Column of Honor: 01.16.10: Tube You

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 01.16.2010

A cross section of the best and most interesting wrestling videos available this week through YouTube and other social networking websites. All that plus the ROH iPhone App, the main event to the Eighth Anniversary show, Kendrick vs. Strong, the return of the Fave 5 and reader feedback about the controversial Black vs. Aries title match.

Welcome to the Column. This week marks a sort-of return to the old format, minus a formal news report. Instead I'll likely comment on any developments regarding Ring of Honor through my Honorarium portion of the column. As requested in previous weeks, I have brought back the Fave 5 concept and the champion / title defense tracker that were regular features in 2008 through mid-2009. Any comments or suggestions about what to add or tweak to the column are appreciated.





=Tube You=


It seemed that every day this week I ran across a new wrestling video from YouTube or one of the other social networking platforms. Independent wrestling promotions are spreading their name and their promotional material through these networking sites now more than ever. Why not? There is an ease of access and the ability to promote a product to the wrestling audience just waiting for content. So this week I thought I'd spend some time commenting on a few of the more notable videos I came across this week and in this way I could also opine about the various developments in ROH and across the wrestling landscape. Sound like a win-win to me, so let's begin the journey through the series of YouTubes that is the internet:




"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Chavo Guerrero

It's amazing to think that fans are able to gain access to this video. Now, if you can spend the few seconds to type in the words on a search engine you will be able to find and watch these matches, getting in on the ground floor on Danielson (or any other promising wrestler for that matter).

This is certainly an important moment for Danielson fans regardless of how this current contract with WWE works out. Of course, previous matches involving Danelson in WWE have been posted on YouTube and other sources, most notably against Jamie Noble (the once and past James Gibson in ROH) and John Cena, now the biggest name in WWE in 2010. These matches are moments in WWE wrestling history that just years ago only those who were live at the event (or in those Velocity appearances, those few who tuned into the shows at the time) would be able to experience. The most that other interested parties would have been able to find out about Dragon's appearance as a dark match on Raw two weeks ago would have been a few sentences on a website and maybe a photograph or two. In a YouTube world, it took less than two weeks for this video to surface.

I can remember CM Punk's first television match for WWE that took place in the closing months of his run with Ring of Honor. It was against Val Venis on Sunday Night Heat. He put up an impressive showing (especially for someone playing the role of the job guy in the match) and ultimately lost. Just two years later and Punk had made his way back to WWE television with the opportunity to become a mainstream success. Now Punk vs. Venis wasn't an earth-shattering match or a clear indication what Punk's destiny would be one way or the other on an extended run in the company. However, it did seem to me at the time to be an interesting and unique snapshot of this moment. You could look back on it one day and observe and experience a CM Punk just on the cusp of stardom. The one thing I took away from the match (besides Todd Grisham's awful "Punk-y Brewster" pun) was that CM Punk looked good in a WWE ring and on WWE television. That is the same exact feeling I had right after watching the Danielson dark match against Chavo Guerrero. Danielson looks good in that ring. He looks like he belongs there.

However, I can also see why Danielson requested that he spend some time in FCW—the developmental league for WWE's future wrestlers. Danielson felt he was rusty after spending several months off away from wrestling and waiting for the call up. You could definitely see the rust in some moments of the match—such as when Danielson didn't stick the landing on his back flip and also when attempting the Tiger Mask flip and was a bit too close for comfort with Chavo. It would stand to reason that Danielson would want to work on his timing issues and more ring time would be the solution.

It's not that this match was bad at all, but for a six minute Danielson match, it was simply good—nothing more and nothing less. I think Danielson is someone who is not satisfied with "simply good". He wants to make sure his in-ring work is always top-notch. It's actually in his best interests to work on his timing and demonstrable feats of athleticism, because when he is at top form, these moves will look incredible and impressive. He will no doubt impress the fans even more when he is at top form. As many have already commented, it's also a great political move, because WWE doesn't like the wrestlers they pick up from the independent scene to display an attitude that they are better than anyone else. By suggesting the move to developmental, Danielson is essentially telling the WWE agents that he is willing to work on bettering himself and that just because he was a star elsewhere in the wrestling world doesn't mean he thinks he is owed the world to start in his current WWE run.

Still, Danielson had all of his fundamentals in place, even using many of the same kicks and leglines he had perfected in the last two years. In a nice touch, Danielson offers a handshake at the beginning of the match, but "the code of honor" doesn't carry over from ROH to WWE and certainly not to Chavo Guerrero.

Danielson received "Dragon"-style music, not the same as Ricky Steamboat (or Ultimo Dragon), but close enough for government work. He was not identified as "American Dragon", but the fans did break out in a considerable "Dragon" chant. Clearly, fans knew about his nickname. It should be noted the positive crowd reaction from the Dayton, Ohio crowd—not overwhelming but certainly more than expected in a preliminary match that featured someone most in attendance should not know. Fans knew to do the "wooooah" chant for the Mexican surfboard and a small minority of fans chanted "he has until five!" Danielson had plenty of crowd interaction as well, fists pumping and some great body language that demonstrates he already has what it takes to get over with a larger crowd.

It is true that Dayton is a common stop for Ring of Honor in the past six years, so likely there was a bit of support already in place from those who knew of him through those appearances. However, an alternate theory may be that this reaction speaks to several other causes—one may be that the exposure of ROH television via HDNet and the internet was a contributor to more people being aware of Danielson. Another explanation could be that the buzz and positive reception created by a minority of fans in attendance carried over to others in the venue. Of course it also helps that Danielson was pitted against Chavo Guerrero, someone who the fans universally dislike thanks to his heel act on Raw and his constant belittling at the hands of Hornswoggle. As a result, Danielson was the guy the fans wanted to win before the match had even begun.

