That Was Then 6.15.07: Ring Of Honor In 2006 - Part 3
Posted by Sam Caplan on 06.15.2007
Homicide begins his road to the ROH World Title, Bryan Danielson faces some of his toughest challenges yet, and the Kings Of Wrestling hit the scene!
The interpromotional war with CZW was over, and Ring Of Honor had emerged victorious. Homicide was the key player in this victory and, though he was doublecrossed afterward by ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette, he had earned himself a guaranteed shot at the ROH World Title before the end of 2006. But before he had any time to think about Homicide, ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson was faced with challenges from Colt Cabana, Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness, and a man who had already cleanly pinned him twice in 2006: KENTA. But while much of the focus was on the singles champions, the ROH World Tag Team Champions were also making history.
Part I: On A Roll (Austin Aries & Roderick Strong)
Now at seven months, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong's reign as ROH World Tag Team Champions was the longest of any team to ever hold the title, and they also had made more successful title defenses than any past championship team. Though it was expected that they would lose the title to the returning Jay & Mark Briscoe early in the year, they defeated the brothers on two occasions to remain champions. Aside from defending their title, they both remained singles threats and in fact both had defeated ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson in non-title matches in 2006, Strong at Tag Wars and Aries in a Four Corner Survival match at War Of The Wire II. In focusing on defending the ROH World Tag Team Title, Aries & Strong had decided to disband Generation Next, and in their final match using that name, Aries and Strong teamed with Jack Evans and Matt Sydal in a loss to Davey Richards, Jerrelle Clark, and Irish Airborne, following which they symbolically laid down their Generation Next shirts in the ring. This moment was ruined by the Briscoes, who were determined to get one last crack at Aries & Strong. They ran into the ring, grabbed the shirts, and wiped their asses with them, drawing the former Generation Next back to the ring for a brawl.
Despite that show of disrespect, Aries & Strong were on an amazing roll as a team and just kept winning. They won two Ultimate Endurance matches two nights in a row, first at Time To Man Up (over Homicide & Ricky Reyes, Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer, and Jimmy Rave & Sal Rinauro) and then at Fight Of The Century (over their former teammates Jack Evans & Matt Sydal, Irish Airborne, and the Briscoes, who suffered an upset elimination at the hands of Irish Airborne). Strangely, the ROH World Tag Team Title belts were stolen out of their bags before Time To Man Up and they wrestled both nights without the physical belts in their possession, only to find that they had been returned shortly afterward with a note proclaiming that somebody was coming for them. The prime suspects for the theft were the Briscoes, but the Briscoes denied the charge, saying that they preferred to win them in the ring. They got their final chance at Unified in the United Kingdom, but fell short once more, and this time the Briscoes took their loss like men and shook the champions' hands after the match.
Aries & Strong continued winning, defeating the team of Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal (who formed a team after Sydal returned from Dragon Gate and finally beat Daniels in a singles match) at Gut Check before finally discovering that it was the Kings Of Wrestling, Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli, who had stolen the title belts. No longer representing CZW, the Kings Of Wrestling decided that they would collect all the major tag team titles on the independent scene. They were already the CHIKARA and CZW Tag Team Champions, and now they wanted to complete their collection with the most prestigious of all independent tag titles, the ROH World Tag Team Title. They handily defeated Dunn & Marcos at Glory By Honor V Night One as a warmup match, barely breaking a sweat in the process, before getting their shot at the champions on Night Two at the Manhattan Center in New York City. As good as Aries & Strong had proven to be during their reign as champions, they had met their match in the Kings Of Wrestling, who were one of the most cohesive teams on the independent scene. Still, Aries & Strong came back and looked like they were going to pull out yet another win when, behind the referee's back, Claudio smashed his metal briefcase into the injured ribs of Austin Aries and, after disposing of Strong and giving Aries the KRS-1, Hero & Castagnoli had earned the crown jewel of their collection. After making the ROH Tag Team Title a World Title, Aries & Strong had finally lost, and the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, the Kings Of Wrestling, truly reigned supreme.
