Column of Honor 08.28.10: Ch-Ch-Changes

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 08.28.2010

Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black, Adam Pearce, Delirious, the Briscoes and Homicide are involved in in a multitude of news that's changed the landscape of Ring of Honor and independent wrestling! 411's Ari Berenstein takes a look at those changes and more!

So I was away last weekend vacationing in the Poconos. Did I miss anything? Well, it looks like there was a heck of a lot that went down in Ring of Honor over the last two weeks, and this is my catch-up. Welcome to the Column.






=Ch-Ch-Changes=


The last two weeks have brought about some crucial changes to the future of Ring of Honor, including a change of booker, the departure and additions of several talents and the possible return of one more. The following are the people and events that changed the landscape:


=Adam Pearce=

On Sunday, August 15th, just hours before Bryan Danielson returned to WWE as "Daniel Bryan" during Summerslam 2010, word also broke about the firing of Adam Pearce as head booker for Ring of Honor. Facebook, Twitter and message boards (though for a time not ROH's own since their entire website had been derailed by a virus) lit up with discussion about both pieces of news and for the next week wrestling fans learned more about each story with every passing day. Hunter "Delirious" Johnson has been tapped as Pearce's replacement (see more below).

It was the end of an interesting but never easy two-year run for Pearce, who took on the role of booker in for the third-largest wrestling promotion on just one month after he was let go due to budget cuts. He was a San Diego fly-in and it cost too much to bring him in to the shows. Pearce had spent most of 2008 as a member of Larry Sweeney's Sweet & Sour Incorporated stable and had just wrapped a feud against Brent Albright for the NWA Heavyweight Championship. Pearce regained the title on what was to be his last show, Glory By Honor VII. According to Pearce, he was approached by Cary Silkin, where he had an hour-long conversation. Silkin asked him all sorts of questions about what he would do in certain booking situations. On October 25th 2008, Sapolsky was out and Pearce had been hired to replace him.

Using a booking style that more closely mirrored what Cary Silkin liked about wrestling when he watched the NWA in the 1980's, the next two years of Ring of Honor feuds and matches more closely resembled the old school territory days of professional wrestling than the cutting edge modern product it represented in the mid 2000's. Since Silkin was the boss and someone who had brought the company back several times from the brink of extinction, it was his prerogative and will to have a product that represented what he liked about professional wrestling. However, this was not a style that ROH fans were used to seeing. It's not that they hated the idea of using old school ideas for a wrestling product, but rather they were used to Sapolsky's "modern feel" with hard-nosed storylines, contemporary characters and a clearer focus on inn-ring action and more decisive finishes.

Under Pearce's run, finishes to matches became more inconclusive and less satisfying to the paying customer, especially during the first year of his running shows. Some changes were immediate: a twenty-count on the floor was added (previous to this there were no count-outs in Ring of Honor except during the brief existence and defense of the Pure Title). On the first show (The French Connection), there was a disqualification and a count-out loss on the second. However, Pearce did use Gabe's general framework of feuds and angles and brought them to at least a semblance of a conclusion before going through with his own direction.

The usage of non-decisive finishes on these first shows were actually not so bad as they would become in 2009, when there were more disqualification finishes, run-ins and cheap interferences than ever before. There were indeed some interference angles under Sapolsky's regime, but they were far more limited and usually timed for after the conclusion of the fall. Many of the inconclusive finishes under Pearce were crowbar fits into matches that had nothing to do with the previous action. There were also cheap roll ups and more time limit draws that served more to delay than to progress issues—in general, the sorts of finishes that ROH fans immensely disliked. They followed and purchased the ROH product because they didn't have the sorts of bullshit finishes that could be found in WWE and TNA. Yet under this new regime, they were receiving plenty of it. The usage of inconclusive finishes never fully went away (especially once ROH launched its television series through HDNet), but they somewhat corrected for by the end of the year. However, the damage of these finishes and the seeming botching of several top programs had done some damage to the reputation of the company, especially to a segment of hardcore fans.

Soon DVD sales were slipping rapidly, both out of a clear statement from hardcore fans that they disapproved of the incarnation of the product and due to the overall drop in home entertainment sales due to the economic recession. ROH would continue to try different strategies to increase their brand awareness, including signing a one-year agreement with HDNet to develop a television show. That effort was successful and the deal was renewed. ROH also reached out to Ric Flair (whom Cary Silkin was a huge fan of and watched back in the 1980s' NWA) and came to an agreement for a series appearances. However, the Flair deal would soon turn into a debacle that was out of both Silkin and Pearce's hands. Flair would return to WWE and not make good on his verbal agreement to return money given to him for certain appearances. The souring of the Flair deal was just one of many moments where criticisms of the new ROH product were underscored.

