Column of Honor: 11.03.07: Glory By “Glory By Honor VI” Part One

The Glory of Glory By Honor

This will be my fourth Glory By Honor show that I have gone to, making it four years in a row I have attended at least one show with its namesake. Now, I go see many shows over the year, many of them have been big time event and had big time moments. However, Glory By Honor does maintain a special status as it marks the beginning of my crew and I attending ROH shows on a regular basis.

While my first show was actually At Our Best back at the Rex Plex in March of 2004, it would be another six months until I would be able to go to another ROH show.

Glory By Honor III in hindsight had just an above average card, but it was the special attraction of seeing Mick Foley on that night which brought some of my friends to the show. It would be the unique atmosphere, good wrestling and the presence of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Generation Next and Samoa Joe that would convince my friends to continue to go to ROH shows on a regular basis.

It was at Glory By Honor IV that I saw my first ROH World Title change and that it was Bryan Danielson, one of my favorites, who had won it made the moment that much more enjoyable. It marked the one year anniversary of Mick Foley’s involvement in ROH, but it was also his last show as a member of the roster and involved with storylines, because he had just signed his latest WWE contract. The big goodbye was a grand one, with a fine speech putting over the fans and the crew, getting a few Al Snow digs in, and dropping the big elbow to the floor on Prince Nana. Then Foley followed that all up by spending at least an hour in the front lobby signing autographs for fans. Also out in that lobby a few minutes later to take pictures and sign autographs: Samoa Joe.

Last year at Glory By Honor V Night 2 fans were witness to an incredible landmark show. It was the first show at the Grand Ballroom right above the Hammerstein. The venue has been a huge step up in class and quality for ROH. Its shows just look visually beautiful in this venue, like ROH “belongs” there. The show had many highlights, including a speech by Bruno Sammartino, the first ever Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima confrontation, The Kings of Wrestling ROH World Tag Team Title win against Aries and Strong. It was capped off by back to back highlight matches: the first ever defense of the GHC Heavyweight Title and “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson putting on the match of the year in an ROH World Title defense against KENTA.

In many ways it seems like ROH has a distinct pattern with these shows: memorable title matches and the use of special wrestling legends to help give the show a sense of depth and legacy. This will also be the second year that the GHC title from Pro Wrestling NOAH will be defended in ROH, yet alone in America. This event also marks over a year now that ROH has run the Grand Ballroom in New York.

Thus Glory By Honor is a series of anniversaries, not just for ROH and in many ways an anniversary of my own.

I’ve got my green ROH ticket for tonight’s show in my hands. Is it symbolic for Pro Wrestling NOAH?

With that prolegomenon complete, welcome to the Column.

Ring Toss
-The Glory of Glory By Honor
-ROH Results: GBH VI Night 1
-Live & Non Live Impressions
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-Hero’s Sandwich
-YOU Choose the Feature–Results
-????
-Honorarium
-ROH Preview: Glory By Honor VI Night 2 in New York City
-Name That Tune: Week 8
-Ringtones: The Current.com Documentary
-Independent Buy In: UWA Hardcore vs. Toryumon Japan Nights 1 and 2
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links
-OUT

ROH Results: Glory By Honor VI Night 1 Philadelphia, PA November 2nd, 2007
Results via the ROH Message Board

Matches

Preshow
-Alex Payne defeated Kyle Durden via pinfall with a fisherman suplex.
-Shane Hagadorn defeated Rhett Titus via pinfall when holding the ropes on a reverse of a sunset flip.

Main Show
-Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer with via pinfall with a Steen Swanton Bomb on Whitmer.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Hallowicked via pinfall with a European Uppercut.
-Davey Richards defeated Delirious via submission with the 14:59 keylock armbar.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe retained their titles by defeating the team of the No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong & Rocky Romero. The Briscoes win via pinfall with a springboard doomsday device on Roderick Strong.
-The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Necro Butcher with Lacey defeated The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans, Ruckus & Jigsaw with Julius Smokes. Jacobs chokes out Jigsaw with the DDT into guillotine.
-Ernie Osiris defeated Mitch Franklin to win the Top of the Class Trophy.
-Austin Aries defeated Bryan Danielson to win the best of three series via pinfall with a 450 Splash. Aries receives a title shot for winning the series two matches to one.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness retained the title by defeating challenger Chris Hero. It looked as if Hero won the match with some sort of armbar submission as Nigel tapped, but Nigel had his foot on the ropes and the referee noticed and the match was restarted. Nigel then won with an armbar submission of his own.
-GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa & KENTA vs. Takeshi Morishima & Naomichi Marufuji ended in a 30 minute time limit draw.

