Pro Wrestling Ponderings

This Saturday night, I will have the unique opportunity to leave my comfort zone and attend my first out-of-state wrestling show. While I am not a fan of the direction Ring of Honor has taken over this last year, I am intrigued by the concept of Survival of the Fittest. It is one of the most unique tournaments in professional wrestling, and this is probably my best (and possibly last) chance to see this tournament.

What I love most about what this tournament offers is the unpredictability. Ring of Honor takes 12 stars that are at various positions on the card and match them up against each other. Instead of going through various rounds, each of the six winners advance to the finals and the ending is a sometimes chaotic match with all kinds of upsets and different match-ups. In 2004, during the first ever Survival of the Fittest, Colt Cabana pinned then Ring of World champion Samoa Joe in what may still be the biggest upset in the history of the competition.

Speaking of the first ever Survival of the Fittest,  it came amidst the fallout of the Feinstein scandal and turned out to be the breakout performance of Austin Aries, a man who was only a couple months into his Ring of Honor career. Aries made it to the first finals, a trend he continued through the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Survival of the Fittest tournaments. Bryan Danielson is the man who would become the first winner after having an incredible ending sequence with Aries that would be the start of one of the finest rivalries in company history. Interesting to note that the 2009 version of this tournament comes the first week after the departure of Danielson.

Roderick Strong was a man who stepped up to the plate in the first half of 2005 by having great matches with Steve Corino, Samoa Joe, Alex Shelley, and CM Punk. Unfortunately, Strong wasn’t exactly picking up a lot of victories during this period.  That all changed in the 2005 version of Survival of the Fittest as Strong stepped up to the plate and beat Austin Aries, his partner in Generation Next at that time in another excellent final sequence. Strong was considered by many to be the MVP of 2005, and this was his first signature singles victory.

The next year exemplified just how unpredictable this tournament truly is. Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe would go to a 20 minute time limit draw. Davey Richards and Jimmy Rave, two man believed to be the favorites, lost in the first round. Two of the biggest singles stars in the company, Strong and Homcide, lost a tag team match to the Briscoes. At least Austin Aries got to continue his almost Susan Lucci like streak of making the finals but never winning. Delirious and Matt Sydal, two of Ring of Honor’s biggest underdogs, had a fantastic sequence to end the 2006 Survival of the Fittest. Sydal was primarily used in tag matches with his Generation Next teammates while Delirious was almost out of the company if not for a victory against Ricky Reyes over Wrestlemania weekend. In a year of unpredictability, it’s only Delirious came out of this tournament the winner.

In a sense, Ring of Honor took it’s biggest gamble by heading to the West Coast. Two nights before the chaos at the Cow Palace, Ring of Honor took Survival of the Fittest to Las Vegas. Chris Hero, a man who never seemed to be able to get any traction in the company, broke through in a big way by not only winning the whole thing but also eliminating the other five men. While there were no four star matches, I think 2007 is my favorite year because of how strong Hero was put over and the simple story the final told. To me, this entire tournament isn’t necessarily about having the best matches, but trying to actually put new guys over.

This leads into 2009. With new stars absolutely needed for Ring of Honor to continue its’ own survival, this might be the most important Survival of the Fittest ever. Perhaps this is a chance to elevate Kenny King or Kenny Omega over. These are two men that are highly regarded, but they haven’t won a lot of big time singles matches. Maybe Tyler Black can win this tournament and set up a world title match at Final Battle 2009, where he can once and for all take the championship he’s spent the last two years chasing. How about Claudio Castagnoli or Colt Cabana? Two guys who seem to have gone directionless the entire year. Maybe Chris Hero, Roderick Strong, or Delirious can win once again to give him something that no other Ring of Honor star can claim, being a two time winner of the biggest and most consistent tournament Ring of Honor has. Petey Williams and Rhett Titus might also win, but I’d prefer to not even think of that as a possibility.

What is needed almost as much as a winner is a clear direction, good matches, and clean finishes. No BS. Whomever is booked to win should do it in the cleanest way possible to establish that this is a wrestler who could possibly be the world champion. Even if King or Omega have to wait their turn, there needs to be the sense that these two are being elevated and might be the ones to win the belt in 2010. I guess you could say that while Survival of the Fittest might just be the name of the tournament, we’ll find out how fit to survive Ring of Honor really is.

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“American Dragon” Bryan Danielson is on his way to World Wrestling Entertainment. Say it out loud, right now. It still doesn’t sound right, does it? I mean, the first two words in the company’s name fit Dragon perfectly. He is “worldly”, honing his craft on every continent habitable, fighting within the borders of every country that truly cherishes this sport. And “wrestling”? For the last five years, on the independent circuit, he has been wrestling, perhaps the only legitimate coast-to-coast draw left in the indy business. But Bryan was more than just the best in the country. That ain’t how the nickname goes. It’s brazen, borderline arrogant…and as accurate as sun is scorching. “Best in the World”. World. This was not a man who settled upon dominating one country, oh no. He would travel to Europe with PWG as its world champion, infuriate the chant-crazed, diehard German über fans in wXw, and make the fans “oh” and “ah” on his biggest stage, Pro Wrestling NOAH. And it was in NOAH that he achieved some of his greatest moments: defending the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title, challenging for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles, and facing off against legends of puroresu such as Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Mitsuharu Misawa. Here’s a look back at Dragon’s ride within the company, tour by tour.

