Column of Honor: 06.02.07

So what do you all think of the new logo? Pretty spiffy in my opinion. I slipped it in there last week after the column went live, so this is the “official” debut. It’s my little homage to ROH, but then again, so is everything in this column. Yes, it certainly isn’t as good as John “God’s Gift to Photoshop” Meehan’s, but it’s simple and serviceable enough. And I like it, so there.

Where are all my peoples? I sent the call out last week for YOUR ROH Desert Island DVDs and I got…NOTHING! Booooo everyone! How is it that those Fink’s Payload guys get all the emails? Well, let’s try this again. Send me your top 5 ROH Desert Island DVDs!

UFC 71 Wrap Up

UFC 71 came and went with a bang. This was such a great event, with awesome fights, back and forth contests, an out of nowhere upset knockout and well, another out of nowhere (although within the range of possibility) knockout. Karo Parisyan delivered a very enjoyable fight—his judo is incredibly fun to watch and I hope he gets his due in UFC with a title shot somewhere at the end of 2007 / beginning of 2008 (the wait for a shot has been extended since Serra won’t defend his Welterweight title until the Fall against Matt Hughes.

Houston Alexander made a huge mark on the UFC by taking out the Dean Douglas of Mean, Keith Jardine. Houston took a huge shot early on and I thought it was all but over, but Houston “Hulked up”! He came back with a flurry of shot after shot and Jardine was DONE! That’s the great thing about MMA, it really IS possible for anyone to win, even if you are the most underdog of underdogs.

WE HAVE A NEW LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! Quinton “Rampage” Jackson knocked out mainstay champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell in about two minutes of the very first round. Oh man, was that something else. The fight was going down, then BAM! It’s over. Chuck Liddell got caught and he paid for it. Jackson is still the one man he cannot get past. The “year of upsets” in Mixed Martical Arts continues and you know what? I don’t think it is quite over just yet. We’ll see a few more upsets before the year is out.

I enjoy Liddell a lot, but Jackson is great. The man can’t help but be funny and entertaining. You can’t turn your eyes away from him.

You know what else you can’t turn your eyes away from?

Jimmy and Lacey: Will Love Conquer All?

It’s the equivalent of an episode of Blind Date combined with The Office. It’s also one of the greatest things to come out of ROH online video coverage. Jimmy Jacobs has set out to take Lacey out on a date, but not just one date, four dates over a series of four days. The basic concept of this is that after Jimmy took out BJ Whitmer in the feud ending cage match at Supercard of Honor II, he had a chance to take Lacey right then and there. However, he did not want to use physical love as a reward for services rendered, so instead he denied the cheap, “physical” form of sex in order to prove how deep his feelings are for Lacey. Lacey agreed to Jimmy’s request that he take her out on the town for a series of dates, setting the stage for a real life “Do or Die” in Jacob’s pursuit of Lacey’s love.

Day One:

Day Two:

Jacobs has four strikes to work with here in order to show Lacey just how much she means to him, but so far things have not worked out as well as he had hoped.

On Day 1, Jacobs expressed his excitement over his new prospects, wearing a sharp and clean looking black button down shirt and silver tie, looking very much like Jack White or a smaller Dave Prazak. Jacobs was acting like your typical high school kid about to go out with the girl of his dreams. Jacobs then took the girl of his dreams…bowling. Well, needless to say Lacey doesn’t really like bowling, and Jacobs has a bum leg, so that went over about as well as a Bobby Lashley promo. Afterwards, Jacobs took Lacey to a bar for a late night drink, only for Lacey to be accosted by one creepy looking guy who couldn’t take no for an answer. No, I don’t mean Jimmy Jacobs; I mean someone else (Michael Z, former co host of Rocketbusta Radio). Jacobs pushed the creepazoid down, and Lacey received very appreciative. However, at the end of the day, Lacey and Jacobs walked down the hotel hallway where their rooms were located, and went their separate ways.

Day 2 seemed to be full of promise and potential, as Jacobs took Lacey into Chicago for some sight seeing and shopping. Unfortunately, the not so much a couple were locked out and denied entry to a Brooks Brothers store. Oops. Eventually, they made it into a store where Jacobs treated Lacey to a new…fur coat. Jacobs’ response: “What’s a few more thousand dollars in debt for the cause of love?” Lacey seemed taken aback, almost flabbergasted that Jacobs would buy this present for her (then again, she didn’t turn it down). At the end of the day, when Jimmy and Lacey once again made their way to their hotel rooms, Jacobs managed a simple (but longer lasting than expected) hug. When he tried to go in for more, well, Keith and Clyde, what happened?

“Rejected!”

Maybe Jacobs should go in for hair restoration, I don’t know. Jacobs was left with the confidence of having hit a “home run” on Day 2, but Lacey’s comments made it seem like that was not the case.

I completely love this series of vignettes. It has just the right amount of camp to it, but it is also genuinely funny and there is a lot of heart to the scenario. Sure it’s a very familiar concept, boy takes girl out on a date to prove his worth to her—hell, even Mark Henry once did this with Chyna! The universality of it is what makes it work so well. At one point or another, many of us have been in a similar position as Jacobs. Me, I’ve been there—many, many times. That’s because I’m an insecure dork, but that’s beside the point. Well, no, actually that is the point. Lacey is the girl of your dreams and Jacobs is the great white hope of all the guys who want the girl. Many of us, especially the wrestling fans (sorry guys but you know it’s more true than not) can relate to that. Personally I can relate to this storyline on so many levels.

