Column of Honor: 09.27.08: Early Afternoon Edition: “Survival”, Pearce, on Endangered Species List

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 09.27.2008

The first of two editions of the column reports on Adam Pearce leaving Ring of Honor and the cancellation of two shows in Florida. What’s going on? Plus, results from Glory By Honor VII in Philadelphia and thoughts on Death Before Dishonor VI now on DVD.

My X-Box is now gone, sent off for repair (Ethernet port damage) and I feel somehow empty…like there is a void in my life. My Les Paul guitar controller gently weeps because I must now wait to play Rock Band 2 once more. I know there are worse things going on in the world, but please allow me a moment of silence to grieve the absence of my precious.


Thank you.

This is the first of two editions this week. I was not able to watch the New Horizons Pay Per View last night, so I hope to catch the afternoon replay in a few hours. I'll include a report on that in a late evening edition of the column. This edition focuses on the breaking news of ROH postponing shows in Florida, as well as most of the regular and weekly department features.

Welcome to the Column.



Ring Toss
-ROH Results: Glory By Honor VII, September 20th 2008
-Endangered Species List
-ROH Call
-ROH News
-My Fave Five
-Honorarium
-The Song Book
-Ringtones
-Independent Buy In
-ROH @ 411
-Honor Bound Links


-ROH Results: Glory By Honor VII in Philadelphia, PA from September 20th 2008

Matches
-Jerry Lynn defeated Kenny King via pinfall with a Cradle Piledriver.
-Adam Pearce defeated Brent Albright via submission with the Crowbar to regain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
-FIP World Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki retained his title by defeating Kevin Steen via pinfall after two Go Flashers.
-GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson retained his title by defeating challenger Katsuhiko Nakajima via submission with the Cattle Mutilation.
-Erick Stevens defeated Rhett Titus via pinfall with a Doctor Bomb.
-Sweet & Sour Incorporated of Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards, & Shane Hagadorn defeated Roderick Strong, Ruckus, & Jigsaw.
-GHC Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki defeated Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall with a Northern Lights Bomb in a non-title match.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness retained his title by defeating challenger El Generico by pinfall when he roll through a brainbuster for a three-count.
-The team of Austin Aries and The Briscoes won the second ever Steel Cage Warfare match by defeating the team of The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Delirious and the one-man team of Necro Butcher.

Order of Entry: 1 & 2. Austin Aries & Tyler Black 3. Jimmy Jacobs 4. Necro Butcher 5. Jay Briscoe 6. Delirious 7. Mark Briscoe
Order of Elimination: 1. Necro Butcher is eliminated by both Aries & Jacobs 2. Austin Aries is eliminated by Jacobs' End Time. 3. Delirious is eliminated via Briscoes' Doomsday Device. 5 & 6. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black are simultaneously eliminated with Jay Driller and Cut-Throat Driver.


Angles & Issues

-Nigel McGuinness continued the antagonism between he and Kevin Steen when he ran out and gave him a DDT on the ROH World Championship belt after Steen's match.

-Titus busted up Erick Stevens' nose during the match and it ended up bleeding all over the place. It was said this helped up the drama of the match. Afterwards, Larry Sweeney offers top put aside their difference and wants Erick Stevens to sign a Sweet & Sour talent contract. Stevens rejects the offer and The Inc. beat him up, culminating in Go hitting a kneedrop on chair (think Flair-Rhodes). Strong, Ruckus and Jigsaw came rushing out for the save, resulting in a six man tag. After that match, The Inc. once again beats down a man, this time, Strong. Sweeney elbow drops Strong from the top rope.

-The chaos of the Steel Cage Warfare match included both Aries and Jacobs bleeding, Black powerbombing Mark through a barbed wire table, Jay Briscoe being pushed off the top of the cage through a table, Delirious threatening to spike Jay but spiking Daizee Haze instead (!), Mark diving on top of everyone from the top of the cage and Jacobs spiking the Briscoes.

-After losing the tag titles in Boston and now the Steel Cage Warfare match in Philly, Jacobs and Black broke down into arguing with each other. It seemed that they would break up the faction, but they ended up making up, to the boos of the fans.

-Return Date: December 26th, 2008


Endangered Species List

Ring of Honor made some surprising and upsetting moves including releasing one wrestler and postponing two upcoming shows in the wake of back-to-back weeks filled with company highlights and milestones.

According to PWInsiider.com and corroborated by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Adam Pearce will no longer be booked in Ring of Honor, despite winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title from Brent Albright last week in front of a packed house in Philadelphia, PA.

Ring of Honor then dropped a bombshell of an announcement yesterday when it postponed its upcoming Orlando and Coral Springs, Florida double shot weekend, pushing back the dates from October 10th and 11th of this year until a yet-to-be-determined date in 2009. These announcements comes one week after Ring of Honor's successful Pay Per View taping in Boston and their annual Glory By Honor megashow as well as two weeks after a successful return to Japan.