Angles and Issues

From the Gallows: Even though Steen & Generico won the match, they were attacked and brutalized by Whitmer and Albright afterwards.It looks like this feud may be about to get really personal amid rumors that Kevin Steen may be taking time off to heal some injuries and spend time with his family

Ten Thousand Dollars is a Lot of Money: Ah man, I love that quote from Slick. Anyway tonight, Larry Sweeney offered to buy out Claudio’s Ring of Honor contract in an effort to get him out of the hair of Hero and Sweet & Sour Incorporated. Claudio has plenty of money of his own and says no to the offer.

The Age of Attacking People From Behind: Indeed. Post Briscoes title defense, The Age Of The Fall attack The Briscoes, which connects to their own encounter against The Vulture Squad. After the V-Squad vs. AotF match, the Briscoes, NRC, Delirious, Hangmen3, Steen & Generico, and Daizee Haze hit the ring for a massive brawl. This was surely a reprise of the conclusion to the San Francisco convention card and a tip of the hat to the unwieldy brawls of yesteryear in ROH. The Vulture Squad are the last men standing in this brawl.

Code of Glory By Honor: At the end of their third and final match in the best-of-three series, Bryan Danielson begrudgingly shook Austin Aries’s hand, upholding the Code of Honor.

Survival of the Contractual Leverage: Sweeney once again makes himself an annoyance to ROH fans and officials by claiming that Chris Hero can have his title shot wherever and whenever he wants it, and he wants it now. Hero and Sweeney claim Nigel is a fluke champion and Nigel, out pride, anger, frustration and just a hint of stupidity, accepts the title challenge even though he has a torn bicep. Nigel; retains the title.

Return Date: March 15th, 2008

Live & Non Live Impressions: The Importance and iImpact of Misawa; The Future of the ROH World Title.

Post show updates by Gabe Sapolsky via the ROH boards:

In his words, “ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness will definitely NOT be in action tonight. McGuinness’ arm was in bad shape once his adrenaline wore off after his impromptu World Title Match against Chris Hero last night. There is no way McGuinness can compete tonight, but he will be available for autographs before the show. Larry Sweeney has already threatened ROH with lawsuits after the finish of last night’s McGuinness vs. Hero match.”

In my words: “Not in action tonight? YEAH,RIGHT!” After all, if Nigel wrestled once already despite the injury, what’s to stop him from wrestling again this weekend? I was shocked to read Nigel wrestled last night, but maybe things have changed from earlier in the week when Gabe claimed they would not strip him of the title and would wait to see if injury would heal (see news report below). What if Nigel really needs the surgery right away and will be gone for an extended period of time? If so, then Nigel fighting last night and tonight may be a way to resolve the title status right now. In my mind there is a clear and present chance of a title switch tonight, whether it be to Hero in a rematch or to Aries since he won the best-of-three against Danielson and deserves his shot. In storyline terms, a return to action can be easily explained, because if Nigel was so easily goaded into a title match once, he will surely fall for the same trick again tonight.

While I can’t condone Nigel coming back into the ring with a torn bicep, I can accept him wrestling if it’s being done as a way to keep the tradition of the title intact and if it a way to transition the belt to someone else in the interim of his injury. Although again, the point remains that even the ROH belt is not worth risking a wrestler’s well being. Unless Nigel needs the surgery now, maybe he should not have gone into the ring and risk further aggravating the injury. However, I half expect it at this point.

