Column of Honor: 09.22.07 The Yom Kippur “Fast” Edition Part One

I am technically breaking the covenants of my ancestors to join you all here today. On Yom Kippur. I hope you’re happy!

Obviously we have a huge column with a ton of news and results from last weekend’s Pay Per View tapings, but before we get to that let me bring down the quick pluggage. Staring with TONIGHT’S episode of Rocketbusta Radio I along with ROH board member Folby will appear as “panel guests” for a weekly segment on Ring of Honor wrestling hosted by none other than former 411 Mania News To Start Your Weekend author Nick Marsico. That’s right, we iz going LIVE (via tape), LIVE (via tape), LIVE (via tape) and podcasting to the stars. So be sure to check that out at 8pm EST on teamgameonline.com. We’ll be discussing the week’s topics including The Age of the Fall, the Driven PPV and the issue of stables in ROH.

Coincidentally we shall get to all three topics in this week’s column as well! So let’s get to it!

Ring Toss
-ROH Results “Man Up” in Chicago Ridge, IL
-“Man Up” Rants and Reaction
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-Hero’s Sandwich
-Honorarium: Japan shows, Race to the Top
-Money Players: August and September 2007
-Name That Tune
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In: PWG Based on a True Story
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links
-OUT

ROH Results: Man Up PPV / DVD Taping September 15th 2007 Chicago Ridge, IL

Results
Pre-Show
-Ernie Osirus & Silas Young defeated. Rhett Titus & Bobby Dempsey.

Main Show: PPV Exclusive
-Nigel McGuinness won a Four Corner Survival / Number One Contender’s match by defeating Claudio Castagnoli in a match that also included Naomichi Marufuji and Chris Hero. McGuinness pinned Claudio after the Jawbreaker Lariat.
-Rocky Romero defeated Matt Cross via pinfall after knocking Cross out with a kick.
-Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards via pinfall with the brainbuster and 450 Splash combo.
-Roderick Strong defeated Erick Stevens via pinfall with a Razor’s Edge from the second rope and a Gibson Driver. The No Remorse Corps win the two out of three series against the Resilience two matches to one.
-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima retained his title by defeating challenger Bryan Danielson via referee stoppage.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes retained their titles by defeating challengers Kevin Steen & El Generico in a ladder match that was said to be awesome, insane and a match of the year candidate at a near thirty minutes in length.

DVD Taping
-Top of the Class Trophy holder Mitch Franklin defeated challenger Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne via pinfall after a faceplant powerbomb.
-SHIMMER attraction match: Daizee Haze and Amazing Kong defeated the team of Lacey and Sara Del Rey. Haze pinned Lacey for the duke.
-BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright defeated The Young Rich & Ready for Action of Kenny King & Chasyn Rance via pinfall. Tag team flapjack piledriver [how does that work?] for the win.
-Tyler Black and Jack Evans goes to a no contest due to interference from Necro Butcher, throwing a chair at the ref.
-The Age of the Fall (Black, Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher) and Jack Evans & Irish Airborne go to a no contest when Necro punched the referee in the mouth.
-Delirious defeated Matt Sydal in Sydal’s last match for ROH via pinfall after the Chemical Imbalance.

Angles & Issues (Note: Some of the images displayed here are very graphic. Viewer discretion is advised (so I can cover my ass)).

Project Handed in on Due Date: In what is now a well reported development, Project 161 revealed themselves as expected during this show. First a man in a ski mask interrupted the proceedings early on in the PPV taping by getting involved in Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard’s “stand up” introduction to the show. Then there were reports of several dozen fans at the show who were dressed up in ski masks and black bandanas. Some of these were legit fans and others were plants or wrestlers themselves (BJ Whitmer was reportedly one of them…hmmm…).

Project 161 made their first real impact though after the ROH World Tag Team title match had ended. Entering to a soundtrack of a screaming girl and with the men in masks rushing the ring and banging the railing to the befuddlement of the ROH Keystone Cops security squadron, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black rushed out of the crowd and jumped onto the apron to face off with The Briscoes. From the other side came NECRO BUTCHER, one of the bigger surprises of the whole angle. Butcher swung and brought down both Briscoes, who were both bloody and beaten down from the previous match.

