Column of Honor 03.07.09: Be Fair to Flair

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 03.07.2009

Ric Flair in ROH should be an awesome moment for the promotion and the fans, but some are crying like spoiled children about it. Plus, results and updates from the second set of HD Net tapings, KENTA vs. Nigel at the Anniversary Show, the defining moments of ROH in 2003 and much more!

Welcome to the Column.



Ring Toss
-Be Fair to Flair
-ROH Results: HD Net Tapings Episodes 4-6
-Honored News
-ROH Call
-Seven Years of ROH: Defining Moments of 2003
-Get with the pROHgram
-Ringtones
-ROH @ 411
-Buy or Sell Quickies (NEW FEATURE)

Be Fair to Flair

He is the (at least) sixteen-time World champion, WWE Hall of Fame wrestler, a limousine riding, jet-flying, kiss stealing, wheeling dealing son of a gun…and he's coming to Ring of Honor for a series of five appearances over the next several months.

Yet some fans have greeted this news and the resulting involvement of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair during ROH videowires with the enthusiasm of a president announcing increased taxation or a teacher assigning a term project.

I'm left scratching my head after the last few weeks of some of the fan reaction on the ROH message boards. The criticism of Flair has ranged from the reasons for participating with ROH to the complaining about the use of an article in mentioning the name of the promotion to his promos hyping up the events. It all comes off as more than self-righteous and bordering on the petty.

It's amazing to think that it's come to this—that when ROH lands a major name in the world of professional wrestling, that there is more complaining and second guessing than there is enthusiasm and excitement. I'm not saying all ROH fans are against the idea of Ric Flair appearing for Ring of Honor and I have read some very positive messages from fellow fans. It's just that as far as I can recall, there was in no way the a similar amount of resistance to a Ricky Steamboat or Dusty Rhodes making appearances as there has been for Flair, who is in a similar situation as the above wrestlers.

In fact, the complaining has almost reached Jeff Hardy in ROH levels, but at least back then Hardy was at a nadir in his performance and reputation within the wrestling industry. Right now Flair is an industry legend, who has proven himself time and again as being one of the most charismatic and influential wrestlers of the past thirty years. Ring of Honor fans should be incredibly happy that ROH has brought in Flair to the promotion—this is the "dream" wrestling guest stars of almost all such "dream" guest stars.

Although I am not above the criticism myself, as in last week's Buy or Sell I indicated that the money used to sign Ric Flair to an appearance contract could have been better used elsewhere—either to sign current talent undergoing contract negotiations or improving different aspects of production. However, that doesn't mean that I don't want Ric Flair as a part of Ring of Honor in whatever capacity possible. Flair can prove massive dividends if his involvement is promoted well.

The beginning of his involvement with ROH had a rocky start with some of the fans in response to a promo Flair cut for a recent videowire. They felt that Flair was just in it for the money and this promo proved as much. It was too "cookie cutter" of a wrestling promo, that he would have cut the same promo for any other promotion he agreed to do business with. They also felt it was grandiose and arrogant of him to say that now that Flair was involved in Ring of Honor, it was now recognized as a "big time" wrestling promotion, that in fact if you involved Ric Flair in any wrestling promotion that it was now considered "big time". There was also the uproar of Flair calling Ring of Honor "The Ring of Honor", as if by using the article "the", it indicated a lack of knowledge about the product. We'll get to that one later.

Flair's money problems over the many years of his career has been well documented—he spent lots of it on parties and likely even more on alimony. Flair should be living comfortably right now because of the massive efforts of his legendary career. However, Flair does need to work to make money and that is why he continues to be involved in many projects including appearing in a Command and Conquer video game, doing a wrestling shoot interview and keeping his name in circulation in the wrestling circuit. Regardless, to judge Flair for his situation is not only callow but also unfair. Sometimes retirement sucks—especially for wrestlers like Flair who were at the top of the mountain and enjoyed massive career success. How much golf or tiddlywinks can you play before you get the itch to do something, anything? Flair definitely loves "the business" and the boys involved in it. He has stated as much in interviews that he likes to keep in touch with his fellow wrestlers in WWE and would work with them as much as he could (just so long as he didn't have to don the tights anymore). I think Flair is still around the wrestling circuit for the love of the game far more than the money, although the money helps.

Even if Flair is "in it for the money" in some way, what the heck is wrong with that? Do fans believe that Mitsuhara Misawa, Mick Foley, Jushin Liger, Great Muta or any other legendary name in the business that appeared in ROH did it one hundred percent purely for selfless reasons? They were all paid for their appearances and in return provided some great moments for the ROH fan base. That's what "doing the job" really means—it means going in the ring and putting in the work, then getting paid for it. What is the harm If Flair truly loves the business and wants to give back to it while making some money along the way? Tell me you wouldn't want to do what you love the most and get paid for it at the same time and I'll call you a blowhard.

Ric Flair claimed that ROH was "big time" now that he was appearing for the promotion. Fans got angry…very, very angry. How dare Flair imply that ROH wasn't big time until he deigned to show up? Well, the truth of the matter is, Flair is about half-correct. The truth is, Ring of Honor has always been an independent, mostly non-mainstream promotion for its entire existence. Sure there have been dabbles of exposure like the Jonny Fairplay vignette on that one VH-1 special and a few morning news features, but really, if you gave a "Q" rating survey of 100 wrestling fans, only a tiny percentage would recognize the three letters"R", "O" and "H" strung together and know what it was about.