It's that kind of immediate crowd support that Danielson is going to need in his early days with WWE. CM Punk had that immediate connection with the fans in his debut for ECW on SciFi and it paid dividends for his career. While Punk's popularity with the entire crowd wasn't there at first for the larger shows, it developed slowly and surely until it was undeniable that CM Punk was "over" with the WWE "Universe" at large, and not just with a small but vocal segment of the fan base. Even Evan Bourne was a benefactor of immediate fan support. He received a surprisingly positive reaction from the fans even during his debut, which consisted of him being tossed like a sack of potatoes onto an office chair by Shelton Benjamin. Still, the fans saw something in him and they reacted to his offense. They were impressed by his moves and style enough for him to be brought back right away to the ECW roster as well as finding a consistent place for him on that program. Danielson will need the groundswell of support from those who know of him during that first appearance on a televised show for WWE, but he will also need the rest of the fan base to take to him if he hopes to stay a featured and long term member of roster.




Eddie Kingston Theorizes on His Attacker

I like that Kingston, fresh off of his feud with Chris Hero, is immediately given a direction with someone attacking him backstage and that he has to search to figure out who it is. Although as usual, ROH continuity issues are rearing their way-as the attacker(s) have already been revealed on this past set of HDNet TV tapings from last week (I won't reveal the identity here to protect those who may want to wait and see). Those who pay attention to the spoilers already know and thus the mystery of the search will have been somewhat diminished by that knowledge. Though surprisingly, it seems that there are plenty of those out there who are not following the spoilers and still do not know, which can be recognized by reading some of the comments on Facebook. There are those who are genuinely asking and wondering about who was responsible for the attack on Kingston.

I do appreciate that even though Kingston defeated Hero at Final Battle 2009, Kingston still believes Hero had something to do with the ambush. It only makes sense given their past history and antagonisms that Hero would want to have the final say about their grudge. It is a decent theory that Hero is the one behind the ambush, but wrestling logic dictates that because he was identified by the accuser that it was not Hero at all. Besides, he flat out said it wasn't him—who are we to doubt his veracity?

As far as the promo itself, it's the usual quality rant (and I mean that in the nicest way I know) from Kingston. It's filled with anger boiling up to the surface and the desire for retribution—two aspects Kingston can definitely bring to the table in his promos (although that is certainly on the only dimension Eddie brings to his promo style). Kingston does have one bobble in his promo when he trips over "every action has a reaction", but that moment adds onto his frustration and his being flustered by the attack—so much that he can't even control what he's saying. So while it's not technically a perfect promo, it doesn't diminish what he's saying at all.

Telling Kyle Durden to go away was awesome, as was Kingston's unapologetic explanation of Durden's dismal. The bitterness about how he can't move on to wrestle for championship glory adds onto his overall frustration. Kingston portrays a Ronin-like character in the wrestling world. He is a masterless Samurai looking to find a sense of righteous retribution when there is no justice in his world. He cannot be at peace, whether it's in CZW or CHIKARA or ROH or anywhere else on the wrestling scene. That's what makes his character so intriguing—he wants that feeling of satisfaction and resolution in his wrestling career but it is continually snatched away from him. The closer he gets to succeeding in his career, the farther away he is from true inner peace.

Also, I love when wrestlers tell the guys behind the camera not to wrap them up. Ric Flair was awesome in his NWA and WCW promos demanding that he speak his piece without interruption. It always made him seem that much more important and that he was going to speak his mind come hell or high water. Eddie does it several times here and it comes across that he is passionate about what he has to say and that he needs to say it. I wouldn't want to be that guy who told Kingston or Flair that he had to wrap up his promo for time constraints? Nuh-uh.

Oh and it was clearly Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the wrench. Go get him Eddie!




Jim Cornette Addresses Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black at Eighth Anniversary Show

Last week at the HDNet Tapings, Jim Cornette announced that Tyler Black would once again receive a ROH World Title shot. It takes place February 13th, 2009 in New York City for the Eighth Anniversary Show. Tyler Black has one more chance at the title after the (kayfabe and real) mishaps of the one-hour draw at Final Battle 2009. There will be three judges at ringside appointed by Aries, Black and Cornette. In case of a result other than a pinfall or submission, these men will decide who won the title match. Aries and Black each were able to pick one of the judges. Aries chose his running mate Kenny King, while Black chose Roderick Strong, who has had issues with all of the above men in recent months. Cornette chose himself as the last judge, feeling that he was the best prepared to make a decision in case of some shenanigans. The above promo was released soon after the match announcement to explain better to everyone the stakes and what this all means for the participants involved.

Ring of Honor continues to walk straight into controversy, almost stubbornly. The reaction to the announcement of yet another Aries vs. Black title match—in New York City, the scene of the original crime—has been mixed to say the least. After posting the news on my own facebook page, everyone who responded was universally negative about the match. Meanwhile, there was heated debate on the ROH message board as to why this match was happening again. The negative reaction of the crowd during Final Battle 2009, to the match and to Tyler Black, seemed to indicate a much larger problem with the booking direction of the main event scene. It could have been a one-time incident. Yet I think it was the New York crowd telling ROH what it did and didn't want in the main event scene as it refers to the type of match and perhaps even the participants (more on this later on in viewer feedback).

