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

September 15, 2007 | Posted by Ari Berenstein

Hero’s Sandwich

Well, well, well…. It’s been far too long since I have addressed you people, so open up your eyes, clean out the wax in your ears and wake up, because it’s that time again, its HERO time, and time for the return of the Hero Sandwich. First, let me address all of the fans who have sent the millions upon millions of emails, cards and letters wishing me all the best in my time of need, and for that, I say thank you. I really mean that, from the bottom of my heart. I know that people like Ari will say that I’m being completely insincere at this point, but to all of you who are on my side, you know that I’m telling the truth. Without the support of all my Hero-ites and my crack therapy team, I don’t know that I would have made it through these trying times. It is as a result of these recent events that I will make a major declaration to all of the readers of the column this week. I’ll have to keep this short and to the point, as I have many things to take care of, so here we go.

I know you all are dying to find out exactly what’s on my mind, so lets not waste anymore of your time. As a result of the long hours of therapy with Dr. Christopher R. Azed, MD, I have come to the conclusion that wins and losses in Ring Of Honor cannot and should not shape the development of my life. What I need to do is focus on the fact that in any and all other promotions, I am a consistent winner, finding myself of the winning side of the sheet over 90% of the time. I need to maximize the positives in my professional life and not allow the negatives to drive me into a state of depression, much like the one that I recently found myself in. Now, with my newly clear head, I will walk into the ROH ring each and every night with no stress in my mind, no worry about the end result. Now, the most important thing for me is putting on a great show for the fans, especially all the big Internet smarts. From this point on, I will work my butt off to make you all love me, as much as you love guys like Claudio, Quack, and Nigel McGuinness. Whatever it takes is my new motto, and I hope you like the new me.

I still feel that way, even after dropping the match tonight to Jimmy Jacobs. Normally, I would be calling for blood or making myself crazy, but not tonight. I know that this new attitude might upset Larry, but I don’t care. I have reached an enlightened place, and nothing or no one can change that. Even though that emo midget and his skanky girlfriend cheated me out of another win in ROH, I will not let it bring me down or make me take a negative position on life. It’s just a match, after all. I will just have to work harder next time, and hopefully, I will return to the winning end of the deal soon. I’ve found that if you take things too seriously, they can really bring you to a place that’s unhealthy to be in, so I won’t go there. In fact, I’ve reached the point where I even hope that my former rivals do well in their matches too. No more Mr. Negative, folks. This is the new and improved Chris Hero. Hell, I even might praise Ari for the job he does on the column.

I know that it might take you all a while to get used to these major changes, but I have the feeling that since the readers of the Sandwich constitute the smartest readers on the ‘net, it wont be too difficult for you to all wrap your minds around the change. Will I still compete as I have for the better part of the past decade? You know it. Will I continue to perform as I have for that period of time? Absolutely. To you my fans, I make this solemn promise. Someday soon, Chris Hero will put it all together again and reign supreme in ROH. I know this to be true, because of my track record. I have been either a major champion or main event wrestler in all of the other organizations that I have worked for, and I know that if I just keep working out with Tank and Blobby, I will reach the athletic pinnacle that I know I’m capable of reaching. It’s just a matter of time.

On a final note, I want to wish Bryan Danielson good luck in his title match with Mr. Morishima tomorrow night in Chicago. I hope that Bryan is not injured any worse than he already is, because if that is the case, I will never get the opportunity to have a classic ROH World Title match with him. I will be pulling for you, Dragon. I figure that if you win, you’ll be a one eyed champion, and I have to believe that even in my current state, I could easily defeat a one eyed man. Here’s looking at you, Dragon!

Well, I guess its time for me to get going, and head to Chicago for tonight’s event. I’m not sure who I’ll be wrestling or if I’ll make the PPV, but rest assured that I will work my tail off to provide the crowd with a top level performance. I think these tapes that Dr. Azed gave me are really helping my cause, you know? So, that’s it for this week. Until next week my Hero-ites, this has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Domo Arigato my friends, and remember, may peace and serenity be with all of you!

Wow, um…I’m kind of moved by what Chris just had to say. It really does make one think about one should better oneself and work to improve your life. I really do wish the best for Chris Hero in these trying times. I really do…in fact, I almost feel really bad for doing…THIS!

QUACK ATTACK!

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK!

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK!

