Column of Honor: 11.10.07 Part One: Misawa Defies Age, Gravity

Welcome to the Column.

Misawa Green Lights His Glory

On November 3rd, 2007, after all the hype and anti-hype were concluded, the one voice that struck would be the unison, collective shouts of the nearly 1,600 fans in attendance at the Grand Ballroom in New York City. “Mi-sa-wa! Mi-sa-wa! Mi-sa-wa!” they stood and chanted as one to the beat of the GHC Heavyweight champions’ song “Spartan-X.” Mitsuharu Misawa, the 45 year old boss of Pro Wrestling NOAH had just completed his title defense against KENTA, top junior heavyweight and crowd favorite in Ring of Honor.

Quite a few fans had doubted Misawa for his age, his health and his desire to perform. While fans had flocked to the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia to watch Misawa wrestle at Glory By Honor VI Night One, quite a few had come away upset at the effort given by Misawa. The main event tag match went to a thirty minute draw, but Misawa himself was in the ring for a limited amount of time and a minimum amount of involvement in the match. According to reports, Misawa spent most of the time on the mat and his highspots were limited to his signature elbow strikes, a monkey flip and one Tiger Driver.

Was Misawa mailing in his American performance? Before the events even began, some fans were claiming he would. After the show, even more would have said “yes”, regardless of the rare honor of watching a Japanese legend on the level of Misawa performing in an American wrestling ring.

Yet the Mitsuhara Misawa that wrestling fans witnessed in New York City just one night later seemed to be a completely different person. Here was Misawa giving one of his best performances in the ring in years, locked in a grueling, heated and very competitive match against the young lion KENTA. Here was a 45 year old man taking strikes as hard as he was giving them, taking hard back bumps repeatedly to the canvas. Here was a man who defied gravity and perhaps, sanity, by running at full tilt from one side of the ring to the other and diving out with a tremendous plancha. Here was a man who took a brutal knee to his face (one that is often referred to as the most handsome in all of Japan—think about that–Misawa, sex symbol) as hard as he could…twice! Was Misawa really 45 years old, or was he lying about his age all this time?

The sum of Misawa’s effort in this match ultimately created a very good fight against KENTA, far better than my expectations, lowered for weeks on end due to reports of Misawa’s poor matches in Japan and especially after watching his match against Samoa Joe. That match was hyped up and given high expectations for almost a year, but when it finally happened it ended up being disappointingly average. Last Saturday night in Manhattan was in many respects anything but average.

It was not a five-star epic and it certainly was not the landmark Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi bout from 2005, although ROH and the fans certainly attempted to get it there. There were special ceremonial trappings, including four massive green banners in Japanese lettering, the color green highlighted all around the ballroom. Even the traditional entrance music for the GHC title match was used and Joe Higuchi, NOAH’s official presenter / announcer of GHC title matches was there and performed his customary role in reading the official GHC documentation sanctioning the title match and presenting the GHC title belt.

The fans’ reactions were loud and supportive and at first reached the cacophonic enthusiasm experienced during the opening moments of Joe vs. Kobashi. There were massive cheers and shouts for each grappler’s entrance into the arena and multiple streamer throws for each man (for once NYC got it right, but probably because Grand Ballroom officials okayed bringing streamers into the building. There was even a “This is awesome (clap, clap, clapclapclap)” chant not even a minute into the match, when both wrestlers had barely engaged the other, just as it was back in ’05 with Joe vs. Kobashi. Unlike that match, this time the chant began more tentatively (an unconscious reaction to the recent discontent felt for that particular phrase) and then picked up steam (as if the fans who were bristling at the chant getting started ultimately shrugged their shoulders, said “the hell with it, gave it their okay and then chanted aloud. The crowd was consistently supportive of both men and the action in the ring, although the live atmosphere did eventually drop below the hard to reach levels of intensity and reaction of Joe vs. Kobashi. The fans found a comfortable groove mid-way through the match and then gasped and oohed their way through a frenetic and intense finish.