Reading the results, this seemed to be a very well booked show. If you look at the card from top to bottom you’re looking at a great presentation of matches, styles and storylines. There is also the great drama of Nigel McGuinness coming from out of nowhere to defend his title, and Chris Hero coming this close to winning it. That must have been one surreal moment to witness live and in person. A few live reports are stating the crowd is starting to get way behind Hero as the “cool heel” act, but there’s always been a good deal of ROH fans who have cheered on Hero, even going back to last year at Glory By Honor V Night 2 when there was an even split of pro KOW and pro Gen Next fans. So it isn’t like this is some new phenomenon to witness. However, I would hope that this gets over Nigel as a “never say die warrior”. The man nearly had his arm torn apart and survived!

However, as I expected after reading about the draw, there are quite a bit of complaints about the thirty minute draw in the main event and the effort made by Misawa in the match. I have this communication from 411’s own Stuart Carapola who attended the show last night:

Hey man, just got in from Philly, and the show was phenomenal, but boy was that main event and especially Misawa a big disappointment. Listen, I may not have liked Joe vs Kobashi, but at least Kobashi showed up in some kind of shape. Misawa looked about a hundred years old and had a beer gut bigger than most bike gang members. He worked really, really loose, too, like he looked like he was hitting almost as hard as Baba did. It was actually embarrassing to watch the guy, because I’ve heard how awesome he was in his day, but now he’s so broken down that he was barely able to do anything. He also would blow up after delivering like three or four moves and then go camp out on the apron for another five minutes while KENTA did all the work, so I can’t imagine how he’s going to make it through an entire singles match tomorrow night unless KENTA wrestles himself. I’ve heard he puts it on cruise control when he’s not in front of a big crowd, but Jesus Christ, he barely did anything out there tonight. KENTA made the hot tag all of about twenty seconds before the time limit expired so Misawa had that much less to do, and by the way, the crowd totally crapped on the draw finish. Misawa looked absolutely terrible and like he had no business in the ring, it was like watching Splinter from the Ninja Turtles wrestle. Seriously, when the crowd started calling for the Go To Sleep, I thought Misawa actually would. Say what you will about guys like Ric Flair and Terry Funk staying in the ring well beyond their prime, but they would at least keep themselves in shape, I really almost felt bad for Misawa.

By the way, I swear to god I thought they were putting the title on Hero tonight and I was so into it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hero challenge him to a rematch tomorrow in NYC with the justification being that he made Nigel tap, and Nigel only kept the title on a technicality. I think Chris Hero as a short term champ until Aries gets the belt at Final Battle would be fun, and speaking of which, I wish Danielson had won the series, but I like Aries too and even though the match was short, it was good, and I really think winning the series helped Aries to re-establish himself as a legit main eventer.

Now in my own opinion, I am fine with the thirty minute draw. They happen a lot in Japan and NOAH style matches and I’m not altogether upset it happened here. It also happens to keep all the Japanese talent strong heading into the rest of the year of ROH action.

As far as Misawa I think it goes back to the idea of expectations and what fans should realistically expect out of him in his matches. This is obviously not the Misawa of four years ago who fought Kenta Kobashi in an incredibly memorable thirty minute title match. I also don’t think fans should have expected a blow away five star performance like the one seen by Kenta Kobashi when he took on Samoa Joe in 2005. Don’t get me wrong though—I think fans should expect AND demand the best possible performances from the wrestlers—we should get our money’s worth. However, in this case, I think reality needs to set in over “dream match” expectations. Many have been giving that warning from the beginning of all of this.

Of course, that brings up a very important question: if fans can’t expect the very best performance out of Misawa, then why was he booked in the first place? Why place him in the main event position? Well, the answer is because he is Misawa, and like Great Muta and Jushin Liger before him, ROH honors the great names in wrestling by giving them a spotlight and a chance to wrestle for their fans. Muta and Liger were obviously not as great as they formerly were in the ring (Muta moreseo than Liger), but they were given respect and understanding by the crowd. The fans in Philadelphia for Final battle 2003 marked out like crazy for Muta and the fact that he even attempted to hit a moonsault. Afterwards I read comments like (paraphrased) it was good for a Muta match in 2003, or, we couldn’t expect more from Muta in his current age and health.

I am hoping beyond hope that the ROH fans of 2007 can hold onto a similar mindset walking out of these shows.

