Column of Honor: 02.11.12: Belatedly, The 2011 ROH Year-End Awards

Welcome to the Column. The main feature this week sees us hopping in the Delorean and going back in time, well not too far back, to last year for my annual year-end awards. It’s a somewhat belated event, but I’ve been promising it for a while now and I’m not one to not live up to my word. Besides, there are several other websites running their awards features this deep into 2012, so I’m not too broken up about running this feature now. So we’ll do that and then look at some recent ROH news as well. Should be a good one.

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=Column of Honor Year-End Awards 2011=

=ROH Wrestler of the Year=

Eddie Edwards

2. Davey Richards
3. El Generico
4. Kevin Steen / Roderick Strong (tie)

2010: Davey Richards
2009: Davey Richards
2008: Nigel McGuinness
2007: Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness
2006: Bryan Danielson
2005: James Gibson

-At the beginning of 2011, many fans and critics were expecting some great things out of Eddie Edwards. He had just won the Survival of the Fittest 2010 tournament and had locked up an ROH World Title shot as a result. I was on record thinking that Edwards was about a year away from winning the title, but that he would go a long way in 2011 towards being a main event player. Well, the timeline managed to become bumped up very fast. The surprise of the year happened at Manhattan Mayhem IV when Eddie Edwards rolled up Roderick Strong to win the ROH World Champion. In a way, it was a coming of age for Edwards that was a long time coming—from an undercard roster member to one-half of one of the best tag teams in ROH history to the first television champion all the way to the top of the promotion.

It is more than just the push to the top that Edwards received that brought him to become 2011’s Wrestler of the Year in Ring of Honor, but what he did with that push that proved the point. Eddie Edwards was on point and at the top of his game in the ring from January through December. He wrestled excellently well in TV Title matches against Christopher Daniels, including a thirty-minute non-stop roller-coaster of a ride at Ninth Anniversary Show. Then, when Edwards stepped up to be the company’s top champion, his title defenses were top notch. He only had three defenses before losing the belt to Davey Richards, but he made the most of every one of them. He headlined one of ROH’s Wrestlemania weekend shows against Daniels, then had two fantastic defenses against Chris Hero and Roderick Strong wherein he began to prove his moniker of “Die Hard”. The Strong rematch in particular has an excellent story of Edwards being ambushed right from the opening bell and having to wrestle from behind just to hold onto the title. It was great drama and Edwards fighting from underneath was very compelling.

Then of course there were all of the interactions Edwards had with Davey Richards, both as his tag team partner throughout the year and as his sometime opponent. The American Wolves tag matches against the likes of Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, The Kings of Wrestling, The House of Truth, Future Shock and The All-Night Express headlined shows in the main-event spotlight and with just cause. These tag matches were exciting, back-and-forth affairs and worthy of their spot. Edwards had a hand in many of those matches and the ones in the Spring when he was champion actually felt much more important because of his involvement (and vice versa when Richards became ROH World Champ).

Needless to say the Edwards-Richards rivalry that came to a head at Best in the World 2011 and Final Battle 2011 helped put the spotlight on both men. Both matches had their fans and their detractors due to the style and content of the match, but at the least what cannot be denied is the effort and energy put into it by both of them. The Best in the World match in particular was to me the high point of Edwards in the “Die Hard” position—taking a beating, pushing through it, giving back to his opponent. No one personified the enduring fighting spirit of a champion in 2011 more than Eddie Edwards—who backed up the promise and the potential with actual results.

-Davey Richards shared much of the spotlight in 2011 with Eddie Edwards and it was all but inevitable that he too would win the ROH World Title. Again, Richards has his detractors as far as selling and the overkill nature of “American Strong Style” matches, but for much of the year he was on top of his game and providing upper card and main-event matches that added to the value of the ticket price. Efforts throughout the year against Edwards, Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and El Generico continued to prove he was a great wrestler. Richards’ emotional title victory at Best in the World 2011 capped a two-year journey to the top of the promotion…and the speech at the end of the show revealed that he wasn’t just a wrestling machine. Though he doesn’t often let those emotions show (and maybe he should), it provided a sense of realness to the whole proceedings—that sense of real achievement that Richards actually experienced with that win. Richards is now one of the faces of the promotion, perhaps THE face of the current Sinclair era—and no one can claim he didn’t earn it.