Luckily for Misawa, KENTA, ROH fans and officials, this really was an awesome moment and a genuinely historical event. It was even a good, even a very good, even a really good match. It wasn’t “five-star” good, and to me it wasn’t “four-star” good either (although other fans and critics have placed it as such), but it was a genuine three and a half star plus outing for Misawa. It was a performance worthy of ROH, worthy of NOAH and certainly worthy of Misawa’s extremely prestigious reputation.

ROH Results: Glory By Honor VI Night 2 NewYork, NY November 3rd, 2007

Matches
-Chris Hero defeated El Generico with the Hero’s Welcome and Hangman’s Clutch.
-BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright defeated Kevin Steen & Delirious via pinfall after Whitmer nails Steen with an exploder suplex onto a chair.
-Austin Aries defeated Shane Hagadorn via pinfall with the brainbuster / 450 Splash.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Naomichi Marufuji via pinfall with an O’Connor roll style pin.
-In an ROH World Tag Team Title match, champions The Briscoes fought to a double disqualification against The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & The Necro Butcher.
-Tyler Black defeated Alex Payne via pinfall with the Small Package Driver.
-Takeshi Morishima defeated Bryan Danielson via disqualification when Danielson would not stop illegally stomping Morishima in the privates and then threw the referee down.
-The No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romero defeated The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans, Ruckus and Jigsaw (with Julius Smokes) via submission. Evans tapped out to the ultra bendable Boston Crab. when Evans taps to a SICK Roderick Strong Boston Crab.
-Austin Aries defeated Chris Hero in a number one contender’s match via submission with the inverted chinlock.
-GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa retained his title by defeating challenger KENTA via pinfall with a reverse suplex position into an Emerald Frosion.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe retained their title by defeating challengers The Age Of The Fall of Jacobs & Necro Butcher with the Spike Jay Driller onto Butcher.

Angles and Issues

-No Resilience Left: Austin Aries, while announcing his intention to go after the ROH World title, also disbanded The Resilience. He stated that he had no time to waste on faction warfare. The fallout from this decision will be seen in the months to come.

-Battle of Champions: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness agreed to defend the title at the Pay Per View tapings December 29th in New York City.

-Another Joe: There was a ceremony for former wrestler and current NOAH official / GHC title presenter Joe Higuchi was presented with plaques by Harley Race & Cary Silkin.

-Saturday Night’s Alright for Briscoes’ Fighting: The Briscoes stormed the ring after Tyler Black’s squash match, ran off Black and demanded a No DQ street fight. “we’ll put these belts on the line, put us last, I don’t give a damn!” Jay Briscoe shouted as the fans roared in approval.

-Shreveport Comes to NYC: After Claudio defeated Marufuji, he was bushwhacked form behind by Chris Hero and Larry Sweeney. Sweeney even busted out his Randy Savage like “Shreveport Smash” elbow drop, which looked terrific.

-Insult to Injury: Bryan Danielson refused to stop hitting Morishima in the privates and continued after the bell to attack him. Morishima eventually left the ring thanks to help from other NOAH officials and Nigel McGuinness ame down to take Danielson to task for what he had done. Danielson would have none of it and when Nigel had his back turned clipped the champion with a flying enziguri to the torn bicep.

-Motivational Speaking: Julius Smokes was peeved that The Vulture Squad had lost the six man tag and asked Jack Evans if he was going to put up with this. “Hell No!” Evans shouted out. Evans said he had an idea for a match at Final Battle that would include chairs, tables and ladders. Smokes liked the idea and called it the Brooklyn Street Fight challenging NRC to the match next month.

-Sweet (and Sour) Deal: Sweeney and Hero came down to announce that the deal was done and all conditions had been met. Hero would face off against Castagnoli on 12/29 and if Castagnoli lost he would be out of ROH. Hero claimed to be the rightful ROH champion because he made Nigel tap out in Philadelhpia. When Aries came out to contest the idea of who was the top challenger, Hero claimed that Aries was the worst champion ever in ROH, worse than Xavier (BURN). After some more verbal exchanges, Aries agreed to put up his freshly earned title shot if on the condition that Aries won, that Sweeney would agree to fight Castagnoli at Final Battle 2007.

Return Date: December 29th, 2007 for the Fifth PPV taping and December 30th 2007 for Final Battle.

