Column of Honor: 08.13.11: Expectations of the Sinclair TV Taping Debut

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 08.13.2011

Ring of Honor holds its first TV tapings under new ownership tonight in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. What are the expectations and how will it compare to the HDNet era? Plus: a full preview of the card, Davey Richards and Jay Lethal signed to ROH, R.D. Evans meets Archibald Peck, SHIMMER Volume 35 in-depth thoughts and review and more!


Welcome to the Column. Extra Dessert Delights Mint Chocolate Chip chewing gum rules. That is all I have to write for introduction this week. Welcome to the Column. Oh, wait already wrote that already. Welcome to the Column. There it is a third time. Welcome to the Column.

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= Expectations of the Sinclair TV Taping Debut=





Tonight in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, Ring of Honor presents its first television taping show for its series that will run through syndicated broadcast television stations operated by its new owner Sinclair Broadcast Group …and expectations are…kind of hard to peg actually.

It has been a month since the last ROH show and that time has seen ROH get its house more in order—signing and securing talent, building the card for the show and slowly simmering the pot by releasing online minute-long videos from the talent promoting the show.

We know a few things about what will happen on tonight's taping. First of all, we know at least eight matches will take place and be taped for the first several episodes of the show (that's four more than WWE announced for Summer Slam, mind you). That includes the main events and the undercard (plus a just announced dark match with Grizzly Redwood). This compares favorably against how the initial two-day HDNet tapings were hyped, with just the three main event matches of each night and the rest of the show a mystery. There may be more matches added (the HDNet tapings often ran dark matches to try-out new talent and ran as many as fifteen matches per night), but for sure these are the eight matches that will be emphasized in the first month of the show. How they are all divided up among the first month's worth of episodes is yet to be seen, as is what other supporting features ROH will include in the body of their show.

We know that there will be several new changes to the show and the Ring of Honor product. ROH announced that there will be a new ring; new stage design and that ROH's new logo will be all over the place (some early shots of the new ring mats and barricades can be seen on their Facebook page). They will put on sale new merchandise with that logo such as T-shirts and cap for those in attendance (and it will become available to everyone else on their website soon afterwards). However, for all the "new" that will be done for this first-ever television tapings in the SBG-era,

Ring of Honor is insisting that what won't change is the quality of the wrestling in the ring, the company's mission statement and the presentation of the product as a proper alternative to the existing mainstream wrestling promotions.

It will only be a few more hours after this column hits the web that Ring of Honor fans and the general public will find out if that remains the case when the lights down in Chicago Ridge and the show begins in earnest. There is still much that is unknown and much to be revealed, as it was with the first tapings during the era of filming HDNet television series back in 2009.

Hopefully ROH officials have learned from both the success and failures of that taping and they will have already addressed them here and now. No television series is ever perfect right out of the gate, but they already had a previous model to look upon for comparison and improvement. The problem, of course, is that with new ownership comes some new hands in charge. Will they evolve and handle the show better in say, areas of production and video quality better than in years past?

The best Ring of Honor has ever looked was during the HDNet show and under the recording lens of High Definition video. On the other hand, HDNet could never quite translate the fervor or frenzy of a live ROH show to television—from early issues with drowning crowd audio levels to the over usage of The Arena in Philadelphia as a taping home. Long taping sessions and a casual family crowd (attracted by free tickets) with a minority of ROH hardcore fans often created a weird mix of reactions that could never be completely trusted to represent what the live experience was all about—sometimes they nailed it and sometimes the deathly quiet haunted the show.

It's slightly worrisome that nothing has been mentioned about the technical aspects of the show. Will the Sinclair crew be using HD cameras? Will there be proper lighting so that, say, Eddie Edwards for example doesn't look like an albino with a faux hawk? Will they truly be able to bring ROH to life, both with the crowd reactions and the atmosphere that makes shows in cities such as New York, Chicago and Toronto worth seeking out and attending?

As for the wrestling that is somewhat less concerning. Jim Cornette, Delirious and other SBG executives like Joe Koff know what they have with their talent roster. They know that the best emphasis of that roster is in the demonstration of their wrestling ability. The biggest concern on that end would be if they let the product become too watered down or if they do not give the matches the proper time. However, multiple interviews with the likes of Cornette, Koff and former ROH owner and now ROH Ambassador Cary Silkin have suggested they realize well they cannot afford to let that be the case.