The Jimmy-Lacey storyline has always been about Jimmy proving how deep his devotion was to Lacey. This went so far as to reach levels of insanity and madness as Jimmy’s blood feud with former tag team partner turned arch rival BJ Whitmer hit intense peak after intense peak. Jacobs used violence as a tool to gain Lacey’s appreciation. It worked, especially at the tail end of his feuds with Whitmer and Colt Cabana, where he would attack his opponents with sharp weapons and objects to the delight of Lacey. Now that these feuds are over and Jimmy is on the sidelines, he has become more “normal” again. Jimmy has to use “normal” tactics to show his love for Lacey. Only, he isn’t proving as adept at bringing flowers and candy as he was smashing BJ Whitmer’s face in with a railroad spike.

Lacey has shown signs that she is coming around. If you watch the videos, you notice her smiling and even laughing a bit. She even tucks Jimmy’s arm with hers as they walk the streets of Chicago. She expressed her appreciation that he dealt with that creepo at the bar, and she even gave him a hug—yes, he had to pay for it, but well…hmm, no I don’t have any defense for that, but it still counts. Lacey is not even screeching, or yelling at Jimmy. Could it be that Lacey is actually enjoying herself?

What would be quite the twist would be for Lacey, at the end of all of this, actually beginning to have “feelings” for Jimmy. It has been a year of wooing and winning Lacey over, but there may finally be some dividends paid for that investment of time and of course, love. I could easily see this whole thing end with Jacobs finally laying in “the kiss that won’t miss” and Lacey…actually reciprocating! Or perhaps, the kiss is so stunning that she is left outside her hotel room in shock, just wondering what the heck happened. Well, that could just be the romantic in me. Jimmy could just as easily botch the whole thing up at the last minute, ruining any possibilities of anything happening at all.

Jacobs has the chance of a lifetime in his hands and he can’t blow it. The question is, will he end up like the Mike Peters in Swingers who calls the girl and leaves SEVEN messages on the answering machine within a matter of five minutes? Or will he end up like Mike Peters at the end of the movie, with Heather Graham on the dance floor?

Really though, do you know what Jimmy needs to do? He needs to MAN UP!

SHIMMER Championship Tournament Coverage

SHIMMER Women’s Athletes, headed up by Dave Prazak, is in the middle of their tapings for Volume 11 and 12, which will feature their championship title tournament. Results came in this morning thanks to the SHIMMER and ROH forums. Here’s how the tournament went in the first and second rounds:

ROUND 1

-PORTIA PEREZ vs. DAIZEE HAZE

Winner: Daizee Haze with the heart punch

-ALLISON DANGER vs. MALIA HOSAKA

Winner: Malia Hosaka after Allison doesn’t tap to the figure 4, but gets pinned while in it.

-“American Angel” SARA DEL REY vs. CINDY ROGERS

Winner: Sara Del Rey pinning Cindy after a german suplex

-LEXIE FYFE vs. MsCHIF (w/ DAFFNEY)

Winner: MisChief (finish not reported)

-CHEERLEADER MELISSA vs. *INTERNATIONAL WILDCARD*

Winner: “Dark Angel” Sara Stock was the wild card beating Melissa with a victory roll.

-“The Jezebel” EDEN BLACK vs. LACEY

Winner: Lacey with her face plant DDT

-PORTUGUESE PRINCESS ARIEL vs. SERENA DEEB ALICIA

Winner: Serena Deeb did not make her match due to a car accident, so Ariel got a bye, however, Alicia from G.L.O.R.Y. made a surprise challenge to Ariel, who accepted, and was then beaten by Alicia, who held Ariel’s tight for the 3 count.

NIKKI ROXX vs. RAIN

Winner: Nikki Roxx with her finisher (Barbie Crusher).

Analysis: Sara Stock as the international wildcard is a great “get” for the company. Stock has been wrestling down in Mexico for CMLL and has name value and the talent to match. It was a bit of a shock however to discover her picking up a win against the tough Cheerleader Melissa, who was one of the favorites going into this to take the whole thing. Allison Danger, the voice and the face of SHIMMER also drops out early in the tournament, disappointing me as I hoped she’d go far. Serena Deeb’s injury took her out, but from reading the forums it seems she cut a promo during the show, so it wasn’t as major an accident as it could have been. Don’t know much about Alicia other than another female wrestler is going by a first name. What happens if we get repeats? Otherwise the brackets filled out pretty much as expected with the bigger names for SHIMMER heading into the second round. Speaking of which…

ROUND 2

-DAIZEE HAZE vs MALIA HOSAKA

Winner: Daizee with the heart punch

-SARA DEL REY vs ALICIA

Winner: Sara Del Rey with the butterfly suplex

-MsCHIF vs SARA STOCK

Winner: Sara Stock with a modified Angel’s Wings

LACEY vs NIKKI ROXX

Winner: Lacey with the Implant DDT

Analysis: Again, Sara Stock gets the huge win over an established SHIMMER talent and tournament favorite in MsChif. Stock is being put over big here, which means one of two things: she wins the whole tournament and becomes an overnight sensation in the promotion with the rest of the roster chasing her to get the belt; or, she puts over the eventual tournament winner in either the semi-final or final round in order to put over the toughness and ability of the new champion. Daizee and Sara Del Rey are the two “baby faces” left for the crowd to get behind and root for, but Lacey has been here this whole time and can’t be ignored as a force to take it all, popularity or not.

SEMI FINAL ROUND (takes place tonight, 6/2/07, in Berwyn, IL)

-DAIZEE HAZE vs LACEY

-SARA DEL RAY vs SARA STOCK

Analysis: The two Sara’s (“spelled without an ‘h'” as Ben Folds might sing) go at it in the semi final bracket, presenting Stock with the opportunity to knock out another big SHIMMER name, perhaps THE most talented and technical women’s wrestler in the field. Meanwhile, Haze and Lacey go at it one more time in a rematch of contests held in both Ring of Honor and SHIMMER (they fought on the very first show). Can Haze make it past Lacey one more time or will Lacey solve the puzzle of the Haze?