What makes a wrestling promotion "big time" anyway? Is it the quality of its content? Is it the amount of exposure it gets? Having a national television program? A combination of all of these aspects? Sure, ROH has put on some of the best wrestling product over the last seven years, but you could hardly say that every wrestling fan knew about it. That doesn't mean that all of the work the wrestlers put into the product these so many years is automatically thrown away nor does it mean that the cult of ROH fans had been wasting their time watching the product. It also doesn't justify the trolls on comment boards that say that ROH shouldn't' be reported on because it has "a few dozen" fans show up to "dirty gymnasiums" (exaggerations both). It simply means that great wrestling was happening in the underground scene, and now there is a huge opportunity for an increased amount of people to know about and enjoy it for themselves. It is just like when a great independent band that has been growing in popularity is signed to a major label. Some fans would view that as a "selling out" (and maybe some ROH fans deep down thinks that is what is happening here with the TV deal and the Flair appearances), but rather a "stepping up" process that means new opportunities and an increased chance of success.

Even with some of the biggest names in professional wrestling having appeared for ROH such as Dusty, Steamboat, Liger, Muta, Raven, Terry Funk, Harley Race and so on; even with some of the more successful WWE and TNA wrestlers having made their bones in ROH and the independent scene such as CM Punk, Samoa Joe and Homicide; ROH could not up to this point in their existence really and truly be classified as "big time" wrestling. Now that ROH is on the cusp of that next level, thanks to the HD Net television deal (even with a limited audience reach upon its initial stages compared to WWE and TNA) it should be considered "big time". The Flair deal happens to be taking place at the same time as the start of this new opportunity to take ROH to that next level and so Flair is right in one way—his appearance is certainly the signal that ROH is officially ready to be considered to be part of the "big three", even if its fans had always thought as much over the last several years.

Flair gave an interview this week on Between the Ropes Radio, discussing his deal with Ring of Honor. The comments he gave, mentioning his lack of knowledge about the product, continued to rile up the critics of this deal. In the interview, Flair stated "I have not watched any of it. I am taking someone's word," He also said "I respect them so much by what they've talked about, we've agreed upon. I have not seen any of it. I'm endorsing the product based on a very close friend of mine's opinion." Some fans have focused more on the part that Flair has not watched an ROH show and have totally ignored the fact that he was really complimenting and praising ROH at the same time. He took a friends' recommendation (and if you think about it, a lot of Flair's friends have already made their mark in ROH) and ever since then has been keen on the professionalism and treatment he received by ROH.

I'm not quite sure where in the wrestling bylaws it says that every wrestler must have knowledge, expert or any at all, about all wrestling promotions. Sure, some wrestlers like to watch tapes of wrestling companies in Japan. Sure, some WWE wrestlers watch ROH shows from time to time and some of them even come to shows! However, wrestlers do lead busy lives, traveling up and down the roads and flying all over the world. Then they actually have to wrestle, oh and then if they have a family, they would need to travel back and spend some quality time with their loved ones. It's hardly fair to expect wrestlers to watch more wrestling on top of their work schedule.

Personally speaking, I don't always like to talk shop about teaching when I'm done with my work day. When I've finished my scheduled classes, I don't spend the rest of the school day observing other teachers doing their lessons. I get the heck outta dodge and haul butt home. I will from time to time talk to friends about my classes of course I spend time at home lesson planning, but I would not want it to be expected of me to know about every fellow teacher in my school and what he or she does during their class time. Likewise, I don't expect Ric Flair to know about every wrestling promotion, even if it's one of the bigger independent promotions such as ROH or PWG. To expect Flair to have watched ROH has to be one of the most condescending and arrogant thoughts ever. If anyone is upset that Flair had no previous viewing experience of ROH before getting involved with them, I have two words for them: Lance Storm. ROH fans know Storm very well, because he had a very fantastic match with Bryan Danielson in 2006 and has made several appearances over the years. However, Storm has stated in interviews that he hadn't watched any ROH before getting involved in the product and it wasn't until he was sent tapes of Bryan Danielson matches by former booker Gabe Sapolsky that he even considered getting back in the ring to wrestle for them. Regardless, if the fans who are critical of Flair appearing that think ROH doesn't need Flair approval anyway, then why would they be upset that Flair hadn't watched an ROH show?

Flair took the job on the recommendation of his friend, but I have no doubt in my mind that if he watches any ROH wrestling at all, either on DVD or during his appearances, he will come away impressed by the young lions of the promotion. He will know these guys are working their butts off to give the fans a worthwhile product.

By the end of his run of appearances, Flair will have had some very fun interactions with the Ring of Honor wrestlers (uh-oh I used "the" in my sentence, time to duck and cover). We are going to get to see Ric Flair and Larry Sweeney trading barbs (and struts) back and forth; Flair and McGuinness interacting from one champion to another (as hinted at in the newest videowire) and so on and so forth. The possibilities and the opportunities for defining wrestling moments are many. The dream interactions of many legendary wrestlers appearing in ROH have successfully come to fruition—from Liger vs. Danielson to Joe vs. Kobashi to Mick Foley interacting with Prince Nana and The Embassy. Now we get to see a whole new series of dream encounters with the ROH wrestlers and a certified wrestling legend in Ric Flair. I am appreciative of Flair coming into ROH and I have enthusiasm about what will likely be some memorable moments in the coming months.

