Column of Honor: 07.31.10: Parejas Increibles!

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 07.31.2010

The Fave Five with Jericho, Orton, Kane, Tim Donst and a surprise number one, news on the next Black vs. Richards match, Tag Wars 2010, injury updates, a look at some interesting possibilities for future tag-teams in Ring of Honor and more!


Welcome to the Column. After last week's massive symposium on squash matches, I'm going to go in a more light-hearted direction for this week's feature piece.






= Parejas Increibles!=


The focus of Summer 2010 is the Ring of Honor tag team scene—"Tag Wars 2010" is off and running, heading into the semi-finals on August 27th in Richmond, Virginia and the Ultimate Endurance finals August 28th in Charlotte, North Carolina. While it's true that ROH currently boasts several of the top tag teams on the independent circuit, there's always room for more. That's why several teams like Dark City Fight Club, the tandem of Cabana and Generico and even the Bravado Brothers have received some attention through this tournament format.

There is the concept of "Parejas Increibles" in Lucha Libre, teaming up unlikely pairs of wrestlers that fans wouldn't normally see having business with each other. Usually this is a one-time occurrence, but it gives the tag division something different and unique, that fans never thought was possible. Just a few weeks ago that would have included a team such as Necro Butcher and Erick Stevens, who were feuding as part of Necro's battle against The Embassy. No one really saw that team coming, but when Necro sold out to Prince Nana, that unlikely pairing became a reality.

In the spirit of discovering new alliances and possible tag teams from within the ROH roster, here are some new and interesting (but altogether unlikely) combinations that could work as a tag team. Are any of these new combinations better than the established teams? Maybe, maybe not. However, they are different and in some cases, very intriguing combinations and it would be something to see them together, if only just once.




The Fallen Love Angels: "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels & "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus

Daniels has been more of the serious wrestler and at times a master manipulator. Titus is the "love muffin" stereotype who spends just as much time training and prepping to wrestle as he does working on pick up lines for the after-party. I could see these two getting together with Titus actually being the one taking the lead, wanting to show Daniels how he could be a "love angel" for the ladies. Daniels would be the wing-man (get it?) who is skeptical but it all works out, sort of like the short lived Lance Storm and Val Venis tag team. Wait, that's not the best of examples for success…so…hmmm, moving on. Actually, their in-ring style could work out well in terms of doing more "old school" tag work: slowing the pace, working behind the referee's back, etc. Daniels also has previous tag team championship experience, winning the belts twice in Ring of Honor. Who knows? This could be the beginning of a beautiful and angelic friendship. But probably not.




Super-Heroes: Player Uno & Chris Hero

The egotistical Chris Hero and the so-happy-he-could-be-manic Player Uno—together at last! I mean, think about it, Uno is a super-heroic video game loving dude, and Chris Hero has "hero" right in his name! Well, he also has "Chris" in his name, but I digress. Uno wears the insignia of great comic book characters such as Deadpool. Hero has worn the Superman "S" Shield. This is a crossover of epic proportions! Okay, most likely Hero wouldn't be able to stand being in the same room with Player Uno for more than five minutes, but in the ring, there could be a good thing going—both like running strikes and forearms, both have been known to use moves with wacky Mousetrap levels of body movement (Hero less so these days) and both can build a great tag team combination move. Sure, this is a definite personality mismatch, but one that could work in that Steen and Generico "Odd Couple" way—bickering but still friends. What? Steen violently broke up his partnership with Generico? Well, hmm…moving on...again.





The Kings of Kings: Claudio Castagnoli, Kenny King, Eddie Kingston & "The King of Old School" Steve Corino

Royalty and Kingliness has long had a place in professional wrestling and in Ring of Honor there have been many who have borne the name of "King". Why not group some of these together into a new powerhouse stable? Claudio Castagnoli is a "King of Wrestling" (along with Chris Hero, but I've already used him in a pairing) and brings a certain panache and style that easily suggests royalty. Kenny King is a suave player who wears the name like a crown. He has the moves and plenty of swagger to contribute. Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli have quite a history in CHIKARA, but they haven't interacted too much in Ring of Honor Again, the point of the exercise is to make some unlikely or strange combinations. Putting Kingston in a group like this could work one of two ways—either Kingston can go full out heel, or he could be the unwilling member forced to cooperate (similarly to when Claudio was made to join the Kings of Wrestling in CHIKARA). Finally, while Steve Corino is currently using the moniker "Mr. Wrestling", he had long been known as "The King of Old School". He currently has the phrase "Trouble King" on some of his tights—and that is the perfect phrase to describe him. Corino has the vision and the plan that can take any heel stable to the top. His brawling ability is also somewhat under looked, but serves him well in hardcore matches. Put them all together and this becomes a fearsome foursome that is not meant to be.