FINALS

-Winner of (DAIZEE HAZE vs LACEY) vs. Winner of (SARA DEL RAY vs SARA STOCK)

I’ll pick up coverage of the tournament and comments on the eventual winner in next week’s column, but results will be in sooner than that.

ROH Call

ROH Champions—As of 06/02/2007

ROH World Champion—Takeshi Morishima (champion since 02/17/07, 7 successful defenses)

Next Defense:: Jay Briscoe, 6/08/07 Roxbury Crossing, MA

V.1 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (2/23/07 Dayton, OH)
V. 2 defeated KENTA via pinfall / backdrop driver (3/04/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.3 defeated Nigel McGuinness via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/14/07 Edison, NJ)
V.4 defeated Austin Aries via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.5 defeated SHINGO via pinfall / backdrop driver (4/28/07 Chicago Ridge, IL)
V.6 defeated KAZMA via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/06/07 Tokyo, Japan)
V.7 defeated BJ Whitmer via pinfall / backdrop driver (05/12/07 New York, NY)

ROH World Tag Team Champions— Jay and Mark Briscoe (champions since 03/30/07, 4 successful defenses)

Next Defense: The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero), 6/09/07, Philadelphia, PA

V.1 Ultimate Endurance: defeated Pelle Primeau & Mitch Franklin, Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw, Hallowicked & Gran Akuma (4/27/07 St. Paul, MN)
V.2 defeated Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (4/28/07 Chicago, IL)
V.3 defeated BJ Whitmer and ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima (5/11/07, Hartford, CT)
V.4 defeated Claudio Castagnoli and Matt Sydal (5/12/07, New York, NY)

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

Boston Tea Party
A six man grudge match has been signed for June 8th in Boston. The No Remorse Corps of Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero & Davey Richards will collide with The Resilience of Matt Cross & Erick Stevens. The Resilience team will be rounded out by none other than Delirious!!! The NRC won a battle in Hartford earlier this month against Cross & Stevens. Now Delirious joins the war in Boston!!!

Also signed for the Boston area is a battle of two athletes known for their athletic style and high-flying. It will be Matt Sydal vs. El Generico on June 8th!!!

A full preview of these matches later on in the column. I’ll say for now these are good calls as far as booking and match making. It’s about time Delirious joined up with The Resilience and that they combined forces to take out the NRC.

Green Machine
The new ROH Video Wire is also up at ROHvideos.com featuring exclusive promos from The Briscoes and Delirious. See a vicious locker room attack, highlights from the last events in Hartford and NYC plus more in the new ROH Video Wire now at ROHvideos.com and on Youtube.

See Delirious come out of a swamp! Find out what happens “When Delirious Attacks!” Oh and The Briscoes go all Boomhauer and start talking up all their matches. They promise to take out The Kings of Wrestling in two straight falls, much like they did with Aries and Strong earlier in the year. Interestingly enough, they beat Aries and Strong two straight and then those two broke up their team. If the same happens to Hero and Castagnoli, will it happen again? At any rate, this week’s videowire is a definite must watch for all the wacky antics.

Philadelphia Threesteak
Three big matches have been added to the June 9th event in Philadelphia. Two singles grudge matches will take place featuring the No Remorse Corps. Philly on June 9th will witness Delirious vs. Rocky Romero and Davey Richards vs. Matt Cross!!! These matches should bring a lot of action to Philly.

A Four Corner Survival has also been added to the June 9th event in Philadelphia. It will pit four hard-hitters with Brent Albright vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Erick Stevens. The winner of this one will move into title contention.

The NRC-Resilience feud has been hurt by a lack of action and movement in the feud, but maybe things will pick up with these matches and the tag match in Boston. Both of these singles matches have a fresh feeling about them, so even if the angle around the match isn’t as hot as it should be, the matches themselves should work out alright. The Four Corner Survival screams out “Mid Card Special” but if it lifts Albright into the main event then now we’re talking.

More Resilience than Lebron James Winning Game 5
A big tag team grudge match has been signed for 6/22 in Dayton. The No Remorse Corps vs. Resilience feud will continue as Roderick Strong & Davey Richards take on Erick Stevens & Matt Cross. Can The Resilience get revenge on the NRC? Strong & Richards have stated they will take out Stevens & Cross for good in Dayton.

We’re cooking with gas now baby. The NRC-Resilience war is going to be exploding during June and maybe beyond, so expect wins and losses and casualties on all sides.

Chicago, NO SOUP for you!
ROH officials have decided not to release any new matches for 6/23 in Chicago for the time being. Since this is the second pay-per-view taping there is no telling what might happen and it is premature to release any new information. You are guaranteed to see one main event quality match after another on this huge PPV taping. This will be the biggest ROH event to ever come to the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago Ridge.

Well, on the one hand I’m not shocked. The not revealing any matches strategy worked to an extent for the NYC show. It kept the fans guessing and wondering what could be happening. Note, however, that this is only for the “time-being” which I guess means that once the Boston-Philly doubleshot has concluded that fans will probably get more of an update on what’s going on for Chicago. The two biggest matches, Danielson-KENTA and Briscoes-Generico & Steen are still on the books, so the show is most definitely still worth checking out.

To Do or Die in Philadelphia
An extended “Do Or Die” preshow has been added to next week’s Philadelphia event. It will start at approximately 6:15pm with the ROH main show starting at around 7:30pm. You will get to see both the “Do Or Die” and main shows for one ticket price. Already signed for “Do Or Die” is Rex Sterling, Damien Wayne, Azrieal plus Pelle Primeau will defend the Top Of The Class Trophy. More talent will be announced for “Do Or Die” next week in the ROHwrestling.com Newswire.