ROHbots Take Manhattan

Dinner with Harley

When you begin your ROH show experience by witnessing Mitsuharu Misawa and then Harley Race walk past you into the building, you know you’re in for a hell of night one way or the other. Actually, for me, my experience for the night began by sitting not five feet away from the aforementioned Harley Race inside the Tick Tock Diner. I saw him walk in through the New Yorker Hotel entrance of the diner as I was paying the bill for Chris and I and well, there he was seated just a few feet away from our table. Well last time it was Mike Quackenbush that was right next to us so now the TTD is officially ingrained as a part of our ROH wrestling lore.

How surreal was it to see Misawa, accompanied by various Japanese press and NOAH officials walk from the sidewalk into the building via the main entrance? So surreal that one of our friends, Josh, who is a major Puro fan of many years was freaking out like it was The Beatles invading. Misawa, usually known for being stone faced and stoic in the ring, beamed from ear to ear as he was given a very strong applause. Maybe it would not be so difficult after all for this to be a great night for Misawa.

The show actually started late at 7:55p.m. (although I half expected it considering the 7:30 bell time never seems to be the actual start of a show in NYC). Apparently fans were only allowed up through the elevator and not the stairs since someone had the smart idea of using the fire extinguisher in the staircase. Way to be guy. That fans were only allowed up twenty at a time obviously caused massive delays and some fans reportedly were getting into the building as late as the third match into the show. Luckily Chris and I had no problems getting through, getting our tickets to the next NYC shows and then up those same elevators to the Ballroom.

As announced before Nigel McGuinness was available in the concessions stand for autographs and pictures. Due to the delays, the line for getting signatures wasn’t as filled as I expected and I half considered waiting on line. However I had left any merchandise to be signed upstairs in the balcony and I was sure by the time I got back the line would be far longer. Oh well.

This time around the fans around us were very nice and I believe we’ve sat next to a few of them before. It’s always a good thing when you’ve got a good crowd around you. Last time at the Grand Ballroom there were a bunch of jerks behind us making constantly annoying statements and just denigrating the show as a whole. Man, if you’re not there to enjoy the show, then why are you there at all? Anyway, this time out, things were a complete 180 in the positive direction in our section, but there were several moments during the show itself when I felt like almost the entire crowd consisted of a bunch of A-holes. But we’ll get to those moments as they come.

Hero-bics

Chris Hero and El Generico opened up the show and did everything an opening match was supposed to do—get the crowd hyped up, into the action and into the show itself. Hero has his many fans, but for the most part his acrobatics grab massive heel heat. I think he did more aerobics on this show than Richard Simmons ever did on Sweatin to the Oldies.

It seems that fans do love to cheer for the jerk characters, as Kevin Steen is now treated by the crowd as a total face. They love his act and they love when he acts like a jerk. Instead of his dickish actions directed at heels, now they’re at the heels, and the fans roar in approving laughter when Steen constantly harasses Brent Albright in their tag match “Hey! Hey! Hey Brent! Hey! (Brent:What?) YOU SUCK!

Shane Hagadorn seems to replace Adam Pearce on this show as the spokesman for HM3 and does an amicable job on the stick, but he makes the ever foolish decision to send his comrades to the back. I can just sense the “Honky Tonk Man at Summerslam ‘89” challenge taking place and sure enough, Austin Aries comes out. SQUASH! Wait, no…not exactly as Hagadorn jumps Aries and proceeds to get a good amount of offense, way more than I would have wanted in a squash, until Aries returns fire and destroys Hagadorn with his finishing combo. Even Aries admits that took him far longer than expected—I guess getting Hagadorn over in a way. I still would have rather seen a straight out domination.

In ROH, the real heels are the fans

Next came something I absolutely abhorred, something that almost turned me off to the whole show right then and there. Aries stakes his challenge for the ROH World title and I’m excited. Then ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness makes his way to the ring, and gets only a short lived Nigel champ. Uh-uh, that’s not good, I immediately thought to myself. Sure enough, the reaction to the injured Nigel is somewhat cold and for some fans down right hostile. Nigel got unnerved and pissed off by some yahoo catcalling him and loses his cool in much the same way I might lose my own temper at a student who is being disrespectful to me. While majority of fans in the building applaud Nigel verbally dismantling the heckler, by the time he gets through with his promo it definitely seems like the fans have turned against him and support Aries for ROH World champion.

