Pro Wrestling Ponderings

Kevin and Jerome make their grand return to podcasting, and they’re not alone. Drew Cordeiro from “Beyond Wrestling” joins the dynamic duo for a discussion on Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, and of course Beyond Wrestling. What is this company you ask? Just listen and find out.

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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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Welcome to “I’m With Stupid,” where this week, I make use of four really clichéd smark terms. Try and find them!

Before anyone asks, this week’s subtitle is in regard to the ROH World Championship debacle in New York on Saturday. Listen to the podcast to get my full opinion on the snorefest of a title bout, but the Twinkies related chanting was perhaps the best part of the entire match.

For the second straight week, no one did anything boneheaded enough for me to automatically anoint a “Stupid Person of the Week,” so the dreaded nominee list will be back! Who is it? Well, obviously, you’ll need to READ ON, HOMIES!

And I promise I’ll never do that again.

Oh! By the way…as a special bonus this week, since I’m relatively short on content, I give Hell in a Cell predictions (in a relatively serious tone), because I’m gonna be there live (possibly wearing my Hydra mask)!

TNA: Oh. My. God.

First, the positive: for the first time in seemingly forever, we got NO Cody Deaner pervading our television screens. Nothing. Nada. Unless I went blind halfway through the show, I didn’t have to catch a look at him. That automatically makes it the best Impact since I started “I’m With Stupid.”

In addition, we had a solid X Division match, a great promo from AJ, and a lot of mediocre stuff that didn’t offend the senses…until the main event.

Seriously…the Tag Team Championship Match was probably the worst match I have seen all year (and one of the worst I’ve ever seen), and that’s saying something from a guy who’s planning on eventually starting a side column called “Masochist Theater.”

Let’s forget for a second that the main event of the show went about three minutes, which is always a negative for me. We had a really predictable and yet REALLY stupid swerve with Foley turning on Abyss. Then, in the post match stupidity, we managed to see Abyss hit about a 3 on the Muta Scale because he got hit with a VHS tape.

Now kids, I don’t blame you if you don’t watch Impact, but words cannot describe how mind-numbingly painful it is to watch something like this. While I’ve never been hit with a videocassette, I imagine that being hit with one at full force would still not be enough for me to bleed buckets. Yes, there was barbed wire involved after the fact, but even barbed wire probably would not get as much blood as Abyss managed to get flowing.

Now we’re set up for a Foley-Abyss match at Bound for Glory that absolutely no sane person would ever want to see.

Thanks Russo! Thanks Ferrara!

WWE
Superstars: “Ask the Divas” was once again a complete waste of everyone’s time, but at least they had the good sense to hide it with the Recap section of the episode. Perhaps, just PERHAPS, this segment will soon make its departure from my weekly list of hatred, but don’t hold your breath Divas division. You might pop an implant.

A lot of people hated the Regal-Goldust match, but in a rare moment of sympathy, I’m going to defend it. While I hate DQ finishes as much as the next card-carrying IWC member, I’ll say that the match at least built to an angle for ECW, and that’s always a plus.

Smackdown: Overall, a fairly solid Smackdown this week. Other than a perfectly meaningless Kane squash of Jesse – pardon, Jeezy – that wasted valuable air time, we didn’t get much else that was offensive to the eyes, ears, and heart of yours truly.

Raw: I’m reasonably sure that when all is said and done, the guest host concept will go down as one of WWE’s greatest blunders, the publicity surrounding the hosts notwithstanding. Al Sharpton wasn’t that bad in terms of what he did on the show (since I think he appeared only three times and two of the three times were for short, meaningless backstage segments), but the crowd’s reaction of X-Pac Heat should have been a signal as to how much the “WWE Universe” disliked the decision to let him host. The final sign that it was a mistake, though, was the 3.1 rating for the show, down from the 3.4 for the previous two weeks.

As I was saying, he wasn’t THAT bad (but he was still bad), and there was far more to complain about for this week’s Raw.

First off, I’m convinced that the Divas Championship is cursed. The Butterfly Belt seems to make the women of whatever brand have it suck out loud. Seriously, since Mickie James won it, I don’t think she’s put on a single good match. I wasn’t expecting much out of her match with Rosa, but I got even less than expected.