Part II: Fight The Power
If Homicide had been sour to his relationship with Ring Of Honor management before Death Before Dishonor IV, he was even less enthralled with them afterward. His help had swung the war with CZW in the favor of Ring Of Honor, and it was by his hand that the climactic Cage Of Death match was won for ROH. Afterward, he had been granted three wishes, and though he was granted an ROH World Title shot and a match with hated rival Steve Corino, ROH Commissioner Jim Cornette refused to reinstate Low Ki as Homicide asked. This led to an argument and then a brawl, and thanks to Adam Pearce and JJ Dillon, Homicide found himself getting handcuffed to the ropes and whipped with a belt, old school NWA style. As if he didn't have enough people out to get him already, Homicide now had to deal with a hostile Commissioner who, for his part, would like nothing better than to see Homicide taken out of ROH forever.
The first of Cornette's attempts to see Homicide taken down came at Time To Man Up as Homicide had made the finals of an Ultimate Endurance match for the ROH Tag Team Title with Ricky Reyes. When the referee wasn't looking, Corino made a surprise appearance and hit Homicide in the head with a roll of quarters and costing him the match. Later in the show, Corino came out and, after insulting the crowd at great length, called out Homicide for a brawl. Homicide was more then happy to oblige and came out to join Corino in the ring, but it was all a trap as Adam Pearce ran out and he and Corino double teamed Homicide. Stuck in a 2-on-1 situation, Homicide recruited BJ Whitmer (who he had befriended during the CZW war) to team with him against Pearce and Corino at Fight Of The Century, but that match ended in a DQ when the Briscoes, who Homicide had also had many battles with in the past, ran out and attacked him. Homicide now had four active wrestlers, plus Jim Cornette looking to take him out.
The sneak attacks continued at Epic Encounter II as the Briscoes attacked again after Homicide defeated Jimmy Jacobs. The following night at Gut Check, Jim Cornette finally showed his face for the first time since Death Before Dishonor IV. Cornette talked about what had happened at Death Before Dishonor IV, then said that he wanted Homicide out of Ring Of Honor and told the Briscoes, who had accompanied him to the ring, that no matter what they did to Homicide, the law wouldn't touch them. The Briscoes were immediately put to the test by facing Homicide and Davey Richards that same night, and though they didn't cripple Homicide, the Briscoes won.
Homicide got another crack at the Briscoes at Glory By Honor V Night Two as he teamed with one of his greatest rivals and now his trusted ally from the CZW war, Samoa Joe, to take on the brothers from Southern Delaware. Prior to the match, however, Jim Cornette made another appearance, this time to announce that as a man of his word, Homicide would receive his shot at the ROH World Title as promised. However, since Homicide had announced that he would leave ROH if he didn't win the title before the end of 2006, Cornette had booked his title shot to come at Final Battle 2006, which meant that Homicide found himself in a do or die situation come December. Furthermore, if Homicide lost to the Briscoes that night, Cornette would push the title shot back to January of February of 2007, and that would mean that Homicide wouldn't win the title in 2006 and would have to leave ROH. Now with the odds heavily stacked against him, Homicide could no longer afford to make any mistakes if he wanted to fulfill his destiny and become ROH World Champion by the end of the year. On this night he came out ahead as he and Joe picked up the win, cementing his title shot at Final Battle. Though he had survived everything Cornette had thrown at him so far, there was undoubtedly more to come and a lot of people who were after him. Homicide was a hunted man.
Part III: Put To The Test
Though he was still the ROH World Champion, Bryan Danielson entered the third quarter of 2006 with something to prove. He had already suffered two clean losses in the middle of the ring to KENTA, and with those two victories KENTA had earned a shot at the ROH World Title. The match was signed for Glory By Honor V Night Two, as Bryan Danielson would defend the ROH World Title against KENTA in New York City. Before he even got to New York, Danielson had perhaps his toughest series of challenges yet, and it was far from certain if he would even still be ROH World Champion when Glory By Honor V weekend came. In fact, he suffered another clean pinfall loss at War Of The Wire II to Austin Aries to open the quarter, and then was faced the following night with another man who held a victory over him in Nigel McGuinness. He had faced Nigel at the Weekend Of Champions in a title vs title match which ended with Danielson getting counted out, meaning Nigel won but both men kept their titles. Since Nigel won that match, only the ROH World Title would be on the line in the rematch. This time Danielson scored the win, crawling under the ring and coming out behind McGuinness, catching him with a small package for the win.
His next challenge came in the form of Samoa Joe, who Danielson had been ducking and sneak attacking for months. They both had warm up matches the night before (Danielson scoring a short squash win over Jack Evans and Joe earning a surprisingly quick and decisive win over AJ Styles), then had their first one-on-one match in almost two years at Fight Of The Century. Both men had proven they could go a long time and, in trying to outlast one another, they went to the 60-minute time limit and the match was a draw.