-El Generico rode the momentum of last year’s excellent feud against Kevin Steen and Steve Corino by working his way to the upper card and main-event scene, especially in the first half of the year. Every Generico match is worth watching thanks to his underdog babyface act combined with exciting mix of lucha and aerial offense he uses in his comebacks. This year Generico won his first singles title in ROH, and while he didn’t get to hold it long, his title win against Christopher Daniels at Best in the World 2011 demonstrates why he is so needed in ROH–the connection to the fans and how they ride with him on these epic matches can’t be denied or taken for granted.

-Meanwhile, Kevin Steen and Roderick Strong both need to be mentioned as two of the better heels on the ROH roster in 2011. Steen only wrestled one match but managed to carry an entire year’s worth of angles with his amazing, must-see promos and an invasion angle that carried the buzz and attention of ROH fans throughout the year. Meanwhile Strong began the year as ROH champion and continued to work hard and consistently well on every ROH show. It should not be forgotten that Strong was on the other side of some of the better matches this year involving the likes of Edwards, Richards and Generico. He found a new measure of confidence in the promo department thanks to the new SBG television show and that has added more to his House of Truth run.

=ROH Tag Team of the Year=

Jay & Mark Briscoe

2. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin)
3. The All-Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)
4. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castganoli)

2010: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castganoli)
2009: The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards)
2008: The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black)
2007: The Briscoes
2006: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
2005: BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs

-The Briscoes began 2011 as a tiring act that felt same-y, resulting in the fans turning on them. By the end of the year Jay and Mark—two ROH originals who as they’ll tell you were in Ring of Honor from “Day One”—had rejuvenated their act by being even more so themselves. They took their Southern Delawarian redneck personalities and pumped them to a greater extreme than ever before. The results were blistering promos fully embracing the redneck stereotype –which were humorous, entertaining and made their points well. The Briscoes were back on top of the promotion using those promos and combining with some of the best (and often bloodiest) brawling matches of their career in a months-long feud with The All-Night Express and a reconnecting with the fans who associated them with the original era of honor. It brought them all the way back from the brink to the top of the promotion, regaining the ROH World Tag team Titles for a record seventh time. They bled, they drank beer and they beat people up. They were The Briscoes and they were awesome and so much fun to watch them do their thing in 2011.

-It takes a lot of gusto to call oneself Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. By one measure-holding onto the ROH World Tag Team Titles, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin certainly laid their stake in that claim. They also had plenty of very good to great performances in 2011, including their first-ever match against The Briscoes at Ninth Anniversary Show and several matches against The Kings of Wrestling. However, Haas and Benjamin earned a fair share of detractors thanks to the inevitable backlash of being former WWE names making their way to the top of an independent promotion and the perception that they weren’t holding up their end of the bargain in-ring commensurate with that push. Haas and Benjamin certainly had their bobbles, including a very poor performance against the tandem of Colt Cabana and El Generico at Tag Team Turmoil, but seemed to rebound with better performances in the late Fall and Winter and then they and ROH took that fan backlash and used it to turn their team and make them more useful to ROH in 2012. Haas and Benjamin may not be the greatest tag team in ROH and they may not have been the most popular in 2011, but second place isn’t bad given the competition.

-The All-Night Express rose to the occasion with a five-month blood feud against The Briscoes. Kenny King and Rhett Titus worked hard and showcased their swagger and their ability to reach out to the masses and fire people up to see them succeed. They first showcased that improbable call to popularity with a very good mini-feud with The Kings of Wrestling in February of 2011 and then brawled throughout the Spring and Summer against jay and Mark and wound up being the ones cheered the most often, right until the very end of the feud when The Briscoes were rebounding in popularity so much the fans caused them to return face. However, King and Titus have done well in their roles and remain the hungry-and-determined young lions poised to climb to the top of the mountain. Hopefully Titus will recover from his recent knee injuries and return together to lay claim on the tag titles.