Honorarium

-Why aren’t we hearing more of an outcry for what Human Tornado did to Candace LeRae during Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s recent Battle of Los Angeles 2007 Night Two? After Davey Richards did his best Chris Benoit impression (allegedly) back on 8/25, the ROH message board and many others including this one right here at 411 were lighting up like a Christmas tree. Complaints, accusations, disgusted fans aplenty. Threats from some fans to boycott Richards’ matches. All Richards did was wear a leather vest ala Benoit in his IV Horsemen days, do a snap suplex and two chained Germans, and smile at a Benoit chant that started up among a pocket of fans. Battle of Los Angeles, Human Tornado decided to really go Benoit and not only did we see depictions of violence against women, but much, worse. Tornado beat the piss out of his ex-valet and the current real life girlfriend of Chris Hero, but he was reported to have made the throat slit hand gesture (frequently used by wrestlers but most recently and most notably by Benoit) and then locked LaRae in the Crippler Crossface. Let me repeat that: THE. CRIPPLER. CROSSFACE. HE PUT HER IN BENOIT’S FINISH and supposedly / rumored to be what Benoit used to kill his son. A few moments later, Chris Hero came out for the save, kicking off what is now a “hot” new feud for PWG.

So…where’s the outrage? Where’s the outcry? I don’t hear anything and I’m not reading anything taking Tornado to task. F4W newsletter writer Bryan Alvarez, who was at the event, wrote that he couldn’t believe he was seeing that, but other wrestlers confirmed it. To paraphrase, he said it made him and several other wrestlers uncomfortable. Yeah. Uncomfortable to say the least. How about, disgusted, revolted, sickened, pissed off, angry? Anyone feeling angry about this?

I know I am. However, I’m not just angry at Human Tornado, Candace LeRae and Chris Hero (who all would have known and agreed to do this angle). They all should have known better. I’m also angry at the fans who said they were outraged at Davey Richard’s actions on the 8/25 show in NYC who have remained quiet and not said anything at all about what occurred two weeks ago in California.

If you want to criticize wrestlers for manipulating the emotional heartstrings of fans (which is the basic psychology of professional wrestling) and doing angles in poor taste (which is ingrained at this point in many pro wrestling companies), then you better call out ANY wrestler that does so and not just call one out and remain silent when it happens again.

As far as I’m concerned, I was willing to give Richards the benefit of the doubt, because he has not only used much of the Benoit / Dynamite Kid moveset during his short career, but he had begun to wear the vest and long tights just shortly before the Benoit murders. He also didn’t do the throat slash or crossface. He also didn’t perform the move on a woman or a child. However, there is far less doubt that these events at BoLA were deliberate and intentionally done with the knowledge of the events of the Benoit murders, or even just the fact that two months after the single worst scandal in modern day wrestling history, wrestlers were using the well known finish of a well known murderer who killed his son and wife to portray violence against women. It was deliberate, although I can’t say that it was with malice. At the same time, it sure makes me think twice about watching these Human Tornado matches I have stacked up on my pile of PWG DVDs yet to be watched.

Attention wrestlers, bookers, promoters: please do not do this anymore. If you want a woman-in-peril angle, that’s all well and good as its been a part of the business for years. Just find another way to get it done besides this.

-YRR stands for Young, Rich and Ready for Action. Shouldn’t that be YRRFA? Then again, that sounds like Chewbacca’s heartburn.

-In my recommendation of CHIKAR Maximum Overdraft from last week, I forgot one of the best and entertaining aspects of the DVD. There’s a bonus match with everyone’s favorite Communist Bovine, MOSCOW! Yes the former generic jobbing superstar Create-A-Wrestler has completed his transformation into a U.S.S.R. loving half moo, half amoozing wrestling machine! Dear readers, you have not lived until you have seen Moscow buck an opponent with his back Moo-le kick. And the best part isn’t even a move he does—it’s when he takes down the straps and you know he means business.One suggestion I’d give to him is that he just has to do the Russian Sickle ala Nikita Koloff. Or come in wearing a babushka hat ala Alex Koslov and Nikolai Volkoff before him. I was skeptical at first, but now I’m sold—don’t settle for skim or one percent, take the WHOLE cow and nothing but.

-BJ Whitmer dyed his hair blond. MY god, the horror, the horror.

-El Generico really likes to hug his opponents. Give hugs, not bumps, I guess.

DVD Thoughts:
-Respect Is Earned DVD Bonus Content:

I really dig the digi pack format of the packaging as it stands out and is different from the other DVDs. While I don’t think ROH should switch all the shows to this packaging, I would love to see the PPV’s continue to get this kind of treatment. Yes I know I’m a geek for pointing this out.

Some websites were claiming that the tag team scramble match on the Bonus DVD is the best match on the DVD. That statement is plainly ridiculous. It is very good match with a ton of awesome flying spots and great chemistry among all participants (even Irish Airborne were in top form and looked good). However, there is no contest that the two tag matches shown on the PPV are the best matches on the show.

The NRC cut a promo that seemed a bit redundant to what had occurred on PPV, but they got to beat the piss out of Pelle Primeau and that was quite funny.