Danielson would meet Joe again down the line, but before he got there he was faced with another challenge from Nigel McGuinness. Now with each having scored one victory over the other, the decision was made to unify the ROH World Title and the ROH Pure Title, and so they met at the aptly named show Unified. It was decreed that there must be a winner, and both men entered the match ready to do whatever they had to do to beat the other. It was a brutally stiff match which saw neither man hold back. They pounded each other unmercifully, to the point where Nigel had his head rammed into the ringpost until he was busted open hardway. Nigel was bleeding heavily as the assault continued, and Danielson finally put him away with the unprotected elbows to the face to win the match via referee stoppage. Danielson had now won the ROH Pure Title, ending Nigel McGuinness' nearly year long reign in the process, and unified it with the World Title. Add in the FIP Heavyweight Title which Danielson still held and it seemed that everything Danielson touched turned to gold. He followed his brutal win over McGuinness up the next night by successfully defending the ROH World Title not once, but twice. He defeated SUWA early in the night, then closed the show with a fourth victory over longtime rival Roderick Strong.
As the match with KENTA drew closer, Danielson appeared unstoppable. He signed on for a pair of 2 out of 3 falls title defenses in late August, first against Nigel McGuinness and then against Colt Cabana in each man's last shot at the title during Danielson's reign. Danielson and McGuinness each won a fall before their match went to the 60-minute time limit, which to Danielson meant a successful title defense and no more defenses against McGuinness. The following night Danielson went to another 1-1 time limit draw with Cabana, but fate played a cruel hand on Danielson on this night, as he took a bad bump out of the ring about 10 minutes in and injured his shoulder. He somehow finished the last 50 minutes of the match with one arm, and after being examined it was found that he had torn a pair of tendons in his shoulder and also had a possible tear in his chest. This was a crushing handicap for Danielson to have mere weeks before facing KENTA at Glory By Honor V.
A decision was quickly made by ROH officials to let Danielson keep the title while recovering from surgery, but Danielson refused the gesture, instead choosing to work through the pain and continue defending the ROH World Title, albeit at a scaled back schedule. His scheduled defense against Austin Aries at Glory By Honor V Night One was postponed so the match with KENTA could go on, and as Danielson made his way to the ring in the Manhattan Center, he clearly knew he was in for the toughest fight of his life. KENTA smartly targeted the injured shoulder, battering it with kicks and strecthing it out with arm submissions. Danielson somehow fought through the pain and refused to lose to KENTA, but KENTA was finally able to hit the Go To Sleep on Danielson and make the cover...for two, as Danielson got his foot on the ropes. KENTA had given Danielson his best shot and Danielson had survived, and this seemed to inspire Danielson. The American Dragon rallied and now started throwing everything he had at KENTA, giving him the unprotected elbows, a tiger suplex, more unprotected elbows, and finally locking in the Cattle Mutilation, and after several tense seconds of trying to hold out, KENTA finally tapped out to the thunderous applause of the New York City crowd. KENTA, who had made a reputation for being disrespectful to opponents, was a true sport after suffering his first loss in ROH, shaking the champion's hand and then raising his arm in victory.
Bryan Danielson had finally vanquished the demon of KENTA that had been hanging over him all year and, with that victory, had reached the one year mark as ROH World Champion. However, even with the victory over KENTA, Danielson was still faced with another encounter with Samoa Joe and, if he made it past Joe, would then meet Homicide in the climactic main event of Final Battle 2006.
Part IV: A Few Other Things
As the third quarter of 2006 closed out, all eyes were on Homicide and his quest to win the ROH World Title. However, aside from his story and the usual attention given to the championship scene in general, a few other things of note occured during this time, such as...
The Jimmy Jacobs/Lacey Saga: Jimmy Jacobs was still in love with Lacey and still getting nothing in return, so in his continued efforts to win her affection, he made it a point to take former partner BJ Whitmer out of Ring Of Honor. Whitmer was flying high after defeating Necro Butcher in a No Ropes Barbed Wire match, and Jacobs was determined to take him down a notch. He succeeded in taking Whitmer out, at least temporarily, when he defeated him at Gut Check and then viciously attacked Whitmer's injured ankle with a chair, necessitating surgery and putting Whitmer on the shelf for several months. But even with Whitmer gone, Jacobs was faced with another tough situation when he discovered that Lacey was having an affair with Colt Cabana. Though Lacey and Cabana wouldn't initially talk to him about it, Jacobs caught them making out in the shower at Epic Encounter II. Lacey excitedly announced Cabana as the new member of Lacey's Angels, though Cabana was noncommittal, instead choosing to keep his business and personal lives separate. Jacobs wouldn't give up trying, and in fact pinned Colt Cabana after a low blow in a Triple Threat match at Glory By Honor V Night Two, but instead of being pleased that he won, Lacey berated him for injuring Cabana's most intimate of areas. Lacey made him apologize to Cabana and then, after Cabana requested a massage, Lacey kicked Jacobs out of the room.
