wrestling / Columns

Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition: Ring of Honor – Respect is Earned

July 22, 2007 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Ring of Honor – Respect is Earned Podcast~!

We are back for yet another podcast and tonight we go where we haven’t gone before! That’s right, this time around we are joined by the Column of Honor’s ARI (~!) as we discuss the Ring of Honor – Respect is Earned PPV! We will discuss the great in ring action, who impressed, who didn’t, what worked and what didn’t (which isn’t much as it was a great show!) This was to be a part of the Great American Bash podcast, but we went on for 1-hour and 15-minutes so ROH gets it’s very own show! Download and enjoy kids, and remember, always drop us a line and let us know what you thought!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD~!

If that doesn’t work, copy and paste the following link into your browser and you’ll be fine: http://www.sendspace.com/file/v4trxr

How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!

Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R’s all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~!

This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, I cannot speak for Geoff, but my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.


Ring of Honor – Respect is Earned 2007~!:size=36>

The Matches:

ROH TITLE MATCH: Takeshi Morishima defeated BJ Whitmer @ 2:53 via pin *

Naomichi Marafuji defeated Rocky Romero @ 16:06 via pin ***

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Briscoe Bros defeated Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal @ 20:08 via pin ****¼ Match of the Night!

GRUDGE MATCH: Roderick Strong defeated Delirious @ 17:05 via pin ***

Takeshi Morishima © & Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness & KENTA @ 22:45 via submission ***¾

The Right:

Marafuji vs. Romero – We shall first discuss what I consider the real opener of the show. Naomichi Marafuji and Rocky Romero faced off, much to the delight of the crowd. They dug the hell out of Marafuji and the hot crowd really went a long way to adding to the enjoyment of the bout. To me, and I know Ari agrees, this was a perfect match to show the new fan what ROH is all about. Building a good wrestling match, simplicity and a basic formula really. They had the even start, Marafuji got some shine, Romero got some heat, and then they hit the accelerator and went balls to the wall to the end. Both guys looked very good, and even though Marafuji won, Romero still came across strong as they had such a competitive match and for the fact that Romero had so many near falls on Marafuji. My only complaint about the match was that Romero forgot about the legwork once they kicked into higher gear, doing springboards with ease and such. That irked me a bit, but otherwise no complaints. Marafuji busting out the coast-to-coast dropkick was sweet, and RH gave a first great impression with this first “real match” of the PPV.

The Briscoe Brothers vs. Claudio and Sydal – The first title match on ROH PPV was that of The Briscoe Brothers defending the ROH Tag Team Titles against Double C (Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey) and Matt Sydal. While they had a good video package showing the guys signature moves and such, I wish that they would have given the background of the built of the match. It’s a good story, the KOW lose the tag titles, with Sydal pinning Double C. Double C wins an open contract for the tag titles and then chooses the man that pinned him, a former tag champion as a suitable partner. That is interesting stuff and needed to be played up more I felt. So they had the match and the first compliment is that Sydal and Claudio worked extremely well together. For a thrown together team, for lack of a better word, they went step for step with the Briscoe’s and that went a long way in making this match as great as it was. The match had a rapid pace, smooth moves, some great heat segments and a hot crowd and when all was said and done the Briscoe’s retained in an excellent match and I think all 4-men earned new fans in the first time viewers, because this was excellent.

After the match Leonard and Prazak thank the fans for their support, and then are rudely interrupted by El Generico and Kevin Steen. They challenge the celebrating Briscoe’s, who basically tell them to man up and we get a HUGE pull a part brawl. They got separated, STEENERICO then decided to gloriously kill some students with head dropping goodness, and then the battle was back on with Mark and Jay. They brawled to the back and Mark got laid out by a chair shot, which he didn’t need, and suffered a “concussion” we found out later. So we had a great tag match and a great after match angle setting up the next set of challengers. This was an excellent angle right here children; good work by all involved.

