Column of Honor: 04.26.08: Disarray

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 04.26.2008

Chaos enters the lives of Jacobs, Aries and Lacey. Mark Briscoe’s wrist injury, Tim Donst gets brainwashed by Ultramantis Black, why I think ROH made the wrong move in editing the Sweeney segment on the Sixth Anniversary Show DVD and much more.

Welcome to the Column.



Ring Toss
-Disarray
-ROH Results: April 19th in Chicago Ridge, IL
-ROH Call
-ROH News:
-My Fave 5
-Honorarium
-Name That Tune
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links


Disarray

Every once in a while, Ring of Honor likes to take the game of cards on the table and completely flip the table upside down.

After the events of Chicago Ridge, Illinois, you could definitely say that the game has changed for Jimmy Jacobs, Austin Aries, Lacey and The Age of the Fall. You can say that all of their lives are now in more disarray and confusion than ever before.

It was on this show that Austin Aries revealed that he and Lacey were now together as lovers and that he would not be joining Jacobs' Age of the Fall group that had been courting him for months on end. Ironically, it looked that even though Lacey had dispatched herself to convince Aries to join The Fall, she had fallen herself; that is, fallen for Aries' charms, good looks and well, maybe his bedroom manner as well.

The look on Jacobs face as Aries revealed that he had been sleeping with his girl was a collage of denial, disbelief, pain and anger. In a way, the old Jimmy Jacobs, the emo- Jimmy Jacobs, revealed himself once again. He half didn't want to believe what he had just heard, looking for any way out of dealing with the reality of the situation. He called out over and over again for Lacey to come out and explain the situation, to make it go away. Instead, Aries gave Jacobs a warning not to get involved in his or Lacey's business and let them go their separate ways.

Of course, fans in attendance and likely even Aries himself had to expect that would not happen. By the end of the night, both men would meet again, and it would not be a talk, but rather an all out brawl. For Jacobs, the rest of the night would be a catharsis of emotion and that meant a showdown with Austin Aries.

Jacobs looked for many methods to cope with the emotional and psychological scars of the revelations from the last several hours. These methods included turning his anger inwards into bouts of crying and self loathing, but mostly it involved turning his anger outward into physical manifestations. He sicced Necro Butcher on the unsuspecting Ring of Honor students. He attacked Austin Aries and had him nearly dead to rights before Lacey begged him to spare her new man. He also gave Mark Briscoe a deep stab to the wrist, thus providing some disarray in the life of the Briscoe brothers.

This weekend also had some unfortunate changes for current ROH World Tag Team Champions. Mark Briscoe needs surgery on his wrist ligaments, which were reported as completely torn and in worse shape than originally thought. Although the injury in storyline terms stems from Jimmy Jacobs "stabbing" him during the attack from Chicago Ridge, Briscoe actually suffered the injury sometime during the ROH "Double Feature" shows in Dover, New Jersey back in mid-March.

It was kind of crazy to read fan reactions on this site and other message boards that actually believed that Jacobs had been the real reason Mark suffered the wrist injury. The clarion call was that ROH had gone too far and that Mark Briscoe didn't need to take those risks. Needless to say, these fans probably haven't seen a lot of ROH action and thus didn't know that Jacobs has made a career's work out of using the spike as a foreign object to leave his opponents bloody and beaten. Actually, that probably means they also didn't watch a lot of Sabu, The Sheik or Abdullah the Butcher either. "Stabbing" incidents are just another one of those ugly parts of wrestling that has been around for years on end, certainly before Ring of Honor. That didn't stop people from blaming Jacobs and ROH, in both a real and kayfabe stance for the incident. Unreal.

I do have to say that I was perturbed to hear that Ring of Honor knew of the injury and even though the doctors said it would be okay to wrestle on it, they still took the big risk of moving the belts onto The Briscoes last week in Edison, NJ. Not that this is a knock on The Briscoes as far their skills and abilities, but rather an admission that they were getting a bit redundant and stale as champions. Many fans, including myself thought that the Briscoes needed a longer break away from championship status. Therefore, maybe Mark's injury is a blessing in disguise, as when he comes back from his injury (said to be between three to six months) Their act will seem fresh and new again and many will be excited to have them participating once again.