Jay was once again cut open and then Jacobs was joined by Lacey as they hung him up by the feet to the apparatus that was holding the ROH tag belts for the ladder match. Then the pole was “mysteriously lifted up”—OH MY GOD IT’S THE SAME GUY WHO SCREWED STEVE AUSTIN BACK AT KING OF THE RING! Jacobs cut a promo explaining all of Project 161 and dubbing this group “The Age of the Fall”, all the while standing underneath a bleeding Jay Briscoe. The blood pours down upon Jacobs, who was wearing a WHITE jacket to make the blood stand out that much more. It was one of the most striking and yet disturbing visuals ever in ROH.

Jacobs explained that after he did the deal with Lacey in the hotel room and when Lacey told him that she loved him, he felt nothing. “Love doesn’t save–nothing saves!” he declared, much like the mysterious postings all over the ROH message boards a few months ago. Jacobs pushed Lacey away, but Lacey didn’t seem to mind at all, underlining just how different their relationship is now as opposed to last year, when Jacobs was chasing her. He also explained that Necro was never given a proper chance in ROH because he didn’t fit into what ROH thought of as a “ROH wrestler”. Black had passion but was never given the chance. Now they were going to take their chances and destroy ROH. They picked The Briscoes because they were the chosen men of ROH, bred for success since the very early days.

However, The Briscoes weren’t the only ones who The Age of the Fall picked a fight with. Later on in the show, these men became involved in a tussle with Jack Evans. Black’s match with Evans went to a no contest and Irish Airborne came down for the save, prompting a six man tag. That match also went to a no contest and AotF brutalized the ref and the wrestlers. Evans has promised retribution with his group The Vulture Squad (see below).

The Project is over and Age of the Fall has begun. It’s a controversial time in ROH and many fans are becoming polarized in either direction, both in a kayfabe and in a smark wrestling fan sense. In other words, Some love this angle and others hate it. Some fans are “choosing to support” Jacobs’ group over ROH in much the same way fans chose the nWo over WCW way back when.

Not in the face!: After Takeshi Morishima sent word out through the ROH website that he would honor Danielson’s eye injury and not go after the eye in his title defense, well, he goes after the eye anyway! It sounds like someone has been taking lessons from the No Remorse Corps. Anyway, the crowd totally got on his case and provided a ton of heat for his defense (which will be shown on PPV in November).

-Nigel and Claudio cut promos for the opening of the third PPV. Nigel has promised to get back into contendership and fight Morishima for the title.

-The Hangman Three; Another stable was made official as Albright and Whitmer declared themselves to be a part of this new group.

-Matt Sydal waved off a goodbye and speech celebration after his match with Delirious. It was reported later on by many sources including F4W that Sydal had suffered a concussion during the match, which may explain why he only did a series of bows to the crowd after the match and left right away. Bryan Alvarez reported that Delirious recognized Sydal was out of it and tried to finish the match but Sydal did not remember the finish and kept kicking out and refusing to submit, which would explain the longevity of the match.

Return Date: December 1st, 2007

411 writer Jerome Cusson provides you his reactions from the show via this link!

Column of Honor Reactions to “Man Up”

Project 161 / The Age of The Fall: CONTROVERSIAL but initially successful: While in hindsight several clues were all there for us to put together, including the “hanging” imagery on the site and the original picture of the bleeding statue of liberty, the fact of the matter is I really didn’t think Jimmy Jacobs was behind 161. Yes I thought, there was a chance he was behind it all, but not really I mean, it was pretty obvious to me it was Pearce’s crew, but as it turns out that was a red herring.

So when it was announced that Jacobs was behind it all, I had to smile, because it was a true “Keyser Soze” moment. The answer had been in front of us the whole time.

I first began to think Jacobs had more to do with this than before when thinking about the comments on the blog that he would smile to fans to their faces but inside hate them for who they were. To me that seemed exactly like what Jimmy Jacobs had been doing since his return from injury to active duty. He played the role of the babyface, but something seemed to be off about the whole thing. The babyface act just didn’t seem to fit him.

So here we are at the point of no return for this angle—now it has been exposed to the public and not just on an internet alternate reality game. This is where the real work begins to make this angle work. Initial reports as far as fan reaction is mixed—live some fans were chanting “boring” at Jacobs’ promo, but then again he’s always been a better taped promo than live. He actually didn’t go on for too long (you can see the segment later on in the column via embedded You Tube) and what he said made sense within the context of his history.