The new ROH executives have repeated the mantra of letting the new audience discover the stories of the ROH talents and then letting those wrestlers tell their stories in the ring. Now it remains to be seen if they can prove it with what happens on tonight's tapings.

It seems clear that ROH is using the first month of shows to re-introduce their roster and the grudges involved. It appears strikingly similar to the battle plan of the first six shows of the HDNet era. Back in March of 2009, ROH's opening salvo for HDNet was a Jerry Lynn vs. Delirious and a Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black main event. The former was perhaps not the best first impression to make on a channel known for serious MMA, while the latter was a very good and now under-looked effort from two men in a grudge feud.

The major issue with those first tapings was that the ROH World and Tag Team Champions were not even focused on for the opening show. At the least some of that problem will be corrected as the main event of the first show will be focused upon the ROH World Tag Team Champions Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. They will defend their title against The Kings of Wrestling, a team that dominated the tag team division in 2010 and whose success all around the independent wrestling scene has likely led them (though not confirmed) to signing WWE contracts.

Still, the emphasis of that first episode‘s main event will be on the strength of the Ring of Honor tag team division and promoting it as a highlight of the company, especially in comparison to WWE and TNA which still do not have solid or quality rosters for that type of wrestling. That is the smart thing to do, because it presents first-time fans with what is unique and special about this promotion, giving them a reason perhaps to tune in again.

However, hopefully Ring of Honor does not forget to promote as well its World and Television champions in that first episode as well. At least showing some video packages of Davey Richards and El Generico (even if it's only short ones) in that first episode would help to bring focus upon all of the champions on the roster and broaden the scope of what ROH will offer (and hopefully then deliver upon) in future episodes.

There are still many unknowns about the tapings—from the length of matches to how the show will be presented, if there will be any storyline angles, or live in-ring interviews, to the opening song and signature of the show, to the quality of the video and to the actual response it gets both live as it happens and then for whatever viewers watch it on Sinclair stations and around the internet via the ROH website. The coming months are crucial towards determining the future direction of the promotion—and in some ways that is the true unknown which must be discovered beyond tonight's tapings.

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=ROH Sinclair TV – August 13th, 2011 Chicago Ridge, IL=


Frontier Fieldhouse
7:30 pm bell time
9807 Sayre Ave.
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415

ROH World Title Match--Davey Richards defends vs. Roderick Strong with Truth Martini

The goal of this match should be to establish Davey Richards, why he is a deserving champion and what he does that can impress a new audience. Sure, Roderick Strong can shine a little as well, and I'm sure his connection to Truth Martini and The House of Truth will be fleshed out somewhat here, but the build should be on Davey and rightfully so. He is the ROH World Champion and now the top representative of the promotion and he has to deliver big here. That's a lot of pressure, but Richards thrives in the main event scene. If this one gets plenty of time, close enough to the length of their match at Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter One and its quality, then this will likely end up being the epic first impression ROH needs for its main event players.

World Tag Team Title Match--Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) defends vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) with Shane Hagadorn

This is another match where the emphasis needs to be on putting over the champions in their first major appearance for ROH on this television series. Simply put, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin are definitely staying while The Kings of Wrestling are most likely leaving. The shine needs to be on the champions; however Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli are such dynamos of charisma at this point in their development as wrestlers that their act and their actions may very well overshadow the champions. We know these two can have great matches and none of their previous ones over the past year has been anything less than very good. This one main events the first show of the entire series and therefore it must deliver on at least that level if not more so. IF Hero and Castagnoli truly aren't long for ROH, then this should be built in a similar vein to the previous encounters with one major difference. This can't be a fifty-fifty match by the end. Haas and Benjamin should slowly gain traction until it's an outright domination by the end of it-everything going right for them and everything going wrong for The Kings. I'd also hope for Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team to have decided and settled on an epic finishing sequence for their matches and a set finisher befitting of their moniker. The finish to this match cannot be anti-climatic—above all else it has to be done right for the best first impression to be made.

World TV Title Match--El Generico defends vs. Jay Lethal

This is set up to be a pretty exciting and athletic contest between two popular babyfaces. I'm thinking the crowd will really be into this one and help to translate the positive characteristics of both wrestlers throughout the contest. I'm also thinking Generico will be busting out his big-time impressive moves in order to wow the new audience at home—and the fans in attendance will definitely play along and react to it. El Generico is a fun but goofy character with broad appeal to both young viewers and fans of the dreaded "sports-entertainment", but if treated with respect by the booking (and past history suggests that will be the case) he can be one hell of an effective lead for the TV Title division. Lethal could end up winning the title here now that he's signed with the company (see below) and it would be an interesting story for him to win a title in just his second match back. However, that would do Generico dirty for sure and I don't believe the fans would like him losing in his first defense. This match would work better as a tone-setter for the division and the kind of quality wrestling matches ROH will look to provide for its TV series.