A wise weasel of a wrestling manager once said we should "be fair to Flair". I think ROH fans should keep that axiom in mind when Flair makes his appearances, starting with St. Louis in just a week's time.


ROH Results: HD Net Tapings Episode 4-6, March 1st, 2009 in Philadelphia, PA

Matches

Pre Show:

-Bobby Dempsey & Andy "Right Leg" Ridge defeated "Dirty" Ernie Osiris & "Beautiful" Bobby Shields.
-Jon Kermon defeated Adam Cole.
-Grizzly Redwood defeated Corey Havoc.

Episode Four:

-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Brent Albright via pinfall with a roll up using the tights at 12:20.
-Austin Aries defeated Kenny Omega via pinfall with a brainbuster at 11:27.
-Delirious defeated "Dirty" Ernie Osiris via pinfall with the Shadows over Hell at 4:08.
-Daizee Haze & Neveah defeated Sara Del Rey & Sassy Stephie via pinfall with the Mindtrip on Stephie at 5:10.

Episode Five:

-Jerry Lynn defeated Brodie Lee via pinfall with a cradle at11:56.
-The team of Kenny King &"Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus beat the team of Cheech & Cloudy via pinfall with a combination blockbuster / power bomb at 6:01.
-Eddie Kingston defeated Sami Callahan via pinfall with a spinning backfist at 6:00.
-Bobby Dempsey defeated Orange Cassidy via pinfall with a Death Valley Driver in twenty-three seconds.
-The Necro Butcher defeated Jimmy Jacobs via disqualification at 5:50 due to interference from Brodie Lee interfered.

Episode Six:

-The Dark City Fight Club defeated Grizzly Redwood & Andy Ridge with a combination power bomb / neckbreaker on Ridge at 4:31.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne in a non-title match via pinfall with the Tower of London at 3:23.
-The team of Kevin Steen & Jay Briscoe defeated the team of Chris Hero & Eddie Edwards via pinfall when Steen pinned Edwards with a package piledriver at 9:57.
-"American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black fought to a twenty-minute draw.

Angle: Austin Aries came out from the back after the match, distracting them enough to have Age of the Fall members Jacobs and Lee attack them from behind. The Necro Butcher made the save.


Return Dates: April 9th (episodes 7-9) and 10th (episodes 10-12)

More details on the show can be found here, thanks to Stuart Carapola.


Honored News

McGuinness vs. KENTA Main Events Seventh Anniversary Show

The ROH World Championship will be on the line in Manhattan for the Seventh Anniversary Show when Nigel McGuinness fights Pro Wrestling NOAH's KENTA. ROH is going with an angle where McGuinness upset NOAH officials in recent weeks by declining offers to appear on shows in Japan to defend the title against their talents. So instead NOAH signed an open contract for KENTA to fight McGuinness for the title during his four show upcoming stay.

The title fight in New York will be the second defense in that city against a wrestler from Pro Wrestling NOAH. McGuinness was successful in a defense against Naomichi Marufuji at Final Battle 2008 this past December. At that time Marufuji was All-Japan's Junior Heavyweight Champion and like Marufuji, KENTA walks into this bout as a champion. He unseated Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC Jr. Championship last week (Nakajima will also be appearing for ROH in late March).


Preview of ROH in St. Louis, IL March 13th, 2009

ROH World Title Match--Nigel McGuinness defends vs. Brent Albright: ROH officials have reviewed the footage from February 6th in Coral Springs, FL, and found that Brent Albright has a legitimate claim to a rematch against Nigel McGuinness. "I had McGuinness right where I wanted him," said Albright. "He was trapped in the Crowbar about to tap. And sure, he rolled through and had me pinned, but had to cheat to keep me down. He won't be able to do it again." The ROH World Championship will be defended just outside of St. Louis in Collinsville on March 13th, and it will be McGuinness facing "Shooter" Brent Albright once again! McGuinness has a lot more to lose in this rematch; can Albright take the next step?

Grudge Match--Bryan Danielson vs. Bison Smith: Bison only agreed to one match out of the double show challenge Danielson laid out last week. Therefore Danielson gets just one shot (for now) to get revenge for being ambushed from behind and powerbombed. It now seems that Prince Nana was behind Bison Smith's intrusion into Ring of Honor, so one has to wonder if DAH EM BAH SEE's former (and now once again?) leader is going to appear to help his man take down one of ROH's foremost fan favorites. Danielson will have to employ a similar strategy to the one he used against Morishima—stick and move, absorb the big shots and make the comebacks at the right time to win the battle.

The War Continues--Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn vs. The Age of the Fall: Jimmy Jacobs has more reason to destroy Tyler Black after falling to him in the first TV main event at the inaugural ROH on HDNet Television Tapings last weekend. After the TV cameras stopped rolling, Brodie Lee and Delirious attacked Black at Jacobs' behest and left him lying. Now Tyler will go for another measure of revenge in St. Louis as he teams with Jerry Lynn! Black and Lynn earned each other's respect when they battled to a draw in Detroit, and Jerry's no stranger to battling with the AOTF as he faced Brodie Lee at the TV tapings. It's Lynn and Black versus the Age of the Fall in St. Louis! Interesting to note that the news piece says the Lee run in happened after the cameras were rolling, so the post match angle likely will not air on the HD Net show.