In some ways I find it frustrating that we couldn’t have Samoa Joe vs. Mitsuhara Miswa live in a Ring of Honor ring. In other ways I am very happy for it not to happen, because if the match those two had in Japan happened here, God knows the Armageddon-like level of complaints we’d hear from everyone on the internet about how the match failed to live up to the hype.

I’ll be walking into the Grand Ballroom tonight with the knowledge that there is nothing I can do to impact how Misawa will wrestle in that ring. Therefore I’m going to have a good time, enjoy some wrestling and see a couple of wrestling names, some legends, that I have not seen before live and in person.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 11/03/2007 –Heading into GBH VI Night 2

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 2 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: TBA

V.1 defeated Jay Briscoe, wristlock submission (10/21/07 San Francisco, CA)
V.2 defeated Chris Hero, wristlock submission (11/02/07 Philadelphia, PA)

*Due to injury, Nigel McGuinness’s future defenses up through Final Battle 2007 (12/30/07) remain questionable and subject to change

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 15 successful defenses)

Next Defense: vs. The Age of the Fall, New York, NY 11/3/07

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)
V.15 defeated Roderick Strong & Rocky Romero (11/02/07 Philadelphia, PA)

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): Ernie Osiris (since 11/02/2007)

Top Feuds & Pairings:

-Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (rivalry)
-Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
-Roderick Strong vs. Nigel McGuinness (FIP / ROH title rivalry)
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-The No Remorse Corps vs. The Resilience vs. The Vulture Squad
-Vulture Squad vs. Age of the Fall
-Delirious / Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Albright, Whitmer and Adam Pearce (The Hangman’s Three)
-Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli

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

**note: the majority of this news brief was written before the results of Glory By Honor Night 1 came in.

Update on Nigel McGuinness

After Nigel McGuinness visited his doctor’s office on Tuesday he was diagnosed with a torn left bicep. Gabe Sapolsky reported through the ROH website that “The good news is the doctors think with some rest that he will not need surgery and that it will heal by “Final Battle” weekend at the end of December. Since Nigel has already made his first defense we will keep the belt on Nigel until “Final Battle” weekend. If Nigel is unable to compete by the end of December then we might have to make a move with the belt.”

Nigel will still appear at the show and will give autographs to fans who purchase something from the ROH merchandise table.

In the short term, McGuinness was likely to be challenged by Chris Hero at Glory By Honor VI Night 1 this past Friday. He was then scheduled for Saturday night to fight the winner of the Danielson-Austin Aries best-of-three series that was to have concluded on Friday. Now the winner of that match still receives a title shot but must wait until Final Battle 2007 weekend. Chris Hero will also have to wait for his title shot as well, probably much to his chagrin.

The injury to McGuinness is obviously very substantial. There is no guarantee an injury like this will be easily healed just by rehab within two months. It took The Undertaker five months to return from a similar injury, although he was reported to want to come back earlier than that timeframe.

It is just an unlucky setback that Nigel would suffer the injury at the exact moment that he has become champion and the number one man in the company. It sets back a number of matches and storylines for the next two months. It also reshuffled this weekend’s Glory by Honor card a bit, including Sapolsky announcing for sure now the third match between Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima. The rematch had been rumored and speculated (including by me) for that show but I don’t think ROH wanted to give it away because it would have created a spoiler for the Philly show (if Aries won the best-of-three series). ROH guaranteed the Danielson-Morishima match would occur in NYC due to Nigel not being able to perform. Therefore, my caveat whenever this sort of thing occurs still stands. ROH has dealt with this sort of issue before and will again and each time they handle it the best they can. Sometimes the matches that get booked instead of a wrestler who is injured or unable to perform turn out to be better than what was originally scheduled.

As far as Nigel’s run as champion is concerned, I feel that it is very fair that Nigel be given the two month window to rehab without the title being stripped. Nigel is obviously ready to be at the top of the food chain in the company and he deserves a chance to make a run with the title. If he can get better in two months, then give him the two months. While this is not the exact similar situation, when Bryan Danielson won the ROH World Title back in 2005, he missed the next three ROH shows totaling over a month in time due to bookings overseas. He was allowed to keep his title and went on to have one of the defining title runs in ROH history. Nigel McGuinness would miss only about four shows during this two month time frame, similar statistics to the example of Danielson’s absence.