There seemed to be a limit as to what could be done with The Briscoes at this point as champions, as they had run through a majority of the tag teams still in the division in their previous run during 2007. Other teams however, needed the extra boost you can get from a run at the top. The NRC were finally legitimizing their title run and looked strong and cohesive as an act when they lost the belts. They also had an ongoing angle with Kevin Steen and El Generico that looked like it would resolve itself in a series of matches where Steen & Generico would win the ROH World Tag Team titles, either in New York City at the big Hammerstein Ballroom debut or soon after.

I have been looking forward to a run for Steen & Generico at the top of the tag division for a while now, but in a way it seems like they're farther away than they've ever been from getting there. I don't like that one bit, because I feel their time as champions is right here and right now. Steen and even Generico are riding a wave of momentum in popularity and fan acceptance and ROH needs to capitalize on that as much as possible before it stops.

ROH decided to keep Jay Briscoe as champion with "a partner of his choosing" as opposed to vacating the titles and running a tournament for the belts. Briscoe picked Austin Aries, who had been a tag team champion before. There is precedent for this as BJ Whitmer was allowed to keep the belts and name a partner after Dan Maff was gone from the promotion. His partner—Jimmy Jacobs. Briscoe and Aries put the ROH World Tag Team belts on the line against Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs in Manhattan on May 10th, so in a way it all comes around full circle.

Some fans are speculating that the events of last week are just a set up to allow Aries to trick Briscoe and they can do the old "Four Horseman" gag of setting up and turning on a tag partner. It would be a pretty genius plan if that was the case, as it would get the tag titles back to the Age of the Fall. It is certainly possible for this to be the case and thus prove once again Jacob's axiom of "love doesn't save, nothing saves" and that sex and love are unimportant in his life. However, I see more money in the Aries vs. Jacobs feud as opposed to the revelation that Aries and Jacobs are working together. Fans can relate to the whole girl being stolen away storyline, and whether they side with Aries or Jacobs, the feelings and emotions are palpable and translate well into wrestling storylines. It sets up many blood feud matches between Aries and the rest of The Age, something Ring of Honor needs right now.

Ring of Honor seemed to hit a bit of a plateau over the last few months, sort of chugging along with some good to great matches but nothing all that compelling as far as a storyline other than the saga of Nigel McGuinness and his relationship with the fans. Now Ring of Honor has a very compelling storyline that sets up as having a ton of juice to it and a ton of potential as to where it all can go. After reading the results of last Saturday in Chicago, I was more excited than I have been in the last three months of watching Ring of Honor. I can't wait to watch and to see how this all plays out. In some ways, intrigue and disarray go hand in hand in professional wrestling. There is much of both in these developments in the saga of Jimmy Jacobs.


ROH Results: 04/19/08 from Chicago Ridge, IL

Matches
Pre Show:
-Danny Daniels and Rhett Titus defeated Trik Davis and Ernie Osiris.

Main Show:
-Austin Aries defeated Silas Young via submission with the Horns of Aries.
-Mitch Franklin and Alex Payne no contest as they are interrupted by Jimmy Jacobs.
-Necro Butcher defeated Franklin and Payne in minutes and gets a double pin.
-Claudio Castagnoli and Pelle Primeau defeated Adam Pearce and Brent Albright via pinfall after the Ricola Bomb to Albright.
-MsChif won a SHIMMER Four Corner Survival by pinning Ashley Lane. The match also involved Lacey and Daizee Haze.
-Chris Hero defeated Delirious via pinfall with a loaded elbow pad and a roaring elbow. - The Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin defeated ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoes in a non-title match after Shelley pinned Mark via a top rope sliced bread # 2.
-Kota Ibushi defeated El Generico via pinfall after a twisting phoenix splash.
-The Age of the Fall of Zack Gowen, Tyler Black & Joey Mathews defeated The Vulture Squad of Jack Evans, Ruckus & Jigsaw when Black pinned Jigsaw with the Small Package Driver.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuiness retained the title by defeating Kevin Steen via pinfall after the jawbreaker lariat.