Black & Brown

Tyler Black & "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown: Black and brown are usually a color clash when worn together, but this is not quite as strange or unlikely as the other teams mentioned. Certainly it would be an incredible pairing. Plus yes, I'm a sucker for teaming up people that create fun word play. There was a slight tease for this team back during the eight-man tag at Epic Encounter III, but these two have never officially teamed in a straight-up tag match. Still, Tyler Black's speed and impact combined with Brown's power and intimidation would make waves in the tag division quickly. Brown has been known to go to the air when need as well, so fans would be in store for some sweet looking synchronized flying moves.




Kevin Steen & El Generico (POST SPLIT)

Of course, the most interesting combination of all has to be recombining what was one of the more popular tag teams of the last few years. If forced, could Steenerico rise from the grave and team up one more time? It seems more likely that Steen and Generico would immediately be at each other's throats, fighting and brawling all over the ring and causing a no-contest win for the other team. So it would have to be that Jim Cornette would need to issue an executive ruling with some sort of heavy punishment if they could not co-exist. Maybe even that wouldn't be enough. Still, Steen & Generico together again would be something else. Like Aries and Strong, a well-accomplished tag team that broke up badly, the advancement of years creates a new context around their interactions. Steen and Generico may never be the same again in Ring of Honor, but maybe one day, for one time only, they could bring back the magic of what worked with them as a team.

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


1. Christian vs. Drew McIntyre: I cannot believe that I am including Drew McIntyre on ANY fave five countdown of mine, much less at the number one spot, but there it is. He and Christian didn't have a spectacular match in terms of any big moves or epic moments, but I thought this was a hell of a smartly wrestled match. The arm psychology worked so well, and the trap used by McIntrye to move under the ring and then pull Christian into the space in-between the canvas and the base was unique and ingenious. A shoulderbreaker onto the steel steps was wicked. Christian's comeback was well-timed and incorporated the fact that he couldn't use his shoulder well-that's what good in-match psychology is all about. Kudos to the both of them for my favorite match of the week.

2. Chris Jericho: Two big thumbs up to Jericho, who didn't give in to the pandering of the hypocritical sycophants in the crowd this week. Jericho does have reason to go after Nexus, but he's doing it for himself and not for the other men on his team, the fans or for WWE. Further, just because he's working with fan favorites doesn't mean he has to be one. He didn't change who he was just because he decided to join Team WWE in the fight against The Nexus. He wasn't automatically a babyface because he sided with John Cena. He was the same self-centered and egotistical character he has been for the last two years—and that's okay with me.

3. "My brother and I sat stoically staring at each other"- Kane: I do love me some good alliteration and Kane unleashed that three "s" chain during his over-the-top, melodramatic, obviously read from a script speech that condemned Rey Mysterio as the culprit who attacked The Undertaker and left him in a comatose state (allegedly). Still, amid me stifling the laughter from this most dramatic of overwrought dramatic monologues, I did appreciate that little piece of quality work.

4. Tim Donst: He has been rudo incarnate since joining the Bruderschaft des Kruzes in CHIKARA. He talks a great game and backs it up in the ring. He employs some dastardly tricks and does whatever is necessary in order to retain his Young Lions Cup award. It's almost time to relinquish it for the next YLC tournament showcase in August, but my guess is Donst will want to get back in the mix as soon as possible and won't take no for an answer.

5. Randy Orton: I have to admit that there have been ups and downs in my opinion for Orton over the years, but right now he's grown on me, especially with his "RKO out of nowhere" shtick. I enjoyed when DDP used to do that with the Diamond Cutter and Austin with The Stunner. WWE certainly wants Orton be an Austin-like rebel babyface. He may not get to that level, but he is generating (at least for now) the kind of crowd response and that "in the moment" electricity, which could eventually get him there. I've liked what he's brought to the table in that regard over the last several weeks. Can he continue to provide that intangible quality that pops the fans like crazy at Summer Slam?