The Del Ray vs. Haze match comes off very well on DVD. I criticized the crowd reaction being there live as negative towards the women, but you can’t hear too many cat calls (just one really obvious one) and the crowd pops are substantial. Plus we get to see the tornado Daisy Cutter, one of my fave moves from Haze.

-Domination:

ROH begins to load its recent DVD releases with bonus content and it starts here, with not just the FIP match between Bryan Danielson & Jay Lethal (to make up for holding out the Danielson vs. McGuinness match for the PPV) but also a SHIMMER showcase from the Deer Park, LI event with Daizee Haze and Portia Perez in tag action. Hmmm…ROH, plus FIP and SHIMMER action advertised all on the same show…its synchronicity, people. The bonus matches however, are a bit underwhelming. I really can’t get into FIP’s old school style even though I know it works well for the audience. It’s far too much stalling and far too much playing to the kids to my liking. If I never hear another screaming kid again I will be happy. Too bad I have to go back to teaching on Monday.

I really enjoyed the two out of three falls tag match between The Briscoes and the Kings of Wrestling. The story being told is of Claudio being conciliatory towards Hero and vice versa in order to win the titles. I like how both men are cut off from each other and so they can’t get it together long enough to hit many of their trademark moves. Hero takes the first fall and is knocked loopy, so Claudio has to carry the load in the second fall and when he can’t do it, they lose the match. Good idea, great execution. Not only that, but the KOW work the hot tag into these matches so well!

Steen & El Generico vs. Quackenbush & Jigsaw has been much talked up and rightfully so. These two a great job not just with cleanly hitting top notch moves, but also by incorporating their character personalities into the psychology of the match. Quackenbush wants to do things the right way, but Steen’s attitude and spoiled brat behavior immediately piss him off. You can see Quack get more and more angry with Steen’s actions. The combo moves are well timed and the dives out of the ring are breath taking. Jigsaw continues to surprise and impress. Even the post match antics with Quack protecting Jig are awesome and add onto the impact of the match. We really don’t get much work like that from many teams anymore, but this was the perfect icing on top of a great match. It’s nowhere near MOTY, but it certainly helps give much cause to motivate someone to pick up this event.

It was funny to me that Matt Sydal was pushing an “I defeat all masked man” angle in his comments that get captured by the hand held camera, an upgrade from the beginning of 2007 which continues to help add to the DVD experience. And it is true, because at A Fight at the Roxbury he defeated El Generico in a hell of a match. Meanwhile, Leonard and Prazak don’t even really acknowledge that idea—but Sydal mentions it AGAIN after he bests Hallowicked. Alternate reality angles, nice.

Lacey and Daizee Haze got to a ten minute draw and I. LOVED. THIS. This was very good women’s wrestling, with a purpose—to show just how much Lacey has or has not changed since the end of the Jimmy Loves Lacey series. She tries to play it straight in the beginning, but no one believes it, so she reverts back to her old heelish ways. As Jessica Rabbit would say, “I’m not bad; I’m just drawn that way.” I also like Jacobs and how he uses his walking cane—he pulls himself up to the ring using it, he uses it as a hook on opponents, etc. Very creative use of the prop. I’d recommend he lay off the smokes though.

The one major frustration of the DVD is the use of promos to hype up the debut of ROH on PPV and not this show’s main events. That came off as LAME and bush league, especially since the Respect is Earned PPV had already been out and anyone who was going to buy it had done so already. It also undercut the show being presented and made it seem almost unimportant. Ridiculously horrible move on this one and its lucky ROH had a very strong card of wrestling to negate the frustration I felt watching those promos (most of which were way below par for what we see in ROH).

Domination is overall a very strong card, even without the McGuinness vs. Danielson match. It’s a definite recommended pick up.

-United We Stand:

Meanwhile, aside from the top three matches, this show comes across as a very big disappointment. It was another show before a PPV taping, so that seems to be the new first show curse. Not to say this show is completely skippable, because it isn’t. The ROH all stars vs. NOAH all stars match is really good and very worthwhile viewing, plus it leads directly to the next show’s main event. I did seem to notice that this show tied in very nicely to the Live in Tokyo show and continuity was worked very carefully to avoid the problem of having to watch “Driven” in order to get this show or the Tokyo show.

The show opens with a tremendous backstage skit with Becky Bayless going through a whole “cast of characters” to get to interview The Briscoes. Toland and Dempsey are priceless here. Danielson and McGuinness also have a short and sweet skit to explain their rationale for getting along in the match, and that translates into their very nice teamwork within the tag match.

Unfortunately The Briscoes vs. Sydal & Castagnoli rematch, while a solid match, pales in comparison to the Respect is Earned match, or even compared to the King of Wrestling two out of three falls from Domination. It was a lot more loose and less dramatic compared to either of those matches.