If Nigel is ultimately unable to make it back by Final Battle, we could see several interesting title scenarios play out, from a large, company-wide tournament to another Danielson-Aries face off. I’m sure Sapolsky has or is working on a Plan “B” for this situation should Nigel not make it back on time.

Certainly my best wishes and thoughts go out to Nigel and I hope he can make it back in time to resume his mantle of being ROH champion.

Other Injury Updates: Quack Out, Mark Briscoe In

We have good and bad news on the injury front for this weekend. Mike Quackenbush has pulled himself off the 11/2 event due to a head injury. We wish him a speedy recovery. ROH World Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe has been in physical therapy for over a week and says his foot feels good. He will be in action this weekend in Philly and Manhattan.

It will be a disappointment for the hometown and partial Philadelphia crowd for them to lose Quackenbush and his match against Strong, but it looks like Quack’s concussion suffered a few weeks back at the 2007 Ted Petty tournament has come back to haunt him. It is kind of funny that Strong has been a part of several match pull outs over the course of the last several years. He and Low Ki were set to main event the event that would become Unscripted II in February of 2006 when Ki pulled out from the show.

I’m ecstatic to hear that Mark’s foot has been discovered and found to be healing up. It will be good to have The Briscoes back in action in a more complete capacity. For sure it helps add depth and diversity in the match line ups AND more importantly puts the tag team titles back on the shows. It could have been a complete disaster for ROH to lose both its World and its Tag Team champions due to injury and have those belts unable to be defended on shows.

GHC Title to be Defended at Glory By Honor VI Night 2

The big announcement made on the main page of ROHwrestling.com is that Mitsuharu Misawa will put his GHC Heavyweight Title on the line in this Saturday in Manhattan against KENTA!!! It doesn’t get any bigger than this for NOAH. Now “Glory By Honor VI” weekend has even more international importance. Check the main page of ROHwrestling.com for the article with all the details on this huge title match. The best part is that the legendary Joe Higuchi will be in attendance to give you the authentic NOAH experience. Former World Champion Harley Race will also be in Manhattan as a special guest. You will never see this many hall of famers under one roof again.

This will be the second year in a row that the GHC title is put on the line at a Glory By Honor show (last year it was then-champ Marufuji vs. McGuinness). There has been a lot of back and forth debate about whether or not Misawa will be as good as advertised for these shows, but one thing that cannot be denied is that ROH continues to reap the rewards and prestige for a solid and thriving relationship with NOAH. The GHC title has only been defended on American soil through ROH.

You will be able to meet Misawa this weekend in both Philly and Manhattan. Misawa specifically said he is coming to America to meet the fans that have watched him on videotape and DVD for so long. There will an autograph signing in both Philly and Manhattan at intermission with Misawa, Marufuji, Morishima and KENTA. Autograph tickets will be sold at the merchandise table and are $20 for Misawa and $10 for each KENTA, Marufuji and Morishima. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet Misawa!!!

ROH has now become veterans at running intermission and post intermission autograph signings for their visiting talent. Previous autograph signings have been with Mick Foley, Kenta Kobashi, Bruno Sammartino and more. I’ve always found it a bit much to pay for celebrity autographs maybe in part to some of my teenage years being spent being an autograph hound in the city. I’ve only ever paid once for a wrestler’s autograph and that would be Christopher Daniels at a TNA house show last year (I told the story in a previous Column of Honor, so go back to the archives to find that one). Is anyone surprised that Morishima is charging double? I’m not. Suckas gots to get paid.

Trios Tournament 2007 Announced for Chicago

ROH officials have used two tournaments in the second half of this year to test all the rising talent. Now ROH officials have decided that this year will be marked by a trilogy of tournaments. The trigger has been pulled for the much anticipated “Trios Tournament 2007” and it will take place on 12/1 in Chicago. This tourney will have a unique format. There will be six trio teams. They will face off in regular first round matches. The three winning teams will then advance to a THREE TEAM SCRAMBLE and the winners will be crowned the best faction in ROH. As is tradition, each member of the winning team will then get to book himself in any match he wants. It is like having money in the bank! The first three trios have been announced:
-The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans, Ruckus & Jigsaw
-No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero
-The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & The Necro Butcher with Lacey

A tournament where the winners get to pick their own shots? Sounds like it was almost tailor made for the Age of the Fall to pick up the victory and cause a ton of havoc for the ROH faithful.

