Column of Honor: 01.19.08: Undeniable Excitement (Early Afternoon Edition)

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 01.19.2008

Back in the saddle so to speak, with Results from 1/12 in Edison, NJ, a review of ROH Undeniable on PPV, Erick Stevens’ non-stop express and why “today is the greatest day [ROH] has ever known.”



Not a dream, not a hoax, but reality—hey everyone, I'm back this week for Column of Honor! I had a relatively good week off. I spent the extra time I would have used to write the column doing some fun stuff, you know, I slept a little bit more, played with the dog a little bit more, but mostly just slept a little bit more. It's a hard knock life, no?

At any rate, after the six part long Final Column and another huge column the week afterwards, I was running on low ebb, so I want to thank Jerome Cusson and Michael Bauer for stepping into help out with the column last week. It looks like Cusson struck with his own "Special Edition" of his own with quite the few criticisms of The Age of the Fall. I don't agree with some of his points (and do see and agree with a few others), but I want to thank him for stepping up and putting it down to paper, or Microsoft Word, as it were. Just as I don't edit anything writers submit for Final Column for content, I would not tell Cusson what to and what not to write as part of his effort for Column of Honor. So once again, thanks very much.

Even though I took a week off, there is even MORE Ring of Honor and wrestling discussion to get into, so let's get into it!

Welcome to the Column.



Ring Toss
Part One:
-The Erick Stevens Express
-ROH Results: 1/12/08 in Edison, NJ
-ROH Undeniable thoughts and review
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-Hero's Sandwich

Erick Stevens: Bullet Train Out of the Station Going Express

Erick Stevens is on a non stop express train to the top of ROH in 2008 and fans can either get on board or be left standing at the station staring down an empty tunnel.

Huge wins against Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson last weekend in Boston and Edison cemented a very strong future for Stevens, who successfully defended his newly won FIP Heavyweight championship against these two tough and elite pro grapplers. The biker jacket clad, mohawked mass of a young man has quickly come to the fore of the upper card in ROH. His defeat of Roderick Strong at Final Battle 2007 set the stage for the return of Full Impact Pro shows to the Orlando, Florida area, where there will be a rematch for the title.

Its obvious that Gabe Sapolsky has a soft spot for Stevens—he has worked his way up through the ranks of FIP and "graduated" to the major leagues, that is, FIP's sister promotion Ring of Honor. He immediately defeated two ROH students in short but brutal squash matches that spotlighted Stevens' strength and power. The message was that Stevens would be a force to be reckoned with, sooner rather than later. Stevens was then incorporated into the No Remorse Corps vs. The Resilience storyline and became one of the few standout aspects of what has come to be known as a disappointing feud in 2007.

Stevens was "taken out" by an arm injury sustained in a match against Davey Richards. Ostensibly this helped to separate Stevens from the Resilience and that storyline. However, his return to Ring of Honor got off to a cold start with his PPV match against Davey Richards—the fans did not respond at all to him and were spending more than their share of time catcalling Daniel Puder rather than paying attention to the match. Stevens didn't receive a much warmer response at the beginning of the FIP title match against Strong at Final Battle. However, he and Strong fought long and hard (in fact having one of the longer matches of the night) and it was Stevens' resolve and determination to win, as well as the fantastically loud echo of the many chops traded back and forth by each man that forced the crowd into an unrelenting frenzy. Stevens' title win received a very substantial pop and a standing ovation after the match

There is something there to Stevens that makes him immensely likable, but it is hard to put a finger on it. On the surface he is different from many of the ROH favorites like Danielson or Aries in terms of body size. He is not a technician like Danielson or an elaborate promo man such as Aries. It isn't automatically his power style that attracts positive response from the crowd, although the crowds do inevitably get taken in by breathtaking powerslams and lift moves. ROH fans don't immediately take to a guy with Stevens' bulk and power style, but nonetheless Stevens has earned the crowd's respect with every appearance (and notably his wins) in the ring.

What is very appreciable of Stevens is the effort he brings to the ring. You can tell that he cares a hell of a lot about his work. Even though he doesn't talk all that much, his babyface personality comes through in his body language and especially in his facials—bright, bulging and expressive eyes and the "fire" that every good guy demonstrates when he or she is trying to make a go of it. Stevens has really seized on that aspect of his character to bring about a larger amount of sympathy for a "big man wrestler" than could normally be expected or relied upon. At the end of the day, it's easy to like Erick Stevens as a person, so it's easier to like him as a professional wrestler.

What should fans take from the wins against Aries and Danielson this weekend? It is clear that Sapolsky is attempting to "push" Stevens to the top with these wins. Sapolsky has put his money on Stevens being able to jump start momentum for FIP and it wouldn't be so terrible to have Stevens gain more of a reputation within ROH while he was at it. Defeating Aries and Danielson on back to back nights is too impressive an accomplishment to ignore, even if it does seem somewhat "forced". Stevens initially won each match via count out, but he refused to accept the wins as such and demanded each match be restarted, thereafter defeating both men cleanly by using his power based offense, including the Doctor Bomb. The finishes to the matches reportedly were popping the crowds, but some fans online have been questioning the believability of winning against those two, especially Danielson.