Angles & Issues

-The Saga of Jimmy Jacobs: As detailed in the feature piece above, this show was almost all about the developments in the storyline between Jacobs, Aries and Lacey. After Aries' match, Jacobs came out to congratulate Aries for joining the Age of the Fall. He warned Aries not to touch his things (meaning Lacey). Aries' retorted that he was not joining Age of the Fall, that he thought Jacobs was a lot of what he ate last night and that Lacey and he were now an item. Lacey was leaving Age of the Fall to join Aries, and that if Jacobs knew what was best for him, he'd stay away from them both. Jacobs was in disbelief and throughout the rest of the night suffered a nervous breakdown.

As the ROH students prepared for their match, they were interrupted by Jacobs, who said he would prove to Aries that AotF was action and not all about talk. He sics Necro on them, who then proceeds to devastate the students while also talking some smack to Morishima, whom he will fight on May 10th.

After the Four Corner Survival match, Jacobs confronts Lacey about what is going on. Lacey wants to talk in a private forum and yells at the fans not to get involved. Aries comes out and he and Lacey make out right in front of Jimmy, who sits down in the ring crying in shame and hurt. In a funny moment seen on the videowire, fans through streamers at Jimmy and they curl upwards in the air and land in ring at this very same moment. Age of the Fall comes out to help Jimmy to the back.

-In another segment, Jimmy Jacobs called out Austin Aries and they have a fight, with Jacobs winning on Aries with the help of his AotF members. Jacobs has Aries tied up to the ropes and holds a spike to his throat, but Lacey runs down to stop Jacobs from hurting Aries. Jacobs does not stab or spike Aries and breaks down again. Lacey and Aries leave together. Finally, after the Machine Guns vs. Briscoes match, we get the Age of the Fall and Jacobs one more time coming out to fight. Shelley and Sabin motion that they have tied the series with The Briscoes at one match apiece. The fans were calling for one more match. Both teams shook hands and held each other's arms up. After the MCMG left, the Age of the Fall came out to attack the Briscoes. This is where Jacobs stabbed Mark Briscoe in the arm and he ran to the back.

Accidental (?) Overtones: Brent Albright has been having his differences with Sweet & Sour Inc. Now he can add a bit of tension with Adam Pearce as Pearce accidentally hit him with a bag (filled with something mysterious, like maybe a Batman suit or something) that knocked him out during the tag match against Claudio and Primeau. Albright was left alone and Pearce walked to the back by himself, although it does not seem as if this is an immediate sign of Albright leaving The Inc.

Return Date: June 28th, 2008


ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 04/26/2008

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 12 successful defenses)
-defeated Takeshi Morishima in Edison, New Jersey to win the championship.

Next Defense:: vs. Claudio Castagnoli, Manhattan, NY, 05/10/08

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)
V.4 defeated Go Shiozaki, London Dungeon (wristlock submission) (01/20/08 Tokyo, Japan,)
V.5 Steel Cage Match: defeated Chris Hero (01/25/08, Dayton, OH)
V.6 defeated Roderick Strong, Jawbreaker Lariat (01/26/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.7 defeated Bryan Danielson, London Dungeon (02/23/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.8 defeated Tyler Black, London Dungeon (03/16/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.9 defeated Larry Sweeney, Jawbreaker Lariat (03/22/08 Crystal River, FL)
V.10 defeated Austin Aries, Jawbreaker Lariat (03/29/08 Orlando, FL)
V.11 defeated Erick Stevens, London Dungeon (04/11/08 Boston, MA)
V.11 defeated Kevin Steen, roll up holding the ropes (04/12/08 Edison, NJ)
V.12 defeated Kevin Steen, Jawbreaker Lariat (04/19/08 Chicago Ridge, IL)

**

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe Austin Aries (champions since 04/12/08, NEW CHAMPIONS)
-Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards & Rocky Romero) in Edison, NJ to win the championship.
-Austin Aries replaces Mark Briscoe as of 04/21/08 as Jay's partner after Mark's wrist injury prevents him from defending belt

Next Defense: vs. Age of the Fall (Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs), Manhattan, NY 05/10/08

**

Sweet & Sour Incorporated Presents The Intergender Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Of The World —Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey (champions since 01/12/08, 2 successful defenses)
Status Unknown since Del Rey has left Sweet & Sour Inc. as of 3/14/08

V.1 defeated Ernie Osiris & Alexa Thatcher (01/12/08, Edison, NJ)
V.2 defeated Kyle Durden & Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne (01/26/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)