Six Man Tag Team Grudge Match--ROH World Tag Team Champion Kevin Steen & El Generico and Bobby Dempsey vs. The American Wolves of Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards and Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney: Steen & Generico are quickly being positioned as the oppositional force to take on Sweet & Sour Incorporated. Bobby Dempsey will also be pushed stronger here as he looks for vengeance against those that abused him for years. Expect the match to go back and forth, with Hero and Dempsey being the X-factors. Hero is back in the fold and is being strongly pushed with his KO power. Dempsey could either "Bobby Up" and comeback to win or make the mistake that costs his team the victory.

Special Challenge Match--Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe: A solid mid-card attraction bout that pits two tough strike based wrestlers against each other. Chops vs. Forearm battles galore for this one, and it should be fun. Hopefully no run ins by heels to interrupt the proceedings either.

Four Corner Survival--Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega vs. Silas Young vs. Austin Aries: Castagnoli and Aries are the two top dogs of this match, with Omega and Young being the (relatively) probie babyfaces who could make an impact by winning the bout against either one of the heels. Young wants to avenge Aries' bad mouthing of his family, while Castagnoli wants to avenge the loss to Omega in New York.

SHIMMER Title Match--MsChif vs. Daizee Haze: Always a good match when it takes place in SHIMMER, the key will be if it is given time on an ROH show. Most likely the match will serve as a backdrop to extend the angle between Haze, Delirious, Jacobs and the rest of The Age of the Fall.

Tag Team Action--Rhett Titus & Kenny King vs. Irish Airborne: Likely the opener tag bout, used to put the shine on Titus and King in advance of their tag title bout the next night.

Special Appearance by Ric Flair: Its Flair in an ROH ring and likely in a face off against Sweet & Sour Incorporated's Larry Sweeney.


Reactions and Impressions from HDNet After First Tapings

There were lots of happy feelings and positive reaction coming out from the HD Net tapings from the wrestlers and the production people alike. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports that the wrestler were impressed with the professionalism of the HD Net crew as well as the seven camera set up. Meanwhile the producers and video crew were surprisingly pleased with the wrestlers' desire to learn how they were being shot so they could adjust what they did in the ring so that it could be filmed correctly as well as the fact they hit their time cues within 30 seconds in either direction of the target time. Wrestlers frequently went into the production truck to see the angles being used and to learn more about the production process.

HD Net officials have no number as far as ratings go that they would want to hit for ROH (in fact they rarely release ratings info themselves). Instead they hope to have ROH on HD Net capture the MMA fans who watch the other shows on the channel as well as expand their reach into new markets. The feeling is that ROH fans will ask their cable / satellite providers to add HDNet.

As far as the ever important format of the show, this is how it was described by Meltzer in his recent newsletter: There will be few angles on the early shows, as the idea is to use the shows to introduce the wrestlers. No promos were done before the fans, but promos were cut backstage. Short backstage promos were cut to be edited into their ring entrances. The idea was to introduce wrestlers to a new audience, based how they used to do it on the 1980s NBC Saturday Night Main Event character introductions. But they wanted it treated seriously and as much like sport as possible. The main events are built throughout the show, with graphics and longer promos. There will also be video packages to explain storylines and build the main event matches and certain major characters.

The main differences area, no backstage skits nor any lengthy periods during the show between matches. The matches are shot differently, to not look like a WWE or TNA production. They were shot by the same crew and in the same manner HDNet would shoot an MMA event.


Match Additions for Shows in Indianapolis, Elizabeth and Manhattan

March 14th, 2009: Indianapolis, IN

American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Brent Albright & Roderick Strong: The fall out of the Sweet & Sour feud with Albright and Strong continues. This should have big implications on the tag division, because the Wolves have a title shot upcoming and this match could cement their position as the top contenders. If the faces win this one they have a strong claim for a title shot themselves.

Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega: "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson acted quickly once he learned that Bison Smith was not going to agree to face him on back-to-back nights in St. Louis and Indianapolis. For the card on March 14th in Indianapolis, he requested, and has been added to the match between Claudio Castagnoli and Kenny Omega; making this a 3 Way Dance. Danielson faced and defeated Omega once before as part of a 3 Way Dance in ROH's last appearance in Toronto, so he's familiar with Omega's style, while the history between Dragon and Claudio has been well documented. Claudio has been on a roll as of late; will he defeat two men that have given him problems in the past?


March 20th, 2009: Elizabeth, PA

KENTA & El Generico vs. Nigel McGuinness & Davey Richards: A lot of really cool interactions within this pairing. The KENTA and Richards relationship in ROH goes way back to when Richards was a face and named as KENTA's international protégé. They had a very cool back and forth contest in Edison, NJ at Fight of the Century. Then Davey Richards turned heel, joining the No Remorse Corps and turning his back on KENTA. Ever since then there has been a clamor for another Richards vs. KENTA match and this is where that happens. McGuinness and Generico have their recent past of title bouts to go on. Generico has given McGuinness a run for his money but has come up empty-handed every time. This could be the right time for Generico to come through with a pinfall on McGuinness and show the world he does have what it takes to take down the ROH champion. Meanwhile, KENTA and McGuinness fight for the title the next night in Manhattan and so this also serves as a preview for that affair. This should be a heck of a main event bout.

Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush: The second match for Quack has been revealed (well really first, but it was announced second). Danielson and Quack last tangoed in 2007 as a part of the Race to the Top Tournament. It was a slightly disappointing match based more on ground work, but hopefully this time around they'll look to incorporate more of Quack's air game while keeping some cool chain sequences. I'm hoping this is just the start of a renewed relationship between Quack and ROH, because while Danielson and Lynn are fine pairings for Quack, I'd love to see what he could do against the less usual suspects such as Generico, Black, Jacobs, Aries or Richards; you know any new match against old pals Hero and Castagnoli would rock as well.

Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries: Aries and Strong had a long and hard fought war against each other in 2007, but since then both have switch sides in terms of the angels and the devils. Strong is now a fan favorite and Aries is an embittered heel who no longer cares what the fans think. These two should provide a good ROH style showdown, but will the year gone by keep the embers of hate low, or will they be stoked up again by Aries' antagonism?


March 21st, 2009: Manhattan, NY

"Pretty Boy Pit-bull" Kenny King & "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus vs. Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong: Another solid mid-card tag match that is serving to re-bolster the tag ranks of ROH. Some strong tags are being positioned to challenge Steen & Generico. I wouldn't be surprised if King & Titus became the dark horses to unseat them if the Wolves don't do it on this show.

Bobby Dempsey vs. ???: From the newswire: Larry Sweeney made a very un-welcome appearance at the ROH offices yesterday, with two signed contracts in hand. "That ungrateful slob Dempsey forgets who I am," said the super agent. "I still have two contracts that he signed, and I fully intend to make him fulfill those contracts. He may think he's "freed himself", but Sweet-N-Sour always has the last laugh – or in this case – TWO last laughs. The first will be on March 21st in New York. Dempsey is a dead man."


Webb & Koslov To Engage in ROH Action

ROH officials are happy to announce that Alex Koslov from the AAA roster has been added to the jam packed Houston doubleshot on April 3rd and 4th! Koslov has shined in AAA over the past 2 years, and has been part of the "Degeneration Mex" faction with Sean Waltman and former ROH star, Rocky "Azucar" Romero. ROH officials are excited about what Koslov brings to the table and welcome him from south of the border along with impressive lucha freelancers Magno, Incognito, and Blue Demon, Jr.!

ROH officials are happy to announce that "Spyder" Nate Webb has been added to the March 14th ROH debut in Indianapolis! Webb hasn't been seen in Ring of Honor for some time, but was a part of the ROH-CZW wars, albeit on the CZW side. That aside, Webb has been a steady fan favorite for some time, and ROH officials are anxious to see Webb in action.

As far as Koslovs go, between Alex and Vladimir, I'm thinking ROH got the right one. Koslov is a serviceable wrestler in the ring but really uses his gimmick well…and the debut of the babushka dance in ROH should be one for the record books. Nate Webb has been another name from the independent scene that fans wanted to see given another go in ROH (and where is Josh Ambercrombie these days anyway?). A fan on the ROH message board also noted that with Webb back in ROH, all of the CZW side at Death Before Dishonor IV will have appeared for ROH in 2009. Meanwhile only Danielson and Ace remain on the ROH side as regulars (although Samoa Joe & Homicide made returns in late '08).


ROHdds and Ends

-According to the Observer, Colt Cabana will also be in shortly, but as noted, he can't work anything for TV or PPV for another seven weeks. There is also interest in Sonjay Dutt and Shawn Spears. Cabana put Spears over strong as far as being a good heel. In all cases, it comes down to price. Cabana has been hinted at in a recent newswire, strongly indicated he would be appearing at the Seventh Anniversary Show. I'm very excited by this news, as Cabana is definitely a welcome re-addition to the roster.

-Ric Flair's second appearance has been announced. Here are the particulars: Following his upcoming appearance on March 13th in Collinsville, IL, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair will return to Ring of Honor on Friday, June 12th in Manassas, VA. Flair will take part in a special meet & greet autograph session that will be held from 6pm-8pm at the Sports Network and Fitness Inc, 8320 Quarry Road, Manassas, VA 20110. Besides the autograph session, Flair will appear before the live crowd later that evening during the wrestling event. Autograph and show tickets are now on sale at www.rohwrestling.com. Autograph prices are $30 for the 1st item and $20 for each additional item to be signed. You can bring your own item or purchase Ric Flair merchandise at the building on the night of the show to get signed.

- From the newswire: Prince Nana has returned to ROH, becoming licensed to manage the monstrous Bison Smith! Smith has decimated everything in his path since showing up in ROH, including "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. Not much is known about Nana, just that it appears he has returned to his former "status". Not so long ago, he was being ejected from ROH events and seen undertaking various trivial jobs. All attempts to speak with Nana have gone unanswered, and at this point, all we know is that he is back and leading the charge of Bison.

- From the newswire: "Dirty" Ernie Osiris allegedly stole Grizzly Redwood's red lumberjack hat after dropping a fall to him in Danbury last weekend. Osiris reportedly has been trying to sell the hat on various internet marketplaces. If you have any information that will lead to the recovery of Redwood's hat, please email [e-mail]. Thank you.

