Column of Honor: 01.26.08: The Magical Mystery Partner Tour

How’s everyone doing? It’s been quite the week for me here in Brooklyn. It’s Regents Week, which in a way is a sort of quasi vacation, as it mostly involves proctoring and grading tests, extended lunch hours, quiet hallways and NO teaching whatsoever. Ah, bliss. That, plus a new job opportunity has opened up, which is exciting and motivating. Add to that my excitement about WWE and ROH these days and you’re looking at a pretty happy ROHbot Berenstein.

The Magical Mystery Partner Tour

As the saying goes, everyone loves a good mystery, and this week ROH and Age of the Fall gave the fans a puzzler that had them talking all week.

It was announced that Necro Butcher wouldn’t be able to make it to the shows this weekend due to commitments he couldn’t get out of (let’s hope he wasn’t involved in another tiff with the old lady). After that The Age of the Fall sent word to ROHwrestling.com that it would replace Necro Butcher in the scheduled matches with a mystery member if their group, someone who had sympathies with their mindset. There were several clues given as to the identity of the wrestler who would be making his or her appearance, including that this person was a multiple time champion, was known to national television audiences as was not a regular member of the ROH roster.

Speculation hit the fan immediately as a wide range of names were bandied about on message board threads and fan conversation. Almost anyone who was a part of the independent scene who fit that description would be brought up as a potential candidate to be the mystery partner. Names such as : Eddie Kingston (ROH fans who back King hope beyond hope he comes in for anything), Low Ki, Chris Harris, Marek Brave, Josh Ambercrombie, Nate Webb (the latter three for their Midwest connection to Jacobs and Black), even Raven and Christopher Daniels were mentioned as possible candidates (although they were in fact not possible as they are both tied in with TNA and there would be almost NO chance that they would be allowed to participate in an ROH show).

At the same time, Age of the Fall had been releasing videos appealing to an unnamed wrestler who they believed was beginning to see the light. They gave a sales pitch to this mystery wrestler. He had a change in attitude, especially seen in the way he walked to the ring and how he acted inside of it. Jacobs & Black liked that and appealed to this man that he might want to check out Age of the Fall. Again, guesses from the gallery were given, with the most obvious choice being Austin Aries due to his recent losing streak and refusal to shake hand with his opponents. Many, including myself have been speculating about whether or not this would be the start of a new character direction for Aries in the wake of the disbanding of The Resilience and his falling out of contender status for the ROH World Title. There were a few other options as to who AotF were addressing; including the ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness (given the recent fan reaction to his matches) but the odds on favorite was still Aries.

Add onto those two AotF mysteries quite a few news items direct from ROH that had cause more guessing and speculation. This week ROH announced that they would come to terms with another talent from Japan, someone besides Go Shiozaki and someone outside of NOAH or Dragon Gate. This talent is going to be announced on Saturday in Chicago Ridge, IL. ROH also suggested that they have come to terms with another talent and would announce the signing this upcoming Tuesday. It’s not certain if these two announcements are connected.

All of this mystery and intrigue in one week’s worth of time added onto the shake ups in the line up of Necro’s absence and Jack Evans’ injury (more below) made this one of the more unpredictable weeks in recent memory for ROH activity. It could have been anyone who was the AotF mystery partner, especially considering that at this time there are several bigger name independent talents available. The new talent additions to the main ROH roster still remain a guessing game, and it still could be anyone from the independent scene. There are so many choices, its sort of being in one of those gigantic candy stores. Do I get the Reeses’s, the Nestle Crunch, the gooey almond clusters or the Snow Caps? Do I get the licorice or the Gummy Bears? It shouldn’t be all that surprising then that the buzz on these topics has been increased as is the anticipation for the big reveals.

When it comes down to it, one of the best things about ROH is its ability to frequently give it’s the fans the unpredictable, or at least a really good surprise. Gabe Sapolsky can get into some predictable booking patterns as far as matches and angles, but it is when he is at his most unpredictable that his booking really shines through. Rcall the emotions of the mystery being sprung on the fans is recall how you felt when these events occurred: Low Ki’s return and defection to The Rottweilers, The CZW invasion, CM Punk’s heel turn, the aftermath of the Cage of Death, the return of the Motor City Machine Guns, the formation of The Age of the Fall. These were all moments of insane unpredictability that tantalized the taste buds of the fans. There are so many emotions that run through the fan when these events occur: shock, bliss, speechlessness, even happiness or anger depending on how they receive the unpredictable that is actually taking place in front of them.

Now sure, ROH has stumbled on the “mystery partner” idea once or twice (anyone remember the Weapon of Mask Destruction gimmick?). When they stumble, it’s a downer for sure. However, when it’s done right, the reveal is worth the wait.

Joey Matthew / Mercury was exposed as the mystery partner for this weekend’s ROH shows. It was a strong surprise as he remains one of the bigger name talents out there on the independent landscape (although its unknown right now if this is a long term signing or a one time deal for this weekend). Sapolsky had used Matthews and his partner Christian York in a few of the early ROH shows in 2002 and wanted to bring him into ROH again on a longer term deal. He was set to debut with Matt Sydal as the now infamous “Air Devils” tag team. WWE signed Matthews at that exact moment and he never made it to ROH.