So why am I so pissed off? Well, Nigel worked so hard for the title, only not to be able to defend the belt because of an unlucky injury. He has been such a great fan favorite character over the last year and the fan support has been there for him. Now, because he can’t go, does that mean all of the fans turn their back on him? Why? Is it because it’s unmacho that an injured man protecedt himself by not fighting on the show? Nigel guaranteed that he would fight for the fans at Final Battle, but because fans in attendance didn’t get it right then and right there, they turned on him. This wouldn’t be the first time fans would act so spoiled.

I like Nigel McGuinness and want to cheer him for his title run. I really am dismayed by the fan reaction to Nigel during the shows this weekend and really hope (especially in NYC) that it was just the anger of not being able to see him wrestle that turned people against him. Sure he wrestled Hero the night before, but apparently that wasn’t much of an actual “match” per se as much as Hero attacking Nigel’s arm and putting him in a compromising position where he could have lost the title, but Nigel coming back after the referee’s reversal. Nigel did not wrestle the next night and actually I don’t think he should have wrestled either night. Let the guy rest his injuries.

I do not want to see a heel Nigel right now and I’m hoping ROH does not see this weekend’s reactions from the ROH fan base as a sign to turn him heel. I’m hoping fans give him more of a chance to prove himself as a good, workhorse defending champion come Final Battle weekend. I just want to cheer on some faces right now. We’ve had Morishima on top for months now as the dominant foreign heel. I missed cheering for the “good guy” champion on top and to me Nigel fits that bill.

Later on in the show after the very heated Morishima vs. Danielson match, McGuinness came out to question Danielson’s actions, which in this arena and in front of an incredibly pro-Danielson crowd couldn’t be seen as anything else except the actions of a heel. Danielson responded by kicking McGuinness with a flying enziguri to the back of the torn bicep, sending Nigel out of the ring to a massive ovation. So once again the real heelish action was cheered on like crazy. Danielson proceeded to mock the Jawbreaker lariat by doing the move, which also got a crazy reaction. I did find it very humorous, but it did Nigel no favors.

I cannot get my head around the “Nigel does too many Lariats” complaint. Even Hero received a huge pop when calling Nigel “McLariat”. So he does a lot of lariats…so what? I don’t see people complaining when KENTA throws a billion kicks or when Hero goes “all yakuza kick, all the time” in between spending fifteen minutes on calisthenics. Not to mention that when Nigel performs the move it always looks crisp and hard hitting.

In a kayfabe sense, shouldn’t a wrestler aspire to be a “master” of a hold or move and be able to apply it in different ways and different positions? DDP had the Diamond Cutter, Austin had the Stunner, Mysterio had the hurricanrana, Claudio has his European Uppercuts, why isn’t it okay for Nigel to use his lariats in exactly this way? I don’t buy it as a complaint. I guarantee you a WWE crowd would go crazy if Austin just dropped five stunners in a row on whoever was unfortunate enough to be in the ring with him at the time. They wouldn’t be complaining that he does the move too much.

The fans continued to show that they were the real heels of the show and that as a whole aren’t as smart as they think they are in their reaction to The Briscoes debacle. To recap, The Briscoes and The Age of The Fall come out for their title match and NYC LOVES THE BRISCOES, I mean they had the third largest pop of the night next to Misawa and Danielson. So the match goes about one minute before both teams grab chair and do a cool looking “chair duel” (one of my favorite types of duels besides a pistolera duel). Only problem is Todd Sinclair calls for a double DQ and immediately the crowd turns on the match and the show. To be honest, at first I didn’t blame them in the slightest. It was a pretty lame finish. Age of the Fall walked out and it seemed by their attitudes and body language that they weren’t ever going to come back. “Bullshit” they chanted in anger, but that wasn’t enough of an appropriate expression so they changed it up to “fucking bullshit” and “refund!”

