wrestling / Columns

Column of Honor: 09.15.07: The ROH PPV Control Center Part One

September 15, 2007 | Posted by Ari Berenstein

I want to turn it off.
Push a button and make it go away.
It resets itself even if I ignore it.
Throw something at it, smash it to pieces.
It’s ridiculous, annoying and irritating beyond belief.
That freaking annoying high pitched squeal.
The never ending drone of voices.
I want to go to sleep.
Forget it exists.
I can’t. It’s ringing in my ears.
I feel myself compelled to stop the madness, but I can’t move.
No energy right now.
I feel like killing someone. Going on a murderous rampage.
I’d do it if I could guarantee it would stop and never annoy me again.

Am I talking about being woken up by my alarm clock or watching an edition of TNA iMPACT?

Welcome to the Column.

Ring Toss
-ROH Results: Motor City Madness 2007
-ROH Preview: Chicago 9/15/07
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-Driven Preview
-What to Look Forward To About Driven
-Hero’s Sandwich
-Honorarium
-Name That Tune
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In: SHIMMER Vol. 10 and PWG Passive Hsotility
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links
-OUT

ROH results: Motor City Madness 2007 September 14th 2007 Detroit, MI

Results
Pre-Show
-Ernie Osiris defeated Dingo
-Shane Hagadorn defeated Kyle Durden

Main Show
-Davey Richards defeated Silas Young via submission.
-The YRR of Chasyn Rance & Kenny King defeated Alex Payne &Mitch Franklin
-Bryan Danielson defeated Kenny King via submission with a kimura in a quick squash match.
-Bryan Danielson defeated Chasyn Rance via referee stoppage in another quick squash.
-Erick Stevens defeated Delirious in a Four Corner Survival match that also included Roderick Strong and Kevin Steen. Stevens pinned Delirious with the Doctorbomb and earned the ROH World Title match against Morishima for later in the show.
-Jimmy Jacobs (with Lacey) defeated Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney, Sara Del Rey, Tank Toland & Bobby Dempsey) via submission with the DDT / Guillotine choke.
-Naomichi Marufuji defeated El Generico via pinfall with the Shiranui.
-Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer with Shane Hagadorn defeated Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli.
-Jack Evans defeated Rocky Romero in a street fight via pinfall after a double knee drop from the top rope down through a table.
-ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima retained the title by defeating Erick Stevens via pinfall with the backdrop driver.
-ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe retained their titles by defeating Austin Aries & Matt Cross via pinfall on Cross after a Spike J-Driller.

Angles & Issues
-Pirate’s Challenge: After the Young Rich & Ready for Action won their match and were hyping themselves to the audience, who should show up but a eye patch wearing Bryan Danielson. He wanted to test himself going into the title match tomorrow against Morishima and challenged Kenny King to a match. Danielson quickly dispatched King and then Rance, with essentially only one eye. Although to be honest, even a blind man could probably beat those two. So one eye is almost unfair…for YRR!

-Marufuji sang along with the “Ole!” chant. Oh Yes. That will be funny as hell to see.

Return Date: April 25th, 2008

The general consensus right now was that this was a disappointing show and likely skippable unless you’re a completist. After a bit of an absence, the curse of the first show of a doubleshot has reared again . Reports from fans in attendance cite many botched spots, including many from Cross in the main event, who it seemed has gone cold once again. Erick Stevens meanwhile, was reported to have done a very good job in the title match and that Morishima helped make him look tremendous in the challenge. Marufuji-Generico was often cited as best match of the night, with some praise also going to Jacobs-Hero. Some cool spots were noted to have occured in the Evans-Romero match but as usual, selling was reported to have been an issue for Evans. So overall there were some very good moments here, but not at the usual high standards that have become expected from ROH.

Of course I need to watch the event to form my own opinion, but I do have some comments. Looking at the results last night, what I was shocked at was the lack of angles and storyline movement, which sometimes occur on the first shows of a double shot in order to make up for not having the major attraction matches. I thought that would be fine so long as the wrestling held up. There is nothing wrong with a solid night of professional wrestling. Unfortunately it seems from reading various live fan impressions that the wrestling did not hold up as well as it usually does for an ROH event. Also, last year’s Motor City Madness event concluded in a huge brawl with The Briscoes vs. Samoa Joe and Homicide that went to the outside of the building and had the infamous shooting star press off the Ryder truck. Now, while I wasn’t expecting things to go that crazy, this show reads as predictable and unsurprising. No crazy, show ending attack by Generico and Steen to set up The Briscoes for tomorrow at the end of the show? No 161 involvement, even if it was in masks or hoods (more later)? Aside from a table spot in the Evans / Romero match, where was the “madness” in Motor City Madness?