Ring of Honor's creative turnaround began just when it seemed times were most troubled for the company. Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness had both signed contracts with WWE (though Nigel would later debut for TNA instead) and were leaving the promotion in September 2009. However, at the same time Jim Cornette had been fired from TNA and Ring of Honor scooped him up. He would serve in the on-camera role as "Executive Producer" of HDNet series, but behind the scenes would serve as the sounding board and consultant for Adam Pearce, while also helping to give advice to the other wrestlers and improve their skills.

Almost immediately there were clear signs of improvement in the ROH product, with a clear concentration on the Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black title feud and an elevation of talents like Kevin Steen and El Generico into a serious singles feud that captivated the fans' attention. 2010 has been a creative success for the company—with many angles and shows being raved about and the fans feeling that Ring of Honor was getting back to what had worked for so long—great wrestling and interesting angles.

After a shaky first year from Pearce where he was trying to learn with the role, Pearce was improving with his book and 2010 was a year filled with fantastic feuds and marquee matches and increased successes with its digital internet Pay Per View shows. Not everything has been perfect and not all problems have been solved (especially when it comes to their video presentation), but it certainly had been far improved. Then the news about Pearce being dropped came just two months after the creative heights of Death Before Dishonor VIII, which featured a match of the year caliber title defense and an incredibly strong card up and down the line-up sheet.

This was only the second booking change in Ring of Honor's near nine-year history. Pearce replaced Gabe Sapolsky, whose programs and ability to cull the best of the independent wrestling scene into one promotion put Ring of Honor on the map. In some respects, it was almost unfair for Pearce—he was in a near-impossible position to begin with. It was akin to sports when a new manager is at the helm after a championship season and knowing you were expected to win the pennant in the first year. There was pressure almost immediately, especially from the hard-to-please ROH fan base, who analyzed and scrutinized every match and angle under a microscope in the first place.

However, what led to Pearce's departure was not anything to do with creative reasons, but rather a disagreement about business decisions and the future of the company. Business is still down for independent wrestling and that includes Ring of Honor. Pearce wrote in a public statement using a metaphor about how Oil and Water don't mix to relate (without stating any specifics) his problems with the company's business decisions. According to the Wrestling Observer, ultimately Cary Silkin was forced to make a choice between keeping on Adam Pearce or his business manager Sid Eyck.

Pearce has been remarkably professional and cordial regarding his departure in both his statement and follow up interviews with The Fight Network and Figure Four Daily. His statement thanked ROH owner Cary Silkin for the opportunity to book and thanking wrestlers and backstage personnel from both ROH and HDNet. He thanked Jim Cornette and said he was the best mentor possible, someone who was a great soundboard for his ideas but ultimately let Pearce make the final decisions and learn and grow in the role of booker. In an interview with Bryan Alvarez of Figure Four Weekly, Pearce stated that he held no ill will about Cary's decision and understood it completely. Cary Silkin and ROH released a similarly professional press release regarding Pearce's departure. It was a remarkable difference in tone from Gabe Sapolsky's departure from the company.

Pearce wrote in part: "Cary Silkin gave me the chance to live a lifelong dream two years ago, and I will forever be grateful to him for having the faith in me to give me that opportunity. I've never had a better boss, probably never will, and I'm glad to be able to call him my friend. I've certainly never met a more generous person, and I wish him personally nothing but the prosperity that I believe he deserves.

Ring of Honor has always represented to me what the "future" of professional wrestling could be, and it is my sincere hope that through the continued tremendous partnership with HDNet that that "future" may one day be realized."

Pearce's greatest strengths as a booker came from his concentration on the tag team division. While tag team wrestling had always been a strong suit for Ring of Honor, Pearce helped to elevate the division to even greater heights with his concentration of certain teams and feuds, putting together partners together or reforming former teams like The Kings of Wrestling. The rise of the American Wolves as a premium tag team and their war against Kevin Steen and El Generico were often the best moments in any ROH show during 2009. The American Wolves were a main-event caliber team and their matches against the likes of Steen & Generico, Danielson & Black and The Briscoes were worth the price of admission.

Another creative success during the Pearce run was booking Austin Aries as the first-ever two-time ROH champion, with a heel turn that really came into fruition when he played off against Flair, Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black. Sometimes the Aries title run did suffer from the cheap finish and old school heel work that didn't ring completely true with ROH fans, but the Aries character and its progression found itself when Pearce allowed Aries to run roughshod as the sarcastic cowardly heel that could also back it up in the ring.

Pearce also fought to spread ROH's outreach through digital platforms, including the internet Pay Per View concept and the rohvideos.com on-demand download service. That website helped to provide customers with out-of-print or rare DVDs from the archives, thus providing viable revenue source in challenging times. The low-cost to produce and run the iPPV service was another boon, as ROH has run a nice profit of the service and has grown the service in terms of purchases over the last year.