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As of 07/31/10


ROH World Champion: Tyler Black (champion since 02/13/10, 7 successful defenses)

-defeated Austin Aries on February 13th, 2010 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. TBD

--Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match in Phoenix, AZ on 3/27/10
--Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match in Charlotte, NC on 4/3/10
--Tyler Black defeated Kenny King in Dayton, OH on 4/23/10
--Tyler Black defeated Chris Hero in Chicago Ridge, IL on 4/24/10
--Tyler Black defeated Roderick Strong in New York, NY on 5/8/10
--Tyler Black defeated Davey Richards in Toronto, Ontario on 6/19/10
-- Tyler Black defeated Kevin Steen in Chicago Ridge, IL on 07/24/10



ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (champions since 04/03/10, 2 successful defenses)

defeated The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) on April 3rd, 2010 in Charlotte, NC to win the championship.

Next Defense: Ultimate Endurance vs. three teams TBD (Charlotte, NC on 08/28/10)

--Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin by DQ after The Briscoes interfered in New York, NY on 5/8/10
--Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in a No DQ Match in Toronto, Ontario on 6/19/10



ROH World Television Champion: Eddie Edwards (champion since 03/05/10, 2 successful defenses)

-defeated Davey Richards in the finals of the HDNet Tournament on March 5th, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. TBD

--Eddie Edwards defeated Colt Cabana in Philadelphia, PA on 3/6/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Petey Williams in Mississauga, Ontario on 3/20/10


Pick 6 Series

Rankings as of: 07/22/10

1. Roderick Strong
2. Christopher Daniels
3. Kevin Steen
4. Colt Cabana
5. Chris Hero
6. Davey Richards

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Some Ring of Honor news to start this section off:

-Results from the July 23rd show in Collinsville, Illinois are available here and results from the July 24th show in Chicago Ridge, IL (with Tyler Black successfully defending against Kevin Steen) are available here.

-ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards in a non-title match has been signed for Charlotte, NC on August 28th, the same night as the finale to "Tag Wars 2010". This is a rematch from the much praised Death Before Dishonor VIII main event. A Pick 6 challenger can only challenge for the ROH World Title twice, but this won't be Richards' second challenge even though he is precariously close to losing his Pick 6 spot. The sixth slot also has the least pull in terms of actually getting their shot. Instead, the story is that Richards wanted a non-title match against Black to prove to the ROH officials that he deserved his second title opportunity. Still, this is a very high profile match and along with the Ultimate Endurance finale ensures that the Charlotte show will be one to pay attention.

-The updated bracketing for the Tag Wars 2010 tournament is as follows:

Block A: Necro Butcher & Erick Stevens vs. The Briscoe Brothers
Block B: Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. "The All Night Express" (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)
Block C: Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) vs. The Bravado Brothers

Winners advance to the four-team Ultimate Endurance finals on August 28th in Charlotte, NC, with stipulations voted on and selected by the ROH fans. The last fall of this match will feature the ROH World Tag Team title up for grabs to the two remaining teams.

-On the injury front, from ROH: Grizzly Redwood needed 10 staples to close a wound near his temple suffered as a result of a vicious uppercut from the Necro Butcher. He is not expected to miss any time. Senior official Todd Sinclair suffered a moderately pulled groin during the event. He is also not expected to miss time. Mike Sydal underwent a CAT scan following being knocked unconscious against Jay Bradley, and we're happy to report that Sydal is expected to fully recover from the resulting concussion and that his CAT found no abnormalities.

-ROH will run two more nights of tapings for the HDNet show at The Arena in Philadelphia on August 20th and 21st, the week before their Richmond / Charlotte double shot. That means they'll have twelve episodes (or about three months worth of television) in the can before their next major iPPV, Glory By Honor IX in September. That is a lot of content to put out there in advance of house shows for the next few months, so it may be able to predict any major developments or title changes through the fall.

-Death Before Dishonor VIII will begin shipping on DVD this Monday. It is bundled with the 6/18 Buffalo, NY show (Tyler Black vs. Steve Corino main event).

-There are rumors that some big name ROH talent has already or will be signed to the super secret double-probation wrestling promotion that is being formed in Florida by Sean Davis and the Wilpon family. (Wrestling Observer) All sorts of names from the independents, big and small are supposed to be involved, but who really knows until it actually happens (if it actually happens). The contracts supposedly go into effect in October, although there is no word on if these are exclusivity clauses involved. I guess this could end up being a real life "Nexus" or "Bruderschaft" moment, where all of a sudden all of these sleeper agents wake up and declare they are now a part of this promotion. It will signal the rise of the machines and a coming apocalypse. Or something, I'm not really sure what it all means actually.

-Former ROH Champion Xavier received a try-out at the TNA Impact tapings this past week. It went fine, but no word on if it will lead to future bookings.