Age of the Fall also made their intentions known as to their mystery man of temptation. After Austin Aries lost another match (or really, he didn’t win the match as he wasn’t a part of the decision), Jacobs invited Aries to become a part of Age of the Fall. Thus begins one of the more intriguing stories of early 2008—can Jacobs and Black lead Aries into temptation and convince him to betray his loyalties to ROH in favor of becoming a part of their revolution?

The ROH signings are a mystery yet to be solved, but will be announced soon. It is an exciting time for fans because there will be more talent coming in to try to make their name in Ring of Honor. This signing could be one of the names fans have been clamoring for over the last several months (whether it is Kingston or Low Ki or another big name independent talent)) or it could be a former WWE or TNA talent (Sabu, RVD, Monty Brown and even Bobby Lashley are now on the market, although the chances of any of these guys are slim). Either way the mystery of it all is interesting enough to me to keep me thinking and to keep me waiting for the answers.

ROH Results: 01/25/08 in Dayton, OH

Matches

-Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated Jigsaw & Matt Cross via pinfall. Jay pinned Cross with the Jay-Driller.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Adam Pearce via pinfall with a Ricola Bomb.
-Erick Stevens retained his FIP World Heavyweight Title by defeating Davey Richards and Austin Aries. Erick Stevens pinned Richards after the Doctor Bomb.
-The Hangmen Three of BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright defeated Delirious & El Generico in a No DQ Match. HM3 with the tap out submission as Albright kneed Generico until he gave up.
-Daizee Haze defeated Lacey via pinfall via roll up.
-The No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong & Rocky Romero defeated The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Joey Matthews via submission when Strong made Jacobs tap out.
-“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson defeated Tyler Black via pinfall when Dragon rolled through the momentum of a Phoenix Splash into a pin. This was said to be an early match of the year candidate and very impressive.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness retained the tile by defeating Chris Hero in a Steel Cage Match. Bobby Dempsey unintentionally threw the cage door into Hero and Nigel reached the floor first.

Issues & Angles

-Causing a Ruckus: Jack Evans was out with a major injury (more on that below) but Ruckus was the story here as he was not at the show. Matt Cross replaced him in the match against The Briscoes. There is an update on why Ruckus missed the show in the news section below.

-The Temptation of Austin Aries: Austin Aries still refuses to shake hands with his opponents following losses. After intermission, Jimmy Jacobs confirmed what many fans had been speculating, that Age of the Fall was trying to recruit Aries for their “revolution”. Jacobs invites Aries to join AotF but does not get an answer. Aries didn’t come out from the back.

-Collared: Speaking of “TO THE BACK~!”, After the tag match, Adam Pearce dragged Delirious to the back, in a lead in to their dog collar match tomorrow in Chicago.

-Mercury Rising: Age of the Fall revealed Joey Matthews ne Mercury as their mystery partner. He fits al of the criteria given in clues (multiple time champion, former national TV star, yadda yadda). The Briscoes come out and try ot fight AotF and they go “to the back!” (ok, last time for this week, I promise). Mercury cuts a promo about his past and his dealings with WWE.

-Dammit BOBBY!: Sweeney and Hero beat Bobby down after the match for his failure and for costing Hero one of the most important matches of his career. There is no news yet about whether or not they have dumped him from the Sweet & Sour Inc. payroll.

Return Date: June 27, 2008

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 01/26/2008

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 5 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: vs. Roderick Strong, Chicago Ridge, IL 01/26/08

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)
V.3 defeated Austin Aries, Jawbreaker Lariat (12/29/07 Manhattan, NY)
V.4 defeated Go Shiozaki, London Dungeon (wristlock submission) (01/20/08 Tokyo, Japan,)
V.5 Steel Cage Match: defeated Chris Hero (01/25/08, Dayton, OH)

ROH World Tag Team Champions—The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black) (champions since 12/30/07, 1 successful defense)

Next Defense: Ultimate Endurance vs. vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright vs. winner of Danielson & Aries / Stevens & Jay Briscoe match, Chicago Ridge, IL, 01/26/08

V.1 won Ultimate Endurance vs. The Briscoes vs. Jack Evans & Jigsaw vs. Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer (01/11/08 Boston, MA)

Sweet & Sour Incorporated Presents The Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Of The World —Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey (champions since 01/12/08, 1 successful defense)

Next Defense: TBD, Chicago Ridge, IL, 01/26/08

V.1 defeated Ernie Osirus & Alexa Thatcher (01/12/08, Edison, NJ)

FIP Heavyweight Champion: Erick Stevens (since 12/30/2007)
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
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-The Vulture Squad vs. The Age of the Fall
-Delirious / Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Albright, Whitmer and Adam Pearce (The Hangman’s Three)
-Claudio Castagnoli vs. Larry Sweeney / Daniel Puder
-Erick Stevens vs. Daniel Puder

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

Update from Gabe Sapolsky About Ruckus, Chicago show

Ruckus missed last night’s show and will miss tonight’s show due to a serious enough illness that he had to be hospitalized. As a result The Vulture Squad team has been pulled from tonight’s Ultimate Endurance in Chicago. Now the Dream Partner Tag Team Match pitting Austin Aries & Bryan Danielson vs. Erick Stevens & Jay Briscoe will go on in the first half of the card. The winning team will then join the Ultimate Endurance TONIGHT. Could one of these dream duos win the ROH World Tag Team Titles tonight?