As much as I am a fan of Tyler Black, those of my ilk were severly outnumbered by those who didn't want to see Black win the title. Will this situation repeat in February? Will Black be catcalled and booed by those in attendance? I've stated my opinion before that ROH fans will respond to an action-oriented match, but is there too much damage done to recover from that even a hotly contested match won't just be met with disdain and negativity? The bookers and wrestlers involved have to know that the New York City crowd isn't going to give them much rope to hang themselves and that the extenuating circumstances such as judges and the involvement of Strong, King and Cornette will likely not be happily met.

In the promo, Cornette does his best to explain that the fans are going to get their money's worth with this title match—the one "they should have got in December but Austin Aries wouldn't give it to them."Here's the thing, this is the closest that Cornette or Ring of Honor can come to an apology about the events of Final Battle 2009 while at the same time trying to justify yet another combination of the two for the main event. Of course it wasn't Aries who didn't give them that type of match, but rather the deliberate booking of the match to go to an hour draw and the way it was brought about. Of course, Ring of Honor cannot say that outright in their storylines, because it would pull back the curtain and break the fourth wall too much. Then again, by booking the rematch in New York, it seems that ROH is heading for the same brick wall, making the same mistake in two months. NYC fans and the larger ROH fan base are going to have to play the wait-and-see game with Black vs. Aries Part Infinity, because it seems there's no going back now. The announcement has been made and the television has been filmed with angles involving all parties leading up to the bout.

I've stated on the ROH message board but I'll also go on record here. I have no problems with another Black vs. Aries title match or the reasons for it taking place. It all makes sense from a storyline stand point. My problem is the match taking place in New York City, where I believe the reaction from the crowd and the lingering memory of the events of December 19th, 2009 will be too fresh to do ROH any good at all. Expect chaos and perhaps outright rebellion from the fans if they don't get a good match, if Aries wins, if Black wins, if King gets involved, if Strong turns heel (when fans are clearly demanding at this point that he remains in the babyface role and some in fact expressing a desire to see him become the next ROH champion), if Cornette turns heel, if Todd Sinclair turns heel, if I turn heel, etcetera. Basically, ROH is screwed every which way they go unless they give a final and concerete finish to this match.

At this point there's nothing I can do but sit back and watch what unfolds. I have my ticket purchased already, although depending on the events of this next NYC show, I may or may not buy the next one in advance as I've done for most of the Manhattan Center shows. I can only watch and enjoy the reaction of my fellow New Yorkers, whatever it may be. If ROH doesn't get the reaction they are looking for, well, they only have themselves to blame for it.




Mr. Wrestling Kevin Steen Explains Why

I get the feeling this is just the beginning of a new era of creepy-but-awesome-but-creepy promos from Kevin Steen. He is now free of what he calls a "disease" in El Generico, claiming he is being reborn. Steen was a mean and surly man before, disguising his anger in sarcasm and humor against his opponents. The fans loved it when that anger was directed at the wrestlers they disliked, but against Generico? That's a different story. Now that Steen seems "free" and even "at peace" with what he has done, who knows the violence he will wreak on his opponents.

What works about this break-up angle is the distinct effect it has on both Kevin Steen and El Generico. The break up has two different results—Steen is in a state of euphoria while Generico has been destroyed, both physically and mentally. The psychological impact on El Generico is clear to those who saw the January 8th and 9th HDNet tapings—he is not the same person he once was thanks to losing the only friend he thought he had. Can El Generico ever trust anyone again now that his brother-in-arms betrayed him?

The best thing would be to see a series of vignettes where Cabana tries to befriend Generico in order for Generico to regain the ability to trust. Colt should take Generico bowling, to the arcades, to a sports game (can't be baseball since its off-season but something). That would provide your wacky factor but also add onto the angle.




EVOLVE Promotional Video

Meanwhile this weekend Gabe Sapolsky gets his next wrestling start-up promotion, well, started-up as he presents EVOLVE 1: Richards vs. Ibushi from the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey. At first there weren't too many matches known about the card other than the main event attraction bout involving the red-hot Richards and the exciting Japanese star of the DDT promotion as well as a CHIKARA six man tag team match. The last week has brought about several intriguing announcements, including the signing of Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doane, Dark City Fight Club vs. Aeroform, Johnny Gargano vs. Chris Dickinson and a so called "extreme surprise" that isn't so much a surprise as obvious given the clues on the EVOLVE website (the "Man in the Box" was a nice touch though, so points for the effort).

This isn't the most impressively produced YouTube promotional video of all time (I mean the EVOLVE logo does dissolve right into the FIP logo to start the video). It's also one of those videos that is purposefully whitewashed and distorted to make it seem "underground" while basically hiding the lack of polish and film quality. At least it does give you a taste of some of the wrestlers on the roster and what they will bring to the table for the first show. Also, Flip Kendrick is flipping a lot, proving his moniker is not unwarranted. Anything that gives more exposure to the under-tier of independent wrestlers is a good thing because it will eventually create more of the upper-echelon independent wrestlers who are now the mid-card and upper-card of the larger independents such as PWG, CHIKARA and of course ROH.




Johnny Gargano Power Hour Episode Uno

Meanwhile, this video…wow. This video. This is…well, there is a ton of potential in this concept. You can tell what Gargano is going for…mixing the "YouTube shooter" concept with the wacky "talk show" route. The opening intro video with wacky Gargano highspots with purposefully corny effects works well, but actually needs to be even more over the top with more graphics, fonts and effects. Then you have Gargano essentially rambling and going on all sorts of tangents in between his major selling points, which is the push for the EVOLVE show and his match. He even gets in a subplot of someone phone-stalking him, only for him to go on an EPIC "Taken" rant that turns out to be…his mother. It's the obvious comedy beat but damn if it still isn't funny when it happens.

