That Was Then 2.4.06: The History Of Ring Of Honor - 2004 Part II
Posted by Stuart Carapola on 02.04.2006
ROH starts their climb back to the top after the Feinstein Incident.
Although Ring of Honor had gotten off to a great start in 2002-2003, growing more quickly than almost any other promotion in history, events surrounding ROH promoter Rob Feinstein had affected the promotion greatly, costing them a lot of talent and forcing changes to several of the storylines that had been planned in the months to come. It seemed that they had finally put everything behind them and started on the road to recovery in the middle of 2004, but they weren't out of the woods just yet.
Part I: The ROH-RF Video Split
Ring of Honor had been through the toughest period of their relatively short history early in 2004 when ROH promoter Rob Feinstein was caught in an internet sting on pedophiles, allegedly trying to meet underage partners in internet chatrooms. Although the situation had cost them access to talent under contract to TNA (including AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels), they had seemed to move on, bring in new talent to replace that which had been taken from them, and trying to put the whole thing behind them.
The whole situation unfortunately blew up again on June 9, 2004, when the announcement was made that ROH, lead by majority investor Cary Silkin, had split from parent company RF Video, led by President and CEO Doug Gentry. Neither side was willing to openly discuss what exactly caused the split, although many people theorized that Silkin wanted to get rid of Doug Gentry and cut the last remaining tie to Rob Feinstein.
If this was true, it was good foresight, as Feinstein himself soon resurfaced, running around to several promoters, claiming to still be with ROH and looking for payments on outstanding invoices. Among these promotions was TNA, which only worsened the situation between the two companies as a result. TNA saw this as evidence of what they had suspected all along, that Feinstein was never truly gone from ROH. All this was finally enough for Silkin, who rented out a new office and moved the company in, also hiring most of the ROH employees away from RF Video. After the split occurred, ROH officials had a meeting backstage with the wrestlers and explained to them that the reason for the split was that it was discovered that Feinstein was still involved in ROH and, in the interest of the health of the company, they went about the split as quietly as possible, not even telling any of the wrestlers about it. The split became official on June 28th, and on June 29th Cary Silkin was announced the President and 100% owner of Ring of Honor.
So the split was now complete, and Feinstein was completely, unequivocably, truly gone from ROH. Then what was the final outcome of the whole situation? The 45% of shares still owned by Feinstein and Gentry now belonged to Cary Silkin. RF Video turned all ROH merchandise over to ROH and signed a one year no-compete clause, after which it was expected that RF Video would start promoting wrestling events again. In return for this, ROH agreed not to sell videos of any of the promotions that had deals with RF Video. Now that Feinstein was definitely gone, Zero-One allowed its wrestlers (including Steve Corino, Low Ki, and Spanky) to return to ROH. The final agreement to come out of this was that a gag order was placed on everybody involved, and a $5000 fine would be levied against anyone who decided to violate the order.
Charges were never filed against Feinstein, and he was back to work at RF Video as soon as the split was official. But without his presence weighing them down, ROH was now finally ready to move on with its life.
Part II: Joe's Stranglehold
Samoa Joe had won the ROH Title in March of 2003, and was still champion in mid-2004. He had defended the title against nearly every top contender in the company, including several brutal matches against Homicide. However, there was one man that Joe had yet to face for the title, and that man was the leader of the Second City Saints, CM Punk. Punk, already one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions, had made his first real moves to get gold around his waist in 2004. He lost his two chances to win the ROH Pure Wrestling Title, but he and Colt Cabana had won the Tag Team Title from Jay & Mark Briscoe at ROH Reborn: Stage Two, lost them to Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer at Round Robin Challenge III, then won them back by beating the Briscoes again later in the evening.
Punk's focus was now on adding the ROH World Title to his two tag titles, and he got his first shot at World Title Classic. Although Punk only had about a .500 record going into this show, he showed that he was a real contender and not to be overlooked by extending Joe further than anyone had up to that point. Since Joe's matches had traditionally ended within 15-20 minutes, it was unknown if Joe could keep pace with a better conditioned wrestler once they made it past the 20 minute mark. Punk's plan was to go long with Joe and try and wear him out to the point that he could no longer wrestle effectively, and then Punk would beat him for the title. The match ended up going the distance in a 60-minute time limit draw, and the fans were on their feet for both men in the closing minutes of the match, cheering both men. Punk, a heel at the time, put over Joe and the ROH Title after the clock ran out.