Then the show went on. To Joe Higuchi of Pro Wrestling NOAH being honored by Ring of Honor. And that is where ROH made a huge mistake. You do not put a ceremony of respect and honor right after something that is obviously going to receive such a negative reaction as a double DQ. The fans were still angry and a few of them made that anger known (it seemed most of the hostile reaction was coming from the floor level). HOWEVER, the majority of the fans were actually very polite and respectful of the ceremony, more so than I think ROH had the right to expect. They respectfully applauded Higuchi several times as Cruise read down a veritable laundry list of the man’s accomplishments. The fans chanted for Joe in the same way they used to chant for Samoa Joe, which I found quite funny. Harley Race, who was there to present a plaque to Higuchi also received a massive ovation. And yet, once the ceremony was over the chants for “Briscoes!” once again came back, with more fervor than before.

Now up this point there was a very real thought on my part that this would be the last we saw of The Briscoes, at least in the ring tonight, but once the next match was Tyler Black vs. Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne, I knew that Jay & Mark were about to come marching back into the arena and kick some ass. They did, the fans cheered, and then they cheered some more as Jay Briscoe guaranteed a no DQ title match to go on last. Wow, The Briscoes were main evening over Misawa?

To me that meant that ROH was either not confident that Misawa could bring the house down, or that there was a change up in the booking of the show due to the fans’ reaction. The Briscoes on last after Misawa was a very risky proposition in many ways and as it turned out the fans were indeed burned out by Misawa’s far better than expected showcase. Its ironic—the fans were dying for The Briscoes to be out there, but then when they finally showed up to run their act for an extended period of time, most of the fans were dead tired due to the long running time, late hour and having experienced almost everything under the sun during the show. I knew the show had gone on for too long as The Briscoes and Necro Butcher (side note: god damn are his punches nasty, in a good, no a great way!) and Jimmy Jacobs brawled around the ring to mostly silence. The fans reacted to every chairshot, railing throw and table break, but otherwise couldn’t “get it up” for the match, until the hectic finish got them back into it.

In my mind, the Horiguchi ceremony should have been moved up to when the Nigel-Aries confrontation took place, early on in the card. The Briscoes should have fought The Age of the Fall the second time around immediately after they made their challenge, so as to win the fans back strongly and make sure that they were alive for the action.

The Good Stuff, and The Really Great Stuff

Anyway, back on focus to the positive aspects of the show

Noamichi Marufuji and Claudio Castagnoli put on an incredibly entertaining, wrestling centered match. They focused on the in ring competition and the story slowly built in the ring and led to a finish I don’t think many were expecting…except moi in the roundtable predictions…well at least I got ONE thing right this time around.

There were several moments early on in that match where it seemed like a botch was about to occur, but Claudio and Naomichi being as talented as they are saved themselves tremendously. At one point Marufuji was suipposed to do his jump up springboard front dropkick, but bobbled on the ropes. Thinking fast, Marufuji grabbed Claudio’s head and we had the debut of the ropewalk iron claw! Claudio quickly responded in kind and we had out first ever iron claw face off! It was a possible negative turned into a tremendous positive and the fans went bonkers for it.

After Castagnoli trapped Marufuji in a roll up to score the upset, both men received a very well deserved standing ovation.

Then Claudio’s party was broken up by Chris Hero and Sweet & Sour Incorporated. Hero almost stole the show from everyone, and he had a busy night. From defeating El Generico, attacking Claudio, challenging Claudio to a match and then having a verbal confrontation and match with Aries, you could not get away from Chris Hero or Larry Sweeney tonight.

Hero’s complaints about Aries receiving a title shot when he deserved to be champion were very well done for a heel’s justification and when Aries walked in he had a terrific comment about how Aries was “totally non-stop in his action of walking the ring.” He also called Aries “Mr. 2005”, which got a lot of “oh!”s from the crowd. Aries had a good response to two himself, but was mostly about business and negotiating a match right there, putting his title shot on the line up against Claudio receiving a match against Sweeney.

As it turned out, Danielson vs. Morishima III was not about titles, and it wasn’t about who was the better man. It was also about payback and revenge. Danielson wanted his pound of flesh; or rather he wanted an eye for an eye. The entire match was an incredibly heated, frenetically violent encounter. Whenever he could Danielson tried to attack or damage Morishima’s eye. He threw him around the ring, used chairs and weapons to try to maim Morishima’s eye and on and on and on. Danielson was close to snapping at any time and the fans were loving him for it.