However, Pearce's weaknesses and lowest moments were also painfully obvious. His tendency to stretch out feuds and using inconclusive finishes infuriated more than satisfied. ROH fans were not a horse he could lead to water with the usage of DQ calls, run-ins, distractions, dual pins and excessive gaga. The one major fault in particular of his booking that stands out is the one hour draw that wasn't between Black and McGuinness January 2009. That match and the multitude of run-ins, stops and starts and the ultimate insult of mistiming the one hour still stands out as the epitome of the kind of booking the ROH fans despite and do not wish to see in a product they purchase.

The greatest failure of his run was the long delay in pushing Tyler Black to the ROH World Title, which was particularly damaging to Black and ROH itself in the long run. Black went from a wrestler on the cusp of being a champion with near-complete fan acceptance (difficult especially for the ROH crowd) to someone the fans grew sick and tired and became labeled as an underachiever and overrated. Pearce delayed Black's title run for over a year longer than was planned under the Sapolsky regime. Pearce even admitted in the Alvarez interview that he was not convinced at first about Black's abilities, both in the ring and in the promo department and that he wouldn't hold up as a champion. He also said that he is now convinced that Black grew into that role and has vastly improved his character and promos. It was the delay and the hesitation to push Black to the top that made fans turn on him, once again completing a vicious cycle of ROH turning on its babyface champions until they were forced to turn heel.

There were other programs that failed and pretty badly at that. The Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright feud had potential but became insufferable due to cheap finishes. The Black vs. Jacobs program crashed and burned and the end of The Age of the Fall was anticlimactic. It also led to the departure of Jimmy Jacobs, one of the geniuses of promo and character work on the independent scene. Pearce also brought lucha libre wrestlers such as Blue Demon Jr. and Hysteria to some ROH shows and while they may have meant something in Mexico, they often did not mean anything to ROH fans in America. Their matches were often the weakest on any show and in the end didn't lead to any positives for ROH. In the meantime, ROH slowly reduced the number of Japanese wrestlers, who were far more popular and proven as draws for the fans who loved the kind of fast-paced action style and wild moves they brought in the ring.

Pearce will continue to wrestle for the NWA as its current Heavyweight champion, including on a recent spate of television tapings in California. He has not ruled out an eventual return to ROH either as a wrestler or in any other capacity.

One of the best compliments about Pearce's run that simply cannot be understated is that he took himself out of the active roster. Often there is the temptation in professional wrestling (and plenty of past history prove it) for a wrestler who is in charge of booking to use their position of power and place themselves higher up on the card or in the top championship position. Pearce did not do any such thing. Actually, he all but disappeared from active competition in ROH. Whenever he did wrestle it was almost always to go under, losing to the likes of The Set and Bobby Dempsey, even putting over a talk show host during ROH's Seventh Anniversary Show. Taking himself out of the equation provided a good example to his roster that he would them over his own interests. It not only curtailed his active career in ROH but also took away extra paydays for the sake of others, but it was a rare and shining example of selflessness that needs to be appreciated. It is also a standard that Delirious looks to be continuing as he begins his own booking run (see below).


=Delirious=

Hunter "Delirious" Johnson Replaces Pearce as the head booker of the company, with Jim Cornette continuing his behind the scenes role in helping with programs and interviews as well as being the public face of the HDNet program as its "Executive Producer". Dave Lagana also remains in his role of writing and formatting the HDNet tapings. Cary Silkin has already announced that while there is a new booker in charge that not much will change with the booking style and overall direction of current programs. Of course, that does not take into consideration the shake-ups on the roster, which have already begun (with Black's departure imminent and Rasche Brown quitting, see more below).

Delirious is especially capable of handling the reigns, given that he was already in charge of the ROH wrestling school as well as booker and promoter for the Pro Wrestling Respect, which were special spotlight shows for ROH students.

One of Delirious' initial strengths will be to analyze the student wrestlers in training and see who is ready to take the next steps for the main roster. He also has plenty of contacts with other independent wrestlers and shouldn't have trouble in bringing in new talent. There are plenty of resources for Delirious to use as he begins the first months of his run with the book.

An interesting side-note is that Delirious and Adam Pearce wrestled each other in an extensive feud for Ring of Honor during 2006. Pearce noted in his audio interview that he was happy for Delirious getting this opportunity.


=Bryan Danielson=

At the same time that Pearce was relieved of his duty, Bryan Danielson, who was once and is now again known as Daniel Bryan, was given new life within the WWE. He was the surprise seventh member of John Cena's unified WWE team fighting against the rebel Nexus squad in the main event of this year's Summerslam. Danielson had returned to the independents after being released from WWE for going over the line with his tie-choking of ring announce Justin Roberts during the angle featuring the formation of the Nexus stable.