There is no doubt that with Stevens tapped as the man to restart FIP as champion that he would have to go through Aries and Danielson. Meanwhile, there is always the knowledge that it Stevens won these matches via count out or disqualifications that it would be interpreted as a "weak" win for him. Besides, ROH fans are notoriously picky about these types of finishes—to have them in an upper card match would not make the fans in Boston or Edison very happy. So Stevens refused these wins. It works in several ways—it easies the tension in the crowd if there is unhappiness about the finish, but it also pushes Steve's virtue—he is the type of a wrestler who won't accept the easy win, someone who would fight to prove he is the best. This should go a long way to helping Stevens develop and maintain his popularity as we march on into the New Year.

However, the wins and the method of the victory couldn't and wouldn't be enough to take hold in ROH without Stevens bringing the goods within the ring. It certainly seems that Stevens did in fact do exactly that from the reviews and reports fans were giving after the shows. Stevens was given the ball, but he ran with it and is still going strong. It only remains to be seen just how far Stevens can take himself—whether the train will continue to its terminus or if it will run out of steam.

Stevens still has more to prove in his tenure in ROH—can he carry his weight in a prolonged feud? Can he deliver a money promo (which doesn't have to be a ten minute monologue, rather regardless of duration needs to convince the audience that the match will be everything they expected and more)? Can Stevens continue to deliver quality matches against lesser opponents than Aries, Danielson and Strong?

These answers can only come as Stevens barrels down the tracks of the year 2008. He already has everyone's attention after becoming FIP champion and defeating Aries and Danielson back to back. Now its time to find out what kind of horsepower this "choo choo" locomotive actually has to offer.


ROH Results: 01/12/08 in Edison, NJ

Matches
-The YRR of Sal Rinauro, Jason Blade, & Kenny King defeated Delirious, El Generico, & Mike Quackenbush via pinfall after Delirious was hit with a crutch and covered by Jason Blade.
-Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey retained the newly created Intergender World Tag Team Championship by defeating Ernie Osiris & Alexa Thatcher.
-Roderick Strong defeated Jigsaw via submission to a backwards Figure 4.
-Jimmy Jacobs defeated Jack Evans via submission with the "End Time" Guillotine Choke.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Austin Aries via pinfall after two Ricola Bombs.
-BJ Whitmer & Shane Hagadorn defeated Bobby Fish & Eddie Edwards via pinfall after Whitmer powerbombed Fish.
-Kevin Steen defeated Brent Albright via pinfall with the Package Piledriver.
-Erick Stevens retained the FIP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Bryan Danielson via pinfall after a Doctor Bomb. The match initially ended in a countout win for Stevens, but he had the match restarted and won the match with the pin.
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes goes to a no contest.
-The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans and Ruckus defeated The Age of the Fall of Tyler Black & Necro Butcher. Evans got the pin with a Springboard 630.


Issues & Angles

-The Puder Invitational: Larry Sweeney announced the $1,000 challenge to last with MMA fighter Daniel Puder in a submission challenge. If you can last a minute with him without tapping you get the money. Alex Payne lasted all of fifteen seconds and Rhett Titus was taken out in half a minute. This brought out Claudio Castagnoli, who wanted to take the challenge. Sweeney refused at first, so Claudio puts up $1,000 of his own money and its on. Puder cannot tap Castagnoli as the Swiss Money maker avoids the submissions and then stalls out the minute. Sweeney retaliates with a chair shot and takes all of the money.

-Andy Kaufman Would Be So Proud: The major announcement involving Chris Hero and Sara Del Rey was a rather exciting one as Sweeney announced the creation of the "Intergender World Tag team Championship". Hero and De Rey are recognized as the first champions and defend the belts on this show. This is a rather ingenius booking idea, borrowing a little bit from Kaufman and a little bit from the Million Dollar Man. At last Chris Hero is a World Champion!

-Live By the Ladder, You Know the Rest: In an angle done to take Jay out of the show, the Age of The Fall brawled a ton with The Briscoes and then the huge ladder was brought out. Jay got "hurt"by coming off the ladder through a table and in the resulting chaos The Vulture Squad struck back at the Age of the Fall, resulting in the main event match between the two.

Return Date: April 12th, 2008

Nigel McGuinness Title Win is "Undeniable"

Nigel McGuinness struck with lariat after lariat after another lariat, using the forearm to follow through his strikes onto Takeshi Morishima neck and chest. I had two thoughts of mind about this moment as I watched the title match play out in front of me:

1. Oh man…the natives are going to get restless again and call for Nigel's head for throwing too many lariats in a match.
2. Who fucking cares? This is such a freaking cool moment!