The October 10th show was to be the location of this year's annual Survival of the Fittest tournament and actually looked to be one of the better tournaments in the history of the company with a stacked field including Jerry Lynn, Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black and Erick Stevens among others. October 11th was to be ROH's return to the Orlando area for the first time since a double shot during Wrestlemania 24 weekend and near the home of TNA Impact tapings. Now the future of the Survival of the Fittest tournament and the matches booked on the 10 / 11 show (including a Briscoes vs. Steen & Generico tag title match) remains unclear and endangered.

Both moves were met with frustration by the fans posting on the ROHwrestling.com message board. Pearce has never been the most popular wrestler in Ring of Honor from both a kayfabe and a non-kayfabe sense, but there were a surprisingly large number of posters who thought it was a mistake that he would no longer be used by ROH. They extolled the virtues of Pearce in the ring and with his promos.

Angrier still were the fans who vented their frustrations about the cancellation of the Florida dates, claiming they had already spent the money on airline tickets and hotels and it would be too late now to cancel or obtain a refund.

Ring of Honor did not disclose why the shows were postponed, but previous ROH shows have been pushed back due to low ticket pre-sales or the loss of the use of the venue (usually shows in Armories).

It seems that ROH may be going back to instituting cost-cutting measures after several months of expansion into new markets. ROH has not stopped this process, announcing that they would be returning to Pittsburgh at the Court Time Sports Center on March 20th, 2009. ROH will also return to Canada in November. On the flip side, Rng of Honor will now be running Philadelphia shows through the smaller, seedier but less expensive New Alhambra (formerly ECW) arena instead of the National Guard Armory. The Armory could fit more people, but the rent was expensive and ROH actually drew more fans to the New Alhambra for Glory By Honor VII than recent shows in the former location.

As for Adam Pearce, the move was a cost cutting measure and it was reported that Pearce knew well in advance that he was finishing up last weekend. He said his goodbyes to the boys in the back (although he will likely see many of them wrestling for other independent companies). Pearce had just regained the NWA title and it seemed that the storyline would be that Sweet & Sour Incorporated was now beginning in earnest its hostile takeover of Ring of Honor. It would have the use of two important title belts (Inc. member Go Shiozaki is the current FIP Heavyweight Champion) and by going after the World singles and the World tag team titles would likely get to the point where Sweet & Sour Inc. would have a monopoly. Now the story will likely be that Sweeney is refusing to book Pearce in ROH, holding him back until his demands for his other wrestlers are met to his satisfaction. Instead of the visual power of having two wrestlers holding gold, fans will only see one man, Shiozaki, with gold around his waist.

Adam Pearce debuted in Ring of Honor in September 2005 at Death Before Dishonor IV, wrestling in a four corner survival against Samoa Joe, Ricky Reyes and BJ Whitmer. Pearce's style was considerably different from the rest of the ROH roster. He focused more on Memphis style as a heel, using less flashy moves and concentrating more on crowd interaction. For his debut in Long Island, he immediately was able to make the crowd angry and hate him and they hadn't even really got to know him yet! The pattern would continue elsewhere until Pearce turned face by declaring war on CZW and fighting for Ring of Honor. This was one of his best moments in the company, using a brawling style and conducting some inspirational interviews stirring up patriotism and hope for the ROH forces.

Pearce was just using his support of ROH to help get in the good graces of then commissioner Jim Cornette. It worked and he soon became the Lieutenant Commissioner of ROH. Pearce turned heel by helping to attack Homicide after ROH defeated CZW in the Cage of Death in July 2006. He took on ROH student Shane Hagadorn as his "man servant", which only helped to fuel the fire of fans' hatred. From there, Pearce was mostly found in the mid-card of the show, feuding with Delirious and having a brutal one-off cage match against Homicide. The match was supposed to be a strap match to go full circle on the whipping he gave Homicide at Cage of Death, but was amped up to have a stronger card. The match and promo that he did to build up to it were very well received.

Pearce has an incredible knack for promo work, really focusing on the psychology and emotions attached to the words he says. He would use that promo work to maintain intrigue and mystery about his purposes in mid-2007. These promos were so good that they served to be an incredibly effective red herring in the lead up to Project 161 and the formation of The Age of the Fall. Pearce claimed he knew about his and other people's needs and would do his best to see they were fulfilled in the wrestling ring. At the same time, BJ Whitmer was growing increasingly frustrated with mounting losses. Pearce took Whitmer, Hagadorn and Brent Albright and formed a new stable called The Hangm3n Three. The Hangm3n Three remained on the lower end of the faction depth chart and never made the big impact it could have. They were mostly relegated to pedestrian tag matches and feuds against Delirious (again) and Kevin Steen & El Generico. The major highlights of the former rivalry were separate incidents involving staple gunning Delirious and unmasking him (we never saw his face full on).