And then in one of the most gut-busting hilarious and awesome moments I’ve ever witness lived; Danielson dumped Morishima over the railing and ON TOP of a heavyset fan. Then he did the Springboard dive to knock them both over!

I almost died from laughter right then and there.

No offense to the fan of course but that moment was so visceral, so real and so unpredictable. That is what this match brought to the table, as this was not the same Bryan Danielson fans had seen in August and therefore there was no telling what he was going to do to Morishima in this match. Morishima tried to respond to the attack by going back to what worked in the first match, his stiff punches and boots. He also threw Danielson off the apron down to the railing several times and it looked vicious each and every time.

Finally in what had to be the most justified use of a disaqualification call, Danielson was DQed for putting Morishima in a compromising position and repeatedly stomping, shall we say, Morishima’s most private of places…many, many, MANY times over.

It wasn’t an eye for eye per se, but it was certainly a measure of justice for Danielson.

While the crowd wanted nothing more than to see Danielson whup Morishima all over the arean, I have to give the big man a ton of credit—he was at his most emotional in this match, especially at the end when Danielson had stomped his little buddy. This was billed as a grudge match and came through in every conceivable way under that billing.

Looking back on what I wrote, it seems the majority of this recap has been a bit harsh or negative. I don’t want people to get the wrong impression—this was a heck of a show, with a lot of great action in the ring and at least three very hot, near four stars or more matches that took place. That’s a winner of a show in my book, regardless of whichever wrestling company is putting on the show. I also had a terrific time with the fans around me and got many a laugh at the antics of Chris Hero, Sweet & Sour Inc., Kevin Steen and others. This was an entertaining show with more than a few issues that irked me enough to write about them extensively.

This show reminded me in many ways of Weekend of Thunder Night Two back in 2004. That was a show of ups and downs in tempo, featured Jushin “Thunder” Liger as a part of the main event and ended up being very long in duration. This show likewise featured a guest international superstar and ended up being over four hours in length. There were a ton of interview segments mixed in between the matches, some very well done and others a bit meandering. There were some awesome matches mixed in with some awkward moments, but it was still a hell of a time.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 11/10/2007

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

Next Defense:: Austin Aries, New York, NY 12/29/07

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, 17 successful defenses)

Next Defense: vs. Rocky Romeor & Davey Richards Dayton, OH 11/30/07

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)
V.16 fought The Age of the Fall to a double disqualification (11/3/07 New York, NY)
V.17 No DQ match: defeated The Age of the Fall (11/3/07 New York, NY)

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. 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

FIP: McGuinness and Roderick Strong Face Off

In breaking news from Crystal River, FL, ROH champion Nigel McGuinness made an unannounced appearance at the FIP show last night. He claimed that he would come back once he was healed form injury in order to defend the ROH title in FIP. That brought out Roderick Strong, who played the heel role and claimed his FIP title was the only one that mattered. This continues the McGuinness / Strong rivalry that is slowly building up based off of who is the better champion. According to a fan report of the show there were hints of an ROH Title vs. FIP Title match in the future.

Also of note on the show were two title changes, a rarity in FIP. Sal Rinauro defeated Erick Stevens to become the new FIP Florida Heritage Champion and The YRR of Kenny King and Jason Blade won the FIP Tag Titles by defeating The Briscoes due to help from Claudio Castagnoli (who is a heel in FIP).

Tabloid Journalism

ROH appeared in two newspapers over the last weekend. A Nigel McGuinness interview was conducted by British tabloid The Sun. Nigel was quoted as saying he would need surgery and that it would put him out for four months and would cost between 8 and 10 thousand dollars out of pocket. The former news seems to contradict the way ROH and Nigel himself has stated he will handle the injury. Nigel discussed rehabbing the arm without surgery earlier in the week and re-emphasized at Glory By Honor VI that he would only take six weeks off to rehab the injury and would be back to wrestle Austin Aries for the fifth PPV taping on December 29th.

