Column of Honor: Final Column 2006-Part Two: 12.30.06
Posted by Ari Berenstein on 12.30.2006
Bursting at the seams with enough honor for everyone’s stocking stuffers. Part two—I turn loose the 411 staffers who join in on the fun with special columns and awards.
This is my favorite part of the feature believe it or not. I love reading the opinions of the other 411 writers, especially about Ring of Honor. Everyone has their own viewpoints and criticism about ROH, but there is universally and appreciation for ROH and what it represents on the 411 website. Sometimes certain people on certain forums can't see the forest for the trees as far as that goes, but if anything I'm always up for changing a few people's minds.
So without further ado, I will break away from my role as writer and instead put on my suit and jacket and play party host. It's time for…
Contributions from the 411 Staff and Friends
Columns:
Imagine What You'll Know Tomorrow Samuel Berman
Special to the Column of Honor – Final Column 2006
I knew he was going to lose. I'm not saying I had a bad feeling about it; I'm saying I was absolutely certain he was going to lose. It's got to make you wonder a little bit about my sanity that I was willing to pay $45 to sit in the front row to watch my favorite wrestler walk into a match he was most certainly going to lose. But there I was, ringside for Ring of Honor's Gut Check event on August 26th.
I'm about as big a Colt Cabana mark as you'll find. No, I don't own the European Vacation Best-of's or a match-worn bandana, but I've watched my fair share of his work over the last couple of years. I'll put it simply: I've watched a lot of wrestling (and a lot of wrestlers) in my life, and I've never been quite as entertained by one as I am by "Classic" Colt Cabana.
He's charismatic. He's interesting in the ring. He can brawl. He can do European chain wrestling. He can do a pure comedy match. Physically, he's actually pretty big for an Independent wrestler, so he seems like a legitimate opponent for just about anyone. He's actually only billed as about 25 pounds lighter than Samoa Joe. For the sake of comparison, Bryan Danielson is billed at 85 pounds lighter than Joe.
Oh, and he's hilarious. He somehow manages to inject some humor into almost every one of his matches. Sure, he did the whole mirror universe tortured Colt Cabana thing during his fantastic feud with Homicide, but outside of that, he's basically the funniest wrestler you're ever going to see. And frankly, the incredibly unfunny Homicide feud only served to show how versatile a wrestler Cabana can be.
So, anyway, back to Gut Check. As I write this, I'm actually watching the main event for the first time on DVD. I'm not exactly sure why I haven't watched it until now, but I'd imagine a lot of it is that I don't really want to spend another hour knowing Cabana's going to lose.
Though I've been ringside at a number of ROH events, I actually don't look for myself on DVD very often. Occasionally, if I know I'm going to be clearly in a shot, I'll watch for it, but I don't scour the video looking for my fat butt sitting ringside. But in this match, during one of the chain sequences about twenty minutes in, I can't help but notice myself sitting there, watching the in-ring action intently. But even at this point, with Cabana up one-fall-to-none in the 2/3 falls contest, I remember thinking, "there's no way he's going to win".
And that's the crazy thing. I've been watching wrestling long enough to know how unlikely it was that Cabana was actually going to defeat the American Dragon on that night. Once I had reached that conclusion, watching the match became far less about the ending and far more about how Cabana and Danielson got there. But if I'm such a Cabana mark, why even endure the inevitable loss?
I think the real answer to that is a central part of wrestling fandom. Once you watch wrestling long enough, you start to pick up on booking patterns. Predictions are never absolute certainties, but a lot of us can get a lot of it right a lot of the time. I knew Cabana couldn't win the Ring of Honor World Title in August, because Danielson was already scheduled to defend the belt against KENTA in September in a highly anticipated bout. Furthermore, Danielson and Samoa Joe had gone to a 60-minute time-limit draw earlier in the month, and a rematch for the belt seemed to be a given. So, with big matches with KENTA and Joe upcoming, how could Cabana win the belt? The answer seemed clear to me, but I drove all the way from Milwaukee to the south side of Chicago anyway.
To be fair, the match itself comes across as a lot less engaging on DVD than it did live, though I think that can often be the case. There is no true substitute for the sound and feel and smell and spectacle of seeing a wrestling show in person. Some shows and some matches translate pretty much completely to video, but oftentimes the spontaneity and, dare I say, reality of the moment is lost once you remove yourself from the arena.
But here I am, watching "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson defend the ROH World Title against "Classic" Colt Cabana in a 2/3 falls match on DVD, knowing full well what happens at the end of the match. As the match rolls towards its end, Cabana does everything reasonable to win the title. But with under a minute to go, Danielson kicks Cabana low, just like he did in August. The pinfall is academic and knots things up at one fall apiece. The time limit expires and the show ends.
And as it turns out, I was wrong. I had been so certain that Cabana would lose that night. I knew that there was just no way that he could walk out with the title.
Well, he didn't walk out with the title, but he didn't lose. The match was ruled a draw.
Ok, so maybe I don't know everything.
Next up, J.D. Dunn:
Although I bought a few of the early shows when they first came out, I can't say that I was really a fan of ROH from the beginning. I found the idea pretentious and silly. I mean, to hear Rob Feinstein talk about it, it sounded more like "Fight Club." Then again, given the homoerotic undertones of that movie, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Plus, I was reminded how obnoxious Philly fans could be.
But in mid-2004, after the whole RF incident, I started to hear more talk about Joe and Punk going to a one-hour draw. Pretty soon, people whose opinions I trusted were saying, "You have to see this. It's right up your alley."
But it wasn't until 2005 when I decided to buy in to ROH and start at the very beginning. I had high expectations going in, but I wasn't disappointed. Most of the criticisms I heard about the promotion were false.
Contrary to popular belief, these guys weren't just boring technical wrestlers or spot monkeys. Yes, there were those too, but you have them in every promotion. What I found were guys who had the reigns taken off their personas who could do whatever they felt fit their character - like a Colt Cabana, Delirious, Homicide, or Alex Shelley.
One of the criticisms I still here today is one I've never found to be true: ROH doesn't have angles; they just throw two guys out there and hope they have a great match. Instead, I saw highly organized angles instead of what I was used to on Raw or Smackdown.
Looking back, I think I would have burned out on the WWE this past year had I not known that someone somewhere was getting it right.