The great positive of the EVOLVE roster shooting these videos and posting them on YouTube is that wrestlers like Gargano are able to express himself and get their personality over. It happens here very quickly. His inflection and behavior sort of remind me of Alex Shelley in his early Generation Next days combined with the smiling arrogance Chris Hero demonstrates in his promos. Not to mention all of the little details which shine through in this video, like the Shawn Michaels wall-painting in the background, the Tiny Toons shirt and TMNT ringtone—all of those are just the right the touch. You get all sorts of great information about his character and that helps him become over more than anyone match could do, all before the first EVOLVE show. The only problem of course is that not too many people have seen this video and its awesomeness, but hey, that's why I'm including it here in the column.

The one negative about the video is the few seconds Gargano spends on all the "gay" and "homosexual" denigrations. I don't know if that's part of the parody of YouTube video makers or something he came up with on the fly, but that just doesn't sit right with me personally and isn't necessary to get his personality and character over. Hopefully he'll avoid going down that road on future Power Hours (or as even he soon realizes, the Power Ten Minutes).

I thought Gargano was solid in the ring when I watched him during 2008's CHIKARA young Lions Cup tournament—in fact, he was probably one of the wrestlers on that show who was lesser-exposed to the independent fan base. He definitely stood out at the time. He's been on good run in the Mid-West and no doubt his appearances on the pre show "FRAY!" matches for Dragon Gate USA have helped him land this spot in EVOLVE. Gargano could begin to make the most of this opportunity and take the next steps to elevating his name value and presence on the independent wrestling scene. I wish him the best of luck in doing so.




Cabana and Danielson Break the Fourth Wall-Wrestling Road Diaries

SHUT UP SAL!

Colt Cabana and Bryan Danielson's comic timing here is on-point. We're left to wonder what a buddy-film would be with these two together—I imagine sort of like Lethal Weapon, only you know both of the principal actors would be Caucasian. But who would be Murtagh and who would be Riggs?

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Counting down my personal favorite wrestlers and moments of the past week in wrestling:

1. The Miz: I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden The Miz is Awesome. Okay, that's a lie, the revelation of Miz on the mic occurred in his feud against Cena, but his promo this past Monday seemed both real and earnest. In doing so, he made me really believe in his character, which is a rarity in today's world of stock and over scripted promos. I like where The Miz is going in WWE in 2010.
2. Rey Mysterio: Proving that the underdog still has what it takes to win the big one. Most expected a Undertaker vs. Batista vs. Mysterio triple threat match for WWE Royal Rumble, but the booking was changed in the past week and now Mysterio gets a one-on-one face-off against The Deadman. Mysterio and Taker have excellent big man-little man matches, so I expect these two to deliver something interesting for their match. I don't expect the finish to be clean though—I'm sure Batista will work his way in somehow.
3. Mike Tyson: It may have been pretty stupid for WWE not to promote Tyson as wrestling on the show, but I still thought he was quite entertaining as a guest GM. He was spotty on the mic in front of the live crowd but the excelled in the backstage skits. His threatening Hornswoggle was genius even if the swerve on Jericho was coming a mile away. Then the sheer surreal moment of seeing Tyson lock up with both Michaels and HHH is something to take away from that show.
4. The Beautiful People: Uh yeah. Self-explanatory.
5. Desmond Wolfe / The Pope face off: Their shout-off came across as a unique way to build up their match, as Wolfe just put away Samoa Joe and was headed back up to ramp when he turned around to Pope who was on commentary. "If I can do that to Joe, think what I can do to you at Genesis", Wolfe exclaimed. Not too shabby in terms of getting interest piqued about a match.

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As of 01/16/10


ROH World Champion: Austin Aries (champion since 06/13/09, 13 successful defenses)

-defeated Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn on June 13th, 2009 in a Three-Way Elimination Match in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense:vs. Tyler Black (New York, NY on 02/13/10)

--Austin Aries defeated Nigel McGuinness in Chicago Ridge, IL on 6/27/09
--Austin Aries defeated Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn, & Nigel McGuinness in Toronto, Ontario on 7/24/09
--Austin Aries defeated Grizzly Redwood in Philadelphia, PA on 8/14/09
--Austin Aries defeated Alex Payne in Philadelphia, PA on 8/15/09
--Austin Aries defeated Bryan Danielson in Philadelphia, PA on 8/15/09
--Austin Aries defeated Bryan Danielson in Chicago Ridge, IL on 9/19/09
--Austin Aries defeated Petey Williams by countout in New York, NY on 9/26/09
--Austin Aries defeated Delirious in Collinsville, IL on 10/9/09
--Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards, Kenny Omega, & Roderick Strong in Philadelphia, PA on 11/5/09
--Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards in Novi, MI on 11/13/09
--Austin Aries defeated Kenny Omega in Mississauga, Ontario on 11/14/09
--Austin Aries defeated Colt Cabana in a Steel Cage Match in Chicago Ridge, IL on 12/5/09
--Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black ended in a 60 minute time limit draw in New York, NY on 12/19/09




ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) (champions since 12/19/09, NEW CHAMPIONS)

defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) on December 19th, 2009 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: TBA

no defenses yet.