The Hangm3n were gone almost as fast as they had formed. Pearce merged his group with Larry Sweeney ‘s Sweet & Sour Incorporated. Whitmer objected and was hoisted on his own petard. Albright had initially been skeptical of the deal but went along with it. However, months of disagreements with Sweeney finally led to up to Albright leaving the group, laying waste to everyone in his path with suplexes.

That began a feud in Ring of Honor between Albright and Pearce. They had been feuding throughout the year in NWA, so ROH agreed to recognize the NWA title and use it in their program between the two. Pearce revealed the contents of a briefcase that was key to the Hangmen-Sweet & Sour merger was actually the NWA Heavyweight Title. The idea was that Ring of Honor officials had no choice but to go through Sweeney to deal with the presence of another World Heavyweight title in their company. Pearce fought ROH World champion Nigel McGuinness in a title-for-title match at Battle for Supremacy. The match saw Nigel win the title but the decision was reversed when Sweeney argued that McGuinness had thrown Pearce over the rope, which is a DQ according to NWA rules. The fans in attendance largely did not like the decision, shouting out "Dusty Finish" in anger over the lack of a clean decision. Meanwhile the match received very mixed reviews from those watching on DVD, with some loving the old school feeling of the match and others hating the lack of action and use of comedy in a main event match for a Ring of Honor show.

Brent Albright would defeat Adam Pearce for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title just a few months later in New York City. The match was a near show-stealer, with the fans going wild in their support of Albright. His win was incredibly well received by the fans. Unfortunately, Albright's direction in ROH is now unclear as Pearce is leaving in the midst of their feud.

The move to the New Alhambra, cutting Adam Pearce and the postponing of the Florida shows must at least put into question the idea of ROH's financial stability. According to Meltzer, the trip to Japan was a "break-even proposition" and they hope to make profit off the DVD sales. However, ROH did bring in name talent for the Glory By Honor VII show including Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima. ROH still needs to be fiscally responsible, now more than ever.

The most important time in Ring of Honor regarding financial situations is coming next year. Most ROH contracts will be up in May 2009 and at that point who gets resigned and at what cost will be a major issue. ROH may even choose not to continue its program of signing wrestlers to limited contracts, returning to the way it conducted business before 2007. It could be a whole new world for the company starting in just a few short months.


ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 09/27/2008

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 28 successful defenses)
-defeated Takeshi Morishima in Edison, New Jersey to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Bryan Danielson, Chicago Ridge, IL 11/22/08

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.12 defeated Kevin Steen, roll up holding the ropes (04/12/08 Edison, NJ)
V.13 defeated Kevin Steen, Jawbreaker Lariat (04/19/08 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.14 defeated Claudio Castagnoli, London Dungeon, (05/10/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.15 defeated KENTA and BJ Whitmer, Jawbreaker Lariat to Whitmer (05/15/08, Tokyo, Japan)
V.16 defeated Go Shiozaki, London Dungeon (06/07/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.17 defeated Vic Viper, London Dungeon (06/14/08, Tallaght, Ireland)
V.19 defeated Keith Myatt and Lionheart, (06/20/08, Doncaster, U.K.)
V.20 (title for title) defeated NWA Champion Adam Pearce, Jawbreaker Lariat (06/27/08, Dayton, OH)
*match later reversed via DQ, both men keep their respective titles.
V.21 defeated Kevin Steen, Lariat off Turbuckle, (07/25/08, Toronto, ONT, CN)
V.22 defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Jawbreaker Lariat (07/26/08, Detroit, MI)
V.23 defeated Ruckus, London Dungeon (08/01/08, Manassas, VA)
V.24 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black & Claudio Castagnoli (08/02/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.25 defeated El Generico, London Dungeon (08/15/08, Cleveland, OH )
V.26 defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Jawbreaker Lariat (09/14/08, Tokyo, Japan)
V.27 defeated Roderick Strong, (09/19/08, Boston, MA)
V.28 defeated El Generico, roll up, (09/20/08, Philadelphia, PA)

**

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Kevin Steen & El Generico (champions since 09/19/08, NEW CHAMPIONS)
-defeated The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black on September 19th, 2008 in Boston, MA to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe, Orlando, FL 10/11/08

**

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)
Belt Re-recognized in this column as of 06/07/08 as both Hero & Del Rey are bringing them to ROH events.

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)

**
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion: Adam Pearce (since 09/20/2008)
-defeated Brent Albright via submission with the crowbar to win the title.
FIP Heavyweight Champion: Go Shiozaki (since 08/23/2008) * NEW CHAMPION
-defeated Erick Stevens via pinfall with help from the Heartbreak Enterprises to win the title.
SHIMMER Champion: MsChif (since 4/26/2008)
-defeated Sara Del Ray via pinfall with the Descrator DDT to win the title
Top of the Class Trophy (for ROH Students): Rhett "Addicted to Love" Titus (since 06/07/2008)
-defeated Ernie Osiris via pinfall to win the trophy.