Danielson had participated in the destruction of John Cena and the WWE Raw set including spitting on him and kicking him right in the head, the week afterwards his firing was explaining in a throwaway line by Wade Barrett where it was announced that Danielson had been kicked out of Nexus after showing remorse for his attack. Danielson's return to WWE was actually the worst kept secret, as Mikey Whipwreck announced that Danielson cancelled off his NYWC event on the same date citing "family issues". In addition, WWE employees and security were confiscating Daniel Bryan signs from fans at the Staples Center, news of which leaked to the internet in the hours before the event was to start. Finally, WWE.com gave the whole thing away mere minutes before the event happened when they published a story announcing the Bryan return and a very accurate description of events that were yet to happen.

Minutes later, Cena introduced Bryan and not The Miz as the seventh man on his team. It was no doubt Danielson's most important moment of his career, going from self-employed to back under contract and in the main event of a WWE show. According to news reports about an upcoming WWE card set release, a Daniel Bryan card had been prepared two weeks before Bryan's actual return. Bryan also began to dial down his independent bookings around that time, so that is the best guestimate about when the plans for the return were consecrated.

During his two month "summer vacation" of the independent scene, Bryan Danielson wrestled for many different promotions including CHIKARA, Dragon Gate and EVOLVE as well as in Germany for WxW. However, conspicuous by its absence, Ring of Honor never announced a return for Danielson, one of its founding fathers and one of the top five most popular wrestlers in the promotions' history.

The lack of booking in Ring of Honor was both puzzling and understandable. Danielson could not appear on its television product or internet Pay Per Views while under his ninety-day no-compete contract for WWE. Danielson also wanted to charge more per appearance now that he was a bonafide former "WWE Superstar". According to the Observer, Silkin and Ring of Honor did not want to pay that price for Danielson, so the negotiations for any non-television house show appearances within that ninety-day window came to an impasse.

While it was understandable that Ring of Honor may have wanted to save money, it's also disappointing that they let money get in the way of a Danielson return, even for a one-shot, would have led to more ticket sales and money from prospective autograph sessions and eventual DVD sales of his appearance. Ring of Honor lost out on giving its fans something truly special, the return of one of the best in the world.

Though Danielson has been forced to cancel several independent dates as he once again prepares to depart the independent scene, he will make his Dragon Gate USA commitments as well as appear for EVOLVE on 9/11 in the afternoon and NYWC in the evening. The evening date guarantees that Danielson will not make any appearance whatsoever for Ring of Honor. It completes a hugely missed opportunity for Ring of Honor at a time when Danielson's appearance could have done so much to boost the morale and general satisfaction of the fans with the company.


=Homicide=

However, someone who is a fan favorite and who may very well make his return to Ring of Honor soon is "The Notorious 187" Homicide. He who was released last week from TNA due to budget cuts, but he had wanted out of TNA for years, often requesting and not receiving his release. He is now available for bookings on the independent wrestling scene and that includes in Ring of Honor.

Homicide's greatest impression in TNA was teaming with Hernandez in the Latin American Xchange tag team, a violent thug style unit managed at one time by Konnan. Homicide turned heel once that tag team broke up and joined the World Elite stable. However, he languished on the lower card and even disappeared off of television for months on end, partially as a result of his gaffe on the first Bischoff / Hogan run TNA iMPACT! where he was unable to climb out of the Asylum cage with a rounded roof.

Homicide teased on his Facebook that he had many decisions to make about his next move, but that he would soon return to old haunts. That's a very strong hint that Homicide could return to Ring of Honor and it is very feasible for him to return at Glory By Honor IX since he will be in the neighborhood. (Gabe Sapolsky has already announced that he will appear on the EVOLVE event in Rahway on September 11).

The New York City fans love him and they would go crazy to see his official return to ROH at Glory By Honor IX, especially if it was for the long term. Homicide has often been spotted over the years in the Hammerstein ROH shows, either backstage or in the gorilla position. It was also the site of his greatest success in ROH, when he won the ROH World Title at Final Battle 2006. Though ROH could not capitalize on Danielson's summer vacation through the independent scene, Homicide's return coupled with the presence of Christopher Daniels would be a great start to compensate for the loss of Tyler Black, not to mention bringing about some old school era cool for the company.


=Black vs. Strong at Glory By Honor IX=

Ring of Honor announced the future direction of the ROH World Championship with the signing of Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong in a "No-Disqualification" match for the company's major title at Glory By Honor IX in New York on September 11th.

The announcement comes right after Tyler Black officially turned heel during the most recent set of ROH tapings. He took a page out of the CM Punk playbook by stating that he had sold out to the almighty dollar and that ROH couldn't compete with a billionaire for his time and attention. He announced he had every intention of leaving ROH with the belt and taking it to WWE with him, which is exactly the same threat CM Punk made during the "Summer of Punk" angle in 2005 (which you can read about through my Column of Honor Reborn archives, links below).