-Ring of Honor on HDNet Thoughts


Episode 64: A very solid episode filled to the brim with wrestling, which is after all, what I like to see concentrated on in my Ring of Honor programming. Dark City Fight Club match up surprisingly well against The Kings of Wrestling in their non-title match. They demonstrated they can make their physical style of match work against an elite team. However, it did come across at times that their double team moves were a step behind that of The Kings as far as cohesiveness and execution. I didn't so much like that the match ended in an "HDNet Special", with The Briscoes once against interjecting themselves in a Kings of Wrestling match and thus drawing the DQ. This time their interference wasn't as egregious as the finish to Machine Guns vs. Kings from Supercard V, but that doesn't mean it's excusable. ROH needs to be careful because for now it seems that these kinds of finishes haven't spoiled the fans on The Briscoes, but they just might if it becomes habitual.

Prince Nana tries to provide some justification and reasoning for why he brought Necro Butcher into the fold of The Embassy, but I don't think he pulls it off. I do love his villainous laugh of mirth though.

Daizee Haze wrestles someone else not named "Sara Del Rey" when she matches up against rookie wrestler Jamillia Craft. I know Craft's costume and mask are inspired by Joshi (Japanese female wrestling), but it's not a flattering look for her. Most reviews I've read about this match have commented on how solid Craft is with her fundamentals given her short time in the ring and I have to agree. Daizee wins with an incredibly impressive dragon suplex (done on a far larger opponent). That was a "woah" moment for sure.

The main event pits The American Wolves against a makeshift team of Christopher Daniels and Roderick Strong. Ultimately this was a good match that wanted to be a great match but didn't quite get there. The major problem was the repeated blowing of getting into a "hot tag" sequence, in that at the moments where it would be expected to build to a dramatic tag, someone would be too close to their partner. That made the tags comes across as anti-climactic and killed the crowd. Despite that, there were some very cool sequences, especially involving The Wolves working over Roderick Strong. The short moments where Daniels finally went mano-a-mano against Davey Richards (their first-ever physical interaction in the ring) were also very enjoyable and indicate that these two can have a tremendous singles match (if they ever get there). The Wolves win the match with an awesome finish where Richards used his Super German Release from the top and cleanly pinned Daniels. The show closes with some brewing dissension between Daniels and Strong, who believes Daniels went down too easily (Strong was downed on ringside floor when Daniels was pinned).


Episode 65: Toilet paper is back for The Embassy! Nana and Ernesto introduce Necro, who is smart to only wear the robe and not the robe / suit combination, which was a fashion disaster. Squash against Bobby Beverly, who looks like a smaller but thicker "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, minus the grooming advice, plus a horribly ugly shoulder tattoo. Necro looks dominant enough, including the chokeslam and Tiger Driver on a chair. Hogewood completely overlooks and no-sells the backbreaker onto the chairs after the match, which is a bad decision because it completely undermines the impact of what should be a horrific and dangerous attack. Next.

The logo and the animation for the "Eddie Edwards Ten-Minute Hunt" is completely the opposite in style and tone to what The American Wolves are all about. It's complete game show. Who in the world looked at Eddie Edwards and thought "Pat Sajak"? Whoever came up with that needs to actually be put in one of these matches so Edwards can stretch him or her out.

Edwards versus Tenacious A, Andy "Right Leg" Ridge. Andy gets called "Randy" in a lame riff by a man whose full name is Edward Edwards. Then Ridge makes the cardinal sin of telling a Philadelphia crowd he is from New York. Oh that's just great. Forget about being the babyface now. Why don't you tell them you played defensive tackle for The New York football Giants while you're at it? He'd have a greater chance of being cheered now if he declared he was joining the Taliban.

I got thirty seconds. What do you got?

Hogewood with another whiff on the stick:"How about that right leg?" Well, um, yeah, it's a right leg. He also has a left leg. I wonder why he doesn't use that one as well--is it wooden like with Kerry Von Erich?

Well we're both wrong. Its three minutes and two seconds, almost all of which was utter decimation from Edwards.

Roderick Strong officially joins The House of Truth with new "life intervention expert" Truth Martini and his book of Truth. He proceeds to say the word "truth" about thirty times, then Strong says the word ten more times. Crowd says the word "boring", which is unfortunate, but perhaps accurate. I like the idea of Truth managing Strong, but the actual practice of it may not live up to the potential. I do like Truth's evil laugh as well. Maybe he and Nana should have an evil laugh-off contest.