**

Top Feuds & Pairings:
-Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli
-Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson
-Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Necro Butcher
-The Age of the Fall vs. The Briscoes
-Sweet & Sour Inc. "Corporate Takeover"
-Brent Albright vs. Sweet & Sour Inc.
-Roderick Strong wants payback on Sweet & Sour Inc. for Richards' betrayal of the NRC
-Delirious as a part of AotF


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

Albright's Injury

In an update from last week, there are still mixed reports about whether or not Brent Albright's bicep injury was legitimate or not. Dave Meltzer initially reported in his September 27th issue that the injury was an angle. However, other reports have it that the bicep tear was legitimate but that Albright worked through the injury.

As far as the NWA Title switches from Albright to Pearce and back, it was Gabe Sapolsky's idea to do the switch at Death Before Dishonor VI to Albright and Dave Marquez and the NWA agreed to it. However, the plans were always for Pearce to win the title back at some point and last week he did so.

**UPDATE as of 7:45 PM EST: I just received an email from Adam Pearce clarifying this issue and in his own words: "it was not Gabe's idea to switch the NWA belt to Albright. We (the NWA) had planned to do that from day one. It was Gabe's idea to do the switch in ROH."

Thanks to Adam Pearce for the clarification.


Iron Tag Match Announced for Danbury, CT

10/24 in Danbury, CT will feature the first ever Iron Team Match. There will be four teams. The match will be 30 minutes. The team that scores the most falls in that 30 minutes will have bragging rights of being the best. This match will bring tag wrestling to a new level. The first ever Iron Team Match will pit ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Shelley & Sabin vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. the Sweet & Sour Inc. team of Chris Hero & Davey Richards with Larry Sweeney.

Chris Sabin and especially Alex Shelley have a little unfinished business in ROH. We saw a Generation Next reunion between Shelley and Austin Aries after an Age Of The Fall attack at the last Manassas event. Now Edison, NJ on 10/25 will see the fallout. Aries and Shelley will join forces for the first time since 2004. 10/25 in Edison, NJ will see Aries, Shelley & Sabin vs. The Age Of The Fall of Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black & Delirious!!!

I have to admit, when ROH claimed in the newswire that it would bring a new match concept to ROH, I was praying for Ultimate X if just to read the reaction from the fans that ROH was going to use a TNA concept. The justification would have been that Sheeley and Sabin would bring a match to ROH that they were most comfortable with in order to fight The Briscoes or Age of the Fall or even the tag champions Generico & Steen one more time.

The Iron Tag concept is terrific. I believe you were able to do this in one of the WWE video games from a few years back, maybe WWE No Mercy or one of the Smackdown games. Anyone remember?

Going with 30 minutes as a time limit is a bit of a safe call as I would think ROH wants to avoid crowd burnout and go for quality over quantity. However, if there is ever a quartet of teams that you could go 60 with and it wouldn't tire its welcome out, this would be it. I'd also speculate that the tag titles are not going to be on the line in order to create more intrigue and unpredictability in the match.

The six man tag in Edison should be something else, though hopefully the crowd will be into it and support the moment as something important (the first time Aries and Shelley have teamed up in Ring of Honor since 2004). Yes, Strong should get in there somehow and make it even more of a Generation Next reunion, but I can see how that would likely be a shoe-horn fit at this time since Strong is coupled with Sweet & Sour Inc. in matches.





Back to favorite wrestlers this week:

1. CM Punk : Well, yeah obviously Punk is usually somewhere on or close to my fave five list, but Punk reaches the top of the charts for absolutely just kicking the stuffing out of Cody Rhodes this week on Raw. The independent scene Spine kick could be heard loud and clear on national television, and I was loving it.
2. Jeff Jarrett: Hold the phone, hold your horses, hold the pickles on that sandwich, but a TNA wrestler had made the list. Not just any TNA wrestler mind you, but one who three years ago I was filled with utter contempt and derision for…we're talking about a Triple H level of dislike here. Well, he was in fact the Triple H of TNA at that point. However, for the last two weeks of Jarrett's return, he has done just about everything right. What I find great about his promos with Angle is his ability to mix the pain and sadness of his real life and losing his wife to cancer. It all seems real, believable and sympathetic…and those are three adjectives I don't believe I could ever say about Double J much less a wrestling angle in TNA.
3. Batista and Santino Marella: We may have just found our newest comedic duo. Batista snapping the face guard was awesome…following up with the spear was just sheer laugh out loud goodness. Can I have some more please?
4. Evan Bourne : Sure he eventually took the loss to Kane, but for the first four minutes he was absolutely golden. He dominated Kane by evading and counter striking, as well as using his flying skills to blitz Kane whenever he could. Bourne looked great, but losing was ultimately the right call to make here as the real build is for Kane vs. Rey Mysterio. The big win for the small underdog should be for Rey since he is the major protagonist in this program.
5. Randy Orton: I go through stages of like and dislike for Orton. Sometimes he is just plain boring in the ring and on the mic. However, right now, he is in the midst of a career high as far as promo work and presence…and he hasn't even returned in-ring yet! Orton is being positioned as this ultimate heel, displaying animosity for both the "good guys" and the "bad guys". I think it's awesome character progression to see him ranting on everyone from JBL, Chris Jericho and the next generation stable (who he seems destined to lead)of Rhodes, Debiase Jr. and Manu as he is CM Punk or Batista. Orton is fresh again and far from boring.


