wrestling / Columns

Column of Honor: 08.25.07 Part One

August 25, 2007 | Posted by Ari Berenstein

It’s funny what happens when you wear a Ring of Honor shirt in public. Oh sure, most people have no idea what the heck that symbol on your shirt means. They might run away from you like you’re a part of some religious cult looking to kidnap indoctrinate some new members. Eventually you’ll find one or two others out there sporting other wrestling shirts, usually WWE. Sometimes I exchange a knowing head nod at them, in recognition of their shirt. Usually they don’t do the same. Maybe it’s because I have a third eye or maybe they don’t know about Ring of Honor.

Earlier in the year, I was coming out of Webster Hall in the city after the Ted Leo concert and saw a guy with the old school “Generation Next” shirt. I gave him props for the shirt and he seemed very appreciative of it. Hey, like Cena says, real recognizes real.

I can’t believe I just wrote that. Anyway, moving on.

This past Thursday, it was an out of nowhere but pleasant surprise to come home from my bro’s house in a cab and get the chance to talk to a wrestling fan. It was kind of a lark; as soon as I got in the cab a young teenager of Middle Eastern descent saw my ROH shirt and immediately responded “Ring of Honor? That’s some sort of wrestling group right?” We then proceed to have a conversation the entire cab ride discussing TNA, WWE and ROH. He liked TNA more than WWE because of the high flying action, wanted Matt Hardy to fly around more (he noticed he only does his moonsault on special occasions). He liked AJ Styles, but didn’t think much of Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe—he thought they had too much ego. He wanted Randy Orton to win against John Cena, and liked when Randy Orton went psycho. All this for only one year of watching wrestling.

Well, the car ride ended soon enough and I got in a plug for the column (the guy reads Wrestling Zone but didn’t know about 411mania? Blasphemy!) and for ROH and the show on Saturday. It was one of those moments you don’t get enough of as a wrestling fan. In a way, it’s why I sometimes sport my ROH apparel out in public, just to see who is out there to respond.

So David, if you’re out there and you’re reading, this column is dedicated to you.

Welcome to the Column.

By the way, just kidding about that third eye.

Ring Toss
-Intro
-ROH Results: Caged Rage in Hartford, CT
-ROH Call
-Rivals Part Three: Danielson and Morishima
-ROH Preview: Manhattan Mayhem II
-ROH News: Sydal, Project 161, more
-Hero’s Sandwich
-Honorarium: My definitive take on Machine Guns vs. Briscoes
-Honor Culture: Ole!
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links
-OUT

ROH Results: “Caged Rage” August 24th 2007 Hartford, CT

Matches
PRE-SHOW
-Bobby Dempsey defeated Ernie Osiris.
-Daizee Haze defeated Candice La Rae.
-Mitch Franklin defeated Pelle Primeau to win the ROH Top of the Class Trophy.

MAIN SHOW
-Chris Hero defeated Hallowicked via pinfall.
-Jimmy Jacobs defeated Rhett Titus via submission with a DDT into a choke.
-Nigel McGuinness defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall in a Four Corner Survival that also included Delirious and Adam Pearce.
-The Resilience defeated Jason Blade, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards via pinfall.
-Bryan Danielson defeated PAC via submission.
-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima retained his title by defeating Claudio Castagnoli and Brent Albright in a three way elimination match. A. Claudio eliminated Albright. B. Morishima eliminated Claudio.
-Roderick Strong defeated Jack Evans in a Steel Cage match via pinfall with a splash mountain followed by an elbow drop.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes retained the title by defeating Kevin Steen & El Generico in a Steel Cage match.

*finishes were sketchy thanks to lack of details in the results, so I patched together what I could from as many reports as I could find.

Angles and Issues

FCS at PPV: The Four Corner Survival match was reportedly announced as being taped for an upcoming PPV. Whether this will be shown on the third or fourth PPV remains to be seen. It could have a lot to do with who is involved with Project 161. Maybe Pearce and Whitmer aren’t involved after all? Or it could end up being a ret con work where if Pearce and Whitmer are 161, then this could be shown on the 4th taping as their first assault. Lots of questions, very few answers for now, so for now I’ll exercise patience and we’ll see where things go from here.

The Mask Won’t Come Off: After the Four Corner Survival match, BJ Whitmer officially turned heel and joined in with Adam Pearce and Brent Albright (who was probably paid for his serviced). Together they attacked and stapled Delirious’ mask to his face. Jesus that sounds brutal.

