Pro Wrestling Ponderings

The A.B.C.‘s of ROH

Being a wrestling fan is similar to following a religion. Anyone who has taken any sort of religious class in college either required or not knows that most religions follow three basic sets of identical rules commonly referred to as A.B.C. Assure, Believe, Convert. A wrestling company much like a religion has to assure their fans that they are following a worthy company. That their product is better or as good as the mainstream counterpart in terms of entertainment. They must make the fan believe that they can give them what they want and even show them stuff they didn’t know they want but found only through them. They also must convert those who don’t believe it into believers.

Ring of Honor obviously has accomplished all three with their loyal and largely growing fan base. But at the same time, some of those who originally were a part of their system have lost some of their faith for the promotion. Then the news broke that two pillars of the company were moving on and added intrigue to the current shows. This made even some of the most critical come out for the shows. I was surrounded by them. From the section I sat in, I heard at least five conversations all saying just about the same thing, that this show would probably be the last ROH show they would go to for the foreseeable future. So now, ROH had to once again prove their ABCs to those who were once staunch believers.

The show had those basic openers where students and veterans alike were given some time to shine. It was amusing to hear one of my neighbors say to their partner, “ Wasn’t that the kid that let us in at the door?” Interestingly enough, this was also my first time seeing the Bravado Brothers, but that’s neither here nor there. This would be my second ROH show, the first being the infamous Chaos at the Cow Palace at the much maligned WrestleReunion show and for what it was worth, I would say this ranks right up there with karaoke night at a local bar where friends and colleagues can get together and show some comradery in the bantering of songs that most wouldn’t never comp to in public but I digress. Ring of Honor, as I wrote in a previous column and many besides have written also, had a chance to prove those who used to support them to give them a glimpse of a product that would fill their minds with questions and their imaginations with possibilities.

I am not one to call myself a Ring of Honor or even pro wrestling expert, what I am is an avid fan with a voice, a voice that at times speaks with a rather different view on wrestling than even some of my closest colleagues have. I see wrestling as a form of entertainment, and there are several ways to entertain in the scope of wrestling. Either through the storylines that are spread out before us either live or on the screen and through the action told in the ring. Sometimes these two come together, sometimes they work separately but still come to the same conclusion. We have seen excellent stuff come from the top indy companies within this industry, including Ring of Honor but this month was especially their time to shine and prove a point. The point that Ring of Honor can still give the fans what they want and that the only way to see it in that visible scope is through Ring of Honor.

In the past Ring of Honor was known for their hard hitting action and emotion draining storylines, much like another promotion that came from a similar area more than half a decade before. Ring of Honor has a chance this month to bring back those who feel that perhaps ROH has lost a bit of their touch and want proven to them that perhaps ROH can fill that niche again.

I can’t say enough that for me, this show was possibly one of the best shows I’ll see live this year. To give you something to base that on, I was live at WWE’s The Bash, yes let that sink in for a bit. So without a pause in my words, I will say that this show definitely brought back the ABCs for the fans. The results are already out there, either through the ROH board or the PWP Twitter, but the action spoke for itself. Rasche Brown stood out as the future of ROH while other veterans such as Claudio Castagnoli and Colt Cabana gave the fans possibly one of the most entertaining matches of this year, if not the history of Ring of Honor. The assurance that ROH was putting it’s grizzled vets in positions where they obviously would be the main events and matching them up in pairings that will probably be built upon down the line was obvious and yet clean cut. Younger talent getting pushes in Six Man Mayhem’s, much as in the past, gave the audience a reason to care about them without really pushing anyone else down the ladder because it’s such a chance win that no one can really come off looking weak. A feature used in the past to push those such as Delirious, Kevin Steen, Colt Cabana, and Nigel McGuinness.

Excitement doesn’t describe the crowds reaction to the live change of the tag title match from a non-title to an undisputed chance at seeing the Briscoes become six time champs. This did a long way in making the crowd and those who read the results believe that anything can and will happen at these live shows and that to be their live to witness that little snippet of history is well worth the cost. It also gave us glimpses of what could happen in future singles and tag matches down the line. Both teams are made up of talented men who could get huge pushes in either singles or tag divisions and not look out of place. I have always enjoyed seeing the singles work of both Jay and Mark Briscoe and continue to have high hopes for Davey Richards. Eddie Edwards also looks to have a good future ahead of him as long as he is built slow and steady and not shoved down our throats too quickly. But overall, it is the style that makes the matches, and these kinds of match ups make the crowd clamor to see more. The build for American Wolves against the Briscoes has been done very well, albeit sometimes influenced by outside forces, but it makes me as a fan salivate at the possibility of the matches. Hell, I’ll say it now and say that Round Robin Challenge four of an entire night built around Steenerico vs. Briscoes vs. American Wolves could draw coupled with a decent title match and strong showings by the ROH under card workers. The Briscoes and American Wolves look to be a part of ROHs future for a long time to come.

But perhaps nothing was more poignant as seeing the faces of the crowd as they were mesmerized by two legends of Ring of Honor lore as they battled for the grandest prize of them all. The holds and counter holds were brilliant, the sense of a possible masterpiece was hanging in the air as the fans literally followed every move these two artists performed. Even when they crashed into my section in one of the most gutsy moves I’ve ever seen Dragon perform live, I still felt like perhaps these two warriors were going to perhaps surpass all expectations. In the end, I believe they did as the crowd almost breathed a sigh of relief collectively when Aries once again retained his title by the skin of his teeth against one of his most avid rivals while also clamoring for more. Danielson and Aries definitely converted a few fans towards coming back to the promotion alongside a sneak attack by Aries at the end after feigning admiration for his opponent. Danielson’s final bow to the Chicago fans also played a huge part in making it obvious that the fans are a huge part of the ROH allure and that active participation is the only way to gain the utmost from the product. But that is not what drove me to the conclusion that this show gave the fans what they wanted.

Before the show, most of the people around me were stating that they were possibly seeing ROH live for the last time, but then right after intermission I saw three pink tickets. Then right before the main event I saw more and after the main event as I walked out the door I saw practically everyone holding a pink ticket signaling that they were ready for December 5th the date that was announced as the next time the Frontier Fieldhouse would see the action that only Ring of Honor could bring. I was not only assured that night, I was also converted. Assured to the ideal that Ring of Honor, when the chips are down, can and will deliver for the foreseeable future.

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