The celebration was short lived, however, as Homicide ran in and attacked both men, stole the new ROH World Title belt that had been presented to Joe before the match, and ran to the back. It appeared that Joe's feud with Homicide was back on, and finishing things with Punk was going to have to wait. Joe and Homicide found themselves across the ring from each other again at ROH Reborn: Completion, as Joe teamed with former rivals Jay & Mark Briscoe against Homicide and the Havana Pitbulls. The match ended in a DQ, and after the match Low Ki ran in, apparently to save Joe from a beatdown by the Rottweilers. He said that after all the work he had put into building ROH, nobody was going to disrespect the ROH Title…except for him. He finished by attacking Joe himself and spitting on the very ROH Title that he once held. Things had somehow gotten even more personal than they already were as ROH entered Death Before Dishonor II weekend. On Night One, Joe scored yet another victory over Homicide, then went on to beat Colt Cabana (who had pinned Joe to eliminate him from the Survival Of The Fittest finals) on Night Two.
It may have appeared that Joe had tied things up nicely for the time being, but Punk soon made some noise about going after the ROH World Title again. His stance was that although he was unable to take the title from Joe at World Title Classic, Joe hadn't beaten him either. He said that on that basis, he deserved another title shot. Homicide also wanted to get his hands on Joe again, and Punk wanted at Homicide for ruining the World Title Classic match as well. And so a three way match was set up between Joe, Homicide, and Punk at Scramble Cage Melee. The title was not on the line for this one, this was just a three way grudge match, and was won by Homicide after Punk gave Joe a Pepsi Plunge and Homicide stole the fall.
Homicide had gotten the upper hand again, but Joe wouldn't get a chance to even the score anytime soon, as ROH officials had decided that the feud had gotten too personal and decreed that, in the interest of cooling things down for now, Joe and Homicide wouldn't be across the ring from one another for the rest of the year. This didn't leave Joe with any shortage of challengers, as he was faced with, and defeated, Doug Williams at Glory By Honor III, Bryan Danielson at Midnight Express Reunion, and Rocky Romero at ROH Gold.
Punk finally got his rematch against Joe at the appropriately named Joe vs Punk II in Punk's hometown of Chicago. Again, Punk's plan was to try and extend Joe, and again he underestimated Joe's stamina as they went to a second one hour draw. The hometown boy had not won the title, but again was not himself defeated, and he soon made it known that he felt he deserved yet another shot at the title. Joe's argument was that Punk had failed to win the title twice, but in the end, after Punk staged a sit-in until Joe answered his challenge, deciding that he would grant Punk one final title shot.
After making a short stop on the side, teaming with Jushin Liger to beat Bryan Danielson & Low Ki at Weekend Of Thunder Night Two, Joe defended the title against Punk for the third and final time at All Star Extravaganza II. This time, there would be no time limit and there would be a winner. Punk changed up his battle plan this time, instead choosing to try and catch Joe off guard by taking the fight straight to him. Unfortunately for Punk, he played right into Joe's hands, as Joe beat Punk within an inch of his life in a brutal brawl, before finally scoring the decisive win over Punk by choking him out in the middle of the ring.
It was now December of 2004, and Joe still seemed untouchable as champion. He had beaten everybody thrown in his path, including Punk, Homicide, Danielson, Williams, Maff, Whitmer, Christopher Daniels, both Havana Pitbulls, both Briscoes, Styles, London, and everybody in between. There didn't seem to be anybody left to challenge Joe, but Joe still had to get through Final Battle 2004 if he was to make it into the new year as champion. But who was left to defend the title against?
Part III: The Rottweilers
For years, it seemed that although Homicide was clearly one of the elite in ROH, he was never able to truly break through and score that big win that would finally put him at the top of the company. You could see the frustration build, and at ROH Reborn: Stage One, it finally became too much for Homicide. Homicide was challenging Samoa Joe for the ROH Title, and again was unable to put him away. Homicide snapped and threw a fireball at Joe, which cost him that shot at the title, but finally seemed to give him the drive and killer instinct he needed to catapult himself to the top.
He wouldn't be alone, however. Already at his side was manager Julius Smokes, and soon after he was joined by the Havana Pitbulls, Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero, and the new group would be known as the Rottweilers.. Homicide's quest to win the ROH Title at any cost began at Round Robin Challenge III. Homicide himself defeated Spanky, and also set up a match for Ricky Reyes against Joe in order to soften the champion up for Homicide. Joe won the match as expected, but Homicide soon got his rematch against Joe at Generation Next, and again went down in defeat to the ROH Champion.