Second, I’m officially narrowing down “Stupid Person of the Year” to three groups: Cody Deaner, The Raw Guest Hosts, and Chavo Guerrero. Never mind the fact that somehow, Chavo won a match that featured Hornswoggle (though it was a tag match and neither factored into the decision). The fact that the cause of Chavo’s burial was put into the Masterlock and Chavo actually HELPED him made absolutely no sense. I’m sure this means that Chavo has now developed a soft spot for the dwarf and this will lead to a face turn, but is anyone going to care?

It’s rare for a turn to happen in this manner, following a long losing streak, because it rarely works. MVP’s turn after months of jobbing was a fluke, not a way to build credible new stars. Turning Chavo, who has spent the better part of ten weeks continuously jobbing to a little person, isn’t going to help him get over with the crowds in either the short run or the long run.

Not a good Raw by any means, but there have been far worse with the guest hosts. I’m actually looking forward to Ben Roethlisberger next week, even if I won’t watch it ‘til Tuesday (not the band that sings ‘Voices Carry’).

ECW: There was nothing particularly bad about this ECW show, but is it so much to ask for an ECW title match at Hell in a Cell?!? I mean, honestly, I realize there’s no credible opponent for Christian to face right now, but at least give the people who buy the pay-per-view SOME reason to tune in next Tuesday. Is that so much to ask?

ROH: Look, Glory by Honor VIII was an alright show, as I noted in the podcast, and the Ladder War for the Tag Team Championship was EXCELLENT. That said, though, given that Eddie Edwards’ elbow condition may actually be worse than initially expected (as he reportedly has a SECOND fracture there), it becomes increasingly apparent that keeping the Tag Team Championship on the American Wolves was a flat out moronic decision.

Oh, and have I made it clear how much Aries-Williams sucked? It was so bad, that I’m going to a coin a new word for the match’s lack of quality: Atrocination. This thing was so bad that it was both an atrocity AND an abomination.

Hell in a Cell Predictions: Really fast:

World Heavyweight Championship (Hell in a Cell): CM Punk © defeats The Undertaker to retain, although I have no idea how in the hell he will ever pull it off. I just desperately want SOMEONE to hold the World Heavyweight Title for more than three months, something that hasn’t happened since 2007.

WWE Championship (Hell in a Cell): John Cena © defeats Randy Orton to retain, despite attempted interference from Legacy.

Hell in a Cell Match: D-Generation X defeats Legacy; in a perfect world, Legacy would continue gaining momentum, but in all likelihood, DX gets their win back after Breaking Point.

Unified Tag Team Championship: Batista and Rey Mysterio defeat Chris Jericho and Big Show © to become new champions; I’ve just got a feeling about this one, though I’d be thrilled if this DIDN’T happen.

United States Championship: The Miz defeats Kofi Kingston © and Jack Swagger to become new champion; a man can dream!

Intercontinental Championship: John Morrison © defeats Dolph Ziggler to retain. I could see this going either way, but I think Dolph gets the IC belt next month in their inevitable rematch.

Divas Championship: Mickie James © v. Alicia Fox – who cares?

If I manage to go 0-fer for these predictions, I will be making myself Stupid Person of the Week, by the way.

Stupid Person of the Week: AND THE NOMINEES ARE:

TNA: Abyss – for apparently thinking that outdated media = buckets of blood.

WWE: Whoever asked Al Sharpton to come to Raw – ‘nuff said.

MyNetwork TV - for getting one step closer to the abyss (not Chris Parks) that is non-existence.

Chavo Guerrero - for making my head asplode on Raw.

ROH: Adam Pearce - for keeping the tag belts on the Wolves despite Eddie Edwards’ injury AND for making me sit through that twenty minute atrocination of a World Championship match.

And the Winner Is…: Though it was a close one this week, the winner is Chavo Guerrero, barely edging out Adam Pearce! Chavo, you can pick up your trophy when any and all involvement with Hornswoggle finally comes to an end…which is to say about two weeks after the apocalypse.