More from Samuel and J.D. in just a little bit, but first a word from our sponsor, Traci Brooks edible underpants…and Steve Cook:
Some guys like to spend all their time looking back. Not me, I prefer to
look ahead to the future. So let's do just that right now...I know
everybody's excited about Homicide being the new ROH Champion, but that
can't last forever. He will lose the title sometime in 2007...the only
question is to whom. So, from the Home Office in Edgewood, Kentucky...
Top 10 Guys Who Could Be ROH Champion in 2007
10. Jimmy Rave - I'm not a big Rave fan, but apparently he's been doing
pretty well lately. Combine that with the fact that ROH loves to push him,
and there's a chance that Jimmy Rave could be YOUR ROH Champion. Not mine.
9. Davey Richards - Is it just me or has Richards not been quite as big a
deal as people were predicting he would be upon entering ROH? Maybe he's
biding his time and waiting for 2007.
8. Shane Hagadorn - BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...yeah, I'm just joking.
7. Colt Cabana - Colt would be higher on my list if I didn't honestly
believe that he'd be leaving ROH for greener pastures sooner rather than
later. If anybody deserves to beat Homicide for the belt, it's Classic Colt.
6. Chris Hero - Hero is the kind of guy that wrestling fans love to hate,
and his game has improved tremendously in recent years. With Super Agent
Larry Sweeney by his side, Hero could be unstoppable in 2007.
5. KENTA (or another NOAH guy) - You know Gabe would so mark out to see some
Japanese guy wearing the strap on some Japanese show. I'm surprised they
haven't done it already.
4. Bryan Danielson - If anybody could become the first two time ROH
champion, certainly it would be the American Dragon. He'll be out for a good
portion of the year recovering from his shoulder injury, but he's the kind
of guy who makes a big impact when he returns. What bigger impact could he
make than becoming the first two time ROH champ?
3. Nigel McGuinness - Nigel has become one of the top stars in ROH and seems
headed for even bigger things in 2007. He could be a long-reigning champ if
given the chance, the question is if he can be in the right place at the
right time.
2. Roderick Strong - Roderick is already the FIP Champion, and that belt has
proven to be a pretty good stepping stone to the ROH title. OK, so there's
only been 3 FIP Champions...so what?
Ring of Honor's fourth year in business has seen plenty of milestones, but arguably the biggest was the red hot two-night tour of the UK, showing that ROH is a worldwide success.
The first night in Liverpool set the tone, as fans were treated to a classic Aries and Strong title defence against the Briscoes, as well as a legitimate Match of the Year contender in Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness.
I was lucky enough to go to the Anarchy in the UK event in Broxbourne; my first ever live ROH show. Many others were in the same position as me, and that resulted in an electric atmosphere. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had, blowing every other wrestling event I've been to out of the water. It's amazing to think that Gabe had to reshuffle the entire card literally hours before bell time due to Aries' rib injury from the night before, and we STILL ended up with a tremendous night of fast-paced ROH action we have come to expect. That really is a testament to Gabe's booking prowess.
Aside from the show itself, the best part of the experience was meeting the wrestlers at the Fan Slam event beforehand. In particular, it was just so great to see how down-to-earth and genuinely appreciative they all were. Take the Briscoes, for example. You look at their on-screen personalities, and you'd think they would have some kind of attitude. But that couldn't be further from the truth. They were truly pleased to be there and grateful to all the ROH fans who showed up for helping to put them on the map. I thanked Jay for taking the time to chat to us fans, and he replied "Not at all man, it was a pleasure, thanks for coming." In a time when we are constantly hearing about the jerks in the WWE being rude to their fan base, it was refreshing to hear something like that. And that's what I love about ROH. It really feels like a two-way relationship. Cary, Gabe and all the wrestlers appreciate us, and in return, we appreciate them.
Who would have thought 4 years ago in that high school gym in Philadelphia that ROH would be able to take their shows across the pond, AND for those shows to be a complete success? Ring of Honor has come a long way since 2002, and the tour was a huge step in the company's growth. There's no way of telling what's in store for us over the next 4 years, but if this tour is any indication, the company is about to hit its boom period.
I've already ordered my tickets to both nights for the return to Liverpool in March, which happen to be the final two shows of the Fifth Year Festival. Bearing in mind that this year's Milestone Series ended with perhaps the best show ROH has ever put on, ‘Better Than Our Best,' us UK fans could be in for a REAL treat.
We'll here more from Theo later on, in fact coming up right now is the staff awards section.
Awards:
First a note from Mike Campbell I give my apologies for not participating this year. I've only seen through the May shows, and it wouldn't be a fair or accurate representation on my part.
We start off the awards and other comments section with one of my favorite 411 writers, recapper / reviewer J.D. Dunn:
Wrestler of the Year
1. Bryan Danielson - he showed he could do virtually any style of match that was thrown at him.
2. Homicide - He's always been around the top, but this year, he really took off.
3. Chris Hero - As many others have said, he actually gets heat in a promotion that loves to cheer the heels.
Tag Team of the Year
1. The Kings of Wrestling - Because they get heat and they can wrestle.
2. Aries & Strong - I believe they had the longest title reign, plus they put on great matches with the Briscos and Blood Generation.
3. The Briscoes - These two have to be the only redneck yankees I know of, but they came back with a vengeance this year, becoming Jimmy Corn's enforcers.
MVP
1. Homicide - 'nuff said
(MY NOTE: That may be the shortest comment for this entire feature. Hell, my comment about this comment has been longer!)
MOTY - That I've seen.
1. Cage of Death - See my comments in the Top Ten Matches column.
2. Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation
3. KENTA vs. Low Ki (Final Battle 05)
4. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (Unified)
5. The Embassy & Yoshino vs. Do Fixer
The YFU Award (or "The Feiny")
The Homicide vs. Cornette feud - Corny wound up being repetitive on the mic and boring crowds in the last half of the year. Plus, the idea of the renegade baby face against the evil authority figure is so tired I can't believe ROH went through with it.
Show of the Year
Better Than Our Best
Predictions
-Colt Cabana will win the ROH Title...as a heel.
-One of the anniversary shows will set a new attendance record for ROH.
-Lacey will get pregnant.