Homicide was far from finished with Joe, and attacked him after a match between Joe and CM Punk, stealing the new ROH Title belt given to Joe before the match in the process. Homicide taunted Joe with the belt, and also challenged Joe and the Briscoe Brothers to a three on three fight against the Havana Pitbulls and himself. The Rottweilers got themselves disqualified, but didn't seem too concerned about having lost the match. Instead, they took this as another opportunity to lay out Joe. The beating continued until Low Ki made his long-awaited return to ROH, and the Rottweiliers backed off as Ki entered the ring. As outlined above, Ki turned on ROH and Joe, spit on the ROH Title belt, and officially joined the Rottweilers.
The Rottweilers became dominant, and although Homicide lost another shot at Joe's title at Death Before Dishonor Night One, Low Ki and Rocky Romero beat Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer the same night, then Homicide and Ki defeated the Briscoe Brothers in individual matches the next night. The Briscoes got their revenge at Testing The Limit by beating Homicide and Ki in a tag match, but Homicide and Ki beat them down after the match, and the Briscoe Brothers would not bee seen in ROH again. Homicide, who had been unable to beat Joe for the title, finally challenged Joe and Punk to a three way match to settle once and for all who was the franchise player in ROH. Homicide won the match and was able to claim that, although he was not the ROH Champion, he was the top guy in the company, and would remain unchallenged for the time being as ROH officials had decided that Joe and Homicide would not face each other again in 2004.
Although they were viewed by many as the third string players of the Rottweilers, the Havana Pitbulls became perhaps the most dominant members of the group throughout the rest of the year. They began that dominance by beating CM Punk and Colt Cabana for the ROH Tag Team Title at Testing The Limit. They then went on a tear, as they beat former ROH Tag Team Champions Izzy & Dixie of Special K at Scramble Cage Melee, won an Ultimate Endurance match by beating Maff & Whitmer at Glory By Honor III, then went on to beat Special K members Izzy & Angel Dust at Midnight Express Reunion and Generation Next members Roderick Strong and Jack Evans at Weekend of Thunder Night One.
The Weekend of Thunder was also notable for fellow Rottweiler Low Ki, who teamed with Bryan Danielson to face Samoa Joe and Jushin Liger. Although Danielson and Ki had a respect for each other going back to the earliest ROH shows, they lost the match and Ki blamed the loss on Danielson, then joined in with his fellow Rottweilers in a beatdown on his partner. Danielson would not just lie down and take it, and came right back at the Rottweilers. He avenged his loss to Homicide earlier in the year by beating him at All Star Extravaganza II, then got Low Ki one-on-one at Final Battle 2004. Low Ki ended up getting himself disqualified, and took out his frustration at the loss by attacking referee Sean Hansen. This was finally too much for the ROH officials, and they suspended Low Ki indefinitely as a result.
The Rottweilers had truly become a force to be reckoned with. Homicide still wasn't able to win the ROH World Title, but had proven himself a legitimate title threat and also earned some bragging rights by beating Joe and Punk in the three way match. Although Low Ki was suspended and wouldn't be able to join his teammates for the time being, he would presumably return at some point, at which time he would almost certainly become a top title contender. Also, the Havana Pitbulls were the ROH Tag Team Champions and had dominated everyone thrown in their path. They had defeated literally every top team in ROH, and any team would be hard pressed to beat them going into 2005. It seemed that the Rottweilers were destined for big things in 2005.
Part IV: Pure Wrestling VS Hardcore
Former NWA World Champion Ricky Steamboat had made his debut in the first half of 2004 as a referee for the match for the Pure Wrestling Title at At Our Best. Punk lost the match and blamed Steamboat for the loss, then attacked him. Steamboat, however, was able to turn the tables and send Punk running for the back. Steamboat also wound up refereeing a match between Punk and Bryan Danielson at ROH Reborn: Stage One. Steamboat's officiating was sharply biased, and Punk lost again. Punk and his partner Colt Cabana attacked Steamboat after the match and left him laying.