Grudge Tag Team Match--Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. The All Night Express

The build for this one is slightly contradictory—labeled as a "grudge" match but built up in the hype as one that will be wrestled cleanly and without violent stipulations so as to emphasize the competitiveness of the tag division. Maybe that will be the case in order to reset the feud and also to establish the teams on TV. Maybe ROH will be limited on how much blood and gore they can present on broadcast TV and this feud will just be an appetizer to attract fans to future live shows where the grudge will really pick up again. On the other hand, maybe The Briscoes won't listen and things will get out of hand between the two teams. The Briscoes are being positioned as anti-authority and bearing a grudge, so who says they will listen to what they've been told to do by the power-that-be?

"Defy or Deny" Rematch--Eddie Edwards vs. Michael Elgin with Truth Martini

This reads like an excellent wrestling match on paper—and given the talent of the former ROH World Champ and the vast strides Elgin has made in the last two years it should very well turn out to be that way in reality. However, the match itself does pose some problems—namely that it has to push both men as important to the new TV series, but Edwards has to be put over even more so because he needs to be seen as being in the upper echelon of the promotion right off the bat. So do you sacrifice Elgin in the short term here to push Edwards as a finisher who deserves to be in the running with the likes of Roderick Strong and especially Davey Richards? It's hardly the greatest start in the world for The House of Truth if both Elgin and Strong lose during this taping. Then again a fluke win by Elgin won't help him much and it might hurt Edwards more. An outright loss for Edwards places him in the middle of the pack, not the top. A no-contest, disqualification or run-in finish will not make the fans happy and that reaction won't translate well on the TV show. So what to do? Well, I'd have Elgin tear things up with his power offense and then have Edwards slowly turn the tide and let that lead into submission with the Achilles Tendon Lock. It puts Edwards over as smart, while showing that Elgin has what it takes to dominate the ring.

Tag Team Challenge Match--Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly vs. The Bravado Brothers

As good as The Bravados have been over the past few months in delivering on humorous heel promos that develop their character, this one really should be a full-court press for Cole and O'Reilly. They may be young as a team in ROH, but they are already primed for the spotlight and a breakout role in the tag team division. Let this be their showcase for their impressive tag team combination moves. Let Cole take flight and let O'Reilly's killer instincts and enthusiasm shine-through. Let the fans mark-out for the speed and timing and impact of those combinations, thus helping them get over with the TV audience. I can see a surprise appearance by The Young Bucks of Matt and Nick Jackson before, during or after this match to set up an undercard rivalry between them and Cole & O'Reilly for the rest of the year.

Singles Action--Jimmy Jacobs with Steve Corino vs. "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett with Brutal Bob Evans

I have to say, I'm not impressed here. ROH waited so long on an official return to in-ring action for Jimmy Jacobs and his first opponent is… Mike Bennett? Not a money match. I would have waited and really promoted it as a top attraction bout instead of sticking it here in the undercard. Unless this match is simply an excuse for a Kevin Steen run-in and the creation of a chaotic scene, I don't get it. Jacobs looked very good in his Dragon Gate USA appearances and a feud with Jon Moxley (now Dean Ambrose in FCW). He has kept his in-ring shape going with appearance in other independent feds even though he has inactive in the ring for the past three months in ROH. The size difference will be on display here—Jacobs is shorter and significantly less muscular than Bennett. I'm sure there will be some Soap Opera Action preening and posturing as well. Steve Corino and Mike Bennett may have a renewal of their rivalry. Most importantly though, ROH needs to tell the story of Corino and Jacobs trying to redeem themselves for their past evil transactions. An in-ring promo from either or both would be welcome. Oh, and Kevin Steen as well. Well, he wouldn't be welcome by ROH officials, but if there is an interruption angle with him here then rest assured the fans of Chicago, Illinois will come unglued.