In the storylines, Black's temperament and attitude towards the fans changed when Kevin Steen "saved" him. In other words, he woke him up to the realities of Ring of Honor and its fans. Steen and Black wrestled a ferocious title bout this past July in Chicago and afterward the two exchanged words that most couldn't hear or decipher. Ultimately it seems that Steen changed Black's mind about ROH and its fans and is ready to do his utmost to stick it to everyone on his way out. There are even subtle touches to the "Tyler Sells Out" storyline, with Black having changed his Twitter from "ROHBlack" to "WWEBlack" and questioning about how the ROH fans would react to that move. Apparently, at the ROH HDNet tapings last weekend, Black was met with plenty of heat and the fans were itching for someone to take him down.

Of course, Black's road out of Ring of Honor is no easy path. He was scheduled to wrestle against current Television champion Eddie Edwards last night in Collinsville, Davey Richards tonight in Charlotte, then Christopher Daniels in Plymouth Massachusetts and finally Strong in New York. The former three matches are all non-title but pit Black against some of the top wrestlers in the company, who are all ready to put a world of hurt on him. It is also an opportunity for the talent who are sticking around to get the rub from defeating the current ROH World champion.

The Black vs. Strong title match is an interesting situation, because now that Black has turned heel, this is a heel versus heel encounter, although no doubt the fans will be rallying around Strong whether or not his character "wants" or "needs" their support. Strong took Truth Martini in as his manager and life coach after being very frustrated with ROH and how they supposedly lied to them about receiving title opportunities. It seems now that storyline point will prove that adding Truth worked after all—that after fifteen failures to win the ROH World Title in five years of attempts, adding on Truth was the "final piece" needed to get the job done.

However, while Strong is the obvious favorite to win this match, there is always the chance that ROH wants to repeat "The Summer of Punk" scenario where the champion not only won the title on his last show but kept winning way beyond the date everyone expected him to leave. ROH could do the same with Black, with him holding the belt even though he had reported to FCW, WWE's developmental league in Florida. Regardless, the intensity and atmosphere of this entire situation with Black's last days in ROH will be clear and present in New York City, amid a throng of fans who won't hesitate to cut him down for his decision, whether or not that reaction is justified (and whether or not the hatred was ever warranted in the first place, but that is another issue altogether). Whatever the crowds' reaction, it is clear that Black is on the way out and Strong, for now, seems to be in play as the man to take the title.


=Jay & Mark Briscoe, Adam Cole and Mike Bennett=

There was some good news this week for ROH in terms of their roster stability. Long-time ROH talents Jay & Mark Briscoe have re-upped and will continue to wrestle for ROH. The Briscoes have been constants in the tag division for years, with both appearing on the first ROH show ever in 2002 (Jay wrestled and Mark was at ringside in support). The Briscoes' six tag team title runs in ROH is a record that only stands to grow with time, thanks to the new contract. Most recently The Briscoes have engaged in a long war against The Kings of Wrestling, having dropped the belts to them in April and continuing to fight against them in marquee title bouts up and down the tour circuit.

ROH also announced signing Adam Cole (who they had under contract for a few weeks already but made it official this week). Cole is a young talent who has begun to make a name for himself over the last few years, first in CZW and more recently in EVOLVE. Cole will wrestle for CHIKARA in their Young Lions Cup tournament this weekend against Kyle O'Reilly. ROH also signed Mike Bennett to a contract. ROH fans will most likely recognize Bennett from ROH pre-shows as well as a fabled main show appearance in January 2008 (Proving Ground) when "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney slotted Bennett in as a tomato-can against Daniel Puder.

Both wrestlers have been under-exposed in ROH and thus they are mostly blank canvases to the fans and can be used in any number of different ways. Their signings do indicate that ROH is looking to sign and develop a new crop of younger independent wrestlers in order to strengthen the overall roster in the coming year. This is a long haul strategy and one that while taking more time has proven dividends in the past.


=Rasche Brown=

One of the bigger wrestlers on the ROH roster in terms of size and height, "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown abruptly quit ROH mid-week after disagreements with the ROH office. Seen as a Pearce guy and someone who might have been expected to leave after Pearce was fired, Brown was also someone who stood out from the roster as a big-man bruiser with a slightly wacky and off-kilter persona. He did not have the "workrate" that some hardcore ROH fans highly prize but he was surprisingly mobile and agile for a man his size and there was a load of potential for him to do great things in the company. I actually thought he had a Samoa Joe or Mick Foley-like potential to get over in that he was someone who looked unique and could have parlayed that into becoming very popular with the fans because of that difference.