-The Kings of Wrestling had their final bow in 2011, and both Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli had some fantastic tag matches as well as must-see solo efforts throughout the year. As a team, they finished a one-year run on top of the division in the first half of the year. Then, they continued to provide a great presence by wrestling marquee main-events against the likes of The American Wolves as well as contributing to the four-team elimination tag match at Best in the World 2011 before professionally putting over Haas and Benjamin on their way out of the promotion. The KOW did everything they right in closing out their run with Ring of Honor and still were on top of their game, both in the ring and with their dynamic personalities—in that way they still reigned supreme and made their legacy within the promotion’s history before both heading to WWE (Claudio in 2011 and Hero finally signing and clearing medicals in early 2012).

=Worst Tag Team of the Year= Raphael Constantine & Sean Casey

2010: Any combination of The Embassy
2009: Silas Young & Alex Payne
2008: Rhett Titus & Rex Sterling / The Vulture Squad
2007: Irish Airborne
2006: Matt Sydal & Friends

-A horrific jobber team that appeared just once on the Sinclair Broadcast Group television series and hopefully never again. Not only did they lose and lose huge, they didn’t look good at all while they were at it. BEGONE Constantine and Casey! Never from my eyes will I see thy sight again…I hope.

=MVP of the Year=

Davey Richards

2. Kevin Steen
3. Eddie Edwards
4. The Briscoes

2010: Kevin Steen
2009: Austin Aries
2008: Jimmy Jacobs
2007: The Briscoes
2006: Bryan Danielson
2005: James Gibson

-Oh yes, this may cause some argument considering all the heat Richards takes nowadays from a segment of the ROH and independent wrestling fan base, but back at the beginning of 2011 Richards was on a terrific hot streak of fantastic matches that whupped wrestling audiences into a frenzy. Richards was good for fantastic main-event level matches against everyone on the ROH roster and providing the backbone of wrestling “work” on every show. He could do his style of match with success against anyone up and down the card from Colt Cabana to Chris Hero to Eddie Edwards and even his own protégé Kyle O’Reilly benefitted from matching up against him later in the year. The bottom line on the Most Valuable award is determining who gave ROH the most value in booking them on the card and who gave the fans the most value in purchasing their ticket—Davey Richards did that in the ring for most of 2011.

-Meanwhile, Kevin Steen didn’t have to enter the ring in an official capacity but once in the entire year to deliver his value to a promotion he didn’t “officially” work for throughout 2011. Steen wrestled against Steve Corino in a brutal fight to regain his status as a member of the ROH roster at Final Battle 2011 in December. It was all of his promos and invasions of the promotion, from his physical presence at shows to his viral internet hostile takeover of the ROH message boards that demonstrated there is more than one way to prove to be the MVP of a wrestling company. Eddie Edwards had a similar level of value as Richards in the ring and he definitely upped his own value and place on the ROH roster, but it was clear Richards was the number one face of the promotion for the SBG television series while Edwards was positioned as the guy attempting to be next in line. The Briscoes were the glue of the ROH tag team division whether in the face or heel role and they never stopped working hard even though they were iconic members of the Ring of Honor roster.

=Debut of the Year=

Barrister R.D. Evans

2. Tomasso Ciampa
3. Rhino
4. Ayumi Kurihara & Hiroyo Matsumoto

2010: The House of Truth (Josh Raymond & Christian Able)
2009: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
2008: Kota Ibushi
2007: Erick Stevens

(A note about this award: This award refers to wrestlers who debuted in ROH action in the last year, as opposed to simply rookie wrestlers.)

-Though R.D. Evans did not wrestle for Ring of Honor, he proved to be the man with the best debut-being positioned as Prince Nana’s right hand man for the All-New, All-Different (except for Ernesto Osiris) Embassy (now Embassy Limited). Evans not only provided the storyline basis for the refresh on The Embassy stable, but his crony behavior was some of the most entertaining and outlandish evil unleashed in ROH during the year. Evans instigated the lawsuit against Homicide, constantly belittled Osiris with funny one-liners or non-verbal disregards, took the hits from the babyfaces when needed…and he did it all with aplomb and an eagerness that needs to be recognized and appreciated. Ciampa and Rhino also debuted for The Embassy in 2011, but Ciampa was mostly in the undercard winning squash matches and is hitting his stride only now at the beginning of 2012 while Rhino only made a handful of appearances in ROH. Talented Joshi wrestlers Kurihara and Matsumoto gave two fantastic efforts at the Wrestlemania weekend shows last April and made quite the impression with an audience that probably did not know much about them.