-From the newswire: New classes at the ROH Wrestling Academy are starting this week. It's not too late to join.


ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 03/07/2009

ROH World Champion—Nigel McGuinness (champion since 10/06/07, 36 successful defenses)
-defeated Takeshi Morishima in Edison, New Jersey to win the championship.

Next Defense: a-vs. Brent Albright, St. Louis, IL 03/07/09
b-vs. KENTA, Manhattan, NY 03/21/09

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.18 defeated Keith Myatt and Lionheart, (06/20/08, Doncaster, U.K.)
V.19 (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.20 defeated Kevin Steen, Lariat off Turbuckle, (07/25/08, Toronto, ONT, CN)
V.21 defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Jawbreaker Lariat (07/26/08, Detroit, MI)
V.22 defeated Ruckus, London Dungeon (08/01/08, Manassas, VA)
V.23 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black & Claudio Castagnoli (08/02/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.24 defeated El Generico, London Dungeon (08/15/08, Cleveland, OH )
V.25 defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Jawbreaker Lariat (09/14/08, Tokyo, Japan)
V.26 defeated Roderick Strong, (09/19/08, Boston, MA)
V.27 defeated El Generico, roll up, (09/20/08, Philadelphia, PA)
V.28 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Go Shiozaki, El Generico & Kevin Steen (11/07/08, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
V.29 lost via disqualification to Necro Butcher (11/08/08, Markham, Ontario, Canada) Champion retains on a DQ.
V.30 defeated Bryan Danielson, Jawbreaker Lariat (11/22/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V. 31 defeated Jerry Lynn, pin using ropes (12/06/08, Nashville, TN)
V.32 defeated Naomichi Marufuji (12/27/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.33 fought to a time limit draw vs. vs. Tyler Black (01/17/09, Edison, New Jersey)
V. 34 defeated El Generico, London Dungeon (01/31/09 Chicago Ridge, Illinois)
V.35 defeated D-Lo Brown, Jawbreaker Lariat (02/07/09, Orlando, Florida)
V.36 Four Way Elimination Match: defeated Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs &Jerry Lynn (02/27/09, Danbury, CT)

**

ROH World Tag Team Champions—Kevin Steen & El Generico (champions since 09/19/08, 5 successful defenses)
-defeated The Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black on September 19th, 2008 in Boston, MA to win the championship.

Next Defense:a- vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus, Indianapolis, Indiana, 03/14/09
b- vs. American Wolves, New York, NY, 03/21/09

V.1 defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe (11/08/08, Markham, Ontario, Canada)
V.2 defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious (11/21/08. Dayton, OH)
V.3 defeated Jay & Mark Briscoe (11/22/08, Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.4 defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious (12/27/08, Manhattan, NY)
V.5 defeated American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) (01/30/09, Detroit, MI)

**

Top Feuds & Pairings:

-What is going on between Aries and Jacobs?
-Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs
-Tyler Black has a title shot "in his back pocket"
-Jerry Lynn vs. Nigel McGuinness
-Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright
-Bobby Dempsey's trail of revenge against Sweet & Sour Inc.
-Prince Nana is once again a manager
-Daizee Haze wants to save Delirious.
-Necro Butcher continues his war against Age of the Fall


ROH Home Theatre Station

ROH Videowire: March 4th, 2009


Behind the Scenes of the TV Tapings


Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Also the first teaser commercial for the ROH show is available through this link.

Finally...the horror...the horror... click if you dare!

---

Seven Years of ROH: Defining Moments of 2003

Every week for the next month I'll be presenting some of the most memorable and important moments throughout the past seven years of Ring of Honor history. This isn't meant to be a ranked order, nor can it possibly contain every great moment that happened throughout that year. However, when you think about Ring of Honor for that year, these events certainly come to mind.

Therefore, in no particular order:

1. RIOT!: I've discussed the infamous Queens riot several times in the past, but the one thing I go back to for that is just how out of control and chaotic it was at first glance. It looked like everything was falling a part during a wrestling show, not just in the ring but all around it. "Fans" and "Homicide's people" coming through the crowd and into the ring, brawling with the entire ROH roster, the booker making his way out to survey the damage. A very defining exclamation point to the first anniversary of Ring of Honor.

2. Samoa Joe becomes ROH Champion: Joe may have been a part of The Prophecy, but it was because he was getting paid to do it. Then he ended up joining forces with Steve Corino's Group, but that didn't last. Joe broke through due to his in-ring efforts and the popularity with the fans, leading to a title bout against a concussed and hurt Xavier. Joe won the ROH Title by choking Xavier out, thus starting a new era in Ring of Honor.

3. Special K start their own rave: Ain't nothing like a Special K party because a Special K party don't stop. The stunning visual of an extended Special K party concluded what became known as "WrestleRave". They attacked and beat up Trent Acid and took over the ring. The rave music hit and they partied all night and all the way through the beginning of the next event, Death Before Dishonor I. Craziness. Just the sort of out of the box thinking ROH was becoming known for at the time.