……………Bryan Danielson’s first tour in NOAH can only be considered a success. After his confrontations with KENTA in Ring of Honor, during a three-way involving Samoa Joe and a ROH Title match in which Danielson, despite a severely separated shoulder, came out victorious, fans in Japan took notice of Dragon and treated him with uncommon respect for a debuting wrestler, let alone a debuting gaijin. Danielson spent a majority of the tour tagging with fellow gaijins and NOAH veterans Bison Smith and Eddie Edwards. His first match in the company saw the trio take on Akitoshi Saito, Ricky Marvin, and his international rival KENTA. He would go on to tap out Marvin in the match securing the win for his team. In the opening nine bouts on his first NOAH tour, Bryan would gain a total of six victories, five of which he earned himself with his feared Cattle Mutilation submission. His tenth and final match of the tour would be against KENTA in the Yokohama Cultural Hall. NOAH, perhaps sensing fan response growing for Dragon, declared the contest a “Special 45-minute Match”. Danielson would suffer his first and only fall on the tour after getting put down by KENTA with his Go 2 Sleep maneuver.

…………...Dragon’s second tour with NOAH started similarly to the previous one; he participated in a six-man tag, once again at the Korakuen Hall, once again gaining a victory, though he did not get the fall himself. In quite an odd pairing, Bryan teamed with Joe E. Legend and future WWE Tag Champion Ted DiBiase. It was Legend who got the pinfall that night, and Danielson would go on to tag with Joe E. and Ted in much the same frequency as he did Bison and Eddie on the previous tour. This tour would prove to be an up-and-down affair for Danielson; his record of 7-10 on this excursion was much worse than the 6-4 record from his previous tour, but unlike his first one, he took no falls. Furthermore, he participated in his first main event on a NOAH show, teaming with Bison and DiBiase in a losing effort against a trio lead by puroresu legend Mitsuharu Misawa. He would go on to main event three other shows that tour, all in six-man tag matches, all losses. His final match on the tour was his debut in the revered Nippon Budokan Hall, NOAH’s largest venue. Danielson’s triumvirate lost, but because he was never pinned or submitted, he lost no favor in the eyes of the Japanese fans.

……………Only two months later, Bryan began his third NOAH tour, this time as a participant in the NTV Junior Tag League Tournament. Once again, Danielson would take no falls on the entire tour. He and his partner, Davey Richards, would compete against some of the best junior tag teams in the world: Naomichi Marufuji and Kota Ibushi, Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin, fellow Ring of Honor roster members The Briscoes, and KENTA & Taiji Ishimori. Of the five tourney matches Bryan and Davey had, they had three losses. The two non-losses were against KENTA and Ishimori, which went to a draw, and Suzuki and Marvin, the latter of which Danielson pinned with a jackknife cut-back pin, Bryan’s first pinfall victory in NOAH. This would prove crucial, and would turn out to be the loss that cost Suzuki and Marvin the tournament, won in epic fashion by KENTA and Taiji after Suzuki and Marvin failed to beat the Brisoces before the match’s time limit expired. Danielson’s last match of the tour was contested at the Budokan and saw him team with Rocky Romero and ROH rival Nigel McGuinness. Once again his squad fell, this time to the team of Takeshi Morishima, Mohammed Yone, and Go Shiozaki.

……………In late March of 2008, Dragon began what would become his longest tour for Pro Wrestling NOAH: a nineteen-match, month-long stay in Japan. His time away proved fruitful, as this was statistically Bryan’s best NOAH tour to date. Of the 19 contests Danielson competed in, he won 14 of them, getting 10 of the falls himself, including one pinfall and 8 contests in which he tapped his opponent to Cattle Mutilation. Of note was the fact that, for the first time in his NOAH career, he landed a submission win without using his signature move: against Atsushi Aoki, using a modified neck lock. Despite his impressive 14-5 record on the tour, including an 11-2 start, he did have his share of downs. For the second time Dragon would be pinned, this time tagging with Go Shiozaki against the team of KENTA and Marufuji. Marufuji picked up the win, becoming only the second man to beat Dragon in a NOAH ring. The match, lauded by the fans in attendance, has yet to see the light of day, and will probably remain so. The tour ended on an all-too-familiar note: Danielson’s partner taking the fall at the Budokan Hall, this time in a standard tag match.

…………...A couple of weeks later, Dragon would be back in NOAH, starting the expedition in fantastic fashion. First, he tapped Atsushi Aoki at the Korakuen Hall with a triangle choke, followed by a submission victory via the neck lock over BJ Whitmer the next night in Differ Ariake. But it was his third night that proved most eventful for Bryan. Once again at Differ Ariake, Bryan would see his first victory in the main event of a NOAH show. Bison Smith, along with Bryan and Akitoshi Saito, bested a team lead by Jun Akiyama with his finishing maneuver, the Bisontennial. Danielson would go on to once again take no falls and amass an 8-4-1 record, the draw being a highly-touted contest with tag partner Yoshinobu Kanemaru against KENTA & Taiji Ishimori. This would lead to a tour-ending GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title shot against KENTA & Ishimori at the Coventry Skydome in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, Bryan’s partner, Eddie Edwards, would succumb to KENTA’s Go to Sleep, once again ending a tour on a sour note.

