Column of Honor: 11.13.10: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 11.13.2010

Roderick Strong will work to prove he is fit to be Ring of Honor champion. A “Night of Champions” Preview with Strong vs. Daniels and all three ROH titles on the line. Plus: all of the ROH news and thoughts about Tag Wars 2010.


Welcome to the Column. If you haven't read last week's edition of the column with my Survival of the Fittest Tournament preview then you can check them out here and here, IMPROVED with all of the videos done by the participants to hype their participation. Of course, this week's edition is published a mere hours after the tournament has concluded, but you can still enjoy all of the fun and kayfabe-friendly analysis and CHARTS! Also, the rest of the 411Mania staff contributed their picks in this week's 411 Buy or Sell, so you can click that link to see how wrong or right they all were.

It appears that Eddie Edwards has won this year's Survival of the Fittest tournament, although according to a tweet from Chris Hero (who Edwards eliminated earlier in the night) he did it with a dislocated / fractured shoulder. Claudio dominated the first three elimination of the finals, then Edwards helped King to eliminate Claudio and Edwards made King tap out to the Achilles Lock. I'll have a more in-depth commentary on the tournament results in next week's column.





=Stronger=





All of the doubt. All of the naysayers. All of the second-guessing. Roderick Strong has become ROH World champion and right from the moment that belt was placed around his waist he's had the world around him questioning when he was going to lose it. Now, as he approaches his first-ever title defense of his title this weekend in Mississauga, Ontario Canada, it's time for him to prove wrong the doubters, the naysayers, the second-guessers. It's his moment in the main event spotlight and there is no doubt he is going to do his best to live up to that billing, for himself and for the sake of a burgeoning championship run that everyone else seems to believe will be over before it even truly begins.

Roderick Strong had been scratching and clawing and working for the last five years to attain this measure of greatness, the ROH World Championship. He knocked on the door to glory but never was able to walk on through, until defeating Tyler Black at Glory By Honor IX this past September.

To make matters worse, all the triumph and the glory of the championship victory was stripped from him just one minute after winning the gold belt. The return of "The Notorious 187" Homicide to Ring of Honor interrupted his moment, the one he had been working for all of his life. It was the disruption and desecration of the sanctity of the post-match celebration, which had been the tradition of all past ROH World Champions.

Homicide had perhaps the loudest and longest such celebration four years ago right there at the Hammerstein Ballroom when he defeated Bryan Danielson for the title. It's been long enough for Strong to have thought long and hard about the gall of this man to interrupt him when it was all supposed to be about Roderick Strong and the gall of the fans to go along with it, chanting for Homicide's return to his hometown and Ring of Honor. It's about as big of an insult as one can receive.

Furthermore, the talking from doubters in the wake of Glory By Honor IX could not be silenced. He wouldn't have won the ROH World Title if Tyler Black hadn't signed with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was just going to be a transitional champion until the next big thing in Ring of Honor emerged and took it from him.

The questioning, the prodding, the criticisms, the scoffing. What does Roderick Strong do for the ROH championship? He couldn't possibly live up to the prestige and lineage of past champions. Samoa Joe. Nigel McGuinness. Bryan Danielson. CM Punk. Austin Aries. Low-Ki. James Gibson. Takeshi Morishima. Homicide. And even though he's proven to be better than him in that ring, Tyler Black. Even Xavier, who many believe was the weakest champion out of all previous winners, held onto that belt from September 2002 through March 2003-seven months of defenses and winning against the top challengers, by hook or by crook. They all worked hard to make that championship worth something to the fans and to the wrestling media. What could Roderick Strong add to that effort?

The answer to all of that comes in the form of what Strong has been doing these past six weeks away from Ring of Honor events. Strong just finished a tour in Japan, teaming up with ROH TV Champion Eddie Edwards. Together they proved to be a winning combination, going all the way to the finals of the NTV Cup Junior Tag League tournament. The fans in Japan were screaming for Strong, for Edwards and for Ring of Honor. Strong is now "The Man". He is in demand. He is the representative of Ring of Honor, no matter who likes it or not. He is the champion and he is the promotion until someone takes that title away from him.

Still they knock him down; they beat him up with all of the lines from the past: the negative blasts he's put down and proven wrong before. He doesn't have the promo ability. He doesn't have the presence. He's too short. He's too lean. He's too plain.

Roderick Strong has heard those criticisms. He's met them head on and he has worked hard to improve himself over the past five years, but especially these last few. There are no more confidence issues surrounding promos, no more hesitation in what he says or how he says it. He has the championship look, with fancy suits and a squadron of supporters known as The House of Truth and his life coach Truth Martini. He has worked on his physique and his look. He now has that "total package" and it's up to everyone else to move past their preconceived notions of "Roderick Strong" and look at what he is now and in the present.

At the end of the day though, Strong still does most of his talking when the bell rings. He tears chests up with chops. He breaks backs in two with his backbreakers—the knee smashing into spine and lower back area of his opponents. He tortures with his Stronghold submission. He knocks people out with the sickest kick known to humanity, running at high velocity and crunching jaws, noses and foreheads in the process. The bottom line for Roderick Strong and the ultimate equalizer towards silencing all of the criticism is that when it comes down to it he gets the job done in the ring.

He no longer has to worry about the backstage suits like Jim Cornette holding him down and screwing him over. He has Truth Martini to look after all of that. Now as champion, ROH executives must come to him and instead of passing him over, he is the one that dictates the pace and process of the singles division. Anyone who wants the belt has to go through him and that is the truth of the matter in Ring of Honor these days.