ROH Preview: Third Pay Per View Taping, September 15th, 2007, Chicago Ridge, IL

Frontier Fieldhouse
8:00 pm belltime (PPV Taping)
9807 Sayre Ave.
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415

Ring Detail: ROH World Title: Takeshi Morishima (champion) vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (challenger)

ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima
Height and Weight: 6’3″; 320lbs.
Hailing From: Tokyo, Japan
Years Pro: 9
Finishing Moves: Back Drop Driver, Lariat

“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
Height and Weight: 5′ 10″; 199 lbs.
Hailing From: Aburdeen, WA
Years Pro : 8
Finishing Moves: Cattle Mutilation, Cross Face Chicken Wing, MMA Elbows

Strategy for Bryan Danielson: The best defense is a good offense and if Dragon wants to win this match while protecting his eye from further injury he will need to immediately go on the attack and not let up for a second. Dragon needs to come in focused, determined and ready to go to work. He also needs to be ready to weather the storm should Morishima build up a ton of momentum and start reigning down punches and kicks. Most importantly, the challenger needs to continue the strategy that he began back on August 25th, with continual attacks on the leg and knee of the champion. That leg area is a huge target and it needs to be taken advantage of with strikes and submissions. The one major disadvantage is that Danielson’s strongest finishers target the neck and head and Morishima is very durable in that area. It will be a tough fight for the challenger.

Strategy for Takeshi Morishima: If Morishima is not going to directly target the injured eye of the challenger, he will at least need to take advantage of it during the match. Danielson’s sight and depth perception should be affected greatly by wearing an eye patch (although he may throw it off during a particularly emotional moment in the match) and even a man as large in mass as the ROH World champion will be able to sneak up around Danielson and throw the man down to the mat with some high impact moves. You could say he’s capitalizing on the challenger’s blind spot. Aside form that, it will be business as usual for Morishima, who should use his size and power to take the strength, conditioning and willpower of the challenger away from him before hitting a coup de grace move such as the devastating lariat or back drop driver. No one, not even Bryan Danielson, has been able to withstand the power of that finisher.

Intangibles: Morishima has stated that he will win this match without going after the eye. Will he hold to that claim or when the chips are down is he going to resort to doing dishonorable deeds? Even if not, Danielson’s eye may not hold up and is the biggest intangible of them all.

Prediction: A lot of fans are feeling the buzz and energy of this match. They say that this is a title change waiting to happen. I can’t deny that I feel a bit of that energy as well. However, I’ve always thought from the start that Danielson would get the rematch at the third PPV taping, lose the match and go into the fourth taping as a challenger yet again for a triple threat match along with Nigel McGuinness. I’m holding tot hat line of thought and therefore I am calling for Morishima to win this one in what will be yet another hard fought battle.

Ring Detail: ROH World Tag Team Title Ladder Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe (champions) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen (challengers)

Jay & Mark Briscoe

Mark
Height and Weight: 6′; 180lbs.
Hailing From: Sandy Fork, Delaware
Years Pro: 7
Finishing Moves: Shooting Star Press, Cutthroat Driver,

Jay
Height and Weight: 6′; 205 lbs.
Hailing From: Sandy Fork, Delaware
Years Pro : 7
Finishing Moves: Jay Driller, Top Rope Leg Drop

Notable Double Teams: SSP / Legdrop combo, Spike Jay Driller, Sprinboard Doomsday Device, Running Hanging Neckbreaker, Dog Bark Double Shouldblocks

El Generico & Kevin Steen

El Generico
Height and Weight: 5′ 11″; 180 lbs.
Hailing From: Tiajuana, Mexico
Years Pro : 5
Finishing Moves: Brainbustah! Brainbuster from top turnbuckle, 450 Splash, Ole! Running boot, Half Nelson Suples

Kevin Steen
Height and Weight: 5′ 10″; 219 lbs.
Hailing From: Marieville, Quebec
Years Pro : 8
Finishing Moves: Package Piledriver, Steenalizer, Moonsault

Notable Double Teams: The Assembly Line (my unofficial name)—Package Piledriver / Brainbuster