…………...62 days later, on his sixth tour, it was once again time for the NTV Junior Tag League. With partner Davey Richards returning with Danielson, both men set out to make a much bigger splash than they had in their previous attempts to win the tournament. Facing several of the same wrestlers as the previous tournament, the duo found much more success this time around. They would not reach the finals, but they did amass a 3-2-1 tourney record, their only losses being to the young duo of Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kota Ibushi, and to the eventual tournament winners, KENTA and Taiji Ishimori. Despite getting statistically knocked out of the competition rather early on, Dragon would persevere, winning his final three NTV Cup matches, his last five matches overall and, with the help of Davey Richards, finally netted his first win at the Budokan. Davey got the pinfall victory over Kento Miyahara as Danielson held Kento’s partner Naomichi Marufuji at bay. Bryan would finally depart a tour with a win, but that would not be the story upon his NOAH return. Less than a week later, after a hellacious title match with Yoshinobu Kanemaru at Ring of Honor’s Tokyo Summit event, Bryan Danielson won GHC Jr. Heavyweight champion.

…………...Danielson’s first defense of the GHC Jr. Title came at Ring of Honor’s Glory by Honor VII event against the man that pinned Davey Richards and accounted for one of Dragon’s two tournament loses during the second NTV Junior Tag League: Katsuhiko Nakajima. Dragon was victorious, earning the right to enter his next tour with NOAH as one of its champions. This was another tour that had its share of ups and downs. Unfortunately for Danielson, the first challenger for his GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title was a man that knew him all too well: KENTA, still the only man at that time who had bested Dragon in a singles match in NOAH. A Go 2 Sleep later and Danielson was now a former champion and 0-2 against his rival. Shockingly, this would also be the first time that Danielson took more than one fall on a tour; Bison Smith, the man that tagged with Danielson so frequently when he started out in NOAH, pinned him in a six-man tag using the Bisontennial. Things picked up directly afterwards; Dragon would main event the next two shows, teaming with Nigel McGuinness and Doug Williams. For the first time, Dragon picked up the fall in both main events, tapping Atsushi Aoki and Ricky Marvin using Cattle Mutilation. Once again, his tour ended with a loss at the Budokan Hall. It would be almost nine months before Danielson would return to tour with Pro Wrestling NOAH. Unbeknownst to fans at the time, it would also be his last.

…………...Bryan Danielson’s final ride in NOAH was, fittingly, his third attempt to win the NTV Cup. This time, his partner would be Roderick Strong. He started the tour with a six-man tag in his final appearance at the Korakuen Hall. New partner Strong picked up the win for partners Dragon and Akitoshi Saito. Once the tournament began, Dragon and Roderick won their first match-up against the bizarre tandem of Genba Hirayanagi and Kikutaro. Unfortunately, that would be their only win of the tournament. The other two tourney matches, against the teams of Kota Ibushi and Atsushi Aoki and, of course, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori, were hard-fought loses, the KENTA & Ishimori match actually main eventing a show in Akita. Dragon, who had taken his team’s fall the night before to Takeshi Rikioh, took the fall in his tag match against KENTA as well, the first time he took falls on back-to-back shows. His last match in NOAH was a victory over a trio lead by Tsuyoshi Kikuchi; he did not pick up the fall. (Roderick did, using a powerbreaker.)

There’s a scene in the film Good Will Hunting where Ben Affleck’s character Chuckie explains to Matt Damon’s character Will, the mathematical genius, why he can’t work construction for the rest of his life like Chuckie and his friends. “It’d be an insult to us if you’re still here in 20 years,” Chuckie declares, “Hangin’ around here is a…waste of your time.” This has been a long understood truth about Bryan Danielson since…hell, since the first time he faced KENTA one-on-one in New York City. You just knew that if he somehow, someway didn’t move higher in this business, it’d be an absolute tragedy. In the film, Chuckie would go on to express his desire to show up at Will’s door one day, like every day, and instead of coming out the front door…Will would be gone, having moved on to bigger and better things. That’s what it felt like when I first read that Dragon had signed; it was a bittersweet sense of pride. We, the independent faithful, had the privilege of watching a budding legend long past gratuity. He never got the chance to get a pinfall or submission in the Nippon Budokan Hall. He never beat KENTA in a Pro Wrestling NOAH ring. And, if there is any justice in the world, he never will. The “American Dragon” has ascended. The sky’s the limit.

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It would be easy to write about the world title reign of Nigel McGuinness, but he had the distinction of bringing another title so much prestige, the company felt that no one man could possibly top his title reign. For just under a year, Nigel McGuinness took the Pure wrestling title from a goofy second-tier belt into something that people cared about.

On August 25, 2005, Nigel McGuinness wrestled an ROH legend in Samoa Joe. Joe was the Pure champion and since he had already been a world champion, Joe was trying to add prestige to the Pure championship because of his status. Everyone seemed to expect the same long title reign that had accompanied Joe’s world title reign. It was not meant to be as Nigel McGuinness became the fifth Pure champion in company history.

McGuinness’ title defenses were not very frequent due to lack of challengers and a couple tours to the orient. However, his work as a heel champion who would do anything to retain his title, made him one of the most elite players in the company. Even if the matches were not four star classics, they were at the very least compelling pieces of storyline nirvana. He would defend his title against a wide variety of challengers that included both Ring of Honor world tag team champions and the Ring of Honor world champion. He would also defeat two TNA stars in Joe and Jay Lethal while also defeating a former ECW superstar in Tony Mamaluke.