The second-guessers continue even now, through this weekend, when Strong puts the title on the line against Christopher Daniels. If it's not Daniels, then it will be just a matter of time before Davey Richards becomes the champion or if not him then Homicide.

Strong knows the deal. He's heard it all before and it's nothing new. All the critics, they provide fuel to the fire. They give Strong all of the motivation he needs to push himself onwards. They can tell him he's not going to make it, but he's already made it to the top of the promotion. They can tell him he's only going to be a temporary champion, but he believes in himself and he believes he is the strongest.

He has been Survival of the Fittest champion. He has been a former ROH World Tag Team Champion. Now he is ROH World Champion. He knows what to do with the negativity: Win. It's time for him to go to work: harder, better, faster, stronger.

---

=Night of the Champions Match-by-Match Preview: November 13th, 2010 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada=

International Centre
6900 Airport Rd
Hall 4a
Mississauga ON. L4V 1E8
Belltime- 7:30 PM

ROH World Title Match-Roderick Strong defends vs. Christopher Daniels

This will be the new champion's first title defense of his title reign and he goes against Daniels, who has been positioned as a top contender. There is familiarity between the two men by this point, as the whole program began with Daniels and Strong teaming up against The American Wolves. When Strong lost that match and took the pinfall, he blamed Daniels for not being there for him during the match when it counted. The two men fought several times on HDNet, with Strong pinning Daniels during a six-man tag bout with some distraction from Truth Martini. Daniels returned the favor and defeated Strong via pinfall on a recent edition of ROH on HDNet, using Truth Martini's involvement against the champ.

The big issue with this bout is the predictability factor—on the surface, this match seems almost a sure-fire defense. The HDNet program has focused on Strong as champion and the advertisement push is towards Final Battle 2010 where the winner of this bout takes on Davey Richards for the title. Daniels has done an commendable job in promos, making the case that he could unseat Strong during this bout and take the title to the December showdown against Richards, which would be a rematch for him of their Chicago match which he ended up on the losing end. Is it possible that the booking pulls a quick switch, and Daniels takes the title here? Or could an indecisive finish lead to Daniels being inserted into the main event of Final Battle? Yes, those scenarios are possible. It would be a huge shock to see Strong lose on his first title defense (never been done before in ROH history) and it would make sense to insert Daniels into the main event picture for the final ROH show of 2010. When it comes right down to it though, I don't think it will happen.

World Tag Team Title Match-The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) with Shane Hagadorn defend vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino

This is another sort of "intermediate" title defense for The Kings of Wrestling, as the clear number one program for them is still with The Briscoes (and there have been plenty of hints that after that they will once again do battle with Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). This is also a heel versus heel bout, which has actually occurred relatively often this past year. I'm not complaining mind you, as not only does booking these kinds of matches provide some interesting moments in the ring, but it also gives something different to the paying customer which they might not see normally. I can't wait to see how each man tries to one-up the other both physically in the ring and with mind games and manipulations. Hero and Claudio bring the physical edge with harder hits, but Steen and Corino may actually be more cruel and vindictive than the usually remorseless Kings. However, like the ROH World Title match, there is a superior title battle that awaits the champions and the challengers will be preoccupied with other issues (namely Steen's final encounter against El Generico in New York City). That likely precludes the possibility of a title switch on this night in Mississauga.

World TV Title Match-Eddie Edwards defends vs. El Generico

Eddie Edwards has held the TV Title for eight months now and although title defenses were rare in the beginning, Edwards has begun to defend the title with more frequency as of late. These are competitive bouts, but ultimately Edwards proves his wrestling supremacy by tapping out his challengers to the Achilles Lock. However, considering the three title matches, I believe it is this one that has the best chance of seeing a title change. Generico is in home territory and it would be a great feel-good moment if he manages to unseat the longstanding champion in that venue. The one jinx in that situation is the ongoing feud against Kevin Steen and I could see him getting involved in this bout to prevent Generico's win (and vice versa). Nonetheless, this one could be the dark horse best match of the show since I expect the fans to be supportive of both men and get right into the action.

Grudge Match-Jay Briscoe vs. Homicide

The Briscoes and Rottweillers have longstanding history going back to when Homicide, Low Ki and The Havana Pitbulls attacked The Briscoes in 2004. Homicide has thrown fireballs at them, put them through tables and caused all sorts of havoc against them. On the other hand, The Briscoes are far from innocent victims, because they were a huge thorn in ‘Cide's side on the road to his ROH World Title win in 2006 when they sided with Jim Cornette against him. So it didn't take too long for those bad feelings to resurface when Jay Briscoe came out to get his hands on Kenny King and Rhett Titus after Homicide's match against King in Chicago. Expect this one to be an out-and-out fight.

Tag Team Rematch From Chicago-The All Night Express vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole

The ANX are more serious and concerted in their efforts to dominate the tag team division. They have already called out The Kings of Wrestling in the latest ROH Videowire as to why they haven't received their title shot. However, before they can get to new business, they must deal with a little bit of old: a rematch against the young but promising team of O'Reilly and Cole. The ANX defeated them back in Chicago, but expect the underdog team to give even more effort this time in trying to win. They need their foot in the door in the tag division to eventually challenge The Kings as well.