Strategy for The Briscoes: Ummmm…MAN UP? Okay, seriously now, The Briscoes have to go toe to toe with Steen & Generico one more time. They’ll have to do it using ladders, which the challengers have shown excellent proficiency and deadly accuracy. Both champions have felt the impact of these huge moves and need to avoid the painful double teams and impact moves. I expect Mark to be his usual crazy self and give up his body for the chance to take out one of the opponents. An Ace Crusher off the ladder is a possibility, as it a suicidal shooting star press move. Jay for his part needs to continue to use his leadership ability to motivate his brother through the tough times in the match. Both men are tough enough, that’s for sure, but they’ll need just that bit extra to walk away with the belts this time.

Strategy for Generico & Steen: Steen & Generico are a great combination—Generico provides the speed, Steen provides the brutality. While Steen is a bit of a bully to Generico, the Canadian luchador has proven loyal and willing to pull his own weight. Expect massive dives by both men, who can go to the air when needed. However more than anything, Steen ahs show he can be that much crueler and that much more vindictive than most expect of him. He has a sick and violent mind bent towards destroying his opponents to prove his superiority. He’s shown what violence he can wreak against The Briscoes with ladders in several post match attacks. Now he needs to put those attacks to use within the context of a ladder match.

Intangibles: Project 161 is out there, watching waiting. Will they strike during this match, affecting the outcome and tag title prospects of two teams?

Prediction: I would love for Generico & Steen to make it all the way to the top of the ladder both figuratively and literally, by winning this match and finally, FINALLY laying legitimate claim to the ROH World Tag Team Championships. However, this is year of The Briscoes and the tag division is them and everyone else at this point. They are the principal players and they are about to gain some new antagonists in the form of Project 161. That feud should have the tag titles at stake because with those belts lays control and power within the company. It’s in Project 161’s best interests to ensure The Briscoes win and then attack and lay waste to them in an effort to gain what everyone covets and only very few possess. The Briscoes will win this match.

PPV Taping

Singles Challenge Series
No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero vs. The Resilience of Austin Aries, Erick Stevens & Matt Cross in three singles matches that will be determined on the night of the show.

Austin Aries needs to lead his team to victory here in order for this particular branch of the stable wars to be kept alive. The Resilience has proven worthy of that name, but they have come back from loss after loss and after a while, you need wins. I expect Aries’ leadership to be a focus here, as not only should he win but he should also help at least one of his two partners obtain a victory. I expect Strong to pick up a singles win in order to keep him strong (sorry) on PPV (where he has looked dominant).

Exclusively for DVD

The Feud Ends In Chicago- Final Meeting
Matt Sydal vs. Delirious

Sydal and Delirious broke into Ring of Honor together and now they will face off in the ring one more time as Sydal prepares to leave the company. These two had some great matches in the past, and while I do expect some level of Sydal keeping himself safe and healthy as he prepares to enter OVW, I do expect some great fun to be had. Delirious is a comedy figure par excellence and Sydal plays a great straight man. This match has a very realistic shot of main eventing the whole show since the PPV portion will be taped first and this looks like the biggest name value match that has been announced. Given they will go last; expect a tremendous send off for Sydal by the crowd and the boys backstage. Chicago is known for great goodbyes and they will get another one tonigh.

SHIMMER Dream Tag Match
Daizee Haze & Amazing Kong vs. SHIMMER Champion Sara Del Rey & Lacey

It’s funny to think that one of the strongest women’s tag matches you could put out there could conceivably be one of the weaker matches on this particular show. The card and roster is stacked that deep tonight (just look below for the talent roster of wrestlers who aren’t even booked in matches yet!). I hope the women aren’t sent out there to die in the popcorn match after intermission, for their sake and for my continual hope that women’s wrestling will one day become respected. These four wrestlers deserve better than that.

Amazing Kong is a hell of a wrestler; in many ways comparable to Aja Kong, Vader or Samoa Joe in that he uses mass and brute strength to obtain her goals. She is the balance of power in this match and that should lead to victory as long as she remains willing to cooperate with the plucky, willing to fight Daizee Haze. The peace loving hippy has been less than peaceful with Del Ray and Lacey, her constant rivals in ROH. It almost seems that the latter women have been under looked in this match, considering their talent level and ability to work on an opponent in the ring. Del Rey can focus on a body part and work it down with the best of them and her finisher is still unbeatable. Lacey has no remorse and no sense of decency, so she will take any advantage to win in this one. This will be a tough fight all around.