If anything needs to be shored up, it’s the small details of the angle, like entering and exiting the arena and ROH’s disapproval of their actions. On the first matter, AotF need to always be coming out from the crowd and leaving through the crowd. They should be complete outsiders and not welcome in the locker room because of their goals and aspirations. On the second matter, ROH has taken strides to let fans know they don’t approve of these actions, but maybe they should go further and maintain a level of silence on their actions except for match announcements. Have the AotF website be where the information and propaganda is disseminated.

Necro Butcher is a very odd fit and I’m not sure I completely agree with it but it was explained decently enough in kayfabe sense. In a wrestling fan sense, I have come around big time to Necro in the ring and think it is the right time to bring him back into ROH action.

We’re still at the beginning of what could be a very long chapter in ROH history, but I like what I see so far and my hope is that things will come together well by the angle’s apex.

The Resilience loses…AGAIN!

I’m going to get on a rant about people not liking stables in a minute, but seriously, honestly, truly, WHY should fans continue to support The Resilience? They keep losing all the time! This is not Raven losing to CM Punk because he keeps getting outwitted by a more dangerous opponent or even CM Punk losing to Jimmy Rave over and over again because The Embassy was too sneaky. No, this is a three man group repeatedly getting their asses handed to them in the ring by another three man group. They lose because the other team is beating them up more than they can beat the other team up. Then they get all Animal House and go “Thank you sir, may I have another!’ THIS IS NOT WORKING.

They lost the eight man tag at Death Before Dishonor V. They (SPOILERS) lost the tag match at Driven. They lost the challenge series at Man Up for November. The Resilience needs to make a comeback of Rocky like proportions at this point or else its over for them as a group. I love Aries but this angle does him no good right now if he can’t prove his leadership skills work for his men. He didn’t motivate but one of them to win at the PPV! Why would Stevens and Cross care to stick around if they keep losing? I like all three wrestlers in the ring but its time to get on the same page of else tear the book up and burn it.

Nigel McGuinness wins number one contendership… TOO EASY!: Yes I want Nigel to be the next ROH World champion. I like the foundations of the story which have been planted ever since February. McGuinness and Morishima have great chemistry and no doubt their match on October 6th for the fourth PPV (in the same location as their first title match) will tear down the house. We may even see a title switch. However, the route to getting another title shot, by winning just ONE match on PPV after losing plenty of matches on non PPV shows, wow was that way too easy. Nigel was on a mini losing streak, but we never really heard much about it over the last two months. Now he wins one match and he’s back on top? Marufuji has been wining every singles match he’s been in during ’07, why doesn’t he deserve a shot? No, the road to another title shot should have been far longer and should have been given more focus. I don’t think many fans are buying into this one, which is a shame because Nigel has been flat out awesome this year.

Too Many Stables? Bad Stables Names? FUCK NO!: Oh man have I ever been pissed off about this one. Ever since the tapings ended on Saturday people have been bitching, whining, moaning and just being a bunch of pussies about this whole topic. Oh yes, I went there.

There are currently six stables in ROH right now and it definitely looks like ROH has come to a head with these formations and now we are going to get the so called “stable wars”. Some fans seem to get into factional warfare and others hate the fact that there are too many stables. Yes, there is something to be said for too many stables watering down who gets over. Yes, there is something to be said for everyone getting in on the action. Yes, there is something to be said for there being more stables than non aligned top wrestlers on the roster.

And all that being said, six stables is right now no more than the maximum number of stables ROH has ever had in its history. If your look at early 2003-2005 you will see huge stable warfare enveloping ROH. The Carnage Crew, Special K, the early form of The Rottweilers, the Second City Saints, The Group and The Prophecy were all in and around ROH at this time. Later on some of these crews bowed out and new ones like Generation Next and The Embassy were brought in. Then in 2006, stable warfare was tabled in favor of highlighting the singles and tag divisions. Bryan Danielson was pulling his weight and then some in the ROH World title matches and Aries and Strong were revitalizing tag team wrestling. Then the ROH vs. CZW feud enveloped ROH.

Stables come and go, but they come and go in waves. It is ultimately useless and infantile to complain about there being too many stables because inevitably some will rise to the top and some will end up being broken up. Right now and likely for the next year ROH seems to be at a new peak for stables, but I would have to think that sooner or later we will see consolidation OR the wiping out of some of these stables. It is natural section (well in a kayfabe booking sense) and is bound to happen.