4. Dan Maff joins The Prophecy: After the initial first run with The Prophecy that concluded with Low Ki and AJ Styles exacting revenge and Xavier losing the ROH Title, Christopher Daniels needed to regroup big time. He started by corrupting Dan Maff, a long time babyface tag specialist. Maff became the violent hitman of The Prophecy and showed no mercy and no conscience. It led to a stiff and hard fought title match against Samoa Joe.

5. This is Straightedge!: CM Punk's seminal promo explaining his straight edge lifestyle and why it meant so much. A majorly important moment in Punk's career, filled with passion, emotion and all the good stuff fans look for in a good wrestling promo. It spring-boarded the momentum he was building in the feud against Raven to its climax. Many more people were beginning to notice Punk and ROH at the time thanks to this feud and the promo work of both men.

6. Paul London Kisses the ROH Ring: An ultimate moment of paying honor and respect to the promotion where he made his name. I didn't include it on my list of exhilarating moments, but it certainly is a defining moment for ROH, played in several ROH year-in-review videos in the years to come. It was a very "feel good" moment for the ROH fans and wrestlers at the time.

7. CM Punk Forced to Drink His Own Beer: And of course, we come to one of my favorite moments of all time in ROH, as Punk thought he had Raven just where he wanted him. Punk was going to make Raven look like the ultimate hypocrite by forcing him to "relapse" and making him drink beer. Instead, Tommy Dreamer made a surprise appearance and helped his former long time bitter rival (in wrestling storylines anyway). Dreamer turned the tables, and then he and Raven forced Punk to drink the forbidden fruit--alcohol.


Also in 2003: AJ Styles & Low Ki won a no disqualification match to give The Prophecy their first major defeat; Styles & Red would later win the ROH Tag Team Championships from The Prophecy; Styles & Red would fight The Briscoes in an excellent three match series; Jim Cornette would debut in ROH, first as a part of the Prophecy and then as the manager for The Briscoes; Trent Acid and Homicide engaged in a pair of at the time highly touted matches; Scramble Cage made its debut; Paul London would fight in two landmark ROH matches, the two out of three falls fight against Danielson at Epic Encounter and against Styles at Night of the Grudges; Justin Credible joined the Carnage Crew; The Great Muta and All Japan Pro Wrestling crossed over and fought ROH in a four match series; ROH appeared in England in a cross-promotional effort with FWA; Jeff Hardy wrestled in ROH and in a now infamous moment was booed out of the building; Homicide & Steve Corino fought in ROH's first ever no ropes barbed wire match; Punk formed the Second City Saints with Colt Cabana and Ace Steel; Christopher Daniels was revealed as the person who engineered the attack on Punk's girlfriend (at the time) Lucy, with the assistance of BJ Whitmer.

---

Going Home

Get With the pROHgram:

March 21st, 2009:ROH debuts on HD Net at 8p.m. EST.

April 4th, 2009: ROH on HD Net TV features Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries

April 25th, 2009: ROH on HD Net TV features Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black


Ringtones

Not to sound negative or anything, but those match times seem kinda short compared to usual standards. =\ Well, then again, the shows only an hour so I guess that would explain it. I hope they get on another channel sometime in the future. Till then I guess I have to stick with NWA, ROH ppvs, puro on the internet and PWG dvds.

Posted By: Whoblehwah (Guest) on March 01, 2009 at 03:25 PM

Short for an ROH match, yes, but pretty decent for any kind of wrestling program on television. The main events will be running commercial free, so that's not too shabby a deal for wrestling fans. To this day I hate commercial breaks in the middle of matches because I'm always afraid I'm gonna miss something cool and they won't show it on replay when they come back from break.


'What I was doing with Trish Stratus is none of your damned business by the way.'

Fair enough. What were you doing with John Cena then?

Posted By: Chapman Baxter (Guest) on March 01, 2009 at 03:29 PM

Hehehe…actually, I was helping him in a covert operation to rescue his fiancé from an evil psychopath who is playing a most dangerous game of life and death in a massive attempt at vengeance. No, reallt. No, actually, I didn't remember the slightest detail about what either Cena or Stratus were doing in my dreams, but I do remember they were in my dreams. Oh, a Trish was definitely still hot.


Lagana only knows how to format formulaic wrestling matches. And that's exactly what the ROH tv tapings from last night were: formulaic wrestling matches. You could see the same matches on TNA or WWE. I didn't mind because I was so relieved to see the shows weren't (as I had feared)going to be a 45 minute mess of skits and other "entertainment" segments, with 10-15 minutes of wrestling. But I think most longstanding ROH fans will eventually get sick of it once the newness of seeing ROH on TV is over.

Posted By: nomark (Guest) on March 01, 2009 at 05:34 PM

I seriously doubt you could see the same matches on TNA or WWE. I believe the television shows are going to be devoted mostly to appealing to viewers who like the "sport" aspect of professional wrestling. It will be a "nice" thing to have ROH on television for longstanding ROH fans, but those who can't get the channel will still be getting the bulk of their wrestling from the DVD product.


This is my favorite column on 411.

It's just sad how unappealing ROH has become. I went to pretty much every ROH show in Chicago back in 2005 and 2006. But now, I am not even motivated to go to an ROH show anymore. Gabe I think got burned out, and Pearce is just plain bad. 3 months after Final Battle already and Pearce is STILL doing a terrible job.