Plus more with:
-Nigel McGuinness
-Naomichi Marufuji
-Jack Evans
-Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer with Shane Hagadorn
-Claudio Castagnoli
-Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney, Tank Toland & Bobby Dempsey
-Jimmy Jacobs
-Members of The YRR including Chasyn Rance & Kenny King
-Irish Airborne
-Plus more!!!

Since I’ve done so horribly with my predictions for unannounced matches on the PPV shows (blanked out!) I figure…no way in hell I miss out this time! Here’s my predictions for what else fans in Chi-City shall see based on the talent available. For PPV: No. 1 contender’s match—Marufuji vs. McGuinness, Albright & Whitmer vs. Irish Airborne. For DVD: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero, Jack Evans vs. Kenny King in the post intermission match. We’ll see if I’m right or wrong (yeah, I’ll be wrong) later tonight.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 09/15/2007 Heading into Chicago tonight

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 18 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: vs. “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson 9/15/07 Chicago Ridge, IL

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)
V.16 defeated Bryan Danielson via pinfall / backdrop driver (8/25/07, New York, NY)
V.17 defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima via pinfall / lariat (9/01/07, Tokyo, Japan)
V.18 defeated Erick Stevens via pinfall / backdrop driver (9/14/07 Detroit, MI)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 13 successful defenses)

Next Defense: Ladder Match vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico, 9/15/07 Chicago Ridge, IL

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)
V.12 defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico (8/25/07 New York, NY): 2 Out of 3 Falls – 2 straight falls
V.13 defeated Austin Aries & Matt Cross (9/14/07 Detroit, MI)

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. The Vulture Squad
-Delirious vs. Albright, Whitmer and Adam Pearce

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

Morishima vs. Danielson Locked for Third PPV

Earlier in the week, ROH announced a blockbuster and controversial match for the 9/15 show (seen above). Bryan Danielson would be returning from his eye injury a full three weeks earlier than estimated to wrestle the champion for the PPV. Here’s the full newswire statement:

We have major news for this Saturday’s PPV taping in Chicago. The biggest grudge World Title Match in ROH history has been signed. ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima will put the belt on the line against former World Champion Bryan Danielson THIS SATURDAY in Chicago. You can now save almost 30% on tickets until tomorrow morning at ROHwrestling.com. As documented in the latest ROH Video Wire, Bryan Danielson suffered a serious eye injury against Morishima during their 8/25 bout in Manhattan and needed emergency surgery. Danielson’s doctor told him yesterday that he is recovering quickly and that he will probably be able to wrestle this weekend. Danielson will have one more check up tomorrow just to make sure. However, Danielson said he is feeling great and he wants Morishima back in the ring. Danielson said cannot wait to get Morishima in the ring. Danielson says that Morishima took his vision from him so he will get revenge by ending Morishima’s over six month ROH World Title reign. Danielson proved his toughness last year when he wrestled for months with a severely injured shoulder. ROH officials are 100% confident that Danielson is ready to go for this Saturday’s epic rematch. We will have more on this bout and another update on Danielson after his latest visit to the doctor in tomorrow’s ROHwrestling.com Newswire. It simply doesn’t get any bigger than this.

A follow up article was posted on the main page that stated Danielson’s doctors gave the final okay and he would be in the ring. As noted in the results above, Danielson did actually wrestle on the Detroit show in prep matches to test out his ability to work in the ring. In an effort to head off some heat and criticism for bringing back an injured wrestler (with a very serious condition) early, ROH stated the following in this article.

ROH officials have been in constant communication with Danielson’s doctor and Danielson over his health. ROH officials are confident that Danielson is not rushing back too soon. Of course, there is a greater chance of re-aggravating the injury. Danielson has his vision at stake. Morishima is faced with an angry Danielson. This is going to be a dangerous battle for both competitors.

“I demanded to be put in this match,” Danielson said. “To anyone that questions me, don’t you think I’m a man of common sense? Don’t you think I know my limits? Don’t you think I’m a professional and know how to protect myself in a fight? I’m the only one that knows how I feel. I have never felt more hyped up for a match in my life. I’m ready to cause some damage this Saturday.”

Well, press release statements don’t automatically absolve everyone of their responsibility. Especially in light of recent news surrounding brain injuries and concussions, wrestlers should really be thinking twice about what they do in the ring and how they recover form injuries.