Singles Action--Tommaso Ciampa with The Embassy vs. Andy "Right Leg" Ridge

Ciampa had a fifty-fifty match with Grizzly Redwood at Manhattan Mayhem IV when it should have been a quick squash. Here, I am actually hoping for a fairly even match but I'm thinking this will end up being the short squash. Ridge deserves some attention and build as the rookie learning the ropes and improving with every match—and his trial series at the end of 2010 proved he could do longer matches and keep up with more established and experienced wrestlers. Ultimately though, this is a match presented to introduce and establish The Embassy as a heel stable and I expect a lot of attention to go towards Prince Nana and R.D. Evans, maybe to the detriment of Ciampa's build as the primary worker in his faction. Also, let's hope he and Ridge are able to make the power-bomb to double-knees finisher look good, or at least let's hope for good video editors who can make it work in post.

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As of 08/13/11


=ROH World Champion=
Davey Richards

Champion since 06/26/2011 | 1 successful defenses
Best in the World 2011 defeated Eddie Edwards in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Roderick Strong in Chicago, Illinois on 08/13/11.


--Davey Richards defeated Tommy End in Barcelona, Spain on 07/04/2011




=ROH World Tag Team Champions=
Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team: Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
Champions since 04/01/2011 | 3 successful defenses
Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter 1 defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) in Atlanta, GA to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) in Chicago, IL on 08/13/11.


--Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe in Toronto, ON on 5/7/11.
--Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli), Jay & Mark Briscoe and The All-Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) in New York City, NY on 06/26/11.
--Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas defeatedEl Generico & Colt Cabana in Richmond, VA on 07/08/11.



=ROH Television Champion=
El Generico

Champion since 06/26/2011 | - successful defenses (New Champion)
Best in the World 2011 defeated "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Jay Lethal in Chicago, Illinois on 08/13/11.




Where does he get those wonderful doo-rags?



That is some magnificent and glorious beard on the face of Grizzley Redwood. I think it has to file its own annual tax form with the U.S. government.



Even the bug is intimidated by Davey Richards.



I like Ridge's fire in his statements-he's starting to blossom quite a bit in front of the camera and he's definitely starting to show some confidence in his voice.



Okay, I change my mind…push these guys to the moon! Then…off a cliff…on the moon! Juuuuust kidding.



Um…these guys realize that Chad Deity is a fic-tion-al character, right? Come to think of it, Off-Broadway and Broadway theater shows often have wacky commercials, so these grandstand challenges fit right in with that world. Besides, I think Chad could take ‘em.



Lastly this miracle of a video from the CHIKARA Event Center as something no one ever thought could happen: Archibald Peck meets Barrister R.D. Evans…and it…IS…GLORIOUS! Even R.D. Evans can't stand Archibald Peck. Also, evil laugh! MWAHAHAHAHAHA.

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For lo tho ye walk in the valley of the shadow of death, thou shalt not fear it, for in it lies the miracle of Truth, that there is no life so rich and full that cannot be ripped asunder and no life so meager and wanting that cannot be built upon and improved. Ergo, listen ye well to this treasured advice found within The Book of Truth, for these words are worth their weight in gold. So sayeth The Truth, so sayeth The House:


The Truth is my Sherpa, I lack nothing
He makes me lie down in the ring,
he leads me through guided meditations,
he grooms my soul patch.
He guides me along the Path of Truth
in the name of The House.
Even though I walk through
the hardest kicks from Kyle O'Reilly
I will fear no Davey Richards
for Truth Martini is with me;
Your words and The Book of Truth,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table for me
in the presence of my enemies.
I smash them through it,
my violence overflows.
Surely your veracity and unquestioning wisdom
will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of TRUTH
forever.

-Psalm 23 (A Psalm of Truth Martini) in The Book of Truth

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-Today is the six-year anniversary of CM Punk's farewell to Ring of Honor at Punk: The Final Chapter. He lost to Colt Cabana in a two-out-of-three falls match in his hometown of Chicago. He had a fantastic farewell speech in front of his parents, his friends and the entire ROH roster and he toasted the crowd with diet Pepsi.

-Ring of Honor officially announced that it had signed its World Champion Davey Richards to an extension of his existing contract, thus guaranteeing he would be locked-in as a part of the new Sinclair Broadcast Group era. Kudos to ROH for ensuring that all of its current champions were signed before the television show kicked off, thus ensuring that they wouldn't be signed away by WWE or TNA at critical moments for the promotion and its new TV series.

Also signed to an ROH contract this week is Jay Lethal, who had a run with the promotion from 2003-2006 before joining full-time with TNA. Lethal is a damned good wrestler at this point in his career, excelling at playing the pure babyface. It should be interesting to see where he is slotted in this new era, as he definitely has some name value and fan support is on his side right now. He also comes with a lot of new match combinations are available for him at this time.