Honorarium

-Favorite Adam Pearce moment: when I told Pearce to "f**king kill him!". The "him" in that sentence would be Necro Butcher, during a arena wide brawl at the Best in the World show in 2006.

Another great moment was when a fan created a huge "Repo Man" poster, complete with a mask, to get under Pearce's skin. Pearce verbally tore the fan to shreds. The similarities to Barry Darsow were quite uncanny, especially when Pearce put on the Repo mask.

-Bayani Domingo has been writing about the frustration and disappointment in having to deal with the postponing and uncertainty of Pro Wrestling Guerilla's Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Ring of Honor fans who were all set and ready to go to the Florida shows must now empathize with their left coast brethren. The worst is that these are last minute postponements and cancellations. The tickets for the ROH shows had been on sale for five months. If there was any indication that the show would have to be cancelled, ROH had an obligation to let its customers know as soon as possible. Now, two weeks before the event, it will be too late for many who had already made plans to be in Florida that weekend. ROH has said it will honor tickets for the rescheduled date, but it has yet to indicate it will give refunds of the ticket price to those who cannot attend the make- up. That's not a good business decision.

-Apparently, no matter what I do and no matter where I go, I cannot escape the presence of professional wrestling. I was at a concert last night at Radio City Music Hall and in the advertising of upcoming attractions that plays on the big screens in between acts, lo and behold there is a full thirty second ad for the Raw house show at Madison Square Garden in late December (Radio City and MSG are part of the same parent company). So if you think about it, in a way, CM Punk played Radio City! Punk was a big part of advertisement and in fact video is still being used of him holding up the Big Gold Belt. Batista, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Chris Jericho (without the Big Gold Belt) were also prominently featured.

Okay, okay, I'll confess… I went to see Alanis Morrisette in concert. NOW you can take away my man card. WHAT? At least I didn't go to see Sarah Brightman or Michael Buble. How do you pronounce that guy's name anyway?

Get this bit of freaky business. I hadn't even looked at where I was sitting for the show, but guess what my seat number was? 411. Oh yeah. Shit is all connected.

So wait, this is still a wrestling column right?

-I received my copy of Death Before Dishonor VI in the mail this week and watched most of the matches again. While I've read some criticisms of the lighting and video capture elsewhere, I actually liked the video and camera presentation. ROH is starting to show a lot of maturity and presence in their camerawork, especially when they go to three camera shoots. There are major zoom ins, transitions, fades and other effects that you don't normally see on an ROH show sans PPV. To put it another way, this show, with a fix on the lighting issues, would have looked great on television. I have been critical of the production over the last two years, and I believe rightfully so, but I've also given kudos when applicable and I believe this is one of those times where that is the case.

-It always strikes me to re-watch the matches to see how well they translated (or not) to DVD. Chris Hero vs. Delirious was not a well received match live, but comes across far better through the magic of television. Conversely, Shiozaki vs. Marufuji was a rocking match that I felt really got the fans engaged in the back and forth battle. Yet on DVD, the pace of the match was exposed and it felt far slower and a tad less impressive than when I saw the match live. I still feel it was a terrific match though, with plenty of great strkes and some nice innovation from Marufuji (that snapmare roll remains one of my favorite moves of the year and seemed to be the point where the fans came alive and unglued.

The main event four way elimination lives up to my live impressions in every way imaginable. This was a heck of a main event, progressing in the story it told as the eliminations occurred, and each part of the match being unique and yet part of a coherent whole. Danielson shines so well in the first third, and the fans are just so in love with him and get behind him to tear apart his competition. Then Claudio's turn, hinted in a great backstage vignette earlier in the DVD, comes across molten hot. I love when Claudio attacks the eye (although point deducted to Prazak and Leonard for not recalling the orbital bone injury as a weak spot) and the Pillmanizing of Danielson's head. Then the attention shifts to Black vs. McGuinness and even though Black is a part of a heel faction, the fans almost unanimously move their support to him. It's the in ring action and the crowd reaction of their "Take No Prisoners" match multiplied by a factor of ten. I could go on and on about this one, but you get the point. While Albright vs. Pearce is deservedly praised, THIS was the true match of the night.


Going Home

The Song Book :
We're beginning to fill in the pages of the ROH Song Book and last week I asked for suggestion for new songs to play out The Briscoes to the ring.

The Briscoes

Column of Honor Suggestion: "Ramble On" (Led Zeppelin)
YOUR Suggestions:
roXXXas: "Second To None" by Style From Beyond f. Mike Shinoda
Andrew Crow: "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash.