Tickets will be available at the door tonight at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago.

First of all, best wishes go out to Ruckus, as that situation sounds like it sucks and I definitely hope its something he can recover from quickly and fully.

The card has once again been switched up a bit, but it remains just as strong as it did before. Plus there’s the chance fans will see Danielson & Aries wrestle twice on the card. Briscoe vs. Mercury is an interesting match up and throws into doubt who is going to win that match considering Mercury could have value as drawing card in the near future.

Jack Evans breaks his face, Chris Hero Diagnosed with MCL tear

Many wrestling outlets reported that Jack Evans sustained a severe face injury this past week. He fell on his face trying a double rotation moonsault press to the floor during a tag team match in Dragon Gate. The injury required surgery, including placing four plates into his face. Evans is out for six to eight weeks following the surgery.

Chris Hero reported on his knee injury through his myspace. Here is an excerpt from that:

I got back, went to the Orthopedist on Wednesday, got an MRI on Thursday and was told that I would get my results on the following Tuesday (the 15th). So that meant I went into the last ROH weekend not really knowing what was up. This wasn’t a comforting feeling in the last. I took Friday off and Saturday, in Edison, Larry Sweeney presented Sara Del Rey and myself a pair of beautiful belts. We are now the Official Ring of Honor Undisputed Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Champions of the World. We defended the belts against Ernie Osiris and ‘Lexa Thatcher and defeated them with ease. With only one leg I’m still the Greatest of All Time. Respect.

So this past Tuesday, I met with my Orthopedist and went over the MRI results. I have a partial-thickness tear in my MCL. Fortunately my ACL and Meniscus are both healthy. The Doctors made a pretty badass brace to help keep my knee in place and it will help me as I work through this injury. They gave me 2 months for a full recovery, provided I don’t do anything worse to it. The Doc said, as long as I’m careful, I should be fine. I guess we’ll see!

The full article can be found here.

Best wishes for a full recovery go out to both Evans and Hero. I do hope that Evans begins to reduce the amount of craziness in his matches. He did a good thing by incorporating strikes into his offense in 2006, but maybe its time he slows down the flips and tries not to do double rotations, 720s and all of that. Yes, it’s spectacular and amazing when he does it, yes he can do it, but that doesn’t mean he should do them, especially on a regular basis. It just takes that one time for there to be disastrous consequences such as what we saw here.

ROH Wrestlers to Tour NOAH, Will Miss 2/22-2/23/08 Shows

Even though Hero has the MCL torn, he will still participate on the upcoming NOAH tour, to run from February 15th through March 2nd. This will be Hero’s second tour through Japan for NOAH. Other wrestlers from ROH participating on the tour include Claudio Castagnoli, making his debut for the company, and The Briscoes, making their third trip in total.

What this means back home is that these four will have to miss the Sixth Anniversary weekend of shows, including the 2/22 show in Long Island and the big one the next night in Manhattan. It would be the first show in Manhattan The Briscoes have missed ever. It guarantees that there will be fresh challengers for the ROH World Tag Team titles on that night, but it isn’t exactly good news that four name value wrestlers the level of Hero, Castagnoli and The Briscoes will miss a NYC show.

ROH Receives Media Attention with SP Deal
Ring Of Honor has gotten a lot of publicity on music sites due to the partnership with The Smashing Pumpkins. Have you see the exclusive ROH video set to “Doomsday Clock” off The Smashing Pumpkins’ latest album Zeitgeist? Well you can see it now and read about ROH on RollingStone.com at: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/01/17/smashing-pumpkins-form-a-tag-team-with-indie-wrestling-promotion.

More publicity, especially on a mainstream website such as Rolling Stone = good thing.

NEW Talent!
ROH is finalizing another new talent negotiation. We should have an announcement on Tuesday including his debut weekend and first matches.

There will be an announcement this Saturday in Chicago about a new Japanese wrestler set to debut in ROH. We’ll give you a hint. He’s not from NOAH or Dragon Gate.

As mentioned in the feature story, these signings will once again freshen up the roster and provide new match combinations. Who are these wrestlers being signed? Its anyone’s guess, but since when I predict I usually get things wrong I will reserve comment this time around.

No PPV in Canada

For reasons still undisclosed Ring of Honor lost its PPV deal in Canada. No other information was available. Luckily ROH is already taking preorders on the Undeniable DVD release, which will be ready for shipping on February 18th.

Go Shiozaki to make ROH U.S. Debut

Go Shiozaki is coming to make his United States debut in ROH on 2/22 in Long Island and 2/23 in Manhattan. You can expect to see a lot of Shiozaki in ROH in 2008!!! Can Shiozaki make the same impact that Morishima, KENTA and Marufuji have? We will get an immediate answer as he starts with two tough opponents. 2/22 in Long Island will see Shiozaki vs. FIP World Heavyweight Champion Erick Stevens in a non-title bout. The 6th Anniversary Show on 2/23 in Manhattan will have another first time ever match as Go Shiozaki takes on the ace of ROH Austin Aries. We’ll see exactly what Shiozaki brings to the table after this weekend.