His most notable rivalry in the first half of his title reign came against Claudio Castagnoli. Castagnoli was brand new to the company and got a huge rub just from narrowly beating McGuinness twice in title matches. Even with a match involving two referees and a climactic battle in New York city, McGuinness found a way. Just as he did in his entire ten month reign.

He was not involved with the CZW feud during any of 2006 but was instead content to just play the foil. That is until a unification match on April 28, 2006 against world champion Bryan Danielson. It was on that night that McGuinness retained his pure title by count-out. The world title could not change on the countout necessitating a rematch on July 29, 2006 where only Danielson’s world title was on the line. McGuinness would lost this match via small package and one more unification match was set up to take place in McGuinness’ home country.

On August 12, 2006 McGuinness lost in his championship in one of the best matches in company history. He had defended the Pure title in a way no one else had. He practically made bad finishes, count-outs, and disqualifications into an art form. In a company founded on the principles of great wrestling with clean finishes, McGuinness defied these things in such a way that it came off across as brilliant instead of eye-rolling.

Perhaps the finest example came in a title defense that took place against Homicide on June 24. Homicide had earned this title chance by helping ROH in the war against CZW back on May 13 against Necro Butcher. With the need for Homcide to once again help the company out against CZW on July 15, it would have only been appropriate to possibly have him as one of their champions, but it was not meant to be. McGuinness and Homicide brawled in the crowd for roughly 18 seconds until McGuinness scrambled into the ring. Homicide also scrambled in one second too late.

McGuinness retained his title but the win created a question in the minds of fans. Would Homicide join Team ROH? We did get our answer three weeks later, but it was the type of storytelling that made ROH such a great company in 2006. And the final story about the pure title did indeed come on August 12 as the greatest Pure champion in history lost his belt to perhaps the best world champion in history.

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Jerome and Kevin discuss Ring of Honor. Yup, that sounds about right. 45 minutes summed up in three sentences.

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This is the first of three straight days of this column as we gear up for a huge weekend in Ring of Honor’s big weekend as Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson say good-bye to the company that made them.

In the career of Bryan Danielson, there are a lot of moments that stand out, moments that have granted him practically legendary status among hardcore fans. There is one singular moment that might be most important, a moment that took from a great worker to someone who could carry a company on his back. It was on September 17, 2005 that the seventh Ring of Honor world champion was crowned. In just over 35 minutes, Bryan Danielson became the man in ROH.

In this title reign, he would take on all comers. He’d defeat future WWE superstars like he did when he beat James Gibson for the belt. He would defeat TNA contracted stars like Christopher Daniels and Chris Sabin. He would defeat former a former ECW champion in Steve Corino. He beat a CZW invader in Chris Hero. He would beat two future TNA world champions in A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe. He even beat a man coming out of retirement in Lance Storm.

Yet, what many consider the greatest title reign in the history of the company started out rather tepidly. Danielson didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first weekend defending the belt against Austin Aries and Steve Corino.Then it all changed in Bridgeport Connecticut two weeks later when an apparent incident took place between Roderick Strong and Danielson. Danielson snapped some 35 minutes into the match, and some thought this might have even been become a shoot. He had shown a heelish attitude and temper that was rarely seen in the world of Ring of Honor.

As the months wore on, Danielson continued to exhibit a more heelish attitude with every show. More importantly, Danielson as a heel was able to dictate the pace of his own matches and have near four star matches up and down with everyone on the roster. ROH would feed all these big name stars just so they could put Dragon over clean in the middle of the ring. Naomichi Marifuji made his Ring of Honor debut at Final Battle 2005 and despite being a rather large star in NOAH, he fell victim to Danielson as well.

His title reign was so long that you could practically divide it into three categories. The first carried through the end of 2005 as he established himself and became more comfortable in his heel skin. The next would not deliver as many as classic matches, but it would turn out to be a monumental period for the company and Philadelphia wrestling in general.

From January 2006 until July 2006, Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling, better known as CZW, engaged in an interpromotional war that was highly successful on its’ own scale. Men from each company would put each other in a way to get the company over. There was one many, however, who never lost to CZW and in fact came to be almost a killer of the company. Danielson dispatched of Chris Hero and would continue to tease what he considered to be the rather bloodthirsty CZW fans. His booing fed Danielson’s anger as he unmercifully beat up Delirious at the 100^th show. Finally, he destroyed Sonjay Dutt at Death Before Dishonor IV before agreeing to help the company he had help just a few minutes later in a match that would decide who would win the feud.

Danielson would cement his heel status in that very match, but in Cage of Death when he turned on Samoa Joe and gave the finger (both literally and figuratively) to the company which he had been  part of for the last four years up to that point. Danielson’s third phase was about to begin, and it would be the most rewarding and the most taxing at the same time.

He would engage in a series of brutal matches with Nigel McGuinness to unify the world and pure titles. It all climaxed with Danielson winning both belts over the Atlantic Ocean at “Unified.” The month of August was indeed very noteworthy as Danielson also engaged in three one hour draws. One with Samoa Joe. One with Nigel McGuinness. And then one the next night in Chicago, the hometown of challenger Colt Cabana.