Meanwhile The New York Post wrote a brief blurb on their Page Six rumors and gossip column about Nicholas Cage visiting Saturday’s Ring of Honor show in NYC. Cage is prepping for his next movie, “The Wrestler”, in which he plays…a wrestler. Yes, I know, shocking. Anyway, the piece was only a paragraph but it was very complimentary of ROH, citing it as “An Alternative, an antidote to the bull**** on TV.”

Well, if even the NY Post gets it, well, then we’re onto something here.

New Happenings in New York

ROH will hold its fifth PPV taping on 12/29 and then “Final Battle 2007” on 12/30. Already signed for then 12/29 PPV taping are Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli and if Claudio loses he must leave ROH and Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Title. If Castagnoli makes it past Hero and to “Final Battle 2007” then he will finally get a match against Larry Sweeney.

Also signed for “Final Battle 2007” with a special 5pm belltime is The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans, Ruckus & Jigsaw with Julius Smokes vs. No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero & Davey Richards in a Brooklyn Street Fight.

Note that if Hero loses there is no stipulation in that match that says that he must leave as well. Plus ROH seems to be tipping its hand that Larry Sweeney will be having his first in ring wrestling match at Final Battle ’07 leads me to believe that Claudio will come up with the win in that one. Nigel vs. Aries can be good if the injury factor is taken care of, but I do worry about the reaction Nigel will get from the crowd there. Will the fans be able to “forgive” (whatever) Nigel for daring to become injured?

What you can’t see is me rolling my eyes there, but oh yeah, it happened.

Hey, with all the “Philadelphia”, “Chicago” and “Boston” street fights, it’s about time “Brooklyn” got some love too. Although the show does take place in Manhattan, so it really should be a “Harlem” or “Bowery” street fight if anything. Well, a “34th and 8th” street fight just doesn’t have the same kind of ring to it.

Steen-rolled out of ROH

Kevin Steen & El Generico have been taken out by Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer.

Well, ROH needed a way to write out Steen for the short term due to his taking some time off for injuries and because his wife is giving birth and this is how they did it. ROH also reported in their follow up article that they would hope to be back by Final Battle 2007 weekend. Let’s also hope that if Steen chooses to stay out for a longer period of time that El Generico won’t be penalized and will continue to be booked onto these shows.

Crossed Out

Finally, also on the injury front, Matt Cross just tore his groin in a match and will not be able to compete in the ECWA Super 8 Tournament. OUCH. Cross was reported to be devastated that he would not be able to participate. I’d say. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for Cross.

Hero’s Sandwich

Yes, it’s that time again, time for THE top rated wrestler commentary on the entire Internet, its time for the Hero Sandwich. I’ll have to make this short and sweet, as I am the single most in demand wrestler on the planet today, so lets get down to the proverbial brass tacks. Besides, you monkeys don’t deserve to spend that much time in the presence of greatness. I think that some of you might actually explode from the greatness that just radiates off of my person. This week I will be addressing my matches from last Saturday night in Manhattan, the appearance of Misawa, my big meeting with two HUGE Hollywood types, the release of the Best of CHIKARA DVD, and last but not least, my spotting of my least favorite person, the corpulent scribe of this column, Ari Berenstein and his portly friend in the front row of the balcony of the Manhattan Center, so without further ado, lets get started.

So, ROH really got the most for their money last weekend when I blessed them and their fans with not one but two, that’s right, TWO matches featuring yours truly. In addition, I also made my intentions known regarding my old friend Castagnoli, and made sure that he felt exactly where I was coming from. First, I easily disposed of that lucha idiot El Generico. He really wasn’t much of a challenge, and if you were in attendance, you know exactly what I meant. Wrestling him was sort of like having an appetizer, you know? It was just the warm up for the later festivities, when I would get the chance to slap that elf, Austin Aries around the entire island of Manhattan. Sure, you might say that I lost that match, but we all know that I was horribly conspired against by the ROH office and in ring officials. I pinned Aries at least 5 times for a 3 count, but as usual, the ROH official in the ring REFUSED to count out their poster-boy. I’m not sure why they would want to hitch their wagons to a TNA reject, but I guess this is just another example of a serious lack of vision by the ROH office. They all know that Hero means money, so why can’t they just admit it? It’s starting to get old, you know? Just wait and see the impact that I’ll be making at Final Battle Weekend. I’d say more, but I don’t want to give away all the surprises I have in store for all the boys in the back and the ROH-bots. Just you wait.