=Comeback / Return of the Year=

Kevin Steen

2. Jay Lethal
3. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
4. Chris Hero

2010: Steve Corino
2009: Prince Nana
2008: Jerry Lynn
2007: Bryan Danielson

-Well, maybe this one is cheating a little, since Steen was never officially gone from the promotion, just that the fans were led to believe that was the case. Yet the kayfabed exile storyline worked wonders all around and when it was time to come back, at Best in the World 2011, what a return it ended up becoming. Steen received an insane reaction from the Hammerstein crowd for his first appearance in six months, coming through the crowd and then unleashing an illegal torrent of violence against Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs and even ROH Executive Producer Jim Cornette. Steen’s returns in-and-out of the building on subsequent shows provided the buzz to fuel the next six months of that angle and made the fans excited to learn about what would happen next to him.

-Jay Lethal broke free from TNA and made his way to ROH where he found instant success, winning the Television Title in only his second match back. If that doesn’t make for a great comeback story, I’m not sure what would. The Young Bucks had a similar story of deliverance back from TNA to the independent scene, and while it didn’t result in a ROH title victory like Lethal they already made the leap to becoming one of the more valued acts on the roster. They delivered in some great return bouts against Future Shock and The Bravado Brothers, setting the stage for their heel turn and a successful 2012. It was a pleasant surprise to see Chris Hero return to ROH at Final Battle 2011, as it seemed he was a long time gone from the promotion and ready for his WWE run. Hero received a very good reaction from the New York crowd for making the surprise appearance. He had one more left in him for early 2012 before finally making his WWE signing official.

=Breakout of the Year=

Michael Elgin

2. Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly)
3. The Bravado Brothers

2010: Eddie Edwards
2009: Davey Richards
2008: Tyler Black
2007: Claudio Castagnoli

This award is for which wrestler or performer “broke out” from the pack and stood out and made an impact within ROH this year

-It really couldn’t be anyone else but Michael Elgin earning breakout of the year, given he began as a semi-finalist in the Top Prospect Tournament from the HDNet series and wound up in several main-events on ROH shows throughout the second half of the year including winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament and matching up against ROH World Champion Davey Richards in a non-title Proving Ground match that closed out the 2011 television season for ROH right before the Final Battle 2011 Pay Per View. Elgin has flourished under the spotlight in ROH and stands out from the roster due to his size and power game. He became the bruiser for The House of Truth and impressed many with his crazy ability to carry guys around and throw them at will. The future looks good for Elgin, but it was in 2011 where ROH fans began to discover that would be the case. Speaking of Future, Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly also proved they were going to be some of the more impressive participants in ROH’s future plans with a successful undercard run as Future Shock. They made the crowds roar in approval with their electrifying tag team combinations and mixing it up with longstanding teams like The Kings of Wrestling, The Briscoes and The American Wolves prepped them to make the next steps up the ladder in the promotion, which seems to be playing out right now in the current Richards-Edwards split angle. The Bravados also broke out of the pack with their “Bravado Bandwagon” promos and very entertaining heel gimmick. They demonstrated an improved in-ring game and went so far as to shake the albatross of being known as “ROH students” (a label that has proven to hold back more than a fair share of undercard workers).

=Most Honorable=

Steve Corino

2. El Generico
3. Davey Richards
4. Eddie Edwards

2010: El Generico
2009: Bryan Danielson
2008: Bryan Danielson
2007: Nigel McGuinness
2006: BJ Whitmer
2005: Samoa Joe

Steve Corino goes from Most Dishonorable last year to Most Honorable this year, pulling a reverse Kevin Steen (2nd in Most Honorable in 2009, Most Dishonorable in 2010)