It was on this night that Danielson separated his shoulder and somehow someway gutted his way to a draw with Cabana. No one would have blamed Danielson for simply ending the match early, but he found a way. Just as he found a way to pick his spots over the next four months to have even more classic matches and defend his title until Final Battle 2006. His match with KENTA might be the best in company history. It was a sterling title defense with all the drama, workrate, and crowd reaction of something born out of the 1980s NWA. Even with an injury, Danielson defeated KENTA and marched on.

It was obvious to everyone where Danielson’s road would end. Homicide was another longtime member of the Ring of Honor roster. He had never been any kind of champion before in this company and vowed to leave the company if he did not win a championship by the end of 2006. Danielson seemed to lose some momentum and was just biding his time during the fall as he faced off with Austin Aries, Delirious once again, and had a cage match with Samoa Joe to end their feud. Then on December 23, 2006, 15 months after it all began, Homicide ended a legendary title reign with lariat and three count. Instead of being the heel he had been for the last year, Dnaielson showed true honor by handing the title that he had helped make even more prestigious over to Homicide.

The title reign of Bryan Danielson is one that will never be forgotten by the fans of Ring of Honor. Anyone who saw even one title defense saw a man who harkened back to the old days of professional wrestling. Danielson always mentioned this world title as being “wrestling freedom.” In his freedom, Danielson made a hunk of tin actually mean something. His representation of that title made people care about not only whether or not there would be a title change, but of the company as a whole.And for that, Bryan Danielson truly might be the best in the world.

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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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The first time that I read about American Dragon Bryan Danielson was in World of Wrestling magazine while reading the results of what was a Super Indy tournament. I believe that was also the first time I had ever read of a Low Ki or Christopher Daniels. All three men would later on impress me on a DVD entitled Era of Honor Begins that I would pick up at a Virgin Megastore in San Francisco. Little did I know that from that point on, I would look at pro wrestling in a very different manner. I had been a fan of the original ECW and new of a few indy wrestling companies such as XPW and the ECWA Super 8 Tournament, but other then that was not truly immersed into the indy wrestling culture. At the time I felt that I was growing tired of the WWE and was feeling the loss of WCW despite it’s huge short comings. One federation was just not enough to fill the need for athletically based action drama that pro wrestling brought to me entertainment scope.

After reading of a small promotion out of Philadelphia called Ring of Honor in Pro Wrestling Illustrated, I decided that purchasing their DVD would at least give me a small portion of something different as I was also in the process of buying OVW and UPW DVDs as they were finally coming out in my area. I can remember seeing Scoot Andrews, Jay Briscoe, James Maritato, Amazing Red, Brian XL, and the S.A.T. for the first time and being utterly amazed at their abilities in the ring. I had a decent amount of Puro tapes and despite being a fan of Great Muta, Satosho Kojima, the late Legend Mitsuhara Misawa, amoung others, I just wasn’t getting that niche part of my entertainment filled. Mostly because these weren’t men I could readily go see live, nor understand what was going on in their feuds other than they were having tremendous matches and working two distinct styles that were lacking in the American scope of what pro wrestling is. For those that don’t know, those styles are commonly referred to as Kings Road and Strong Style, two very distinct philosophies behind how wrestlers should perform in the ring and two styles that are not commonly versed into the typical wrestling fare. But that was going to change very soon.

Then the main event on the DVD was on. I was already smitten and determined to buy more of this ROH product, but it was Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and Low Ki that took it to another level of fandom for me. After watching a nearly perfect three way, there was no way I could be satisfied with the current level of performance being shown on national television. Yes, there were many great match ups on WWE PPV and television, but this ROH product was filling a niche for Puro style action coupled with the fact that I could follow the storylines because it was being commentated in English and had an online presence that allowed me to follow the talents exploit’s a lot easier.

A large part of that was due to Bryan Danielson. I remember buying the Red Robin Challenge 1 alongside A Night of Appreciation and just being entertained far more than I had in months in a few short hours. Danielson versus Low Ki was by far one of the best matches I had seen and even before that, Low Ki versus Amazing Red just blew me away with the athletic ability of these two in what is now known as the “Matrix minute”. I had long heard and seen a few of Christopher Daniels greatness and was astonished to find that it wasn’t just wrestling hyperbole. I came to understand that these men had also worked in Japan and thus really were fusing together those Puro styles with not only the grace of lucha libre but the story telling ethic of traditional American style pro wrestling. Obviously a third part of the equation was the man we are celebrating now, Bryan Danielson.

Bryan Danielson was the technician, an easily forgettable part of any match, and yet one that is detriment to making a match memorable to begin with. You might remember that he was trained by a man who has achieved legendary status coupled with working with my favorite wrestling Legend of all time. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were to me two of the best in the ring period. Ego aside, both stand to be talked about for years to come by peers and historians of this form of entertainment. Bryan Danielson learned from HBK and the secondary trainer Rudy Gonzalez of the Texas Wrestling Academy alongside other indy darlings Paul London and The Brian Kendrick. Danielson brought the sizzle where as Low Ki brought the steak and Danielson brought the sauce. You could not have had a great match without any one of these components not working at the great level that we’ve come to expect from them. But together, they made one unforgettable match and a seemingly good card into a must buy event.

