Column of Honor 10.03.09: Leaving Ground

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 10.03.2009

A full review of Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown, with the farewell appearances of Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, Ladder War 2 insanity, the return of Jim Cornette and the infamous Twinkie Match.


A brief note before we begin, it was in my plans to continue my "Summer Vacation" DVD feature this week. It has been pushed back due to both the length of my Glory By Honor VIII review this week and the announcement of the return of the Survival of the Fittest tournament. Next week will be my (near) annual Survival of the Fittest preview feature. The "Summer Vacation" feature will return in two week's time.

Welcome to the Column.




Leaving Ground



5.


As red, white and blue streamers rocketed into the air like so many fireworks exploding into the night sky on a July 4th, "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson climbed up to the top turnbuckle and pointed his finger in the air towards the 1,400 fans in attendance. This was the beginning of the main event of the evening—the "Final Countdown" match between Danielson and Nigel McGuinness (already in the ring, having received his own special streamer parade and standing ovation from the sell-out crowd at the Grand Ballroom in New York City). It would be their last match against each other in Ring of Honor. It would be their last match against anyone in Ring of Honor. By the end of the night, both men had poured their heart and soul out on the wrestling mat. By the end of the night, all the fans had poured their heart and soul out of their vocal chords. The love and adoration for these two wrestlers who have meant so much to ROH and to them over the last seven years was never clearer than on this night.

Nigel McGuinness, who played the heel so expertly over the last two years, was given a unanimous reception of cheers when he entered out of the stage and down the aisle. There was a ton of love and respect for him that night, however—when the match began, the fans fell right into place, chanting "you're gonna get your fucking head kicked in" at Nigel, who couldn't help but smile a mile wide. You could clearly tell he was pumped up and ready for this match.

This time around, when Danielson vs. McGuinness had concluded, it would not be considered the match of the year, or even the match of the night. It was by no means the best in their series, but what it actually was meant so much more than any of those designations. Last Saturday night in New York City, this Danielson vs. McGuinness match served as the fitting farewell tribute to the wrestling career of both men on the independent scene, a moment to mark as the last time they wrestled before they both headed off to the mainstream sports-entertainment scene of World Wrestling Entertainment.

It was an amalgamation of their best moments against each other and up against other key rivals. There was the incredibly memorable spot from Unified where Danielson viciously rammed McGuinness head first-and at high velocity into the corner turnbuckle post from outside the ring. This time around, it was Danielson who was subject to the brutality of being rammed head first, causing him to be busted open with the crimson red (to match his robe, and the streamers). There was the headbutt spot from Driven 2007, where both men became rams just raring to have a head-on collision. And collide they did—four, five, six times skull bounced against skull. I know that some reports had these two going at it lightly in order to "save themselves for WWE", but if you saw these repeated concussion-case movements live and in person, you knew that statement wasn't the truth. I suggest not trying this at home, but if this has happened to you, do recall what it's like to hit your head against a wall. It's not fun, it's not pretty and it god damn hurts. These two went into a wall multiple times during the match—and they did it out of love for the moment and the recognition that if this is what it meant to go all out, then so be it.

There were callbacks to the Weekend of Champions count-out finish, as Danielson once again threw himself from the ring and into the crowd with a Rob Van Dam like springboard-cross body block. When McGuinness blocked the attempt the first time, Danielson was undeterred and landed it. McGuinness threw out Tower of London moves to the apron, hit the jawbreaker lariat for a near fall ala the Rising Above 2009 match, even brought back the straightjacket London Dungeon he debuted against KENTA here in New York City at Seventh Anniversary Show. He even tried to use Dragon's own offense against him, getting into Cattle Mutilation position once and then later using the MMA elbows. None of it worked against Danielson, who rose to the occasion and pressed onwards.

Danielson returned fire with his trademark running kicks, forearms and suplexes. He even brought back the diving headbutt, a staple of his offense in his early ROH years but had long since been removed from his regular moveset. He eventually even did kick McGuinness's head in, using the reverse curbstomps he debuted two years previous against Takeshi Morishima at Glory By Honor VI Night 2. Danielson attempted Cattle Mutilation several times throughout the match, but McGuinness was all too ready for it, countering it almost instantly every time out. If Danielson wanted to win, he was going to have to go with something else. That something else was the triangle choke with repeated elbows to the head. Danielson tried to get the choke on early in the match but McGuinness sensed it and easily countered. However, by the match's closing minutes, McGuinness had been too worn down and defeated to avoid the move. He was trapped in it, and when the deluge of blows to the top of his head came down, he was soon knocked out and the referee stopped the match, awarding the win to Bryan Danielson.

Originally, Danielson's farewell match at Glory By Honor VIII was supposed to be against ROH World Champion Austin Aries while McGuinness would wrestle Roderick Strong. However, when Nigel McGuinness followed up Danielson's bombshell announcement with one of his own regarding his signing with WWE, the booking cards were changed to spotlight Danielson vs. McGuinness one more time. It was hard to complain then about the change in booking, and impossible to complain about it now—because the moment and the night itself became something very special, like most thought it would –these two men walking off stage together.