Pick 6 Series
Rankings as of: 01/10/10
1. Claudio Castagnoli
2. Kevin Steen
3. Chris Hero
4. Kenny King
5. Tyler Black
6. Roderick Strong


The Pick 6 Series matches currently scheduled for January 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA are as follows:

-(6) Roderick Strong vs. Delirious
-(5) Tyler Black vs. Joey Ryan
-The Human Tornado vs. (2) Kevin Steen

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-I'll state this unequivocally. There is a YouTube video creator named ThatWrestlingShow that produces and develops some of the best Ring of Honor videos. They're even better than the ones created by those who currently work for ROH or HDNet. They need to seriously consider bringing this guy into the fold, because he is definitely proving to be a valuable asset. Honestly, his recent video on Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King feud actually made me care about that match and going into it I didn't care one way or another about Lynn's return or anything about that. Now, I can say I'm intrigued by what Lynn could bring to the table on another go with the company. It's all thanks to ThatWrestlingShow.

-The smartest thing Ring of Honor did this week was releasing an iPhone App, free of charge and available now through iTunes. This, along with the internet Pay Per View is now two major leaps forward as far as ROH integrating digital concepts into their advertisement and push for increased brand awareness. The best thing is that it's free, F-R-E-E that spells free. Wrestling fans may not want to shell out the money to sample a new promotion, but when you can get an app for free and get the instant hook up to videos, news and other ROH features, that's when you start to be able to pique the curiosity of the masses. ROH didn't quite get the job done with their toolbar function—it wasn't very aesthetically pleasing and wasn't updated enough to be a proper follow up. However, this app function, which should tie directly into the major features of the ROH website, is a perfect "portable" feature for Ring of Honor. Once again they are ahead of the game when it comes to using media to spread their names in the digital age.

-Roderick Strong vs. Brian Kendrick has been announced for the Eighth Anniversary Show in New York as has a confrontation between Colt Cabana and Kevin Steen, who will have Steve Corino as his back-up.

I have to say that my first choice to pair up Kendrick would have been against Kenny Omega—the wacky kooky fast-paced superstar of the past versus the wacky kooky fast-paced superstar of the future. However, Strong vs. Kendrick isn't that bad of a consolation prize. I know they fought against each other for PWG's Against The Grain event. I haven't seen that match but it's received mixed reviews, with people either loving it or thinking it was too much of a chopped up and uneven bout. I guess we'll have to wait and see if this new meeting between the two will turn out for the better or for the worse. Now as far as continuing long-term run for Kendrick in ROH, The Wrestling Observer reports that Kendrick will soon be involved with TNA and the X-Division, so I wouldn't get my hopes up.

-Ring of Honor is set to run a show in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday April 3rd, 2010 for a show entitled "The Big Bang" (FoxCharlotte). How awesome would it have been for Ric Flair to play a part on that show? Oh, wait…

Anyway, The Observer reports that Gary Juster, who is helping to promote the event, and ROH are looking to book name luchador talent there. I have to say that I haven't been all that impressed by the ROH connection with lucha libre in the past year. The Blue Demon Jr. appearances in Texas stunk and Incognito and Magno were fine but as they proved in appearances for TNA and CHIKARA over the years they don't really add enough to a show to be worth bringing in, and this time Incognito isn't available due to signing a contract with WWE. I don't have much faith to go on to believe that this outing will be any better.

Honestly, I wish ROH would either return to bringing in wrestlers from NOAH for extended runs like they did with Go Shiozaki. The Japanese talents have proven to be a far better investment than any other foreign talents they've brought in to the promotion.

Either that or reinvest in the younger, NON-ROH student independent talent that's around. It may be time to take stock of who is out there and start to bring the more notable and talented wrestlers in for extended runs. Where EVOLVE may succeed more than ROH right now is that they will be able to take that second or third tier or independent wrestlers and if the promotion continues should be able to give them the opportunity to become first tier talents. However, there is still enough "name" independent talent to bring in, the likes of Scott Lost, Chuck Taylor, The Colony or F.I.S.T. that I think ROH should have brought in already to start to fill in the gaps and yet it just hasn't happened as of yet. It really gets to me sometimes. There are wrestlers such as Lost and Taylor who are flat-out ready for extended runs in ROH. Yet here we are, still not seeing them participate. Lost may get one shot on the West Coast for the LA show, but will he be used after that? That Taylor hasn't been brought in at all to ROH, not even for a tryout is still one of the inexplicable situations I've seen in my years following the promotion. I mean guys like Egotistico Fantastico and Sterling James Keenan get their opportunity, but NOT Taylor? I mean nothing against those wrestlers at all but Taylor deserves his shot.

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There is tons of feedback to get to, not just from my Final Column feature but from several other columns. So let's delve deep into the comments section for the good, the bad and the Grizzley about ROH and other issues around the world of professional wrestling.

From my December 12th, 2009 "Renewal" column, in which I wrote of ROH's comeback trail, which included a fantastic week of advertisement and online push of the internet Pay Per View:


I couldn't disagree more about the build to Final Battle. Tyler Black has as much heat coming in as Salvatore Sincere. If he wins the belt, I'd be stunned. The Tag Titles look to be shifted back to the Briscoes again (yawn), and everything else on the card screams "we have no strong midcard storylines outside of Hero/Kingston". If this is how ROH ends 2009 and begins 2010, they won't need to be looking in the mirror for companies like CHIKARA, PWG or Evolve -- ROH will be looking at those companies as they get passed by.