The technician must be complimented by the sulky heel and a flashy, hard hitting, baby face in order for what ROH wanted to showcase in their first event to really come to fruition. No easy task, they also had to work a style that I feel was lacking in the northeast area and that fans were clamoring for and really only getting via tape trading. But that all changed when ROH put forth a product that emphasized an in ring product that brought together many flavors of styles, but mostly showcased a hard hitting, “stiff” style. Throughout the years that ROH has been around, Danielson has been a part of some of the most legendary matches. His list of opponents reads like a who’s who of indy favorites. Paul London, Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Chad Colllyer, Roderick Strong, KENTA, Takeshi Morishima Nigel McGuinness, and the man he will be facing this Saturday, ROH champion Austin Aries.

I will be seeing his last ROH world title match in a little under 24 hours for the time being, and I must say that my nerves are at an all time high. Coupled with meeting my child hood hero Bret Hart, this will be a perfect wrestling weekend for me. I have met Bret before when I was a little under 10 in San Jose, CA at a WWF event, but it was for a fleeting shake of the hand and then over. This time I get to see two greats of the mat wars alongside see the infamous Chicago area for the first time. It should be a spectacular weekend and I do hope that I have a lot of memories to show for the next column.

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-So the big question is “What about Sunday?” Well, what about Sunday? For the last four months, this has been the event I’ve most looked forward to. Ring of Honor has fallen off a cliff and while going to AAW is a lot of fun, there’s nothing better then enjoying the best product possible. That’s pretty much how Dragon Gate USA has been promoted by Gabe Sapolsky. And when you buy 75 bucks for a front row ticket, that’s exactly what I expected.

-It began when the doors opened. What struck me immediately was the fact that there was a lobby. Having gone to ROH and AAW shows, you’re not really used to an enormous lobby area with all kinds of merchandise, the meet and greet, and special autograph session. In lieu of spending 40 dollars on autographs, I went to the “Highspots” table and grabbed some PWG DVDs that I’ve been meaning to grab.

-Around 4:30, FRAY began. I wish I could tell you that this match was ten different kinds of awesome but it really wasn’t. Arik Cannon got eliminated first and was treated like a jobber. Flip Kendrick started off hot, but when he started blowing spots left and right, the crowd lost interest. Hallowicked was the most popular and seemed to be working the hardest (He was the first one entered) so of course Johnny Gargano wins. Gargano didn’t show me a great deal. He reminds me of a combination Erick Stevens Rhino. I hope Gabe doesn’t desperately try and get this guy like he has Stevens and B.J. Whitmer.

Enough pre-show. Now we move to the reason you clicked on this link.

-Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid- This felt a little better then the first match, but I’m sure part of that had to do with seeing them perform live. This was a great little opener, but I think these guys can still go just a bit farther. I also didn’t really understand the logic of having Kid win again since logic would dictate a third match to settle the score. ***1/2-***3/4

-Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw vs. Yamato and Gran Akuma- Considering three of these guys were the walking wounded, I can see why this match was something of a disappointment. This was not as good as the CHIKARA showcase, but it at least settled into a more traditional tag team match. Not a classic but pretty good under the circumstances. Akuma and Yamato also have to be two of the best heels going right now with their mannerisms and ability to get the crowd against them. Quack is also a good enough babyface with his facials that it makes up for Jigsaw’s inability to really do those types of things. Another odd ending as the babyfaces win. Yamato’s post-match attack seems to indicate he and Quack will settle the score at “Open the Freedom Gate.” **3/4-***

-Bryan Danielson vs. Naruki Doi- I know some people may not like what happened here, but I loved it. Kevin Harvey says this is a man who needs no introduction. Lights go out and Danielson just walks to the ring. This was fantastic and a very creative way of not having to play “The Final Countdown” and not have to play generic crap. The more time that goes by, the better this match becomes in my eyes. Because of Danielson, this was another match that didn’t have a breakbeck pace, but was more of a traditional wrestling match. I thoroughly enjoyed this since the crowd was way into it because of Danielson and Doi seems to get better every time I see him. I was surprised this wasn’t the main event, but considering what happened after the match, it does make sense. ****-****1/4

-Great promo by Bryan Danielson although I think certain people have gotten the message wrong. Bryan Danielson himself was not saying he was the best in the world. He was talking about how people have been chanting “Best in the World” and that they should continue supporting independent wrestling. He then brought up Davey Richards as a guy who fans could cheer for once Danielson leaves. “The Final Countdown” played for the last time… until September 19 for another leg on the farewell tour.

-During intermission, I got some autographs and we sat around. This intermission felt like forever.

-Brian Kendrick vs. CIMA- Not a bad match but not a great one. Kendrick is clearly trying to get his wind back, and I guess CIMA isn’t really the best singles wrestler these days. I would have liked to have seen a tag team match with these two because I believe it would have been better for everyone involved. I’m also a believer that the artist formerly known as Spanky’s legacy in Ring of Honor has become overblown. Not to say he’s a crappy worker, but there aren’t a lot of his matches that made me say “WOW!” ***-***1/4

-Shingo vs. Davey Richards- Oh my God. So many amazing aspects to this one. Shingo no longer having a mullet. The stiff shots. The chants. I know that I’ve said my match of the year is the Colony/F.I.S.T match from Anniversario Yang, but this could very easily take its’ place. This was just an incredible bout, almost a sequel to the KENTA vs. Davey Richards match from earlier this year. There were so many moments when I thought the match was over. I really need to see this on DVD before making this my match of the year, but it could very easily usurp Anniversario Yang. If you want a reason to order this Pay-Per-View, here it is. ****3/4-*****

-Davey calling out Bryan Danielson and turning heel on him? Awesome. Making his goal in DG USA clear by saying he wants the belt? Even better because it makes the title important and gives this organization a direction instead of just simply having great matches. While that’s a great goal to have, some angles are needed to keep people coming back.