I have read this week so many complaints of ROH losing its originality and giving way to the NOAH and Dragon Gate style of wrestling and stable wars respectively. Others have said the Aotf sdeal was way too gory and the ladder match was way too violent. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN PEOPLE???? Ring of Honor is unique in that it presents a more pure wrestling product, but it’s never been above sports entertainment, group wars, bloody and disturbing imagery and Hardcore style wrestling. That’s been part and parcel of the product since 2002!

ROH’s wrestling and booking style has taken the best elements from many of wrestling history’s more successful promotions, ECW in the 90’s, early 90’s AJPW, Memphis style and NWA style from time to time. ROH is original in that it gives us quality wrestling product on a very consistent basis as opposed to TNA and WWE, who are a crap shoot week to week. It’s like going to a five star restaurant every week OR going to a high school cafeteria and not knowing whether or not you’ll get the really good mashed potatoes and meatloaf OR the horrible Styrofoam Hamburgers.

Don’t even get me started on those people whining about the NAMES of the stables and the name of the third PPV as “Man Up”. Are they THE SAME PEOPLE WHO I DAMN SURE BELIEVE COMPLAIN ABOUT THE NAMES OF ROH SHOWS????? AS IF THE NAME OF A SHOW WILL STOP THE SHOW ITSELF FROM BEING ANY DAMNED GOOD! I don’t think people know how difficult it is to come up with a good name to a product these days, much less consistently come up with the names of shows, PPVs and stables. I laid all out on the line on the ROH message board in a thread entitled the Stables Rename Challenge, and let me tell you, those people who were complaining about these name, where were they? NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! Oh but a few of those dipshits actually started up ANOTHER THREAD to complain about the names—well good for you kids. Keep wasting your time.

Lots of people were saying “well actually I think the original names ROH came up with are quite decent.” And those that suggested alternative names, thanks for actually putting yourself out there, but really none of them, NOT EVEN MY OWN SUGGESTIONS were any better than what ROH has come up with and in some cases they were far, far worse. “Air Devils” indeed.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 09/22/2007

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 19 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: vs. Kevin Steen 10/05/07 Boston, MA

V.1 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (2/23/07 Dayton, OH)
V.2 defeated KENTA via pinfall / backdrop driver (3/04/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.3 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/14/07 Edison, NJ)
V.4 defeated Austin Aries via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.5 defeated SHINGO via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/28/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.6 defeated KAZMA via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/06/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.7 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/12/07 New York, NY)
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)
V.14 defeated Brent Albright via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/11/07, Philadelphia, PA)
V.15 Three Way Elimination Match: defeated Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli (8/24/07, Hartford, CT)
V.16 defeated Bryan Danielson via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/25/07, New York, NY)
V.17 defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima via pinfall / lariat (9/01/07, Tokyo, Japan)
V.18 defeated Erick Stevens via pinfall / backdrop driver (9/14/07, Detroit, MI)
V.19 defeated Bryan Danielson via referee stoppage (9/15/07, Chicago Ridge, IL)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 14 successful defenses)

Next Defense: TBA

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)
V.11 Steel Cage Match: defeated. Kevin Steen & El Generico (8/24/07 Hartford, CT)
V.12 defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico (8/25/07 New York, NY): 2 Out of 3 Falls – 2 straight falls
V.13 defeated Austin Aries & Matt Cross (9/14/07 Detroit, MI)
V.14 Ladder Match: defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico (9/15/07, Chicago Ridge, IL)

FIP Heavyweight Champion: Roderick Strong (since 11/10/2006)
SHIMMER Champion: Sara Del Rey (since 6/2/2007)
Top of the Class Trophy (For ROH Students): Mitch Franklin (since 8/24/2007)

Top Feuds & Pairings:
-Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima
-Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-The No Remorse Corps vs. The Resilience vs. The Vulture Squad
-Delirious vs. Albright, Whitmer and Adam Pearce (The Hangman’s Three)

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

After the Fall
Last Saturday in Chicago featured perhaps the bloodiest and most grotesque incident in wrestling history. Yes, we will go as far as to say wrestling history. A new faction emerged in ROH and quickly targeted ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe. The new faction is known as The Age Of The Fall and consists of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, Necro Butcher & Lacey. The attack, which was taped for ROH’s 3rd PPV, went way over the line and the footage will be pulled from ROH’s 3rd PPV. This is not the kind of product that ROH wants to put on television. Once this was reported on the ROHwrestling.com message board, fans across the internet demanded to see the footage. Since this is a historical incident that will shape the future of ROH, it has been decided to include The Age Of The Fall bloodbath debut in the next ROH Video Wire. Look for the ROH Video Wire to be up Wednesday or Thursday for free at ROHvideos.com. This footage is not for the weak of heart and is not appropriate for all audiences.