I guess after all the hype this is make or break time for Shiozaki. Stevens will provide more of a power based match while Aries will bring a more versatile game, including technical, chain wrestling and aerial moves. I remain cautiously optimistic about Shiozaki but emphasis on cautious. There may have been too much hype for his debut to ever live up to what fans may have expectations for. Ultimately I feel Shiozaki won’t be on the level of a KENTA or Morishima but more along the lines of SHINGO, a solid mid card talent who can provide a good match.

Women’s Match to Air on Fifth PPV, Haze earns contention at 6YAS

This was clarified for me last week on the ROH message board. Dave Prazak announced on the SHIMMER website that due to having extra time in the PPV editing process that the three way women’s match between Sara Del Rey, Lacey and Daizee Haze WILL be included on the Rising Above PPV in March. This, of course, means ROH gets a very good women’s match on PPV AND it means… SUNNY makes her ROH PPV debut in just TWO MONTHS! HOTCHA!

From the newswire: SHIMMER has announced that Sara Del Rey will defend the SHIMMER Title vs. Daizee Haze on 2/23 in Manhattan. If you saw the “Undeniable” PPV you know why Haze deserves a SHIMMER Title Match. The SHIMMER Title Match is now officially signed for ROH’s 6th Anniversary Show.
This addresses one of my concerns from my review last week, that Haze went over on Del Rey for no really good reason, but I still feel the point stands. Del Rey was the most pushed women’s talent on the PPV broadcasts and for her to lose on the first match in didn’t do her many favors in my mind. Not only that but (spoilers alert) Del Rey doesn’t come out on top in the fifth PPV as well. So the PPV only customers are going to wonder why Larry Sweeney signed her if she isn’t making good on the promise of her talent. That said, Del Rey and Haze have good matches and I think they’ll pull out another good one in New York City for the SHIMMER title.

Hero’s Sandwich

So, I’m fairly certain that all of you, whether you are Hero-ites or Hero haters, have heard that I was defeated last night in Dayton by that limey bastard, Nigel McGuinness in the steel cage. With this loss still burning in my mind, I will keep this weeks column short and sweet, as I don’t want to say anything that I might regret at some later point, so, let’s get right to the issues at hand.

So, throughout my illustrious career, what I’ve found to be a productive way of dealing with big losses like last nights is to dissect the events and try to come up with reasons as to why the events unrolled as they did. During my period of reflection, I have arrived at three reasons as to why I am not currently the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion. The first reason is fairly obvious, and that is the fact that I am significantly below the peak of my overall physical potential. The injuries that I have sustained over the past month of so have greatly diminished my stamina and my physical abilities, but did that change anything? Not at all. Did ROH make any allowances for me due to my injuries like they’ve done so many times for McGuinness? No. And you know what else? I know that I will not be given another title shot for a long time. Even with Larry’s pull and connections, I’ve had my annual title shot, and I probably won’t see another one until NEXT January. I’m sick and tired of being treated differently by the powers that be in ROH. They have their favorites, the ones who do what they’re told and don’t rock the boat. Puppets, if you will, and McGuinness is obviously one of them. Its either that or he has an envelope full of blackmail type documents. That’s the only way to explain the fact that he gets treated so differently than anyone else in ROH today. Oh, Nigel has a bump on his head? That’s okay; he can miss his title defense. Oh, Nigel has a boo-boo on his arm? That’s okay, they say; he can skip the event. Do they do that for Chris Hero? Absolutely not! In fact, I was told by one of my insiders that if I didn’t go through with the match, the chances of me getting another title shot would be less than zero. Talk about a company with a double standard.

Speaking of double standards, that brings me to the second reason behind my defeat last night. Nigel McGuinness cheats. Yes, that’s right, your heard me, Nigel McGuinness cheats worse than anyone in ROH today. In time you will all come to know that he does all these small things like loading his boot, greasing himself up so he’s more slippery than a greased pig, and putting so much stiffener in his hair that its as dangerous as any foreign object, but he’s still allowed to get away with all of these things. Why, you ask? Because he’s a sell out to the man. He’s a classic company champion, he does what he’s told, doesn’t rock the boat, and gets away with murder in the ring. If I even thought about doing the things that, I’d probably get suspended, disqualified, and maybe even suspended. When you all see the DVD from last nights show, you will know exactly what I mean.

The third reason I lost last night was because of Blobby Dempsey and his inability to carry out simple tasks. That fat bastard cant do anything right, and from what I’ve been told, he even accepted a junk food bribe from McGuinness to slam that cage door on me as I was about to experience my greatest triumph. That’s why the beating that I dished out upon his corpulent frame after the match was so well deserved. Think about it. What has that worthless tub of goo ever done for me? Nothing. I’ve done nothing but try to help him reach his peak abilities, and how does he pay me back? With a steel cage door into my head. That fat piece of crap is worthless, and whenever I get the chance to beat the lard out of him, I will. He’s going to learn his lessons the hard way from now on, whether by my closed fist or the tip of my boot, Blobby Dempsey will pay for his failure. If he screws up again, just think about what midget-boy Jacobs did to whichever Briscoe that was in Chicago last year, and multiply that tenfold for what lies in Dempsey’s future. I hate that fat moron. I hope he explodes from all that food payola that McGuinness gave him for his services.