KENTA vs. Romero is a great find and both men compliment each other very well. The finish in particular is very impressive as KENTA works Romero into the perfect position to hit the Go 2 Sleep. This was a very fresh match as far as combinations go and because of that and how well the two worked together it ended up being my favorite of the show.

I don’t need to see Irish Airborne in a match again. They did not look good against Steen & Generico. Sure it started out well, but by the middle of the match it had broken down and they missed / looked sloppy a number of different moves. Even Steen and Generico killing them did not bring me much joy.

-Live in Tokyo and Live in Osaka:

For me, the one to get if you have to pick one is the NOAH centered “Live in Tokyo” event. The top four matches are ALL on point and represent a back to back to back to back build of show momentum. It’s a far more serious show than the Dragon Gate DVD, which features more outlandish personalities, backstage skits that are wacky and funny, but a weaker card overall compared between the two

Maybe it’s because I’ve seen more NOAH shows, but I even preferred the NOAH production values of the Tokyo show over the Gaora. Influenced Osaka show./ Different and dynamic camera angles, focusing on the spotlights to create a unique distortion atmosphere and great medium shots and close ups which put the focus on action and the reaction of the wrestlers. You could see faces, eyes light up, awesome reactions. Just great stuff from a production standpoint. Meanwhile, Gaora’s production focuses a majority of time on one steady cam, pans late to entrances and just comes across as less impressive and less dynamic.

As stated before, I liked the matches on the Tokyo DVD better than Osaka. While Taniguchi vs. Ito is a skippable match and quite boring and Whitmer vs. Rave is just Whitmer vs. Rave. However, from Danielson vs. Shiozaki onwards it’s so awesome. I don’t know if Shiozaki has improved so much from the last time in ROH (the UK shows in 2006) or if it’s that Danielson led this match along, but whatever. It was a terrific, hard fought back and forth match and well worth watching.

I want to reserve most of my thoughts about McGuinness vs. Morishima II for the Final Column match of the year list. However, I will say that for the first half of the match I thought it was pretty much neck and neck as far as quality compared to their first match at Fighting Spirit. Then the second half of the match occurred, with some new and wicked additions in their fight and wow, was I ever blown away. Not only was this a worthy successor to their first match, but it was a hell of a main event for this show.

Over on the Osaka DVD what I really enjoyed were the comedy segments. Delirious was KILLER doing his comedy in the ring but also the wacky interstitials that explored Japan in a sort of a “video diary” had a ton of humorous content. It doesn’t get much better than Jack Evans from the heavens talking up Teriyaki burgers at the Japanese McDonalds while Nigel McGuinness looks on in a very morose manner. Later Evans declares he is turning Japanese, and then…SINGS THE SONG! Wow, I’d be offended if it didn’t crack me up.

Also, while I don’t really want to visit Japan because I know I wouldn’t be able to adjust to the food over there, if anything made me want to go it was the terrific camera shot of traveling on the elevated subway at night into the heart of the city. Wow, what a breathtaking shot, just absolutely beautiful and a big headrush to see it. It reminds me of why I love NYC at night—it just comes across as a really special place.

I’ll finish up comments on the two Japanese shows next week in the column, including my thoughts on Strong vs. Delirious, and the many six man matches which became the basis for excellent wrestling action over the two day trip.

Going Home

Name That Tune * NEW FEATURE!

Here’s a fun little reader response feature that I thought up over the past week. As many long time readers know I started out in the music zone and I still value music so much and like to sprinkle in a few recommendations here and there in this column. With that in mind, every week I’ll include an excerpt of music lyric and I’ll ask you guys to guess the song. The catch is that it will be a wrestler’s theme! All promotions are up for grabs, but I’ll focus mostly on the independent scene. So for example:

Clue: ROH wrestler, continent, Dragon
Lyric: “I guess there’s no one to blame / we’re leaving ground / will things ever be the same again? / It’s ______________.”

Song and Artist ????

Answer: Europe, “The Final Countdown” (Bryan Danielson)

Get it? Alright! So without further ado, let’s play Name that Tune!

Clue: CHIKARA & ROH
Lyric: “Stand tall like a man / Head strong like a horse / when it’s all mixed up, better __________.”
What’s the name of the song and the artist?

Send in your answers here and if you’re correct I’ll list your name in next week’s column!

Ringtones

Chris has questions about CHIKARA commentary and I have the answer!