Opinion: While it’s not my place to tell ROH or Danielson what to do, I do feel a bit worried that Danielson is going to hurt himself more in the long run by not taking more time off. The scheduled recovery time for an eye injury such as this is indeed 4-6 weeks. While Danielson may have healed quicker, I think if I were booking I’d keep him off the active roster. He is far too valuable a wrestler and presence especially for ROH to risk here. With one Danielson-Morishima match in the can, I’d rather use that match on the PPV broadcast, especially if it winds up that Danielson loses again in the title match. Then you’re risking his health for something you could already show. I’d rather bring Danielson back to wrestling on PPV for the fourth PPV, October 6th in Edison, which just happens to be…exactly six weeks of recovery time. This isn’t to jip Chicago out of a great match, but their card is so stacked already.

Then again, as I posed the question to my friend Chris, who is a high school football coach: As a coach, a star player gets injured, but a doctor okays a player to return from a serious injury in advance of an estimated return date. You have a stacked line up (like the card for the third ROH PPV), but this is a great player and he can put you guys over the top for sure, but he could probably stand to wait it out a little longer, Would you put that player back in the game?

His answer (paraphrased) was yes, absolutely. If he is cleared to play, then you put him in the game.

No one wants to see someone the stature of Danielson walk away from the business prematurely. I think many ROH fans (including myself) tend to be hyper concerned for the wrestlers on the roster, because not only are these talents important as people who need to stay healthy, they’re also important for the future of the company.

ROH to Debut in Las Vegas, Will Host Survival of the Fittest 2007
Ring Of Honor is coming to Las Vegas!!! ROH will make its first ever tour of the West Coast with events on 10/19 in Las Vegas and 10/21 in San Francisco as part of the WrestleFanFest convention (check http://www.wrestlefanfest.com/index.html for info). The ROH event in Vegas will take pace at the Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino. Tickets will go on sale this Monday at ROHwrestling.com. Already signed for both LV and SF are: ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe; Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness; Austin Aries; No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero; Delirious plus many more to be announced soon. These will both be big ROH shows!!!

Tickets go on sale this Monday for the 10/19 event in Las Vegas. You must be 21 or over to attend this show. In huge news, ROH officials have decided that “Survival Of The Fittest 2007” will take place in LV!!! We’ll have much more news including a talent list on Monday right here in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire.

You know for a company that stated it wouldn’t be expanding much in 2007, they sure have run a bunch of new and different venues. The 10/19 date had an unannounced city, but we knew it would be somewhere on the West Coast. Las Vegas is huge as it s a fresh area for ROH to run a show and perhaps test out response and reception to the product. It’s also Las Vegas, which is exceedingly busy and bustling with activity. Now the 21 and over stip is a bit hard to swallow, but it is Las Vegas, and you can’t be too careful with those younguns and those gambling casinos. Besides, ROH should still drum up plenty of business with the adults.

I am personally happy to hear that Survival of the Fittest is back once more. The Race to the Top Tournament seemed to fulfill the same goals as the SOTF and there was some worry it would replace the three year old tournament format. Luckily enough the unique format and the need for a money draw for the show ensures SOTF continues onwards. There is also the idea that ROH can go with a smaller roster for the West Coast swing (and thus cut out a bit of airline and hotel costs).

‘Race’ Rematch is Boston Brewin’
El Generico has asked for a rematch of the “Race To The Top Tournament” finals against Claudio Castagnoli. This exciting match had the fans jumping out of their seats. Castagnoli was quick to grant Generico a rematch. It will be Castagnoli vs. Generico on 10/5 in Boston.

Generico and Kevin Steen will be wrestling in singles matches on the 10/5 show. It doesn’t automatically mean they’re done as a tag, but it does give me pause to think about how they’ll be used going forward. Still, this is a good match to look forward to seeing.

Quack Return Migration
Mike Quackenbush once again had a weekend open up and ROH was quick to book him. You will see Quackenbush in action on 10/5 in Boston and 10/6 in Edison.

Man, Quack isn’t giving us a chance to miss him! Not that I’m complaining, because more quack is good quack to me! So hopefully with three appearances slotted in October and November, they can do a mini angle or small series against another opponent. How about…Chris Hero (see last week’s column)?

Primeau Room to Recover
Pelle Primeau has started rehab on his back and expects to be out until December. We wish Pelle a speedy recovery. Primeau was injured by BJ Whitmer on 8/25 in New York when Whitmer beat him with no mercy.