-Steve Corino may be an evil person, but by his words and his actions in 2011 also proved to be a changed man. Steve Corino and Kevin Steen ruled the world of dishonor in 2010, but Corino’s change of heart as a result of the Final Battle 2010 showdown between Steen and El Generico earned him the honor of being this year’s “Most Honorable” winner. Many were skeptical of the change of heart and wondered if Corino had ulterior motives or a secret plan up his sleeve while proclaiming to be out for doing good in the world. Instead, Corino took every day as a new opportunity to demonstrate his honest efforts. He spent time with the younger wrestlers and began to coach them as well as warning them not to follow the path he led for so many years. He also brought back Jimmy Jacobs to ROH, arguing a case for the former rebellious youth and one of ROH’s worst terrors to return and also prove himself to be worthy of a second chance at a good first impression. Corino also wound up making amends with former enemy El Generico (though it took a long while to convince him) and defended ROH against Steen’s invasive presence that even Davey Richards recognized Corino’s efforts to change and gave him his respect. Corino may have been tempted at times to be led into darkness (such as during his rivalry with Mike Bennett) and was forced to fight evil with evil in the match against Kevin Steen, but ultimately Corino walked the path of honor and righteousness in 2011 and that needs to be rewarded with the recognition that change has come to Steve Corino.

=Most Dishonorable=

Kevin Steen

2. Truth Martini
3. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
4. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)

2010: Kevin Steen & Steve Corino
2009: The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards)
2008: Nigel McGuinness
2007: Chris Hero
2006: Chris Hero
2005: Homicide & CM Punk

-Well, it really wasn’t even close this year—Kevin Steen lived up to his billing as the Anti-Christ of professional wrestling, haunting and terrorizing Ring of Honor throughout the year with both his spirit and his physical presence. Kevin Steen stewed for months about losing his match to El Generico and being forced into exile from ROH. He first conned his old mentor Steve Corino into giving him the opportunity to return and then made life a living hell for the likes of him, Jacobs, Jim Cornette, Cary Silkin his old friend El Generico, Davey Richards and many others. Steen didn’t hesitate to say what was on his mind, spewing venom against all of his transgressors. He was a one-man invasion and it took almost every last security guard and spare ROH student on crowd detail just to carry him out of the building during his several loud interruptions. Steen was insanity and chaos incarnate in ROH throughout 2011 and it just doesn’t get more dishonorable than that. Just think though, this year was probably only a prologue to what danger and disgraceful actions he will provide to ROH now that he has an official and legal ability to wrestle for the promotion.

=2011 ROH Shows of the Year=

Note: the timeframe for consideration of these shows began with Survival of the Fittest 2010 on 11/12/10 and concluded with Gateway of Honor on 11/06/11).

Honor Takes Center Stage Chapters One & Two

-One of the best wrestling weekends in Ring of Honor history happened last April during the annual Wrestlemania weekend series of shows. ROH presented two nights of internet Pay Per View headlined with Eddie Edwards in the championship position and headliner. Edwards flourished in the spotlight, first in the main-event ROH World Title defense against Christopher Daniels on Chapter One and then contributing to a fantastic dream tag match between The American Wolves and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. Haas and Benjamin had the best weekend of their ROH career thus far, winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Kings of Wrestling on night one and then defeating Edwards and Richards on night two. Not to be outdone, the Kings may have lost the titles but also had a tremendous showing with Cole and O’Reilly, helping to put over the youngsters as the up-and-comers for that year. The Briscoes also did that for those two and did the same for Kenny King and Rhett Titus in their several confrontations throughout the weekend including their bloody street fight on night two. So as one can see, a lot of wrestlers were connected and the effort from everyone on the roster was there to make those combinations work. Both nights of shows were packed with great match after great match and by my mark, there were four back-to-back four star matches to close out the first night of events and several four-star matches on the second night. There can be no wrong done by purchasing these DVDs to start one’s ROH collection, though it does set a very high standard and shows ROH at its best.