-ROH announced a Meet & Greet autograph session to precede the TV tapings in Chicago Ridge with The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) and Sara Del Rey. Doors open at 6:30 PM for the event so I'd imagine that the signing session would occur either then or shortly afterwards.

-Larry Matysik (of St. Louis Wrestling Club and Hall of Fame) let slip on a Wrestling Observer radio show this past Friday that he is working more closely with Ring of Honor and that ROH would run a house show in St. Louis in early November. That seems to confirm that ROH has set a slate of house shows for the back end of the year and just have not announced them to the public as yet. They are waiting for the TV tapings to air on Sinclair networks before making most of the announcements.

-Confirmed for Death Before Dishonor IX on September 17th, 2011 at the Grand Ballroom in New York City includes Roderick Strong, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and El Generico.

-Tag Team Turmoil 2011 from July 8th in Richmond, Virginia and featuring The American Wolves vs. Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin is now available for sale on the rohwrestling.com website.





- SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 35 thoughts: This show caught me by surprise right away with what appeared to be brand new cameras and a sharper video capture. However, according to Dave Prazak, they did not use new cameras but rather a new transfer treatment to create the look on this and the Volume 36 DVD. However, it was not a popular move and so the transfer process reverts to the original method back with Volume 37. More is the shame because I absolutely thought the world of this new look—for me, it seemed like there was not only better picture quality, better details but also a smoother appearance of motion. If anything I would have suggested that Ring of Honor use this motion transfer process to improve their DVD video quality, but c'est la vie and all that. I will enjoy these two DVDs for their video quality while they last. … The undercard of SHIMMER 35 is far stronger than the previous volume, as there are more competitive matches and better wrestled matches (as far as better timing, consistency and execution of sequences). There were some slip-ups here and there in some of the upper-card matches but nothing that would be considered a "botch" or that was too obvious as to interfere in the enjoyment of the match and the show overall.

Jessica James and Melanie Cruise put forth a good effort and set the tone well with the opening match action. It's big against small as you'd expect, but James has some clever moments of outsmarting the bruiser Cruiser before taking the loss, oh and biting (the leg in this case), which would become a repeated theme in some other matches later on the card … Mercedes Martinez vs. Misaki Ohata definitely rev it up big time in just the second match of the show-Martinez never puts things in neutral no matter where she is placed on the show. Ohata is just awesome in her role of "cute-but-deadly, deadly-but-cute". The ground work between these two leading to a submissions and a faster pace at the end worked perfectly. Already we have a match everyone should see. The fans are one-step ahead of Mercedes in chanting "title shot", having gone six wins in a row on SHIMMER shows. They know where the booking is headed, but more importantly, they like it. Jessie McKay has a very well spoken promo hyping up her main event title match against former Pink Ladies tag team partner and current SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles. I know I've knocked the promo work on previous SHIMMER DVDs, but there is dramatic improvement in the wordsmith department between McKay, Eagles, Mercedes and Rachel Summerlynn on this show.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Nikki Roxx / Ariel vs. Daizee Haze / Tomoka Nakagawa match. It mixed humor, sneaky cheating (on both sides) and still managed to keep a good pace and kept the action going. There were tickle submissions, biting, nail digging, Daizee feeding Ariel a sandwich (given to Daizee by a fan and meant for her to eat), Tomoka counting a pin, noogies and more craziness...this match is SHENANIGANS, I say! Unfortunately, Roxx's comeback is short lived and the heels cheat to win (of course) … Allison Danger vs. Veronika Vice is a well wrestled follow-up to their previous match on Volume 34. This time Danger picks up the win to even things up at one apiece. … Sereena Deeb and Portia Perez gives us the in-ring confrontation teased on the last show. Deeb is in top form and Perez is right there with her.

By the way Perez is actually a FUN heel on commentary that makes me want to listen to what she has to say and the crazy excuses she comes up with for her fellow villainesses, unlike, say, Michael Cole in WWE. Kudos to the fans for adding "boo, boo, boo" to end of "The Edge of Seventeen" when Perez comes out to the ring.

The top half of the show features some mismatches on paper, but the matches are well wrestled and entertaining enough to make you believe that not to be the case. For instance, one knows full well that once Amazing Kong comes down the aisle that Kellie Skater is going to be a living dead girl. Skater tries some SHENANIGANS don't work and Kong proceeds to kill a you-know-what dead. It's predictable but completely awesome. …Likewise, Rachel Summerlynn is a huge underdog to Sara Del Ray, but she wrestles her heart out and her comebacks get the crowd into her. Daffney makes another showing to continue their feud and Prazak on commentary makes the great point about how the issue should be done since Daffney won the singles match, but she continues to get involved in her former student's affairs.