Trial Series- Match #4-Andy "Right Leg" Ridge vs. Mark Briscoe

The other half of the Battling Briscoe Brothers will test out ROH student Andy Ridge in the fourth trial series for the youngster. Mark knows how to put on a whupping and has both high-speed and high-powered offense like the spinning heel kick, the exploder suplex and the Springboard Ace Crusher. Andy has…his right leg. Ridge has shown plenty of fighting spirit in his other trial series bouts though, so maybe he has learned enough to pull out the upset win.

Women of Honor Match-Sara Del Rey with Shane Hagadorn vs. Jamillia Craft

Just added late to the card is a women's match featuring ROH and SHIMMER mainstay and all around one-tough cookie Sara Del Rey. She has been blasting through anyone in her path on HDNet and has demanded more competition. Jamillia Craft is a rookie but at the young age of eighteen is advanced well beyond her years in terms of wrestling ability and ring awareness. She may get in more offense than one would expect, but ultimately should meet her demise at the hands of the dominant Queen of Wrestling in Ring of Honor.

Also scheduled to appear:
- Colt Cabana
- Grizzly Redwood
- The House of Truth with Truth Martini

---

As of 011/12/10


=ROH World Champion=
Roderick Strong

Champion since 09/11/2010 | - successful defenses (NEW CHAMPION)
Glory By Honor IX defeated Tyler Black in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Christopher Daniels in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on 11/13/10.



=ROH World Tag Team Champions=
The Kings of Wrestling: Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli

Champions since 04/03/2010 | 6 successful defenses
The Big Bang defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in Charlotte, NC to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Kevin Steen & Steven Corino in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on 11/13/10.


--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
--Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe, The All-Night Express and Dark City Fight Club in Ultimate Endurance in Charlotte, NC on 08/28/10
--Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated El Generico & Colt Cabana in Plymouth, MA on 09/10/10
--Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli defeated Christopher Daniels & Davey Richards in Dayton, OH on 10/15/10




=ROH Television Champion=
Eddie Edwards

Champion since 03/05/2010 | 8 successful defenses
ROH on HDNet defeated Davey Richards (tournament final) in Philadelphia, PA to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. El Generico in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada on 11/13/10.


--Eddie Edwards defeated Colt Cabana in Philadelphia, PA on 3/6/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Petey Williams in Mississauga, Ontario on 3/20/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Kenny King in Philadelphia, PA on 8/20/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Rhett Titus in Philadelphia, PA on 8/21/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Erick Stevens in Plymouth, MA on 9/10/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Shawn Daivari in New York, NY on 9/11/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated The Necro Butcher in Philadelphia, PA on 10/1/10
--Eddie Edwards defeated Colt Cabana in Philadelphia, PA on 10/2/10

---

Some ROH new bits for this week:

-Pro Wrestling NOAH Commissioner and former all-time legendary referee Joe Higuchi passed away at the age of 81 due to cancer. Higuchi was a former professional wrestler in the 50's who became a referee in Japan and oftentimes here in North America as well. In the past decade Higuchi served as the "commissioner" of the GHC Title committees. He would present the title belts during any title match and read a proclamation to make these matches official before the bell rang. He did that very thing in several GHC matches on Ring of Honor events throughout the past several years. He was also honored for his career at Glory By Honor VI Night 2 in New York City by Ring of Honor officials including Cary Silkin as well as Hall of Fame wrestler Harley Race in October of 2007. My condolences to his family and friends on their loss.

-Davey Richards is in Japan this week, fighting in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Super J Tag League Tournament. He is teaming up with Rocky Romero on this tour, which is interesting to ROH fans because those two teamed up as part of the No Remorse Corps stable and were actually ROH World Tag Team Champions back in 2008. Does an international reunion have the potential to return on North American shore? I'd doubt it, as Richards is way past the NRC era here and his new pack with Eddie Edwards has flourished since then. I'd actually rather see them go one-on-one in any ROH return bout.

-The ROH World Tag Team Champions Kings of Wrestling are also doing their own international touring as of late. Last week they had a huge stay in Peru of all places. They actually held some press conferences and made an appearance on Peru television for some sort of wacky variety show. They did that in order to promote ROH and their appearance in a Peru wrestling promotion. Apparently they impressed the hosts of the program quite a bit both with their physical appearance as well as their appreciation for coffee and Hero's rapping prowess. You can check out that appearance through the YouTube video links below:





The Kings continue their International Supremacy next month when they return to Japan. They will participate in Pro Wrestling NOAH's Winter Navigation 2010 Tour from November 19th through December 5th. That means they will miss no ROH shows during this time frame. On December 5th they will attempt to win the GHC Tag Titles when they wrestle against champions Takuma Sano and Yoshirio Takiyama.

-I already posted this to my Survival of the Fittest Preview column, but I thought I would place it again here for anyone who didn't see it. This is a new video from Rhett Titus which gives us a look at the new "serious" side of his character:



I tell you what, I like it. It's a more edgy and contemporary take on his personality than ever done before and most of all, it fits him like a glove. It also forces you to take seriously the guy who wore the bowtie. It only takes one promo to turn one's head about someone's potential future development and I think this is the one for Titus. Not to say that he hasn't developed some creative skits and promos before (if you search YouTube you'll find them, some of which let's just say are not "PG"), but this is the first real hint that Titus can elevate himself to that kind of level.