Also on the list:

Final Battle 2010— The Kevin Steen vs. El Generico blow-off was one of the most violent but fitting conclusions I’ve ever seen in a professional wrestling feud, ending a year-long war with the good guy winning in the end and earning retribution for being haunted by his tormentors. Richards-Strong for the ROH World Title and the Briscoes six-man against The Kings of Wrestling and Shane Hagadorn are also very memorable matches.
Only the Strong Survive–A bloody war between Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Title headlines a surprisingly great top-to-bottom card.
Best in the World 2011–A weaker under card is lifted up big time by the angle featuring the return of Kevin Steen, El Generico winning the TV Title in a very emotional and triumphant moment and of course the epic and incredibly important Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards ROH World Title match. It’s not the best show in the word, but it may be one of the most watched ROH shows ever due to it being pushed so hard in this new SBG era as a jumping –on point for newer viewers.
Supercard of Honor VI — Another very strong top-to-bottom showcase for ROH with the Roderick Strong vs. Eddie Edwards title rematch and Briscoes / ANX street fight making this a compulsory buy for fans.
Manhattan Mayhem IV –Eddie Edwards’ shocking upset win of the ROH World Title is still one of the more crowd-pleasing surprises of the last few years and the title fight is certainly worthy of multiple viewings. Also memorable for the major Briscoe-ANX double turn match and angle.
Revolution: Canada–Headlined by Eddie Edwards ROH World Title defense against Chris Hero, a tribute match for Larry Sweeney and the awesome Double Danger Scramble where Michael Elgin reigned supreme.
So Cal Showdown II –Richards and TJ Perkins steal the undercard while El Generico and Roderick Strong tear down the house with a main event that showed Generico could legitimately be a ROH World title contender. Also Haas and Benjamin win against The Kings of Wrestling and set up their future tag title run.
Ninth Anniversary Show–Some weaker World and Tag title matches in that no one expected any changes here, but the undercard helps out with a first-ever dream match between The Briscoes and Haas and Benjamin (a sort of face versus face preamble for their extended feud later in the year), Colt Cabana and Davey Richards having a very entertaining match, The ANX proving they could work babyface and Edwards and Christopher Daniels with a two-out-of-three fall technical showcase for TV title.
Defy or Deny–Though its relevancy of the main-event (Strong winning and shutting down future title contention for Homicide, Jay Briscoe and El Generico) is watered down because the results were rendered void by Edwards winning the title the next night, this was also a pleasant surprise with the under card. Richards vs. Castagnoli is one of the better singles matches for the latter before leaving for WWE meanwhile Edwards vs. Elgin, Hero vs. Perkins, Ciampa vs. Cole and Briscoe vs. O’Reilly all met or surpassed expectations.

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As of 02/11/12

=ROH World Champion=
Davey Richards

Champion since 06/26/2011 | 9* successful defenses
Best in the World 2011 defeated Eddie Edwards in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense Triple Threat Elimination vs. Roderick Strong vs. Eddie Edwards in Orlando, FL on 03/30/12.

–Davey Richards defeated Tommy End in Barcelona, Spain on 07/04/2011.
–Davey Richards defeated Chase Owens in Kingsport, KY on 08/04/11.*
–Davey Richards defeated Colt Cabana in Carrolton, GA on 08/06/11.
–Davey Richards defeated Roderick Strong in Chicago, Illinois on 08/13/11.
–Davey Richards defeated Daga in Tulancingo, MEX on 10/15/11.
–Davey Richards defeated El Generico in Chicago Ridge, IL on 11/19/11.
–Davey Richards defeated Eddie Edwards in New York, NY on 12/23/11.
–Davey Richards defeated Jay Lethal in Philadelphia, PA on 01/20/12.
–Davey Richards defeated Jay Lethal in Baltimore, MA on 02/04/12.

* These matches are not as yet officially recognized by Ring of Honor on their records page, but as they did occur as billed “ROH World Title” matches for the live crowd in attendance they are listed here for posterity.

=ROH World Tag Team Champions=
The Briscoe Brothers: Jay & Mark Briscoe

Champions since 12/23/2011 | 1 successful defense
Final Battle 2011 defeated Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) in New York, NY to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. Team Ambition (Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly) in Cincinnati, OH on 2/17/12.

–The Briscoes defeated Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman in Norfolk, VA on 1/21/12.

=ROH Television Champion=
Jay Lethal

Champion since 08/13/2011 | 4 successful defenses
Sinclair TV Tapings defeated El Generico in Chicago Ridge, IL to win the championship.
Next Defense vs. TBA

–Jay Lethal went to a time-limit draw with “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett in Louisville, KY on 10/01/11.
–Jay Lethal went to a time-limit draw with El Generico in Louisville, KY on 11/05/11.
–Jay Lethal defeated El Generico & “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett in New York, NY on 12/23/11.
–Jay Lethal defeated “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett in Baltimore, MA on 01/07/12.