I'd like to see them come out to some remix of "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash. It could definitely work if done just right, and the song is perfect in mood for impending doom (which, let's face it, the Briscoes have been booked as a totally dominant tag team in RoH since their return in '06). Give it a solid and steady drumbeat, and it could work, or even just play it louder than people cheer.

I absolutely agree with you...it's such an awesome song that works for an entrance...but in ROH its wasted on Ernie Osirus (no offense to him, but I don't see how it fits his personality). On the Briscoes, it would definitely be appropriate.

Daizee Haze

Column of Honor Suggestion: "Because I Got High" (Afroman)
YOUR Suggestions:
ausjimmy: "Santeria" by Sublime
Jsin51: "Smoke Two Joints" by Sublime
bosh: Anything Reggae for Daizee

let's take on the task of giving another of ROH's regulars a new theme song. Tell me which song you would give to Austin Aries? I know he tried to change the cover of "Personal Jesus" to something else and it turned out to be a horrible, horrible mistake. Could there be a song as good or better for Aries than this keystone?

Column of Honor Suggestion: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2

From the opening drumbeat to the blazing guitar solos, this song has so much energy and tension propelling it from beginning to end. It's a wonder no one has used this song before for their entrance theme. It's instantly recognizable and palpably emotional. The song's lamentation of war and the imagery of bloody battlefields and streets fits right in with Aries' no-nonsense, straight-forward mentality.
So tell me, what would YOU pick for Austin Aries's new entrance music?

Send in your picks (and a brief explanation if you wish) to here and I'll post them up next week.


Ringtones

411 alumnus Dino Zucconi is back, this time to discuss Claudio Castagnoli:


…After reading the latest column, there's something I've wanted to ask about for a while-actually, someone- and after seeing his name mentioned a bunch as a great challenger in the list of top ten champions, here goes.

What's the deal with Claudio Castagnoli? I've watched a few vidoes of him on YouTube (top ten moves of, etc), and I really dig what I perceive he's all about. The multiple variations of the European uppercut (SWISS uppercut my ass; it's still in Europe), the Match Ender, Ricola Bomb, etc. All grabbed my attention when I firstt saw them. He seems to have a good look, and is a lot bigger than most of the other guys in ROH.

So my question is, what is his role exactly? It seems to me, from results I've read over the last couple years, that he's pretty much a glorified jobber to the stars, who at times is hugely over, only to see that popularity dissipate (most likely due to not being able to win the big one) and having to start all over again.

I know that at one time he ran with Chris Hero (another tidbit gained from the Column and its love of all things Hero), so when did he change to face? Was it something the fans determined? Was it a forced turn?

Basically, am I wasting my time rooting for Claudio? Is he always going to be stuck on a perpetual treadmill in ROH? I just don't get how someone who- at least to me- crushes the world in such an awesome manner could be overlooked so often in favor of other guys. Guys, I might add, who perhaps don't deserve to be taking Claudio's opportunities.

Well again, great work as always, and I look forward to any and all information you can throw me regarding Claudio is greatly appreciated.


I think Claudio is always going to be right on the edge between upper-card and main event talent for Ring of Honor. Yes he absolutely has all of the in ring tools to get himself over to the ROH crowd, but no matter what, he's going to be viewed as a foreigner and even with improved English communication skills there are just going to be fans who won't accept him at that top level because he can't communicate smoothly in English or because he's foriegn it rubs them the wrong way.

I think wins and losses are also a factor, as when Claudio failed to win the big one in May, it took him down a notch. Maybe that's one of the more unfortunate side effects of ROH's pattern for long term champions. You have a satisfactory cycle for the champion and a great set of matches to look back upon, but some of the challengers during the run are going to maybe lose a little something off their fan rep because they didn't win the title. Nigel suffered a similar fate last year when so many people thought he would win in Japan. Then when he won the title, those fans thought it was a bit too little, too late, then the injury factor was the last straw that turned them against him. With Claudio,if he was going to win, he should have won in May, but since he didn't the fans cooled off on him. I also think that moving down from the Grand Ballroom to=2 0the Hammerstein contributed to Claudio's decline, because in attracting more fans, maybe those fans came more for Dragon or other wrestlers than Claudio, and they may not have been impressed with his performance at A New Level.

I wouldn't classify him as a "jobber to the stars", I think that's being a bit harsh. He has and will receive major wins (last year against Marufuji and this year against Danielson). But I'm not sure the ROH World Title is his fate. Is that running the treadmill? It might be...but I also think that what has recently happened has helped to open a new storyline path for him and a feud with Danielson is never a bad thing. I would love to see those two fight more often.

If you're looking to see Claudio as a main eventer, CHIKARA when he is booked there often places him in the main event scene. However, there is no major singles title there, so he won't ever be the "man" for that company either.