As you will see from a passionate promo by The Briscoes in the next ROH Video Wire, Jay & Mark don’t want to wait to fight The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Necro Butcher with Lacey. They won’t have to because the first match between these two teams will take place on 10/5 in Boston. It will be a non-title match since The Age Of The Fall have never even won a match in ROH. ROH officials will not reward them with an immediate title shot. The Briscoes say that is fine with them because now they can just focus on the fight in Boston. Jay & Mark want all the fans in Boston to know that if they thought that last time was crazy against Kevin Steen & El Generico, wait until you see what happens on 10/5.

I think The Briscoes actually steal the show in this videowire right at the very end with one of the best profanity laced promos I’ve ever seen. Sure, cursing isn’t the best way to bring your points across on an every day basis, but when you just had the fight of your life, won and then got your asses kicked AND embarrassed like nothing else, how the hell would you react? This was the right reaction and the right statement they needed to make. As George Carlin would think, the right curse words at the right time make for a beautiful moment, so revel in that moment and don’t get all too politically correct about it.

Las Vegas Show No Longer XXX
The 10/19 event in Las Vegas will be at a new location. We will announce it soon. Tickets go on sale then. Keep checking the main page of ROHwrestling.com for the new announcement and first participants in the “Survival Of The Fittest” tournament that night.

I would presume to think that they changed locations away from Sam’s because of the age limit that I reported on last week. The “21 and Over’ limit was not ROH’s idea and I’m sure that they tried to work on it with the Casino but when they could not decided to move to a new location. It’s coming up within a month so hopefully ROH will find a good location and get it done on time.

Edison NJ Matches: Morishima vs. McGuinness III to Headline
The first match has been signed for ROH’s fourth PPV taping on 10/6 in Edison, NJ. It will be a huge bout as two faction leaders and former championship partners collide. Edison, NJ on 10/6 will feature Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong!!!

It was announced in the new ROH Video Wire that Takeshi Morishima vs. Nigel McGuinness has been signed for ROH’s 4th PPV taping in Edison, NJ. If Morishima is still ROH World Champion he will put the belt on the line here.

We have two more matches to announce for 10/6 in Edison, NJ. It is unknown if these matches will be on the PPV portion of the show or for the live fans and DVD audience. The first one is a grudge match between former championship partners. Edison will witness Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero on 10/5!!!

Also signed for 10/6 is an interesting tag team match between two new factions. The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans & Ruckus with Julius Smokes will take on two members of The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Necro Butcher. Jack Evans was involved in a wild brawl against Age Of The Fall in Chicago. Now he has The Vulture Squad to back him in Edison. Both teams want a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles, but they will have to earn that shot with victories. There is a lot on the line in this one.

Lots of major announcements already, which means ROH has gotten its ducks in a row for this show. Morishima vs. McGuinness III—it feels like a title change situation, but maybe, maybe not. Trilogies don’t always end so well for the title chasers in ROH. I also think we may yet see that Triple Threat match between Nigel, Takeshi and Bryan Danielson. I’m thinking Hero vs. Castagnoli is being set up for the DVD portion since the Claudio vs. Sweet & Sour feud has developed over the second and third tapings. In that case, things may not go so well for our Swiss friend. Aries vs. Strong was a match I called in this column a few weeks back, and hopefully Aries will win this one to at least help salvage the placement of The Resilience in this feud. I’d guess the V-Squad vs. Age of the Fall will be a DVD taping because its not directly a part of the PPV continuity.

Don’t Forget About Boston
ROH is really loading up the October 5th Boston event at the conveniently located Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in the heart of Boston on Tremont St. and just seconds from the MBTA. Two of ROH’s aces have sent challenges to each other to see who is the best. It is one of ROH’s longest running rivalries and it is back on in Boston. October 5th will witness wrestling at its best when Bryan Danielson takes on Austin Aries!!!

I believe this will be Danielson vs. Aries VI, but it never gets old to me. These two are so well tuned into their craft and whenever they fight each other its guaranteed quality.

“Driven” Debuts on PPV, Receives Rave Reviews

TVN and Dish Network customers have been able to view the PPV since yesterday and it is getting major positive reviews from many websites, including the pwtorch.com’s Sean Radican who gave the show a ten out of ten, wow. HEY, why don’t I get advance copies of PPVs? Boo-urns.