Delirious, Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black actually make for an imposing trio upon their entrance for the six-man tag team match against Austin Aries, Kenny King and Rhett Titus. There is a solid ringside brawl to start before settling into the standard (but solid) six-man tag in the ring. Aries desperately running around ringside to avoid Delirious isn't unusual, but it makes a lot of sense here and fits in with the tone of the opening moments. Crowd really gets behind the Aries / Delirious face-off after a hot tag by Lynn in the middle of the match, but Titus wipes out Delirious on the floor to put the kibosh on that and sets up another heat segment. There is decent babyface comeback involving stereo and simultaneous moves, the most prominent being Lynn and Delirious diving to the outside onto Titus and Aries. Unfortunately, we get the "HDNet Special" finish as things somewhat break down outside the ring, but the match is stopped without a referee count or any overt weapon shot. Lame.

Black wants to do a dive onto Titus, but he is stopped by ref Paul "Next World Champ" Turner. Black throws Paul out of the ring (surprised that didn't elicit boos from the crowd) and goes to dive but Kevin Steen runs from out of nowhere into the ring to give him a kick, wham, Package Piledriver. For someone who is a villainous and dastardly heel, Steen sure had the crowd chanting for him after that ambush.

I didn't much understand the point of this episode. It didn't click for me, aside from the Steen run-in (which worked in advancing the angle) and Strong's joining House of Truth (which had been hinted at for weeks and needed to be presented to the live crowd).


Episode 66: Message on the screen during The Set vs. Cheech & Cloudy reads "Tag Wars 2010 is Underway." It's the English teacher in me, but man, does that irk me. Cheech & Cloudy pick up a rare win for the number of times they've appeared on HDNet, but well, they were facing The Set, so they were actually the favorites in that one.

Rasche Brown wrestles his first television match in the feud against The Embassy, matching up with Erick Stevens. Lots of clubbering before Nana interferes behind the referee's back. Brown nearly kills himself running into the guardrail in an impressive miss off a flying shoulderblock. At one point Nana holds Brown's foot in place for Stevens to get the Choo-Choo splash, but Brown shakes that off and gets his flipping spear. Necro is out to help Stevens and it's a DQ finish. Dark City Fight Club even up the score (and actually outnumber the effective wrestlers on the other side), driving Nana's men away. Brown and Dark City makes for quite an imposing trio squad.

Backstage, Roderick Strong and Truth Martini improve on their effort from the last episode with a far better promo hyping up next week's main event against Christopher Daniels. Truth's character seems to be a more maniacal take on DDP's "Positively Page" gimmick, right down to the self-help book. He does some word play maneuver so that he can call Strong the most "self-centered" man he's ever met. I bet that's one from Jim Cornette right there. Strong actually talks better when Truth is with him in the background, but that sort of defeats the point of having Truth as a manager for him in the first place.

The main event is a reprise of the no-rules street fight from Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 between Generico and Colt Cabana against Kevin Steen and Steve Corino. Instead of going full-out with blood, gore and extreme weapons, this match is more of a slow build to a hectic finish. I hate to call it watered down, but while the hatred and drama surrounding the grudge is there, the degree of "extreme" action is somewhat reduced (no blood, no thumbtacks, table breaks saved for the very end of the match). There is a lot of chair usage and some very awkward, painful looking landings, so it's not a "softcore" hardcore match by any means. The length of the match (20 minutes) allowed for plenty of action as well, but obviously not on the level of what was seen in Chicago this past April.

The immediate start of the match is really smart with Steen and Corino having weapons and control of "higher ground" (i.e. the ring) and Cabana and Generico forced to scurry around ringside and probe for a weak spot in that line of defense to break into the ring and begin to fight. Some other highlights of the bout include Corino crushing Generico with chair shots, Generico returning fire with his Half Nelson German onto the chair, Corino superplexing Cabana onto a large piece of guardrail and Steen using his version of the fisherman's buster through a chair. Cabana takes what was supposed to be a Northern Lights Bomb through a table as more of a superplex, but it still looks sickening because the table doesn't break (they were non-cooperative throughout the night) and he lands with a big thud. Corino covers for three to win what was a heel dominated match.

The main event of this episode is worth seeking out for sure, although I may advise against watching it soon after viewing the Chicago Street Fight match.