-It looks as if Christian Able will not be appearing this weekend, due to injury. The November 11th ROH newswire notes the following: - Truth Martini has sent word to the ROH offices that Christian Able has suffered a severe injury and will not be able to compete this weekend in Dearborn and Mississauga. Martini informed us weeks ago that a brand new HoT official member would debut this weekend. Truth stated this was a man who passed the recruiting test with "flying colors" and could recite the Book of Truth from memory. Martini has stated that not only will the brand new member debut but taking Able's spot will be a recruit looking to make the cut in the House Of Truth. "This is a man who has listened to my words for quite a long time. He has changed his ways and I will allow him the opportunity to compete with the best. But if he fails, then he will fail hard." Martini was quoted as saying.

Craptastic news as far as I'm concerned, as with Josh Raymond's retirement this knocks out the original House of Truth, at least for the short term. Hopefully Able will be able to recover well and return to action.

-You can catch highlights from an interview with Eddie Edwards through this link.

-New merchandise for this weekend's shows according to the newswire will include a brand-new Homicide shirt as well as one for the All-Night Express (please say "all night long" on them, please, please, please) and some new Kings of Wrestling hoodies, skull caps and baseball hats. Happy purchasing!





= Tag Wars 2010 DVD Thoughts=


This is August 28th, 2010 from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Erick Stevens vs. El Generico starts off the show. Prince Nana is off and running right away with some "woos" in Ric Flair country. El Generico also provides a bit of homage to Flair with the Fargo strut in between some chops on Stevens early in the match. I like that Nana has been more physically involved over the last few months, getting in punches and kicks as cheap shots where he can, and he does here and in the Necro Butcher match later on the show. Meanwhile Stevens ends up having one of his best matches in months, but it also helps that his opponent is Generico, who does a great job against anyone but especially when he can include the big vs. small dynamic in his matches.

In a funny and immediately ironic moment Kevin Kelly talks on commentary about how ROH officials expect a lot out of Stevens and think he can go far in the promotion in the near future. Meanwhile as of right now he is on "hiatus". Good one.

Stevens throws around Generico with some very well executed suplexes and Generico is thrown with spring and height every time out. However, Stevens takes too long in building up for the "Choo Choo" running corner smash and Generico is able to recover. He intercepts Stevens with the Ole kick and right into the brainbuster for the three-count. Nana is aghast and is complaining to Bobby Cruise and then to Cary on the outside.

Now normally, red flags might pop up when looking at the next two matches "on paper". Steve Corino vs. Bobby Dempsey and Necro Butcher vs. Grizzly Redwood are not pairings that scream "must-buy" given ROH's overall reputation. However, give these matches a chance and they might surprise you as far as being solid, better than expected undercard bouts that actually help to add to the card. I know my initial thought would have been to skip these matches, but both ended up being worth the time to sit down and watch them.

Corino is obviously not a one-hundred mile an hour wrestler (but then again he never was), but he doesn't dog this match either. He fights with Bobby and they exchange chops, punches and closelines. His best traits in this match are his verbal skills, working the crowd with free-flying retorts to their insults (many of them involve him telling them how much he is a legend, which always upsets the fans) and reacting to some surprising offense from Bobby by begging off and showing frustration. When Bobby punches him and that forces Corino to the outside he tells exasperatedly to a fan "how would you like to get punched in the face by a fat guy?" He mixes just enough comedy as a cowardly heel and gives Bobby a good deal of offense to where an obvious squash match actually becomes more competitive and more entertaining that initially expected.

Still, Corino maintains his cunning heel smarts and uses Bobby's mass to knock the referee down. He then grabs the chain he brought to ringside (still preparing for the double chain match that happened at Glory By Honor IX). Bobby ducks a punch and lifts Corino into a Death Valley Driver, but Corino hits him on the top of his head, knocking him down and right in position for the Sliding C / Emerald Dream for the three-count. Corino is sure to grab the chain and take it to the back before the referee sees it. Again, this match was a pleasant surprise and worth the view.

Then Grizzly Redwood cuts what is probably the promo of his ROH career—totally serious and with an earnest believability. He claims to have suffered pain and stitches in three hospital trips because of The Embassy, but even though Necro (and I think the unstated target might be the ROH audience) looks at him as a "novelty act", that he is here to fight. In fact, Necro does look at Grizzly and laugh him off at the beginning, but even so Grizzly has a more determined and concentrated demeanor as he walks to the ring. His focus doesn't necessarily pull in crowd support (at least not at first) as the few fan shouts are for Necro and for the oohs and ahhs of seeing Grizzly get picked apart.

Of course, Necro inflicts plenty more pain on Grizzly, dominating in what is actually a very fun and engaging brawl around ringside. Grizz is thrown through several barricades, moving and bending them as well. It is noted this is a rare example of two wrestlers fighting against each other barefoot. Necro plants him in the ring with his chokeslam, but Grizzly fights back. He pulls off an amazing jumping sunset flip powerbomb to the outside. That was quite the move and Necro took a huge splat on the floor, direct hit. The crowd is now way into Grizzly. Someone tries to give him a chair, but he asks for a trashcan and flies it right into Necro's head. Grizzly tries to keep it going but Necro soon after gets his Tiger Driver and the pinfall. Still, a solid bout where both men looked better than they have in months and demonstrating that even though Grizzly is one of the smallest members of the ROH roster there are moments and places where he can be very effective as an underdog.

The solidly wrestled and fun matches continue with Colt Cabana vs. ROH Television Champion Eddie Edwards in non-title action. The title is not on the line, because…well, until about two months ago the booking of the TV division has sucked is why. A lot of Cabana's comedy matches haven't sat well with me this year, but this one just clicks right away. They follow the Cabana match formula of doing much of the comedy in the first half and getting serious leading to the finish, but everything is well paced and executed so that it comes across as a natural progression and actually quite the competitive bout.