Indeed, Nigel didn't do himself any favors with those who criticize his use of the lariat, but it was in this moment of the sublime and the over the top amount of hard shots he threw that the truth of the match was told. This was the big showdown. This was Nigel's last big chance. And if he was going to win this huge throwdown against his rival Morishima, then he was going to need to do it with his best offensive weapon, the hardest shot in his arsenal, the home run blast. The Jawbreaker Lariat.

This was Nigel's match strategy and it was simple and myopic, but in the end it was effective. Nigel hit eleven lariats by my count and I'm sure with the count of attempted lariats that missed the number would be in the twenties. He, tried to get the Jawbreaker Lariat going early, but was shut down every time by the steadfast champion and paid for it every time. Morishima was making the challenger hurt, and he was doing it with his own trademark shots, using his ass as a weapon, hitting the lariat and most importantly frequently going for the back drop driver. If Nigel was going to go to his top offensive weapon, Morishima was going to fight fire with fire.

Nigel tried the Lariat from every angle, sometimes hitting it and bringing Morishima down, but not being able to knock him out or keep him down for the three count. This led to a moment later on in the match where there was a massive strike volley, slaps and slaps and lariats and lariats. I'm not ashamed to say I loved every minute of it. This was crescendo—the very being of a fight where everyone is lost in the fight itself, including the fighters. There was nothing else besides McGuinness and Danielson throwing shot after shot against each other, knowing one was going to stand and the other was going to fall.

At the end of the match, with the killing blow finally blasted through Morishima's defenses and the three count registered signaling the end of the match, the end of a title run and a new champion. McGuinness had worked his heart out to get one thing done in that match, the one thing that he knew could get the job done against the champion. He did that, he accomplished his goal and now it was undeniable that he was ROH World Champion.

The emotions of that moment really came to the forefront. It wasn't the greatest match in ROH history, but like all great moments there was a ton of passion and emotion demonstrated throughout it. Commentators Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard sold the moment big and made this win really stand out as something that mattered in the grand scheme of things. In the many varied moments of wrestling history and all the great moments of all time, it was this match and this title win that would stand out.

The ROH babyface roster came out to celebrate, evoking images in my head of Bret Hart defeating Yokozuna for the WWF title at Wrestlemania X, one of my favorite Pay Per Views of all time. If you think about it, the similarities between that match and this one do come to the forefront—the unstoppable monster champion, the dedicated mat tactician who's will to win and fighter's heart was greater than what could be measured in pounds and ounces. Then there was the "Owen Hart moment" of the post match celebration as Bryan Danielson interrupted the proceedings by shoving the new champion, disrespecting him and his title win. Austin Aries cut him off and the rest of the locker drove him out of the ring. Even in this grand victory, there were reminders that Nigel's journey was just beginning. In ROH, the end of one story is the beginning of another.

******

I was actually very interested to see how ROH could bring in all of the different factions like Age of the Fall, Vulture Squad, NRC and The Hangmen Three and make them all stand out and effective. I shouldn't have worried so much, because this was about as smooth a transition into the "Faction Warfare" era as you can get. Each stable had a specific and definitive role to play in this one, and almost every stable was presented and stayed strong, with maybe the exception of The Vulture Squad, who took the loss in the opener but still showed a ton of heart in the loss.

-Claudio Castagnoli was shot down in his bid to take on Chris Hero. He signed the contract to fight only Hero, but since Larry Sweeney didn't like the terms of the deal, he was pulling his client out of the match.

1. Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black w/ Necro Butcher & Lacey) vs. The Vulture Squad (Jack Evans & Rucukus w/ J-Train): Another surprise was just how well and dominant The Age of the Fall was presented on this Pay Per View. For all the debate about how they dropped the ball post Project 161, this PPV picked it all right up. I absolutely loved the aesthetics that ROH was going for in their presentation of AotF as this rebel outfit who were fighting within the system to destroy. It helps to simplify and reduce some of the plot holes that would be created without this explanation. For instance, there is an obvious mole in the production truck that is helping AotF with their cause. The mole created some very cool effects, such as the "negative" photograph effect at the beginning of this match, the AWESOME "blink and you missed it" subliminal message of lemmings jumping off a cliff with the message "Follow The Crowd, Fall in Line" when AoTF won. Then later on the mystery mole producer~! was at it again, interrupting The Briscoes title match. I also LOVED that ROH took the time to justify why AotF wasn't immediately getting the title shot on PPV—they had to earn the shot with wins against other tag competition. It was a good thing too, because the very end of the last PPV would have led you to believe that they would get a match against The Briscoes here, but they're going to stretch it a bit and make PPV customers wait for that specific match.