**

FIP Heavyweight Champion: Roderick Strong (since 02/16/2008)
-defeated Erick Stevens via count out to win the title (FIP title can change hands on count out)
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 defends the belt against top contenders
-Nigel McGuinness vs. Kevin Steen
-Nigel McGuinness vs. Claudio Castagnoli
-Austin Aries / Jimmy Jacobs
-Motor City Machine Guns invade ROH this weekend
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. No Remorse Corps
-Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong
-Sweet & Sour Inc. "Corporate Takeover"


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

Manassas Mayhem

Jay Briscoe doesn't want to wait to get his hands on Jimmy Jacobs. He won't have to as ROH will return to action on 5/9 in Manassas, VA. ROH is heading south for a huge debut in Virginia. Just signed is a grudge match pitting Jay Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs!!!

The Virginia debut will have some local flavor as one of the best talents from the area, Damien Wayne, has been added to the show.

Another new match has been signed for the 5/9 debut in Manassas, Virginia as ROH heads southbound. In a rematch of "Final Battle 2007" it will be Jack Evans vs. The Necro Butcher in a No DQ Match. Evans won the first wild encounter, but it wasn't a decisive win. Now these two will settle things in Virginia.


Some more fuel has been put into the fire that is Briscoes vs. Age of the Fall. It seems most of the heat comes from when Jay and / or Mark get tortured by them, and there wasn't a lot of that since the beginning of their feud back in the fall of '07. Now that Mark is out on the shelf, the extra motivation for Jay should put more buzz in this and future matches. Damien Wayne has appeared on ROH pre show matches before and I think I actually saw him once in Edison, NJ. He looked good to me, so for him to appear as a local for the Virginia show sounds just fine. And eh, I know its hype, but since when is a roll up clean pinfall count NOT a decisive victory? That is how the fight in NYC ended between Evans and Necro. I'm not saying ROH shouldn't book Evans vs. Necro again, but I don't buy into the set up when it's obviously not the truth of the matter. Just book the match and say both men want to fight each other; that's it.


Claudio to Receive Title Shot in Manhattan

It's official!!! As revealed in the latest ROH Video Wire, Claudio Castagnoli will challenge ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness for the World Title at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 10th. Castagnoli is out to prove that he is not a joke. McGuinness struck a nerve with Castagnoli by calling him the "hey guy" and saying he doesn't have what it takes to be World Champion. Now Castagnoli is determined to prove him wrong and realize his potential. Castagnoli has all the tools from size to strength to agility to charisma and now it is time for him to pull it all together and win the ROH World Title.

Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli will have a chance at each other at ROH's 5/9 Manassas, Virginia debut. We'll have the specific match next week in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire.

Tag Team Scramble action will also be added to the Hammerstein Ballroom debut. We'll have the participants in next week's ROHwrestling.com Newswire.


Everyone could see the title match between McGuinness and Castagnoli being set up for Manhattan, but its good to have final confirmation of the bout, because it's that one last match that can set the event over the top. It almost brings to mind the same feeling I got when I heard of Aries vs. Shelley for the ROH World Title at the first Manhattan Mayhem. There is the real possibility for a title switch here (although I don't think it will happen as yet) In the absence of a compelling finale between Morishima and Danielson, fans gets four top tier matches and hopefully they will all deliver enough to replace the whole in the card that is Mori vs. Dragon. Nigel vs. Claudio will likely fight in a tag team situation in Virginia. I could see sort of a "parejas increibles" situation with Steen partnering with McGuinness (Steen just fought him in two title matches) and Generico teaming up with Claudio (they have a more friendly rivalry at play but Claudio did just pin the man last week in Detroit). Tag team scrambles have worked over the last several shows in NYC, so another one sounds like a good idea, but also sounds like a way to jam as much talent as possible onto the rest of the card since the upper card is so heavy with top level matches.


ROH Video Wire: April 23rd, 2008





Reading Material During a Storm

Lance Storm has an interesting commentary on ROH with lots of behind the scenes details at: http://www.stormwrestling.com/042108.html

Johnny Fairplay also plugs his upcoming appearance in Ring of Honor in this internet article on rollingstone.com: http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/caprilounge/2008/04/the-capri-lounge-interview-jon.php

You can read an interview with ROH announcer Lenny Leonard here.

