Column of Honor: 02.23.08: Part Two: Yes, Mister Remsburg

Hero’s Sandwich

Keeping with my agreement, it is I, Chris Hero, back again from the Far East with a new installment of the Hero’s Journey. This week has been a mixed bag of events, with both in ring highs and lows, as well as some great times outside the arenas, so without further ado, let me allow you to dive into my diary, and see exactly what I’m talking about.

Sunday, February 17th, 2008: I am just mere moments from leaving this locker room with my tag team partner for the night, Doug Williams to take on Misawa and Ogawa, and I have to tell you that I have a great feeling about tonight. I am in peak physical condition and my mind is just right. I spent the better part of today in deep meditation, trying to focus my chi so that there is no chance of suffering a defeat tonight. I’ve also come up with a great strategy for tonight’s match, and Doug has agreed to follow my lead. I’ve decided that Ogawa is the obvious weak link in the team and that we should directly attack him, instead of Misawa. I’m also doing that so that I don’t damage the delicate alliance with Misawa that has been developing over the past few weeks. Doug is an excellent partner, and I have the utmost confidence in his abilities. I know that working with him will be a huge step up from tagging with that idiot Castagnoli, who only seems to find a way to cost me matches. Williams is a civilized man, who will do whatever it takes to ensure victory in the squared circle. If things work out with him tonight, I think I might call Larry back home and suggest that Sweet & Sour Inc. make him an offer for a lucrative contract. We’ll see. Okay, its time for me to limber up before the match, so, I will take my leave. Back later.

Sunday, February 17th, 2008 — Late Entry: Well, Williams is just as much of a clueless dolt as Castagnoli after all. I was single-handedly dominating the match until Williams blind tagged me out, started to showboat, and try to upstage me. Can you believe that? Someone upstage ME??? Then, when I needed him most, where was he? That’s right, just like Claudio, nowhere to be found. I am IRATE at this point. Why can’t NOAH find me suitable tag team partners if they choose to showcase my talents in a tag team match? Maybe NOAH is more like ROH than I thought, and they’re all just conspiring against me out of fear of my greatness! If they want me to really shine, let me tag with Morishima or Kobashi. If they want to see me at my best, put me in a six man with even a team like the Briscoes. Sure, you can count their IQ scores on two hands and one foot, but in the ring, they are aces in my book. Hopefully, things will go better in my next outing. Now, all I want to do is head back to the hotel room here in Nagoya and get my head back together and re-align my chi. Maybe I’ll stop at a noodle shop or something on the way back, just to make myself feel better. I don’t know. More to follow.

Monday, February 18th, 2008: So, I’m back in front of my laptop again, after a short respite. I needed to take some time off from the world, if you know what I mean. I also had the fortune of spending some quality time with Takeshi Morishima. Sure, I’ve had some issues with him in the past, especially during his tenure as ROH World Champ, but what I’ve come to realize is that he is a really good guy, and hanging out with him here in Japan is a great way to meet chicks. He is the proverbial “chick magnet”, and even the ones he ignores are hotter than the ones most of us get to be with. No rats in his posse, if you get what I’m saying. He also sure knows how to eat. I’ve never seen a man consume that many bowls of noodles in one sitting. His massive ability to masticate must only be rivaled by Kobayashi (the hot dog guy) and our corpulent friend Ari and his overweight buddies. We also had the chance to go out and sample the Japanese delicacy called fugu. From what I’ve been told, it’s just a form of blowfish or “puffer fish”, whatever that means. All I know is that I had to sign some documents before I ate it. Sure, they were totally in Japanese, but I’m sure it was just so that I wouldn’t try to steal the recipe or something. I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m really getting excited for my matches later this week, as well as getting to spend some more quality time with my brothers from NOAH. I’d write more right now, but I’m starting to feel all tingly and relaxed, so, that’s all for tonight.

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008: well, it turned out that the tingly feeling was not good, and that the document I signed was a waiver in case the fugu was ill prepared. After my entry last night, I wound up on the floor of my hotel room’s bathroom, quite sick. Fortunately, someone heard my violent regurgitation, called the doctor and saved me from impending doom. If it weren’t for that mystery person, I would have wound up like David Von Erich, dead in a Japanese hotel room. I think Morishima tried to kill me! Now, with his massive body weight, maybe he could sustain such poisoning, but I’m not 600 pounds, so it must have hit me harder. I’ll get that Pillsbury doughboy look-alike back at some point. Just you wait. Now, I have to get myself back to the training facility so that I can start drawing the Briscoes some cartoon drawings of the things we should do in tandem in our 6 man match against KENTA (why the caps? I don’t know), Saito and Ishimori. I figure this might take some time; so I don’t know when I’ll be able to make another entry, so, watch for my return.