Cabana is on top of his comedy game, and it's not as the bully act that he has gotten caught up in during squash matches on HDNet. It's more of the old school tweaking that he used against Nigel McGuinness in 2005. It also helps that the crowd responds well to his actions, but also that Edwards reciprocates. The one point that stands out is early on when Cabana backs Edwards up in the corner and asks for a clean break. Edwards touches Colt on the nose. Colt backs up, with this weirded-out look on his face and some of the crowd catches on, chanting "That Was Weird." Since Edwards is normally very straight-laced, his few subtle moments of fighting fire with fire are more pronounced and effective in the give-and-take of the mind games.

Cabana and Paul Turner also have some fun interplay here in the beginning with the "enforcement" of the Code of Honor and then when Cabana feigns an attempt to kiss Turner as a point of distraction of the match. Then Colt gives a point to Paul and then a point to the back as if to say "we'll save that for later." Paul gives him the point back. That was very clever. However, I could do without Colt trapping Edwards so that his mouth is near Edwards' groin and then pretending to give fellatio to him. That's…a bit excessive for a wrestling match. I think I could go the rest of my life without seeing that again.

Then of course when the action picks up, it's done well and the near falls on roll ups definitely work here to add to the drama of the contest. Whereas sometimes this sort of stuff didn't work as well earlier in the year, again it works in this particular match. Edwards fights back with some now trademark flying kicks and running knee strikes. Cabana tries to time his way into a few position pinning moves and then later hits a well-chained sequence of jabs, bionic elbow and double palm strikes. Cabana's butt-butt gets two.

Cabana actually throws in a few new tricks, including a very interesting downward chinbreaker using a sort of downward force action from his opponent's chest onto the knee. That flows right into a combination Northern Lariat / Stroke move, all in one motion. I like that sequence a lot and hope Cabana adds it into his regular repertoire—it gives him more solid impact moves and that can help with the end of his matches especially if he spends a lot of time early doing the comedy passes and technical sequences. Cabana tries the Flying A**hole but Edwards times it and ducks out of the way, countering right into an awesome bridging O' Connor roll for three.

This is one of the better comedy matches of the year but also a very well wrestled match in its own right. I also have to throw kudos for Cabana's selling of exasperation and disappointment at the loss (right when it seemed he would win)—it's that sort of touch that puts this one over the top and will make me remember it in the months down the line.

This show is rolling along for me and so far so good. I had heard a few troubling comments from Kevin Ford and even a few Twitter respondents about this show, but right now I definitely have to disagree with those assessments. Even the six-man "student" match (The Bravados & Cedric Alexander vs. Jake Manning, Caleb Konley & Marker Dillinger) is pretty damned good and a fine watch. It harkened back to earlier times in ROH when some of the younger guys would have a few minutes to go out there and have a good match and show their stuff. A lot of the times that would happen in scramble style matches, but this becomes a well-built standard tag match that peaks at the end.

The big meme of the bout is that Cedric Alexander keeps trying to hit his flashy athletic flip splashes and jumping kicks but everyone ducks out of the way. He is beat down on for most of the heat but he finally does get to show off his flash. He's pretty solid in the ring, but he looks eerily similar to Kenny King. I mean, give him an extra foot in height and a mustache and he could dress as King for Halloween. No Kevin Ford, that doesn't mean I don't think there shouldn't be more than one athletic black guy on the ROH roster—don't compensate because you live in the Northern South.

This is the first time I have watched Marker Dillinger in the ring. He pretty much stays out of the way and plays a hit-and-run game as a part of the heel team. The one thing that did stand out about him is that he has shiny tights with Tommy guns on them—I have to think this is the missing half that goes with Austin Aries' shiny jacket. He does look somewhat similar to Ernesto Osiris, but I don't think that's a plus.

Once again I come away from this match thinking highly about Caleb Konley—he doesn't do too much but what he does is well-executed, without hesitation and done with confidence. That goes a long way in creating a feeling that you belong on the main roster and I think he's close to if not already there. He has a good look, cool gear (including what I believe is his name spelled out in sign language on the side of his tights) and a raw aura that if built upon along with his sour puss can develop into something akin to a heel Brian Kendrick type of personality. Lots of potential here and I hope he doesn't get overlooked as ROH tries to feature newer talent on future ROH shows.

Since The Bravados are in their hometown area they get to make the hot tag (which receives a nice reaction from the fans), hitting the frog splash, a running double neckbreaker combo and their holding leg enziguiri. The big comeback gains the victory with a pinfall over Konley.

Roderick Strong faces off against Kevin Steen and once again Strong, who is managed by a heel and I believe is actually supposed to be a heel has been matched up against another heel. This is all en route to his title match against ROH World Champion Tyler Black, who himself just turned heel. It's a very unorthodox approach to building Strong to the title, even for Ring of Honor, which hasn't completely shied away from heel vs. heel encounters in the past (even going all the way back to 2003's Group vs. Prophecy feud and 2004's Second City Saints vs. Prophecy issues). It's not that I'm against seeing Strong pitted against Steen or Aries or in tag matches with The House of Truth against Aries and All-Night Express, because given the talent levels of all those wrestlers there have been good to very good matches that have come out of those pairings. In fact, I liked seeing most of those matches (aside from one of the House vs. Aries / ANX matches that fell apart mid-stream). It's just very strange to look back in hindsight at see how this is all adding up on the road towards Strong's first title win.