Once again another great column Ari. I’ve been reading
it for the past 3 months and have enjoyed it
immensely. I would like to say that I am Chris aka
spawn_syxx9 from the ROH Mb even though I got banned
and the creator of the ROH livejournal community. So
I’ve been following the product for a while even
though I live afar on the west coast, though I am very
excited their coming to San Fran. Their newly
announced Las Vegas show is a tad too far due to my
job for me to go out there despite wanting to. So
great job man and thanks for the coverage weekly. I do
have one question though. You have on your DVD indy
buy list a few CHIKARA dvds. I want to buy them from
smart mark but when I asked them if they had
alternative commentary like the PWG dvds they said no.
Two days ago a guy on the ROH board I saw made a
comment that some of the commentary on the CHIKARA
dvds is awesome. Do they or do they not have alternate
commentary or only certain shows or what’s the deal
with them?

Thanks if you can answer that for me.

First of all, readers can check out the ROH Live Journal here
.
The San Francisco / Las Vegas shows should be very exciting and I hope it’s a “test” of sorts to see if extended West Coast stays will work for the company. ROH needs to continue to break into new territories and its about time they headed West.

The commentary on CHIKARA is incredibly fun to listen to and really do help add a bit of extra kick to the product. PWG has the option of turning commentary on and off on their DVDs, but there is no such option on the CHIKARA shows–commentary is always fun. One of the best things though about the commentary is that CHIKARA actually rotates out a crew of commentators that include wrestlers and even referee Bryce Remsburg. During any given DVD, you’ll be likely hear Mike Quackenbush. Larry Sweeney, Ultramantis Black, Chris Hero and Bryce combine forces (and even Excalibur on the few shows he appears for CHIKARA) on commentary and Play by Play. Each has a unique style but they retain good chemistry and knowledge on the events that are happening. It’s a healthy mix of comedy and calling the action. I think if you like the PWG commentary you’ll dig what the rotating crew does on these shows.

**The Independent Buy In**

2007

**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night One (Strong / Romero, CIMA / Cross, Deliirous / Generico, 8 Man Tag)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 6 (MsChif / Melissa Last Woman Standing, Rebecca Knox / Allison Danger Pure Rules)
**PWG Hollywood Globetrotters (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong and Jack Evans; Cape Fear (El Generico and Quicksilver) vs. Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost); B-Boy vs. Frankie Kazarian; Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin.)
**PWG Beyond The Thunderdome (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. AJ Styles and Chris Daniels); Cape Fear vs. Arrogance; Joey Ryan vs. Chris Sabin)
**PWG Enchantment Under The Sea (Cape Fear vs. Briscoes; Matt Sydal vs. B-Boy; Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Arrogance; Austin Aries vs. Kevin Steen)
**wXw World Lightweight Tournament 2006 (Ares / Baron von Hagen, Pac / El Generico, Quackenbush / Roudin, 5 Way Tournament Match)
**ECWA Super 8 Tournament 2001 (Danielson / Low Ki, Danielson / Reckless Youth, Low Ki / Billy Fives, Danielson / Spanky)
**ROH FWA IPW:UK Frontiers of Honor 2 (Sydal / Richards, Cabana / Burridge, JC Thunder / Nigel McGuinness, Danielson / Brookside / Stone)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Two (Necro Butcher/Super Dragon, Hero/Horiguchi, Evans/Castagnolli)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Three (Generico / CIMA, Hero, Claudio, Necro, Romero / Cabana, Quicksilver, M-Dogg 20, Delirious, Generico / Sabin, Richards / Strong, Evans/ Horiguchi, Richards / CIMA)
**Chikara The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (Quackenbush / Akuma, Steel / Steel, Sweeney / Kingston, Hair vs. Mask: Jigsaw / Icarus)
**Chikara King of Trios Night One (Order of the Neo Solar Temple / Los Ice Creams, Miyawaki, Yago & KUDO / Iron Saints, Sweeny, Eliis and Ryder vs. Neo Solar Temple POSEDOWN, Shima Xion / Nobutaka Moribe)
**SHIMMER Volume 7 (Daizee Haze/Cheerleader Melissa, Mercedes Martinez/LuFisto, Sara Del Rey/Nattie Neidhart)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Two (Sabin, Shelley and Dutt vs. Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Shane Storm / Hallowicked, Cheech and Cloudy vs. Lince Dorado, Pantera and Sicodelico Jr. / Olsen Twins vs. Miyagi and Yago / Quack T-Shirt Squad vs. Boyer and 2.0)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Three (Pantera, Lince Dorado & Sicodelico, Jr. vs. Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm / Kings Of Wrestling vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli / Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Ray / Mokujin Ken vs. Mecha Mummy / Matt Sydal vs. Hallowicked)
**UWA Hardcore: Hour of the Dragon (Ultimo Dragon / Black Tiger, Chris Sabin / Josh Prohibition, Mike Quackenbush / Claudio Castagnoli, Tyler Black / Josh Ambercrombie)
**Fight Sports Midwest: Chapter One (Samoa Joe / Eddie Kingston, Larry Sweeney / Bryan Alvarez, Josh Ambercrombie / Austin Aries, Hydra / “Old Timer” Jeff King) **Fight Sports Midwest: Chapter Two (Alex Shelley / Low Ki, Mike Quackenbush / Tiger Mask IV, Human Tornado / Josh Ambercrombie)
**CHIKARA: Rey De Voladores (Chris Hero / Claudio Castagnoli, Chuck Taylor / Lince Dorado, Cheech & Cloudy / F.I.S.T. (Gran Akuma & Icarus), Chuck Taylor / Ricochet / Pac / Retail Dragon)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 8 (Sara Del Rey / Mercedes Martinez, Daizee Haze / Tiana Ringer, Nattie Neidhart / Portuguese Princess Ariel, Allison Danger / Lufisto)
**CHIKARA: Anniversario? (Hero / Quackenbush, Hallowicked / Kingston, Pantera & Lince Dorado / Castagnoli & Sweeney, Worker Ant / Hydra, Player Uno / Shayne Hawke)
**CHIKARA: Maximum Overdraft (F.I.S.T. / Briscoes, Mike Quackenbush / Black Tiger, Hero & Castagnoli / El Pantera & Lince Dorado, The Colony / Los Tres Deliriouses, Daizee Haze / Sara Del Rey—2 out of 3 Falls)
**SHIMMER Women Athletes Volume 9 (MsChif / Amazing Kong, Cheerleader Melissa / Sara Del Rey, Tiana Ringer / Nikki Roxx, Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka / Allison Danger & Cindy Rogers)