=Proving Ground Contenders=

These wrestlers have earned a future title shot in the following ROH title divisions through the Proving Ground system.

World Title: None
World Tag Team Title: The All-Night Express (earned on SBG TV tapings, episode airing 12/10/11), Jigsaw & Hallowicked (earned on 01/20/12)
TV Title: Roderick Strong (earned on 11/19/11), Tommaso Ciampa (earned on 01/21/12)

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We spent some time reviewing the past year in ROH so now let’s zip forward into the future with some recent ROH main event announcements.

-Set for the 10th Anniversary Show iPPV on March 4th in New York City is the American Wolves & Future Shock schism tag bout…as Davey Richards teams with his protégé Kyle O’Reilly to wrestle against their respective former tag partners Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole. Let’s call these new teams The Future Americans and Shocked Wolves, just for the heck of it. I felt some excitement about this one when it was announced, though both Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer and Kevin Steen seem to feel that the match isn’t good enough to be the main event of the anniversary show. I expect only one of those two men to show at these proceedings and cause some trouble and it isn’t Big Dave.

-The main events for the Showdown in the Sun iPPV in Fort Lauderdale, Florida were revealed during last week’s television tapings.

First of all, the March 30th, 2012 show will have Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin wrestling current ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes in a grudge match (this should be a title match if The Briscoes are still champions at this point). That match continues the feud between the two teams and will be the first major match for Haas and Benjamin as heels in ROH.

Then, Davey Richards will defend the ROH World Title on 3/30/12 in a triple-threat elimination match against familiar rivals Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong. I know some people will have rolled their eyes at that one, considering how many times and the many combinations of these three wrestling against each other in 2011. It’s reminiscent to me of the Austin Aries / Tyler Black / Roderick Strong triangle that played out in 2009 and early 2010, leading to their three-man elimination at The Big Bang internet Pay Per View. By that point, the combinations felt overdone but they still managed to perform well and provide a good mix in that match as well as the Wrestlemania weekend matches (round robin bouts on both nights) from the week prior. I’d imagine Strong, Edwards and Richards can do enough to do the same, but one would hope that afterwards ROH could move onto something else.

That something else seems to be a very convoluted main-event for the second night of shows in Fort Lauderdale on 3/31/12. That will be a “Blind Destiny Challenge”, which is…well, I’m still not really sure what it is and how it sets up, so here is the blurb from this week’s Wrestling Observer verbatim, and you try to make heads or tails of it: ” They will also have three singles matches in a Blind Destiny deal. On the 3/10 TV show, Michael Elgin, Kevin Steen and Jay Lethal all won matches to get into the Blind Destiny deal. They will each have a singles match against either Edwards, Richards or Strong. They will announce the three matches most likely on the 3/17 TV show which will be taped when they return to Baltimore on 3/3. The deal is that one of the three matches will be a title match based on who wins on 3/30, so you don’t know which of the three is the title match until the night before.”.

It should also be noted that Michael Elgin still has his title shot from winning the Survival of the Fittest 2011 tournament outstanding at this point. I’m hoping that this wouldn’t count for that and that ROH will book a one-on-one title opportunity on a house show soon.

-So yes, it is official; Chris Hero has passed his tests and signed with WWE as of last week and has already reported to the developmental league in Florida. I am anxiously waiting for the announcement of his Florida Championship Wrestling Generic Name. There are just so many joyously awful possibilities. Actually I hope they keep the change simple and go with Christopher Villain or the like. Anyway, it’s great to see that the issues have been cleared up and that he is now on his way into the mainstream machine. I think if anyone can find success there it would be him and Antonio Cesaro (formerly Claudio Castagnoli). They have the height, the size, the talent, the experience and the comfort on both promos and in the ring to make a quick go of it in rising from FCW to the major WWE brands.