I’d presume then that the Whitmer beatdown angle was to cover up the larger injury issues surrounding Primeau, which is a shame, because like Jacobs before him, here was a smaller wrestler who was making big strides before getting cut down by an injury. Hopefully Primeau can get some good rehab and be back better than ever.

Project 161, Week 7: Leading Up to the Big Reveal

Well, we’ve finally come to the moment of truth. As the blog has hinted and many have speculated, 161 is ready to make its move and that should happen tonight in Chicago.

The Briscoes released another statement of intent from the ROH newswire: Last week we talked about a situation where The Briscoes had a private family photo album stolen. Pictures of Mark and Jay as kids have popped up on a despicable website that we refuse to give publicity to by naming. The Briscoes demanded space in last week’s ROHwrestling.com Newswire and we obliged. Once again they have asked for some space. The Briscoe family has released the following statement: “We just want to send a message to everyone out there since a lot of people showed concern to us. We appreciate all your concern. No one has been MANNED UP and admitted they are behind this website. Now we have been able to rule out Kevin Steen since our camper was broken into in St. Paul and Steen wasn’t there. Now this doesn’t mean that Kevin Steen is off the hook. We are going to finish our business with Steen & El Generico in Chicago in a Ladder War. We promise you that we will be at our craziest that night. Now we will not stop until we find out what sad, gutless, infantile sorry excuse for a person is behind that website. We are calling you out one more time. Reveal yourself. MAN UP!”

That challenge was met with this response from 161: On a side note, it seems that the dumbest of the brutes have caught wind of our on goings. They can’t put their redneck fingers on it yet, but who’s surprised by that? They can’t even count their own missing teeth, let alone put two and two together. It’s almost too easy… It looks like The Briscoes understand what’s coming for them, but not knowing who is coming for them is the greater danger.

Emails from 161 were sent to some (but not all) people who filled out an email form on the 161 website. The email was a short message telling people either to “cover the face”, wear ski masks or black bandanas. These messages were confirmed in the newest blog manifestos on the website saying much the same.

The latest blog has renamed Project 161 into “The Age of The Fall”, which seems to be the latest name this group is identifying itself as and may be the one that sticks. The front page at this point depicts a nuclear mushroom cloud, the forwards you to theageofthefall.com, which had a picture of two roaches backed into a corner.

As far as the ski masks go, some fans have brought up how close the show in Chi-town is to a mosque and Arabic neighborhoods and some people question whether it’s the right thing to advocate these kinds of activities through the website as it is an offshoot of ROH and this would not look good if this backfired on them. Others state that they will just be playing a role or playing along with what the storyline is advocating and it is that and simply nothing more. Then again, an amassing of hooded teenagers in a central location wouldn’t go unnoticed by the legitimate police force and anti-terrorist squads.

There was a famous scientific experiment done years ago and many of you may have learned about it psychology class. A group of volunteers were each told to administer a test and if the person got the question wrong, the volunteer would be instructed to give the person an electric shock. The level of shock would go up considerably with each wrong answer. Of course the person wasn’t really being shocked, but the volunteers thought they were. They would hear tremendously painful cries and shouts, pleas to stop and then eventually nothing at all. What the scientists discovered was that the a majority of the volunteers would NOT stop the test and in fact would continue to “shock” the test taker even beyond the point where he or she stopped responding.

The scientists noted that the desire to please those running the experiment led the testers to block out their moral values and not to say anything to stop these acts of cruelty. Similar tests have been run over the years. The scientists concluded (paraphrased) that if one wanted to start a death camp in America similar to the ones found in Nazi Germany during World War II, one would find sufficient willing personell for these camps in any medium sized populated town in America.

Start a revolution kids!

Let’s watch and see who decides to wear the ski masks and chant for 161. Those are the kind of people who would be the shockers in this experiment
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ROH Pay Per View Preview: Driven

Lest we forget, this upcoming weekend is the premiere of Ring of Honor’s second Pay Per View event “Driven”. It will debut on September 21st on Dish and TVN networks, and then debut one week later on InDemand affiliates. A one week delay instead of a twenty day delay is a MUCH better turnaround time and infinitely more livable and less anger inducing.