It’s all okay though, as after tonight’s Chicago event I will be taking my services elsewhere for the foreseeable future. That’s right you ungrateful ROH-bots, your hero, Chris Hero will be leaving ROH. I hope that you’re all happy to see me go, because I know that when the time is right, you will all cry out for me to return and make things right. Only problem is that I don’t know if I’ll ever want to return, considering the shabby way that I’ve been treated by the fans, the talents, the officials, and the powers that be in ROH. I am going to a far more civilized place, the land of the rising sun, my home away from home, Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH. At least I know that when I go there I’ll be treated with the respect that I so richly deserve, unlike in ROH. While there, I will be taking my skills to an all new level, and turning myself into a true living, breathing, human weapon. All I know is that you’ll all regret treating me as badly as you have over the years when I win the GHC Heavyweight Championship from that fossil, Misawa. Then you will all cry out for my return, and I will have the final say as to whether or not I make a return trip to ROH. You’ll see how crappy ROH is without me, and then you’ll know exactly what you’re missing. Who can fill the void when I’m gone? Think about that. When you come up with an answer, email the chunky scribe of this Column of Honor, and let him know.

On that note, I will head off to a training session with Sara Del Rey so that we can be successful in our defense of the ROH Inter-gender Tag Team Championships. Larry assured me that we would have top-notch challengers tonight, so we want to make my final appearance something very special. On that note, I will take my leave for yet another week. I’ll be back in seven days with a detailed analysis of the Title defense, so sit tight and wait for my return. So, until we meet again, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers!

Honorarium

-My three favorite mystery partner moments in ROH: 1. Eddie Kingston is brought in as a part of Team CZW at Cage of Death / Homicide chooses ROH at Cage of Death.. 2. The $10,000 Tag Team Challenge pick ‘ems. 3. AJ Styles & Amazing Red team up to fight for and win the ROH Tag Team Championships against The Embassy.

-Imagine what Bizarro Delirious would be like.

-In COH’s ever continuing CM Punk Tracker, Punk lost the ECW title this week to Chavo Guerrero, which I sort of had a premonition about before it happened. I’m okay with it because everyone has to lose sometime and the storyline made sense. Plus, look at it from this perspective—even though they were losses, CM Punk still was in the main event of TWO WWE shows this week. Two years ago that would have been an insane thought. Now, Punk is not only moving up in the WWE landscape but he is also finding himself becoming a very natural fit within the cast of characters. He and Edge have a good thing that is starting to develop between them. Maybe this is one of those rivalries that will come back and be followed up on over the next several years. Now I don’t expect Punk to headline No Way Out in a title match against Edge, but the option is there.

-Colin Delaney is awesome. I think that is the internet consensus. However, I don’t think the guy is quite taking with the live audience. I still don’t hear the crowd cheering for the guy much and I’m worried they won’t ever galvanize around him. Maybe four weeks isn’t enough time to get that kind of emotion in viewers, but who knows for how long WWE will continue with this storyline? Of course Delaney is a “jobber” but I think he’s supposed to be the jobber everyone roots for (think Barry Horrowitz). Having Tazz there with him is a smart move and I would love it if he took him on as a protégé in order to toughen him up. I love it, but here’s hoping the casual fans “get it” sooner rather than later.

-Kofi Kingston is tremendous. He had a rough match, sure, but he has enough unique offense that will help to get him over. He has the potential and he has a character that can definitely get him over as an ethnic hero for the Jamaican fan base.

-Speaking of crossovers between CHIKARA and WWF / WWE wrestling, this year’s Trios Tournament will feature a surprise entrant, the old school team WWF of Demolition (Ax and Smash FTW!) & One Man Gang! Holy nostalgia, is that some announcement. The funny thing is that two years ago at the Tag World Grand Prix we did have a Team WWF, but it was Team World Wildlife Fund of CP Munk and Colt Cabunny. Somehow I don’t think Darsow is going to be down with wearing a costume…but maybe Adam Pearce can let him borrow that Repo Man mask…

ROH Preview: 01/26/08 in Chicago Ridge, IL
Frontier Fieldhouse
7:30 pm belltime
9807 Sayre Ave.
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415

ROH World Title Match
Nigel McGuinness (if still champion) defends vs. Roderick Strong

McGuinness has begun to rebound from a rocky start as champion and if he can make it past Roderick Strong tonight his reign will be solidified. Strong provides an interesting challenge to Nigel in that he mirrors the champion in two very interesting ways. Strong hits hard with strikes and chops (much like Nigel hits hard with European uppercuts and lariats) but he also has a great knowledge of technical wrestling and submissions (much like the champion). The evenly matches competition should mean a longer match filled with counter wrestling. Endurance will be a must for both competitors. We know Strong has the stamina to go long in title matches, having wrestling Danielson in the 56 minute classic at Supercard of Honor I back in 2006. Does Nigel have it in him to withstand the pain and punishment of a match that goes longer than thirty minutes? The pressure will continue to be on him as champion. These are waters he has never swum in before.

The match for Nigel will come down to whether or not he wants to go with the lariat as the finisher or if he wants to focus on a prolonged attack on the arm and set up for the London Dungeon arm submission. Strong will look to beat the ever loving crap out of the champion, perhaps using his back breakers to set up the Stronghold submission.

I expect this will be a classic ROH Title match style encounter and at the very end the champion will retain and move onto the Sixth Anniversary Show and a date with destiny against “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson.