Pearce, you can take solace in the fact that you’re still a better booker than Vince Russo and that at least you can build up quality World Title matches thanks to a budding feud between Aries and Cornette.

Until next week, stay stupid!

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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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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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09/07/09 ROH on HDNet

Welcome back readers. We are starting out with an exciting match as we have the duo of Rhett Titus and Kenny King against the returning heroes of ROH, The Briscoe Bros. A great tag team outing as for the first time we see the Briscoes as a team on HDNet, but it’s the youngin’s that are showing their mettle. Diverting attention of both brothers, making sure that their opponent is in their corner, and even then securing their dominance by practically cutting off Mark from Jay for most of the match. I’ll paraphrase D’Lo Brown from the BTR radio show this week in that the true measure of a wrestler is not about when he enters the ring and runs roughshad over his opponent, but it’s when the wrestler can make his opponent look like he’s beating him when under “normal” circumstances it wouldn’t be so. The Briscoes have always been able to do that for other tag teams. All the way to the finish the team of Titus and King looked like they were always within a hairs chance of winning, but with the Doomsday Device, the brothers secure another victory.

American Wolves come out and run down the Briscoes Bros. from the entrance way. But just to show how great the tag division is, Steenerico comes out and practically throws the American Wolves in the ring. After a short beat down, a surreal moment occurs when the team of Steenerico faces off against The Briscoe Bros. with each team holding one tag team belt as the American Wolves yell from the ringside. A great feud just waiting to happen between those three teams.

Nigel interview segment as he’s asked about Lynn and Black. Such a great promo man is Nigel and I do hope that the scripted promos in the fed don’t leech any of his charisma away. Damn I miss the spiked hairdo. The lasting moments after Durden stated that Nigel never gives a clear answer was gold, akin to The Rock staring down Coachman.

Eddie Kingston is out and ready for some action. Hero’s music blasts in darkness but of course who comes out to disappoint is the one and only Shane Hagadorn. Sal Rinauro is beckoned out by Hagadorn and once he backs into Kingston, he kneels down to pray. One spinning backfist later and the match is over as quick as it began. Furthering the fans want to see Hero versus Kingston. They have been building this since July and really this may be stretching it a tad thin as these squash matches are beginning to become redudant.

Another squash match as Nigel McGuinness takes on Aaron Scott. Nothing against Scott, but to make your in ring debut against a former great ROH champion is surely a daunting task. “Kill The Jobber” chants sound off at the beginning of this match and that is pretty much what Nigel starts doing from the get go. A great showing of what Nigel can do and obviously supposed to be a warm up, a warm up that may not get to second gear as most of the internet community knows that Nigel, alongside Bryan Danielson, is going to the WWE in principle. But that doesn’t mean he can’t give us an entertaining match up against Aaron Scott and he does just that with a great showing of his catch and submission style. Aaron gets a few moments of offense as he gets a reversal on the former champ but Nigel quickly returns to the dominant position. Glimers of hope for the young Aaron Scott but it would be Nigel who gets the win with a… DDT? Seemed to be a botched spot as Nigel was clearly going for the Jawbreaker Lariat but Scott dropped his head to “avoid” it but at the same time it did get across that Nigel can finish off an opponent with any weapon from his arsenal so perhaps the point did get across.

Great video package shown for the main event of the night of Jerry Lynn going up against the upstart Tyler Black who seemingly is the choosen one to reign as next ROH world champion. We’ll have to wait and see on that one, but I have predicted before that before or even perhaps at Final Battle 2009, we’d see Black finally reach that brass ring and win the big one. As I am going to the Sept. 19th ROH show in Chicago, I can’t wait to see Danielson and Black hook it up one last time for the forseeable future. The match begins, and as so many others that these two men have had, technical savvy is the starting point.

Obviously the point to get across is that Tyler has matured in the ring and can get those elusive wins in the singles department. From a TV timeline, they are pushing that the win over Nigel is the first step, but that he has a ways to go to become a contender. I seem to remember a certain PPV match where he took then champion Nigel to the limit and really showed his potential in that match. At this stage though, the television crowd is just learning what Tyler Black bas shown fans over the last two years on DVD and on PPV. I would also like to point out that I feel the reason that some are down on Jerry Lynn is because we have seen the greatness that is Lynn and perhaps are a tad jaded and some feel that there is nothing new Jerry can show them. I’m not sold on that yet as I feel perhaps a heel Jerry Lynn could reinvigorate his character in ROH.