Claudio's face turn actually came as a result of him leaving ROH and the independents for WWE, but when WWE decided not to follow through on that (and the real details on that are still murky), the appreciation the fans gave to him at FInal Battle in NYC helped him to turn face. Larry Sweeney had just debuted as Hero's new agent, and when Claudio stated he would stick around after all, made Hero make a choice between him and Claudio. Hero walked out on Claudio (but didn't attack him...that would wait until a few months later)20and Claudio basically did some soul searching. The fans cheered for him and Claudio came to the conclusion that the fans forgave him for turning on ROH for CZW. He was going to accept the fans back into his life and fight for them, and get revenge on Sweeney for breaking up the Kings of Wrestling.

And now... he's heel again. As always in wrestling, these things go in cycles.


Gohan6482 is also a fan of the guitar-based video games:

Ah Rock Band 2. That'll be eating my life up until World Tour comes out.

I've thankfully moved up to expert level, but that kills me on the finals tracks. If Panic Attack wasn't such a great song, I'd hate having to practice it so as to not lose fans in tour mode, haha. And I really don't want to drop down to Hard just to beat it. Painkiller is crazy, too.

I've got small hands, too. I can't even use my pinky. So when I got to Everlong and had to do some alternating green/blue green/orange chords... oh you better believe my hand was cramping badly. Chop Suey is really tough, too, as it's really hard to get the strumming and red, red/blue, red, red/blue sections down.

Oh, and I'm a twenty-something Paramore mark, too, haha. Not even ashamed, either. I prefer Misery Business, but That's What You Get isn't a bad choice at all. For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic, Fences, Stop This Song and Born For This would be fun for some reason or another, too. You think there's any hope of them putting out Even Sleeping from Children 18:3 as DLC? Haha

I've found that I can usually get about half way through the track lists for Expert level, but then it goes way above and beyond me. Hard is a good challenge for me these days. Metal is my weak spot...Metallica in particular is absolutely killer on my hands. Painkiller on Hard wasn't actually that bad...but the Dream Theatre track nearly killed me.

I am also unashamed to be a Paramore fan...they're very talented and seem legit and dedicated about their music. I feel Misery Business is a bit overplayed (but that's to be expected) but I'm hoping RB2 DLC includes that and some of their other tracks. Born For This, Pressure, Here We Go Again, FAP,IPO would all work in one way or another. Stop This Song is going waaaay deep though...don't think they would ever get to that. Might as well be wishing for Rewind or Decoy (my favorites of their deep B sides)! And I doubt Children 18:3 is on the Harmonix radar...but you never know.


Luke, a.k.a. Mint Prozac asks a hypothetical involving Tyler Black:

I read an interview with Tyler Black that he had originally planned on going to the Ring of Honor wrestling school. Given the lack of success and the perception of ROH graduates, do you think Tyler Black would have had the same success if he had gone to the ROH school? And what is the deal with the ROH school? Are they just not getting top flight talents in there, is the training not top flight, or do they just not give their graduates the opportunities to succeed?

I think it's a combination of lack of talent and lack of opportunities. I think if Tyler Black had gone to the ROH school, he would likely be the top graduate of the school, but I don't think he would have had the same success because of the stigma of being an ROH student.


Would Tyler have the same success if he was in the ROH school? Considering what we've seen is the pattern for them (hang around for a long time, even years, jobbing out, until they find a place for you)...probably not. Maybe he could have busted through and become a real big success story for the school, but I have my doubts.

With the ROH school, I would hardly think that its the trainers considering who they've had help to prep the students--Danielson, Delirious, Punk, etc. I just think that the ROH style and that the stars were smaller and looker leaner than everyone else on the majors and developmental and those fans / wrestlers who were plugged into that saw it and thought "hey, I can make it too!" Some have made it through and done well, others, not so much. Right now Rhett Titus may be the biggest success story considering he found a gimmick / character that worked and really became part of a consistent and long term storyline. But even before that he was floundering about on the pre show. Dempsey has been the most "over" as a result of the Sweet & Sour antics, but I have doubts that can last if and when he finally rejects them (think Virgil-Ted Debiase).