Truth Martini is noticeably absent from this match, but Steen has Steve Corino in his corner. Charlotte fans chant "Next World Champ", presumably for Strong but Steen takes the credit for it. Steen surprisingly offers a handshake, but Strong refuses, which leaves Steen in a bit of disbelief. A fan accuses Steen of having cooties and Steen shouts back, "the only reason I have cooties is because you're mom gave them to me…and I loved it!" Yup, no one like Kevin Steen right now on the ROH roster.

Would believe that this match actually begins with some technical chain wrestling? Well it does, but when Strong gets the best of that Steen suckers him in with an insincere effort to uphold the code of honor, smashes him with forearms and then brawls with him all the way outside. Steen bites down on Strong, and steals a fan's sign, rips it up and rubs his crotch with it, then throws it back at the fan's face. HEEL. Strong takes that opportunity to throw Steen into the barricade, but Steen recovers and powerbombs Strong on the apron corner.

Strong attempts to get back in the ring but Steen takes out his legs from under him and Strong's knees violent crash down into the apron. That looked hella painful. Steen steals a fan's water bottle, slobbers all over it and returns it. SUPER HEEL. Steen distracts referee Todd Sinclair Corino gets in a cheap shot on Strong's knees. Steen also surfs on Strong's leg. WOW, hang ten and aloha. Every time Strong attempts to fight back, Steen shuts him down.

The fans chant "fuck the fat guy". Steen asks what they were saying and a fan repeats it, so Steen retorts: "Do you want to have intercourse with me? Because I will give you the night of your life!" Corino agrees "it's so true". UBER HEEL. Then back to work on the leg and knee. Steen claims Strong gives up and puts words in Strong's mouth. AWESOME. Corino tells Strong to quit, so he spits at Corino which goes flying all over the place. Steen continues the attack. Steen mocks Flair and the Flair dance, adding "The Nature Boy can suck my b***s." LEGENDARY HEEL. Steen continues to mock Flair with chops and Woos. BEST HEEL EVER. Of course THOU SHALT NOT CHOP RODERICK STRONG and so he gets some of his own, only for Steen to kick Strong down AGAIN.

Crowd chants "Truffle Shuffle" and Steen replies that he doesn't know what that is. This man is a god among men. Strong finally fight back by blocking a suplex and getting a gourdbuster. Strong hits a running dropkick through the ropes on Corino, but gets caught in a Sharpshooter attempt. He pushes off and gets a kick to the knees, a massive enziguiri and a side slam for two. Steen recovers with the Orton apron DDT but Strong reaches the ropes to stop the count. Senton attempt hits knees, but Strong's double knee gutbuster is avoided and floated right into the Sharpshooter!

Corino is up on the apron to distract Sinclair, allowing Steen to grab the chain, but Colt Cabana is out once again to stop the evil doing. He strips Steen of the chain and punches on Steen, but Corino pulls him down and they brawl. In the ensuing chaos Steen low kicks Strong who crumples down to the mat. Steen grabs the chain and wraps it around his fist, prepping to hit Strong, but now El Generico runs down (huge reaction), gets in the ring, ducks UNDER Steen's chain punch and flips OVER Todd Sinclair and onto Steve Corino on the outside. VERY IMPRESSIVE. Strong goes boot to the head, jumping enziguiri, double knee gutbuster, superkick and that takes out Steen for the evening.

That finish could have become an overbooked mess but it was perfectly done and the crowd loved Steen and Corino getting their just desserts. Colt and Generico laugh and smile, while Strong talks about how Black is next. He walks to the back and Colt offers a handshake, but Strong just continues past him. Colt doesn't seem to mind, because he got what he came for. Meanwhile the camera zooms back to Corino and Steen (with the chain wrapped around his neck and looking psychotic) as Corino promises they won't make it to January. We wipe to Steen coming down the aisle as he and Corino cut a promo about the double chain match at Glory By Honor IX. "Time to die Generico, your head is coming home." Then he licks the camera. A HEEL'S HEEL.

Tag Wars 2010 (the tournament, not this show) concludes with the four-way Ultimate Endurance finals between ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling against the three finalists The Briscoes, Dark City Fight Club and The All-Night Express. Each fall has a special stipulation, with the first fall under Four Corner Survival rules (tags to anyone in the match) and the second fall is under Texas Tornado rules with everyone allowed to fight at the same time. The titles will be on the line no matter who makes it to the final fall.

I like that King tries to go for his rolling out into the Japanese armdrag on Jon Davis, but Davis is too built and strong so he stops the momentum and gives King the Japanese armdrag. Nice subtle touch to vary a common King sequence that comes early in the match. Also of note is that a short time later Davis gets the better of Chris Hero is a longer sequence of reversals and duck unders that ends with Davis planting hero with a back suplex and a closeline. Chavis also gets him some of Hero and is able to dominate. Hero pokes Chavis in the eyes and he staggers into The Briscoes corner, tagging them in and allowing Jay to beat down on Hero. Jay and Mark work over Hero, keeping him away from Claudio and then tagging Jay Briscoe.