-CHIKARA Anniversario Elf Thoughts

The last time I wrote about CHIKARA I covered their shows through King of Trios 2010. I watched and thoroughly enjoyed all three nights of that tournament, but Kevin Ford pretty much covered the shows best with his reviews. I just feel I would be redundant in stating the awesomeness of Team Big Japan and Team DDT, the humor of Cuije and Alibrije running circles around their opponent, the jaw dropping craziness of Claudio, Ares and Tursas destroying the little purple mini guy, the fun of seeing Curry Man team with Los Ice Creams, the joy of Dragon Dragon's surprise return, the value of being able to watch Christopher Daniels against CHIKARA regulars Hallowicked and Eddie Kingston, the thrill in watching The Colony garner the first major defeat of the BDK and the fury of their being screwed in one hell of a action-packed finale on night three, the comparative weakness of the Rey de Voladores tournament as compared to last year's edition, the nice cameo appearance of Tommy Dreamer and the heck of a show that was Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. The Young Bucks / Generation Me. So yeah, I think we'll skip all of that and just move on to the next CHIKARA show I purchased, which was their second show of their anniversary weekend.

This show is in Union City, New Jersey.

The Future Is Now vs. F.I.S.T. vs. Super Smash Brothers vs. 3.0 isn't just a battle of four solid tag teams, but a battle of four very awesome theme songs…well, Future is Now not so much, but it's damned near impossible not to get amped up when listening to "Blue Monday", Mortal Kombat dance mixes or Michael Jackson's "Beat It". For being "Friends in Similar Tights", Akuma and Taylor are dressed not so similarly. Surprisingly, 3.0 not only look more inspired than everyone else, but they're also hitting everything clean as a sheet, where as some other participants such as Player Dos were having a bit an off-night (at least until his big comeback blow-off before being eliminated). F.I.S.T. get rid of 3.0 and in the move of the match Helios Tiger Wall Flips right into Taylor's arms for a tombstone piledriver for the closest of nearfalls. Helios and Jimmy hold on and win the match with a rocket punch from Olsen and the standing shooting star on Taylor for three. TFIN now has three points to challenge the BDK for a title shot.

BDK announcer Jakob Hammermeier still has the heat and the hate from the fans. Lince Dorado vs. Fire Ant (in a shiny red variant suit!) starts out fast and furious with Fire all over Lince. Good stuff. Then Dorado powerbombs Fire Ant onto the apron—OUCH. The fans chanting for Lince to fall of the top rope is quite amusing, if not very blood thirsty. Fire Ant gets his awesome step up kicks and a beautiful springboard forearm to the outside where he goes over the barricade and into the area with risers. Lince acts like a complete jerk and continues to prove why he should have been a heel long before he actually turned. Some beautiful position changes towards the end with both men flipping out and maneuvering away from possible finishers. Lince with the SSP off the top for three and the first BDK win of the evening.

Amasis vs. Vin Gerard—Gerard is incorporating more of the lucha he used while he was the Equinox persona back into his wrestling…and it actually looks quite impressive, like he never stopped using those moves in the first place. Gerard actually has the coolest move of the match, a springboard handstand on the apron that serves as a mule kick onto Amasis. A slight gaffe in the middle sees Amasis miss on a springboard shoulderblock, but it's just shy of hitting Gerard. Instead, Gerard shrugs his shoulders and smiles, as if he planned it all along, and guts him with a senton. Good recovery. The second time Gerard goes for the handstand on the apron Amasis counters with a baseball slide kick directly to the back of his head, popping onto the floor. He follows that with a huge dive. Gerard recovers with a leg whip off the top into the STF and also gets his 2k1 bomb for a really close count. It's a bit of shock that Amasis kicked out there. It just breaks down into a huge scrum. Colin Delaney, who was on commentary for this match, runs out on a double down to boot Amasis in the back of the head and punts him, thus allowing Vin to pin Amasis, though he had "no knowledge of Colin's involvement."

Another Osirian Portal / UnStable backstage segment sees Ophidian claim Delaney cheated while Gerard acts surprised to learn that Colin helped him to win. Ophidian is wearing a Johnny Calzone shirt—why would a snake have a pizza chain's T-shirt? Osirian Portal want one more shot at Gerard and STIGMA, without Delaney's involvement.