Also of note is that William Regal in an interview with The Sun in the United Kingdom, talked up both Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness as top talents in the wrestling world right now. Hmmm, the man knows ‘em when he sees ‘em.


;

These are the wrestlers on my fave five list right now. What that means is that I really enjoyed their efforts and performance in one way or another. This is different from the Wrestler of the Week feature because I am including the wrestling DVDs I watched over the last week, not just mainstream TV or PPV. Also, I'm measuring personal enjoyment, not determining who had the "best week ever".

So who's in my fave five this week?

1. William Regal & CM Punk : It was Monday Night Punk or Punk is Raw last week and as a huge supporter of the guy that made my heart proud. I figured he wasn't going to win the King of the Ring tournament as a heel is usually the one who walks away with that mantle. Plus the fix was in by Regal, who made sure he had the easiest route possible to the tournament finals. Good show by both men along the way.
2. Ultramantis Black, Tim Donst & Crossbones: I was catching up on some of the Chikara podcast videos and came across this special one minute promo and couldn't help but crack up in laughter. It seems that young Timothy Donst took a bad bump somewhere along the way and now can't remember who he is. Ultramantis has taken it upon himself to construct a DEVIOUSLY EVIL plot to brainwash Donst into believing he is a part of the Order of the Neo Solar Temple. This includes replacing American as apple pie with vegan treats and convincing Donst that he cannot trust anyone else besides the Order. GENIUS!





3. Jimmy Jacobs: Ffor the overall greatness of the last weekend of storyline development.
4. Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli: A very nice little tete-a-tete during the video wire reveals a new side to Claudio—the man does indeed have a temper if you push him too far. Nigel's crack of "Baldeo" is neo-classic. In just a short amount of time, they have built this match up as a believable and developing grudge.
5. Kofi Kingston: The man likes fair play and good times. His backstage segment with Shelton was just what it should have been and used his fun, babyface character the start an interesting new pairing with someone on the roster who can give him a good match in the ring. Kofi is a fun character to watch and well, I may be the whitest white guy out there, but even I can't help but bust a move when I hear S.O.S. on the TV screen. Maybe one of the very few reasons left to watch ECW these days. Well, that and Layla El and Kelly Kelly.



Honorarium

- I have to take ROH to task on one thing this week and that is for not showing the full Larry Sweeney incident at Sixth Anniversary Show on the DVD. There are some major and heavy edits to the segment, the sum of which alters irrevocably the impression of the segment. What fans who were not there live will see through home video IS NOT the full scope of what actually went down that night. What is shown on video is just a short piece of what was actually said and done by Sweeney and what was actually said and done by the fans. I have to say that although I understand why these edits were done, I'm pretty disappointed that they were in fact done.

The problem is this—ROH wanted fans "to see for themselves" what all the controversy was about as far as the sexual overtones and the so-called "rape" incident. ROH manipulated what the fans at home saw and that becomes a distorted lens as to the degree to which this angle may or may have not offended. I'm already reading commentaries from fans watching the DVD from home saying what's the big deal? These fans would be right, because there really isn't a lot of a" big deal" to be had in what is presented to them. They are missing out on the segments such as Larry's over the top comments and some of his more aggressive and physical actions towards Danger in that segment. They are therefore missing out on what some fans considered offensive and too over the line for professional wrestling.

I expected ROH to present the full video of what happened so that everyone could see the full scope of the angle. I didn't expect them to cut out the comments of the fans like "Man Up" and Sweeney's "suck her tits" comment. This isn't just an editing of a botched move, this is something far more serious and with far greater consequence. Now, I won't pretend this is as serious a scandal as it would be if a news show had manipulated video evidence to make something seem more or less sensationalist. Yet,the results for me are the same as that situation and that is I have lost some of the "trust" I have for a company I expected much better from when it comes to dealing with controversial angles.

ROH didn't have to run from the truth or cover up anything here and yet they did. That is worrisome for me, a devoted fan and a customer. I was there at the show and I saw what happened; I was not offended. I did not think what happened was "rape" nor did I see the problem with portraying Allison Danger being the victim of a physical attack by Sweeney. As I said when it originally happened and what I maintain now is that this is professional wrestling and not to expect the possibility of this happening in such a situation is either naive or ignorant of the structure of angles and storylines in wrestling. Yet, if I wasn't live in attendance for that show and watched the DVD, I know that I would have the same reaction as those who are writing comments that the fans in attendance overreacted and that ROH should never have apologized in the first place. That is the deliberate and purposeful misleading of the fans who were not there and in my mind its worse than anything that was presented in the ring for that Sweeney / Dempsey / Danger angle.