Your Replacement Pitcher, Davey Richards: Richards came in before the 6 man tag and laid out Pelle Primeau. Presumably he did this to mess with the heads of The Resilience and make it that much tougher for them to win. Plus, if Richards had pinned Cross or Stevens, what would Aries have done…replaced them with an NRC member? That would have been an unfathomable catastrophe for the leader of The Resilience. Luckily it seems that Cross and Stevens seem to be righting their ship and came through in the clutch with a W.

Not Over Yet: After the tag title match, Kevin Steen laid both Briscoes out in anticipation of the two out of three falls tag match tonight in NYC.

Return Date: December 28th, 2007

Reports have been extremely complimentary about the matches from this show, especially The Resilience 6 man tag and both cage matches. Also, Jack Evans was said to look hurt after his cage match with Strong, and apparently Steen power bombed The Briscoes into the crowd before he got into the cage. Wow.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 08/25/2007 –heading into Manhattan Mayhem II tonight.

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 15 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: Bryan Danielson, 8/25/07 New York, NY

V.1 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (2/23/07 Dayton, OH)
V.2 defeated KENTA via pinfall / backdrop driver (3/04/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.3 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/14/07 Edison, NJ)
V.4 defeated Austin Aries via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.5 defeated SHINGO via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/28/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.6 defeated KAZMA via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/06/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.7 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/12/07 New York, NY)
V.8 defeated Jay Briscoe via pinfall / backdrop driver (6/08/07 Roxbury Crossing, MA)
V.9 defeated Roderick Strong via pinfall / backdrop driver (6/09/07 Philadelphia, PA)
V.10 defeated Jimmy Rave via pinfall / backdrop driver (06/23/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.11 defeated Adam Pearce via pinfall / backdrop driver (06/23/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.12 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (7/16/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.13 defeated Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/10/07, Roxbury Crossing, MA)
V.14 defeated Brent Albright via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/11/07, Philadelphia, PA)
V.15 Three Way Elimination Match: defeated Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli (8/24/07, Hartford, CT)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 11 successful defenses)

Next Defense: 2 Out of 3 Falls vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico, 8/25/07 New York, NY

V.1 Ultimate Endurance: defeated Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin, Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw, Hallowicked & Gran Akuma (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.2 defeated Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (4/28/07 Chicago, IL)
V.3 defeated BJ Whitmer and ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima (5/11/07, Hartford, CT)
V.4 defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (5/12/07, New York, NY)
V.5 defeated The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero) (6/09/07, Philadelphia, PA): 2 out of 3 falls- 2 straight falls
V.6 defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (6/22/07, Dayton, OH): 2 out of 3 falls- 2 straight falls
V.7 defeated El Generico & Kevin Steen (6/23/07, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.8 defeated Jimmy Rave & Genki Horiguchi (7/17/07 Osaka, Japan)
V.9 defeated SHINGO & Susumu Yokozuka (7/17/07 Osaka, Japan)
V.10 defeated “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness (7/27/07, Long Island, New York)
V.11 Steel Cage Match: defeated. Kevin Steen & El Generico (8/24/07 Hartford, CT)

FIP Heavyweight Champion: Roderick Strong (since 11/10/2006)
SHIMMER Champion: Sara Del Rey (since 6/2/2007)
Top of the Class Trophy (For ROH Students): Mitch Franklin (since 8/24/2007)

Top Feuds & Pairings:
-The Briscoes vs. El Generico and Kevin Steen
-Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima
-Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
-The No Remorse Corps vs. The Resilience vs. Jack Evans (& his anticipated crew)
-Chris Hero and Sweet & Sour Incorporated vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Rivals (Part Three of Three): Danielson vs. Morishima—The Championship Drive

It is unfortunate for Bryan Danielson that Samoa Joe is not on the Ring of Honor roster anymore. If he was, Danielson could have received some words of wisdom on what it is like to be a former champion fighting to regain the most important title in wrestling. Danielson would have also been able to ask Joe what exactly it takes to defeat ROH World champion Takeshi Morishima, as he was the first (and only) man to defeat the monstrous title holder one on one, before the man even had the belt.

Of course, Danielson would have had to ask politely, since he and Joe don’t have the best history of friendship and respect for each other. There’s not a whole lot of water under that bridge; Joe could have easily kicked Danielson’s head in for asking.

Rivalries have a funny way of creating that special sort of enmity—the one where people don’t acknowledge each other coming through the door to the arena, don’t shake hands entering and leaving the show and certainly not coming to the aid or consult of someone in need.

That was the kind of rivalry Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson had for each other, especially during 2006. It is not, however, the kind of rivalry Danielson shares with the current ROH World champion.

They don’t hate each other—not yet anyways. There is no personal grudge based on bloodshed and violence—not yet anyways. This rivalry has a crux with one major bone of contention—the ROH World title belt.