Posted By: Klossing (Guest) on March 02, 2009 at 06:48 AM

You're not the only one who feels this way and you are definitely entitled to that feeling. I thought January was a horrible month for ROH, but can definitely see them rebounding now. The pieces are being put together for what looks like a very strong Spring season.


Nice column I'm new here. How do you get hdnet I don't have it?

Posted By: Hawk316 (Registered) on March 05, 2009 at 07:20 AM

Thanks for the compliments. To get HD Net you'll either have to switch to Direct TV or appeal to your local cable providers to add the channel to their subscriber package.


Finally we end with a nice long missive from longtime reader and occasional emailer crazymccrazyson, whose got a lot on his mind and since I've got a forum, I thought I'd let him speak his piece:


Ari,

I wrote into your column a few times last year as a somewhat disgruntled RoH fan in Philly. I pretty much stopped watching RoH after Take No Prisoners and, other than your column, lost all contact with the promotion. I figured I'd write in because I thought you might enjoy hearing the thoughts on the TV taping from a casual RoH fan.

If this was a normal RoH show, I'd be a little upset. There was nothing that made it really special, that blew me away. But for a TV taping? Wow. If the backstage segments and commentary are even passable, this will be the best wrestling TV show ever. My passion for RoH was completely reignited by watching this. As Bryan Danielson said after the show, there was not one bad match. Other than the women's match, everything was at least average. The main events were terrific, if not classic RoH matches that you'll write home about.

What did I not like about the tapings? For starters, the music. Some people had good music, but in general, it wasn't that great. They really should have used WCWized version of the songs, or did what ECW did and had local bands create covers. There was also less crowd interaction. The best wrestlers found a way to play to both the cameras and the crowd, but some guys will need to get used to this. The crowd really made me proud to be a Philadelphian, as I think we did a good job. But with a little more crowd interaction, it'll be better.

I think one thing that definitely needs to be done is to use the video wall for wrestler's entrance videos. In the old days, for example, as soon as Gimme Back My Bullets hit, the place would go nuts. Now we have to wait until we actually see the Briscoes. If they used the video wall to let us know who is coming out, I think the crowd would be hotter.

Another problem is that there was nothing but wrestling. Now, don't get me wrong, that wrestling was fantastic. But you need to run some promos for the live crowd. One or two of those would've helped the flow of the show.

That said, this stuff is still amazing. What really convinced me was seeing how many kids there were in the crowd. Watching five year olds pop for arm-bars makes me very hopeful as a wrestling fan. Watching people come in off the street, not being hardcore fans, and getting into it (because it's good wrestling) makes me hopeful. If HDNet can get into more households, I see RoH growing very large, probably surpassing TNA in a few years.

On another note, I was very impressed by some of the talent last night. As much as I didn't like Tyler Black the first few times I saw him, now I understand why everyone wants this guy to have the title. He's amazing. Kenny King is going to be a huge star, and Pearce needs to start pushing him into that role. Also, Brent Albright is a beast - if you can't make money off of this guy, you shouldn't be in the wrestling business. I want to see what the Dark City Fight Club can do in a longer match, but I really liked them. Kevin Steen, Nigel McGuiness, Jay Briscoe and Austin Aries make me proud to be a wrestling fan. And anyone who thinks they can use words to describe the awesome greatness of Bryan Danielson is a fool.

I don't think I've ever been more excited to be a wrestling fan.

This is probably waaaay too long to go into your column, but I hope my reactions can maybe help you understand RoH more as a (now) casual fan sees it. People used to blow away matches aren't going to be happy with the TV show. But people who want to watch really good wrestling are going to love it!


ROH @ 411

411 Buy or Sell explores KENTA, Tyler Black and other ROH and Japan wrestling news.

Michael Weyer postulates about the changes ROH must go through now that it on television in this week's Shining a Spotlight.

Aaron Hubbard covers AJ Styles in ROH with his review ofThe Best of AJ Styles Volume 2.


Buy or Sell Quickies

Speaking of Buy or Sell, here's a new little feature I'm going to start for the column. Every week I'll look at the Ring of Honor related 411 BoS questions and if I'm not participating give my own spin on the topic, in three sentences or less:

-Ring of Honor made a mistake having talents unproven with the company on the TV Tapings: Sell. At this point ALL of the talent from ROH are unproven for television and everyone is starting with a clean slate. You might as well include some of the talent on the independent scene you think can get over or help get over other talent. Plus including guys like Kingston and Cheech & Cloudy gave the Philadelphia crowd some positive buzz.

-Tyler Black was the right person to win the first Television Main Event for Ring of Honor: Buy. Black is the future top face of ROH and should be in line for the title win at any second. Put the focus on him first and let the new viewers know who he is.

-Ring of Honor should have at least one defense of their World and Tag Team Titles during the next TV Tapings: Buy. But only if they can figure out how to work it so that these defenses come before previously booked matches on upcoming shows, therefore not giving away the finish to shows not taped for TV.

-While it provides an opponent he has yet to defeat as RoH World Chanpion, Nigel McGuinness defending against KENTA is a mistake for the 7th Anniversary Show: Sell. I'm in for McGuinness vs. KENTA, should be a hell of a contest.


That will do it for this week's edition. Next week we'll have results from St. Louis and what Flair was up to for that show and all of the latest news and information. As always, thanks for reading.

BROOKLYN! NANA!
--Ari--