-ROH will accentuate its partnership with FIP and Shimmer.
-Kurt Angle will defend the NWA Title against Bryan Danielson.
We move onwards to the only 411 staffer I've ever met in person (that I did not have to get a tetanus shot afterwards, but that's another story), the all around ROH threat, Stuart Carapola:
Wrestler Of The Year: Bryan Danielson
As far as I'm concerned, there's no contesting this. While he has lost in
non-title situations, he has CLEANLY defeated every challenger he's defended
the title against. The list of conquests includes Roderick Strong, Austin
Aries, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Homicide, KENTA, and many others. The only
other ROH wrestler with a record like that is Nigel McGuinness, and not only
did Danielson beat him too, but he dominated and embarrassed him and took
the Pure Title he had held for almost a year and unified it with the ROH
World Title. He also picked up the FIP Title in January and held it for 11
months. The big year-end moment was Homicide's, but Danielson carried the
company this year.
Tag Team Of The Year: Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
They had always been "partners" of a sort since entering ROH, but only in
the last year did they begin to team regularly once they won the ROH Tag
Team Title. They surpassed every other team to have ever held the title,
both in length of reign and number of successfuly defenses, and literally
beat everybody thrown in their path. They were the first team to defend the
title internationally, making it the ROH World Tag Team Title, and built
both themselves and the title up to the point where a title defense could
main event a show. When faced with the returning Briscoes, who many thought
would just walk in and take the title, they beat them three straight times
and sent the Briscoes out of title contention. Until the Kings Of Wrestling
showed up and stole the title, it really looked as if Aries & Strong would
be the first team to hold the title for an entire year.
Honorable Mentions: Kings Of Wrestling, Jay & Mark Briscoe
MVP Of The Year: Jay & Mark Briscoe
Though they never won the ROH Tag Team Title in 2006, the Briscoes were the
go-to guys this year. Their return sparked a lot of interest by itself,
since they hadn't been in ROH since mid-2004 when Mark had a motorcycle
accident. They returned and impressed right away. They had bulked up, but
that didn't take away from any of their mobility or amazing moves. Even
though I've been watching them all year and seen most of their ROH matches
since their return, I still can't help but be amazed at some of the new
stuff they pull out in each match. Even though I couldn't vote them for Tag
Team Of The Year since they couldn't beat Aries & Strong, I certainly feel
they're the best tag team in the business today. No other team in the
business has the teamwork these two have. In addition to that, they could
be counted on to have a great match and get anyone they were put in the ring
with over. Aries & Strong were really put over as a team by continually
beating the Briscoes. KENTA and the Briscoes got each other over, and that
led to Davey Richards getting in on the action and having some great,
hard-hitting matches with the Briscoes. They were also in the main
storyline picture by joining Jim Cornette in his war against Homicide. Even
when put in singles matches, they always came through. If there were two
guys who could do no wrong in 2006, it was Jay & Mark Briscoe.
Top 10 Matches Of The Year:
1)Bryan Danielson vs KENTA (Glory By Honor V Night Two)
2)CZW vs ROH Six Man War (The 100th Show)
3)Bryan Danielson vs Roderick Strong (Better Than Our Best)
4)Cage Of Death (Death Before Dishonor IV)
5)Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries (Unscripted II)
6)Jay & Mark Briscoe vs KENTA & Davey Richards (Time To Man Up)
7)Colt Cabana vs Homicide (Better Than Our Best)
8)BJ Whitmer vs Necro Butcher (War Of The Wire II)
9)Do Fixer vs Blood Generation (Supercard Of Honor)
10)Homicide vs Necro Butcher (Ring Of Homicide)
Worst Matches Of The Year:
Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels vs Colt Cabana "Three Way Dance" (Arena
Warfare)
Aries & Strong vs Irish Airborne vs Jay & Mark Briscoe vs Sydal & Evans
(Fight Of The Century)
AJ Styles vs Davey Richards (Death Before Dishonor IV)
Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (Time To Man Up)
Shane Hagadorn vs Bobby Dempsey (Fight Of The Century)
Anything involving Chad Collyer (all shows Chad Collyer was on)
Funniest Moments Of The Year:
Bryan Danielson and Alex Shelley's spiel and stalling tactics before their
ROH Title Match while buying time for Joe to get to the show. (Arena
Warfare)
Delirious uses up all three rope breaks within the first minute of his Pure
Title match with Nigel McGuinness. (Time To Man Up)
Julius Smokes calling Adam Pearce a "fake ass Repo Man".
Colt Cabana nearly submits to Bryan Danielson's handshake. (The 100th Show)
Rob Feinstein Memorial "You Fucked Up" Moments:
-Colt Cabana losing to Bryan Danielson in six minutes.
-Colt Cabana hitting the Colt 45 on Bryan Danielson, but lowering his head
on the cover and allowing Danielson to small package him for the win.
-Jimmy Jacobs for continuing to dote after Lacey despite her disdaining of
him right to his face.
-Jay Lethal for not apologizing to Gabe for missing Unscripted II.
-Nate Webb for taking the Cop Killa into the barbed wire board. Thanks for
coming, Nate!
-Jim Cornette, for thinking he had the same power of "YOU DON'T CROSS THE
BOSS" that Vince McMahon does, resulting him him being carried right out of
ROH.
Most Honorable Wrestler Of The Year: Samoa Joe
Being that he was out of the title picture for most of the year, Joe's year
was mostly about defending honor. First he defended his own honor. Jay
Lethal had close out 2005 by turning on his mentor out of jealousy. Joe
came back and dominated Lethal, beating him and more or less ending his
career in ROH. After that, he defended the honor of his home promotion as
it came under fire from the interlopers from CZW. Despite working on a bad
knee which took him out of action a couple of times Joe stood by the side of
ROH through the entire feud, including the insane brawl at The 100th Show
and also in Cage Of Death. He continued defending the honor of ROH as well
as his own when he moved into a title feud with Bryan Danielson, who he felt
had sold ROH down the river by getting into Cage Of Death for no other
reason than to attack Joe and injure him ahead of their title match in
August. He closed the year by defending the honor of a man he had spent
much of his time in ROH fighting against, that of Homicide. Out of
appreciation for Homicide helping ROH to win the war against CZW, Joe
dedicated himself to helping Homicide in his battles against the soldiers of
Jim Cornette on his road to the ROH World Title, and was one of the first
men in the ring ot congratulate Homicide for winning the title that he had
been in contention for almost from day one. Through it all, he never let
his commitments to TNA get in the way of his loyalty to ROH. Even though he
is one of the top guys in TNA, he has made a point to stay involved in ROH,
even when it meant working injured or working two tough matches for ROH on
Friday and Saturday, then flying to Orlando for a TNA PPV on Sunday. Samoa
Joe has unbelievable drive and determination, and that dirve and
determination is only matched by his loyalty to ROH, the promotion that made
him.