If the match was something to remember, the farewell ceremony that followed can only be considered something that fans in attendance will never forget. Almost immediately after the final countdown was rendered, ROH wrestlers, booker Adam Pearce and owner Cary Silkin walked out to ringside, surrounded the ring and gave a standing ovation to both men. McGuinness then cut a short but sweet and extremely genuine farewell speech. Then it was Dragon's turn. And boy did he ever give one hell of a speech. He was clearly enjoying soaking in the moment and probably, like the fan,s didn't want to see it end so quickly. Dragon ended up thanking just about everyone in ROH personally and even managed to get the fans to give a long and extended ovation and chant for referee Todd "Fatpants" Sinclair. Long the bastion of the boo bird brigade, Sinclair, who always is cat called as he is introduced at the beginning of the shows, was put over so huge by Dragon as the best referee he had worked with that in this one moment, this shedding of kayfabe and an open connection with the fans, was enough for the fans to change their ways, even if it was just this once. "Don't get used to it Todd", Danielson remarked.

Danielson thanked Cary Silkin by name, thanked the fans, who continued to chant and applaud and just look on in reverence. Danielson repeated a bit of his speeches from other shows, that he hadn't been the "best in the world" for a while now—that other wrestlers were more often than not giving the best match of the night in Ring of Honor. Danielson made a few jokes about his future in WWE and one fan asked him to kick John Cena's head in. That popped the crowd and the wrestlers big. Danielson then adlibbed he would try but it would be hard if he "couldn't' see him" (a reference to Cena's trademark catchphrase) and even did the hand gesture. It was a sublime interaction with the fans. Then of course, it was time for the one moment the fans knew was coming—the playing of Europe's "the Final Countdown", a theme song that over the past four years had become almost synonymous with Danielson.

I remember being in attendance the first night "The Final Countdown" was used as Danielson's theme—Glory By Honor IV in Long Island, New York. There were fans around me call out loud in cynical disbelief—"Europe?" I mean, it's a compliment if that song is considered cheesy at best. Yet, Danielson made the song work for him and soon it became one of his calling cards as well as one of the fans' rallying cries. They sang it along with Danielson, who waited for the key moment in the chorus to jump up to the turnbuckle. It was a perfect wrestling moment. When the song was taken away from Danielson because of the change to television and the inability for ROH to pay for royalties, fan disapproval was so extreme that ROH continued to use the song during show, just after the official match had occurred.

Tonight, not only did the song play a full cycle, but then Danielson insisted on a second go round of the song.

At the aforementioned Glory by Honor IV, fans were knowledgeable that James Gibson was going to be leaving soon to return to WWE. It wasn't his official last match though, so there wasn't really any huge emotion about it—the moment was about Danielson winning the title, not Gibson leaving (Gibson would get his farewell celebration a few weeks later at Unforgettable). However, that night was also Mick Foley's last night with ROH after a year's stay with the company. He too, was headed back to WWE. Foley received a great send-off from the crowd. He cut a fantastically entertaining promo and he even decided to stick around and sign autographs for the hometown Long Island fans after the event had concluded. It was a really cool sendoff for Foley. It was also not anywhere near the level of emotion, intensity and importance of the goodbye festivities for Danielson and McGuinness that occurred this past Saturday night.

Aside from Foley's farewell, I really hadn't been a personal witness to one of these sorts of shows—the "leaving" show. I was following ROH but wasn't attending shows when Paul London had his finale in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Although the first show I attended, At Our Best, ended up becoming the last ROH shows for AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels for almost a year and a half (and Jerry Lynn for more than three years), no one knew it at the time. I was there in June 2005 when CM Punk received a very emotional response from the Supper Club crowd during The Future is Now. However, it wasn't the "last match" for Punk and of course, fans recall that Punk wouldn't actually be done until two months later. I was there when Colt Cabana had his third-to-last match during his first ROH run in Edison, New Jersey against Doug Williams. Colt gave a very nice speech, but it was clear his real and true emotional sendoff was waiting for him in Chicago a few weeks later.

So really, aside from the Foley departure, last Saturday night was the first time I was witness live and in person to a fully realized "goodbye" show. I have to admit (and I could get cracked on this by some of the 411 commenters, but I don't care), I became very emotional during the Danielson-McGuinness post-match tribute. The funny thing is I didn't expect I would become so emotional, but it just sort of happened all in that moment. Now I wasn't all-out bawling, but I was definitely forming some tears in my eyes. I know I wasn't alone, because everywhere I looked I saw the expressions on the faces of the fans and the wrestlers standing in front of me—and I knew they felt the significance of the moment too.


4.


Ring of Honor is now one week into its post-Dragon / McGuinness era, and there are no real clear answers as to what will happen next. ROH's future is still very much to be determined, despite some very interesting happenings and announcements—including the return of Jim Cornette (see below). If someone wanted to look at the events of this past weekend—the Boston and New York double shot—to find the answers to ROH's survival, well, it didn't come on either night. However, it cannot be ignored that these were excellent shows. Boston received almost unanimous praise and had what many in attendance that night were calling the match of the year in Davey Richards vs. Bryan Danielson (where Danielson put over Richards clean in a clear passing of the torch he had foreshadowed both in ROH, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and in Dragon Gate USA just weeks earlier).