Great back and forth action as Jerry Lynn shows speed of men half his age mixed with respectable holds and counter holds by both competitors. You can almost feel the mood in the building change as both men really are beginning to pick it up a notch. Silently and almost as if to surprise the men in the ring,Nigel has come to ringside to not only join the spectators, but to issue out some opinions. The reasons are his alone, but it is clear that he means to make sure both men know what he’s thinking. The crowd seems to notice but at the same time can’t tear their eyes from the action in the ring. Each resounding two count earns more and more cheers from the crowd for either competitor, but it would see that while neither man wants to give up, they both don’t have much left in the tank. Turnbuckle bomb and right into the super kick but soon we see a glimor of Nigel’s plan as he puts Lynns foot on the rope for the count break. Even the kids in the front row seem to be pleading with Black to not take his eyes off of Lynn, but it could be too soon too late as Lynn gets a small package and the win. Great match to end the night and it would seem that Black and Nigel are going to have at least one face off before the ROH legend goes to the WWE. Thanks for reading folks.

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Jerome and Kevin are back for the second time this week to discuss a number of topics. It starts out focused with a look at Breaking Point and CHIKARA. Then they talk about about a number of movies and television shows. Particular emphasis on Jennifer’s Body (which Jerome and Kevin are just dying to see) and The Office.  You will click and listen. Why? Cause Jerome and Kevin ARE AWESOME.

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08/31/2009 ROH on HDnet review

So here it is folks, Team Cabana against the Embassy in a huge tag team match for the main event. But we have some action before we get there.

Delrious joined by the lobely Daizee Haze is ready to go up against the soon to be rapper Sonjay Dutt. Two guys who got killed by Samoa Joe in his early TNA tenure are about to excite the crowd with both of their unique styles. Delirious hears the bell and the madness begins, too bad his mind can be easily manipulated in other areas. I will say that their styles compliment each other in that we have the aggressive style of Delirious while Sonjay is able to counter him and use his speed against a man who isn’t too shabby in the quicks department. Gotta add that Hog asking Prazak if he spoke Klingon made me chuckle. Huge amounts of offense out of Sonjay that as one would expect would take him off of his feet while he tries to weaken the resolve of Delirious in order to get a three count. Delirious gets the win with a roll up and a sign of respect at the end of the match with a sporting hand shake between the two opponents.

Embassy promo with the idea that they are going to get rid of their opponents and rise to the top of the ROH ladder. While I’m not convinced that the members of the official Embassy are really going to rise to the top, I will say that with this big tag match, we could see some entertaining spots.

American Wolves against Cheech & Cloudy is our second match of the night and honestly I don’t see this being more than a glorified squash match. The former Special K members get pounded from the get go from these stiff wrestlers in the form of the American Wolves but they soon send the ROH Tag Team Champions to the floor but make that fatal mistake of going high risk against a team that isn’t entirely out of it. I enjoy the work of Cheech & Cloudy in CHIKARA and other indy federations, but I can’t say that the American Wolves are going to have much trouble with these two who combine high flying and speed expertly but the American Wolves aren’t far behind in the quicks department and are just tough as nails. A half crab later and the ROH Tag Team Champions have their win. Don’t expect to see any sportsman like behavior from the Wolves as they make us suffer the sight of Shane Hagadorn again for another week. Dark City Fight Club rush to the ring and the rough and tough tandem make an example out of Cheech, even gaining some notice from the tag team champs.

Team Cabana promo. Brent Albright is just plain stupid as Sgt. Meathead. Colt can do the funny stuff and has the timing of Bob Saget, but god damn why is Brent even trying this babyface look. Grizzly Redwood and Necro follow and honestly this did not make me any more interested in the main event.

Jerry Lynn tells us why his next weeks match against Tyler Black could be one more important match in his history and to be honest it could be a very telling sign of where he’s ging to go.