As for this match, it was a solid opener but below average compared to some of the previous openers on other PPV. It had some ugly moments, like Tyler Black's opening volley and Fosbury Flop , but by the midway point everything had begun to gel and come together. There were some terrific flying moves and Evans' melee comeback including a pommel into a dropkick was a highlight. I love Ruckus's spinning neckbreaker variant—it looks vicious. However I can't believe the crowd was chanting "Chocolate Vulture"—in rhythm and everything. We need to get a better chant for the man. Jimmy Jacobs hits a vicious spear on Evans and then we get the AoTF's super killer finisher sequence. Black holds up Evans in a torture rack position. Jacobs sentons Evans but Black still holds him. Evans drop kicks Evans in the face and THEN Black drops Evans down with an inverted slam. Jacobs then comes running in at a high speed to lock in "The End Time"—his DDT / Guillotine choke for the win. **3/4

-Morishima does not want any cameras in the Edison public bathroom…..ERRRRRRRRRRRR locker room. It's okay because we wouldn't be able to understand what he is saying anyway. Wally Yamaguchi gets a cameo!

-Solid promo for Erick Stevens building him up as a babyface fighter who may not be the biggest guy in the pack but someone who was going to give his all regardless. Relentless Determination. Sounds like someone heard WWE's old catchphrase of "Ruthless Aggression" and used a rhyming dictionary.

2. Sara Del Rey vs. Daizee Haze: A very short, too short women's match that was okay while it lasted and picked up at the end, only to be brought down by of all things, outside shenanigans by Claudio confusing the issue. I like how Del Rey went to the outside early on to get some consolation from Bobby Dempsey—she's a chubby chaser! There's hope for Steve Cook and myself yet. Haze gets a fine cross body from the top turnbuckle to the outside. Del Rey hits an awesome Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a near fall. Then Castagnoli comes out to distract everyone and Haze gets the fluke sunset flip pin out of the distraction. Okay, I like Haze a lot, but I think it was the wrong call for Del Rey to lose her first match on PPV. After building up Del Rey as the premier women's wrestler, a champion and a great acquisition for Sweet & Sour Inc…she blows it on the first try? That's not good ROH, not good at all. Del Rey should have won this one to show that she has the chops and the ability claimed for all this time. Also, since there is no women's match on the next PPV, this is going to be the impression PPV exclusive fans are going to rely on until at least the sixth PPV which won't be shown until May 2008. * 1/2

-Chris Hero takes out Claudio Castagnoli with the Hero's Welcome. Danielson comes out, all pissed off and socialist like. He thinks SNSI are "disgusting". DIE CAPITALIST PIG DOG!

3. Chris Hero (w/ Sweet & Sour Inc.) vs. Bryan Danielson: A very good wrestling match that hits all of both men's strengths. The crowd was really good here with the "you're going to get your fucking head kicked in" chant, to which Hero pulls the Bobby Cruise microphone shtick and makes him announce that this is "purely speculation." EXCELLENT. The story of the match is Danielson out chain wrestling Hero, but Hero being doggedly determined to use his aerobics and conditioning to take control. Hero makes fun of the eye patch Danielson wore at "Man Up"—awesome. Hero can just be such a great heel and here is just a small reason why. At the end of it Hero does get his fucking head kicked in and the referee stops the match for his safety and also because he is knocked the fuck out. *** 1/4

-Adam Pearce tries to convince Kevin Steen to join the "Dark Side". He brings out El Generico, places all the blame of the loss of the ladder match from "Man Up!" at the masked man's feet and tells Steen to join The Hangm3n, thus making it the Hangm4n. Damned internet spelling. Steen says "NOOOOOOOO!" in his best Darth Vader voice (well, no that didn't happen) and attacks The Hangmen Three. Two foods for thought: 1. Why do The Hangmen hate masked wrestlers since THEY ALSO WEAR HOODED MASKS to the ring? Not that this is a bad thing—in fact I think its pretty bad ass and that they should be doing this every show, but still… 2. "What about your T-shirt?" Excellent point, whoever in the crowd said that. This is an example of failed advance forethought in marketing. Clearly Pearce cannot count to begin with, but if Steen joined the Hangmen, 3, 4,5 ah ah ah (), then all the money they spent printing up those shirts would have gone to pot..

4. Delirious, Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Hangm3n (Adam Pearce, Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer w/ Shane Hagadorn): A really heated and effective six man tag match. I like that Delirious was focused not on winning but on gaining revenge for the staple gun incident shown on the last PPV. He dived right away on The Hangmen 3 and throughout the rest of the match was aggressive and on the attack, including biting Pearce several times and eventually getting him bloody. Steen & Generico but especially Steen is so over right now that it is scary. They are just a kick ass team and very inspirational. They stir up within the hearts and mind of the fans and they do it with ease. Steen gets the hot tag and kicks ass, including hitting some wicked super kicks and flying around with a flip senton. Lots of good brawling and we get the "everyone does one move and then gets caught in stuff" moment, but it looks crisp and solid. The match has a good pace and an effective finish: Delirious is too wound up on the attack on Pearce to fight off Albright from behind and he gets caught with the Half Nelson suplex for the three count. *** 1/2

-Nigel in the locker room cuts his now traditional stoic and laconic Nigel in the locker room promo. This is the third of such promos, happening before each of his title matches. He explains his motivations in a soft spoken but emphatic manner and talks about how he paid his dues, how he relishes the opportunity and how he knows that winning the ROH belt is going to be the fulfillment of a childhood dream. How anyone can dislike this man when he talks so earnestly is beyond me.

5. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong: A solid start that evolved into an excellent back and forth athletic grudge bout and an early match of the year candidate (although from being at Rising Above I already know Aries has topped this excellent effort with an even better match against McGuinness). This was clean and well executed—these two know what to do to build to their match. The fight is predicated on their intimate knowledge of each other being that they were tag champions for nine months together and were part of the Generation next faction for years. There are reversals, dodges, flips and twists out of moves, BUT there are also quite a few new tricks up each of their sleeves. Its plenty of cool stuff to get the fans wound up in the action. It's the little adjustments made by each that make a difference in the story they want to tell. There are some viciously sharp chops from both men and great looking running knee strikes from Aries. . Aries goes for the ten count (a motif for the show) but gets dumped outside harshly over the top turnbuckle. Strong works his backbreaker offense, including using the momentum of Aries holding onto the turnbuckle to throw him back into a back breaker. He gets some mad ups on the Half Nelson back breaker. Aries has an excellent counter to the Gibson Driver by converting into a hurricanrana but that leads to him attempting a dropkick and Strong getting out the way. Strong at one point boots Aries to death and sets up the table. He goes for the Razor's edge but its countered into a closeline over the ropes on the other side and then a beautiful tope by Aries. They fight near the table on the apron and Aries gets the sick kick and the BRAINBUSTER THROUGH THE TABLE. The thing just splinters to pieces. My god—I think this may be what Nowinski is talking about. Strong's shoulder makes contact with the table for it looks like Strong's head just went straight down. Aries is beat up and tired but he rolls Strong back in and hits a 450 that only gets knees (think Angle vs. Sting from TNA Bound for Glory) but it's enough to get the win. Slightly blown finish aside, this was an incredible athletic grudge match. **** ¼

Then in something of a rare slip up for ROH, they pull a TNA post match gaffe. They clip immediately to Dayton instead of holding on Aries' big win. I really can't understand why they did that—after months and months of struggling against Roderick Strong and the NRC and he finally wins the big one—and they cut out the post match? I'm not happy with that one at all.

6. ROH World Tag Team Titles: The Briscoes (c) vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero: A really solid match, but the very definition of a "Briscoes" match in that there was a lot of moves and sometimes no rhyme or reason for them happening. Don't get me wrong though, I loved every minute of the action and this was a very worthy effort overall. It was just a lot to get back into, especially coming immediately after the previous match. Romero was the star of this one kicking everything in site and at one point doing Rey Mysterio's flying seated senton, but to the outside,, although everyone got their time to shine. Richards had an excellent kick feint early on as the four just wrestled and grappled it out, using reversals and flip outs to counter attempted moves. Then the fun started with mark Briscoe's No hands springboard plancha and from there the match picked up and did not let go. "Crazy" Mark Briscoe was also a huge part of this match, hitting his great kung fu sequence and then later on nailing an awesome simultaneous Ace Crusher on Richards and a missile dropkick on Romero… and it looked incredible. I have never seen that one before. Fighting Spirit no sells galore at the end of this one, but they also had the crowd going crazy by this point so it worked out for them. Explosions of strikes from both teams led to each team getting enough momentum to hit go for their double team finisher. The Springboard Doomsday was ducked by Romero on the first try it. The Briscoes iso'ed Richards and knock Romero off the apron long enough to hit it for real for the three count. Very good tag team bout, but I'm getting a bit move numb at this point. *** ¾

-In a not so subliminal move the Age of the Fall interrupts the feed again, using nWo like marketing strategy to show that even though The Briscoes won this title match, they were dominated by AotF.

7. ROH World Title Match: Takeshi Morishima © vs. Nigel McGuinness: allow me to break into my impression of CM Punk doing his impression of Homicide from Straight Shooting with CM Punk & Samoa Joe: "larriaaat, larriaaat, another larriaaat, larriaaat". And Brav-fuckin-O to Nigel for it. This was a different match in pace and tempo than the two before it and thus brought me all the way back to full focus. I like how Nigel used a Judo style throw early to block the Back Drop Driver, showing he could avoid Morishima's big moves as well. The crowd bites on every near fall—they want a title change and they can feel it. They also gasp audibly whenever Morishima looks like he's going to end it. I LOVE how Nigel uses the lariat to stuff a second flying dropkick attempt from Morishima. The champ squishes Nigel and makes him pay for trying the home run shot, but then Nigel fires up and goes lariat crazy. A Back Drop Driver gets a close two. A second is blocked into a sunset flip but that just leads to the ass squash. Ouch. Always ouch. Nigel works his way back into the match, into a rebound for the Jawbreaker, gets it and finally it's enough for the three count. Not the best match ever, but a damned good title match with a fantastic story. It hit the right emotions and had the right ending. *** 1/2

It would be hard for any Pay Per View presentation from Ring of Honor to live up to the massive success and critical acclaim of their last two shows "Driven" and "Man Up!" If I can borrow from High Fidelity yet again in my writing career, it is like creating a good mix tape: you have to start it out hot, and you have to keep building, but sometimes you have to cool it off some. This PPV was surely a cool off for ROH as compared to those earlier shows but it is also a little unfair to judge a PPV solely in comparison to previous efforts. On its own merits, "Undeniable" was a very good show with quite a few great and memorable moments and a few, but noticeable moments of weakness.