The New York show was looking to be an all-time classic through the end of the first half. The wrestlers were clearly bringing their "A" game in light of it being one of ROH's annual marquee events as well as wanting to look good given the historical importance of this night. The first half culminated with the much anticipated Ladder War 2 between ROH World Tag Team Champions American Wolves of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards against Kevin Steen and El Generico. Edwards, who had broken his elbow just the night before by being thrown down a staircase in a street fight match against Kevin Steen (more on that in a bit) was either the ballsiest or stupidest man on the planet that night when he decided to wrestle the match. What followed was one of the craziest but most legitimate displays of valor I've personally seen at a wrestling show and a four star match that had at least three insanely dangerous bumps that unglued the arena. It was a hell of a finale to the near year long feud between the two teams and an exclamation point to end a strong first half. However, the show was marred in the beginning of the second half with two disappointing matches in a row—including what I have dubbed "The Twinkie Match"—the ROH World Title bout between champion Austin Aries and "challenger" Petey Williams (again, more on that later).

However, from the moment Jim Cornette returned to the scene of the crime with the strums of "No More Mr. Nice Guy", the show was on a course correction that carried through to the main event. Cornette put on a hell of a promo, The Young Bucks and Briscoes had a very fun semi-main, and of course there was the "Final Countdown".

The show began with the realization that due to a ticket buying screw up, Chris and I were going to be sitting on the ground floor at a New York show for the first time in three years. The last time we were on the floor was first row for Glory By Honor V Night 2, the ROH debut in the Grand Ballroom. Since then we have preferred to be up in the first row of the balcony, where there are some very impressive sightlines (the wrestlers look like they're floating in mid-air when they do dives), and some all-important leg room. I was soon reminded of both the curses and the blessings of being on the ground floor for a Ring of Honor show. The worst part would be the distance to concessions and the exits, the tight leg room between seats as well as having almost no room to maneuver if there is someone who needs to get by you. Those disadvantages though were offset several times during the show by the insanity of being around some crazy (and fun) fans as well as the intensity of once again witnessing the action so close up. I don't think I have winced, looked away, or screamed so loudly and for such a length of time (most obviously during the Ladder War) as much as I did last Saturday night, and it was all thanks to being in the third row on the floor.

We entered the building and I found myself walking smack dab into the middle of the line for signatures for Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. It was there that I met 411Mania and Pro Wrestling Pondering's own Kevin Ford for the first time. I found my seat and a little bit later Danielson and McGuinness finished up their autograph session and returned to the back. They were saluted with good ovations from around the room.

There was some more early excitement just before bell time as many fans spotted former ROH World Champion, current TNA contracted wrestler and fellow New Yawker "The Notorious 187" Homicide in attendance for the show. He was hanging out as what you would have to consider the "Gorilla Position" for ROH during these Grand Ballroom shows. The production table is exposed and easily viewable from the General Admission section as well as Section C, and that's where most people began to pay attention to Homicide, chanting his name until everyone in the building became aware of his presence. He received a massive ovation from the crowd, which he appreciated, followed quickly by a "Fuck TNA" chant. Only in ROH I guess.

The show proper began with an opening comedy match between Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana and "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus. Despite a promo in the previous week's newswire where Titus became serious and promised to shed Colt's blood, this was anything but a grudge style match. Who knows what happened with that, but it was negligible in my mind. This was a solid and entertaining opener and the fans were clearly into the match and ready in general for a good night of wrestling action. Titus rubbed his groinal area when asked for a handshake, so Cabana responded by grabbing his towel and wiping Titus' hand clean with it. Cabana used misdirection early, getting the referee involved as well. There were some "awkward positions" that were used for a chuckle. Titus took over for the heat, but Cabana quickly came back with the "Flying A**hole" and closeline. Soon after he dodged and reversed into position for the Billy Goat's Curse (backwards Boston Crab) and Titus tapped out.

Up in Smoke (Cheech & Cloudy) versus The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) was up next. I was very happy that this match turned out not to be a squash but rather a very competitive encounter. After all, this wasn't a television taping; this was Glory By Honor, one of ROH's biggest shows of the year. An undercard match like this should be spotlighted on a night such as this and fortunately they received some time and made the most of it. Cheech and Cloudy are personal favorites of mine and I've embraced them ever since I saw their great strides made in CHIKARA. They are a hell of a lovable and fun undercard babyface team and they played that up against the indomitable bruisers of DCFC.

Both teams got over with the crowd with their tag team moves, but DCFC particularly so (NYC loves them some brawlers). Jon Davis' POUNCE just about legitimately blew everyone away with its velocity and force. A funny moment happened as I and some other fans nearby referred to Chavis and Davis and "Ezekiel Jackson" and "Ahmed Johnson", respectively. Cloudy, who was standing on the apron near those of us in Section C, overheard these comments, turned to us and chastised, "That's racist!"