Most Dishonorable Wrestler Of The Year: Chris Hero
How much more dishonorable can you get than actually trying to destroy the
promotion that was built on honor? Chris Hero first came in as a one-time
deal, crabbing about how he "was the guy who was never good enough for Ring
Of Honor", and despite losing to Bryan Danielson that first show of 2006, he
came back and brought his friends, leading to what was voted by 411 as the
Feud Of The Year. Over the first seven months of 2006, he sneak attacked
and cheapshotted every ROH name he could, then ran when it was time to fight
face to face, instead letting his CZW cohorts do the fighting until he could
sneak back in and get a few more shots in. Even after the CZW war was over,
he made a nuisance of himself, stealing the ROH World Tag Team Title belts
from Austin Aries & Roderick Strong, then showing up with his buddy Claudio
and stealing the title itself by using a briefcase on Aries' injured ribs to
win the title. To close out the year, he walked out on his own best friend
Claudio Castagnoli in favor of singles glory with his new agent, Larry
Sweeney. While guys like Homicide, Christopher Daniels, and CM Punk may
have done some bad things in the past, nobody in the history of ROH could
top the lack of honor Chris Hero displayed in 2006...getting himself over
huge in the process.
Special Mention For Ring General Of The Year: Colt Cabana
While not an official award, I want to give special mention for Colt Cabana
and the expert way in which he worked around Bryan Danielson's shoulder
injury at Gut Check. Danielson did what he could given the circumstances,
but for 50 minutes, Cabana mostly wrestled himself and put on a hell of a
match while he was at it. Working around a major injury like that long
enough to end the match isn't always easy, doing it for almost an hour is
amazing, especially when he didn't even have to do any moves that involved
Danielson's right shoulder. Besides the awesome match by itself, Cabana
showed what a phenomenal worker he is with the performance he was still able
to put on that night.
Show Of The Year: Glory By Honor V Night 2
Better Than Our Best might have had an edge in terms of match quality and
star power, but GBH5N2 was the most important night in the history of the
company. They weren't running crappy hotels or basketball courts anymore,
they were in a real venue in New York City, and they sold the place out and
put on the best show I've ever been to live. There were tons of great
matches and the best match I've ever been to live, Bryan Danielson defeating
KENTA to retain the ROH World Title despite the injuries that made it seem
that Danielson was almost certain to be dropping the title that night. On
top of it all, we had a very nice ceremony where Bruno Sammartino came out
and addressed the crowd, and I was honored to have shaken his hand as he
made his way to the back. Also, Naomichi Marufuji made his first ever
defense of his short GHC Heavyweight Title reign against Nigel McGuinness,
and it was the first time the title had been defended in the US, and I
believe outside of Japan. Everybody was on, and there wasn't a bad match on
the show. This was such a special night that I couldn't vote for anything
else.
Best Moments Of The Year:
Delirious scores his first singles win over Ricky Reyes. (Better Than Our
Best)
Pelle Primeau pins Tank Toland and then goes crowd surfing. (The Bitter End)
Steve Corino lets Homicide shave his head after losing to him in the
feud-ending Fight Without Honor. (The Bitter End)
Bruno Sammartino addressed the crowd at his first live appearance at a
wrestling show in years. (Glory By Honor V Night 2)
Predictions For 2007: I actually did a whole column yesterday about my
predictions for 2007 for all the major US groups, but for the purposes of
this deal, I'll just say that I never thought ROH was going to be able to
surpass the year they had in 2005. They went on to prove me COMLETELY wrong
by having a blow away year, first with the CZW war, then with Homicide's road
to the title, and everything else underneath. Now as I sit here saying that
this is it, they'll never be able to top it, their continual growth as a
company makes me think that I'm probably wrong. With Gabe Sapolsky, the
best booker in the business today running things, there's no telling how
good it'll get, especially with things like Homicide's title reign, Chris
Hero going solo, and Joe vs Morishima on the horizon.
Next up is my homie, my ROH attending bro and Chris Hero supporter par excellance the ever loving Mick, Chris Miccio
1. Wrestler of the Year—When it came to this award, I think that I had to go with the wrestler that I know most ROH fans would have to say, Brian Danielson. He worked so many different opponents, with so many different styles of on ring technique, but throughout, he remained the same wrestler, however, one with the greatest ability to rise to the occasion, and do what he does best, outwrestle all comers. Now, don't label me a huge fan of the Dragon, but I do have an abundance of respect for the man as a worker, and as the premier wrestler in the entire Indy scene. Even his promo skills have reached a new level. I sure hope he can fully recover from the shoulder injury he's been dealing with for what seems like forever, because ROH without him is surely not what it is when he's on the card.
2. Tag Team of the Year--- now, most people know that I'm not fan of tag team wrestling (see my awards and commentary from last year, and you'll know what I mean), but ROH sure did bring the tag team division back in a big way this year. There are 3 strong contender teams that could easily win this award. Aries and Strong come to mind. So do the greatly welcomed back Briscoe Brothers. You can't forget the current Tag Team Champs, Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal. However, I have something altogether different in mind. This Year's Tag Team of the Year for ROH is The Kings Of Wrestling, Claudio Castagnoli and in my correct opinion, the greatest wrestler alive today, Chris Hero. When they reformed during the CZW-ROH feud, I was ecstatic. Then when they won the Gold at Glory By Honor Night 2, it was cemented in my mind. With the inventive maneuvers, the excellent old school heel tactics, and of course the best in ring attire going today, the KOW are the easy choice. Long live the KINGS!!