Anyway I was reading on the ROH message board about how some fans feel the wrestling websites have not given a lot of PPV coverage or previews for this event. I wanted to do something different than I’ve done before in terms of event coverage. So in the column, I’ll be discussing a little bit later on what I’m looking forward to for this PPV event. Right now, let’s look at the Driven ten minute preview show presented by ROH and available on its website and on You Tube. Not only that, but I’ll be doing it in 411 review style–for the first time ever!

ROH Driven Preview Show

-We start out with a thirty second preview package, most likely used for commercials on cable and the PPV preview channels. The focus is on the ROH title belt and the quest for the wrestlers to win the gold. “A goal unfulfilled, a dream yet realized, the momentum continues to surge,” states Lenny Leonard in a voice over as clips of mostly Danielson, McGuinness and Morishima play, and we get high impact highlights from other wrestlers.. “Proud champions have their sights set on regaining the ROH World title.” Hmmm, well that’s true for Danielson, but not accurate for McGuinness, who hasn’t even won the title yet! ROH changed that phrasing in the one minute trailer showing clips of the match, available elsewhere.

-Promo from Bryan Danielson, who gives McGuinness credit, “we’ve put stitches in each other’s faces and heads, all over our bodies.” Danielson gets a bit overwhelmed on emotion but keeps talking and works through it and ends the promo strong. Where is PPV-land anyway? Promo rating: 3.0 / 5 Not the strongest or most emotional promo he’s done but it did enough to sell the match, the history and the reason to watch.

-We get clips of Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness in the Pure vs. World title unification match from 8/12/06 Unified (very good on ROH’s part to identify the match and date as it plays). This actually their third match in the series of four they fought against one another in 2006, but the other matches aren’t mentioned or acknowledged for the sake of economy and simplicity, I guess. Danielson smacks McGuinnesss into the ring post from the outside—HARD not once, not twice, not three but FOUR times in one of the most memorable and simultaneously awesome / sickening visuals of that year. McGuinness draws blood the hard way in the forehead and sells being super woozy. Dragon baseball slides McGuinnness and the momentum carries Nigel over the guardrail and into the crowd. Springboard Plancha sends Dragon into the crowd and connects on Nigel into the chairs! We clip to the count of twelve and Nigel struggling to make it back to the ring. Nigel is awesome here and crowd is solidly with him, rooting him back in. Great subtle moment as Nigel collapses at 18, but slides back in just in time to beat the 20 count. Nigel fires up, bloody forehead and all and the crowd is with him. Headbutt for headbutt they go and it’s just sick to watch the contact. Nigel gets the better of it. Nigel on the apron and shoulder shrugs Dragon, and then snaps the ropes back into Dragon’s face twice (love that move, so simple yet so effective). Headbutts again and Nigel is now back inside the ring. Dragon hits him with another headbutt, moving Nigel backwards towards the ropes, so he goes for the rebound (Jawbreaker) Lariat. Dragon cuts him off with a forearm, Nigel heads backwards again into the ropes with the momentum, gets stuck momentarily, pulls himself up and THIS TIME connects with the Jawbreaker! He can’t get the pin because he’s so wiped out. Crawling over…1, 2, but Danielson rolls it over and hooks in Cattle Mutilation! “The ropes can’t save Nigel” Dave Prazak screams, as he is out of rope breaks in this pure rules match and even crawling to the ropes doesn’t help to stop the move. Nigel pushes upwards and sits up out of the move, then does a forward flip with Danielson holding on and ends up in a pinning combo…1, 2, but Danielson rolls onto his side and repositions himself, transitioning into the MMA elbows! THIRTY FIVE ELBOWS reign down on Nigel and he can’t do anything to block them or stop them so the ref calls for the bell; and stops the match!

Winner: and unified ROH World /.Pure champion: Bryan Danielson.

This match was my number two match of the year during my Final Column feature and these four minutes or so really tell the story of why. Both men just going at it toe for toe for the ultimate prizes in the company they wrestler for. The closing minutes are most Dragon dominating, but a fan that comes across this who’s never seen it before would come out of it thinking Nigel is one tough bastard and a worthy challenge for Dragon.

-Now we get a promo from Nigel to book end the preview for the main event match. It’s one of Nigel’s better ones, as not only can you hear him but also what he says is said with emphasis. He pimps himself up as the hardest fighting wrestler in the world. I like how he says matter-of-factly what he’s going to do to Dragon and I damn well believe him. “You gave me more concussions than I care to remember.” Get this guy a CAT scan now! He breaks out the “In It to Win It” catchphrase from the mausoleum. I like that catchphrase a lot but it is a bit obvious. I mean who ISN’T in it to win it? Is anyone in it to lose it? Or in it to draw it? Promo Rating: 3.0 / 5

-We get the for more info promo with the Spy vs. Spy theme song playing in the background. Lots of Jimmy Rave is shown…oops.