Posted By: Jed (Guest) on December 12, 2009 at 05:13 PM

I have to say that with hindsight, Jed was more right than wrong in his comments here as to the results of the main event matches and the treatment of Black vs. Aries by the fans. However, I will contend that Ring of Honor did all the right things to push the Final Battle 2009 program, both as a house show and as their first ever internet-Pay Per View program. I think the advertising push they did online, through the social networks and on the HDNet show were on-point in terms of frequency, pushing the top programs and how to order the shows. Will ROH be passed by in competition with the other top independent promotions? Some would argue this has happened already—but ROH still edges those other promotions in terms of exposure and reach. That should but right now isn't enough to guarantee them first place among the rest of the independent promotions. They still need to provide the top notch shows on a constant basis—meaning the best storylines AND the best wrestling matches together. It's possible and can be done with their talent roster but isn't quite getting done right now.

From the December 19th, 2009 "Final Battle Plans" column; this was a preview of the Final Battle 2009 show and a massive dose of the Black T-Shirt review feature:


Delirious' shirt is an A for me. Good stuff.

I have a bit of a continuity question, since I've been more or less out of ROH until the recent Cornette Pick 6 announcement episode. Is the HDNet show a supplement to the House shows, or does it mostly follow its own business? How much do they intertwine? Do the house shows continue off of a set of TV tapings, meaning you'll be seeing DVD events and video wires talking about things that haven't aired yet? I guess that last one is kind of how the previous PPVs and DVDs worked, and I wasn't a fan of that.

I do want to give ROH another try, but it sure doesn't seem easy if you want to watch events in the correct order without resorting to spoilers.

Posted By: Heel Heat (Guest) on December 19, 2009 at 09:11 PM

I think at this point the connection between the two formats is that they share the major angles and storyline points and that each intertwines somewhat, but you don't have to follow one format to be tuned into the other. Whatever crossover that you need to know will be filled in on either side. As of late, ROH has made sure to include footage from the major house shows onto their television show, especially Final Battle 2009. So I believe ROH right now is following the format that the major house shows are flashpoints that affect the television. On the other hand, the one title change on television was when The Wolves unseated Steenerico and that had an immediate impact on the house shows. So the answer is a little from column A and a little from column B.

The Pick 6 series is once again highlighting the continuity delays between the television and DVD markets. Right now the television series is only just finishing up the initial Pick 6 list, but that order has been completely changed up by the results of house shows in the months that followed. When the next HDNet tapings picked up, the previous six weeks of setting up the list were rendered somewhat irrelevant, other than that it gave you a peak behind the curtain as to who was important for ROH to push as their top stars. Hopefully HDNet will be able to use the house show footage on that first week of new shows to update its viewers on the progress of the Pick 6 series and in the future, ROH is going to have to be extremely careful and almost anal-retentive about how they choose to go about maneuvering wrestlers through the Pick 6 on both the house shows and television.

Response and feedback to my show narrative and review for Final Battle 2009 was heated and mixed, to say the least. Here's a sampling of the feedback from the December 21st, 2009 "The Battle Waged, The Battle Lost":


Couldn't disagree more [re: Aries vs. Black]. That was a great match. But what can you expect from a crowd that splooged all over Teddy vs. Evans? That was barely a match at all, and then when Tyler and Aries actually give us something packed with great storytelling and psychology the fans dump all over it. It's like you all just wanted MOVEZ instead of something that actually told a story. While the time limit draw was a bad choice for the ending, the match itself was wrestled extremely well. But I guess they didn't so enough spots to satisfy the spoiled NYC fans.

Posted By: Wade (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 03:19 PM

Evans vs. Hart is a tough call—on one side it was a hurried hot mess of a match that was entirely highspots and no selling. It wasn't even really an official "match" given there was no real referee to officiate. On the other hand the crowd absolutely ate it up. It's what they wanted to see out of those guys and well; they got plenty of it, at a cost to the rest of the show. Ultimately I side with the fans telling you what they want to see, and Jim Cornette in particular has claimed that he and ROH are listening to the fans. The New York market wanted a certain type of match that Aries vs. Black didn't give them that night (but remarkably did one year previous and the results for the company was far more positive). ROH needs to serve the fans in the market; otherwise, they may lose business.

Ultimately I think everyone just wants to get their money's worth out of the show. Let the other fans criticize New Yorkers, but that just leaves the other towns open to criticism when they reject something they don't like…and well, won't those fans then turn around and claim they have the right to cheer and boo whatever they want?


Vis-a-vis the ROH clarion of "the show is too long"... one of the greatest wrestling shows OF ALL TIME is considered by many to be All Japan Women's "Big Egg Universe" Tokyo Dome show from 1994. The length of that show? Over five hours. The official dvd is four discs. The idea that a show is bad because it is long to me means the person expressing that idea may not actually like what they're paying attention to and should perhaps do some self-reflection and find out what actually entertains them. Did Final Battle 2009 suck? Probably. The Manhattan fans always do their best to make ROH shows unwatchable. I'm partial to 60 minute matches, so I'll probably check out the dvd, but my expectations are quite low- and not because of what has been written online, but because Austin Aries is (and has always been) tremendously overrated even setting aside the stupid heel stuff, and Tyler Black isn't that great either. Still, the idea of a broadway piques my interest.

Posted By: Lucius (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 03:27 PM

No offense, but it seems you didn't have to plod through over a foot of snow (and increasing every second) on the New York City streets while trying to get home. There were cabs that were skidding and sliding in front of Madison Square Garden trying to make their way through the roads. It was a crap situation to deal with and one that ROH should have adjusted to when they understood the severity of the weather. I'm not saying it was the worst snowstorm in the history of mankind or even New York, but it was a serious situation that wasn't handled the proper way. I hardly think that the Tokyo Dome had to deal with that issue as well.

