Salutations everyone, my name is Matt and I have been given the privilege of posting a weekly Ring of Honor news column here at Inside Pulse. In an attempt to make this column more exciting or zany than your average news report I have decided to use a revolutionary format to present the news…a Top Ten List! Wait a second, that wouldn’t be exciting, revolutionary, nor especially zany…in fact if anything that would be just terrible. Well then in hopes of not being terrible this report will consist of some news, some opinions, but definitely no top ten lists! Now that the format question is out of the way let’s move on to why you clicked on the link, the RoH news.
Tidbit: Steve Corino recently suffered a broken hand, but will still face Roderick Strong on the 2/19 card at the RexPlex.
-Corino’s injury shouldn’t take much away from this match as Corino is one of the best independent wrestlers out there when it comes to in-ring psychology. For this very reason I believe that Corino and Strong will use the hand injury as an important and intriguing element of their match this Saturday. FYI, if you want to read more about ring pschology check out this weeks, and the upcoming weeks, of Gordi Whitelaw’s The Beautiful Things.
Tidbit: ROH has has announced that Spanky will take on Jack Evans at the 3/12 show in Connecticut.
-It is great to Spanky working more regularly with RoH again, especially now with so many new opponents available for him. These two guys can absolutely go, and they will have the opportunity to put on the most entertaining matches of the night.
Tidbit: The main event for the Do or Die IV show this Saturday will be a Four Corner Survival pitting Fast Eddie vs. El Generico vs. Arik Cannon vs. Josh Daniels.
-Some of the biggest names on the U.S. independent scene that have not yet made a big impact in RoH, this match alone justifies spending $5 to attend Do or Die IV if you will be in the Elizabeth, NJ area.
Tidbit: ROH World Champion Austin Aries defended his title this past weekend by defeating Vordell Walker during a FIP event.
-This match, along with the recent Homicide/Bryan Danielson feud, is showing the foundations of a nice working relationship between RoH and FIP. Walker will also be appearing on the previously mentioned Do or Die IV card. I also believe that this is Aries second title defense of the RoH World Title outside of RoH, since capturing it just over a month go. These title defenses can only help RoH expand their fan base, (as long as they protect their champ), and will hopefully lead to new fans becoming interested in RoH.
Tidbit: The most recent team to be announced for RoH’s upcoming Six Man Tag Tournament consists of Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and Jay Lethal.
-On paper this looks like the team to beat so far, but right now I got a feeling that they will lose in the finals against a team that is still to be announced. This actually transitions perfectly to our next tidbit.
Tidbit: The winners of the Six Man Tag Tournament will be allowed to choose their respective future matches, including the opportunity to challenge for a title.
-A good stipulation that adds not only more importance to the tag tournament show, but could also set the up new angles for many shows to come. Hypothetically speaking if the team of Danielson/Joe/Lethal was to win this could lead to Lethal finally getting a big break and challenging for the title, Joe actually wrestling Mick Foley, (although I guess the chances of this would be slim), and Danielson choosing the stipulation of the final match of his best of 5 series. Ooh, another good transition opportunity.
Tidbit: The second match of the Danielson/Homicide best of 5 series will be a taped fist match.
-The stipulation alone should make this the stiffest match of the night, and the men in the match will make it one of the best of the night. Homicide currently leads the series 1-0 and since the stipulation would seem to favor his wrestling style it wouldn’t be surprising to see ‘Cide get a 2-0 lead and thus stacking all the odds against Danielson for the series. However, since the first stipulation of the first match would have seemed to favor Danielson (a submission match), I think that the American Dragon will pull the “upset” and even the series at 1-1.
Tidbit: If Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer fail to win the Tag Titles this weekend they will be forced to break up as a tag-team.
-Even though Maff and Whitmer have made for a very good tag team, a large amount of RoH fans (myself included) now hope that they will move the match. Their team has begun to feel a little played out and both are ready for strong single pushes. I am guessing that Whitmer will turn on Maff during the match, and we will have our instant feud match for an upcoming show.
Tidbit: During Saturday’s RexPlex show RoH will make an announcement that will carry “international ramifications” about their next show at the arena.
-International Ramifications can mean a lot of things here, from the bringing in of a big name Japanese star, (though apparently not Kobashi) to another RoH/International show like Frontiers of Honor. Since RoH just recently brought in Jushin Liger, I think the latter is the stronger possibility. Of course come Saturday I will probably be completely wrong on both guesses as RoH will go with something that I haven’t even thought of.
Tidbit: The Card for3rd Anniversary Celebration: I
Jimmy Rave vs. Jay Lethal – Winner gets Pure Title shot later in evening
Ebessan vs. Billy Ken Kid – Osaka Pro attraction match
Alex Shelly vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Steve Corino vs. Roderick Strong
CM Punk vs. Spanky
Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer – RoH Tag Title Match
Mick Foley’s mystery wrestler vs. Samoa Joe
Rave/Lethal winner vs. John Walters – Pure Title Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide – 2nd Match of Best of 5 series/Taped Fist Match
Austin Aries vs. Colt Cabana – Steel Cage RoH World Title Match
Carnage Crew vs. Jack Evans & Roderick Strong vs. Izzy & Deranged with Lacey vs. Dixie & Azrieal vs. Dunn & Marcos – Scramble Cage
-Okay I know it is cheating to include an entire card as a tidbit, especially when I discussed three of these matches individually earlier. But I think I have a valid reason for doing this, because while looking at the line-up this card has a real possibility to be the best top to bottom show put on by RoH, or any other federation for that matter, in a very long time. That fact alone makes it worthy of this weeks final tidbit. While I will not be able to see this show in person (damn you work!), I cannot wait to add it to my DVD collection whenever it is released.
Hmmm, I finished with ten tidbits this week, maybe that top ten thing could have worked out after all… . Well that’s it for now, I hope you guys found this enjoyable and informative. I leave with one last thought, if you were curious enough to read this column but you still haven’t watched any RoH, do yourself a favor and view one of their tapes as quick possible…it should be some of the best American wrestling you will have seen in a quite awhile.
Credit: All italicized tidbits were gathered from ringofhonor.com.