“Do or Die”, for newer fans, is a more elaborate pre show “trial” process where younger wrestlers or up and coming names from other regions of the country get an opportunity to perform in front of ROH fans. Do well, and you may make it onto the main show sooner rather than later. Among others, Austin Aries, Alex Shelley, Delirious and Matt Sydal all started out in Do or Die matches. So did Antonio Banks for that matter. You’d know him better as MVP.

Sterling and Wayne are getting talked up a lot on the ROH message boards. Wayne had a fine preshow match back at the Edison venue this past April. Azrieal popped back up on the radar screen at the 5/12 NYC show. We’ll see how far he’s come along since his last run in ROH concluded in late 2005.
.
PPV schedule for inDEMAND Released

Check it out here for the schedule. It debuts on July 20th, but there are multiple repeats throughout the following weeks. Also check out the cool PPV poster on that page.

Custard’s Cornette’s Last Stand

PWInsider reports that “Jim Cornette and Ring of Honor have officially parted ways due to his role with TNA.”

Again, like last week’s report on Jimmy Rave, this news is actually pretty obvious and in your face. Cornette isn’t allowed to work with ROH since he is a TNA contracted talent. Until Cornette decides he’s had enough of TNA (or Vince Russo, or both), I wouldn’t have wagered my mortgage on his return anytime soon. Actually, I don’t have a mortgage.

Hero’s Sandwich

Greetings from Metropolis my Hero-ites, it is your savior, your messiah if you will, it is I, Chris Hero back again to give you your weekly dose of reality. First off, I would like to thank the tens of thousand of my fans who have pledged to me their support against the airing of the first ROH Pay Per View, Respect is Earned. My efforts to throw a monkey wrench into the works is falling into place, and when the time is right, I will show you all just how dangerous my legion of Hero-ites really are. Then, respect will truly be earned, and ROH will sign me to the largest contract they have ever offered. It will be so big that people will mistake it for Morishima’s ass.

Now, lets move on to the real business of the day. I have been receiving dozens of letters, cards and emails asking me about the intense training methods that I have been using leading up to the big 2 out of 3 falls match with the Briscoe Brothers on June 9th. Let me get into this, but I have to keep it short, as I can’t miss any more time in the training center to enlighten you simpletons, so here we go. Since endurance will be key to a match of this length (as we all know, it will most definitely not get beyond the second fall, as I will win both of the falls myself), I have been running insanely long distances to get in tip top shape. I’m starting to feel like one of those Kenyan marathoners, as I’m easily logging over 200 miles per week. The biggest problem that I am facing during my runs are the millions of fans that are constantly trying to run with me or try to stop me for an autograph or for a quick word of wisdom. Some dolt even asked me if I could help him with his late taxes. Another asked me to come home with him and please his wife, as only Chris Hero can, but I digress.

When I’m not running, I am doing intense Mixed Martial Arts training, so that I have even more tools for destruction in my massive arsenal of in ring weapons. I have brought in a very well known former UFC champion to help me in this area, but he has begged me to keep his name secret, so I, being the honorable man that I am will respect his request to maintain his anonymity, but I will say this. His name sounds something like “Vito Schmortiz”, if you get my drift. I have found that this type of training is really showing me that there is a much bigger world out there than the ROH, and I was even thinking of jumping ship and becoming a full time MMA fighter. At least there, I would be truly able to showcase my athletic abilities without being held down like I am in the ROH.

Now, if you don’t believe that I am being held back, just go back and look at the DVD’s. Look at who they partner me with. Claudio Castagnoli. That drooling idiot doesn’t know the difference between a wristwatch and a wristlock. Before he became one of the guys who pander to the crowd for approval, he was a great man. Now, he is but a shell of his former self. That’s why I realized that I CANNOT tag him into the match with the Briscoes, as it’s a given that he will be beaten from pillar to post, and invariably pinned by one of those inbred morons. Claudio wont even show up for training with me, Tank, Larry and “Vito”, and it is because of his lack of work ethic that he will never truly be what he can be. This is how the ROH front office is holding me back.

Now, back to discussing the training. I have also been using some of Tank’s supplements, and damn, I feel like I’m getting huge. My favorite Barry Bonds jersey doesn’t even fit right anymore. It’s practically ripping at the seams. Tank tells me that its just some flaxseed oil, but I don’t know. I will say this, its really helping me on my softball team. I’ve never hit that thing as far as I am these days, and it’s awesome! Larry says I should go out to Muscle Beach and show off my new frame, but you know me, my overall modest nature will prevent that. I hate people who feel that they have to show off, you know?

Another big question I have been receiving in the fan emails is how will I beat up on Claudio one night and then team with him the next. Well, that’s easy. It’s all about business, you dolts. I’ll make sure that I don’t lump him up too badly in Boston so that the will be in at least serviceable shape Saturday night in Philly, but that’s all the promises I make. Honestly, the guy I really want to get my hands on in that Four Corner Survival match is Mike Quackenbush. I hate that man. He has ridden my coattails long enough, and it is time that he is shown the door in ROH. This company is not big enough for the two of us, and since I was here first, as well as because of the fact that I am such a better wrestler, it’s obvious that it’s going to be him who hits the road. All those basement dwelling Indy DVD watching geeks think that Quack is some sort of legend, and that his arrival in ROH is a great sign for the future. Let me tell you this. Things tend to fall apart when Quack shows up, so get ready for the ROH apocalypse my friends, as this hack, Quack, is the first sign of the end. I would even like it if that British tosser McGuinness clotheslines his head clean off his scrawny body. A world without Quackenbush is a better place to live. And that’s a SHOOT.