Dog Collar Match
Delirious vs. Adam Pearce with Shane Hagadorn

Fire and ice, oil and vinegar, Tom & Jerry, these two men just can’t get along. These two have been wrestling against in each other in one form or another since September 2006.Adam Pearce just cannot get over his hatred of people who wear masks…and well, Delirious wears masks. Star Crossed Lovers they are. This match may or may not be the culmination of the past eighteen months of hatred, but I tend to be on the doubtful side because The Hangm3n doesn’t like to let go of grudges. I think this will be intense, violent and fun. Delirious and Pearce do the grudge match brawl style very well and a dog collar match puts them in constant close proximity. They will be scrapping constantly during this one. Expect a red mist attempt at least once during the match…and Shane Hagadorn will probably get it good in this one.

World Tag Team Title Ultimate Endurance Match
It is elimination rules. The first fall with all four teams is a Tag Team Scramble, the second fall with the remaining three teams will be I Quit and the third fall with the last two teams will be for the ROH World Tag Team Titles

ROH World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black with Lacey vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. BJ Whitmer & Brent Albright vs. winner of Danielson & Aries / Stevens & Jay Briscoe match.

Age of the Fall are outnumbered and outgunned in this one. Richards & Romero bring strikes and ruthless behavior, Whitmer and Albright bring the power and ruthless behavior, and Danielson & Aries bring unmatched technical ability…and they’re in a grumpy mood as well. Age of the Fall will want to play divide and conquer here, although I don’t think it will be so effective with such cruel men as Whitmer, Alrbight and the NRC. If Age of the Fall can play the mental game it will have to be against Aries, who they have tried to recruit to their side. If they can get him to make a moment’s hesitation, it may be all that’s needed to get Danielson and him out of the match. The Age of the Fall have their problems fighting Danielson in the ring, so it would be wise to get them out first, should they make it to this match. Then again, if Jay Briscoe and Erick Stevens make it in you know they will also be trying to take out the champions. Jay has issues to settle with Jacobs & Black. It’s a no win situation here for Age of the Fall and they will be lucky to make it out of Chicago with the belts…or else they have a master plan we just don’t know about yet.

Special Challenge Match
Mark Briscoe vs. Joey Mercury

Mercury has undeniable talent but is largely untested on the independent wrestling scene. He has the credentials as a former WWE tag champion, but this is a singles match against one of the men involved in ROH’s premier tag team. Briscoe goes crazy in singles matches, usually fighting hard and fast and looking to end things with either his Cutthroat Driver or the Shooting Star Press. Mercury favors a devastating DDT and will look to use his AotF ties to help him out in this match should he get in trouble.

Dream Partner Tag Team Match
Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries vs. Erick Stevens & Jay Briscoe

Both Danielson & Aries have suffered losses to Erick Stevens so their first priority here is going to be to try to get a win back on him. Whether that means they work well together to get that job done or are more divisive because they both want the payback remains to be seen. Jay Briscoe may be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he never backs down from a fight and will give his all here. This match will now take place in the first half of the show and will likely be a “blowaway” match before intermission in order to set up the Ultimate Endurance main event.

Race To The Top Tournament Finals Rematch
Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico

There is no “grudge” to settle here so look for a very competitive and athletic encounter between two of ROH’s more popular wrestlers. Lots of speed and chain moves will be bandied about and ultimately it may be a matter of who gets the trademark finisher off first. Castagnoli is looking to win matches to earn another title shot, and he will likely pick up the W here against a game El Generico.

Larry Sweeney insists that Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey will defend the Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Of The World

The titles will be on the line, but against what combination of man and woman? Daizee Haze is on the card, so maybe she finds a partner (Jigsaw is free as is Matt Cross) and continues to set up the title match upcoming in New York between her and Del Rey.

Also signed: Tank Toland with Bobby Dempsey; Daizee Haze and more!!!

My Two Cents with Chris Miccio

So, as I was thinking about wrestling again this week, and I was fortunate enough to find some new things that bugged me, so without further ado:

1. The NOAH Effect on the 6th Anniversary Show — now I know I should be happy that so many of the ROH talents are in high demand all around the world, but now here I am, with an expensive ticket tacked to my board and the knowledge that I wont be seeing Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, and the Briscoes. I’m sure that Gabe will be able to put together an amazing card for that night, and I won’t be at all disappointed, but here’s what is bugging me about all this. It’s fairly obvious that ROH knew that these talents would be taking this overseas booking when they made the tickets first available at the New York, so why didn’t they tell all of the people who purchased the tickets that night know who wouldn’t be on the show? Could it have impacted the ticket sales for the show? I’m sure, but it’s a New York show, and as we’ve always been reminded by ROH, every NYC show sells out, no matter what the card consists of [Ari’s note: from what I remember, Final Battle ’07 didn’t look like a sellout, but it was close]. While all wrestling fans know that “the card is subject to change”, I just think that it would be nice to let your loyal fans who are buying their tickets for the next show while the current show is in progress, who will and who won’t be at that next show. Am I still happy to go to the show? Of course I am. But I’d also like to know if the greatest wrestler in the world today, Chris Hero, won’t be in the house. I just hope that Nigel McGuinness makes it through the Long Island show without being injured, because if he’s not able to wrestle on the NYC show again, I think there might start to be a backlash. Oh, wait. There already is one. Sorry, it’s been a long week, so excuse my forgetfulness.