3. MVP 2006--- I know that Ari kind of said that I should cut off the matches and action after the end of November's cards, but this award was cemented in my mind on Saturday night, December 23rd. B.J. Whitmer allowed himself to be power bombed from the ring, through a table. Now on the surface, you might say "so what?" to something like this, but consider B.J.'s year as a whole. He was always at the forefront of the war with CZW, oftentimes taking the most horrible beating of all the individuals involved. The staples. The Barbed Wire. Super Dragon's wrathful double stomp on multiple occasions. The failed top rope power bomb and fall with Jimmy Jacobs, and then the successful completion of it a month later. B.J. Whitmer, you have proven to be ROH through and through, and shed more blood for ROH and its fans this year than anyone could have ever imagined. B.J. Whitmer, you are the man.
4. Matches of the Year
1. Brian Danielson vs. KENTA (GBH Night 2)
2. Cage of Death (Death Before Dishonor 4)
3. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Nigel McGuinness (GBH Night 2)
4. Samoa Joe vs. Brian Danielson (Fight of the Century)
5. KENTA vs. Samoa Joe vs. Brian Danielson (In Your Face)
6. The Kings of Wrestling vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong (GBH Night 2)
7. Colt Cabana vs. Homicide – Chicago Street Fight (Better Than Our Best)
8. Dragon Gate Grudge Match (Supercard of Honor)
9. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Samoa Joe & Brian Danielson (Best in the World)
10. Chris Hero vs. Brian Danielson (Hell Freezes Over)
5. Worst Matches of the Year
1. Brian Danielson vs. Sonjay Dutt (Death Before Dishonor 4)
2. Ace Steel vs. James Keenan (Tag Wars)
3. Colt Cabana vs. Grim Reefer (Unscripted 2)
4. Colt Cabana vs. Kikutaro (Ring of Homicide)
5. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Trik Davis (War of the Wire)
6. Funniest Moment/Moments of the Year --- This is an easy one. At Death Before Dishonor 4, there was a guy in the crowd dressed exactly like Delirious. After his match, Delirious recognized his doppelganger, and forced Mary Kate to take the picture of the "2 Delirious'". It was without a doubt the Funniest moment in 2006. Actually, just about anything involving Delirious was funny and entertaining this year.
7. The Rob Feinstein "You Fucked Up Award" --- goes to one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Steve Corino. Not for anything he did in the ring, during a match, but for some of the choices he's made. First, the hair. Thank god Homicide shaved him bald, because he looked like an ass with the 2-tone hair. Then, the pink tights. Now, as a follower of Puro, I know it had to do with his gimmick in World-1, but it was HORRIBLE. Lastly, it's for an event that took place at the Fight of the Century live event. Steve egged on a rather corpulent fan to take off his shirt. Need I say more? It was just wrong.
8. Most Honorable Wrestler of the Year --- if I had done this award in April, he would have probably gotten heel of the year, but since a lot of water has gone under the bridge since midyear, I have to give this to the new ROH World Champion, Homicide. The hell that Homicide has gone through since saving ROH at the Cage Of Death in July has been unmatched, and it was because of his resiliency, I give Homicide this award. Even though he isn't always the most honorable in his in ring tactics, he is without a doubt part of the backbone of ROH, and his title win was both well deserved and long overdue. Congrats, Homicide. Brooklyn, stand up!
9. Most Dishonorable Wrestler of the Year --- another easy choice for me. This award goes to the greatest heel working the Indy scene today, and my favorite wrestler, Chris Hero. He was the ringleader for the entire CZW-ROH war. He was the instigator to get Claudio Castagnoli to abandon his ROH colleagues. He was the man who defeated the most beloved ROH tag team champions, Aries and Strong. Every time he opened his mouth, the ROH crowd wanted to lynch him. He mocked everything that ROH stood for, and I loved EVERY moment. In fact, I think I was the only fan at Best in the World who actually cheered him, and that didn't bother me. Chris Hero, you are indeed, my hero, and the well-deserved winner of the Heel Of The Year. Onward and upward in 2007 as an official member of the ROH roster. I smell a championship my friends. MARK MY WORDS!!
10. Show of the Year --- I'd love to say Final Battle 2006, but I'll stick with Ari's parameters, so that one's out. So, what I will do is name my top 8 (just to be different) shows of the year instead. Here we go.
1. Glory By Honor (Night 2)
2. In Your Face
3. Death Before Dishonor 4
4. Supercard of Honor
5. Best In The World
6. Better Than Our Best
7. Epic Encounter 2
8. Unified
11. Predictions for 2007
1. Homicide's title reign will be short.
2. Chris Hero will hold the ROH World Title before the year is out.
3. Jimmy Rave will step up and become a true top of the card talent.
4. Nigel McGuinness will continue to become one of the top guys in ROH and in NOAH, and will be courted by either the WWE or TNA sooner, rather than later.
5. Davey Richards will finally get over with the ROH crowd.
6. The flow of Puro stars into ROH will continue, and the matches will get even better. Now, if they could only get into working relations with both New and All Japan. I need to see Kojima back in ROH, and I need to see it soon.
7. AJ Styles will not return to mail in any matches this year (I didn't say it Ari, I was put up to it!)
8. Samoa Joe will miss at least 5 shows this year.
9. Matt Sydal's development will keep up, and by 2008, he will be out of the tag team division and pushing for the ROH title.
10. Brian Danielson will be out of action until the late summer/ early fall of 2007. The people who think he's boring will finally realize that he's really as good as he's said he is, and will miss him like crazy.
11. Delirious will finally speak in a regular, English sentence. Just one time, but it will happen.
12. Kurt Angle will make at least one appearance on a ROH card.
Well, it's been a great year of ROH action, but what else would we expect. Thanks to Ari for letting me get in my two cents, as well as being my ROH live show buddy. We hit 8 shows as a team this year, and are planning to do a bunch more this year, right dude?
ABSOLUTELY CHRIS. Chris is the Ying to my Yang and while we may argue over the merits of Chris Hero we are true blue two dudes with attitudes. Thank you once again Chris for a hell of a year of attending ROH live shows.
While I'm at it I oughta throw a quick shout out to my other ROH bro Jon K. who provides the transport to shows out of NYC. Dude also knows where all the good diners are along the Tri State area. Thank you Jon for the rides but more importantly for the camaraderie. And for making it back and forth from Edison, NJ in one piece.