As I said earlier in the column, I was going to keep this short, so I will wrap this all up. Make sure to keep the cards, letters and emails coming. Also, don’t forget to check out the myspace page to buy the coolest merch in the world. The 411 management has told me that I can’t directly attempt to advertise my gear, but if you want cool Hero merch, now you know where you can get it. Support your local HERO. Back to the gym for me, Hero-ites, enjoy your lives, not like “Mr. Pathetic” himself, Ari, who wouldn’t know anything about having fun. What a loser. That is all. This has been your weekly dose of enlightenment; this has been your Hero’s Sandwich. Sayonara, suckers!!

The Money Players: May 2007

Who are the money players? In the sports industry, money players are the athletes who are making the right plays at the right moments.

In wrestling, the concept of the money player is not all that different. The wrestler who has a great match or gives an impressive impression upon the audience ups their worth to the wrestling promoter. While you may be helping your team, you are also helping yourself and your career.

So once a month here at Column of Honor, I’ll be looking at some of the money players in Ring of Honor. We’ll also see who’s hot, who’s not, who’s making those key plays and who is dropping the ball, so to speak.

Money Players of the Month—May 2007

Jay and Mark Briscoe (BRSC)

-Two Money Player awards in three months for The Briscoes who are on the roll of all rolls this year. Jay and Mark are THE hottest act in Ring of Honor right now (as well as establishing a hold over the FIP Tag Team belts down in Florida) and have become the leading candidates for the MVP award in 2007. The stock market loves both consistency and the hot hand and The Briscoes possess both qualities. These are the wrestlers to watch now and in the next few months. They have a full load of matches in June including a title match for Jay Briscoe against Morishima and their next high profile ROH tag title defense against El Generico & Kevin Steen.

Previous Money Players:
April 2007: Colt Cabana (COLT)
March 2007: BJ Whitmer (WHIT), Jimmy Jacobs (HUSS), Jay and Mark Briscoe (BRSC)
February 2007: Samoa Joe (SAMO)
January 2007: Homicide (HOMI)

ROH STOCK INDEX

Breadwinners STOCK UP!

–Takeshi Morishima (MORI): Respect is Earned began and concluded with the ROH Champion obliterating the competition, including his next possible contenders in Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson. This is domination by one brand against the rest of the competition. Morishima is like the iPod of portable MP3 Players. Wait…small, compact, lightweight. No, I guess Morishima is nothing like an iPod at all. Except that he had his very own Podcast, “More Mori”. Check it out, its free subscription and DRM-free.

–Nigel McGuinness (NIGE): Before getting laid out by his own partner, Nigel worked through a very painful shoulder and back injury to main event the very first ROH Pay Per View. Not only that, but Nigel became a huge and visible face of the ROH product as he was featured on the VH1 “Where Are They Now?: Reality Stars” special. Nigel was shown BLASTING Johnny Fairplay with the lariat. It looks devastating and anyone watching it would be very impressed by it.

–Claudio Castagnoli (CAST): Claudio wins out big time by taking on The Briscoes and performing to his highest capabilities. It was a losing outing as far as match results, but Claudio may have gained just as much positive reputation for the loss. At any rate, Claudio’s stock rose so much that he received another chance at gaining the ROH World Tag Team Titles by re-teaming with former partner Chris Hero.

–El Generico (GNRC) and Kevin Steen (KSTN): Speaking of awesome, stock risiing performances, these two went all out on the Respect is Earned card. They challenged The Briscoes, got into an unforgettable pull a part brawl and dominated the ROH goon squad in spectacular fashion. Then they won a four team tag scramble match. The stock market loves winners and these two are coming off as the NEXT BIG THING in the tag division.

Loss Leaders STOCK DOWN!

–Delirious (DELI): His body was ravaged in an attack by Roderick Strong and his performance in that match left some questions among stock holders. Delrious answered some doubts with a fantastic performance on the ROH new video wire, and is actively seeking revenge against Strong and the No Remorse Corps. However, there is no doubting that Delirious is currently in a slump and he needs to dig himself out of it. We’ll see how this stock responds next month.

–Erick Stevens (CHOO): Stevens also took a bit of a set back thanks to a loss to Davey Richards in New York. The Resilience also lost a six man tag match to the NRC in Connecticut and that was even with Bryan Danielson as a partner. Has Stevens lost his way? A merger with another company may be needed to infuse new life into The Resilience stock.

Trendsetters

–Contracted Talent: Bryan Danielson (AMER), Nigel McGuinness (NIGE), Jay and Mark Briscoe (BRSC) and the No Remorse Corps (NRCP): Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romero: Contracts, contracts, getchyer contracts! It’s the new “in” thing to be signed, sealed and delivered in the letters “R”, “O” and “H”. More money plus the freedom to work for other independent promotions? Now THAT is a trend many independent wrestlers can get behind.

–Chris Hero (HERO) and Larry Sweeney (SOUR): Their close (too close maybe) association with Johnny Fairplay eventually paid off as ROH garnered mainstream attention with coverage on VH1. Amazingly it may be thanks to two of the most ill reputed members of the ROH Roster that more people are aware of the product.