2. Go Shiozaki is a poor replacement for KENTA — Nothing against Go, but if I was making a trade of talents I would expect more in return for giving up KENTA’s services for a year or more. I understand that Pro Wrestling NOAH likes to use ROH as a “proving ground” for their up and coming talents, as they originally did with KENTA and Marufuji, and then later with Morishima, but sending Shiozaki over as the next one, well, it’s a fairly big drop-off. If they had sent Mohammed Yone, Shuhei Taniguchi, Kotaro Suzuki and Ricky Marvin or Atsushi Aoki, I think it would sit better with me, but this just makes me scratch my head. Once again, I don’t want to sell Go short, as I have seen him in a few matches, and been somewhat impressed with his work, but I don’t see him as a selling point like KENTA or a talent that’s going to impress the ROH crowd, unless they just buy into him lock, stock and barrel just because he’s from Japan. Up to now, the talents that NOAH has sent have been people with a reputation already in place. Unfortunately, I don’t know that Go really has one just yet, and that he’ll try to make that reputation in front of an American audience. I really hope that it works out, but I’m predicting that he’ll get a big pop on his early shows just because he’s new, but that shine will wear off quick, and the fickle ROH fans will quickly decide that Go’s no KENTA, Marufuji or Morishima.

Well, that’s just my two cents on that. If you liked what I had to say or not, feel free to let me know what you think. Email me at [email protected]. Have a great week, and I’ll catch you next time.

Going Home

Name That Tune Week 19

Since I’m back after a week off we’re going to get right back into the game. You didn’t have to fall very far to pick up on this clue from two weeks ago:

Clue: dragon
Lyric: “Everybody’s walkin’ but nobody’s talkin’ / It looks a lot better from here”
What’s the name of the song and the artist?

The answer to the song was rather obvious the week: Ozzy Osbourne, “I Don’t Wanna Stop”. This is Brent Albright’s theme. The one thing that may have thrown off readers is the clue: “dragon”. Many were puzzled as to what this meant. Well, if you take a good look at Albright’s back, you’ll notice he has a dragon tattoo. He also has worn trunks with a picture of a dragon and it’s on the back of the T-shirt he sells as well. As you can tell, some of the clues now are going to make you think outside the box. Nonetheless, plenty of column readers got this one right!

This week’s winners (by order of receipt):
411’s own Chris Landsell
Frank Omara
soulpower
Ryan Holliday
Premiumblandrew
Matthew French
bostononemanarmy
Jay 2K Winger
Mitchell Rose

Thanks to those who wrote in to answer. Now its time to launch right into Name that Tune! for this week, January 26th, 2007!

Clue: CAW
Lyric: “I tighten up my laces when I tie my shoes.”
What’s the name of the song and the artist?

Send in your answers here and if you’re correct I’ll list your name in next week’s column!

Ringtones

Michael Chadwick starts us off with more Nigel discussion amongst other topics:

I am the kind of fan that ROH had in mind when they started running PPV last year; I had read about them for a while, watched the occasional match on youtube, but didn’t invest in the product. Since the first PPV, I have picked up practically every show and become a full on ROHbot. I am away at school in Montreal and none of my friends are wrestling fans up here which is frustrating because I haven’t been this excited about a wrestling product since I used to go to ECW shows in Worcester, Mass. back in the day.

One of the things I LOVE about ROH booking is that it is generally simple but with a LOT of nuance and plenty of room to maneuver. Nigel is feuding, essentially, with 3 different wrestlers right now (Danielson, Hero, Strong) as a heavyweight champ SHOULD. WIth that said, I just don’t’ understand why they couldn’t have had Nigel drop the belt to one of those three guys and just put it back on him after his return (with a little chase, of course). I won’t go into specifics but I’m sure you would agree there would be storyline potential if Nigel dropped to either of those three men. I know you write a mammoth column as it is, but I am curious of your opinion on this.

I think you make some very cogent points concerning the initial booking of the title run. ROH ran into some stumbling blocks, what with the West coast swing and the injury factor playing into Nigel’s ability to wrestler. No, they didn’t do themselves any favors by being wishy washy in their decisions to have him wrestle on any given night. I think that they should have sat him out of action completely (although he could still have a presence on shows with interviews or commentary) until the injuries healed. The drama of Glory By Honor VI Night 1 against Hero was amazing, but it came at the cost of the reactions of the fans in NYC when they realized he would not be wrestling in NYC> Why wrestle in Philly and not in NYC? It was inconsistent and it got Nigel off to a rough start. It snowballed from there.

The thing is the last FOUR champions now have had their problems at the start of their run at the top. Most people tend to forget, but Danielson did not start out strong and did not become the most successful champion since Samoa Joe overnight. He missed the first three shows after his title win, and then the first two defenses weren’t all that terrific (the Corino match was slow and the Aries match was good but underperformed compared to their past efforts). It wasn’t until Danielson evolved his character into near what it is today that most fans picked up on him as someone they wanted to get behind fully as champion. Homicide had that wonderful title win in New York City but immediately ran into problems as far as fan reception. Edison, NJ was downright hostile towards him in favor of Samoa Joe. Then of course Takeshi Morishima’s title run didn’t get going until the April 2007 title defenses—some fans including myself remained skeptical of him until he started to find his groove. Now we come to the same problems with Nigel McGuinness. There are obviously growing pains that occur when a wrestler become ROH World Champion. I think by now that Nigel is looking to move past them and if he can clear the Danielson hurdle at the Sixth Anniversary Show his title run may be fully legitimated.

