standing moonasult in the business and that strike combo he does in the corner. Plus WWE doesn’t allow there roster to take to the air that often and when they do it’s not that impressive if you add this notion to the fact that is an Irish midget as cruiserweight champ Sydal is screwed.
Thoughts?

I think Sydal will have to adjust, definitely to the WWE style. I think a lot of his flying offense will have to go and that does make some people question why should he go if he can’t use what got him there? Well, he had a dream, a dream to be signed to the WWE, so let him take that dream and try to go as far as he can with it. I’m not saying he will even make main show TV, but at least he should try and see what can happen. The worst is that he doesn’t make it and comes back to the indie scene with more experience (and more money) to show for it.

I think ROH wrestlers who go to WWE have a decent (if unspectacular) track record. I think we’ve seen guys like London / Kendrick have roles and fill in certain spots. I don’t think anyone outside of Samoa Joe coming to WWE and the outside shot of Punk if he keeps on at it for many years to come will really truly make the Main Event scene in WWE. I think though, that each will have been happy to be given chance to do what they wanted to do for so long, wrestle in a WWE ring, no matter how far up the ladder they went. I’m sure London and Kendrick aren’t happy when they get left off the PPV cards (especially during that one year as champion), but they’ve been used on TV, get revenue from action figures and merch and they do what they can. I’d have to imagine that Punk is ecstatic that not only did he make it a full year in WWE, but he made it onto ALL big four shows and has a featured role every week on ECW. It took him a while to get to there as things were touch and go backstage at the beginning, but he’s gone through it all and is at the point he is now despite the doubts from many that he would be successful.

Likewise, I think Sydal has to take the shot. He may have to reconfigure his moveset (The Belly to Belly Moonsault, SSP and Here it is Driver will have to go, but he may be able to keep that sweeping head scissors and standing moonsault) but Punk did the same and came out just fine. He may be positioned as Hornswoggle’s personal Job Boy, but at least it’s something. He, like Cabana, like Punk, had to take their shot, so let them and let’s support them while they do it.

seaneb14 finishes up the mailbag this week with some fun fantasy booking.

Ok, so I watched a very interesting DVD last night, “Guest Booker” with Kevin Sullivan. Which, if you’re a wrestling fan, will make you want to start your own promotion, just so you can book it for fun. I didn’t go that far, but at my job (where I have a ton of down time) I booked the rest of the year of ROH. I won’t go through all of it, but here’s my Final Battle 2007 card.

The KENTA and CIMA matches are assuming they would both be able to make the show. Also, I’m not sure the Tower of London off the cage is possible (or at least safe). Is there anything you would add, or take away. Also, do you think ROH will ever make a magazine. I know it would be a little unneccessary, considering most of what would be in the magazine could be found on the site. But it would be pretty cheap to make and I think most ROH fans would subscribe.
Keep up the good work.

Fantasy booking is a favorite past time of many wrestling fans, especially those on the internet. Hell, its how I was able to get myself to sleep sometimes!

Your final battle card is good but as I think we’ve discussed before the Delirious-CIMA stuff has long since been forgotten about. I don’t expect any follow up on that. It looks like you think Evans will have Steen and Generico siding with him–and I don’t like that as a fit for him. But then again, I’ve been racking my brain and nothing I’ve tried really feels like a good fit for him. It’s interesting you have the project161 (allegedly) feuding with Sweet and Sour Inc, but what about Claudio? I think his feud with Hero comes to a head instead of Project 161.

I do like Danielson vs. McGuinness in a steel cage, but for it to have a tower of London at the top finish it needs to be more of a flying RKO move (ala the SD vs. Raw series) as opposed to coming down at the 45 degree acute angle. Otherwise that =s a dead Dragon. Everything else you’ve booked matches up pretty well and would make for a good card.

Here’s my fantasy Final Battle 07, off the top of my head:

ROH World Title: Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima (Morishima’s last match for now in ROH)

Six Man War: Bryan Danielson, Brent Albright and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Project 161: Adam Pearce, BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Rave (yep)

ROH World Tag Team Championship: champions The Briscoes vs. KENTA and Marufuji

Fight Without Honor: Chris Hero (w. Sweet N Sour Inc.) vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Elimination Triple Threat: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans

Triple Threat tag (one fall): Erick Stevens and Matt Cross vs. Davey Richards and Rocky Romero vs. Hallowicked and Delirious (my picks for Jack’s crew)

Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Cheech and Cloudy

Somewhere along the way, possibly on 11/30 in Dayton, I’d do a three way Steel Cage Warfare with The Resilience vs. NRC vs. Jack’s crew. Also, Bobby Dempsey needs to win the Top of the Class trophy in order to show that Tank Toland’s training actually paid off. Of course, Toland and Co. would cheat to win behind Dempsey’s back, which would make his win and the over the top celebration to follow that much more comical. The Briscoes lose to Steen and Generico but somewhere along the way get the titles back before FB 07.

ROH did have a magazine in mid 2004 but I think it was run or created by fans and only lasted a few issues. I think basically though what they did became the template for the programs ROH currently does. I just don’t think ROH has the resources to do a full out magazine or ‘zine and have it be of a good quality, so I would rather them continue to put their efforts towards promoting the storylines and matches through the articles and video packages released through their website.

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

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)
**A Fight at the Roxbury (Four Corner Survival: Quackenbush / Hero / Castagnoli / McGuinness, ROH World Title: Morishima / Jay Briscoe, El Genercico / Matt Sydal, Steen / Briscoe, Danielson / Rave)

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

Nick Marsico writes the News to Start Your Weekend and includes a preview of this weekend’s ROH festivities, including tonight’s show. Get to it for more reading!

This week’s ROH Roundtable focuses on last night’s show in CT and tonight’s Manhattan show. See how wrong we were and how wrong we will be!

This week it was me vs. Brad Garoon in Buy or Sell as we discussed this weekend’s hot topics in ROH, including the tag title situation, Jimmy Jacobs and much more.

Samuel Berman takes a back to school (BOOO!) approach this week in The Independent Mid Card match in Shane Hagadorn vs. Pelle Primeau and turns it into gold.

Alex Mattis gets in his say about Danielson vs. Morishima in this week’s The Best of the Rest.

Hard Working Mike Campbell gives you the retro-review of the original Epic Encounter, two out of three falls between Danielson and Paul London.

Honor Bound Links

John Meehan gives you the Saturday News, including his take on Matt Sydal to WWE.

Bayani Domingo gets the first plug right after the news spot for one of the best columns he’s written in this week’s Truth B Told about the ties that bind wrestling fans. Well said, Bayani. I can almost forgive all those jokes about Judaism now.

I write my Roundtable predictions for Summerslam 2007 once again entirely in Haiku. Oh yes. Joe Estee gives us a preview of the main event match up in his Keys to the Game and Leonard Hayhurst gives you the overall scene in his Road to Summerslam preview

Sat and Uncle Trunx have .

Larry C. brings the TNA criticisms and more with guest writers in the 4R’s.

Rob Halden gives you many choices for this week’s Idiot.

Michael Weyer Shines the Spotlight on TNA’s woes and miseries.

Finally, Cook is cooking up the answers to your questions with Ask 411.

Alright everyone, that will do it for today and the end of another hugely packed edition of the column. This might be the end of the “extra large’ sized columns for a bit, as summer vacation comes to an end and I’ll have a little less extra time to both write columns and then do nothing much else but max and relax.

Next week—results and live impressions from the 8/25/07 show in Manhattan and much more! Later.

Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–