Thursday, February 21st, 2008: After a 10 hour strategy session with those redneck idiots, I think I’ve finally gotten it through to them as to how we can win tonight’s match. Unfortunately, I am so mentally exhausted from that endeavor; I have no idea about what I’ll have left in the tank for the match itself. If those morons said “man up” again, I think I was going to have to commit a crime. Sure, they can go in the ring, but I’m just not sure how. They are both as dumb as a bag of rocks. Whatever. I think we have a solid and simple plan so that victory should be assured. More after the match.

Thursday, February 21st, 2008 — Late Entry: Well, I was right, and the plans worked and we were victorious in the match. I’m going to keep this one short, because we are going to hit the streets of Osaka tonight to celebrate the win. Jay and Mark keep on talking about barbeque and Budweiser, but I think I’ll show them a bit about Japanese culture and food tonight out of the goodness of my own heart. I just hope that they have some nice clothes to wear, as the whole black hoodie thing would just cramp my sartorial grace. They better “man up” and wear something sweet, because if they want to roll with Chris Hero, they better look the part, you dig? Maybe I’ll even take them to see Lady Kimae and her girls tonight…yeah. That would be a good time. I wouldn’t partake of any of that though, what with my committed relationship back home. That’s not how I roll, you know? More to follow.

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008: I have just gotten in from a two day bender with the Briscoes. What a time. Now, I think I’m going to watch the sun come up on another beautiful day here in Japan, but wish I was at home with the people I love and care about. This tour is tough, because I have so many people back home that love me and care about me. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon, and you know me, I’ll come bearing gifts.

Until I talk with you again, enjoy. Sayonara, suckers!!

Honorarium: Bryce Remsburg

-I wanted to take some time out to discuss how great Bryce Remsburg is as a referee. Now the saying goes that you can tell a really good referee if you don’t notice him during a match. A referee shouldn’t necessarily stand out because the show is between the two wrestlers, not between the wrestlers and the referees. However, Remsburg has proven to be the exception to that rule for a number of reasons. Remsburg manages to be noticed during the match when it’s called for and the match is usually bettered for it. He also has great comedic timing and can enhance a light hearted moment with his reactions.

Remsburg shines during his refereeing of a CHIKARA or SHIMMER match. You’ll usually notice him during the opening of the match, interacting with the wrestlers as he checks their gear to make sure they aren’t concealing any weapons. If Bryce is in the ring with an intimidating opponent, he’ll usually sell fear or hesitation in checking them out. This usually leads to some funny moments of interaction, like when Bryce cowers away in fear from MsChif when she screams at him (well, she screams at everyone, but still). Bryce has actually taken a bump from the growl of a MsChif or Kong and it is hysterical every time he does it. It is realistic to think that even though h is an authority in the ring that he would be flustered by the presence of these intimidating wrestlers, even the women.

He is also well aware of just when not to be intimidated, such as in matches involving Hydra or other silly masked creatures. Now the fans know that Hydra’s gimmick is that he is a self replicating man monster who thinks he is stronger than he actually is. When Hydra goes for a suplex or test of strength, you can see in Bryce’s body language and in his eyes that even he is skeptical that Hydra can actually pull off such a move. Bryce also has a great deadpan sarcasm when dealing with these sorts of characters, sarcastically dealing with men who have grandiose designs far bigger than possible, such as Ultramantis Black or the Olsen Twins.

On the other hand, Remsburg can also flip the switch and be incredibly serious and stringent as a referee when called for. He does not abide cheaters and does his best to reel in the heels. From time to time Remsburg does turn into a more standard referee in missing calls or wrongfully pulling back a face when he or she thinks the tag has been made but he hasn’t seen it. He is human after all.

Bryce’s realism is just one of the positive little things he adds to a match, from his opening interactions to how he sells the action in the ring. Of all referees I’ve seen, he is the one who gets the most into the action, almost as if he is simultaneously both the ref and a fan reacting to the action in front of him. His recoil after big moves or the big saucer eyes he has when something incredible occurs in the ring are the cherry on top of a great wrestling moment.