-The Young Bucks vs. Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi- What’s up with the Bucks getting shafted back-to-back nights? After the classic match we just saw, I’m not sure about ending the show with a silly ref bump and mist. If they wanted the Bucks to win this match and maybe have Saito/Horguchi retain their titles this way in November, I wouldn’t be as offended since it’s unlikely to be the main event. The action was good while it lasted, but I still feel like I’ve seen so much better from these two. ***3/4-****

Overall, I had a great deal of fun with this show. I think this is an easy recommendation to check out on Pay-Per-View or DVD. I think the fact that there were a couple more angles featured on this show and two huge four star matches made this better show as far as flow. I’m not going to say this was a better show yet because of the unique nature I saw both shows in.

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It is now Saturday. Before enjoying the AAW show, I had to sit through seven hours of work. The first few hours move quite quickly as I’m tutoring students and actually earning my paycheck. Then the last two hours hit, and they are the slowest two hours of my entire life. EVER. I FINALLY get to tap out at around 3:45 to head down to Berwyn.

I arrived at the Eagles Club around 5, and there was a very different vibe from the previous show. There seemed to be more excitement, more hustle and bustle, more everything. I got a chance to interview Phil Colvin, The Young Bucks, and Jigsaw. All three were very nice and polite. In fact, everyone up and down AAW deserves a big thank you for allowing yours truly to conduct these interviews and cover the shows. Pro Wrestling Ponderings isn’t a huge name in the industry (as much as we all want it to be) and their hospitality has been great for both sides.

At around 6:45, the doors opened and it was time for the show to begin. After a ho-hum pre-show with what I believed to be a record number of blown spots, Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon got “Us vs. Them” officially started. Here are my thoughts on each and a rough star rating. (Results courtesy of www.aawrestling.com)

Faith in Nothing d. Flip Kendrick/Louis Lyndon with a Kudo Krusher on Kendrick- Not a long match by any means but I think it served the purpose of getting the crowd into the show from the get go. Kendrick showed a lot of moves, but it’s hard to tell how good of a wrestler he is. Lyndon showed a bit more personality while Vincent Nothing and Christian Faith showed why they’ll be getting a shot at the tag team titles soon. They have very good chemistry together and are a fast-rising team in the Midwest. **-**1/2

AAW ring announcer and Dragon Gate USA host Kevin Harvey interviewed Shane Hollister, who when last I saw him was getting stapled and burned by Arik Cannon. Nick Brubaker, Danny Daniels, and Ryan Boz came out. Daniels said Brubaker needed a win leading to

Shane Hollister d. Nick Brubaker with a modified Flatliner- Not a whole lot to this match except Shane got a much-needed win after having the bajesus beaten out of him. ½*-*

Knight Wagner/Jordan McEntyre d. Krotch/Juice Robinson when Knight rolled up Juice with a handful of tights- Nikki and the Northstar Express made their presence known. The one thing I will say is Juice and Krotch would make a perfect team. Krotch can take the beatings and do the whole face-in-peril thing while Juice Robinson can come in and do the short bursts of offense. Juice is quite green, but he was able to showcase his skills much better in an atmosphere like this as opposed to wrestling the also green Mason Beck. *-*1/2

Chandler McClure, who’s been banned from AAW but still raising hell, ran in. Jimmy Jacobs then came in and accepted the open challenge for the AAW title. For a match being on fourth on the card, I wasn’t expecting anything really since this was placed on the mid-card. I was thinking a screwjob finish. Instead…

Jimmy Jacobs d. Jay Bradley to win the AAW Heavyweight Title with a top rope senton- Incredible to see a heavyweight title changed in the fourth match. Now sure how I feel about it, but it certainly popped the crowd huge. I actually jumped out of my seat because I was shocked to see the referee count three. A nice moment and the first of two major surprises from one Jimmy Jacobs. The funniest thing about this match was having to tell my friend who’s never been to an AAW show and only follows ROH that Jacobs is a babyface in the company. ***-***1/2

Arik Cannon/Northstar Express d. Gran Akuma/Hallowicked/Jigsaw when Cannon hit Hallowicked with the Glimmering Warlock- Very CHIKARA style match and I loved every second of it. Although I’ve seen team CHIKARA live once before, this felt like seeing them again for the first time all over again. I loved this match a great deal with all the spots and fantastic maneuvers. I also liked the dissention teased between Jigsaw and Akuma. It wasn’t overt, but if you follow both DG and CHIKARA, you could easily pick it out. ***1/2-***3/4

Intermission- Incredibly, the world title didn’t even change before a break. This was very odd.