**PWG: Passive Hostility (PWG Tag Team Titles: Super Dragon & B-Boy / Cape Fear of El Generico & Quicksilver, PWG Title Three Way: Joey Ryan / Human Tornado / Kevin Steen, Scorpio Sky, Cgrus Visg & Scott Lost / Kazarian, Sabin & Shelley, Richards / Romero) (NEW ADDITION)

I’m finally starting to get through the PWG DVDs that were on backorder and were delivered to me at the same time as I purchased a bazillion ROH DVDs. Now I’ve gone through two of the four on my “To Be Watched” list and I know I’ll be adding both of them in, starting with this one. “Passive Hostility” actually goes all the way back to December of 2006 and sets up some of the events that would occur on the next show “Based On a True Story” (that’s for next week’s column). The show does stand alone in some ways, tying up Claudio Castagnoli’s run in PWG by having him face off against Chris Hero (this was before Claudio was confirmed to be staying on the indies) and the tag title match actually is based on previous history (Super Dragon and B-Boy I believe had a rivalry but they joined up to become tag champions).

Hero vs. Claudio is surprisingly played as a face vs. face competitive match and it’s alright—not their best but not a bad match by any means. It’s more of a tit for tat encounter and because no one gets the heat the crowd isn’t as receptive to it by the end of the match. Still worth watching though. The tag titles match is excellent and a really good dsiaply of heel vs. face tag work. Bottom line, Super Dragon: still a dick. Also needs to join Bobby Dempsey under the tutelage of Tank Toland.

The PWG Title three way match is also very impressive, as the opening minutes tell a great story of Ryan not wanting to fight and manipulating Tornado and Steen to go at it. the champ, Ryan, meanwhile has a seat with the crowd and does commentary MST3K style, mocking them both for shitty headlocks and dumb moves. Then the two faces get hip to it and take him out with a huuuuuge dive and from then on it’s two on one on the attack against Ryan and it is fantastic. Great stuff in this match hampered only by a B.S. screwy finish. It’s actually not the worst finish in the world but the matchw as going along so well that it sucks to have it hampered by that.

The other highlight is a six man between The Dynasty and Kazarian + Motor City Machine Guns. For fans of Sabin & Shelley, this is a must see as they do some incredibly innovative work and really make the match go. As a final side note, Jade Chung is still very, very hot.

It’s not the best card in the world, but it is a worthy pick up and addition to the list. If you can get it as part of a package with Based on a True Story, then it’s a definite buy.

**SHIMMER Women Athletes Volume 10 (Daizee Haze / Amazing Kong, Del Rey Nikki Roxx, Melissa / Lacey, Amber O’Neal / MsChif, Allison Danger / Cindy Rogers, Perez / Ariel) (NEW ADDITION)

Last week was volume 9 and now I can add the show after that to the list. This DVD features the better all around wrestling as compared to that show, but with slightly less quality main events. Amazing Kong comes off as the real deal on this show and heaven help Daizee Haze in this one. When the crowd is chanting “Lord Have Mercy” it’s not as sarcastic as it was intended to be. The girl needed a prayer at that point. Think of this match as Khali vs. Mysterio but with a sex change and probably about 100 times better workrate. Kong ain’t no Khali that’s for sure. Get the DVD for this match.