The story is that Brown missed the flight to the HDNet tapings this weekend after vacationing with his family and ended up not appearing as advertised for these shows. Failing to make bookings is viewed as a serious misstep in wrestling etiquette. He offered to wrestle on this weekend's shows as a make good but the offer was declined and he was pulled from the September 10th and 11th shows. Brown viewed this action as ROH trying to make an example of him in this new post-Pearce era and he quit, citing he would not be used or taken advantage of and he was his own man.

Brown also claimed on a radio interview that he had suffered through Post-Concussion Syndrome for the last nine months and continued to wrestle through it, which is hardly the wisest choice given all of the research and media exposure surrounding concussions and the research done by Chris Nowinski's Sports Legacy Institute.

In his near one-year stay with the promotion Brown was mostly slotted in squash matches on television. He had recently been moved into a feud against The Embassy, teaming with Dark City Fight Club against Stevens, Butcher, Daivari and others in that group. Brown's departure leaves the angle in somewhat of a lurch and it is clear some refiguring will have to be done. It's unfortunate that feuding against The Embassy has earned the reputation of the place where careers go to die in ROH, because Prince Nana's stable is a great idea that just has fallen flat and mundane. One of the major new tasks in this new booking era seems to be to try to get The Embassy back on track, but there is a long road to go on that one.


=ROH on HDNet Tapings=

You can read about all of the happenings at the Friday August 20th, 2010 and Saturday August 21st, 2010 tapings. Here's a summary of some of the major events on both nights (spoilers ahead):

The Delirious and Austin Aries feud reached a finale with Delirious winning the cage match but Aries and his men winning the war. The All-Night Express entered the cage after the match and attacked Delirious, injuring him with a Spike Piledriver. That was an attack that will likely write-out Delirious for some time as he begins his booking run while also boosting King and Titus' rep. This would be the second man they took out with that move, the first being Lynn (who himself is out of action right now with a back injury).

Christopher Daniels and Roderick Strong continued a slowly developing rivalry that began last month when they teamed and lost to the American Wolves and Strong blamed Daniels for not backing him up. The House of Truth went over on Daniels & The Briscoes on the first night of tapings but Daniels went over Strong on the second night. Meanwhile The Briscoes lost another tag title attempt against The Kings of Wrestling.

The Generi-COLT versus Steen & Corino issues continue with the return of a Pick Your Poison series, with Corino and Steen refusing to fight each other and deciding to "quit" the company. However, they were back the next night to wrestle the steel cage match and winning with the use of a fork.

The second night of tapings ROH ran what will be a show-long angle that will likely be Tyler Black's swansong with the company. He and Davey Richards had a backstage altercation, with Richards later demanding one more match against him, that he would pay for out of his own pocket. Richards eventually defeated him with the Texas Cloverleaf. Meanwhile, Richards' tag partner Eddie Edwards was challenged to elevate his "Ten Minute Hunt" by Jim Cornette against some more reputable opponents including Kenny King and Rhett Titus. This could lead to a mini feud of The All-Night Express against The Wolves, at least for television. There was also definitive progression on the Wolves and Hagadorn split, with Richards attacking Hagadorn on the second night of tapings and The Kings of Wrestling coming out and beating Richards up as a result.

Other notes on the tapings included Erick Stevens using the Ghanarea to drive The Embassy towards victory, fueling some speculation that Jimmy Rave (who used that move as his finisher during his last run in 2009) would return at some point to feud against him (just a rumor and far from confirmed),

Something you'll notice about these tapings (the first with Delirious in charge) is that the finishes are mostly cleaner, and there were actually no disqualifications or count-outs. Not one. That is a far cry from previous tapings where there would be at least one DQ or interference finish per episode. As well, there are no real "jobber" matches filmed for the shows, although Rachel Summerlynn and The Super Smash Brothers went under in their appearances, so there are at least some talents being brought in to go under the established ROH roster.

There were no pre-show matches due to the steel cage being set up and needed to be taken down, but the talent who they have used in squash matches or pre-shows were spliced in between the feature matches without the cameras running. This is actually a better way to incorporate the wrestlers, because it gives the fans some exposure to potential new featured talent without unconsciously or directly informing them they will be jobbers and squash victims and thus not important or shouldn't be taken seriously. It actually reinforces the opposite viewpoint.

These shows featured more impressive matches, higher stakes in terms of stipulations and contention for titles and overall did it in a way to generate progress in programs without giving everything away. This makes me really pleased, because I have long argued for more action and cleaner finishes on the television shows. It is possible not to give away the farm in building programs for major shows, but it is okay give away a cow or a horse along the way. ROH fans have always appreciated great matches and marquee bouts and this set of tapings provided plenty of them. Here's hoping the trend continues under the new booking regime.