Good to very good ROH shows always give you bang for your buck and in the case of ROH "Undeniable", we have at least three matches that will deliver. It is a quality wrestling product that is still the best value for your wrestling PPV dollar at a price point of between ten and fifteen dollars a show. Not to order at least one ROH PPV at that price is just plain ridiculousness.

Not one match on this card was "bad" and the last three matches, the main event matches, ranged from very good to damned great. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong had a tremendous physical and athletic encounter that stands out as an early Match of the Year Candidate, The Briscoes provided another very good Briscoes match and there was tons of development for other storylines and wrestlers, including the incorporation of all the factions in ROH.

Final Score: 8.0 out of 10

Stay tuned to hear the 411 audio podcast with myself, Larry and Christi Csonka discussing the PPV!


ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 01/19/2008

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 3 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: 1- vs. Go Shiozaki Tokyo, Japan, 01/20/08
2- Steel Cage Match vs. Chris Hero, Dayton, OH 01/25/08

V.1 defeated Jay Briscoe, wristlock submission (10/21/07 San Francisco, CA)
V.2 defeated Chris Hero, wristlock submission (11/02/07 Philadelphia, PA)
V.3 defeated Austin Aries, Jawbreaker Lariat (12/29/07 Manhattan, NY)

ROH World Tag Team Champions—The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black) (champions since 12/30/07, 1 successful defense)

Next Defense: Ultimate Endurance

V.1 won Ultimate Endurance vs. The Briscoes vs. Jack Evans & Jigsaw vs. Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer (01/11/08 Boston, MA_

FIP Heavyweight Champion: Erick Stevens (since 12/30/2007)
SHIMMER Champion: Sara Del Rey (since 6/2/2007)
Top of the Class Trophy (For ROH Students): Ernie Osiris (since 11/02/2007)

Top Feuds & Pairings:

-Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero
-Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-The Vulture Squad vs. The Age of the Fall
-Delirious / Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Albright, Whitmer and Adam Pearce (The Hangman's Three)
-Claudio Castagnoli vs. Larry Sweeney / Daniel Puder
-Erick Stevens vs. Daniel Puder


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

ROH & Smashing Pumpkins Business Agreement

Ring Of Honor and Grammy award winning artists The Smashing Pumpkins have reached a partnership for a cross promotion. The Smashing Pumpkins' song "Doomsday Clock" off their latest album, Zeitgeist, will be featured prominently on ROH's "Undeniable" PPV, set to premiere tomorrow night (Friday, January 18th) on iN DEMAND, The DISH Network and TVN cable systems. Better yet, ROH has put together an exclusive video to "Doomsday Clock" that can now be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmp1HaBcRws and also on www.SmashingPumpkins.com for FREE. There will be an announcement in next week's ROHwrestling.com Newswire about a special giveaway sponsored by The Smashing Pumpkins.

I like the deal here—it's good for both parties. Although funnily enough, the Smashing Pumpkins fans have been hating on the deal and hating on professional wrestling in the comments section of the newsbit. Wrestling fans who dislike SP have been ragging on the deal as well. You know, Smashing Pumpkins aren't my favorite band of all time, but you can't argue with the quality of their radio singles and the success Billy Corgan has had in the music business. Can't everyone just get along? Oh wait, I forgot, I'm writing to the internet masses here, sorry, sorry, I just have stupid optimism sometimes.

At any rate, I don't think these fans quite get it. This is a win-win proposition—The Pumpkins gets to promote their music on an ROH show and ROH gets to promote their product to a larger audience—one of its goals that it has been following up on over the last year. This is just good business AND it has positive side effects. One of the most stand-out complaints about ROH on PPV is their limited ability to use authentic theme music for the shows due to sometimes exorbitant rights fees. Having an honest to goodness official song for a show and for a video package helps serve to fill that need. There is also free stuff that is going to be given away (and you can't argue with FREE).

Billy Corgan is a well known wrestling fan and on the official press release he states he is a huge fan of Ring of Honor. I'm sure that this helped in brokering the deal. Corgan also appeared for ECW back in late 2000 and as I think I've mentioned before I was at the ECW show at the Hammerstein where he played Steve Corino out to the ring. It was a very cool moment then and I wouldn't mind at all if Corgan made some sort of live appearance for ROH, maybe in the Chicago area.

BTW…does anyone see any similarities between Billy Corgan and Adam Pearce?