Del Rey and Nikki Roxx have a very nice WRESTLING centered main event match, with Roxx getting a good effort against the soon to be champion. However, the finish is anti climactic and tacked on—I was expecting more of a fight or a reversal situation to get out of the Royal butterfly, but it didn’t happen.

Elsewhere Melissa had a very good match against Lacey although again just as it was picking up and could have used another two or three minutes of hot false finishes, it was over. Melissa is finally using the cheerleader part of her gimmick for SHIMMER appearances. I would often think of her pom poms…

….

Um, let’s start that one again.

When Melissa brought in the pom pom props to ringside on the previous eight SHIMMER shows, she NEVER used them. It was the equivalent of Shane Douglas bringing in a skateboard when he was a part of the Dynamic Dudes. If you’re not going to use the prop, DON’T BOTHER! Starting with Volume 9, Melissa is using the props to strike a cheerleader pose and guess what-it WORKS. It’s a great addition to her character and helps put the Cheerleader back in Cheerleeader Melissa. It’s okay to work the gimmick in because we know she’s a very good wrestler. Now all we need is for her to shake her pom poms a little bit more…

And start to do some cheers. There, the end. Moving on!

Danger vs. Rogers works as a nice vengeful face vs. newfound heel bridge burning face off. The biker jacket for Cindy = primo prop work. It adds the right touch to her gimmick and a newfound toughness. Maybe she thinks she’s Pinkie Tuscadero now, I don’t know. Anyway this match is very good, had the right finish AND Danger’s face work in the ring was successful in conveying her anger and emotional state of mind, as opposed to her promo work on the last show (covered in last week’s column).

One other criticism I have is that Danger gets back on the commentary too quickly after matches, especially when she loses and has to sell an injury. Let her take two or three matches off to sell her recovery time. Prazak can certainly handle the load solo. Or rotate in another woman worker.

Eden Black continues to work face even though she has a heelish nickname in “The Jezebel” I don’t get it either. Perez vs. Ariel is a very good opening contest with a clean finish and everything is solid work. Neither is my favorite but each has plenty of potential to do well in this company and elsewhere in the future.

Finally, do NOT miss out on MsChif vs. Amber O Neal, which is one of the funniest women’s matches in SHIMMER history. Daffney is now in MsChif’s corner—looking AWESOME in a Harlequin get up—it’s a “screaming queens” party. They corner poor O’Neal and just torture the poor girl by screaming at her, one after the other. This causes O’Neal to scream as well. I was dying from this and it got funnier every time. The match itself isn’t so great shakes, and the finish is a “?” mark with Daffney taking a bump but it not playing into anything negative for her woman. It certainly didn’t lead to any tension between the Green Team so I was left puzzled. Laughing, but puzzled.

The ROH List
**Fifth Year Festival: NYC (Samoa Joe / Morishima, Homicide / Rave, Briscoes / Cabana & McGuinness, Albright / Whitmer, Evans / SHINGO / Xavier / Jacobs)
**Fifth Year Festival: Philly (Homicide / Morishima, Sydal & Daniels / SHINGO & Evans, Briscoes / Generico & Steen, Castagnoli / Aries, McGuinness / Perkins)
**Fifth Year Festival: Chicago (Morishima & McGuinness / Joe & Homicide, Cabana / Jacobs, Strong & Richards / Aries & Cross, Daniels & Sydal / The Briscoes, Albright / Castagnoli)
**Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Joe / McGuinness, ROH World Tag Team Titles: The Briscoes / Doi & SHINGO / FIP Title: Strong / PAC, 2/3 Falls: Delirious / Matt Sydal) **Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Joe / Homicide, Fight Without Honor: McGuinness / Rave, ROH World Tag Team Titles: Doi & SHINGO / Richards and Strong, Sydal / PAC, Falls Count Anywhere: Whitmer / Jacobs)
**All Star Extravaganza III (ROH vs. Dragon Gate 8 Man Tag, Strong / Evans, Mochizuki / Richards, Cabana / Sydal / Hero / Pearce, Homicide / Daniels)
**Supercard of Honor II (CIMA, SHINGO and Yokosuka / Dragon Kid / Saito / Mochikzuki, Strong / Aries, Whitmer / Jacobs, Evans & Doi / Richards and Romero, McGuinness / Hero, Daniels & Sydal / Delirious & Jay Briscoe)
**Fighting Spirit (ROH World Title: McGuinness / Morishima, Jay Briscoe and Erick Stevens Mark Briscoe / El Generico & Kevin Steen, Evans & Delirious / Strong & Romero, Claudio / Romero, Cabana / Williams)
**The Battle of St. Paul (ROH World Title: Morishima / Aries, FIP Title: Strong / Daniels, Delirious / Stevens / Romero / Evans, Albright & Pearce / Homicide & Cabana/ ROH World Tag Titles Ultimate Endurance)
**Good Times, Great Memories (ROH World Tag Team Titles: Briscoes / Murder City Machine Guns, Roderick Strong / Jack Evans, ROH World Title: Morishima / SHINGO, Austin Aries / Rocky Romeo, Adam Pearce / Colt Cabana, 6 Man Mayhem: Deliirous, Quackenbush, Hallowicked, Jigsaw, Akuma, Primeau)
**A Fight at the Roxbury (Four Corner Survival: Quackenbush / Hero / Castagnoli / McGuinness, ROH World Title: Morishima / Jay Briscoe, El Genercico / Matt Sydal, Steen / Briscoe, Danielson / Rave)
**Respect is Earned (ROH World Tag Team Title: The Briscoes / Castagnoli & Sydal, Danielson & Morishima / McGuinness & KENTA, Marufuji / Romero, Tag Team Scramble, Toland / Albright)
**Domination (ROH World Tag Team Titles, 2 out of 3 Falls: Briscoes / Hero & Castagnoli, Steen & Generico / Jigsaw & Quackenbush, Morishima / Strong, Sydal / Hallowicked, Lacey / Daizee Haze)
**United We Stand (Danielson & McGuinness / Marufuji & Morishima, KENTA / Rocky Romero, NRC vs. Resilience)
**Live in Tokyo (ROH World Title: Morishima / McGuinness, Briscoes & Marufuji / Sydal, Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki, Danileson / Go Shiozaki, Fight Without Honor: Delirious / Strong )