---

As of 08/28/10


=ROH World Champion=
Tyler Black

Champion since 02/13/2010 | 7 successful defenses
8th Anniversary Show defeated Austin Aries in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Roderick Strong (New York, NY on 09/11/10)


--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 04/03/2010 | 3 successful defenses
The Big Bang defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe 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
-- Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in Philadelphia, PA on 8/21/10




=ROH Television Champion=
Eddie Edwards

Champion since 03/05/2010 | 2 successful defenses
ROH on HDNet defeated Davey Richards (tournament final) in Philadelphia, PA to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. TBD via Ten Minute Hunt Challenge


--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: 08/27/10


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

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Other quick news hits from the world of Honor:

-ROH announced it would return to The Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday, December 9th and Friday, December 10th. These shows look to be television tapings for the HDNet program, which would mean that for the first time in the two-year history of the promotion they would take place somewhere else besides Philadelphia, PA. Cornette has restored his ties to OVW and the folks who run the Arena, so it makes sense that he would bring in the tapings to Kentuckiana. Since The Davis Arena is already ready for television tapings, it makes sense for this to be the first location outside of Philadelphia to host them. While the December shows will be tapings in Louisville, the next set of tapings will take place on October 1st and 2nd in Philadelphia.

-The debut of the so-called super secret Florida promotion run by the Wilpons has been pushed back until January 2011, thus meaning any prospective changes to the ROH roster because of that organization won't go into effect just yet, if ever. It seems that more and more this is a fly-by-night prospective organization that won't come to pass or won't be nearly as impactful as would be hoped.

-The stipulations for the "Tag Wars 2010" Ultimate Endurance finale for August 28th in Charlotte, North Carolina has been set and announced. The first fall will be Four Corner Survival rules, with two men in the ring and tags required. In other words, this is a standard fall, which is very disappointing and highly suspicious considering I doubt fans were voting for a standard, no stipulation first fall. The second fall will be under Tornado Rules, with all men allowed in the ring at the same time. The final fall for the ROH World Title will be under Scramble Tag rules, which work like a lucha tag rule where no hand-touches are required to exchange the legal man in the ring.

-Call me crazy, call me nuts, but with The Dudleyz / Team 3-D's contract ending with TNA (as they head into renegotiations) I would actually love to see them jump into ROH for a one-shot appearance, perhaps even as a shocker on Glory By Honor IX. The Briscoes versus Team 3-D is a dream match pitting one generation's tough guy brawling team against another. It is screaming to be done at least once…and this could be the rare opportunity for it to happen. That or maybe against Dark City Fight Club, but I'd want them against The Briscoes first.

-ROH has delayed the shipping of their Bluegrass Brawl DVD event after being dissatisfied with the video quality and transfer issues. Their news statement reads: We received the finished DVD product yesterday and were not happy with how it turned out. To make a long story short, the OVW crew filmed the show but there was an issue transferring the footage from the format they gave us. We are in the process of exploring different options and will hopefully have an update by the middle of next week. If you have preordered the DVD and would like to exchange it for another title which is currently in stock please email us at [e-mail] and we can get your order in the mail right away. Please include your name and order number (if you have it). We apologize for the inconvenience. After all of the backlash surrounding the quality of the Death Before Dishonor VIII DVD, this was the right call to make. It's time for ROH to get their stuff together as far as video production and DVD quality goes because as it is they are already being lapped by CHIKARA, PWG and even nowadays DGUSA and EVOLVE (which have made some big strides in their recent DVDs after what I thought were some rougher first efforts).


Just When You Think You Have All the Answers...

Here's something new I'll do from time to time in the column--take some of the questions up for discussion on the ROH forum and provide you with my own take These questions were available on the first page of the ROH board on Tuesday, August 24th, 2010.


1. How Would You Book Homicide's Return?

Well given that Homicide is a New Yorker through-and-through…and I'm a New Yorker through-and-through…and Ring of Honor is coming to New York in a few weeks for their Glory By Honor IX show, Homicide should obviously make his debut in Los Angeles this January during the Wrestle Reunion event. Hah, kidding. Of course, it makes perfect sense that Homicide makes his Ring of Honor return on September 11th and it is already known that he will be in the area, since he has been just booked for EVOLVE in Rahway earlier in the evening. It shouldn't be too difficult to come on over to New York City and electrify the crowd by announcing his official return to Ring of Honor.

So Homicide needs to come roaring right into the thick of things, announcing his desire to fight for and regain the ROH World Title. Of course, not-so-fast, because ROH has the Pick 6 list installed and he needs to qualify in order to get have a chance at fighting for the title. IF Strong wins the title that leaves a hole in the Pick 6 that needs to be filled. This could lead to a match against someone who could use the rub from a high-profile bout against Homicide, such as Kenny King, who could challenge Homicide and provoke him into a fight. That would begin a nice mini-feud against King and then perhaps later Austin Aries, where Homicide would make it into the Pick 6 and then challenge for the ROH World Title at the Ninth Anniversary Show in New York in early 2011. You could go straight for the match against Strong at Final Battle 2010, but hopefully if Homicide returns to ROH it would be for an extended run where you could give a nice (but not overly long) progression to get to the title match.