The next time the two men came face to face was at Round Robin Challenge III as Steamboat came to the ring and cost Punk yet another match, this time causing he and Cabana to lose the Tag Team Title to Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer in the first match of the tournament. This pissed off Punk royally, and he and Cabana again beat down Steamboat, and to put an exclamation point on the beatdown, put Steamboat through a table as well. Steamboat returned at Generation Next, this time to have an arranged verbal confrontation with Punk. Punk opened by running down Steamboat and his past accomplishments, to which Steamboat replied that he was there to fight, not talk. Punk acted like he was backing down from the fight and offered to shake Steamboat's hand, but as you might expect, Punk suckerpunched him and he and Cabana again left Steamboat laying. Amazingly, they then topped the insult of the table incident when Punk grabbed the ring bell and came off the top rope, ramming the bell into Steamboat's throat in a repeat of the same attack Steamboat had suffered by Randy Savage in 1987.
The feud was settled once and for all at ROH Reborn: Completion. The two men had finally agreed to a straight up fight, and they came to the ring that night and went right at it. After a lengthy brawl, Steamboat got the better of Punk, and he stood over Punk with the bell and told him that his attitude is destroying him. He then gave Punk a choice: become the man Steamboat knows he can be, or continue getting beaten by Steamboat. Before Punk had a chance to answer, Generation Next hit the ring and beat Steamboat down. Punk got to his feet as Steamboat lay on the mat and as Generation Next held Steamboat ready for Punk's inevitable attack, Punk said that if he was being given that choice by Steamboat, he decided that he was going to be a man. He swerved everybody by turning on Generation Next, and he and Steamboat cleared the ring of the four young upstarts. After Generation Next was gone, Punk and Steamboat finally touched knuckles to show each other respect and end the feud.
Shortly afterward, another former World Champion came to Ring of Honor, as former WWF World Champion Mick Foley made his ROH debut at Glory By Honor III. He came out to join Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer in the ring and prepared to make a speech. Before he had a chance to say anything, Prince Nana came out with the Embassy and proclaimed Foley the newest member of his stable. Foley told him that this wasn't quite true, which resulted in the Embassy and Generation Next attacking him. Foley, Maff and Whitmer ran both stables off, and then Foley finally was able to tell the crowd why he was there. He was there because he had been watching the DVDs and was absolutely amazed at the kind of action he saw in ROH, he truly appreciated what was going on in ROH and said that if he was still in ring shape, he'd be stealing a lot of these moves for himself. He then proclaimed ROH the "Ring Of Hardcore" and headed to the back.
His night wasn't over, however. After losing the Ultimate Endurance match at the end of the show, Maff and Whitmer found themselves on the receiving end of a beatdown from Generation Next, the Embassy, and the Havana Pitbulls. Foley ran out with a fire extinguisher and cleared the ring, then as the fans were chanting his name, he told them that he didn't do anything and to save their cheers for the wrestlers of ROH.
The two legends had certainly made an impact on ROH individually, but their paths would soon cross at ROH Gold. After Foley was done refereeing a hardcore brawl that saw Maff and Whitmer defeat the Carnage Crew, Steamboat (who was in the building to manage a team against Generation Next) came out to confront Foley, and condemned Foley's "garbage style" as going against the true nature of professional wrestling. Although there were no hard feelings between the two men, they agreed that the next night at Joe vs Punk II, they would each pick a team for a Pure Wrestling vs Hardcore match. Foley picked his buddies Maff and Whitmer, while Steamboat picked Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer to represent pure wrestling. Unfortunately for Foley, he would lose round one of the contest as Steamboat's team picked up the clean win.
Foley, meanwhile, got himself involved in another situation. At Weekend of Thunder Night Two, while Punk was doing a sit-in in the ring in order to get another title shot against Samoa Joe, Foley hit the ring and told Punk that he thought that his matches with Joe were two of the best matches he'd ever seen, and that he'd like to take it to WWE. After Foley left, Joe came out to accept Punk's challenge and told Foley that "until his crippled ass comes and works for a real promotion" his opinion didn't mean anything.
Joe ended up winning his blowoff match with Punk at All Star Extravaganza II, and after picking up the win he got on the mic and challenged Foley to meet him in the ring. Foley never showed that night, but everything would hit the fan at Final Battle 2004. After a Fight Without Honor between Maff & Whitmer and the Carnage Crew, Foley called Steamboat to come out and meet him in the ring. Foley put over Steamboat and pure wrestling, while Steamboat admitted that hardcore had a place in wrestling after all as long as it wasn't every match on the show. Foley apologized for some of the jokes he had made at Steamboat's expense, but then said Samoa Joe owes him an apology for the remarks he made about Foley. Joe finally came out to face the Hardcore Legend, apologized to Foley and shook his hand…then suckerpunched him. Joe again challenged Foley and walked out. As Foley reeled from the shot Joe gave him, Steamboat grabbed the mic and noted that "that's hardcore."