BDK (Daizee Haze, Sara Del Rey, Pink Ant and Tursas) vs. Quackenbush, Jigsaw and The Throwbacks: CHIKARA hasn't gone wrong yet with their eight-man atomicos matches, so I expect no different from this one. I didn't miss some fan holding up a poster with Jigsaw's phone number written on it. Um, why? Sugar Dunkerton picked a real bad time to grow a crush on Daizee Haze…because he gets crushed by Tursas from behind as a result. Even Auggie from Covert Affairs saw that one coming. Del Ray is killer in this one, kicking the heck out of everyone, even throwing one so powerful that it causes Pinkie (holding Dunkerton in place) to fly back as well. Then Tursas just whacks him with a chop! No woman is worth this abuse, Sugar! Daizee just slaps him outright…no daddy mack tonight my friend. A yakuza kick sends him to the floor, which allows Dasher to come in and take care of Haze. There are some absolutely wicked combinations from Quack and Jigsaw including a wicked wheelbarrow DDT and a double superkick on Tursas while outside. Sugar snaps out of his love Haze and gets a sick driver on her. B*TCHES AIN'T SH*T. Jig and Tonic onto Pink Ant gives CHIKARA a HUGE win over The Bruderschaft!

Love does not conquer all, but CHIKARA does. Big celebration time for the technicos as they play "Rock the Casbah" over the PA. This is the third major win for CHIKARA in a war which has been dominated BDK (the others being Colony over BDK during King of Trios 2010 and The Future is Now over Donst and Dorado at Anniversario Zehn). Every little bit counts.

Young Lion's Cup: Tim Donst (c) versus Soldier Ant: Do I even need to mention how awesome Tim Donst is on his promo here? I guess I just did. Hammermeier wants everyone to stand up so, in a great moment, both ref Bryce Remsburg and announcer Gavin Loudspeaker lay down, almost Raven-style, on the mat near the bottom turnbuckle. There is no Tim Donst Appreciation Section in Union City, by the way, well, except for one doofus in a mask giving the BDK cross symbol (no offense if you're out there reading this, but I mean, come on dude). I'd chalk that one up to Stockholm Syndrome. Kind of an unremarkable match—solid enough from a technical standpoint, but nothing too spectacular until Soldier Ant bulldogs Donst on the apron corner. I also liked Donst's belly-to-belly overhead of Soldier who was on the apron, back in the ring. Other than that, this match traded on the crowd's disdain for Donst and their like for Soldier Ant, but sometimes, that's all you really need for a match like this on the card. Soldier might have it with the CHIKARA Special (what he used to tap out Donst at King of Trios), but Donst is able to negotiate out of it twice and then finishes the match by catching Soldier coming off the ropes into a variation of the Shellshock / Downward Spiral and transitioning it into the Inverted CHIKARA Special for a three-arm drop submission.

Has anyone ever started a "Not Fan Club"? I think Jakob Hammermeier is the perfect candidate to try. Also, is it a strange thing that I can hear the Rammstein / BDK whistle in my head without it playing?

Campeonatos de Parejas: BDK (Claudio Castagnoli & Ares) vs. Incoherence (Hallowicked & Frightmare): The "very un-biased" official according to Hammermeier is Derek Sabato, which is like saying the Gulf Coast oil spill is very un-big. Ares brings out Delirious (dressed in white, with a veil on his head, the same one Ares used when he first was invading the company with Tarsus as the men in white) on a chain. That's more mind games, because for the Anniversario Zehn show he used Delirious against Ultramantis (whom before Ares reposed it, had control of Delirious thanks to the Eye of Tyr). Delirious was 'Wicked's former partner and co-tag champion in Incoherence for much of 2008.

Delirious is itching to go after them once he hears their theme song, but Ares holds him back, then once they're out he lets him go and he WRECKS Hallowicked on the guardrail and then SMASHES Frightmare with a closeline and panic attack on the guardrail. Delirious rolls him in the ring and in three seconds Claudio pins him. GOOD LORD that is a RUDO move to the core. Incoherence is already down a fall (championship matches run best two-out-of three).

The match works the same template as BDK vs. Colony from Wit, Verve and a Bit O' Nerve--quick first fall, utter BDK domination in the second fall and then a HUGE babyface comeback from the technicos side. Tons of heel ref stuff, as Sabato doesn't see a Hallowicked tag and ignores choking and cheating from BDK. Much of the rest of the technico side (Super Smash Brothers, The Colony, 3.0, Osirian Portal, The Throwbacks, Jigsaw, Helios, Quackenbush) comes out to cheer on Incoherence (and smartly being there to prevent any other BDK involvement). Sabato throws a fit when Frightmare is able to roll under to force the hot tag. The crowd is going NUTS for Hallowicked's comeback, and Sabato's count are slower than when BDK was attempting pinfalls.