“Scrap Daddy’s” Promo – After the Strong vs. Delirious match, we went to a promo by Adam Pearce. I have found that people either love or hate him. I am in the camp that digs Pearce. He was there with young Shane and told him to “find him.” Pearce then scared me as I thought he was going to jump off a cliff with the “Scrap Daddy” line, but that was quick and gone and Adam Pearce proceeded to cut an awesome promo here. I won’t say money promo because it isn’t leading to a match right now, so there is no money, but this was a DAMN good promo here, I loved it. He started to discuss the history of ROH, the expansion and the fact that they are no won PPV. He said they had all sacrificed and are all looking for a bigger piece of the ROH pie. Young Shane then returned and told Pearce, “He’s around the corner.” “HE” was young BJ Whitmer. Pearce stated that Whitmer had given everything to ROH. Brutal matches with Jacobs and such, but now he would have to go to bed knowing, dream about and wake up with the knowledge that he lost the first ROH PPV match. Pearce then went to console him, or brainwash him, and it was glorious. Pearce came off like a star promo wise, and almost had a “Raven” feel to him, with the way he discussed Whitmer and then went to “console” him. This is episodic shit and makes you want to tune back in. Excellent work by Pearce here.

Danielson and Morishima vs. KENTA and Nigel – The main event of the first ROH PPV featured the ROH Champion Morshima tagging with former ROH Champion and STILL the best wrestler in the world Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel and KENTA. Basically what they did was take the perceived main players for the ROH Title right now and mix them up, ala those Raw 6-man tags and I mean that in a good way. This was set up earlier in the show, which I will discuss below and is what got the final spotlight. First of all, Nigel’s hair was spectacular. That has to be said, is that shit registered as a weapon? I think they did a good job establishing everyone. Morshima as the wall of a champion that takes all punishment but delivers out more. Danielson, the former champion who wants his title back and thinks that he is the best in the world, and an all around dick head. Nigel is the man that has been oh so close and just wants one more go of it to prove that he can win the big one. KENTA is the smaller of the men, showing that fighting spirit can overcome all and that he can take that title if he wishes. One thing I loved was late in the match Nigel got his elbow “blown out” by Danielson. He went to the floor and had the trainer tape it up and then reentered the bout. He sold it very well, and as we went to the finish of Danielson making KENTA TAP in the Cattle Mutilation, Nigel couldn’t help as Morshima delivered no loess that 132 shots (learn I like sarcasm) to the injured arm, stopping him from helping the stretched KENTA. A very good end to a well fought main event match. They all worked very well together, and while parts of the middle were slow tome, the finishing of the match was excellent and made it worth it. I will say that if there is one criticism, it was that I felt the match was a little long, 3-4 minutes. I thought and it almost ruined the peaking of the match. While I truly appreciate them giving all the matches a very adequate amount of time, but you also have to remember that long does not always equal good and you run the risk of turning off new fans and if the match turns bad, regular fans. I know people will not like hearing that, but that is a fact. This is just a small suggestion from me to keep in mind, but a very good match nonetheless. They highlighted the champion and the potential main challengers, and that is a job well done.

Purgatory:

Morshima vs. Whitmer/Setting up the main event… – The PPV kicked off with young BJ Whitmer in the ring. He said that ROH was about great wrestling and not talking. So then he proceeded to talk more and challenged anyone to a match. After the tossed in intro video package, Morshima came out to answer the challenge. Whitmer ran wild for a bit, but Morshima was way too much for him and killed him dead with the backdrop driver in under 3-minutes. Now this was great on one hand as it made Morshima look like a beast, but conversely it made Whitmer look like a complete jobber, especially to the first time fan. My wife is proof of that. Obviously it is more important to build up your champion, but in the end Whitmer did not look like he could hang. Nigel then stormed out and wanted a title shot, which then brought out the dress up “still greatest wrestler in the world” Danielson and he talked about wanting a title shot. I thought they weren’t about talking? Anyway some exchange happened and Danielson’s shirt escapes unharmed.