Future Outlooks

(+) POSITIVE: Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuiness, The Briscoes, , Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, El Generico, Kevin Steen, Bryan Danielson, Mike Quackenbush, Gran Akuma, Jigsaw, Hallowicked, Pelle Primeau, Chris Hero (up), Brent Albright (up), Claudio Castagnoli (up), Adam Pearce (up)

(/) NEUTRAL: Delirious (drops), Jack Evans (drops) Erick Stevens (drops) Jimmy Rave (up), Matt Sydal, BJ Whitmer, Tank Toland, PAC

(-) NEGATIVE: Matt Cross (drops), SHINGO (drops) Austin Aries (drops), Jimmy Jacobs, Shane Hagadorn, Irish Airborne, Ricky Reyes

Out of the stock market: Christopher Daniels, Colt Cabana, Homicide

Penny Stocks
Looking for a cheap bargain? This is the place to speculate on the next possible big things…but look out; there could also be a few duds here.

–More than a penny for your thoughts
Pelle Primeau (PPRM)–Top of the class and top of the Penny Stocks.
Shane Hagadorn (HAGA)
Irish Airborne (IAIR)–resurfaced at the 5/12 Respect is Earned show.
M Dogg 20 “Matt Cross” (MD20)–If he can get just a bit more traction as part of The Resilience, we could be talking about a hot commodity.
Tank Toland (TANK)–Fitness training has hit a boom and everyone wants a piece of Tank’s business. Sweatin to the Oldies this ain’t.

–Still just one cent
Trik Davis (TRIK)
CJ Otis (OTIS)
Jason Blade (BLAD)
Eddie Edwards (EDED)
Eddie Osirus (EOSI)
Mitch Franklin (MFRN)
Bobby Dempsey (BDEM)–Under the tutelage of Tank Toland. Now we may be getting somewhere with young Bobby Dempsey.
Derek Dempsey (DDEM)
Rhett Titus (TTUS)
Alex Payne (PAYN) –Sugarfoot made his ROH main show DVD debut recently, but he lost and lost big time to Erick Stevens. Oh well, there’s always next time.

As you can see, the students have now graduated onto the main penny stocks list. They all pretty much have earned that right, since they are learning and growing and becoming more than just rookie students at this point. Not that this is a guarantee that their stocks will rise and mature out of this spot, but I think that now is the start of the opportunity that each has to do so.

Closing Thoughts / Ring the Bell: The outcomes of the ROH Pay Per View is what has seemingly sparked a lot of the movement in the stock market this month. Likewise, the fallout from the Johnny Fairplay segment has immediate dividends for several stocks. Older stocks have been taken off the stock index and new prospects are about to make their mark. It’s a busy time as always in ROH and attention must be paid as the closing bell rings to end this month’s stock market.

ROH Preview: June 8th: Roxbury Crossing, MA

8:00 pm belltime
Roxbury Community College
Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Ctr
1350 Tremont St
Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120

This event replaces the show scheduled for the National Guard Armory in Braintree, MA. All tickets originally purchased for the event in Braintree will be honored in Roxbury.

ROH World Title Match
Takeshi Morishima defends vs. Jay Briscoe

It’s bulk versus brawn in this battle for the title. Some may forget that Jay Briscoe not only has seniority privileges in ROH, but he also began his career in this company as a singles. Briscoe brings plenty of that experience and high impact offense to this fight against the heavy-handed champion. It’s not the only time Briscoe has fought someone bigger than him; Briscoe’s singles matches against Samoa Joe (at Tradition Continues and the memorable steel cage match from At Our Best) have shown that Jay can go the distance against the hulks of the World title division. No one seems to have the answer to end Morishima, but perhaps Briscoe can take from his previous experiences and ply them here to win the match and the biggest prize in ROH.

Six Man Grudge Match
Delirious, Matt Cross & Erick Stevens vs. Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero & Davey Richards

It’s The Resilience and Friend up against their deadly rivals in the No Remorse Corps. Delirious is a great ally to have in battle because of his unorthodox attack and unpredictability in and out of the ring. Cross and Stevens have tons of talent and bring a great aerial and ground game. However the one thing they lack is the mind game. Delirious brings that in spades as well as a weird sort of motivational leadership. After biting Strong’s ear down in FIP (see the ROH video wire), Delirious is hungry (appropriate word) for more. Strong, Romero and Richards are the proverbial well oiled machine at this point though—they may still be too strong, too tough and too merciless to be stopped here.

Special Challenge Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave

Danielson is on the comeback trail to the top of the mountain in ROH. While making an impressive return on 5/11 by smashing through Shane Hagadorn and Adam Pearce and then tapping out KENTA the next night, Danielson still needs a bit more work in the ring to shake off the rust of five months off. Jimmy Rave has some sort of unusual popularity with the crowd nowadays, but he is still clearly positioned as a heel. Danielson is a tweener of late, and I expect him to come out on the face side of the coin for this one.

Grudge Match
Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen

Kevin Steen may not be the prettiest guy in the world, but then again, neither is his opponent on this night in Mark Briscoe. This means neither of them is going to care much about preserving the other’s good looks. This is going to be a fight and a knock down, drag out at that. Briscoe owes Steen for his being taken advantage of in a tag match back in Edison, New Jersey. Mark Briscoe seems to have come out okay after his SSP incident a few months back, but who knows when the effects of a severe concussion might come back to haunt him? If Steen wins this one, this adds more fuel to the contingent who states that he and El Generico are the uncrowned ROH World Tag Team champions.

Four Corner Survival
Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush

This is a match to watch for as all four wrestlers are major players and can really do wonders for themselves with great performances in this match. Chris Hero especially has the most to gain as he is back in the spotlight after being featured on VH1 Here, he is matched up with a very familiar rival in Quackenbush, a former partner in Castagnoli and a new enemy in McGuinness. It could easily end up 3 on 1 against Hero, but he can play the mind games and go “divide and conquer” on everyone just as well. Quackenbush vs. Castagnoli has always been an impressive pairing and we could see something really special in the segments between the two of them in this match. Quack-Nigel is a first time combination and is also something to look out for as far as cool wrestling action.