That was the last appearance Steamboat made in Ring of Honor, as he would move on to a position as a road agent with WWE immediately afterward. Now that Steamboat wasn't there to continue his friendly feud with Foley, Foley appeared set to begin a bitter feud with Samoa Joe. However, the effect that Steamboat and Foley's presence had on ROH, helping to bring it back from the depths it had sunk to earlier in the year, and the fact that they had done it without ever getting in the ring for an official match, says a lot about the talent of the two men and also their value to the business.
Part V: Generation Next
As we have seen, Ring of Honor had lost several top talents in the wake of the TNA situation. To fill in some of those holes, a batch of new talent was brought in and signed to compete at the Generation Next show. The idea going into the show was that the new talent would compete in a "Generation Next" series of matches, and those who impressed ROH officials would be offered full-time gigs with the company. Four of these wrestlers had different plans, however, as Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans came out at the beginning of the show and announced that they were throwing out the format of the show. They stole the Generation Next name for their new stable and decided that, rather than fight each other to get a spot in ROH, they would join together and take everybody else's spot. They started their quest that night by first leaving the Christopher Street Connection and Dunn & Marcos laying, then beating Special K in an impromptu six man tag. After the match, Special K member Hydro didn't want to let these guys just come in and think they can start running things. He challenged Alex Shelley, the leader of the group, to a one on one match. Hydro put up a tough fight but lost. Generation Next's night wasn't over yet, as later on they decided they were going to take Jay & Mark Briscoe's spots. The Briscoes were joined by John Walters and Jimmy Rave (who Generation Next had laid out earlier in the show as well) and another impromptu tag match started. The eight men went back and forth in a classic, 41 minute match before Generation Next finally picked up the submission win.
If they had done nothing else that year, Generation Next had already established themselves with their dominance that first night, but they wanted more. Their streak continued, with Austin Aries making it to the finals of Survival Of The Fittest and being the last man eliminated by eventual winner Bryan Danielson. At ROH Reborn: Completion, Strong and Evans beat former ROH Tag Team Champions Izzy & Dixie of Special K, while Shelley reached the finals of the Pure Wrestling Title mini-tournament. Although Shelley lost, and both he and Aries would lose to new champion Doug Williams in separate matches on the Death Before Dishonor weekend, Generation Next would soon bounce back.
To start, Aries avenged his loss in the finals of Survival Of The Fittest with a victory over Danielson at Testing The Limit in a 2 out of 3 falls match that went 75 minutes. At Scramble Cage Melee, Strong was defeated by Ace Steel, but the four of them beat up Steel after the match. Colt Cabana tried saving his trainer, but wound up in an impromptu match against Aries himself. Aries won the match, then beat up Cabana and put him on the shelf. They ended the night with yet another big victory, as Jack Evans won the insanely dangerous Scramble Cage Melee match.
With the beating they had laid onto Steel and Cabana, however, Generation Next had caught the attention of Second City Saints leader CM Punk. Although Punk had defeated Aries at Glory By Honor III, he and Steel, who were joined by John Walters and Jimmy Jacobs, were on the losing end of an eight man elimination match against Generation Next at Midnight Express Reunion. The favor was returned when Punk, Steel and Jacobs beat Generation Next at ROH Gold, but Aries scored a huge victory by getting a submission win over Punk at Weekend Of Thunder Night One. Punk and Steel beat Aries and Strong the next night, but by scoring victories over both Danielson and Punk, as well as making the finals of Survival Of The Fittest, Aries was getting noticed by ROH management, who began considering Aries as a title contender.
As it happened, ROH had no challenger yet for Samoa Joe's ROH Title at Final Battle 2004. To fill that spot, Aries was placed in a #1 Contender match against Low Ki at All Star Extravaganza II. The two had a great, back and forth match that ended in a time limit draw. ROH officials authorized the match to go until a winner was declared, but Low Ki didn't want to give the fans or Aries what they wanted and walked out. By virtue of his refusal to continue to a finish, Aries was awarded the position of #1 contender and challenger to Samoa Joe's title.