Tag Title Match added to “Undeniable” PPV

We have big news for fans in Dayton. ROH PPV will be taped in Dayton on 11/30!!! Jay & Mark Briscoe were not able to compete on ROH’s fourth PPV taping earlier this month due to Mark’s foot injury. Now Mark will be back to 100% in Dayton. ROH will broadcast The Briscoes vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero across the entire nation after it is taped on 11/30 in Dayton. If The Briscoes are still ROH World Tag Team Champions after this weekend then they will put the belts on the line in Dayton.

As a matter of clarification, Gabe Sapolsky updated this news to restate that this match will be taped and included for the fourth PPV “Undeniable” in late January. The Briscoes will actually wrestle twice on that show. This will ensure that The Briscoes have a presence on the PPV despite their injury at the time of the initial taping. It also likely gives away that there won’t be a title change at the upcoming Glory By Honor VI double shot, even though it would be a fine time for The Age of the Fall to jump in and take those titles away from The Briscoes.

The addition to the show also means that this will be the second of four PPVs that will have a “split-venue” schematic. Unlike with Driven I don’t think its feasible to add this on to the end of the show, as I don‘t think I can buy the tag title defense being put on last over Nigel’s title win. Maybe if this is inserted into the beginning of the show? That might work for a smoother transition to the Edison, New Jersey venue. It just so happens that the Dayton and Edison venues do look similar in that “generic armory / hall” style of venue, so maybe the transition will end up seamless.

Final Battle 2007 in NYC to be a Two Night Showcase; Hartford, CT Show Postponed

We have a major announcement about ROH’s return to Manhattan. The 12/28 Hartford event has now been pushed back June 6th. If you have purchased tickets for 12/28 they will be honored on 6/6/08. ROH’s return to Manhattan will now be a Saturday/Sunday double header. ROH will tape its entire 5th PPV on 12/29. Then there will be a special 5pm show on 12/30 at the Manhattan Center. This will be “Final Battle 2007” in NYC!!! Tickets for both these huge events will go on sale at this Saturday’s Manhattan event. There will be loaded lineups for both events including international talent.

Well first of all I’m ecstatic to hear the news of a second show being added to the NYC weekend…although my wallet may be wearing a frown face soon enough. ROH was rumored to want to add more NYC shows to its schedule and this weekend plus the December double shot certainly accomplishes that much. With ROH in a bit of a loss from the San Francisco convention (according to Meltzer they (and many others) did not received their payments from the convention promoters), ROH needed another major area show to help make money, and NYC is now their bread and butter, so why not come back for a two night stop in NYC?

On a personal note, I haven’t been able to get around to any of the area shows besides the Grand Ballroom for a while now, so to go from seeing one ROH show every three months to seeing three shows in the span of two months (including this weekend) is great for me. What’s even better is that Pay Per View is FINALLY coming back to NYC. I’ve been waiting on another PPV for a while now and I almost thought that ROH wouldn’t come back to NYC for the rest of their contract with the cable networks. I missed out on seeing the Nigel McGuinness title win and now I have to wait until January to see it; so I’m glad to hear that the fifth PPV will be within my grasp and that I will be able to see it. Of course, I still very much advocate Philadelphia as a venue choice for the PPV tapings and hopefully they will have the sixth in the series.

However, this has to frustrate the fans that were going to attend the Hartford show. Six months is an incredibly long time to postpone the show and I feel that ROH should have done a better job at pushing back the date only a short amount of time. Now you would have to think that this is either a problem with the venue itself or that tickets weren’t selling well enough.

The counter for the latter statement is that ROH has been well received by the Hartford crowd, but they constantly were booked for Friday shows. Not only that, but they have been the first show of a double shot where the Saturday show is New York City, typically one of the most important venues in ROH right now hosting more of the major matches than ever before. How can ROH fans in the smaller venues be expected to be excited about a show that they know will pale in comparison to the show fans will get the night after? It’s a very unfair expectation for the fans in Hartford to be satisfied with the two dollar steak when the next night ROH is serving prime rib in NYC.