Special Challenge Match
Matt Sydal vs. El Generico

Its flight vs. flight here and that always means excitement and non stop action. Sydal will most assuredly be the heel here and may tone down his aerial act, but Generico will more than make up for that with his spectacular dives, topes. Hopefully he breaks out the dive across the turnbuckle intersection into the tornado DDT. If Sydal wins here, he gains a measure of revenge for losing in NYC, but I think the power of the Ole may be enough to get by the stuck in neutral Sydal.

Plus more with: BJ Whitmer; Jimmy Jacobs & Lacey; Daizee Haze; Brent Albright; Pelle Primeau plus more to be announced!!!

Honorarium

-Do you think Vince McMahon banned the shooting star press because he saw a DVD of Mark Briscoe nearly killing himself back in March?

Honor Culture
As many of you may or may not realize, wrestling concepts seem to tie together interestingly to real world concepts. Many names of moves for instance, are allusions to peoples, places or things. Wrestlers might have nicknames or personalities that tie into other cool snippets of socity. ROH is no different. So on a regular basis, I will check in with a dose of the Honor Culture and show you where these lines between wrestling and the so called “real world” cross over. For example:

Culture Lesson 2: There really IS an Alpamare Waterslide

In ROH, the Alpamare Waterslide is one of Claudio Castagnoli’s signature finishers. Along with the Riccola Bomb, “The Most Money Making Man” often uses the waterslide to put away his opponents with a swift and high impact landing. The waterslide is an applicable name, because the move is fast and slippery. Claudio picks up his opponent, Burning Hammer style, usually with of the legs crossed over the other. He then brings the opponent up and over his back and crashing down to the mat, impacting the neck, shoulders and upper back. It’s a fun move for the wrestling fan to see performed, but not so much fun for the wrestler who takes the move and ends up staring at the lights.

In the mainstream, there really is such a thing as the Alpamare Waterslide! Located in Zurich and open since 1977, the Alapamare is one of the world’s largest indoor waterslide parks. It hosts ten waterslides of varying length, twists and turns. It was also featured in the Guinness Book of World Records TWICE, in 1991 and 1999. If waterslides are not necessarily your thing, you can still have fun in the wave pool health center, spa, solarium and gym. As far as food and beverages, there is indeed a restaurant as well as a self service grill (!) Over 470,000 visitors pack the Alpamare every year.

This place sounds awesome and I’m halfway considering traveling there right now this very instant.

Get an in-depth history and plenty of information about Alapamare Waterslide and Health Center here. Don’t worry, it’s in English (but you can choose to read in Dutch or French if you want. For more on the slide, click here

BUT WAIT—here’s the coolest part of all! You don’t even have to be there to ride the waterslides! That’s because Alpamare has an INTERACTIVE Waterslide map. You pick the ride and can see how it is to go through the slide via video.

Go to this page and then click on the picture in the box that says “layout plan”. Be sure to check out in particular the following “Tornado” (slide 1), “Balla Balla” (slide 2), “Cresta Canyon” (slide 4), “Niagara” (slide 8), “Thriller” (slide 9) and finally the “Double Bob Splash Pipe” (slide 10).

This may be THE BEST, THE COOLEST AND THE GREATEST LINK I’ve discovered on the internet and that’s no hyperbole. I can’t tell you how much I was smiling and laughing and “marking out” over this.

Culture Connection: Clearly, Claudio Castagnoli shares a widespread tradition of the wrestling world, that being an appreciation for theme parks and ride attractions. While not on the road and working hard making that money, you may be able to catch Claudio riding the tubes down the gargantuan pipeline town to an ice cold bed of water.

Honor Culture will return in 3 weeks time!

Going Home

**The Independent Buy In**
Support independent pro wrestling, ROH or non ROH, I don’t care. But if you out there are spending so much time complaining about how WWE sucks, then dammit, spend some money so you won’t have to spend so much time complaining. This list stays in the column and will be added to as the year goes on. Remember: don’t bow out, BUY IN!

2007

**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night One (Strong / Romero, CIMA / Cross, Deliirous / Generico, 8 Man Tag)
**SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Volume 6 (MsChif / Melissa Last Woman Standing, Rebecca Knox / Allison Danger Pure Rules)
**PWG Hollywood Globetrotters (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong and Jack Evans; Cape Fear (El Generico and Quicksilver) vs. Arrogance (Chris Bosh and Scott Lost); B-Boy vs. Frankie Kazarian; Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin.)
**PWG Beyond The Thunderdome (Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. AJ Styles and Chris Daniels); Cape Fear vs. Arrogance; Joey Ryan vs. Chris Sabin)
**PWG Enchantment Under The Sea (Cape Fear vs. Briscoes; Matt Sydal vs. B-Boy; Super Dragon and Davey Richards vs. Arrogance; Austin Aries vs. Kevin Steen)
**wXw World Lightweight Tournament 2006 (Ares / Baron von Hagen, Pac / El Generico, Quackenbush / Roudin, 5 Way Tournament Match)
**ECWA Super 8 Tournament 2001 (Danielson / Low Ki, Danielson / Reckless Youth, Low Ki / Billy Fives, Danielson / Spanky)
**ROH FWA IPW:UK Frontiers of Honor 2 (Sydal / Richards, Cabana / Burridge, JC Thunder / Nigel McGuinness, Danielson / Brookside / Stone)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Two (Necro Butcher/Super Dragon, Hero/Horiguchi, Evans/Castagnolli)
**PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2006: Night Three (Generico / CIMA, Hero, Claudio, Necro, Romero / Cabana, Quicksilver, M-Dogg 20, Delirious, Generico / Sabin, Richards / Strong, Evans/ Horiguchi, Richards / CIMA)
**Chikara The Crushing Weight of Mainstream Ignorance (Quackenbush / Akuma, Steel / Steel, Sweeney / Kingston, Hair vs. Mask: Jigsaw / Icarus)
**Chikara King of Trios Night One (Order of the Neo Solar Temple / Los Ice Creams, Miyawaki, Yago & KUDO / Iron Saints, Sweeny, Eliis and Ryder vs. Neo Solar Temple POSEDOWN, Shima Xion / Nobutaka Moribe)
**SHIMMER Volume 7 (Daizee Haze/Cheerleader Melissa, Mercedes Martinez/LuFisto, Sara Del Rey/Nattie Neidhart)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Two (Sabin, Shelley and Dutt vs. Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Shane Storm / Hallowicked, Cheech and Cloudy vs. Lince Dorado, Pantera and Sicodelico Jr. / Olsen Twins vs. Miyagi and Yago / Quack T-Shirt Squad vs. Boyer and 2.0)
**Chikara King of Trios Night Three (Pantera, Lince Dorado & Sicodelico, Jr. vs. Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm / Kings Of Wrestling vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Shane Storm vs. Kudo, Yoshiaki Yago & Miyawaki / Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli / Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Ray / Mokujin Ken vs. Mecha Mummy / Matt Sydal vs. Hallowicked)