I definitely didn’t like the McLariat comment and the Dragon mocking of the move, which was hysterical, was ultimately detrimental to the perception of Nigel in NYC. It got over that Danielson and Nigel still have issues, but the ROH crowd went with Danielson over Nigel because they perceived him as stronger and “cooler” (like with Hero). ROH fan reactions to pure babyface characters continue to puzzle me, especially since they are the embodiment of the idea of “honor” in the company with that word in the very name. I live the pure babyface character, because I like to see the good guys win. Always have, always will.

Should Nigel have dropped the title? Maybe the very first match against Hero, but right now I can say what’s done is done and I’m glad that they didn’t switch the title. You do address the concerns of fans but at the same time it looks like Sapolsky has a long term plan in mind for Nigel and didn’t want to wreck it by doing the hot switch. Maybe he didn’t want Nigel to be the one who was the first two-time champion? I don’t know for sure but I think ultimately the right call was made on this one. If Nigel gets injured again, though, it would be three strikes and you’re out in my mind.

Jay 2K Winger not only had the right song for Name That Tune but he also dropped an email letter into the home offices of COH in Brooklyn, NY:

I’m absolutely hyped for the 3/15 show in Philly, as not only will I be sitting front row for ROH once again, but I’ll be sitting front row for PPV #6. I may bring my whiteboard sign again, or perhaps actually make proper posters to show my loyalty to ROH and its stars.

-=Jay 2K Winger=-

I don’t want to go back to the “you have the right to cheer or boo who you want” cliché. Yes that is true; however, my major contention is the attitude and the behavior that goes along with cheering against a wrestler. Chris, who posts his “my two cents” features here in the column, is a diehard Chris Hero fan and so he cheers him on…BUT he has NEVER chanted “Fuck You Nigel” or “Same Old Shit”. Why? He knows how to act and behave himself as a human being attending a show. The fans that did those chants did so in an obviously derogatory way. It wasn’t about supporting one wrestler in favor of another regardless of heel or face lines, it was about actively being vehemently against someone and making a loud stink about it.

Unfortunately the “cool” heel act is still sometimes better received than the good guys. You’re saying that you should cheer on how you like because of their talent level—I agree with that.

**The Independent Buy In**

2008
**CHIKARA “Cibernetico & Robin” (Torneo Cibernetico: Kings of Wrestling vs. Dorado’s Luchadores, The Olsen Twins / Cheech & Cloudy, Quackenbush / Donst, The Colony / BLK OUT ) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA “Brusied” (Kingston / Donst, Campeones de Parejas: F.I.S.T. vs. Incoherence / Castagnoli / Taylor, The Colony / Brodie Lee & Olsen Twins, Cheech & Cloudy / Osirian Portal ) High Recommendation
**Pro Wrestling NOAH “Special Budokan Double Shot”7/15 & 9/9/07 (Determination League Semi Finals & Finals, NTV Cup Finals) (NEW ADDITION) High Recommendation

This section needs your help! If you want to recommend some good independent wrestling to your fellow internet readers out there, drop me a line for the column.

ROH @ 411

The ROH Roundtable for Dayton and Chicago is up…check out the 411 staff predictions heading into tonight’s show!

Buy Or Sell features Michael Bauer and Magnus Donaldson discussing this week’s hot topics for ROH and CHIKARA.

Chris Landsell contemplates an FIP invasion of ROH in this week’s The Way I C It.

Steve Sullivan looks at the Happy and the Go Sucky about ROH’s Undeniable PPV.

Speaking of, there’s tons of coverage here at 411 for ROH’s latest PPV (you can still catch replays in the US!). Larry Csonka has the play by play for the PPV and then the 4 R’s of Undeniable.

Meanwhile you can listen to Larry, Christi and I breakdown the PPV in an awesome podcast (with clear and crisp audio) right here.

J.D Dunn gives you his review of Undeniable here. Finally The Triple Threat provide their own comments on the PPV.

Alex Mattis looks at ROH news and notes in this week’s Best of the Rest.

Dunn gives us a huge and positive review for ROH Manhattan Mayhem II, home to Danielson vs. Morishima I.

Honor Bound Links

Sforcina continues the evolution of Mankind.

Bayani breaks down the Royal Rumble in this week’s Truth B Told.

The 411 Mania staff including myself give you their predictions on Royal Rumble 2008.

Corke’s Seventh Dimension: U2 in IMAX.

High Road & Low Road on Jeff Hardy in the main event.

Michael Weyer continues a string of powerful writing in this week’s Shining A Spotlight, looking at the heels of wrestling.

Steve Cook answers Ask411 Wrestling.

Next week Column of Honor presents the Independent Buy In Spectacular! Many Independent DVDs to be reviewed including PWG and so much more. Also, results from Chicago Ridge and so on and so forth.

Last but not least, Steve Cook, I concede.

That’s going to do it for this week. Thanks as always for reading!
BROOKLYN! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–