Now, I need to address a far less positive topic. I couldn’t believe how crappy Misawa looked for his match. Sure, he defended the GHC Title by pinning KENTA, but he looked to be so out of shape, it was sad. After the match ended, I approached Misawa and told him that the way that he has let his physique go was pathetic and that I was ashamed to call him a colleague. I gave him Tank’s business card and told him that if he liked being a fat, out of shape loser that was fine and dandy, but if he wanted to be a WRESTLER again, he should stop hitting the noodle palaces and start hitting the gym. Its always sad to see a once great talent let himself go, but to sell a man who looked a lot like the Pillsbury doughboy to the fans of NYC, well, that’s an insult. I only wish that I had the chance to slap some sense into the old man. Maybe when I make my triumphant return to Pro Wrestling NOAH, I’ll get the chance. In fact, by the time I get back to the land of the rising sun, I’ll get the chance to slap around a few once great wrestlers. First it’s going to be Misawa, and then, I’ll slap Kobashi’s face. It will be GREAT. Wait and see.

In case you haven’t heard, two huge Hollywood players were in attendance at the Manhattan Center last weekend, and you know whom they were there to see and talk to? Yes, you got it, my super agent, Larry Sweeney and me. We had a big meeting with Nick Cage and director Darren Aronofsky who are working on a new flick, “The Wrestler,” which will be hitting the silver screen sometime soon. See, they originally came to get some words of wisdom from the best wrestler in the world today, but that discussion quickly turned into them BEGGING me to appear in the film. Larry told them that if the money was right, I’d consider it, but when Cage tried to lowball me, I had to send him packing. Darren continued to beg me, and after receiving a correct apology from Cage, I said that I would reconsider. I’ve always dreamt of becoming a movie star, and to be more than honest with you, I wouldn’t have expected Cage to want me on the screen with him, considering the fact that I’m so much bigger of a personality than he could ever be. If things fall into place, I can see an Academy Award in my future. I mean, its just a given, considering my amazing in ring talents as well as my unreal promo skills. I truly am “The Modern Day Renaissance Man.” I can do it ALL!!

I was glad to see that my other promotion, CHIKARA Pro Wrestling released its first “Best of” collection in stores nationwide. It’s great when a small promotion like CHIKARA can get national exposure. I found it funny that a promotion like ROH still hasn’t done that. Sure, ROH has made it to PPV, but having a product on store shelves in time for Christmas? Well, that’s a whole different story. By the way, if you invest in this DVD, you’ll find some great matches and commentary, especially those involving myself, Icarus, Gran Akuma, Sara Del Ray or Larry Sweeney. If you do shell out whatever meager amounts of cash you have for the disc, you’ll get not one, not two, but THREE amazing Chris Hero matches. Now that’s a great steal…I mean a great deal if you ask me!

Finally, I need to address my spotting of Ari and his “posse” at the show on Saturday night. First off, I must say that both of these losers have to go on some serious diets. They’re HUGE!! Well, not Blobby Dempsey huge but lets just say they’re not exactly the pictures of health. I even think I spotted a ketchup stain on Ari’s t-shirt. What a slob. At least his buddy was rooting for me in my matches. Ari, you better watch yourself. Next time I see you, I’m going to do to you what I do to everyone else who stands in my way, and that’s slap the taste right out of their mouths. You know what? That might be good for you and your pudgy buddy, because you can both afford to drop a pound or two.

With all of this in mind, its time for me to take my leave of this godforsaken column for yet another week. I know that this marks the end of your little slice of heaven, but I have much better things to do, bigger stars to meet, scripts to read, and some exciting opportunities to look into. That’s just what happens when you’re Chris Hero. Everyone wants a piece of the action and to jump on the bandwagon. Too bad the bandwagon is already full, mostly by Ari’s chunky buddy. Sure he’s overweight, but at least he has good taste in wrestlers. And on that note, I take my leave for another week. This has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers, and Hollywood, here I come!

Man…not just making fun of me, but now my friends too…that’s just an all time low. Just when I’m about to compliment Hero a bunch in this week’s Honorarium, which can be found in part two of this week’s column!