Now after the Romero match they do this segment with Sweeney and Toland, which kicked ass. There was tons of charisma in that room with Sweeney being Sweeney and Tank just being hilarious with his facials doing the crunch bar. Now Sweeney introduced the latest edition to Sweet and Sour International, Sara Del “Death” Ray, who was no less than two inches taller than the men, which made me laugh. They had a fun exchange, Tank made Bobby “Chunky Charles” Dempsy do squats, which then led to Sara and Tank having a squat off as Dempsy fell to the floor. This was great stuff, but then, then we heard Gabe, the man behind the curtain yell, “There’s something going on in the ring…go to the ring!” They jump to the ring and Morishima and Danielson are beating down Nigel. They were just magically there. KENTA runs out to make the save and then, BOOM they jump to a ROHWrestling.com video package for like, 15-seconds. And then, we head to the ring and Claudio and Sydal are in the ring waiting for the Briscoe’s. This was the very definition of an “Impact Special,” and people that have read the rants on TNA will understand this. Rough cuts, shooting from thing to thing with 20-people involved and none of it really sinks in or matters. This is something that they will have to work on as they get used to the 2-hour PPV format in editing. There was some good stuff in here, but also some wrong, so we’ll leave it here.

Strong vs. Delirious – Roderick Strong and Delirious, another match between men that have had numerous between tags and singles. ROH showed a quick, but effective video package before the match to highlight the feud. I liked it and I feel that a first time viewer would have got the feeling that these men had issues, and this proclaimed Grudge Match was the next step. These guys work incredibly well together and this match was no different and about what you would expect. Overall a very enjoyable match and one that added to the great in ring action on the show. But I feel the match lacked true heat and emotion, and I never connected with it. Ari made mention of the match’s positioning on the card, and that with the crowd deflated and after the great tag match that this could have played into the lack of emotion we mentioned on the podcast. This match was a damn fine match, they worked very hard and it was fun. But it was billed as a “Grudge Match” and when you hear that, you tend to expect certain things. This match didn’t so much give that. It was good, it was stiff but in the end, it was a lot of good wrestling and if you understand this, that doesn’t translate to “grudge match.” If it is built and wrestled right you get the feeling that one man wants to cripple or kill the other (storyline wise), and in all honesty I never felt that feeling. The “after match” was actually more “grudge match” than the match itself. The NRC hit the ring, beat down Delirious and Strong hit the GIBSON DRIVER onto a piece of guardrail and laid him out. Erik Stevens then hit a great run in, laid people out and looked awesome and that was that. It was simplicity at its best, and that is why this after match angle worked. Another thing, Ari again mentioned is that this is rumored to have 5-minutes cut from it. If that is the case, it also could have greatly effected the overall perception of the bout. Fine stuff here, but I felt it belonged in purgatory. Remember first time readers; purgatory is not a bad thing. It is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed.

The wRong:

Some Small Production Issues – Well, you had to know that something would find its way to the wrong section, it takes a special show to avoid it and or the ridiculous altogether, but the good news is that this is something that can be easily remedied. Now keep in mind that no one expects, or to a point wants the sanitized WWE look, but clean production is keep when people pay for events. Also, when wanting to attract new fans that are used to WWE, or to a slightly lesser degree TNA production, you need to look like you are giving them the best you can. So let us discuss some production issues I noticed during the initial PPV broadcast.

Opening Video Package: This is a short one. The opening video package was “fine.” Fine is all well and good, but you need something a bit cleaner and sleeker to kick thinks off. I saw this and was like, ok, well, this is fine and or acceptable. Fine just doesn’t cut it as we all know.

Sound: There were times that the sound really bothered me. On a few instances there were bad crackles and at times I had difficulty hearing things. I can hear the complaints now, “Look at this asshole overanalyzing things.” Well, that’s my job. I need to be able to hear things to know if they mean something. Not very bad, only a few (3 or 4) instances I can remember, but enough to mention.

Picture/Lighting: For the most par the overall picture for the show was good. There were a few instances that looked “grainy” to best describe it, but when they were, it wasn’t pretty. Also, one thing that constantly bothered me was the glare of the lights on certain camera shots. It was very distracting, took away from the overall picture and looked amateurish. I am not saying that to be mean, but that’s just how it looked.

I am sure Gabe and crew have been all over the tape and taken notes and tried to fix these things for the already shot 2nd PPV, and if so and if they have been fixed, there will be a big congrats and “right” from me the next time. I imagine the pressure of getting show #1 off the ground were amazing, which is why I have been rather reserved in discussing these issues. As I said, I am sure they know what went right and what didn’t and are working to fix them. Overall though this was my only wrong on the show, and for long time followers of the column, having only one wrong and no ridiculous is a great feat.