Okay, we got back to the awards with 411's Video Game zone representing in Theo Frazier adds his awards for the year:
1.Wrestler of the year:
-Bryan Danielson
He is the epitome of the word "champion"; all future champions will look back at Bryan Danielson to see how they should conduct themselves. Two title defenses in one evening (Both at "Anarchy in the UK" and to a lesser extent at the 100th Show), wrestling for 50 further minutes after separating his shoulder ("Gut Check"), back to back 60 minute encounters ("Epic Encounter II" and "Gut Check"), not to mention 5* affairs against Roderick Strong, Nigel McGuinness, KENTA, Samoa Joe…Danielson is a true hero, no question. Of course, American Dragon has always been a remarkable wrestler, but this year he really added character and personality to his matches. He took the "Best in the World" gimmick to the extreme, and really seemed to have fun doing so. As such, he is now the total package and is without a doubt the Wrestler of the Year.
2. Tag Team of the year
-Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
I think it's pretty obvious why these two are the tag team of the year. Winning the tag team titles at the end of last year, they went on to have a succession of classic title defenses. Aries and Strong will be in the record books for 2006, as this was the year that they made the ROH tag titles into ROH World Tag titles, defending them in the Dragon Gate promotion, Europe, and other US independents. But let's look at the facts, shall we?
-Held the tag team titles for 9 months.
-Put the titles on the line in 9 US states and 3 different countries.
-Defended the titles against 19 separate teams.
-Came through victorious after back-to-back Ultimate Endurance matches.
-Throughout the course of the year, defended the titles against top tier stars such as Danielson, Homicide, Joe, Whitmer, Styles, Daniels, Rave…they beat pretty much everyone on the ROH roster.
Now, I don't know about you, but in my book that's a pretty impressive title reign. They dominated the tag ranks for the majority of the year, and so I have no choice but to commend them for their efforts by giving them the title of Tag Team of the Year.
-The Briscoes. Both men really stepped up their game this year, instantly making an impact upon their return to the company at the 4th Year Anniversary. They have consistently been fresh in their matches, as in every big encounter they always seem to bust out a new move; their double team repertoire is constantly evolving, and that makes each of their matches together intense and exhilarating.
I also have to give them credit for strengthening their characters; the Video Wire hosted by the brothers is a testament to how far they've come. Neither man is great on the mic, but instead of trying to hide this, they work to their strengths. They don't NEED to cut a good promo; they're boys from the South, and they just wanna drink some booze, chew a lil tobacco and get into a fight. This penchant for brawling has made them perfect henchmen for Jim Cornette, and led to them being featured in some really high profile matches against Homicide and Samoa Joe. Cornette is gone from ROH now, but rumour has it that big things are in store for the Briscoes in 2007. Looks like next year will be the year to MAN UP!!
-The Kings of Wrestling. Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli were certainly the most talked about duo in the latter part of the year. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving them the honours of Tag Team of the Year, as they only started teaming on a regular basis in ROH half way through the summer. However, for the time they have been together, they have been a joy to watch. From the ridiculously overblown entrance to the awesomeness that is the KRS-1, when the Kings of Wrestling are on centre stage, you sit up and pay attention.
3. MVP of the year
-Bryan Danielson. He has carried the company on his shoulders all year. One insanely amazing match after another. If Danielson was on the card, you knew you were going to see something special. It was Joe's title reign of 2004 all over again. "Consistent" is an understatement; every single time Danielson steps into the ring, he brings his A game, and that is something that shouldn't go unrewarded.
-Nigel McGuinness. If he can't quite attain the title of MVP, he should most definitely be considered for the title of Most Improved. Changing to a more hard-hitting heavyweight style, Nigel has seriously ramped up his game this year, and his phenomenal series against Bryan Danielson will be looked fondly upon for years to come. A true breakout star of the year, Nigel had such a successful run as Pure champion that no one could possibly follow him, and the belt was retired. Hopefully next year, Nigel will get the chance to have just as much success with the World title.
-Chris Hero is definitely noteworthy, due to pretty much being one of the sole reasons for drawing a big crowd in the Philadelphia market, representing CZW. Hero was the catalyst for the big ROH/CZW feud, which was without question the hottest feud in wrestling this year. Also, many have commented that this has been BJ Whitmer's breakout year, and I would contribute that to Chris Hero, as Hero was a terrific character for Whitmer to play himself off against. Hero hasn't always been in the spotlight this year, but he's constantly made himself seen and heard. Hero added a whole new dimension to ROH shows this year, and as such is very worthy of consideration for 2006 MVP.
4. Matches of the year in ROH:
1) Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness - Unified. One of the most emotional matches I have EVER seen in my entire life. Not only is this my Match of the Year, this is also under heavy consideration for my personal favourite match of all time. I seriously cannot recommend it enough. I got the DVD two weeks after it was released, and I remember trawling through the message boards, seeing all the praise for the match, and whilst I got more and more excited about finally watching it, I just knew there was no way it could live up to the massive expectations I had. And yet after all the hype surrounding the encounter, I was still blown away upon watching it. This is the only match I can recall that has ever caused me personal injury! The closing minutes were so hard to watch I literally bit through my lip! So maybe "Unified" should come with some kind of warning label. Anyway, we all remember the sickening ring post spot, but for me the most gut-wrenching moment was Nigel's astonishing selling of the MMA elbows. It looked like Danielson was KILLING him, and Nigel's disturbing cries of anguish were a terrific addition to an already incredibly emotional ending. As good a 5* match as you'll ever see.
2) Bryan Danielson vs KENTA- Glory By Honor V Night 2. I know a LOT of people will rate this as their Match of the Year, and that's fine; it's just a matter of personal taste. My only gripe in comparison to the tremendous Danielson/McGuinness match is the fact that, in my humble opinion, KENTA isn't that great in the selling department, hence the match's position on my list. Nevertheless, it was still an awesome encounter, made even more remarkable by the fact that this was the first match Danielson competed in after his serious shoulder injury the month before. Bear in mind that KENTA was undefeated in ROH up to this point, and you can plausibly see how many thought a title change was on the cards. With that in mind, every time KENTA focused on Danielson's injured shoulder, it brought the rabid fans in the Manhattan Center to their feet. The crowd really added to the atmosphere of the match, and both Danielson and KENTA played to them perfectly. It seems that every Danielson title defence has an awe-inspiring closing 5 minutes, and this is no exception. For those final minutes, I was 8 years old again, and wrestling was still real.