Then in the move of the night, Claudio boosts Frightmare up to the light stantion, which FRIGHTMARE GRABS AND HOLDS ONTO and then transitions into a beautiful DRAGONRANA which only gets two because Ares comes rushing in at the last minute. THAT needs to be on every CHIKARA highlight package in 2010. Crowd chants "We Want Bryce!" The second best move of the night comes when Hallowicked puts Frightmare on his shoulders and launches him for a FLYING Super Ace Crusher. Simply awesome. This guy IS 411Mania's 2009 Rookie of the Year for a reason. Sabato bends time and space with his slow count and allows Claudio to push Frightmare off Ares' body. Frightmare blanks on the Kneecolepsy and that lets Ares get a running lariat and Tiger Driver for three (and a fast count at that). HELL OF A MATCH, in terms of the booking and then in-ring action.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Eddie Kingston: Let "The Battle of Yonkers" commence! This one ain't gonna be pretty, but it is gonna be fun. It's mostly a "test of fire" for Kingston as he goes up against someone who is a mirror image of himself, mixed in with a little of macho vs. macho battle when both men go chop for chop. They mix in a bit of psychology with Dreamer working the leg after King kicks the post on the outside. Dreamer smashes into Bryce in a bit of a needless ref bump, and then King with a backfist which causes wooziness but doesn't completely take Tommy off his feet. Eddie tries again but Dreamer gets his DDT. Bryce slowly counts but Kingston kicks out. Dreamer to the top (!) but Eddie trips him. Dreamer comes off the second (good idea) but Eddie punches him in the breadbasket. Dreamer gets the cloverleaf, but Sabato runs out and pulls Bryce under the ropes, I guess forcing himself into the match. He's about to call it, but Tommy stops him. Sabato DQ's Tommy for putting his hands on him (LAME). Dreamer looks to piledrive him, but Claudio and Ares are out. Dreamer and Kingston fight together to drive them off (sounds better than it was in execution) and they pull in Hammermeier, who gets BACKFISTED BACK TO 1942! DUNKOPF! Crowd goes crazy for it. Dreamer with the Spicolli Driver for good measure.

I hated the DQ finish, but it's about time Hammermeier got his, so that's a good consolation prize. Dreamer asks to team up with Kingston against the BDK in Philadelphia (that just happened last weekend by the way). Kingston cuts a heartfelt promo honoring Dreamer as his inspiration and motivation to get into wrestling. Then Gavin Loudspeaker gets his little moment in the sun by standing over a still-dead Hammermeier (after months of taking abuse from him) and thanking the fans for coming out. Kingston closes the DVD with another good promo (backstage) about how the BDK took his moment away from him and how he's gonna do his best to get back at them for it. Best line: "You want my respect, you're gonna have to rip it out of my heart." That is an Eddie Kingston promo in one sentence, no doubt about it.

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Wrestling fans and Column of Honor regulars can find some extra content through my personal website AriBerenstein.com. Column of Honor: Reborn is a redux version of the first-year of my columns covering Ring of Honor and the rest of the world of professional wrestling. These are updated editions, edited for content and appearance. I've re-written or added to some of the features and improved the look and flow from the early days to more closely match the contemporary style of the columns in 2010. The first four editions of Column of Honor: Reborn (covering the July 2005 events and the Summer of Punk) are available through this link. I'll be adding these redux versions several columns at a time over the next several months, so you can go back in time and read about what was going on back when in ROH history.

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

If you're interested in getting into MMA or any strength / conditioning program, then visit MMAprofightshop.com for your fight gear and equipment needs. The website is run by my good friend Dave Maswary, who is a wrestler, martial artist and aspiring MMA fighter. He's trained and prepped with accomplished MMA guys in Brazil and is overall good people. Check out the website and join his Facebook Page.


I was the "blank or blank" man this week for 411, with appearances in both 411 Fact or Fiction and 411 Buy or Sell, covering a myriad of issues running the gamut from Miz vs. Sheamus, EV2.0, the BDK and EVOLVE vs. ROH on September 11th. Plenty of opinions, plenty to read!

Ryan Byers covers some interesting matches involving Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson when wrestling in Japan for this week's Into the Indies.

Kevin Ford's CHIKARA Special is very special indeed. Don't forget to participate in his special Bryce Rembsurg "Wrestlicious Rap" contest--it ends very soon so get your entries in!

JP Prag discusses ROH's profit model in this week's News Journal.


That will cover it for this week's edition of The Column. As always, thanks for reading.

BROOKLYN!
--Ari--