The Kings thinks they have outsmarted The Briscoes and Bobby Cruise states that Turner has ruled they must make physical contact and have an active competition. Okay, this reveals the stupidity behind the rules of the first fall. So we get some headlocks, a criss-cross and then Jay and Mark stop each other and tag in Hero and Claudio. Well Matt and Jeff Hardyharhar, how about that? I hope you can feel my eyes rolling from your computer screen. So Claudio confers with Hero about what to do about this dilemma. They have a front headlock, criss-cross and then stop and try to tag each of the other teams, Briscoes, DCFC and ANX in succession, but lo and behold they have all dropped down to ringside where The Kings can't tag them in! OH HO HO HO! What scoundrels! The heels have surely been flustered and thwarted and all is right in the world. Gag me. The Kings go apoplectic, as expected. Then they do the headlock and Claudio tags Kory Chavis as soon as possible. So, in effect the last few minutes were a complete waste of time.

Kings go back in control on DCFC. Hero gets Chavis down with a cravat and then adds his knee strikes from the ground position—awesome. I advocate that sequence wholeheartedly. Claudio brusquely tags Kenny King in (they have been sleeping on the job for most of the fall) to fight Chavis. ANX continue to deal damage to Chavis. King whiffs on the jumping roundhouse and Chavis gets a HUGE sit-out spinebuster. King tags Titus and Chavis tags Davis and Davis once again looks good with the comeback. Why are these guys on hiatus again? Claudio stops a DCFC double team on Titus, but Davis just stops, shoots him a look and then lunges at him and Hero, dropping them down from the mat. BIG POUUUUUUNCE that sends Titus hung into the middle ropes. ANX combo and chain four moves together, ending with the blockbuster onto the knees for the pinfall on Davis and the first elimination.

Cruise announces the second fall and EVERYONE rushes inside the ring for a pier-six brawl. ANX and Kings soon isolate each of The Briscoes. Jay clears The Kings on a heel miscue and gets a huge dive over the ropes. Mark in the ring continues the offense on ANX with a spin kick and running knee strike. Hero smashes Jay into the ring barrier while Mark gets a Cutter on King and Exploder on Titus. Jay has been bloodied and it's a big one. Super Ace Crusher is blocked by Titus. King double knees and jumping face buster for two. ANX now isolate Mark in the ring as The Kings are on the outside waiting for the fallout. Since both ANX members are allowed in at the same time, they cover at the same time, but only for two. Okay, NOW we're talking—this fall not only started out in exciting fashion but it's now smartly using the rules of the fall to generate the heat and put The Briscoes in jeopardy in a new and interesting fashion.

Claudio gets a running baseball slide on the outside (NICE) floor to Jay's head. He's SAFE! ANX continue to double team on The Briscoes. Mark avoids the blockbuster double knees and gets the iconoclasm! But now The Kings are in and doubling up on Mark. That's a good twist to story. ANX follow up on Jay on the outside. Double suplex on the inside and double cover, but Mark slightly gets his shoulder up. Jay tries to crawl back in but is stopped by Claudio. Rolling elbow and European, double cover but another kick out. Big Swing and dropkick combo but only Hero covers and Mark kicks out. Jay is still scrambling and almost clears out both ANX and Hero but gets pulled down. As far as bloodied up messes, Jay Briscoe is currently at.4 Jay Briscoe from At Our Best. That's still pretty bad.

Hero and Claudio begin to become too cocky and only one of them covers and it's not enough. They apply a double surfboard. Then from out of nowhere King and Titus sneak in and roll up Hero and Claudio for double two counts! HEELS GOTSTA BE HEELS! That breaks down into a shoving match and huge brawl between the two teams, allowing The Briscoes to recover. Double sunset flip from ANX for two, double closelines from Kings onto ANX. The Briscoes are in and double up on everyone!

Double back body drop on Claudio. Double shoulderblock on Hero! Double biel on Claudio. The Kings are cleared out. Double chops and double biel on King, who plants the landing-DOUBLE SUPERKICK! Titus gets the running closeline and big boot, running splash mountain neckbreaker! Uh-oh, from the corner of camera view you can see Hero prepping the "golden" (not loaded) elbow pad. Briscoes go for Doomsday Device on Titus, plant it. Claudio stops King from preventing the fall and ANX is eliminated.

Then, as Jay lets his guard down and gets his hand raised in victory, Hero pulls from behind and LEVELS him with the KO ELBOW (with the elbow pad) for the knock out and the three. K-O-W, Kings, retain the titles and WIN Tag Wars 2010.

Aside from the ridiculousness of the teams fighting each other in such a high-stakes match this became one hell of a bout especially during the second fall. I thought the story of The Briscoes isolated against four men was tremendous and really let them fight back against the odds. The double team sequences got me going and I thought everything made sense and played out as it should have. I don't mind the instant end of the match because Hero had developed a cunning plan, it was foreshadowed on camera and then followed through for devastating effect.

Main-event, non-title is the rematch from Death Before Dishonor VIII, ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards. Once again, Jim Cornette asks Black to put the title on the line here, but Black teases the crowd about reconsidering, but then repeats his statement from Champions' Challenge that he will only live up to the word of his contracts and nothing more. He works up the card tremendously with the bait-and-switch. It gets heated between the two, and then Black demands Edwards goes to the back because it's not in the contract for him to be at ringside. He is on fire here, calling the North Carolina fans pieces of trash and telling Davey about how he's gonna kick his ass. Richards needs to be held back. Cornette sarcastically thanks Black for the loyalty to him and all of the fans. Black deadpans "you're welcome." BRILLIANT. Crowd, understandably, is almost uniformly with Richards and against Tyler Black. They sure built up the crowd heat here.

My one lone criticism of this match would be that if you've seen the first bout, you've seen a lot of this match already. There's sequences taken whole cloth from that one, which is not a terrible decision because it worked great the first time but also means that there is some predictability if you know what to look for. However, there are little variations here and there that do help to create some freshness and most of that comes from the strike exchanges and in Richards adapting his attack from the first bout to better deal with Black's speed and style.