It’s an old cliché, but it works well in wrestling, that possession is nine-tenths of the law. He who holds the gold holds the power, but more importantly, he who holds the belt possesses sure proof that he is the best wrestler in the world.

For ten seconds on May 12th, 2007, Bryan Danielson held the proof in his hands. Then Takeshi Morishima snatched it all away.

Ten seconds for five months. The latter length of time was how long Danielson was away from the throne, his belt separated from his body much like his shoulder was sepearated from its socket back in August of 2006. A dangerous and excruciatingly painful shoulder injury did not keep Danielson from defending the belt for another four months, but it did keep him away from Ring of Honor once he lost the title to Homicide at Final Battle 2006.

Danielson had to take time out to heal and recuperate. In the meantime, other men sat on top of his throne. They held possession to his belt. They lay claim to his title of “Best in the World” no doubt men whom Danielson felt were lesser than him. If you asked Samoa Joe and Austin Aries when they became former ROH World champion, they probably would be very frank with their answer and say they felt the same way.

The former champion returned at Reborn Again and wasted no time making a statement in the ring that he was back and ready to head for the title. He dismantled Shane Hagadorn and Adam Pearce within minutes. At Respect Is Earned, Danielson laid down the gauntlet. “I was World champion for fifteen months”, he stated to Nigel McGuinness, Morishima and a sold out Pay Per View crowd in Manhattan. “If anyone should receive a title shot, it should be me!”

Three months later, Danielson finally has his chance.. He fights for the World title August 25th, 2007 in Manhattan.

Bryan Danielson is no longer champion. He must live with the knowledge that he is a former champion. The current champion, Takeshi Morishima has run through much of the Ring of Honor roster and dismantled them one by one. He is a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of mass and force. Many have tried, from Nigel McGuinness to former champion Austin Aries, but they have all failed to defeat him.

Morishima owns that title. He has the title locked down, not with a safe or a security code, but merely with his own two hands, which have reigned down massive impact on his opponents.

When Danielson snatched the world title belt at Respect Is Earned, he upset a very dangerous man. Morishima resented the insult that another man would dare touch his belt. He did not like the implication that he was not the deserving champion. So even though he had just teamed up with Danielson for over twenty minutes in a hard fought and competitive tag main event against McGuinness and KENTA, Morishima saw fit to throw Danielson head over heels with a back drop driver. Danielson’s head crashed to the mat and his body landed in a heap. It was a warning to the former champion not to touch what didn’t belong to him.

Of course, Danielson didn’t learn his lesson. Despite the figurative slap to the face and the pain of getting nailed by Morishima’s finisher, Danielson once again made a grab for the ROH World title belt. This time he did it in Japan, Morishina’s home country. Not only did he possess the belt in his hands, but he used it as a weapon to knock the champion down and out. This was for sure another demeaning humiliation to the champion. Not only was he victimized, but in front of his own people no less.

Danielson was taking a rivalry based on a championship and began to make the matter personal. Morishima had bulldozed past any wrestlers who dared just to dream they could defeat him. Imagine how much more he wanted to defeat Danielson now that he had been insulted.

If Samoa Joe were still around in ROH, he would probably tell the “American Dragon” to be worried, very worried. Danielson may very well be worried, but not that you’d be able to tell by Danielson’s public attitude and demeanor. He has never given one sign to the wrestling world at large that he is sweating Morishima or that he lacks the confidence that he should be champion. There is no visage of doubt; rather, Danielson has appeared almost outwardly arrogant and self-righteous in his claims to anyone in hearing distance that he is still the best. This attitude, even when the proof is no longer around his waist.

The World championship of any company is the most valued possession and most desirable goal of any man. Bryan Danielson covets the ROH World belt as surely as most of us covet our weekly salary, eight hours of sleep and a good meal with a good significant other. The championship is Danielson’s pinnacle of achievement. He covets this chance to win the belt again.

It’s been a long eight months since Danielson had possession of the ROH World title. The wait may be over after August 25th, 2007. Or it could only be the beginning of a much longer than anticipated length of time.

ROH Preview: ROH Manhattan Mayhem II August 25th 2007—Manhattan, NY

7:30 pm belltime
Manhattan Center (Grand Ballroom)
311 West 34th St.
New York, NY 10001
(212) 279-7740
Tickets will be available to purchase at the door on the night of the show!!!

ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima (if still champion) defends vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson has suggested he has the right strategy to take out Morishima. It has been hinted that he wants to take Morishima to a longer match, which is a strategy CM Punk once employed against Samoa Joe. I’d suggest that Danielson not follow that line of thought and instead work quickly and persistently on a body part. He should be ready and willing to apply his new arsenal of submissions as well as the old standbys like the chicken wing and Cattle Mutilation. For Morishima’s part, the champion was said to have debuted a few new moves at last night’s show in Hartford. Will these offense based attacks be enough to derail The Dragon’s plans to regain the gold?