The psychology of the match was that Cheech would try (and not so well at that) to do the heavy lifting for his team against the larger and more dominating opponents. Cloudy, whenever he tagged in, soon found himself over matched. There were a few good hope spots for the babyface crew, but when Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (errr, Cheech) was prevented with a trip, the end was soon near. DCFC hit their double team lift into a superbomb and that was all she wrote for an impressive NYC debut from Dark City's toughest.

Kenny Omega and Claudio Castagnoli (accompanied by Prince Nana and Ernie Osirus) lit up the show next with a fantastic back-and-forth match that highlighted just how special (and sometimes overlooked) Castagnoli really is as a wrestler. It was also a great showing for Omega, who I've recently thought had far better performances and demonstrations of his character in other promotions than compared to what he had done thus far in ROH. They had an okay, but not spectacular match in NYC just nine months before (Final Battle 2008). This time around, they easily topped and surpassed that match.

Claudio was wearing some swank tights, white with a stylized Swiss Army crest on each side. He also had a glove with the Swiss insignia on it, which he promptly removed and then used to slap the taste out of Omega's mouth. That perked the crowd's attention right away—a brilliant move by both men that helped carry the intensity of the match as it went along. Omega responded by pulling a glove of his own out of his own trunks—they were noticeably dirty—and responded in kind! By this point the crowd was chanting for a "duel" although there were no swords or fencing foils in sight, so instead Omega shouted "STOP!" and for the first time in a while, the Stop Sign Enziguri worked to perfection. As of late that had become predictable, but here it was the perfect time to use it.

Omega continued to look very good, maybe the best match he's had in ROH. Yet if Omega was very good, Claudio was Very European…oh come on, you knew that was coming. Actually, Claudio was extra impressive this night. Everything he did was spot on. The highlight of the match was Claudio lifting Omega up for a torture rack. He began to airplane spin Omega around his back, and eventually Claudio let go of his arms completely! Omega spun around several seconds due to only centrifugal force and Claudio's back muscles. This was completely insane and everyone in the crowd was popping like Orville Redenbacher for the move. They instantly knew this was a special moment. Damn straight it was—do you know how difficult it is to do something like that? Claudio made it look like second grade.

From there on in the match only intensified, as there were several nearfalls for both men. Claudio landed the Ricola Bomb but Omega caught the ropes. Then Claudio tried again but Omega hooked him up for a small package, revisiting the finish to their Final Battle 2008 match. This time the move only got him a two-count. A dragon suplex by Claudio stopped some breaths and then one by Omega was also a very close count. A minute later, Omega had Claudio up for the Electric-Chair German, but it was blocked and Claudio elevated him up for the pop-up European uppercut. A first one was narrowly kicked out, but a second pop-up European spelled the end for Omega. Both men received great ovations from the crowd after the match.

Bret "Hitman" Hart came out and it was all love from the New York City crowd. In fact, Hart received such a large and continuous ovation that at several times it became hard to hear what he was saying. I got most of it, but the first words each time he continued were a bit cut off. Anyway, he talked about what you would have expected—his favorite memories in New York, Owen, thanking the fans. I have never seen Bret Hart live and in person in a wrestling ring, despite going to several live shows around the time he was still in WWF. It was great to be able to see him in person in much the same way it was great to be able to see Bruno Sammartino live and in person three years ago and Harley Race two years back. Hart may be from Calgary…Alberta, Canada, but he has true New York characteristics: grit, guts and the ability to survive.

Bret Hart is also somewhat important to the lore of my circle of friends, although it's really more of a coincidence or serendipity. You see, around 1996 or so, Bret did an autograph signing here in Brooklyn at Lundy's Landing (which I don't believe is around anymore). At the time my cousin Jason and his family had come to visit for a bit, and our families happened to be shopping there. We had no prior knowledge that Bret was in town, much less in the same mall we were in. Jason and I didn't actually go get anything signed, but we could clearly see Bret and we stood nearby looking on at the whole scene. It would be years later that I would find out that one of my dear friends in high school (and beyond) but whom I didn't know at the time also happened to be at that very same signing to meet Bret Hart. Now that is some spooky wrestling synchronicity.

The Four Corner Survival featuring Roderick Strong, Delirious, Sonjay Dutt and Grizzly Redwood could have easily brought the show down a peg. After three solid-to-great matches, the crowd could have easily viewed this as a "take a break" moment. However, this was not the case. The match ended up continuing the streak of hot matches in the first half of the show. Once again all the wrestlers put their best foot forward. Dutt was a perfect heel character that many fans wanted to see go down in flames. He immediately teased going after Daizee Haze, but Delirious had a bead on him from the very beginning. Strong lanced everyone (but especially Dutt) with super harsh chops and looked incredible overall. Even Grizzley Redwood got over with the crowd, with the fans chanting for him twice during the match. If Grizzley Redwood is being treated like a star then you know the match was doing something right.

Dutt looked to take advantage of other people's predicaments, but especially making sure that Delirious could never quite get to him. Instead it was Strong who took out his wrath on Dutt, just launching himself into the air for two enziguris while Dutt was on the top rope. Dutt sold being out on his feet and soon enough Strong was steamrolling through him for a victory via Gibson Driver.