For example, in December 2006 Hartford’s main event was Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal vs. SHINGO & CIMA. The New York City main event was the super-huge Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide title match and title change. Then for the Respect is Earned weekend back in May 2007, Hartford was treated to a main event of Takeshi Morishima & BJ Whitmer vs. The Briscoes. ROH ran Morishima & Danielson vs. McGuinness & KENTA the next night as well as featuring The Briscoes vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal. While ROH ran two excellent main events for the next Hartford show (Caged Rage) featuring Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans and The Briscoes putting up the titles against El Generico & Kevin Steen, New York City again featured the latter match in a title defense that was just as good or better and the main event title showdown between Danielson & Morishima. There can be an argument made for the last Hartford show being nearly on par with Manhattan Mayhem II, but in the other examples the disparity is very clear.

I have maintained in previous columns and in an edition of Buy or Sell that the Friday shows of a double shot have been almost as strong if not as strong as the Saturday shows, but the exceptions come in with the pre-PPV double shots and the NYC double shots. I would suggest the disparity in Friday-Saturday shows would be something ROH looks to adjust as it sets itself with bookings into 2008. It seems illogical but perhaps attendance would improve if ROH runs double shots of the mid level markets together instead of one mid level and one major market as they’re doing now. I know running at least one major market per doubleshot helps with profits, but the long term picture and perception by fans of how their area is treated could stand to improve and this may be the way to do it.

A Summation of Fan Reactions to This Week’s News
Nigel McGuinness Unable to Compete For Two Months
ROH Fans: BOO!

Nigel To Keep Title Until Final Battle Weekend
Nigel Fans: YAY!

Nigel To Sign Autographs at Glory By Honor VI
ROH Fans: YAY!

…As long as you buy from the merch table.
ROH Fans: BOO!

Misawa To Sign Autographs at Glory By Honor VI
NOAH Fans: YAY!
ROH Fans: OK!

…for a fee equal to what you might pay in parking for NYC.
NOAH Fans: YAY!
ROH Fans: BOO!

Mike Quackenbush Out Due to Injury
ROH Fans: BOO!
Quack Fans: QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!

Mark Briscoe In and Ready to Man Up
ROH Fans: YAY!
Briscoes Fans: MAN UP!

Trios Tournament To Return.
ROH Fans: YAY!
Tournament Marks: YAY!

Morishima vs. Danielson III Guaranteed for NYC This Weekend.
ROH Fans: YAY!
Dragon Fans: You’re GONNA GET YOUR FUCKNG HEAD KICKED IN!

NYC gets Fifth PPV and Final Battle 2007 in December, Hartford Show Delayed Until June 2008
NYC Fans: YAY!
Hartford Fans: BOO!
ROH Fans not in NYC or Hartford: Um…um…YAYBOO?

And there you go.

Hero’s Sandwich

So, here we go again, its time for your weekly dose of reality, the single most read segment on 411wrestling.com and the best piece of journalism on the internet today, its time for your Hero’s Sandwich, featuring yours truly, Chris Hero. Now that I have gotten back into the upper echelon of ROH, things should be getting back to normal around here, so let’s waste no more of my precious and valuable time and get right to the pressing business at hand. You know what they say, time is money, and I have a sneaking suspicion that most of you dolts are unemployed, and therefore lacking in the cash department, so here we go.