This section needs your help! If you want to recommend some good independent wrestling to your fellow internet readers out there, drop me a line for the column.

ROH @ 411 This Week

It was another huge week for ROH coverage on 411. I defy anyone to find more consistent, competent, cogent and entertaining coverage of ROH anywhere else on the net.

To the two who picked Erick Stevens to win the four way match in this week’s ROH Roundtable, contact me ASAP so you can tell my fortune. Be sure to check out Part II where we commiserate about what to expect for tonight’s PPV show

411’s Buy or Sell posits the events for this weekend’s ROH shows with Jacob Ziegler and J.D. Dunn.

J.D. Dunn tackles Bugs Bunny’s favorite ROH show This Means War II

Samuel Berman postulates about the comedy value of Cabana vs. Delirious in this week’s Independent Mid Card.

Alex Mattis talks up The Briscoes vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen in The Best of the Rest

Honor Bound Links

Weekend news reports get a new look and a new twist as Meehan takes over Fridays and Scott Rutherford makes his annual return to the Wrestling Zone for the Saturday news, and he has some rather thought provoking things to say.

Joe Estee is giving us the keys to Unforgiven

Matt Short talks up the number one contender’s match tournament for NOAH in this week’s Navigation Log

Rob Halden looks at the stunted work in the tag divisions of WWE.

Michael Weyer continues to shine the spotlight on ‘Roids in wrestling.

Former OVW superstar writeah! Steve Sullivan is back in the fold with a new report called the “Happy Go Sucky.” BAYANI! BAYANI! Where the hell are you with the double entendre jokes when we need you!

Oh yeah, that’s right Bayani is right here in this week’s Truth B Told examining why TNA’s second hour ain’t so fly.

High Road and Low Road examine the Hardys as singles wrestlers vs. a tag team force.

Magnus cuts to the crap for the second week in a row.

Sforcina gives us more Sensational Sherri.

Steve Cook lays it down big man with Ask 411

Daniel Wilcox stunts with a big time debut with Thoughts from the Top Rope.

The boss is in with the 4R’s

It’s NEW WRITER TIME! Lots of 411’s rookies are waiting for you to sample what they have to offer. Check em out. Last time out we had some fantastic writers make their mark in Rob Halden and Joe Estee among others. Reach for that glory noobs!

T.G. Corke takes us to The Seventh Dimension. Playdoh?
Tim Haught is the new Pro Wrestling Pundit on the block.
William Bumgamer is asking What Were They Thinking? I have no idea.
Jarrod Westerfield is giving a Your Viral Dose of Reality. Viral? That doesn’t sound so healthy.
Chris Landsell brings us The Way I C It. The way you C it? No, the way I C it. Who’s on first?

Right now I’m having a Kanye West play off between me and my neighbors as to who can play “The Good Life” louder! HAHAHA!

Next week, all the results, analysis and opinions based on what the heck goes down tonight at the PPV. We could have new champions and new forces of power at play and I’ll break it down for you. All that plus the Stockmarket is back in session. See you next week!

Brooklyn! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–

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Ari Berenstein

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