As mentioned before, Eddie Edwards broke his elbow the day before in Boston. Ladder War 2 looked to be in jeopardy or at least subject to some major changes before the night was through. I was halfway expecting Bobby Cruise to make some announcements before the show began, but that never happened. Instead, fans were witness to, well; I'm still not quite sure how to label it as anything other than what it was called—a ladder war.

The Ladder War was Ring of Honor's very first ladder match—taking place in September 2007 as The Briscoes put up their tag team titles against Kevin Steen and El Generico at the Man Up Pay Per View. Both teams had been feuding for months on end, and they put it all on the line (as the cliché goes). There were some jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring moments during that match, with some high spots that epitomized the definition of "high risk". The finish to that match included a Jay Driller through a ladder propped between a fully extended ladder and a turnbuckle.

This incarnation may not have topped the first if we're talking a consistency of crazy ladder moves from beginning to end of a match, but it may have had the better in-match storyline and the better "fireworks" explosion finish. The American Wolves and Kevin Steen & El Generico put their bodies on the line in those final moments to bring the fans their money's worth. By the end of this match you would not have wanted to be Eddie Edwards, or for that matter El Generico or Davey Richards or Kevin Steen.

Eddie Edwards walked out to the ring with a full cast running up and down his arm. It was clear he wasn't going to be able to take the big spots in the match (nor should he have been expected to do so under those conditions). Davey Richards had to (and did) pick up the slack in that department. Yet Edwards was given a hero's welcome by the New York City crowd, many of whom knew very well what was going on despite the news of Edwards' injury just coming out that morning. There were "Edwards" chants several times during the match. This may have been the most over he has ever been in ROH thanks to his gutting it out for this match. I think ROH fans will be keeping that appreciation in the back of their minds for whenever he returns.

The match was actually a bit slow to start, as while Steen and Generico dished out the punishment to both men, there weren't a whole lot of definitive highlights going on. Edwards compensated a lot for his injuries, but did the best he could by firing back at times with just one hand. Richards threw in a few weak chairshots that caused the fans to grimace, not in sympathy pain but in grief about how crappy it looked. However, about five minutes in the atmosphere changed when the first ladder and bumps came into play.

Handcuffs were brought into play with Steen being the unfortunate victim. Richards and Edwards managed to cuff him and The Wolves feasted on his body at their will. They damaged the knee again and again, yet Steen refused to quit or back down. It should be noted that I couldn't pay full attention to the match at this point because there was a gentleman in my section (who I don't know by name but I've seen for years at the shows) who was going positively postal, yelling vehemently for the Wolves to destroy (and that's "PG"ing his vocab) Steen & Generico. Apparently this guy does not like the babyface team and took every chance he could to demonstrate his displeasure with them. This led to me (and several others) losing complete control, breaking down and crying in fits of laughter because of this guy's reactions and statements. It was awesomely funny; hell, it was just awesome.

Finally, Generico was able to help turn the tide in their favor…and with some "hands-on negotiation" with Shane Hagadorn, Generico was able to get the key and free Steen. It's a bit unfortunate that this match and the Cena-Orton match (from WWE Breaking point) were in such close proximity because both used the handcuffs gimmick effectively, but it almost seemed like ROH was borrowing from WWE here. From there on in Steen and Generico set things up. It took a long while actually (but hopefully that will be edited down in post-production) to set up the large ladders and tables and that drew the ire of some fans. However, the big fireworks show a short while afterwards brought just about everyone to their feet.

There was a super ladder in the middle of the ring with a table on either side. Steen had also set up a ladder bridge on the opposite side of the ring from me, and put a table on top of it. Big, dangerous things were afoot.

By the end of the match, Generico had killed Richards with Super Sunset Flip Power Bomb from the top of the super ladder and smashing straight through a table; Edwards back body dropped Generico from the top of the ladder down through the other table; Richards pushed Steen off another ladder through the table / ladder bridge in what was THE most insane spot I've seen anyone take when it comes to these sorts of matches—and that is no hyperbole. I think I must have screamed for about thirty seconds in abject horror, having thought that I had just seen someone become paralyzed. Steen was, of course, out for the rest of the match. I would have been out the rest of my life.

Edwards was the man left standing and ever so slowly he made his way up the ladder, the crowd exploding with more chants for the man. Generico slid in and also began to make his way up, rushing to catch up with Edwards. He actually made it past and had his fingertips on one of the belts, but then Richards came at him from behind with another weak chairshot. Richards my man, you are a hell of a great wrestler in my opinion, but well, you gotta lay those in during these sorts of moments. Edwards tripped up Generico and had him trapped with a half crab (think about it—he was using the ONLY good arm he had to do so) in a spot reminiscent of another WWE match--Money in the Bank from Wrestlemania XXV. Richards came up the side with Edwards and grabbed one of the titles and it was enough to count as the win. The bell rang, and unbelievably The American Wolves were STILL the ROH World Tag Team Champions.

I honestly couldn't believe that The Wolves retained given Edwards injury and questionable status. I would have bet the farm on a title switch.