Bruno Sammartino and the Samoa Joe/Takeshi Morishima Brawl: Bruno Sammartino made a rare appearance at a wrestling show at Glory By Honor V Night Two and said that he had gotten out of professional wrestling in the 1980s when the business became overrun with drugs and performance-enhancing substances. However, after viewing several Ring Of Honor DVDs, he was impressed and agreed to appear publicly for them. He gave a speech where he put over ROH as real wrestling in the old spirit he grew up with and received a touching ovation and chant from the live crowd. As respectful as the segment was, a brawl broke out afterward between Samoa Joe and Pro Wrestling NOAH's Takeshi Morishima after Sammartino made his way to the back. They bumped into one another on their way to the back, leading to a shoving match and finally a pull-apart brawl in the ring.
Davey Richards: After debuting in ROH in June with two decisive victories over Jimmy Rave, Richards thrust himself right into the upper-midcard mix in the third quarter. He scored another win over Rave at War Of The Wire II, teaming with Jerrelle Clark to defeat Rave and Sal Rinauro and then teamed with Clark and also Irish Airborne to defeat Generation Next in their final match as a group the following night at Generation Now. For all the wins, he did suffer some setbacks, beginning at Time To Man Up as he and KENTA lost to the Briscoes and then, the following night at Fight Of The Century, lost to KENTA in a singles match. He came back by defeating Rave yet again in the UK at Unified, then split his matches at Glory By Honor weekend, losing to Austin Aries on Night One before defeating Jack Evans on Night Two. Though Richards had posted about a .500 record this quarter, he had defeated some big names and his losses were close affairs. He was making quite a name for himself and would be someone to keep an eye on late in the year.
Nigel McGuinness: Though his focus over these months was certainly on his series of matches with Bryan Danielson, Nigel spent a lot of time building a name for himself separate from Danielson. He made his final two successful Pure Title defenses against Colt Cabana at War Of The Wire II and Delirious at Time To Man Up before losing the title to Danielson. The series with Danielson certainly elevated Nigel, but he made his reputation even stronger on Glory By Honor V weekend, first by defeating Christopher Daniels on Night One, then challenging Naomichi Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight Title on Night Two. Marufuji had just won the title in Japan days earlier, and was making his first defense of the title in Ring Of Honor against McGuinness. Nigel lost the match, but had a very strong showing and came within an eyelash of winning the GHC Heavyweight Title several times. He was no longer the Pure Champion, but after his showing in the third quarter, only a fool would think that his days in the title picture were over.
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ROH was about to enter the final quarter of the year, and Homicide was the star of the show. Would he finally fulfill his destiny by winning the ROH World Title? Would he even make it to Final Battle, or would he be taken out by Steve Corino, Adam Pearce, or the Briscoes beforehand? What other tricks did Jim Cornette have up his sleeve to kill Homicide's career?
If he did get through everyone else, he was headed toward a showdown with Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title, but Danielson had his own hurdles to overcome. He had finally defeated KENTA, but his shoulder was still injured, and he was now faced with a series of rematches against former longtime ROH World Champion Samoa Joe. Would Danielson even make it to Final Battle with the title? Would his shoulder give out on him before he got there? And what was next for the men he had beaten? He had amassed a long line of conquests, and now with their ROH Title hopes dashed, what would be in store for me like Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabaa?
The tag team scene left some people without direction, as well. The Kings Of Wrestling were now the ROH World Tag Team Champions, though they would undoubtedly meet Austin Aries & Roderick Strong again in the future. But if Aries and Strong were unable to regain the title, where would they go from there? Would the Briscoes perhaps be the team to unseat Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli, or were they too focused on taking Homicide out?
Check back next week as we finish our story with the fourth and final part of Ring Of Honor In 2006...PART FOUR!!!!