There is a lot of no-selling towards the end in that strong-style / fighting spirit type of action, from Richards especially. However, it works for two reasons: one, Black is leaving within weeks and he doesn't need to be protected; two, the fans go crazy for it and want to see Richards keep on coming against Tyler no matter what. It makes sense for Richards to block the pain and keep fighting based on being fueled on adrenaline and motivation. Richards' usage of the God's Last Gift not once but twice was genius and then all of the leg work and submissions paid off in the end when Black taps out to the cloverleaf.

If all of that content isn't enough, ROH includes three more bonus matches from the HDNet series: Delirious vs. Sonjay Dutt as well as American Wolves vs. Up In Smoke from Episode 23 and Nigel McGuinness vs. Aaron Scott in a squash match from Episode 24. Not the best matches (although understandably much of those from the first 30 episodes have already been used on the Best of DVDs and as bonuses for other shows) but still decent enough to have as a part of the DVD series for completists' sake.

Again I have to repeat that I was told by some that Tag Wars 2010 was not good but that is simply not true. This is a great show that again, on paper even with the top two matches didn't seem like it could come together and hit that higher level of quality, but it did. It was a show that under-promised and over-delivered. It also had plenty of relevant progression of storylines and feuds in the lead-in to Glory By Honor IX, so unlike Bluegrass Brawl this was a show with great wrestling AND relevance to the overall status of the promotion.

Look, I have to admit that when I read "Steve Corino vs. Bobby Dempsey" and "Grizzly Redwood vs. Necro Butcher" on the match listing on the back of the box that I was hit with a feeling of dread and a decided lack of desire to want to watch them. Point blank, I fully expected them to suck. Both of those matches are surprises as far as being solid undercard efforts that entertained and filled a role on the show. There was also really good wrestling, from the opener big man vs. small man bout between Erick Stevens and El Generico to the pleasantly effective mix of comedy and wrestling in Colt Cabana vs. Eddie Edwards bout and then Kevin Steen and Roderick Strong had a good match that was put over the top with Steen's outrageous heel antics.

The Tag Wars 2010 finale overcame a silly first stipulation with a hell of a second fall and a logical conclusion to put over the heels. Richards vs. Black was a terrific follow-up to what will be for many THE match of the year. They couldn't go out there and beat that mark but they sure gave the fans their money's worth as far as a main event match goes that was just as heated as the first one because of Black's tremendous rejection of the fans and how Richards became their hero wanting to take out the hated villain. The six-man student match was even worthwhile, which most jaded fans would remark about how it was some sort of a miracle. And that's the thing—you can't walk into this show jaded about watching Bobby Dempsey or Grizzly Redwood or Jake Manning or The Bravados and end up expecting the worst. Just go into this one with an open-mind as far as the undercard matches that don't look like they'll be good. The parts add up to create a strong whole show and it has left me really jazzed up about what ROH may be able to do with their roster rebuild in the near future.

Was Tag Wars 2010 the best show of the year? Probably not, but it's more than a dark horse for inclusion into the top ten of 2010. Regardless, it is an instant recommendation.

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Head on over to TwitterNation and follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein. I provide up-to-date links to my columns, major and breaking ROH news, random comments about WWE Raw and Smackdown and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Ask Paul Griffin and ye shall receive: Everyone NEEDS to check out RBR: Weekly Wrestling Talk at fanoff.com. The fine folks at RBRBR often source us here at 411Mania, so do be sure to listen to their often wickedly funny, no-holds-or-language barred weekly wrestling radio show and podcast at the above link. True story: when I guest hosted their show, I often had to mute my own mic to contain my laughter. Of course, Parental Guidance is suggested.

If you're looking for more audio goodness, then you can't go wrong with Pro Wrestling Ponderings, where I and Jerome Cusson just did a show previewing this weekend in ROH. Also, check out their review of Dragon Gate USA's Code of the Warrior iPPV with Kevin Ford and 411 alumnus Brad Garoon.

Also, Brad Garoon is trying to galvanize support for Dragon Gate in Japan to bring their Infinity television show to America, whether it be through online pay stream / download or compilation DVDs or whatever. If you wish to sign his petition, go here and do your American duty!

Elsewhere:

If you haven't already then YOU MUST READ Arnold Furious's excellently written retro review of Final Battle 2006. It's THE best read-through of a Ring of Honor show on 411Mania this year (and that's no sleight on any other ROH reviewer here), as he makes the matches and the emotions from that night come alive through his words.

Michael Weyer remembers Eddie Guerrero, who passed on five years ago this week. Fans will recall Guerrero appearing on two of the first three ROH shows in company history right before he returned to WWE.

Michael Ornelas reviews this past week's ROH on HDNet, including ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling against Dark City Fight Club.

Aaron Hubbard is actually ahead of me (NO FAIR!) in his ROH watching and he reviewed Fade to Black from 9/10/10 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Apparently he loved all of the Tyler Black best-of material and it's not hard to know why—because the matches featured on this set are that excellent. He also covers the right, wrongs and ridiculous of last week's episode of ROH on HDNet in this week's Wrestling 4R's.


Next week, opinions about the SOTF '10 winner and tonight's show, plus a review of SHIMMER Volume 29 and the last few episodes of ROH on HDNet. Till then, thanks for reading.

BROOKLYN!
--Ari--