Shiima Xion d. Johnny Gargano with a roll up- Both of these guys have been in AAW before, but they were both playing heel. I think that’s part of why the crowd wasn’t really into the match. It was passable, but I think the crowd was still shuffling in from intermission, and I think everyone was starting to feel burned out. With a huge title switch and a phenomenal six man tag, it’s easy to see why. With Gargano attacking Xion, I assume there will be a return match down the road. One final note: Nice entrance by Gargano. **3/4-***

Danny Daniels/Ryan Boz d. Zero Gravity- No disrespect intended to any of the workers, but this was the point in which I took a bathroom break. I came back and saw a pretty good little match-up. The problem is that the winning team was never in doubt, and people really wanted to get to the main events by this point. I know I did at least. I think this will play better for me on DVD when I haven’t been up since 7’o’clock in the morning. *1/2-**

Bryan Danielson d. Silas Young with an inside cradle- By inside cradle, I’m sure they mean SMALL PACKAGE since that is what it was. This was a great great great match. If you want to see a match where the loser still comes out looking better, I present this match as example A. Young is someone that I’ve always considered to be underrated, and I assure that’s not just because I interviewed him. Young showed why he deserves more bookings and a main event opportunity in other independent companies. Of course, it’s easy to say that anyone can have a great match with Bryan Danielson because of who he is, but this was one of the better Danielson singles matches I’ve seen this year. It was dramatic. The crowd was molten, and the wrestling was great without turning into a spotfest. This was just a great wrestling battle. ***3/4-****

House of Truth d. The Young Bucks to retain the AAW Tag Titles- I’m perfectly willing to accept the Bucks losing here in the way they did because the object should be to get the heel House of Truth as over as possible before losing the tag team title to a hot babyface team. The problem was that Truth Martini throwing a cigarette in Matt Jackson’s face followed by the subsequent pinfall was how one of the best AAW shows of the year ended. I think it was a bad way to end the show because I think it sent the crowd out on bad note. I think Jacobs ending the night with a world title win would have been perfect because I still think there would have been genuine shock. Plus, you can end the show with Jacobs celebrating an emotional championship victory with the crowd. That is how you cap a show. ***-***1/4

Final Thoughts: I will not say this for every AAW show, but this was a must buy DVD. You’ve got one four star match combined with three other three star matches. You’ve got a wide variety of styles represented on this show. You’ve got stars from CHIKARA and PWG coming into the steal the show. And of course there’s Bryan Danielson having one more great performance to help build another star. If you’ve never bought a show of theirs, then this would be the place to start.

Tomorrow, I discuss Dragon Gate. Expect words like amazing, awesome, and fantastic to be worn out.

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After seven years of damn near perfect matches and awe inspiring loyalty to the fans of Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor is losing another founding father. He takes a trip to the fed, and in my humble opinion, no one can fault him or even fault the fed for taking him. No matter what the reason, Byran Danielson has deserved to be on a national product for years and now is his chance. Hopefully he’ll make the most of it and perhaps we could see a Kaval/Low Ki against Danielson in FCW and even possibly on the ECW brand. But despite those lofty goals there is still one last thing that Danielson could do for Ring of Honor. Actually, it’s more like what his leaving could do for Ring of Honor.

Bryan Danielson is on his ‘Final Countdown’ tour for his last showings in ROH. Six events that will showcase what ROH has meant to him and how ROH will honor his body of work throughout ROH history. But this could also be one of the few times that ROH will have the opportunity to entertain once more the fans that used to come to shows. We have all heard how some of the once ROH faithful have stopped coming to shows and stopped buying DVDs as loyally as they used to. Granted, in the current state of the economy, it’s not entirely responsible to buy in the large quantities that we used to, but at the same time it also speaks of the discontent for the product that they have. But the ability to see one of those who entertained us for the last time in the promotion that brought us such great memories, I believe they will take the time to come out to see his final matches.

What better time than now to show those who used to be so vocal and passionate that the product has changed and yet is coming back to the root of what made it great. Show case the story lines that made them buy every DVD or made them come out in the debt of night amidst horrid weather conditions just so they could see what was coming next. They made up a large part of the revenue and from trusted reports, we have all but had it confirmed that sales are down and ticket sales are not what they once where. But they could be at that level again, especially if you can show those who used to come out in droves that you can give them the product they used to clamor for.

Of course, nothing can stay the same forever. I am sure they don’t expect it to stay the same, but at the same time a watered down product for the sake of watering it down for the masses does no justice to those who were here from the beginning. Toning down a style for the sake of safety for the talent makes sense. Toning down a product that is too controversial and not monetarily responsible makes sense. But neither was the case in Ring of Honor. There was a changing of the guard. A changing of the backstage team and of course there is always a want to showcase something unique and different from the former. But to lose so many that used to support the product and not realize that some things should go back to how they used to be could be financially irresponsible. I have my own opinions as to what made ROH so intriguing in the beginning and after the rebirth and so on and so forth, but in the end it was the fans interest in the deep rooted stories that were being told in and out of the ring that brought them back.

I’m not one of those saying that the current product is all crap. In fact I’d be willing to make the argument that 80 percent of it is great stuff and handled very well. But it is that 20 percent that has made really turned away droves of fans and droves of possible income that obviously has affected the company over all. Sure other decisions, in hindsight, probably weren’t as good as they should or could have been but now is a time to rediscover what it is the fans want. These fans that ARE going to show up, if only for one last time to see their hero make his final performance are going to stay for the entire show. So there is that ability to give them a damn good show. A show that is going to make them reassess where they felt the product was going and where it actually is, and even more importantly, what it is going to become.

And maybe we’ll come back.

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