3) Dragon Gate 6 Man- Do Fixxer vs Blood Generation- Supercard of Honor. This is state-of-the-art wrestling at its best. For a start, it's unbelievably fluid, almost to a fault; it had you thinking, "Are these guys even human?" It's almost like you're watching in fast-forward. Stripped down to its bare minimum, yes, the match is a glorified spotfest, but its pulled off so well you can't help but be enthralled by it. For pure "wow factor," you can't go wrong with this.
4) Cage of Death- ROH vs CZW- Death Before Dishonor IV. This match was the culmination of one of the hottest feuds independent wrestling had seen for years, as ROH and CZW finally got to settle the score in the most barbaric fashion possible. Much like the Arena Warfare event a couple of months before, the arena was packed with both ROH and CZW fans, giving us one of the most diverse crowds ever seen. Hell, just the audio stream of this match would be worth listening to, purely to hear the hilarious banter between rival fans. But of course, fans do not a good match make! And it just so happens that the match itself was extremely good fun. From Nate Webb's ridiculous moonsault Van Terminator to the sickening Cop Killa onto a barbed wire board, the match delivered on all fronts. Sure, the CZW fans undoubtedly went home a little subdued because of the loss, but then hey, that's their fault for not capitalising on the feud. For us Ring of Honor fans, we were finally rewarded big time for having all our 2006 shows up to that point ruined by the invasion of the CZW shmucks. It was the ultimate catharsis, and is an utter joy to watch time and time again.
5) Bryan Danielson vs Roderick Strong- Supercard of Honor. Danielson and Strong met twice in 2005, at This Means War and Vendetta. On both occasions, they tore the house down, quickly cementing themselves as the hottest new feud in ROH. At Supercard of Honor, they took their series to another level, wrestling in a 56 minute technical masterpiece. It was a classic game of one-upmanship, and the question on everyone's mind was, can Roderick Strong do it? Can he hang with the big boys in the main event? The story behind the matches was that Strong lasted progressively longer each time. Once this match had gone 45 minutes, it became pretty clear to everyone watching that it was going to a 60 minute draw, but then just a few minutes before time would have expired, they pulled a swerve, and Danielson won cleanly. It was a brilliant bit of booking, as both men were kept strong, and as Strong had nearly lasted the hour, he was bound to get another chance at the title sooner rather than later (and did so at Anarchy in the UK in August). Another solid Danielson title defence, but not ranked as high as the KENTA or McGuinness matches, as there wasn't as much emotion involved, and the crowd were more subdued (although this was because they had already sat through around 4 hours of hot ROH action). Having said that, it's still another Must See in a year that's been full of them.
5. Worst match(es) of the year
- Wow, that's tough. Nothing really screams at me "awful". If I had to pick one, I'd say Chad Collyer vs Robbie Brookside from ROH Unified. The match was just a tad too slow, and dragged the rest of the card down. To my knowledge, nothing has been unwatchable this year, and I can't really remember being bored watching a particular match. So I'll stick with Collyer vs Brookside, as it just seemed misplaced.
6. Funniest moment(s) of the year in ROH
- Jimmy Jacobs' "Ballad of Lacey" video. No explanation necessary. This was an inspired idea, and major credit goes out to Jimmy Jacobs for making the gimmick one of the best things to watch in the undercard this year.
- At Glory By Honor V Night 2, Colt Cabana was absolutely hilarious in his interaction with Lacey, feigning tripping up and using her to stop himself from falling over by grabbing her breast, as well as being "knocked out" on the canvas, when in actual fact he was looking up Lacey's skirt. Priceless!
-Alex Shelley at Arena Warfare- "I LOVE VAGINAL SEX!"
7. The "you fucked up" award
- The Dragon Gate Challenge Jacobs/Whitmer bump. This created one of the most memorable visuals in ROH history, and one of the scariest moments I have ever seen in wrestling. For all intents and purposes, Jimmy Jacobs should be dead because of that bump; the way his neck bounced off all three of the ring ropes on his way down was sickening to see. In the end, it was Whitmer who came off worse with a heavily damaged ankle, but both men displayed incredible guts and courage by continuing the match, which earned the crowd's respect.
- Jimmy Rave accidentally throwing toilet paper in a little girl's FACE at Unified. Yikes, bet he felt bad about that one!
- Necro Butcher forgetting to wear shoes in the Cage of Death? AND at War of the Wire II? Dude, you're just ASKING for thumbtacks!
8. Most "Honorable" Wrestler of the year
-Homicide. OK, sticking forks into people's faces isn't exactly honourable, but lest we forget that in a time where ROH needed him the most (in kayfabe terms), Homicide delivered by coming to save the day in the Cage of Death match, even picking up the win for his company. And if we're stretching things, you could even say he's a role model for kids. I was always told at school to set targets for myself, and try and accomplish those goals before the end of term. Well, Homicide set his target of becoming World Champion before the year was out, and hey presto! He wins the big one in the last event of 2006. What a great guy! To top it off, Homicide upheld the principles of ROH right the way through the year; despite having a serious grudge against Cornette, Pearce and the Briscoes, Homicide did the honourable thing and settled it in the ring. Um…we'll forget about trying to maim Cabana at the beginning of the year, mmkay?
9. Most "Dishonorable" wrestler of the year
-Bryan Danielson has been an absolute joy to watch as a heel this year. The cheap attack on Joe in the Cage of Death match, the war of words and jaw-jacking with the fans, and his magnificent Best in the World gimmick have all contributed to him being one of best heels in the business today. I personally love his exploitation of Bobby Cruise, forcing Cruise to say something to really get under the crowd's skin (a favourite of mine was at the Anarchy in the UK event I attended, where Cruise announced him as "the best wrestler you English pricks have ever seen!"). Danielson doesn't particularly wrestle dirty, but his persona oozes "dickishness". The Cage of Death incident I mentioned earlier is a great example of this; he put his own affairs ahead of what was best for the company, attacking Joe to weaken him for their upcoming match. That was pretty low, and is enough for me to give the nod to American Dragon.