I have sat through many long shows and New York has been host to many of them. Glory By Honor VI Night 2 in November 2007 stretched on for four hours plus and I had no problem with it. I sat through the sixty-minute draw between Danielson and Joe at Fight of the Century in 2006 and wasn't bored in the least. However, for this show and for this crowd on this night, a one hour draw after already doing three and half hours was flat-out the wrong decision. As great as those previous three plus hours were, that last hour killed the show to the point where I think the fans who got the most value for their ticket were the ones who left after the title match or Evans vs. Hart. They got all the great action and important plot twists for the next year that they needed and they were able to at least leave and try to beat some of the worst weather NYC had seen that year.


Ari, I fully agree.

The main event was shaping up to be the kind of epic showdown ROH likes to build up for every so often. The buildup was great, but the match flat out sucked.

Of course Aries would use stalling and chicanery, but it got to be too much. Black should have just annihilated like you said and be done with it. It would have gone way better if they hadn't gone for the TLD. This match didn't need to be Broadway. Left me in a bad mood for practically the rest of the night.

On a higher note, Jack vs. Teddy was insane. I loved the "he must be made of rubber" line. That matched rocked my face and made up for the shitty main event.

Posted By: Bman (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 04:08 PM

Bman's comments represent the flip side of the debate as he in particular loves the Evans vs. Hart …whatever that was, and hated Aries vs. Black. Indeed, the main event match did not have to be a Broadway to get to where they wanted to go—a sense of injustice created by Aries' actions that would necessitate a final match where once and for all these two men would fight it out until there was a clear winner and if there wasn't then there would be judges there to figure it all out. They could have made that point through any other number of finishes, but a draw didn't have to be one of them.

Then again…

You got to be kidding...Aries went out there and gave one of the top heel performances out there. New York fans just don't like being worked and they defintley don't like anything but the "OMG Spofs and c001 moV3s". They want someone to kiss up to them(Aka Evans and Teddy) and that makes them one of the most spoiled crowds out there. Fuck Nyc.

Also to answer your question, Aries didn't go out there and go all "Typical Indy heel wrestler fighting like a face" because it had nothing to do with the story nor would it make Tyler look good by DEFEATING him. Brilliant story and I thank the two for actually doing things the face/heel is supposed to done....that is tell stories and not be typical Indy wrestler #1 and typical Indy wrestler #2.

Posted By: That guy (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 04:09 PM

The big problem with what you wrote about the motivation for Aries wrestling the style he did is that in that sort of story, ultimately the good guy gets over on the heel and the heel gets his comeuppance. Tyler DIDN'T defeat Aries, so he doesn't look good at ALL at the end of this match. He had already come so close only to be denied so many times in the calendar year that a loss OR a draw here would do him no good service whatsoever. Black needed to win here, regardless of the popularity level with the crowd live in attendance. I still maintain that had Black come out there and not only got his hands on Aries but dominated him and outshone him in a fast and furious match, the crowd would have come around on him by sheer force of will and awesome action—its happened plenty of times before in front of an ROH crowd. Aries doesn't even have to wrestle as the ‘typical heel wrestler fighting like a face' as you termed it. He just needed to take a pounding in this match, and he didn't.

As far as what New York likes and doesn't like, if we know what a group of fans likes and doesn't like, does it make more sense to service their needs and have them come away with a satisfied experience, or to dictate to the crowd what they MUST like or enjoy and thus come away feeling like they didn't get what they wanted? If in a concert, a large group of fans are expecting a band to play their hits, and they instead spend an hour and a half playing polka songs and the fans boo, is it appropriate for the band or critics to say "well, the fans didn't understand the concept of the concert. They were too demanding that so-and-so band play the radio friendly songs, clearly they're spoiled brats and don't get what the band was aiming for". Of course you don't blame the fans for their reaction in that situation, just like I don't blame the fans at all for how they reacted to the main event.

One more time, the live crowd reaction for the first three hours was excellent—it was in that last hour that the fans rebelled and spoke their minds. Somehow this translates to "New York fans are spoiled". Yeah, NO.


I have to say, I'm worried about ROH under Cornette. The guy is a great mind and talent but I remember a bit he wrote on his website ranting about how horrible wrestling writing is and wants to go back to the old ways. If this main event is a sign of the new direction for ROH, they're in trouble. I'm really worried Cornette might do the same thing Bill Watts did with WCW in 1992 and be too much "throw-back" to "the good old days," not realizing how fan tastes have changed.

Posted By: M A Weyer (Registered) on December 21, 2009 at 04:25 PM

Michael Weyer continues to explore that thought of Cornette being perhaps too much of a throwback in this week's Shining A Spotlight. I have to say, as much as I am a fan of Cornette and would watch as many shoot interviews as he would give, Michael has a great point. At what point do you rely too much of what has worked in the past and not enough on what the fans' taste have evolved to currently? Yes, as it seems there are many fans who love a good old-school wrestling match and so do I, but we are in 2010 now and not in 1983 NWA territory.

Where ROH might miss Gabe Sapolsky the most is his penchant for being able to use what is prevalent in today's society and apply it into the wrestling world. His angles in ROH for the most part were cutting edge and "hip", which is something I can't say about ROH right now. There is a certain "cool" factor that has been lost, but perhaps even more important what has been lost is that element of the here and now and the future that I just don't feel happening in ROH. I feel that's an important element to what made ROH so cool in the first place—great wrestling and intriguing storylines that seemed modern and current, even if there were some borrowing from the past traditions, it wasn't taken and copied whole cloth, as this recent ‘judges" issue seems to be—borrowed almost page-for-page from the Flair-Steamboat-Funk 1989 angle.