Final Battle 2004 finally arrived, and it was to be the biggest night yet for Generation Next. Unfortunately, their evening didn't get off to a good start, as Strong and Shelley lost to Punk and Steve Corino on the undercard. This prompted Aries to come out tot the ring after the match and tear down Shelley for losing yet again. In closing, Aries announced that the same way they came in looking to take everybody else's spot, Aries was now going to take Shelley's spot as leader of Generation Next. Shelley was understandably shocked by this, but not as shocked as he would be when Aries and Strong then beat him down and left him laying. Aries had now taken one spot he coveted, all that yet remained was taking his place at the top of ROH as World Champion.
Finally it came time for the main event, and despite his prior victories over Danielson and Punk, Aries was the underdog to the overwhelming favorite Joe. Indeed, Joe spent much of the match knocking the much smaller Aries around, and Aries seemed terribly overmatched. In the end, however, Aries would prove too much for Joe, outlasting his hard hitting offense and, after a series of high impact moves including a crucifix bomb and a brainbuster, Aries hit the 450 splash for the pin and the title, ending Joe's 21-month reign as ROH World Champion. Joe took the loss in stride, handing over the belt to the new champion and telling him to uphold the prestige and respect Joe had brought to the title and act like a true champion. And so Generation Next had proven their dominance, stepping over everybody in their path, including their now deposed leader Shelley, and ended the year by gaining the ROH Title from a seemingly unbeatable champion.
Part VI: In Closing
Without a doubt, 2004 was the biggest year yet for ROH in terms of storylines, backstage drama, and just the sheer number of shows run. But in addition to everything else, 2004 also saw…
-Ultimate Endurance-ROH has always prided itself on its innovation and creativity, and the Ultimate Endurance contest was the latest example of this. The match starts with four teams in an elimination style environment. Each fall would have a different stipulation, and the winners usually walked out either the ROH Tag Team Champions or the top contenders to the title. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer beat all three teams by themselves to win the first UE match at World Title Classic, and won the first two falls of the second at Glory By Honor III before falling to ROH Tag Team Champions the Havana Pitbulls. Even though they fell short at the end of the second match, it's clear that the most successful duo to step into the Ultimate Endurance match was…
-Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer-With Christopher Daniels out of ROH, Maff and Whitmer were left to fend for themselves. Although they briefly won the ROH Tag Team Title from CM Punk and Colt Cabana at Round Robin Challenge III, they lost them to Jay & Mark Briscoe later the same night, leaving Maff and Whitmer back at square one. Over the spring they had several brutal matches against different combinations of the Second City Saints, a feud they lost in a final Chicago Street Fight against Saints members CM Punk and Ace Steel. However, things would soon be looking up for them again, as they made the decision to leave Allison Danger and the Prophecy at World Title Classic. Danger, who owned their contracts, was incensed that Maff and Whitmer would walk out on her. She retaliated by signing them into tough matches, costing them wins, and even going so far as to put a bounty on their heads. While all this was going on, Maff and Whitmer found themselves in a hardcore feud with the Carnage Crew. They soon joined up with Mick Foley, who saved them from a beating at the hands of Generation Next, the Havana Pitbulls, and the Embassy after the Ultimate Endurance Match at Glory By Honor III. Maff and Whitmer returned the favor by wrestling for Foley in the Pure Wrestling vs Hardcore tag match, losing to Ricky Steamboat's team of Nigel McGuinness and Chad Collyer. They then went on to win the feud with the Carnage Crew in a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle 2004, and all four men shook hands after the match and were put over by Foley in the process. Now with the Carnage Crew out of the way, Maff and Whitmer would be able to concentrate in the new year on their other two goals of getting out from under the thumb of Allison Danger and winning the ROH Tag Team Title. The Carnage Crew, on the other hand, once again seemed directionless after the loss to Maff & Whitmer. This lack of direction had been a constant problem for the Crew, including earlier in the year when they were stuck in a meaningless feud with…
-The New And Improved Carnage Crew-The Carnage Crew, early in 2004, had finally won the Special K feud, only to return to the locker room afterwards and have their victory celebration ruined by the discovery that somebody had shit in their bags. It was soon after revealed that the culprits were part time Crew member Masada, who was pissed that Loc and Devito only ever called on him when they were outnumbered, and Danny Daniels, Loc's fellow former ECW referee, who was pissed that Loc got the first shot as a wrestler in ROH and not him. The New Carnage Crew (as Masada and Daniels called themselves) and Trent Acid won the first match, beating Loc, Devito, and Justin Credible in a six man tag match. However, this would be a short and uneventful feud, as the original Carnage Crew beat the imposters in their first two-on-two match at ROH Reborn: Completion where the losing team would have to split. This feud distracted Loc and Devito from finally making a bid to win the ROH Tag Team Title and move on with their careers after they finished the feud that caused…