Now there is a huge question mark in my mind for the future events and how they are presented. What if something equally controversial happens in Chicago? It's not feasible that I can go to shows in that area. If I'm told to judge for myself, how do I know it's what really went down or if some manipulation occurred between the live event and the finished product?

Instead of depending upon the DVD itself, I'll have to depend on the live reports from fans in attendance to seek out the truth. And to have to do that when I thought I could just get it straight from the source is what really sucks.


Going Home

Name That Tune Week 32

Clue: goes both ways.
Lyric:"I've been too long, I'm glad to be back."

Tammy Sytch is definitely back on the wrestling scene and made some good impressions thus far in her run in ROH. She comes out to AC/DC's "Back in Black" (as did her husband Chris Candido) at these shows. Let's see who got the right answer:

This Week's Winners (listed in order of entry)
-Holski—jumps to the front of the line by get it right almost immediately after the column went live.
-soulpower
-premiumblandrew—sneaks in right before the buzzer!


Congrats to this week's winners and thanks for playing. Now its time for Name that Tune! for this week, April 26th, 2008!

Clue: Sex Pistols
Lyric: "Pleased to meet you!"

What's the name of the song and the artist?

It's a very tough week this time around, so let me say that first of all the Sex Pistols ARE NOT the group that I'm looking for. Look them up though and see where that gets you.

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


Ringtones

Holski adds of the possibility of ROH Canada shows (still yet to be officially confirmed mind you):

Nice to see ROH is finally headed up here to Canada in the "Toronto Area". If they book the show outside of the city itself, I hope they have the decency to place it to the east. Give Montreal and Ottawa a break and make the Detroit people drive through the traffic nightmare that is T.O.; the Motor City has already had its shows.

Hopefully ROH goes through with the Canada shows. I jumped the gun in reporting it last week, but no official announcement yet. The show would come before Detroit on July 26th, so…it's a possibility.


mx729 writes back with an interesting question:

I've been checking out a lot of Ring of Honor DVD's wanting to get an insight of the days when Homicide, Joe, Danielson, Daniels, Punk, etc... Were all still around as compared to today's [new and remaining] "stars" (I guess) like Steen, Generico, Delirious, Evans, Claudio, Jacobs. I was curious as to what you would consider as being the greatest overall Ring of Honor show/DVD

It's just so hard to nail it down to one pick as Ring of Honor is almost heading towards its 200th show. ROH is the type of promotion where you could almost name 20-30 "must buys" DVDs at the drop of the hat. I still feel that "Manhattan Mayhem" holds up to this day as one of the greatest overall shows as far as in ring quality, story telling, promos and excitement. It being the NYC debut show still holds a dear memory in my mind and may make the pick a bit biased but there it is. I'd also have to give some love to "Better Than Our Best", which may be the definitive show held in Chicago, although the first half of the "Man Up" live show may give it a run for its money.
I guess I'll throw it out there to the readers of the column. What do YOU feel is the definitive / best overall ROH show? Post your thoughts in the comments thread.