3.


At intermission (where I caught up with Kevin Ford, PWP's Jason Sterlacci and a few others whose names escape me now, sorry). I was almost speechless after witnessing the insanity of Ladder War 2. I was also very worried. I had seen New York crowds before get tired after intermission and not be "up" as much as they had been in the first half. I was definitely thinking this was going to be one of those occasions. I mean, after all, how could you top the stunts and drama of a match like that? The answer of course is that you can't. The fans were definitely muted or altered in reaction for much of the second half because they had seen so much insanity during the tag titles match. Only Danielson-McGuinness was going to be able to live up to the Ladder War 2 match as far as crowd reaction, passion and energy. There had been many a message board thread on different websites leading up to the show about which match should be the main event. I was one of those who sided with Ladder War 2, because of the very nature of that match as well as my thought that ROH should concentrate on spotlighting the stars who were staying as opposed to having fans linger on the ones who were leaving. Thinking back on the show, now it occurs to me that the special and unique moment of the Danielson-McGuinness farewell perhaps wouldn't have been served proper justice if it was anywhere else but in the main event slot.

Instead, it is now my opinion that Ladder War 2 should have been the semi-main event of the show. While the fans would have expended a ton of energy and emotion from watching that match, I actually believe they wouldn't have dropped off in their reaction for the McGuinness-Danielson match. In fact, I'd conjecture that the fans would have likely immediately chanted for Danielson or McGuinness after that match and that the fans would have been even more ready to see that finale. Of course, that is all just theory and we'll never know for sure if the lowering of crowd energy could have been prevented.

Yonkers' own Eddie Kingston and Chris Hero began the second half of the show and I could tell that my fears were right—the fans gave both men some good support but everything from crowd reaction to the pace of the match certainly seemed muted in light of the insanity we had witnessed less than thirty minutes previous.

The fans popped for the big moves during the match—many Tazz like suplexes from Kingston and of course the elbows from Hero, but they stayed relatively quiet during the in-betweens. You would have thought Kingston would have been better received by the fans, but I think it was a combination of this being his first showing for ROH in the actual NYC area as well as him selling too much during the match. He maybe gave too much for the tough guy rep he has. I personally enjoyed the good back-and-forth they had going, but I could see where others would see this as a disappointment. The finish had Kingston looking to use the green Misawa elbow pad he had confiscated in weeks' previous, but Hero had a new SHINY! "loaded" elbow pad that used to KO Kingston and pinned him. Hero then repossessed the Misawa elbow pad. Kingston threw a fit after the match, showing shades of Homicide from 2006.

Now for a moment that will live on in infamy—"The Twinkies Match." I know that I may have a reputation for being somewhat of a "ROH Homer" or "ROH Cheerleader" or whatever you'd like to term it. However, I'd like to think that I've been mostly fair and evenhanded in my coverage of ROH through the years. Despite my long fandom of ROH going all the way back to early 2003, I have been critical about ROH, talent or booking mistakes when the need arises.

That being said, Austin Aries vs. Petey Wiliams sucked. It blew hard. It was terrible. It was an utterly predictable match that had two awesome Canadian Destroyers in it and THAT'S ABOUT IT. It was probably not ROH's worst match this year, but it was probably the worst match I have been witness to live and in person in 2009. And I sat through Jimmy Rave vs. Necro Butcher from Manhattan Mayhem III! However, unlike Rave / Necro, this match not only was placed higher on the card, it featured the ROH World Champion and was an ROH World Title match. Simply put, this match, or any ROH World Title match had higher expectations and it simply did not live up to them (considering there was supposed to be a lottery angle to get to the title shot and fans had no prior knowledge of who would get the shot, well, except for Jason Sterlacci who predicted the damned angle and title match dead-on).

What happened was that Austin Aries came out to hold his vaunted "A –Double L—Double" (Austin Aries Lucky Lottery).Aries has run this angle before and usually he pulls out the names of ROH jobbers, students or lower-card picks. This time around, he pulled out the name Bret Hart. Of course, fans know that Hart cannot wrestle anymore—his head injuries prevent him from ever getting back in the ring in terms of physical action. This looked to be a play for Aries to avoid having to wrestle anyone. Of course, this naturally led to the entrance of Petey Williams—a Canadian and one of the only wrestlers left on the card that hadn't yet been booked into a match. Williams proceeded to cut a very pedestrian promo—claiming that Aries knew that Hart wasn't even in the building anymore, that he had left during intermission. Hart couldn't even defend his own name and honor.

Quick aside, this seemed to be a not-so-subtle recall to Ric Flair leaving the Hammerstein Ballroom in June during intermission, but really, even if this was true about Hart, why would Williams or ROH want to point this out? Do you really want to make public that Bret Hart, Bret freaking Hart, "the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be", a paragon of technical wrestling, actually left halfway through an ROH show? He didn't want to stick around to see a fine wrestling main event of Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness? Not the smartest move to put over the talent and importance of a match—but thankfully, this point wasn't really realized by those in attendance. They were more concerned with other matters. Such as not paying attention to Williams versus Aries for the title match. Such as how fat Tony Sinclair was and how many sponge like snack food cakes he ingested. Thus: "TWINKIES!"