Silas Young versus Erick Stevens this week as two power houses of the ROH roster are going to go head to head. I have seen lots of good things out of both men, and with just a little adjustment, Stevens could be a huge player for ROH in the future if only he would work on his schtick. He definitely has a look that could be distinctive, but as always the gift of gab may be the clincher to his success in this business. Great heel work from Young as this midwest talent continues to impress me with his in ring abilities. Be sure to check out the sit down Jerome Cusson of Pro Wrestling Ponderings had with Silas Young at an AAW event alongside the Phoenix Twins as a wondering Jimmy Jacobs also chimes in. Cheap plugs coming about, also be sure to check out the sit down Jerome had with DGUSA announcer and commentator Phil Colvin this week as that is also up on the website. Anyway back to the match at hand. These two larger members of the ROH roster show they aren’t afraid to go to the ropes to gain some impact, a great example by Young as he goes for a split legged moonsault but is able to land on his feet when he sees that Stevens isn’t there. One Doctor Bomb later though and Erick Stevens shows why his slight experience advantage in ROH over Young gives him the edge this time around. Would like to see program between these two if done correctly.

“God’s Middle Child” Eddie Kingston is back again to vent about Chris Hero. These vignettes have gone a long time and really the build to this match up has been done in other promotions so many times over that in a way this is overkill. Not to say that I’m not looking forward to it, but with it being done in so many other places they are really milking this a tad too far.

Main event time as a “classic Survivor Series” style tag match pitting The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Claudio Castagnoli, Prince Nana, Ernie Osiris) against Colt Cabana, Necro Butcher, Brent Albright, and Grizzly Redwood. On a side note, I would have much preferred Bison Smith to Ernie Osiris any day of the week as really this ROH student has not shown anything but being able to take a decent bump, and sometimes it’s messed up even then. Prince Nana breaking out a ring outfit that I haven’t seen him in since his ECWA days. ROH students in the ring as we have Redwood against Osiris and while they are doing some decent basic manuevers, I just don’t see why Osiris is in the match. Redwood shows that he is lightyears ahead of Osiris, probably just by the experience he has outside of ROH while I am pretty damn sure that Osiris hasn’t worked in any other promotion. I could be wrong and if I am please feel free to comment on that as I would like to know the whereabouts of the ROH students. Great segment as the crowd is used to interact with the babyface team as they put the stretch on Double C and use the leverage of the entire front row on their side. Gotta admit that while ROH may not be what it once was persay, it still gives the fans experiences that they will remember and probably can’t get anywhere else from the major two of this profession. Though apparently in the fed we do have “fans” running in to help those who they feel akin to, or just may be kin to but that aside. Colt Cabana’s moonsault to the outside of the ring is still a thing of beauty as I recall the first time I saw it in a four way that is now a ROH classic that also included Homicide, BJ Whitmer, and Dan Maff of the Prophecy. Osiris eliminates Redwood in what I would say is an upset. Albright and Claudio battle it out to the fans and get themselves eliminated. While I understand what the point of that was, at the same time it was pretty dumb for Albright to leave his team mates at such a disadvantage, even though marginally it is only Osiris that gives The Embassy their advantage.

Sick bump as Necro’s leg takes a swanton onto a chair from Osiris and dear god it really did look like could have broken the leg in half. Heel hook later and Necro is gone but luckily Osiris is eliminated soon after following a Colt 45 by Cabana. Rave and Nana are left with Cabana and this could be an interesting match from this point on if Nana is left alone with Colt. I will say at this point, this main event has been better than I thought it would be and definitely at least two stars more than what I would have given it credit for based on paper. Prince Nana finally gets into the ring and I must say he has definitely lost a lot of weight from when I watched him in ECWA. Jimmy Rave eliminated with a roll up and when Nana reacts to the elimination it is pure gold. Nana taps out to give Team Cabana the win and send the viewing fans home happy at the conclusion of this main event. Definitely a better episode than what I thought it was going to be, only further proving to me that I shouldn’t always be so down on the ROH product until I see it for myself, despite what I may feel or read elsewhere. Thanks again readers.

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