**The Independent Buy In**

2008
**CHIKARA "Cibernetico & Robin" (Torneo Cibernetico: Kings of Wrestling vs. Dorado's Luchadores, The Olsen Twins / Cheech & Cloudy, Quackenbush / Donst, The Colony / BLK OUT ) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA "Brusied" (Kingston / Donst, Campeones de Parejas: F.I.S.T. vs. Incoherence / Castagnoli / Taylor, The Colony / Brodie Lee & Olsen Twins, Cheech & Cloudy / Osirian Portal ) High Recommendation
**Pro Wrestling NOAH "Special Budokan Double Shot"7/15 & 9/9/07 (Determination League Semi Finals & Finals, NTV Cup Finals)High Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 1 (Castagnoli / Williams, Evans / Pac, Black / Shelley, Aries / Strong, PWG Tag Titles: Generico & Steen / Dragon Kid & Susumu Yokosuka)Medium Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2 (CIMA / Tornado, Steen / Butcher, McGuinness / Richards, Kid / Yokosuka) Low Recommendation
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 3 (the entire show) High Recommendation
**Shimmer Volume 11 (Sarah Stock / MsChif, Sarah Stock / Cheerleader Melissa, Sara Del Rey / Cindy Rogers, Nikki Roxx / Lacey, Daizee Haze / Malia Hosaka, Allison Danger / Hosaka)High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Volume 12 (Del Rey / Lacey, Del Rey / Sarah Stock, Haze / Lacey, Portuguese Princess Ariel / Josie / Nikki Roxx / Portia Perez, Melissa & MsChif / Lexie Fyfe & Hosaka)High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 13 (Melissa / Portuguese Princess Ariel, "Dark Angel" Sarah Stock / Daizee Haze, Portia Perez / MsChif, Del Rey & Roxx vs. Rain & Lacey, O'Neal vs. Melissa) Medium Recommendation
**SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 14 (SHIMMER Title: Del Rey / Lacey, Nikki Roxx / Amazing Kong, Two out of Three falls: Allison Danger / Cindy Rogers, Portuguese Princess Ariel / Amber O'Neal) Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA The Battle of Who Could Care Less (Incoherence & Tim Donst / BLK OUT, Claudio Castagnoli & Equinox / Hero & Hawke, Lince Dorado & Pantera / Olsen Twins, Quackenbush & The Colony / F.I.S.T. / Osirian Portal) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA The Sordid Perils of Everyday Existence (Campeones de Parejas: Incoherence / Cheech & Cloudy, Lucha de Apresta: Chris Hero / Equinox, F.I.S.T., Ellis, Ryder / Quack / Donst / Super Smash Bros.) Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA Chapter 11 (Hallowicked / Kingston, Colony / Super Smash Brothers & Shane Storm, Tex-Arkana Title Match: Alvarez / Sweeney, Quack, Trik Davis & Helios / Shayne Hawke & The Osirian Portal, MIYAWAKI, Hasegawa & Pantera / Cheech & Cloudy & Delirious) High Recommendation

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

411's Buy or Sell goes very heavy on ROH, FIP and SHIMMER topics this week.

Samuel Berman covers the debut of the Age of the Fall in this week's Independent Mid Card.

Jarrod Westerfield has a ton of criticism and a ton of praise for many of the events going on right now in ROH in his Scripted Through Sin column.

I do have to respectfully disagree with his comments on how ROH has built the contenders status of recent challengers. Aside from the random Four Corner Survival for a title shot from earlier in the month, I think the major contenders have been built up or in some way earned their title shot and proved they earned it over the long haul. Aries won the series against Danielson and earning contention. Danielson won the elimination match at Final Battle 2007 to get to Sixth Anniversary Show as the number one contender. Steen and Claudio have been on massive winning streaks in 2008 to build up their right to claim a title shot. Lots of justifications there that I can believe in.

Ultimately do I think there should be a renewed effort to do a top five rankings or a contender's ring? Sure, I thought both those concepts were very valid and workable forms of building up contenders. Yet what is being done right now to build contender's isn't bad at all, just a bit of a more traditional format of getting the challengers set up for title shots.


Honor Bound Links

Aaron Hubbard discusses TNA's overall role in professional wrestling these past five years.

Corke discusses the overall meaning of winning King of the Ring.

High Road / Low Road on King of the Ring.

Larry Csonka (now WITH Mike Adamle) on the Wrestling 4R's.

Bayani Domingo on the WWE's recent move to involve more minorities.

Michael Weyer on the life and times of Andy Kaufman.

Jake Chambers goes waaaaaay out there in terms of deciding a new way to have title matches.

Torkel looks at Undertaker's wins at Wrestlemania that should have been losses.

Cook answers your questions in Ask 411.


Next week the "controversial" Jerome Cusson is back as the substitute teacher for Column of Honor. Stop throwing paper airplanes in class behind his back and do the work I assigned you! Anyway, he'll preview the Manassas, VA and Manhattan, NY shows and I'm sure he'll have plenty on his mind to speak on in terms of current Ring of Honor action.

I'll be back in two weeks to offer my own preview for the Manhattan show. Also, "My Two Cents" is likely on its way back as a part of this column at that point. Keep a look out. See everyone in two weeks!

BROOKLYN!
-Ari-