Remsburg is also a very capable commentator, sometimes pitching in to do color for CHIKARA and other independent promotions. He is often best when matched up with one of the more charismatic heels on commentary, such as Ultramantis or Larry Sweeney. He also mixes and matches quirky pop culture references into the commentary, which of course matches up well with the general mood of a CHIKARA show.

I’ll end with this: when ROH needed someone to take a backdrop driver from Morishima, who did they turn to? Bryce Remsburg. Why? In Ring of Honor, the referees are generally booed throughout the night. Now, I have some serious misgivings as towhy fans hate guys such as Paul Turner or Todd Sinclair. Its another one of those interesting contradictions of ROH fans who support honor but dislike those that uphold it. At any rate, these ROH fans who immensely dislike the refs, well they have nothing but cheers for Bryce whenever he refs a match there. I guess Bryce is just so likeable a guy that he cannot be booed, even in ROH. The inadvertent backdrop driver from Takeshi Morishima at the Rising Above PPV tapings instantly give Morishima a nuclear amount of heat. The fans hated to see Bryce get hurt. Who else among the ROH referees would have garnered such crowd sympathy after being attacked? Only Bryce.

ROH Preview: 02/23/08 Sixth Anniversary Show in Manhattan, NY

7:30 pm belltime
Manhattan Center (Grand Ballroom)
311 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001

ROH World Title Match
Nigel McGuinness defends vs. Bryan Danielson
This is the biggest attraction match ROH can offer right now and Danielson and McGuinness are their top names. It all comes down to who wants it more: Nigel or Bryan? Both men will have their technical acumen and stamina put to the test. If past history is any indication, this will be a lengthy battle, a chess match that is slowly played by both men in order to trap the other into checkmate. Both men will give as much of themselves as possible in this one, because the winner is declared THE champion of the promotion, and neither one is going to settle for any less. There are a lot of eyes on this match and it has to live up to a lot of past matches that have been classics.

No DQ FIP World Heavyweight Title Match
Roderick Strong defends vs. Erick Stevens vs. The Necro Butcher

There is a new FIP Heavyweight Champion in the house. Well he’s actually the former champion, but nonetheless. Roderick Strong back-doored his way to the FIP title last weekend in Florida, but the man he won it from is one of his opponents in this match. Erick Stevens has probably gone through denial and being upset at losing the belt…which means right about now what he is feeling is ANGER. He wants the FIP belt back and he’ll go through hell to do so. Unfortunately for him (and Strong), there is an x-factor in this match in the form of a dangerous brawling maniac known as the Necro Butcher. I’m thinking that as much as Stevens wants to get his hands on Strong, there is a high chance of getting sidetracked by Necro. Strong needs to watch out as well, because this is Necro’s biggest chance ever in ROH to win some gold and it really doesn’t matter to him who holds it. He just wants to win the thing.

ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Rocky Romero & Davey Richards defend vs. Ruckus & Jigsaw with Julius Smokes

Momentum is an important factor in wresting—who has it and who doesn’t could be the small difference between winning and losing. Right now it looks like the No Remorse Corps have all the mo’ in the world having just won the tag straps but the Vulture Squad have been right up there in their last few appearances. They have won some important matches in January, including several against The Age of the Fall. However, Jigsaw’s singles record has been less than illustrious. Ruckus’s past few weeks have been unpleasant, having to deal with a bout of pneumonia. The V-Squad are coming off a tag team victory from last night in Long Island and have the hometown crowd support of New York. If they can get the momentum in their favor, this match will end with new tag champions.

SHIMMER Title Match
Sara Del Rey defends vs. Daizee Haze

These two have been constant rivals and opponents for the better part of the last three plus years in both ROH, SHIMMER and around the independent wrestling landscape. To say that they know each other very well is an understatement. Both women know a lot about their opponent and therefore know a lot about their plan of attack. Haze must go with what works for her, a stick and move strategy that relies on lucha and flying around in the ring to create pin opportunities. Del Rey is one of the best technical wrestlers in the SHIMMER division and she should stick to her grappling game or look for the submission. The Royal Butterfly will be key—Haze can maneuver out of it as she has shown capable of in the past. If Del Rey traps her in the move, its curtains.

First Time Ever
Austin Aries vs. Go Shiozaki

What a contrast between these two—Go made a very impressive debut last night in Long Island, winning two matches and going on to the finals of a tournament in his very first appearance. Meanwhile, Aries can’t find the way to the pay window, even against opponents he should likely be defeating. ROH is very high on Go right now, so a win here against a man of Aries’ status will further cement him in the hunt for an ROH World title shot. Meanwhile, Aries has to get out of his funk if he wants to continue to be ranked among the elite class of the company.