-The Breakup Of Special K-After the loss to the Carnage Crew in Scramble Cage, Special K went on a months-long losing streak. No matter what, it seemed that none of the members of the once-dominant faction could win a match over anybody. Two Special K members, Dixie and Angel Dust, realized that the party was over and it was time to get serious. They decided that they wouldn't party again until they started winning, but their attitude was not accepted by the other members of Special K. To compound the problems that were driving the group apart, Izzy's new girlfriend Lacey was riding Dixie and Angel Dust really hard for their constant losses, blaming all of Special K's problems on them. Finally, after Special K lost a match to a group of students from the ROH wrestling school, the split finally happened as Izzy, Deranged, Cheech, Cloudy, and Lacey attacked Dixie, Angel Dust, and Becky. At Final Battle 2004, Lacey and Deranged beat Becky and Angel Dust, then attacked Becky after the match. Becky has not been seen in ROH since, but Dixie and Angel Dust have made it clear that the battle was far from over.
The Great Managerial Debate-At All Star Extravaganza II, Jim Cornette wound up face to face in the ring with Bobby Heenan and told Heenan that despite all that he had accomplished, Cornette would always be considered the second greatest manager in the world as long as Heenan was still around. Cornette said to Heenan that it seemed that nothing, from Vince to WCW to cancer could kill him, and wondered what it would take for Heenan to finally die and let Cornette have his place at the top of the managerial ranks? Heenan responded by saying that as long as promotions like ROH were around, Heenan would be as well. This led to a match later in the night where the Heenan-led team of Colt Cabana & Jimmy Jacobs beat Cornette's team of Roderick Strong & Jack Evans in a terrific old-school comedy tag match. Heenan had won, but Cornette was obviously not satisfied, and would surely seek redemption against Heenan in the future.
-The Embassy-Prince Nana returned to ROH in 2004, but rather than try and make it as a wrestler himself, he would instead use his royal riches to assemble a stable of top notch talent that he would lead to the top of ROH. The first person to join the Embassy was Jimmy Rave. Rave had lost his spot in ROH due to his dismal win/loss record, but Nana bought him another opportunity and Rave, now armed with a new killer instinct, returned and went on a winning streak. Rave soon became one of the most hated men in ROH, both because the fans despised his pretty boy looks and also because he was using AJ Styles' finishing move the Styles Clash, which he had renamed the Rave Clash, to beat his opponents in what basically amounted to a slap in the face to his former mentor. Also joining Nana and Rave in the Embassy were preliminary tag team the Outcast Killaz, and the group even confronted the newly reunited Midnight Express at the Midnight Express Reunion show. Nana was also able to spread around enough money to lure Pure Wrestling Champion John Walters to the group at Final Battle 2004. This new force would face their first challenge in the form of…
-Jay Lethal-Lethal began the year as Hydro, a member of Special K. As Generation Next began their takeover of ROH and essentially replaced Special K as the dominant faction, Hydro broke out on his own with some very impressive performances, albeit losses, against both Generation Next leader Alex Shelley and CM Punk. He would soon after, at the urging of ROH Champion Samoa Joe, totally ditch the raver lifestyle and rechristen himself Jay Lethal. He competed in the mini-tournament to crown a new Pure Wrestling Champion, then-* soon became embroiled in a feud with the Embassy, losing to Jimmy Rave at Weekend Of Thunder Night Two, then coming back to beat Weapon Of Mask Destruction #1 at All Star Extravaganza II, then Weapon Of Mask Destruction #2 at Final Battle 2004. With John Walters joining the Embassy that same night, it seemed that Lethal had a good opportunity to make a name for himself in the new year against both Rave and Walters, and a victory over Walters would hopefully lead to a victory for the…
-Pure Wrestling Title-Around the middle of the year, it became clear that due to the TNA situation, Pure Wrestling Champion AJ Styles wouldn't be allowed to return to ROH anytime in the near future. The decision was made to strip him of the title, and a mini-tournament was set for ROH Reborn: Completion, where the winners of two Four Corner Survival matches would meet in a match to determine the new champion. The two winners, Doug Williams and Alex Shelley, met at the end of the night, with Williams picking up the victory. Williams went on to successfully defend the title in a rematch against Shelley on Night One, and then against Shelley's Generation Next teammate Austin Aries on Night Two of the Death Before Dishonor weekend. He ended up losing the title to John Walters at Scramble Cage Melee in Walters' long awaited breakthrough match, and Walters still held the title as the year ended.