World Tag Team Title-2/3 Falls Match
Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico

The Briscoes are half-way through what is their toughest back to back defense in any of their four tag title reigns. They were victorious in a rough and vicious cage match against Steen and Generico, but they did not have the last laugh last night. Steen demolished Jay and Mark after the match in anticipation of this encounter, perhaps his last and best hope to win the tag titles. For as much bluster as the brawny brawler uses in his interviews, he can back that up with dangerous high impact moves and a deviously creative mind. El Generico has been valiant, but has proven too easily manipulated by Steen’s words and motivational speeches. No doubt the masked Canadian Luchador will go the extra distance for a chance to win the titles, but is he doing it for the right reasons? The Briscoes have always won these two out of three falls matches, and three times in a row they have done so by winning two straight falls. They look to do it a fourth time here and in doing so shut the door on this chapter in their title run. However, this may be not only the first two our of three falls match to go the distance, but the first multi fall match that the Southern Delwarians lose. With that loss goes their tag titles.

Battle Of Generation Next Founding Fathers
Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong vs. Jack Evans

This match will either be really, really good, or really, really a mess. There can’t be any middle ground here. That’s how the stable warfare has been since the beginning and that is most likely how this will continue through this one. In Buy or Sell this week I predicted a debut for Jack’s crew in this match in the case he lost the cage match, which he did, so let’s hope the promises and potential finally come through. Evans winning here would help keep his reputation and credibility afloat after a major loss last night in Hartford. On the other hand, this is Aries’ first appearance in NYC since February. He should receive a tremendous reaction; yet if he doesn’t get the win that is another squandered chance to get Aries over as the equalizer in the Resilience-NRC feud. This is a conundrum of a match. It should have some fun moves and interesting moments, especially when Aries and Evans are placed in the position of fighting against each other. Just how it will all turn out is actually one of the larger question marks of tonight’s event.

Grudge Match
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero w/ Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland, Sara Del Rey, & Bobby Dempey

This feud has now been made quite personal with the former Kings of Wrestling partners now ready to fight it out. Hero’s attack on Castagnoli at Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 set the tone for this match. If should be dramatic with plenty of back and forth between the two. They know each other so well that either man is possible to win here. The key may be Claudio’s injury status—how badly hurt is his eye? If Hero can capitalize on what he started, maybe this one won’t be so close after all.

Special Challenge Match #1
Davey Richards vs. PAC

UK sensation PAC makes his Broadway debut here and he draws a pretty good opponent to make a good first impression. Richards is on a bit of a wayward slide as of late. While he remains a dangerous opponent and a deadly accurate striker, PAC can take advantage of Richards’ weaknesses. PAC’s array of high flying moves can dizzy and confuse Richards long enough for a splash or a flash pin to do the damage. There are two main X-factors thing that can stop PAC here. One point may be his nerves acting up as this is one of the biggest moments of his career. The other and perhaps more potential devastating force is the influence of Richards’ teammates in Rocky Romero and Roderick Strong, who will always be in the wings to attack unsuspecting opponents.

Six Man Tag
Nigel McGuinness, Delirious and Pelle Primeau vs. BJ Whitmer, Brent Albright and Adam Pearce

This match was changed from a singles match between McGuinness and Whitmer to a six man tag based on the events of last night (see below). The babyfaces are at an extreme disadvantage here, as Pelle and Delirious are big question marks as far as health and condition and may not be able to help McGuinness much. Now that Nigel has the win over Whitmer in the 4CS, it will be noteworthy to see what condition BJ Whitmer shows up to NYC—will he be frustrated over the loss? Will he snap easily, causing the DQ? This one is going to get crazy and perhaps strange, very quickly.

Tag Team Attraction
Matt Cross & Erick Stevens vs. Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw

Cross and Stevens have seemingly gotten back to some winning ways and no doubt look forward to this match in order to demonstrate their talents. This is Quackenbush’s NYC debut for Ring of Honor, although it will be his last appearance for the company until the end of ’07. He should and hopefully will receive a tremendous ovation and get a lion’s share of crowd support. Basically I just expect this to be a fun mid card match where both teams can get the crowd going, do some fun stuff and spotlight their talent.

Plus more with; Jimmy Jacobs; Daizee Haze plus more!!!