-Chris Hero. The amount of heat this guy has collectively garnered throughout the year is enough to make even the Iron Sheik during the Gulf war cry. I don't want to over exaggerate, but I think it's fair to say that Hero single-handedly carried the war with CZW. He truly took the ball and ran with it, cementing himself as one of the top heels of the year. He snuck himself into countless ROH shows at the beginning of the year, and by September he had wormed his way onto the roster.
His constant showboating made the fan's skin crawl, and you just wanted that smug face to get bashed in as soon as you set eyes on him. Hero doesn't even have to open his mouth to get heat, and that is a true sign that he has played his role perfectly. Move over Kevin Federline; Chris Hero is the REAL America's Most Hated.
- Claudio Castagnoli has to get a mention because HE BETRAYED THE COMPANY! Yes, ol' Castagonads aligned himself with the devil, turning his back on his faithful ROH fans. That's enough to get a vote from me.
10. Show of the Year
(1) Better Than Our Best
(2) Glory By Honor V Night 2
(3) Unified
11. Prediction(s) for 2007
-Brent Albright makes a James Gibson-esque impact on ROH, providing quality match after quality match.
-Delirious and Matt Sydal both prove themselves to be mainstays of the company.
-Austin Aries wins the World Title for the second time, becoming the first man ever to do so.
-A secondary title is brought back into ROH.
-Nigel McGuinness cements himself in the main event.
-Some new faces are given a shot, like Larry Sweeney and Eddie Kingston.
-An even stronger relationship with Dragon Gate and NOAH.
-Joe vs Morishima.
-Nigel McGuinness vs Doug Williams for the UK tour.
Samuel Berman may only be a rookie writer for 411, but he already shows tons of potential in his writing style and could soon make it out of the Independent Mid-Card of 411, so to speak. Of course his support of independent wrestling only makes him that much more likeable. Here are his awards for 2006:
Wrestler of the Year – Bryan Danielson & Homicide (tie)
I've been torn for a while on this. Homicide didn't make my top three in the 411 staff voting (though that wasn't ROH specific), but in light of his huge title win at Final Battle 2006 and the fact that he was involved in three of the top five ROH feuds this year (vs. Cabana, vs. Danielson, vs. CZW), he seems entitled (no pun intended) to get at least a share of this award. Danielson's inclusion should be a foregone conclusion for any ROH fan, as he was the company's standard-bearer during its most successful year to date.
Tag Team of the Year – Austin Aries & Roderick Strong
A foregone conclusion, the former Generation Next representatives held the ROH World Tag Team Titles for the first 8-and-a-half months of the year and were responsible for the titles gaining ‘World' status. To select anyone else when looking at the whole of 2006 would simply be silly.
MVP of the Year – Chris Hero
Though a lot of people will vote for Homicide or Danielson in this slot, in my mind Hero had this sewed up from the minute he walked into an ROH ring for the first time in January. Hero was easily the most established Independent star not to compete in ROH before this year, and his entrance not only started the feud of the year, but also brought a credible top-of-the-card heel to a company that desperately needed one.
Match of the Year – Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation (Supercard of Honor, 3.31.06)
It's possibly the most innovative match in the history of North American wrestling, and no, that's not an exaggeration. I was there live. It translates perfectly to DVD. The fans chanted ‘please don't stop'. This is a no-brainer.
The rest of the Top 5 –
2. Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (Better Than Our Best, 4.1.06)
3. Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero (Hell Freezes Over, 1.14.06)
4. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Nigel McGuinness (Glory By Honor V, Night 2, 9.16.06)
5. Delirious, Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuinness & BJ Whitmer vs. Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave, Jimmy Jacobs & Shingo (The Chicago Spectacular, Night 2, 12.9.06)
Worst Match of the Year – Shane Hagadorn vs. Bobby Dempsey (Fight of the Century, 8.5.06)
Funniest Moment of the Year – Steve Corino vs. Delirious (Irresistible Forces, 10.28.06)
Corino had a couple of hilarious lines that sadly did not make the DVD. In response to Delirious' stalling: "Oh, come on… They only gave us twelve minutes!" While he had Delirious in a simple headscissors: "Ask him… If he gives up, I don't have to take a bump!"
The "You Fucked Up" Award (Kayfabe Division) – Jay Lethal
Did pissing off Joe really seem like a good idea?
The "You Fucked Up" Award (Non-Kayfabe Division) – Low Ki
It's a real shame that Ki couldn't have been a bigger part of a great year for Ring of Honor. Hopefully, the bridges haven't completely been burned, because I think Low Ki and ROH have a lot left to gain from each other.
Most "Honorable" Wrestler of the Year – Samoa Joe
Even in a year where others carried a lot of the company's load, Samoa Joe is Ring of Honor.
Most "Dishonorable" Wrestler of the Year – Chris Hero
The best heel in the company by far. Danielson is good as a smarmy jerk, but Hero gets booed wherever he goes. While a portion of the crowd continues to cheer the Dragon, Hero is respected as a great competitor, but still reviled as a character.
Show of the Year – Better Than Our Best, 4.1.06
It got to be a close call there with Glory By Honor V, Night 2, but Better Than Our Best is still not only the show of the year for Ring of Honor, but one of the best top-to-bottom cards of all time in any promotion. And beyond the sheer greatness of the card, the variety therein is what separates Better Than Our Best from the rest of the year's events.
Predictions for 2007
-Delirious gets a clean submission victory over Samoa Joe, becoming the first person in ROH to have defeated Joe via tap out
-"M-Dogg 20" Matt Cross becomes a major player on the ROH roster, earning himself a shot at the ROH World Title
-"Classic" Colt Cabana signs a WWE developmental deal and gets a big farewell celebration before leaving like CM Punk, James Gibson and Paul London before him
-Homicide's ROH World Title reign will last no longer than to Death Before Dishonor V
-Johnny Jeter will be fired from WWE and will become a big addition to Ring of Honor, rediscovering the spark he had during his OVW run
Ok kids, grab yourself a refill, a sandwich and some chips and head over to PART THREE featuring my own awards, predictions and the 100 best matches of 2006. You say you're tired? YOU BETTER MAN UP!
--Ari--