Epilogue
Although a lot of terrific things happened for Ring of Honor in 2004, they were probably glad to put the year behind them. The stigma cast upon them due to the Feinstein Incident had certainly taken its toll upon the promotion, but now completely cleared of any involvement with Rob Feinstein and RF Video, ROH was looking forward to a great year in 2005. The question was what we would see from the promotion in the new year?
Generation Next had had a dominant first year in ROH. Austin Aries had taken control of the stable and also ended Samoa Joe's nearly two year long reign as ROH Champion. Of course, the question on everybody's mind was how Aries would compare to Joe as champion. He had already beaten Joe, Punk, and Danielson, but would he be able to string together as dominant a reign as Joe had? Roderick Strong was clearly committed to Aries as leader of Generation Next, but what of Jack Evans? Evans was not at Final Battle 2004, but if he joined Aries and Strong as expected, he and Strong would likely be top contenders for the ROH Tag Team Title. Few thought we had seen the last of Alex Shelley in ROH, but what would his impact be now that he was on his own and not likely to be accepted in the ROH locker room?
And what of Samoa Joe? Having finally lost the ROH World Title, the only certain thing on the horizon for Joe was a feud with Mick Foley. But would Foley get in the ring to face Joe in a match, or would this be a war of words? How about CM Punk? Although he won the feud with Maff and Whitmer, he had lost the ROH Tag Team Title and was unable to win the ROH Title. His victories over Aries in 2004 would seem to make him a top contender going into 2005, but would he be able to beat Aries with the title on the line?
The Rottweilers were another dominant new force in 2004. Homicide was again unable to win the ROH Title, but had gotten the last laugh by winning the three way match against Punk and Joe. With Low Ki suspended for the time being, it seemed that Homicide's immediate focus would be on facing the onslaught of Bryan Danielson. The Havana Pitbulls, meanwhile, had dominated as ROH Tag Team Champions. With Jay & Mark Briscoe, the only team to have defeated them in ROH, out of action due to an injury to Mark, who would be able to step up and take the title from the Pitbulls? And when would Low Ki make his return to ROH? Perhaps the most dominant wrestler in ROH history, Low Ki would certainly be a contender to the ROH Title when he eventually did return, and would likely make Austin Aries an immediate target since Aries had never actually beaten him to earn his title shot at Final Battle 2004.
Although the Embassy had officially been formed in late 2004, it remained to be seen exactly what kind of impact they would have in the coming year. With both Jimmy Rave and Pure Wrestling Champion John Walters under the Embassy banner, the talent was there, but what would Prince Nana do with it? What other names would join the new stable? The first obstacle they had standing in their way would be Jay Lethal, who was gunning for a Pure Title shot. Would Lethal realize his potential and claim his first ROH title in 2005? Another stable making news in 2004 was Special K. Now that they had broken up, which side would come out ahead in the upcoming feud? Dixie and Angel Dust were certain that cleaning up their act was the path to success, but Lacey's unit of Izzy, Deranged, Cheech and Cloudy had gotten the upper hand as 2004 ended. Also, the teams of the Carnage Crew and Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer had proven what they were made of in the Hardcore vs Pure Wrestling feud, but would championship gold be in store for either team in 2005?
As always, the year ended with a lot of questions, but they would all be answered in the new year, which was full of twists, turns and surprises that surpassed anything seen in ROH up to that point. But that's another story for another day.
I hope everybody enjoyed this little series, I certainly spent a lot of time and effort putting it together. I'll probably be back with ROH in 2005 somewhere down the line, but before that I have a lot of other great stuff on the way, so stay tuned. In the meantime, if you liked this and want to see more, drop me an email and let me know what you'd like to see me cover. Any and all ideas are welcome, since you're the ones who read what I write!
In the meantime, go check out my blog, which you can get to by clicking on my profile at the bottom of this column. Even though I don't have an opinion column, I usually check in every day or two with some stuff that is MUCH more opinionated than what you'll find in That Was Then. Thanks for reading!