ROH News
(via the ROHnewswire… and other sources when attributed

Late Breaking Updates from Gabe

Via the ROH Message Boards, as the booker man updates the proceedings for tonight’s show:

First of all thank you to all the fans in Hartford for a fun night. I’m exhausted and looking forward to a few hours sleep before heading to Manhattan for another huge Manhattan Center event tonight. Here is a quick update:

-Nigel vs. BJ will now be a six man with Adam Pearce, Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer vs. Nigel McGuinness, Delirious & Pelle Primeau

Delirious has gone absolutely insane after Pearce stapled his mask to his face. He was in bad shape both mentally and physically after the beatdown in Hartford.

In my mind, the six man tag was a wise decision and is a much better mid card match than Whitmer vs. McGuinness. Delirious going insane seems to be some sort of oxymoron, but I don’t quite know what to make of it. The staple gunning was certainly extreme and a bit unwarranted on Pearce’s part.

-Takeshi Morishima retained the title last night in Hartford. It will be the epic bout of Bryan Danielson challenging Morishima for the World Title TONIGHT in Manhattan.

-The Briscoes promise victory in two straight falls tonight in Manhattan when they defend the World Tag Team Titles vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico in a 2/3 Falls Match. Steen & Generico left The Briscoes laying after the brutal Steel Cage Match last night in Hartford. The Briscoes say this intense feud ends tonight.

-Congrats to Mitch Franklin for winning the Top Of The Class Trophy. Franklin will be rewarded by being added to the main show against Jimmy Jacobs tonight in Manhattan. Jacobs said his knee felt great after his match last night and he is looking forward to testing it again tonight.

Well, crowd reports actually had Jacobs looking a bit rusty ad tentative, but I don’t place any pressure on Jacobs in these performances. This should just be to work the kinks out in the system and let him see where he is at as far as recovery. He is returning two months earlier than scheduled, so some slack is warranted. Poor Mitch Franklin though—going from his greatest career achievement to getting plastered by Jacobs–it’s gonna be a rough night.

-There will be extra security tonight as the Manhattan Center has it’s own security staff in addition to the normal ROH staff.

-There will be tickets available at the door for tonight’s Manhattan Center event. This one promises to be huge like every show in Manhattan and you can still be there live. Check the schedule section of ROHwrestling.com for more info.

-Oh yeah, we’ll have a big announcement tonight about “Glory By Honor” weekend. You can get the best seats for ROH’s return to NYC at the show tonight.

Hmmm…extra security…wonder why that may be? It’s not the NYC faithful is it? We’re always good natured and well behaved. It must be something else amiss that we’re all missing out on. Hmmm… well, whatever. Last but not least we have the big announcement, which will likely be Misawa coming to ROH (although I have a small, small feeling there may be more to it than that, but I’ll hold onto that thought). Be warned ticket buyers—its $100.00 for front row and prices will be upped all around. Yup, that’s a hard price to swallow. It’s a halting number for me. I don’t know if I’ll get front row balcony for that 11/3 show. Misawa better bring his working boots for that price.

Sydal Ya Later: Matt Sydal Likely to WWE

Earlier this week Reports came in through PWInsider.com that Matt Sydal had signed a WWE developmental contract and would be finishing up on the independent scene. This report was quickly amended though to state that Sydal received a contract and was likely to sign it, but he hasn’t signed it yet.

So what does that mean? Let me go back to the well and quote the awesome movie High Fidelity.

“What did Laura mean when she said that she hasn’t slept with him…yet?”

Now, unlike Rob Gordon’s relationship, it looks like there is a less than 9 percent chance that Sydal will stay with ROH and the indie scene and more than likely that Sydal will actually indeed sign this contract and be on his way to fulfilling his dream of going to WWE. He had no dates left on the docket for ROH (at least announced on the website, more “final” appearances may end up forthcoming) and is currently touring in Japan with Dragon Gate. He will most likely finish up his independent bookings through October and then be on his way to OVW or down to Florida.

There have been rumors for months on end, stemming back to when WSX folded, that Sydal would end up signing a contract with WWE. These rumors persisted and were given weight when it was never confirmed that Sydal was a part of the twenty or so wrestlers who had signed ROH contracts. Although it appears that ROH (and TNA) had tried to lock up Sydal to a contract, Sydal didn’t sign with either promotion and kept himself a free agent.

The storyline where Sydal joined ranks with “Super Agent” Larry Sweeney always had the cushion that should Sydal leave ROH, he could be written out of the storyline as having been a huge success story for Sweeney’s agency. Now Sweeney has gotten results for a client, deprived fans of seeing a talented performed and stuck it to ROH officials for not meeting his monetary demands. It all makes sense and comes together as to explain Sydal’s departure.