ROH Wrestlers Meet With Chris Nowinski to Discuss Concussions

This from the Figure Four Weekly:

Gabe Sapolsky flew Chris Nowinski to Boston to talk to the guys about the dangers of concussions. We're told everyone sat and listened to everything and appeared to take it to heart. Of course, what you think when you're sitting around listening to a guy and what you think (or don't think) in the heat of the moment are two completely different things. There was an unprotected chairshot to the head later in the show after he left.

Nigel McGuinness has read Nowinski's book cover-to-cover, which is one of the reasons he didn't work after suffering his latest head injury.

Also according to PWInsider and F4W, the reason Jay Briscoe was "written out" of the tag match at the end of the Edison show was that he took a very stiff shot from Jigsaw the night previous and was knocked out the previous night in Boston. ROH feared a possible concussion so they planned the injury angle for the match and the Vulture Squad replacement deal.

Well, you can't say that ROH doesn't react to criticism. Many fans and the internet wrestling websites have taken them to task over the last month as far as their treatment and high frequency of injuries and the high impact style they have been using in the matches. I don't know how large an extent of change there is goi8ng to be or even what fans should expect to have happen, but at least ROH is willing to listen to and bring in the experts on the subject. I think any changes, like reducing chairshots and such, is going to happen slowly because both the wrestlers and the fans are conditioned to seeing that action these days and its going to take time to adjust those expectations. I do like that ROH took preventative measures to deal with the injury. Lo and behold, there were also very little complaints about what they did as far as replacing Jay out of the match. Funny how ROH fans didn't give Nigel that kind of slack…okay, okay, I'll drop it…for now.


She Wants to Party All the Titles, Party All the Titles, Parrrrty allll the Titles

ROH's birthday is coming up!!! ROH will celebrate its 6th Anniversary Show on 2/23 in Manhattan. We already know that Bryan Danielson will challenge for the World Title that night. ROH officials have decided that all the belts featured in ROH will be on the line at the Manhattan Center. This includes the ROH World Tag Team, FIP World Heavyweight and SHIMMER Titles.

"All the titles on the line" is a good selling point for this show. Not all the titles have been defended on every show as of late, so guaranteeing all of the ROH affiliated belts will be defended ups the "must see" feel of this event. Unfortunately Chris Hero and Sara Del Rey's ultra prestigious Intergender Tag Team Titles will not be defended on this show as ROH refuses to recognize the title.


Probably Guaranteed to Be Better Run than the Cow Palace Convention

ATTENTION DAYTON!!! There will be a mini-convention when the Steel Cage is being set up for the Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero bout on January 25th. Several top ROH wrestlers will be available for autographs including Jay & Mark Briscoe. Also, a ROH star will be available to be interviewed by the fans.

One more match has been signed for Dayton. Austin Aries has been frustrated since New York. He needs to get back to winning. Jigsaw is seen as one of the most promising upcomers on the ROH roster for his high-flying ability. It will be Aries vs. Jigsaw on 1/25 in Datyon. Can Jigsaw score the upset and add to Aries' frustration?

It's been a while since ROH has done this "mini con" type of attraction—I'm thinking back maybe all the way to Final Battle 2003 when the All-Japan wrestlers including Great Muta appeared. ROH should be doing more meet & greets and giving back to the fans in that respect. A Q& A answer should be fun…just imagine if it's Delirious who participates!

I don't want people to ignore the subtle pretext of these announcements for New York and Dayton. Why is ROH trying to underline the special qualities of these shows? Well, TNA is running the same night as Dayton, so think about how ROH s setting up to counter that show and make it special by giving the fans a convention during intermission. Likewise, TNA is going to have two title matches on their Manhattan show debut (just two days before the sixth anny show), so for ROH to counter with FOUR title matches makes their show stand out that much more in comparison to TNA.


Miracle Violence Connection 3.0?

The tests for Stevens will continue on 1/26 in Chicago. Austin Aries has challenged Stevens to a Dream Partner Tag Team Match. Stevens has accepted. Aries has revealed his choice to be Bryan Danielson. These two competitive rivals showcased what kind of teamwork they are capable of on 12/30 in Manhattan. Stevens has countered by choosing a man that he teamed up with to gain a big win last time in Chicago. It will be Aries & Danielson vs. Stevens & Jay Briscoe on 1/26 in Chicago.

Stevens may have bit off too much in defeating Danielson and Aries because now he's got the top dogs of the promotion mad at him. They want their win back. Stevens and Jay Briscoe have that nice brawler / tough guy chemistry going between them and you know that it won't be long before they use those skills to their advantage against the more technical opponents.

Brent Albright vs. Jack Evans has been signed for 1/26 in Chicago.

Sounds good to me.


McGuinness to Give it a Go in Japan

ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness will defend the ROH World Title against Go Shiozaki at the historic Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on January 20th.