Project 161, Week 8: The Age of The Fall: Week One

Tyler Black has revealed himself to be the one who has been writing most if not all of the Project 161 blogs. The website is going to continue to exist so Black can spread the propaganda and probably deliver clues as to what they will do next.

Was Jimmy giving us and this fan a hidden clue about his involvement in 161? Or was he pointing to a rash on his hand? You decide!

Hero’s Sandwich

Here we go again, its time for another installment of the segment that you all wait patiently for each and every week, its time for the Hero’s Sandwich. Yes, it is I, your idol, Chris Hero, back again for another shot at enlightenment, another dose of Dalai Lama-esque higher thought and inner peace. I know that many of you have doubts as to my newly reached state of calm, but let me make this abundantly clear, yet once again. I am at total peace with myself, and the direction of my career in Ring Of Honor Pro Wrestling. Sure, I would love to win every match that I compete in, but I have come to realize that winning isn’t everything, and that I have to put the wins and losses into a greater perspective. IIt’s just wrestling, after all, not brain surgery or finding the cure for cancer. Even many of you who are overly obsessed with ROH must be able to understand what I mean when I say that. But then again, maybe not. Considering all of the scornful messages that I received last week after my totally revealing installment, I have come to think that many of you need to find an enlightened place yourself, and find the inner peace as I have. I know it’s quite a change for you and I, but sometimes, change is the best thing.

On that note, let me begin my discussion of all things related to the happenings in ROH over the past 7 days. I had a great match with 3 other highly skilled wrestlers last Saturday night in Chicago, even though I was not victorious, I really enjoyed the match, and got quite a workout in at the same time. I read on various news reports that I avoided entering the ring and stayed away from Claudio Castagnoli and Nigel McGuinnes for the entire match. To a certain extent, this is true. My spiritual advisor told me prior to the match that it would only be bad for my evolution towards enlightenment if I was to involve myself in any violent acts, so that’s why I chose to run laps around the ring instead of getting in it. If I was to lash out in anger, all of the work that I have done recently would have been for naught, and that would have been a fate worse than losing a match.

Last weekend, I also had the opportunity to see and old friend, The Necro Butcher, return to an ROH ring. However, it was sad to see him involving himself with an act of such sheer violence that would have even offended me, prior to my change. Sure, when Necro and I invaded ROH in 2006 we spilled buckets of blood, but what he and his new friends, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black did to the Briscoe Brothers, well, that’s a totally different story. Hanging a man by his feet from the ceiling while bleeding profusely? That’s inhuman. In the old days, I would have been furious that I hadn’t thought of that myself, but now, I know an act like that is borderline criminal, and I believe that this new group, The Age Of The Fall, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I will go even further, and say that the individuals who wore the masks and bandannas in the crowd should be held as accomplices to the crime, and be locked up as well. It’s like I’ve always said about the ROH-bots. They should all be locked up and rehabilitated. I sure hope that Necro sees the light and comes to his senses. There will always be a place for him at the side of Chris Hero and in Sweet & Sour Incorporated. I know that Larry, Tank and I could help him ease his inner turmoil, and lead him into a higher realm of thought and calm.

I am very excited about the fact that ROH has booked me in a return match with my old friend Claudio at the next Pay Per View taping. I’m not happy about having to go back to Edison, New Jersey, but at least I’ll have the chance to set the record straight and prove to myself, and to all of you, that I am a superior wrestler. I guarantee that I will not use any underhanded methods in this contest, and will beat Castagnoli fair and square. I really believe that once I get that win under my belt, that the flood gates will open up, and I will go on a winning streak that is second to none. If you thought that Goldberg won a lot of matches during his streak, you haven’t seen anything yet. Onward and upwards, it starts in Edison battling Claudio in healthy competition.

With all of this in mind, I will take my leave of you all for another week. Go outside and enjoy the world around you. Spend time with your friends and family and remember what’s really important. Find that special place inside of you, and build your life around it. I have a session with Dr. Azed in a few minutes, so that’s all. So, that will have to be it for this week. Until we meet again my Hero-ites, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Peace and love, my friends, and remember, may serenity be with you all!

Wow Hero is wishing us all serenity. Man, makes me wish I hadn’t put this section in this week…but… TOO LATE!

QUACK ATTACK!

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On that note, click on over for PART TWO of this week’s column!