If and when Sydal ends up in WWE developmental, he begins the oftentimes long process of working his way up to the main roster. It took CM Punk a year to make it to the main roster. Meanwhile, Cabana is four months into his work at OVW (as is Ace Steel) and has not been called up just yet.

Many fans have stated that the WWE isn’t the best place for Sydal He’s smaller than most other WWE talents and will certainly not be able to fly around as he is accustomed to on the independent scene. He will also not be able to use a number of the high impact moves he has developed such as the Here it is Driver, which he has used a finisher. I’ll address these concerns in more detail in the e-mail section of the column, but right now it’s a bit premature to say Sydal can’t and wouldn’t be able to adjust to the restrictions and demands of the WWE environment.

Sydal began doing spots for ROH in late 2004, early 2005. His first notable match was against frequent grappling partner Delirious in a pre show “Do or Die” match (later released on a Do or Die compilation DVD). Sydal was to become featured in ROH through a new tag team with Joey Matthews (Joey Mercury). Matthews signed with WWE, so that team was axed and Sydal would team with Fast Eddie. In a rather infamous note, ROH fans were allowed to come up and vote on a team name for the young duo. The fans ultimately decided on the name “Air Devils”, which would become derided and the butt of jokes on several ROH DVD releases and on the internet. The team was short lived anyway, as Fast Eddie would quickly turn on Sydal in their first match to sell out to Prince Nana, Jimmy Rave and The Embassy.

Sydal would later join Generation Next as its fourth member in a babyface role as they geared up for a feud against The Embassy. Sydal and Gen next had a common enemy and common roots as far as wrestling hard and working to impress, so the fit was a natural one. That’s not to say there weren’t rough patches, as after the war against The Embassy, Sydal would soon find the desire to become a tag team champion. The only problem with that was the champions were his own partners in Generation Next, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. This desire led to several face offs against his own teammates, with varying partners but with one ultimately dissatisfying result: a failure to win the tag team titles.

Failure in 2006 would eventually turn into success as Sydal would be paired up with Christopher Daniels. Together they would go on to win the ROH World Tag Team titles against the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) at Dethroned in November 2006. Sydal deliverd the finishing manuever, a reverse out of the KRS-1 into a stunning hurricanrana for the pinfall victory on Castagnoli.

Sydal and Daniels would go on to hold those belts for three months, losing them to The Briscoes at Fifth Year Festival: Chicago. From there, Sydal seemed to experience a change in attitude. He became more cocky and confident, sometimes borderlining on arrogant. During this timeframe, he won the Dragon Gate company’s Open the Triangle Gate title in Japan and defended it successfully against former teammate Austin Aries,. Sydal’s other major match in ROH during this time was in teaming with Claudio Castagnoli at ROH’s first PPV taping. He and Castagnoli gavce The Briscoes a blistering match that had many fans raving.

It was Sydal’s history with Castagnoli that would necessitate the next step in Sydal’s place in ROH. When offered a spot in Sweent and Sour Inc. Sydal was encouraged by Castagnoli not to take the spot, but Sydal attacked Claudio and accepted the invitation. Sydal became attached to Larry Sweeney’s mega agency and the rest as they say, is showbiz.

Gabe Sapolsky Fantasy Booker Pro

Kayfave Commentaries has released the second edition of its “Guest Booker” series. These are shoot interview videos where a wrestler or person involved in wrestling is given a chance to fantasy book a section of history. This edition is important to ROH fans because it involves none other than ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky, who is booking what he would have done with the rebirth of ECW in 2006. The DVD will be available exclusively through the company at the website linked above for the first few weeks and then should be distributed to highspots.com and rohwrestling.com.

Screenshots of Respect is Earned Special Packaging

Check out the following links to see the cool packaging and artwork for the Respect is Earned limited edition DVD.

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http://a556.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/103/l_6355de09bbf7ab38f2b6ad706497d9cb.jpg
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Let’s get Newswired:

One More for the Big Apple
It will be a rematch from the hard-hitting contest in Osaka when Nigel McGuinness faces BJ Whitmer!!!

I have to say I’m not a fan of this particular combination. Although I’ll give the match from Japan a chance and this one as well when I see it live, the combo seems unappealing to me. Unless Nigel can win these matches and gain back some momentum, it doesn’t look like he’ll be in good contendership position for the ROH World title, which is where I pegged him to be in the Fall.

Leadership By…Punishment?
Austin Aries is considering adding a new member to The Resilience. Aries feels The Resilience might need a lineup change after dropping the Street Fight to the No Remorse Corps & Matt Sydal on 8/11 in Philly. This Friday in Hartford will see six man action as The Resilience of Aries, Erick Stevens & Matt Cross take on Jason Blade, Eddie Edwards & Pelle Primeau. If Blade, Edwards or Primeau are able to pin Stevens or Cross, they will take their spot in The Resilience. Can Aries get The Resilience back on track?