The Ridiculous:

NADDA~!

Closing Thoughts:
If ROH was looking to gain respect from the new viewer I feel strongly that they did so with this debut show. While some of the criticism will come off as nit picking, well, if you are new to the column I can understand that but that’s what I do here. Trust me, these are small problems and I am sure they will be fixed as time goes on and ROH acclimates themselves to PPV. As far a sin ring action, it was great. A MOTY Candidate wit the ROH Tag Title match and a damn fine main event make this show EASILY worth the price, even at $14.95 from “Indemand” those bastards.

Overall I will go with a 8.25 out of 10, making this the 2nd best PPV of the year and a very hearty recommendation to buy. This is a decision that requires no thought children, put down the cash and be prepared for 2-hours of great wrestling. If this is any indication of what ROH will put on PPV, they have easily earned one loyal buyer in myself and the wife, and probably a lot more. Kudos ROH, well done.


2007 PPV Rankings:
WWE Backlash 8.5
ROH Respect is Earned 8.25
WWE WM XXIII 8.0
WWE Royal Rumble 8.0
TNA Slammiversary 7.5
TNA Victory Road 7.4
TNA Sacrifice 7.25
TNA Final Resolution 7.0
TNA Lockdown 7.0
WWE One Night Stand III 6.5
WWE New Year’s Revolution (RAW) 6.0
TNA Against All Odds 6.0
TNA Destination X 5.5
WWE Judgment Day 5.5
WWE Vengeance 5.0
WWE No Way Out (SD) 4.0

2007 TOP PPV Match Rankings:
(WWE Royal Rumble) Last Man Standing WWE Title MATCH: Cena vs. Umaga ****¼
(WWE Backlash) Last Man Standing World Title MATCH: Batista vs. The Undertaker ****¼
(WWE Backlash) WWE Title MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge ****¼
(TNA Sacrifice) Texas Death Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm ****¼
(ROH Respect is Earned) Mark and Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal and Claudio Castagnoli ****¼
(WWE Royal Rumble) The Royal Rumble Match ****
(WWE WM XXIII) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels ****
(WWE ONS III) LADDER MATCH: The Hardy’s vs. TWGTT ****
(TNA Slammiversary) King of the Mountain Match: Angle vs. Harris vs. Cage vs. Joe vs. AJ ****
(TNA Destination X) NWA Title Match: Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe ****
(TNA Lockdown) Lethal Lockdown (Team Cage vs. Team Angle) ****
(WWE WM XXIII) Money in the Bank III ***¾
(TNA Final Resolution) 30-Minute Iron man Match: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe ***¾
(TNA Victory Road) Match of Champions: Joe and Angle vs. Team 3D ***¾
(TNA Victory Road) Ultimate X ***¾
(ROH Respect is Earned) Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima vs. KENTA and Nigel McGuinness ***¾

2007 PPV MVP AWARDS:
This is a little added deal here, as I feel that there are some other things that should be mentioned from the PPV’s. Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker: A Rumble to Remember – WWE Royal Rumble
JBL: Solo Commentating – WWE No Way Out
AJ Styles and Rhino: Elevation X – TNA Destination X
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker: “They still got it!” – WWE WrestleMania XXIII
AJ Styles: Almost Dies for his Craft – TNA Lockdown
The Main Events: “We can step up.” – WWE Backlash
Harris and Storm: Redemption – TNA Sacrifice
Matt, Jeff, Shelton and Charlie: “Taking a Risk.” – WWE ONS III
Jeff Jarrett: “Thank you Jill” – TNA Slammiversary
Christopher Daniels: The Ultimate X reunites XXX – TNA Victory Road
Ring of Honor Makes Major PPV Impact – ROH Respect is Earned

Thanks for joining me for this special edition of the 4R’s, and don’t forget to check out the regular edition complete with all of the other shows from the week!

For more interesting information on wrestling, check out Bryan Alvarez and Figure Four Weekly Online and Mike Campbell over at SPLASH MOUNTAIN!

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Larry Csonka

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