-Expect some more CHIKARA involvement on ROH events leading up to the big “Synergy” crossover event in April, perhaps on the three March internet Pay Per Views. Apparently the positive buzz and response from fans of both promotions has led to plans to expand upon the initial ROH/CHIKARA double shot. Whatever form that takes, it’s a huge positive for both promotions and their fans and goes to show there are dividends when wrestling companies give the audience what they want to see.

-ROH will run their next television tapings in Baltimore, Maryland on March 3rd, the day before the 10th Anniversary Show. March is setting up to a very important month for the promotion with those tapings and the three internet Pay Per Views.

-“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole will happen at the February 17th, 2012 show in Cincinnati, Ohio. There will also be a mini-tag team tournament of some kind featuring teams not regularly in ROH. Whether that means special guests or more likely local talents getting a chance to wrestle remains to be seen. I’d bet on the latter.

-Let’s talk about nicknames for a moment. Now “Unbreakable” is a pretty damned accurate one for Michael Elgin, and the adjective is a strong word and a strong idea that helps put over his toughness. However, some of the nicknames that ROH “Creative” have given their talent and their show ideas of late have been, well, crap. Corny even. First of all, there is “The Prodigy” moniker for Mike Bennett, which is about as much as a misnomer as there can be possible. “Future Shock” was on the borderline of lame and acceptable, though eventually I became used to it and Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly’s talents rose above the tag name.

“Dominant Male” for Tommaso Ciampa makes me think of the “American Males” tag team from the old WCW days (you know, Scotty Riggs and Marcus Alexander BUFF IS THE STUFF Bagwell) and all it wants to do is make me say “American Male, American Male, American Male, American Male, American Male, American Male, American Male” over and over again. The shame of it is that Kevin Kelly already had a better one for Ciampa by calling him the “Sicilian Psychopath” on an early episode of the television show. It fits Ciampa far better and gives a lasting image of exactly the kind of wreckage he could provide with his actions.

Recently ROH dubbed footage from their two house show events telecast though the SBG show as “Road Rage”, which is just awful. It sounds like “Roid Rage”, which is exactly not what I would want to associate in the minds of the viewers with the ROH wrestling product. What is ROH raging about anyway?

Kevin Steen is “Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare” – but while that may be true, it’s a far weaker derivation of his “Anti-Christ of Professional Wrestling” tag-line he’s been using for the past year. Now THAT is an imposing and intimidating nickname. No one wants to mess with someone dubbing himself to be an Anti-Christ. Nightmares pass eventually, but Armageddon, that’s like, forever man.

Now comes the appellation of “Technical Lightning” for TJ Perkins. I don’t even know what that means. Can lightning actually be “technical”? If so, how so? Really, TJ doesn’t need a nickname-he’s TJ Perkins. That’s good enough on its own…but if one insists on a clever handle for him they could have just gone back to TJP and tried to make something of that.

So my word of advice to ROH, either stop with the nicknames or try to come up with some stronger and less lame ones, because they don’t really help as is. Go with what is the strongest nicknames and if the wrestlers or announcers can come up with something better, then go with that instead. Then again, maybe listening to the fans isn’t the greatest idea as well, because all one has to do is say the term “Air Devils” (the fan created name for a one-match pairing of Matt Sydal and Fast Eddie) and people will be running for the hills.

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Twitter me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.

Kevin Ford has gone on a cavalcade of Ring of Honor house show DVD reviews. You can find his rundown and thoughts right here at 411Mania.com for Gateway to Honor, Survival of the Fittest 2011 and Glory By Honor X.

Ford also covers one of the best ROH compilations DVDs in recent memory, the Ring of Hero: Best of Chris Hero two-disc set.

Shawn Lealos gives you the Wrestling 4R’s for Ring of Honor television from February 4th with Jay Lethal defending the TV Title against Mike Bennett.

T.J. Hawke gives you the lowdown on a new wrestling school docu-series, The School of Roc Class Wars.

Michael Weyer covers respect for professional wrestlers in this week’s Shining A Spotlight.

Ryan Byers has his very own countdown list column going with The 8 Ball discussing the reasons WWE should stay PG.

Matt Sforcina answers your questions in this week’s Ask 411.

Okay everyone, that’s gonna call it. Thanks for reading and for the comments. Until next time,

BROOKLYN!
DAH EM BAH SEE…LIMITED!
–Ari–