Geez Aries, way to go all Cable in X-Force on your men there. Hope someone gets the reference. What kind of negative reinforcement is Aries giving his men here—firing them up by saying he’ll replace them? I don’t want him anywhere near my classroom!

(Looks at results again)

Hmm…maybe there is something to this method after all…

Motor City Madness Radness
We finally have the first matches to announce for 9/14 “Motor City Madness 2007” back in Detroit. Bryan Danielson recently teamed with Nigel McGuinness to take on The Briscoes in a sensational match in Long Island. Danielson says he deserves a rematch with a new partner since McGuinness was pinned. The Briscoes were quick to accept. Danielson has once again selected an unlikely partner. Detroit will see two great rivals in Danielson and Austin Aries team up to take on The Briscoes. If Jay & Mark are still ROH World Tag Team Champions they will put the belts on the line. Danielson & Aries were on the winning team at the $10,000 Tag Team Challenge in July. Aries is still waiting for his share of the winnings from Danielson. Perhaps he will get it and the World Tag Team Titles in Detroit.

Two grudge matches featuring No Remorse Corps members have been signed for 9/14 in Detroit. Rocky Romero gave Jack Evans a concussion and knocked him out of ROH last April. Now Evans will get a chance at revenge. It will be Evans vs. Romero in Detroit. Also signed for 9/14 is a NRC vs. Resilience first time singles match as Roderick Strong takes on Matt Cross. We’ll have more to announce for this event including first time ever matches with ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji next week in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire.

It’s a bit funny how September and October seems to be the time for Danielson and Aries to have their yearly get-togethers. In 2005 and 2006 Aries fought Danielson for the ROH World title in this basic timeframe, and now he will team up with him to get the straps. I wonder if they drink tea and watch the sunset in the countryside as well. Evans and Romero needs a bit more juice than the concussion angle, so hopefully Evans’ crew will be on the scene to make an impact here. Strong vs. Cross has potential here because we’re dealing with the tried and true evil, ground and pound heel vs. highflying babyface archetype. Cross seems to have a fire lit under his ass and may look to continue his streak of good outings in this one.

Project 161, Week 4: Warnings

So what has Column of Honor’s favorite Blogger been up to lately? Redecorating the front door with posters of people hanging from the gallows and a lovely picturesque New York City skyline, that’s what. And finding time to write a few more thoughtful stanzas of poetry and “the end is nigh” propaganda. But as a loyal New Yorker, I do appreciate the skyline picture. It’s the thought that counts.

In Project 161’s latest blogs, he or she takes us to task for thinking 161 had forgot about the blog (he’d been busy building up his army, plus rations and a nice deluxe sized tube of Bubble Tape), reminiscing about how lovely NYC is, and asking his readers just why and how they came upon the site in the first place. Ah, comraderie, isn’t it lovely? I’m just waiting for the official Project161 MySpace so we can all be friends and share hugs and kisses and tea and sunsets.

I do find a few things interesting about some of the things 161 wrote about. First of all there’s this:

“Do not blink. You might miss it. Do not look too far. You might pass it by. And mostly importantly, finders keepers.”

Now, in an ARG (alternate reality game) usually there may be giveaways or objects to “find” (i.e. a treasure hunt). I’d only be speculating, but is 161 telling us there may be some cool swag or propaganda awaiting fans in Hartford and Manhattan? I don’t want to encourage people to go on a snipe hunt (ooo, literary reference), but I’d be interested to hear from fans who went to the Hartford show if anything interesting and 161 related was discovered. I’ll be on the lookout myself in NYC, but I won’t be looking too hard, just in case there’s nothing to this and it’s just the work of my own imagination.

“Doing the work isn’t the problem. I could smile a million more empty smiles, and scribble to the moon on every single napkin/scrap of paper/event program brought to me by any nameless, faceless, heartless asshole with a sanctimonious grin on his face. I’ll hug all your kids, and take pictures with them all, individually, and then together. I’ll shake your hand while you forget for a second, that later that night you’ve got message boards to fill with hate.”

This paragraph seems to suggest someone who has always done well by the fans, been kind and good, possibly a babyface, who secretly hates the fans.

Then there’s this last bit off the tenth entry:

“As we amass your honesty, we’ll collect your heads as well.”

Wow. Well, Whitmer and Pearce did a fantastic job of collecting Delirious’s head didn’t they? Or at least stapling it together. Isn’t that something huh?