The ROH List
Fifth Year Festival: NYC (Samoa Joe / Morishima, Homicide / Rave, Briscoes / Cabana & McGuinness, Albright / Whitmer, Evans / SHINGO / Xavier / Jacobs)
Fifth Year Festival: Philly (Homicide / Morishima, Sydal & Daniels / SHINGO & Evans, Briscoes / Generico & Steen, Castagnoli / Aries, McGuinness / Perkins)
Fifth Year Festival: Chicago (Morishima & McGuinness / Joe & Homicide, Cabana / Jacobs, Strong & Richards / Aries & Cross, Daniels & Sydal / The Briscoes, Albright / Castagnoli)
Fifth Year Festival: Liverpool (Joe / McGuinness, ROH World Tag Team Titles: The Briscoes / Doi & SHINGO / FIP Title: Strong / PAC, 2/3 Falls: Delirious / Matt Sydal) Fifth Year Festival: Finale (Joe / Homicide, Fight Without Honor: McGuinness / Rave, ROH World Tag Team Titles: Doi & SHINGO / Richards and Strong, Sydal / PAC, Falls Count Anywhere: Whitmer / Jacobs)
All Star Extravaganza III (ROH vs. Dragon Gate 8 Man Tag, Strong / Evans, Mochizuki / Richards, Cabana / Sydal / Hero / Pearce, Homicide / Daniels)
Supercard of Honor II (CIMA, SHINGO and Yokosuka / Dragon Kid / Saito / Mochikzuki, Strong / Aries, Whitmer / Jacobs, Evans & Doi / Richards and Romero, McGuinness / Hero, Daniels & Sydal / Delirious & Jay Briscoe)

This section needs your help! If you want to recommend some good independent wrestling to your fellow internet readers out there, drop me a line for the column.

ROH @ 411 This Week

The big first link goes to Stuart Carapola who begins a MONTH long look through ROH in 2006 in this week’s That Was Then. This is Stu’s baby and it shows—the thing is chock full of details. It’s good reading for the ROH fan. Get to it!

J.D. Dunn hits the big one, Final Battle 2006. It sounds like he is marking out over the event just as much as I did being there live. I’m not sure where he came up with people comparing it to Wrestlemania X-7 and Great American Bash, but hey looking back on it that just might be right.

Dunn is just 24-7 here on 411 and gives us our retROH review with 2003’s Expect the Unexpected. As in, I sure bet Xavier didn’t expect that concussion! One mo’ from Dunn is his review of FIP Fallout Night 2 and the infamous (and hilarious) CM Punk-Homicide Strip Club Standoff.

This week’s Buy or Sell is devoted to Puro and Indie wrestling, but there are a few controversial comments by one mister Larry Csonka. Larry, Larry, Larry, tsk, tsk. You know what you need to do? You need to MAN UP!

Samuel Berman is in with The Independent Midcard taking a look at a very recent and very entertaining match, the four corner survival between Hero, Sydal, Colt Cabana and Adam Pearce. It’s one of my favorites of the year as well.

Honor Bound Links

The weekend news reports are here. The effervescent Nick Marsico gets you started with the News To Start Your Weekend (and plenty more ROH comments as well). Then Meehan brings you the Saturday News Spectacular.

Stuart looks at TNA and ECW in this week’s Friendly Competition.

I said in this week’s WWE One Night Stand Roundtable and I’ll say it again here to plug Joe Estee’s Keys to the Game column: “PUDDING, PUDDING BAH GAWD, PUDDING!”

Sat and Trunx go High Road / Low Road on Edge involved in Smackdown.

Zac Calhoun heads up Ripple Effect and the great ECW project.

Conska and The Four R’s perform your favorite Motown hits.

Rob Halden wants you to vote for an Idiot. I tell him we already did that twice, in 2000 and again in 2004.

What? Too easy?

Shining A Spotlight on the mailbag. I almost write “The Shining A Spotlight” but stopped myself.

Bayani goes heel in the latest Truth B Told

The 31st day of his bondage.

That’s all folks. Be sure to send the email this way! Next week, another new feature debuts, I’ll get you the results from Boston and a preview for Philadelphia and a whole lot more. Hasta la pasta.

BROOKLYN! DAH EM BAH SEE!
–Ari–