The Canadian Ninjas only go .500 on this show as Nicole Matthews loses to Ayako Hamada, but she absolutely shows she can hang with her. They go even for most of the match and it is no easy win for Hamada. Lots of strong style here and stiff kicks to the face and back, which is damned impressive. Even more so is the timing of the boot to the face block of Hamada's moonsault. … Cheerleader Melissa and Ayumi Kurihara may technically be considered a face-face match, but these two don't hold back on each other and the result is another great match on the show. They brawl in the ring, out of the ring, beat each other up and beat each other down, but it is smarts over power that wins the match … As for the main event title match, well Madison Eagles (with awesomely appropriate theme song) delivers again with a fantastic title bout filled with action and drama. McKay shows she can hang with her former partner and won't shirk in the face of opportunity. Eagles, as the heel, expectantly shows no remorse against her former tag partner (SHIMMER does well in telling that story through the preceding video package) and the thorough attack of the knee on the outside guardrail is the primary example. The best moment is an Eagles brainbuster converted into a guillotine choke by McKay, then switched into a Northern Lights Suplex for two—a fantastic sequence and things only get better from there. McKay fights back and has some real good opportunities to win, but Madison Eagles knows her partner. She is able to convert to the Hellbound (Fireman's Carry to Kneebreaker) and notch another title defense to her reign.

SHIMMER Volume 35 is another can't miss DVD for fans of the product and for fans of wrestling, any kind of wrestling actually. I'd put up at least half of the matches on this card in favorable comparison to any individual WWE or TNA television show. It's just damned good wrestling worth your time and money. Pick it up through rohwrestling.com or shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com.

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At the beginning of the year, "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett vowed that within one year that he would become the Ring of Honor World Champion. So let's see how he's done so far, eh?


ROH World Titles Won: 0
Days Left to Reach Goal: 138


Well, it looks like ROH may have moved the goalposts in a recent Newswire item proclaiming that Mike Bennett vowed that 2012 would be "The Year of The Prodigy". Well, wait a minute…didn't ROH Newswires earlier in the year have Bennett claiming that this year, 2011, would be "The Year of The Prodigy"? Looks like Bennett may be "walking it back", but that won't stop this countdown from running and keeping track of his progress.

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I'm still going strong on Twitter so head on over to TwitterNation and follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.


Greg DeMarco and Patrick O'Dowd present an interview with Adam Cole on this week's The Greg DeMarco Show. The interview with the ROH and CZW star begins about 45 minutes into the show.

Patrick also joins me in this week's 411Mania Buy or Sell discussing more about tonight's ROH TV tapings, The Young Bucks, CHIKARA and more. If you may have missed it you'll definitely want to check it out.

Jack Bramma brings us this week's retro ROH review with a look back at 2008's Return Engagement which featured The Briscoes versus Motor City Machine Guns II, Kota Ibushi, and the beginnings of the Austin Aries-Jimmy Jacobs feud over Lacey.

Bramma also has a current review with January 2011's Only the Strong Survive and the excellent Roderick Strong / Jay Briscoe bloodbath for the ROH World Title.

Kevin Ford turns to Dragon Gate USA for his reviews this week, examining the United weekend with the DGUSA Tag Tournament. Read his recap and thoughts on United: NYC, United: Philly and United: Finale. Meanwhile, Colin Reinhart also reviews DGUSA with his look at Enter the Dragon 2010.

Ryan Rozanski covers the recent PWG All Star Weekend 8 Night One.

Michael Weyer writes about the current Summer of Punk in his latest Shining a Spotlight. Writing about CM Punk is almost always good for a plug from me.

James Wright is a new writer to 411Mania, with a countdown of top heels in his Heel Report. He also discusses CM Punk. See, free plug!


Your moment of QI (Quite Interesting):





One last video, be sure to check out my friends at Jolly with their latest video for their song "Joy" off their latest album The Audio Guide to Happiness Part 1 and visit them at jollyband.com for future shows and updates.




That's it for The Column for this week. Next time, results and fall-out from tonight's show in Chicago. If you're going, have a great time and be sure to post details about it online! Thanks for reading and for the feedback.

BROOKLYN!
DAH EM BAH SEE FOR-EVAH!
--Ari--