You see, no one in attendance, and probably no fan who had half a clue about anything involving wrestling could have possibly believed that on this night Petey Williams was going to defeat Austin Aries for the ROH World Title. In fact, it was purely, one hundred percent un-believable that such a result would occur. Thus, when Williams defended Bret Hart's name, there was a small but respectful pop. When he said it wasn't about being Canadian, some fans snickered, not buying the statement. And when he asked for a title match, there was a very cold reaction and a few audible groans, because everyone knew this was not going to end in a Williams title win.

Aries initially said he would take some time to think about it…then from out of nowhere decked Williams. Aries said he was a "quick thinker" (actually a very clever and humorous one-liner) and that the title match was on.

If you buy the DVD of this show and manage to watch this match without the volume on, what you might find is a solid match. It was a technically sound match that used a frequently used but solid "count out tease' build that had worked countless times before. However, the fans weren't buying what Aries and Williams were selling throughout most of the match, which means they were dying in the ring. Both men must have known the fans were turning against the match. When fans began to chant "Twinkie" repeatedly for every count Todd Sinclair made, it was undeniable the match was failing fast. However, did Aries or Williams, by this point having years of experience in front of a live crowd, call an audible and decide to change up their match? NO! Did they, knowing the attention span of the fans was rapidly dwindling, decide to speed up the match or cut straight for the finish? NO!

This match went TWENTY minutes. Twenty horribly excruciating minutes. And for those twenty horribly excruciatingly, mind-novocaining minutes, the fans continued to chant "Twinkies!" at every opportunity. In fact as the match wore on, the chant grew from one section, to multiple sections to the entire building.

I don't even blame the fans in New York for their reaction during this match. I have no problem whatsoever with the "Twinkie" chant. Actually I was halfway hoping the fans would start diversifying and call out candies such as "Ho Hos" or "Ring Dings" or "Reese's Peanut Butter Cups", but alas those were not to be. In this situation the fans were perfectly justified to chant derisively, unlike the treatment of Nigel McGuinness in November and December of 2007 when a large percentage of the crowd irrationally turned on him because he was injured and couldn't wrestle. The fans did shit on the match, sure, but at least they did in an undeniably hilarious manner, one that is going to be talked about for years to come. They could have buried the match in countless, less pleasant chants. They didn't. They could have thrown garbage in the ring. They didn't. They could mercilessly booed throughout the twenty minute match. They didn't. Instead, they expressed their displeasure at what was in front of them by finding something better to do, that being reminding Todd Sinclair of how many Twinkies he ate for dinner. By the end of the match I had estimated about 100-150 Twinkies he ate, but that's an unofficial count and I have to wait for the DVD to make certain. Homicide was reportedly dying of laughter during this match. Pearce was not looking pleased at all. I can't say that he or anyone else shouldn't have seen it coming.

Not only is Petey Williams new to Ring of Honor, but as Chris pointed out to me, Williams never had a long history in ROH and in fact was not popular in his one or two appearances back in mid-2005. I know that Williams' return to ROH occurred at Violent Tendencies in June. However, I haven't even seen that show yet, as I was waiting for the New York show and the special sales they had to catch myself up to speed with the latest releases. If I, one of the most ardent ROH fans around, hadn't purchased the DVD where Williams debuted, how many of those in attendance in New York that night ALSO hadn't purchased or watched that show? Not to mention that this was Williams' first appearance in New York City for Ring of Honor and fans had no built-in loyalty to him whatsoever. Though it is no fault of his, Williams was just the wrong choice at the wrong time to receive this title shot. In my opinion he would have been far better received if he was wrestling for the title in a market that he already previously appeared for ROH, like Detroit, or whenever ROH returned to Canada.

Luckily, New York City fans are sometimes distracted by shiny objects. They were given two by Williams in the form of two massive, undeniably devastating-looking Canadian Destroyers. That woke the crowd up each time, and temporarily halted the "Twinkies!" chants. The second Destroyer, from off the top rope, was actually received by the fans as a believable near fall. Aries and Williams almost had them back, but after teasing the finish for too long, the fans were back to "Twinkies", even counting along for the twenty count when Williams couldn't make it back into the ring after taking a brainbuster on the outside.

I can barely recall ANY Austin Aries matches I disliked watching live or on tape. I NEVER WANT TO SEE THIS MATCH AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE.


2.


Jim Cornette returned to Ring of Honor after spending two excruciating years in TNA being misused, ignored, underappreciated and generally shmucked around by management there. He told his story of how he was released from TNA for not being one-hundred percent behind the product, which really meant he wasn't behind Vince Russo…which, you know, a big, fat DUH to TNA. Anyway, Cornette had some fun with the fans, got their support for his story and then made the big announcement that he was now Executive Producer of ROH on HDNet. Well, good for Cornette, because any Cornette is good Cornette in my book. Whether as a character or behind the scenes, J.C. is a true talent and one of the smartest wrestling minds of all-time. He does have a tendency to elongate his promos (as he did here, causing a few fans up in the balcony to boo because they wanted some more action and not talking). As long as he can manage his time cues, then I'm all for him being in ROH. Hopefully he will be involved with creative, because the man knows how to push talent and tweak ideas so that they make the most wrestling sense.