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
**SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 15 (SHIMMER Title: Sara Del Rey / Amazing Kong, Daizee Haze / Sara Stock, Cheerleader Melissa / Alexa Thatcher, Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew / Ariel & Josie, Sereena Deeb / Jetta) High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Women's Athletes Volume 16 (SHIMMER Title Two Out of Three Falls: Sara Del Rey / Sara Stock, Amazing Kong / Cheerleader Melissa, Daizee Haze MsChif & Eden Black / Lacey, Rain & Jetta, Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews / Ariel & Josie, Sereena Deeb / Jetta) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA Two Eyebrows Are Better Than One (Castagnoli, Lince Dorado & Ophidian / Quackenbush, Donst & Amasis, Kingston / Storm, Colony / F.I.S.T., Moravian Greyhound / Zombie Plantain / Hydra)Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA King of Trios Night One (Colony / Go, Nakazawam Shimizu, Osirian Portal & Mecha Mummy / Quackenbush, Storm & Skayde, Cheech & Cloudy & M.C. KZ / Quackenbush, Storm & Skayde, Delirious, Hallowicked & Helios / The Cartel) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA King of Trios Night Two (Player Uno, Stupified & El Generico / Cannon & North Star Express, Lince, Pantera & Incognito / Los Ice Creams & Glacier, Sweet & Sour Inc. / F.I.S.T. & Taylor, Donst, Gulak & Sumner / Fabulous Three / ) Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA King of Trios Night Three (KOT Quarter, Semi Finals & Finals, Tag Team Gauntlet) High Recommendation
**CHIKARA Deuces Wild (NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title: Mike Quackenbush / El Pantera, UltraMantis Black / Tim Donst, Young Lions Cup: Helios / Lince Dorado, Colony / Osirian Portal, Robbie Ellis / Ice Cream Jr.) Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA Passion and Persistence (Brodie Lee / Claudio Castagnoli, Campeones de Parejas: Incoherence / F.I.S.T., Quackenbush, Shane Storm, Cheech & Cloudy / Mitch Ryder & Shayne Hawke, Larry Sweeney & Robbie Ellis, Hydra / Chuck Taylor)High Recommendation
**CHIKARA Grit & Glory (Castagnoli, Sonjay Dutt & Pantera / Quackenbush, Jorge Rivera & Turbo, Campeones de Parejas: Incoherence / Osirian Portal, Storm / Kingston, Vin Gerard/ Lince Dorado, Colony / Fabulous Three, Hydra & Tim Donst / Super Smash Brothers, Gran Akuma / PSYCHO, Daizee Haze & Chuck Taylor / Sara Del Ray & Bobby Dempsey)High Recommendation
**CHIKARA AniversarioMA (Atomicos Increibles: Mike Quackenbush, Cheech, Stupified & Worker Ant / Cloudy, Player Uno, Soldier Ant & Shane Storm, Brodie Lee, Mitch Ryder & Shayne Hawke / Incoherence & Claudio Castagnoli, Chuck Taylor & Gran Akuma / Turbo & Lince Dorado, El Pantera vs. Jorge Rivera , Osirian Portal / 2.0) Medium Recommendation
**CHIKARA AniversarioCT (Osirian Portal / Shane Storm & Mike Quackenbush, Super Smash Bros. / Cheech & Cloudy, Hydra & Tim Donst / Los Ice Creams, F.I.S.T. / The Colony, Brodie Lee / Claudio Castagnoli) High Recommendation
**FIP Cage of Pain II (Cage of Pain II, Roderick Strong/Larry Sweeney, Delirious & Hallowicked & Jigsaw/BxB Hulk & YAMATO & Jack Evans, Erick Stevens/Necro Butcher) High Recommendation
**FIP Redefined (Erick Stevens/Roderick Strong in their best encounter in FIP or ROH, Austin Aries/Davey Richards, Nigel McGuinness/Necro Butcher, Shawn Murphey/Heartbreak Express, Sal Rinauro/Tyler Black) High Recommendation
**CZW Deja Vu 3 (No Rope Barbed Wire Match: JC Bailey/Necro Butcher, El Generico/Super Dragon, B-Boy/Nate Webb, Ruckus & Mike Quackenbush/Kings of Wrestling) High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Volume 17 (Sara Del Rey & Allison Danger / MsChif & Cheerleader Melissa, Lacey / Sara Stock, Mercedes Martinez / Wesna Busic, Amazing Kong / Ariel, Daizee Haze / Cindy Rogers) High Recommendation
**SHIMMER Volume 18 (Amazing Kong / Wesna Busic, SHIMMER Title: Sara Del Rey / MsChif, Cheerleader Melissa / Sara Stock, Mercedes Martinez / Cindy Rogers, Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew / Ashley Lane & Nevaeh) 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.

I realize there have been no new additions to the IBI list in quite a while, but I'm awaiting some shipments of new DVDs that will hopefully alleviate that issue.

ROH @ 411

Ryan Byers and Michael Bauer give their reaction to Glory By Honor VII in this week's 411 Buy Or Sell.

Tim Livingston contributes thoughts on ROH stars "making it" in WWE in this week's Tim's Take.

Chris Lansdell goes retro with a Burning Hammer review of Unscripted 2 from 2006.


Honor Bound Links

Jake Chambers scores with the WHACKY by interviewing members of CHIKARA in this week's Wacky Wrestling Theory.

Weyer Shines the Spotlight on the women of wrestling.

Bayani with more lamentations of PWG in this week's Truth B Told.

Chin on Chyna.

High Road and Low Road dedicated this week to Kofi Kingston.

Ask 411 deals with controversy.


Okay folks, that's it for right now. Be back in a few hours with my review of New Horizons, Money Players and Stockmarket features and more.

BROOKLYN! DA EM BAH SEE!
--Ari--