Of course Aries didnt step it up into full on bad ass for Black, the story line is that Black is the one person Aries is afraid of. You really come off as an idiot Ari, I really enjoyed both matches that you have dubbed as "bad".

Posted By: Guest#7014 (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 06:19 PM

I really don't recall "Aries is afraid of Black" being explicitly stated or even implied as a part of the build up to the Aries vs. Black title bout either through the DVDs or the HDNet shows. Maybe this was the storyline of the match, but it certainly conflicts with the established history they share. Aries defeated Black at Final Battle 2008, and even had the final pin on Black at Manhattan Mayhem III to win the title. Why would Aries be afraid of a man he has dominated in singles matches and other confrontations the entire year? So, sorry, your reasoning doesn't fly.


Well, having followed RoH for the past couple of years properly, I watched that show, stayed up to 5 am watching that main event. It's a complicated thing, why that match didn't work, and yet at the same time it's simple. I truly believe that if RoH wanted it to go broadway, and they wanted to play up the conniving heel cowardly champion vs the intense and ready babyface, then all they had to do, was for Tyler Black to win it. Plain, and simple. But they didn't. They picked the most meaningless result, the result that didn't vindicate that hour but instead rendered it a waste of time. Like you said, a three minute squash match would have been great, one rare occasion in RoH where it could have gone over well. Even Aries squashing Black and ending his push forever would have accomplished something. That was the one time RoH I feel legitimately disappointed me with their decisions. With WWE and TNA it happens every other week so it means nothing, but from RoH, it sucked, it did affect my overall mood the following day. But nonetheless, thinking on the show as a whole; It was a good show, it had some great moments. And it was 4 hours of pure wrestling. And even the main event wasn't handled technically badly, it was booked horribly. I will continue to support RoH because they still provide a great wrestling product and nothing is perfect. I just hope next time they go out to bat they don't strike out again.

Posted By: Sean McCabe (Guest) on December 21, 2009 at 08:32

Your last sentence sums up my current viewpoint about ROH—they generally still get more wrong than right and I will continue to support them (for now). However, my faith in them is not unwavering and they still have to continue to prove themselves if they want my repeated business. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.


I know it is a forgotten art form on the "Indies", but ideally wrestling shows are designed to build to the main event despite what the crowd thinks that is how it should be. If not why stay for the main event? Why not leave after the 2nd match if they have already done the coolest spot you have ever seen. The reason I bring this up is because anyone who is good enough to work for ROH has at least heard this before even if they don't follow it. Jack Evans and Teddy Hart sh1t all over the main event to get themselves over. They were giving 5 mins, because they were live on PPV and already behind, but ended up "taking" 10 mins and fitting 60 mins worth of spots in that time. Teddy hit a f'n jumping pile driver with jacks arms chicken winged behind his own back and jack kicked out at a 2 count. How on earth were Tyler Black and Austin Aries supposed to keep that up for an hour? Then as if pulling a no sale on all those moves wasn't enough. Jack Evans gets the mic and starts kissing a** to NYC, which leads to him starting a rematch chant for himself so that hopefully ROH will be stupid enough to bring him back. That was one of the most bush league tactics I have ever seen and they showed no respect for what the company spent a year building. I keep seeing nearly split reviews of this match half hated and half appreciated it. The half that hated it love spots and the half that appreciated it love the art of telling a story in the ring. Was this a classic match? No! But I think there were many reason this match wasn't well received that were to be blamed on Pierce,Black, or Aries.

Posted By: Frank (Guest) on December 22, 2009 at 02:22 PM

Yeah, Evans and Hart stole the show. Yeah, they probably did all sorts of moves they shouldn't have done because it would outshine the main event. Yeah, they were probably assholes for doing exactly that. However, at the same time, they probably felt that they had to give back to the fans. They probably felt the stress of coming in from a diverted flight and busting ass to get there. They probably felt the need to show off as much as possible in order to prove to everyone they were worth the flight in and back to ROH. They were sent out there with a time frame and purposefully went way too long. ROH put them out there and they were damned if they did and damned by the fans that paid their money to see Evans and Hart if they didn't. They took the first option and paid the price for it. However, that effect on the match afterward only goes so far—unless you severely discount Aries and Black's talent and ability, it's very plausible that they could have gotten close to those levels of crowd reaction had they gone with a different match than the one they did that night. Finally, I think regardless of the result, all the controversy and discuss that shook out will in fact help to sell more DVDs when the show is released. People who haven't seen the shows and didn't go the iPPV route will want to buy it to see these events unfold and judge for themselves.


I'm running out of space, so we'll save comments and feedback from Final Column 2009 for next week.

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Head on over to TwitterNation and follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.

J.D. Dunn is back to contributing his ROH reviews for DVD releases. He's given his take on Violent Tendencies and the Jacobs vs. Black steel cage main event.

Aaron Hubbard brings to you his review of Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong from last week's ROH on HDNet report. Dunn returns one-time only for his take as well.

Kevin Ford returns to regular column action with his newly-rechristened columnThe CHIKARA Special. Excellent choice of name, by the way. A new CHIKARA season begins this weekend and I'm sure Kevin will update everyone as to its happenings.


That will call it for this week's busy busy column. Thanks for reading.
BROOKLYN!
--Ari—