Well, except for this: Cornette gives his big "rah rah" speech for ROH, you know, rally the troops and all of that. I'm fine with that sort of thing usually, but well, Cornette goes into his whole spiel of how we don't want cartoon wrestling, or comedy in wrestling, and we want seriousness and action in wrestling. Look, I love technical wrestling and I think ROH provides plenty of great pure wrestling action, but I think to myself—Jim, have you been watching ROH this year? Grizzley Redwood was chopping down small trees, Ernie Osiris was stealing shoes and Prince Nana was hawking wares on New York City streets! Sure, ROH has great wrestling, but it has a lot of comedy and a lot of "sports entertainment" in it as well. Generally I don't find much wrong with that until we get to the part where it insults my intelligence. Plus, what is really wrong with comedy in wrestling? What about Colt Cabana—doesn't Cornette's philosophy dictate that there is no place for Cabana in ROH? I'd have to disagree there. So, while I love Cornette as a manager and a promo and someone I can listen to for hours on end, I think he may have spoke a bit too soon when discussing this whole "sports entertainment" versus "wrestling" in Ring of Honor.

The show began to right itself with The Young Bucks vs. The Briscoes. This was their third match already in ROH, but ostensibly the most important one since it was at a hugely important ROH marquee event. The New York crowd has quickly embraced The Bucks despite the occasional Rockers or Hardy reference. Hey, The Bucks invite those references with the way they dress. I'm sure that kind of stuff rolls down their back. This was a split crowd with half Bucks supporters and half Briscoes chants.

They had a solid, three-star or so affair that was probably a bit too short to really get the most out of the pairing. However it was getting late and a lot of time was going to be needed for the main event. The Bucks continue to get my seal of approval for dishing out awesome tag team offense that looks smooth, innovative AND believable (mostly). They stood their ground with Jay & Mark, avoided the Springboard Doomsday several times and even survived the Jay-Driller. They came back with More Bang for Your Buck (Finlay Roll, 450 Splash, Moonsault) for the three-count. The win was convincing enough that it didn't come across at all like an upset—which is very key for establishing The Bucks as an elite team in the ROH tag division. Simply put, they looked like they belonged and the fans believed that every step of the way.


1.


During his post-match farewell, Bryan Danielson made a complete circuit around the ringside area: slapping hands, shaking hands, hugging fans. Then he came back in the ring and kept finding more things to say. I don't think he wanted that night to end. I think the fans also didn't want the night to end. It was one of the longest ROH shows in the last year, clocking in at over four and half hours. It was almost 12:30 a.m. by this point. I believe that if Danielson hadn't left; if he decided he was going to stay inside that ring all night, that there would have been a great many fans that would have stood around and stuck it out with him as well.

All told, Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown when it comes out on DVD is an instant recommendation and a "must-buy" for anybody, for the historical value of the show being Danielson and McGuinness's last, the fantastic undercard as well as for the infamy of the Aries-Williams match. It isn't necessarily the "exclamation point" that I idealistically hoped would occur that would prove to the world that ROH wasn't going anywhere. It was not the best show in ROH history. It probably wasn't even the best show it could have been given the Kingston-Hero and Twinkie matches. However, Glory By Honor VIII is certainly one of the best shows from New York this year. It will certainly rank high among the best of ROH's show this year. It is without a doubt a night that is going to live on in Ring of Honor and independent wrestling history regardless of the future fortunes of Danielson, McGuinness or all of ROH.

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Honor Bound Links

I am all over the place this week at 411Mania. You read about my thoughts on WWE, TNA and more on Cornette and Bret Hart in ROH in this week's 411 Fact or Fiction.

More Ring of Honor breakdown, FIP comments and Cornette's role on HDNet in this week's 411 Buy or Sell.

You can check out my (and other staffers') picks for WWE Hell in a Cell in this week's 411 Roundtable.


I invite everyone to check out some of my other writing, available at Associated Content. Click and read any and all of the following articles that I wrote this week:

Review: The Brand New Eyes Have it on Paramore's Latest: Paramore Demonstrates Outstanding Musical Growth on Brand New Album

Tracklisting: The Guilty Pleasures of Dance Music on My IPod Playlist: You Won't Be Able to Get Enough of These Dance Songs Once the Beat Kicks In

NCIS Season 7 Episode 2: "Reunion" Recap & Review Is Ziva Back with Team Gibbs?


In addition, I have caved in and joined TwitterNation. You can follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.


Elsewhere on 411, Jake Chambers provides his unique Match-A-Day take on ROH Injustice II, and Aaron Hubbard provides a review and recap of this past week's ROH on HDNet Report with Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright in a cage match.


Next week its Survival of the Fittest Preview time! Honestly this is one of my favorite features that I write, even though its relevance is over quite quickly and I usually get all the predictions wrong. Whatever man!

Thanks for reading and commenting,

BROOKLYN!
--Ari--