First off, I’d like to discuss my match situation from last night’s Glory By Honor VI Night 1. I’d like to speak on the fact that I was not booked in advance for this show, but was given a match on the fly. Now, for an average wrestler like most of the ham and eggers in the ROH, just being on the card in any way, shape or form is acceptable, or even optimal. But for a talent like myself to not know who I am facing that night, well, that’s just plain insulting. Sure, I know what you’re saying. “Chris, if you’re so great why do you need to know who you’re wrestling long in advance of your match?” Well, let me explain it to you in a way that all of you simpletons can easily understand. I need the advance time so that I can do a video scouting session for said opponent. This video review is key to my preparation for each and every match that I am involved in and without it, I feel quite uncomfortable. I need to be able to chart and study the tendencies of my opponent, and unless I have advance knowledge of the competition, I am clearly in a disadvantaged position. Besides the video review element, I also deserve the advanced knowledge of my opposition because of my status as THE GREATEST WRESTLER ALIVE TODAY. I think that just a shred of respect is due for a talent such as myself. Since I am the number one contender, I should be treated with total respect and even pure reverence. However, due to some sort of grudge that Gabe holds against me, for what I have NO idea, he chooses to treat me like the proverbial “red headed stepchild” of ROH, and tries to throw as many roadblocks in my inevitable path to becoming the ROH World Champion. I would love to know what it is that fuels Gabe’s irrational behavior towards me. Maybe it stems from the fact that I am everything that he isn’t. I’m good looking, athletic, successful, etc., and we all know that Gabe is so far from all of those things, its actually quite sad. I hope my title win doesn’t push him completely over the edge because I’d love to have him around as my valet after I become the champ. Now that’s fun, don’t you think?

Yes, I did lose my match tonight to Nigel McGuinness, but once again, I was blatantly cheated out of the victory and the greatest night of my life. All of the ROH-bots in attendance know that I submitted Nigel and should be the ROH Champion right now, but once again, due to the obvious bias against me and the other members of Sweet & Sour Inc. by the ROH office and officials, they restarted the match for absolutely no reason. I made that one-armed wanker submit and should have had my hand raised in victory, but from what Larry has told me, Nigel put his foot on the rope an instant after he the tap out was completed, and that the ROH official (who will remain nameless), who is obviously biased against me, saw this, and believed that his foot was on the rope prior to the submission that he had just declared. It’s just so sad that the powers that be in ROH are so short sighted about me, and refuse to allow me to reach the pinnacle of my success. Don’t they know that Chris Hero is the single greatest money draw in professional wrestling today? I’ve heard of shooting yourself in the foot or cutting off your nose to spite your face, but this is getting ridiculous. Someday, when I decide to take my skills elsewhere, you’ll all be sorry. You will quickly realize that you have let the most talented wrestler in the business today walk away, leaving this second tier promotion right back where they started before yours truly came in and boosted ratings, ticket purchases, and DVD sales. Just know that it will be YOUR loss, not mine.

So, it was great seeing Misawa tonight, and I look forward to seeing him again tomorrow night in New York City. It’s always nice to see an icon of the sport in person, especially one that I hold a victory over. Mind you, I’m way too professional to say anything to him about it, but there was surely an unspoken level of respect and even deference shown by him towards me when he arrived in my promotion. I would have loved to have the opportunity to face him during his short American tour, but from what I’ve been told by Larry, Misawa clearly stated to the ROH office that he was willing to face anyone on the ROH roster except me. I could see the fear in his eyes when he came into the locker room and saw me prepping for my match, and right then I knew that I was THE MAN. The great and powerful Mitsuharu Misawa fears Chris Hero, just like everyone else. You know what? Harley Race better watch himself tomorrow night, because if he crosses my path, I’ll slap the taste right out of his mouth too.

On a final note, I’d like to say that it’s great to see my old buddy Necro back in ROH. It’s just too bad that he’s aligned himself with such a band of losers like Jacobs and Black. Those guys are second rate across the board, and can’t even touch my greatness. When Necro wakes up and wants to get some things done, I know that I’ll welcome him into Sweet & Sour Inc. with open arms. Come home soon, Necro. I won’t let you down like those two other tools will. Mark my words.

Alas, I have reached the end of another week’s worth of greatness, so I will take my leave of you all and begin my trek towards New York City. I’ll be checking into my suite at the Plaza sometime tonight and possibly hitting the China Club or some happening establishment like that after I get settled in. I know that there are a ton of celebrity types who are clamoring to spend some quality time with yours truly, so I must get going. Until next week, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers, and bottoms up!!

Wow, is he getting more annoying by the week or what? Too bad I misplaced my ducks this week.

On that note, there is plenty more Column of Honor to come, so click on over to PART TWO!