Grudge Match
El Generico vs. Brent Albright

Generico should be feeling pretty good about himself after a very strong showing in last night’s tournament. However, he shouldn’t get ahead of himself by any stretch as his opponent tonight is the very capable mauler of the Hangmen Three. Albright can chew people up and spit them out (that’s disgusting!) and Generico is just the right opponent for him—small, lanky and eminently suplexable (is that a word?). Generico is another wrestler who either needs to stick and move or just go all out in a kamikaze like attack. Either way, I don’t know if he has enough firepower or stamina to outlast Albright in a wrestling match.

Special Challenge Match
Kevin Steen vs. Joey Matthews

Riding high after winning the title shot tournament, Steen must not overlook the very capable Joey Matthews, formerly a part of the MNM tag team in WWE and now a part of Age of the Fall. Steen is going to have a great deal of support from the crowd, but he’ll need more than that to counter the numbers advantage Matthews is likely to have with his AotF buddies around ringside. An active battle plan that takes Matthews out of his comfort zone and plays into Steen’s strengths will be best. I foresee a win for Steen here, but he may be starting more trouble with AotF than its worth.

Special Attraction
Delirious vs. Human Tornado

These two are tailor made for a great match together. I expect this to be one of the more light-hearted and humorous matches of the night. Tornado should easily become a crowd favorite for NYC with his outstanding charisma and exciting moves. Delirious is going to have to use every confusing trick in his book to outlast the spinning Tornado.

Tammy Sytch will be there signing autographs!!!

Also scheduled to appear: The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black with Lacey

My Two Cents with Chris Miccio

So, here we go again. It’s a new week, and another chance for me to scream out into the abyss that is the interweb about all things wrestling and or wrestling related, so without wasting anymore of your time or mine, let’s get to it.

1. ROH will be moving into the BIG ROOM in NYC — So, last night around 12:30 AM, Ari IM’s me and tells me that he’s heard that the May 2008 NYC show will be held in the Hammerstein Ballroom itself, which is located in the same building as the Manhattan Center, but is a substantially larger room. While I look forward to not having to trudge up and down the 9 million flights of stairs leading up to the old room, I’m just not sure that this is a great move for the ROH product. You might have seen the room if you watched the old ECW in its waning days, or watched the One Night Stand PPV’s in 2005 or 2006, so you have an idea of what I’m talking about. ROH’s atmosphere has always in my mind been largely based on the intimate feel of the venue that they ran in, and I don’t know if they cam pull that off in such a bigger space. Sure, for the WWE, it is an intimate venue, but for ROH, it will be like running an event in Madison Square Garden. What with all the financial doom and gloom sentiments that have been flying around over the past few weeks, this is the type of thing that could really become the “straw that breaks the camels back.” If they overestimate their ability to sell a room that big, or are forced to pay large amounts of money to bring in outside “marquee” talents to help sell the events, this event, which I’m thinking the powers that be in ROH are viewing as the biggest show in the 6 plus year run, could be the ultimate undoing of everything that they have worked to achieve. I really hope that they’re not overreaching their means for this one, because if they do, it will be disastrous. I sure hope it all works out, because if I’m left with just WWE and TNA, I think I’ll have to find something else to do with my free time. If ROH wants to sell that room, I have an idea. Now I know they had to do a tournament last night due to outside forces (more on that in #2), but here’s what I’m thinking. A one night, “Best of the Best” style event, with talents representing all of the “big indies” as well as companies like NOAH and Dragon Gate. Think about the possibilities. Just a thought.

2. ROH’s February Jinx — Aren’t we all supposed to learn from our past mistakes? It seems like every year when ROH runs a show on Long Island in February; there is some sort of weather disaster that leads to a massive shift in the promoted card. I know it always says “card subject to change”, but this is getting ridiculous (or “re-goddamn-diculous” like Luke Wilson says in Anchorman). Sure, maybe you can get a great card like last nights seems to have been, but haven’t the people in the ROH office ever heard that its cheaper to fly during the middle of the week? If you’re running a Friday show, especially in the middle of the winter in the Northeast or Midwest, you really should make sure that the talent is in town more than a day in advance of the show. I know that I would have been really pissed off last night if I were at the show, even if the replacement matches were as good as they sound. There is an old proverb about an ounce of prevention, and I think that ROH should start thinking about that. I know that when TNA ran Webster Hall the other night, they found a hotel that was near the other venue that they were running this weekend, just to make sure that all of the workers would be able to appear on the card, as stated. Maybe its time for ROH to do the same thing, since they tend to run their double-shots in close proximity to each other. I think that as this kind of thing keeps happening, some fans will start to become frustrated with the product, because these live events are really the only time that they will get to see their favorites perform in front of them for a few months. If ROH had a TV deal, it would be different, but they don’t, so that’s how it is. Take the steps, guys. Make sure the fans get what they paid for, okay?