This should be a match to pay attention to considering Go has been heavily hyped and will look to come to ROH in the coming months. Nigel has been very well protected on the latest tour of NOAH, winning most of the matches he's been involved with and only losing twice but not taking the fall in either of those matches. NOAH usually treats the ROH World Champion well in the booking of their tours. Danielson, when he toured as champion, was built up incredibly high to build uo to his big rematch against KENTA. Morishima was consistently featured as ROH World Champion and even was in the main event the Budokan as champ. McGuinness likewise has been given the proper respect for being ROH World Champion, as well as now being a longer time gaijin wrestler for the company.


You're Gonna Get Hit, This is the Ultimate

Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black retained the ROH World Tag Team Titles in an insane Ultimate Endurance last Friday in Boston. The match was so wild that ROH wants to bring it to the Midwest. All the factions and teams are running neck-to-neck as challengers. The scheduled Tag Team Scramble in Chicago will now be changed to an Ultimate Endurance. It is elimination rules. The first fall with all four teams is a Tag Team Scramble, the second fall with the remaining three teams will be I Quit and the third fall with the last two teams will be for the ROH World Tag Team Titles.

Of course, some of the AotF sycophantic supporters and rubes have claimed that ROH is continuing to book Jacobs and Black in the Ultimate Endurance stipulation matches in order to stack the deck against the champions. I think these people are obviously delusional…


The Long Island Sound of the Vulture

There is one loose end that needs to be tied up from the Generation Next days and faction warfare. There is one match that needs to take place. It will happen in Long Island. Feb. 22nd will see Austin Aries vs. Jack Evans!!!

The first talent roster has been released for 2/22 in Long Island. There will be more big names added. Right now officially signed are: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness; ROH World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black; FIP World Heavyweight Champion Erick Stevens; Bryan Danielson; No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero; Kevin Steen & El Generico; The Vulture Squad of Ruckus & Jigsaw with Julius Smokes; The Necro Butcher; Brent Albright; plus many others will be announced!!!

No real big surprises as far as the announcement of the wrestlers. I think LI will dig Necro Butcher a lot and it will be interesting to see how McGuinness is booked on that show considering the title match the next night. Will he wrestle, be in a tag match or sit it out in order to "protect himself" and further stir up controversy? I have no clue. Not much to add about Aries vs. Evans other than it might compound Aries' frustrations if he loses to Evans after being on the snide at the end of '07 / beginning of '08. Maybe we even go full circle and have Aries turn heel here by stabbing Evans in the back after the match (like Strong did to Aries one year previous)?


Open the Gate and Bring the Dragons In!

ROH and Dragon Gate officials are finalizing negotiations for exactly what names will be on the 3/28 & 29 Orlando events. Fans will definitely see a lot of familiar faces from Dragon Gate. It is safe to say with this much talent that there will be two supercards that weekend.

I think CIMA is a lock as well as the return of SHINGO. Let's hope for the debut of BxB Hulk as well, who was once booked for the ROH show in Osaka but had to pull out due to injury.


Hero's Sandwich



January 18, 2008


To Whom It May Concern:

We, the legal representatives of one Chris Hero are sending you this letter to inform you of a potential lawsuit that you have opened yourself to over the past seven days. As Mr. Hero convalesced from his recent knee injury, the publishers and operators of 411mania.com, as well as the writer of the Column of Honor, Ari Berenstein, and his replacement for the January 12th, 2008 edition, Jerome Cusson, have perpetrated a hoax upon the readership of said column, and had an unknown individual present himself to the general public as our client, Mr. Chris Hero. For those of you who lack in legal knowledge, this is a textbook example of FRAUD. Mr. Hero's contract with the Column of Honor and 411mania.com specifically states that he is the only person who can write his segment, unless he waives said right and provides his own agent to do so. If Mr. Hero is not given a full and public apology inside of the next Column of Honor edition, further legal remedies will have to be applied, to an extent that is far more damaging than only an apology. If Mr. Hero's demands are not met post haste, he will be forced to have the litigators and agents of Conem, Fleecem and Sue deliver a multi-million dollar lawsuit to the offices of 411mania and the homes of both Mr. Berenstein and Mr. Cusson. While it is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, however, my client, Mr. Hero believes that the hoax you perpetrated last week went far beyond imitation, as whomever it was who presented themselves as Mr. Hero was not even a mediocre replacement. To even a new reader, it was more than obvious that whomever it was who was masquerading as Mr. Hero was a complete amateur and could not, in any way, shape or form, actually be Mr. Hero. As stated earlier in this document, if a public apology is not rendered IMMEDIATELY, all necessary legal remedies will be applied, and will continue until the funds that keep 411mania in operation are exhausted. Mr. Hero knows that the aforementioned internet entertainment website will not be able to survive any protracted legal battle with himself and Sweet & Sour Incorporated, so consider this a warning for now. Make sure to act quickly, or Mr. Hero's benevolence will expire, and your publication will cease to exist. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.


Sincerely,

The Legal Team of Conem, Fleecem, and Sue


Terrific…more legal action from the legal begals in Hero and Sweeney's corporate kennel. I'm starting to think I never should have taken that week off after all…

I'll be back in a little bit with the late afternoon second part of Column of Honor.