There is also the obvious history to play with in regards to Homicide's relationship with current HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette, who tried to stop Homicide's road to his first championship. However, I really wouldn't want to have Cornette go postal heel again, because it has been done before and probably doesn't best serve Cornette's figurehead role in ROH right now. I'd have Cornette make peace with Homicide (at least for the first half-year of this return), and have Aries or King harp on the fact that Homicide is now "Cornette's Boy", for whatever that is worth to add to a prospective feud between them.

2. Your Favorite Ultimate Endurance Match?

I actually prefer the first-ever Ultimate Endurance at World Title Classic (May 2004).Even though it may not be the "best" match of its type, it's certainly the one that set the bar and had some very nice moments of brawling and action throughout involving Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer against the Second City Saints.

3. Should ROH Try to Do Wide Releases Again?

Ring of Honor released a set of four-"best of" DVDs through Koch in 2007, selling these DVDs through Best Buy, FYE and other retail outlets. They helped to expand the "brand name" of the promotion to the regular public. These DVDs featured matches and wrestlers both from ROH's past that has "made it" to TNA and WWE (such as Samoa Joe and CM Punk) and the present roster at that particular time. While it was a good decision to bring ROH to a place where the masses could find the DVD as they were browsing, they were just as easily lost amid a massive catalogue of wrestling DVDs, both from the mainstream and by other independent promotions. The best points about the DVDs were the professional packaging and usage of Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard to introduce the series of matches at the beginning of each show.

I feel that ROH should try to produce some mainstream DVDs again, but perhaps it would be wiser to ship out copies of the "Best of ROH on HDNet" series as well. Releasing the best-ofs for the show to the retailers will help spread awareness that the HDNet show exists and is there as another viewing option for professional wrestling on television. There is no doubt that the retailer market has weakened due to the recession and the advancement of digital technology (there used to be several FYE-like shops in my neighborhood and now there are none), but this is at least another option for ROH to pursue and explore, in addition to putting episodes and shows up for sale through iTunes and other digital outlets.

---

Kings Highway & Selected Poems, an e-book of original poetry and photographs is now available through AriBerenstein.com and the "BUY NOW" button directly below (you don't need to have a PayPal account to purchase).The e-book is twenty-eight original poems (34 pages total) in a .pdf format, for $7.50.

-With PayPal Account: After signing in and completing the purchase, you will be returned to ariberenstein.com to the download page. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours with a password for the download page. Enter the code and you will be able to open and download (right click, save as) the file (.pdf format).

-Pay with the Credit Card Option: After entering your information (DON'T FORGET YOU MUST INCLUDE AN ACCURATE EMAIL ADDRESS), you will be taken to the receipt page where PayPal gives you the chance to print out a receipt. This is a legal requirement. After that, you must click on the "Return to Merchant" link in order to return to the site. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours with a password and link to the download page. Enter the code and you will be able to open or download (right click, save as) the file (.pdf format).

The poems explore the life and scenery in Brooklyn and Manhattan, from the famous Times Square to the Kings Highway train station. The route is homeward bound to the neighborhood of Old Mill Basin in Brooklyn, from childhood to adult life and back. The poems range from dramatic verbiage to light-hearted humor, but they all represent my experience in the city I love and call home. Sample poems from that e-book are already available for free on my website. More information can be found on the purchase page, which will go live on Monday. Thanks in advance for your support!




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 next three editions of Column of Honor: Reborn (covering the August 2005 events and James Gibson's ROH World Title run) are now available through this link, including August 13th, 2005 Reborn (with a BRAND NEW addendum to my article on Gibson), August 20th, 2005 Reborn and August 27th, 2005 Reborn.


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.


Meanwhile:

My In Media Res article through Georgia State University discussing the MSG Curtain Call ran last week and can be found through this link.

This week's 411 Buy or Sell is myself and Kevin Ford discussing ROH and CHIKARA—check it out!

Aaron Hubbard writes the 4R's of ROH on HDNet for last week's episode featuring Richards vs. Strong. Hubbard also did a review of Final Battle 2008 a few weeks back, so I wanted to be sure to plug that as well.

Steve Cook gives us a two-fer in his news coverage and tackles some of the same territory I went through in this week's edition, but with more pretty pictures of pretty women. For another take on the changes in ROH, read his Tuesday Report and his regular Wednesday Slot.



Thanks everyone for reading and I'll be back next week with results and news from tonight's ROH show in Charlotte.

BROOKLYN!
--Ari--