In the eleventh blog, Project 161 describes itself, using the collective “we”. I want readers who follow the blog to do something though. Even though there’s a collective, imagine each paragraph as a rotation of wrestlers, each one saying a line. Then think to yourselves, who does this line appropriately match on the ROH roster?

More developments next week.

Hero’s Sandwich

Greetings and salutations Hero-ites, it is I, your leader, Chris Hero, back again for another week of the single greatest Internet wrestling segment in the world today, the Hero Sandwich. I am writing to you immediately following my easy victory over the idiotic Hallowicked tonight in Hartford, Connecticut and prior to my departure for New York City, where I will be beginning my process of ending the career of the Swiss Idiot, Castagnoli, tomorrow night (tonight, when this is published). Due to the fact that my limo will be picking me up momentarily, I will have to make this short and sweet, so here we go.

The first topic I need to tackle this week is the aforementioned match with my old friend Castagnoli in New York City. I have received at least 10,000 letters and emails this week demanding that I put a hurting on Claudio like never before. Part of me would like to be able to grant you this wish, but the other part of me wants to beat Claudio a little bit at a time, and humiliate him over a period of time. It would be too easy to just take him out in one shot, and you all know that I like to take my time, so tomorrow will be the first phase of me breaking Claudio down. In my estimation, the best way to start this process would be by beating him with one of my trademark holds, like a cravate, or some variation of that. Or maybe, I’ll even use one of his own moves to beat him in the match. How much fun would that be? Pinning Claudio with his own Riccola bomb? That would be quite possibly the most humiliating defeat of his entire career. Another possibility is to have the entire Sweet and Sour Inc. team get in on the fun, and help me make Claudio look even more idiotic than usual. Not that I would ever need any help in winning a match, but I figure its only fair to let all the fellas have a little fun with Claudio. You know what he reminds me of? A dog that’s chasing his own tail. He’ll just never get the fact that I am so much better than him, and he’ll make himself crazy by trying to catch up with me. All he’s doing is spinning his wheels, and he should just walk away before he is totally emasculated by yours truly. It’s so sad to see a once proud man turn into a fan friendly zombie. What a shame. You know, he actually had some talent at one point, but now look at him. What a waste.

The next topic that I feel that I need to speak on is the return of Jimmy Jacobs, and all the play that it’s getting from the ROH powers that be. Who really cares that that midget reject is coming back to the active ROH roster? What has he ever really done? What Championships has he ever won? All that he’s good for is making little “emo” videos and doing stupid and overly dangerous spots that are completely unnecessary. What a tool that kid is. First he’s a “loveable” loser type and then he’s in brutal feud after brutal feud. And over what? A girl? What a moron. No woman is worth all that. They’re a dime a dozen, if you know what I mean, so Jimmy, take my advice. Forget about that tramp Lacey, and focus on yourself. Maybe, just maybe, if you get your act together, Larry might give you a call, but until you wake up and smell the coffee, your career is on a one way track to the bad side of town, kid.

Thirdly, I need to touch on the rumors regarding the potential departure of Matt Sydal to the WWE. Here’s the real deal on that whole situation. Larry was contacted by the WWE originally with regards to yours truly, but their offer was nowhere near what I would expect, so he talked to them about Sydal and they took the bait. See, the E would have loved to have had me as the focal point of their storylines, but I had to turn them down. They tried to lowball me, and you know that I will not work for anyone of the price isn’t right, so even the E had to hit the bricks. I guess that Sydal works for cheap, so the offer was acceptable for his standards. Its great that Larry will be getting a 30 percent cut of whatever Sydal gets, so at least Sweet and Sour Inc., will be getting an influx of cash, which means more money for me, Tank and Blobby. Damn, I said it again. I meant BOBBY. Honestly, I’m glad to see Sydal go. In my estimation, he never really fit in with me and the other guys. He never was a real team player, willing to sacrifice for the greater good, which is the success of one Chris Hero. That kid actually thought that he was bigger than me, and that is a cardinal sin, as you all know. At least he’ll get away without me beating him down, and stripping him of his will to wrestle. Good luck in the WWE, pretty boy. You’ll need it, considering all of your high-flying offense is illegal by WWE standards. Oh well, I guess maybe you should have taken all my advice on the ins and outs of a steady mat based moveset. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out of ROH.

And on that note, I will take my leave for another week, as my limousine has arrived to take me to my five star hotel in the heart of New York City. Only the best when you’re the main man in Sweet and Sour Inc. I’ll be back next week with my take on my big win over Castagnoli, and my plans for total domination of ROH. So, until next week my Hero-ites, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers!
-CH

We continue with this week’s Column of Honor right now in Part TWO!

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Ari Berenstein

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