-The Briscoes hype their match against El Generico and Kevin Steen. “Y’all boys wanna jump us at the last PPV?” They’ll give up a shot if they show up at Driven. Man UP! They push each other in and out of the screen goofily in order to motivate themselves. Briscoes are great even if they just talk for a few seconds. Promo Rating: 2.5 / 5

-We get clips of the pull-apart brawl between both teams from the first PPV as ROH reminds us about Driven’s premiere. I still think this was one of the best pull-aparts in years. Generico BRAINBUSTERS SOMEONE DEAD. He then Flip Dives the crowd crowd of refs, students and personnel and all the dominoes go down. We cut to the backstage brawl and Steen waffles a Briscoe with a chair. Cue Mark Nulty: DOWN GOES BRISCOE! DOWN GOES MARK! Steen guffaws in an evil manner. He is awesome.

-Super Agent Larry Sweeney laughs maniacally and calls himself “the billion dollar deal maker” (Why make billions, when we can make…MILLIONS?) he promises to make a big impact come ROH Driven. Promo Rating: 2.0 / 5 A bit too short but full of SWEENEY goodness.

-Brent Albright gets ten seconds to declare that he’s here and going to break some bones. At least he didn’t say Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Brent Albright. I freaking hate when he does that. Word to Brent: YOU AREN’T IN WWE ANYMORE! You don’t have to say “My Name is”! We know who you are! No Rating.

-We finish up with a final selection of clips and high spots and the word on when and where you can get the show.

The 411: In ten minutes ROH pushes it’s “A” match—the main event of McGuinness vs. Danielson, the “B” match—the tag team title match, and then also introduces a few other important personalities who will show up at the PPV. They spent 70% of the time on building up the main event through various packages and promos and that’s a great call. The remainder of the preview stuffed a lot into a little bit of time, but made sure to emphasize what a fan would expect for the show. ROH also made a good call by giving fans a taste of McGuinness vs. Danielson AND the finish was included to boot. I’m hoping ROH continues to do this with future preview shows. Overall a very good job by the production crew who came up with a hard sell of the product that still entertained and offered some fresh new material to boot.

Rating: 7.5 / 10

What to Look Forward to on Driven:

The Return / Debut of Austin Aries: Sure he was only really gone for about four shows, but Aries is back and this is the official signing of one of ROH’s premiere talents. New fans who have seen Aries on TNA television would look at this like a “big time” free agent signing. Aries return is also sure to be an emotional one as well and fans can really get behind The Resilience in the feud against the NRC.

PPV to PPV Connectivity: Storylines and pairings that began during the first special WILL be followed up on in the second PPV. Castagnoli and Sydal were partners in the first show, but now they face off against each other in one on one action to see who is the better wrestler. The two main storylines following the ROH World title and the ROH World Tag Team Titles will have follow through. Brent Albright received a promo package at the first PPV and he makes his PPV in the ring debut on this special. So much to look forward to and a lot of it will make sense considering the first PPV event.

The Main Events: Well, obviously. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness headlines the show with a title shot at stake for the winner of this contest. The hype machine has been bellowing for months now about how good this match was and now fans will get to see if the match is as good as the hype. The Briscoes fight tough and their battle against Steen and Generico should be an explosive and physical contest where no man will walk away completely unscarred by the violence. These are looking to be must see matches and my guess is that both will come through with flying colors.

The PPV Debut of Chris Hero: …Because, if I’m being honest, ROH PPV really could use a dose of the man from Metropolis. Hero doesn’t make an in ring debut but will make his presence known along with his entourage of Sweet & Sour Incoporated (Super Agent Larry Sweeney, Sara Del Ray, Tank Toland and Bobby “don’t touch the Dorito’s” Dempsey).

The Full Card
Number One Contender’s Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
ROH World Tag Team Title Match: The Briscoes (c) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima (c) vs. Jimmy Rave
Naomichi Marufuji vs. BJ Whitmer
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal
Brent Albright vs. Pelle Primeau
No Remorse Corps vs. Delirious & Erick Stevens

Be sure to click onto PART TWO of this week’s Column!

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Ari Berenstein

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