That’s enough for now. I just want to take a second and thank the people that let me use their computers and living space last weekend when I was out of town, so that I could get my two cents in. If I’m ever in your neighborhood, or zip code again, I know where I can go and get some peace and quiet so that I can get the work done. You were awesome to me and for that, I say thank you. Well, that’s just my two cents for this week. 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 23

Clue: Shakespeare play
Lyric: “I represent New York / I got it on my back.”
What’s the name of the song and the artist?

Its getting hot in here… so take off your…oh wait, wrong song. Yes, this is why I’m hot and the song was in fact “This is Why I’m Hot” by MIMS. It’s the current theme of Rhett Titus (whose last name is the same as the disturbing play by Shakespeare about a slightly off his rocker ex-soldier and his daughter who’s tongue and hands are cut off…compelling stuff I tell you).

This week’s winners (by order of receipt):
soulpower
BL Nascimento

Just TWO readers could get the song this week—a successful stumper in my book! Thanks to those who wrote in to answer. Now its time for Name that Tune! for this week, February 23rd, 2008!

Clue: snake
Lyric: “When you seek me you destroy me.”
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!

**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)High Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1 (Castagnoli / Williams, Evans / Pac, Black / Shelley, Aries / Strong, PWG Tag Titles: Generico & Steen / Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka)Medium Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 (CIMA / Tornado, Steen / Butcher, McGuinness / Richards, Kid / Yokosuka) Low Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 3 (the entire show) High Recommendation
**Shimmer Volume 11 (Sarah Stock / MsChif, Sarah Stock / Cheerleader Melissa, Sara Del Rey / Cindy Rogers, Nikki Roxx / Lacey, Daizee Haze / Malia Hosaka, Allison Danger / Hosaka)High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Volume 12 (Del Rey / Lacey, Del Rey / Sarah Stock, Haze / Lacey, Portuguese Princess Ariel / Josie / Nikki Roxx / Portia Perez, Melissa & MsChif / Lexie Fyfe & Hosaka)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

Well, our Long Island pick are out the window, but you can still find out what 411’s writers think will go down in NYC tonight in our ROH Roundtable for the Sixth Anniversary Show.

411’s Buy or Sell also looks at the major issues for ROH this weekend.
Michael Weyer takes a look at ROH as it celebrates six years in this week’s Shining a Spotlight. It’s a look at both the positives and negatives of where ROH is currently at within the wrestling scene.

Samuel Berman provides a look at a quirky lil match between Davey Richards and Jigsaw in this week’s Independent Mid Card.

Arnold Furious takes a look at one of the better Long Island shows, Glory BY Honor IV.

Honor Bound Links

You can catch more of my writing this week as I dipped into my old scene of the Music Zone for a review and an interview. Check out my review of Orange Park‘s latest album and then join me as I conduct an email Q&A with the co-vocalist from the band, Justin Moore. Thanks go out again to Orange Park for the interview.

Matthew Sforcina covers the evolution of Umaga. And yes, that’s quite the evolutionary progression I know.

Tim Livingston gives his take on how Samoa Joe has fared over the last few years and if he can reclaim the greatness he once had with a win of the TNA title.

T.G. Corke provides his Seventh Dimension: Music.

High Road / Low Road on the Angle vow renewal ceremony.

Riding Space Mountain and going WOOOOOO is none other than our very own Bayani Domingo.

C is for Cookie as it is for Steve Cook and Ask 411 Wrestling.

If you haven’t checked out 411’s Interview with Mike Quackenbush, now would be the time to do so.

So wraps up another edition of the column. I’ll be back next week with live thoughts from the sixth anny show, as well as the next batch of Independent Buy In recommendations. Happy anniversary to ROH and here’s hoping that the next year will see better wrestling action and the product continuing to do well with, by and for the fans with a little less controversy and criticism along the way.

BROOKLYN!
–Ari–