Welcome everyone to my second RoH Weekly News Report. Not only is this my second column here at Insidepulse.com, but it is also my most important one ever as it comes to you smack-dab in the middle of RoH’s Third Anniversary Celebration. The celebration kicked off last Saturday night at the RexPlex in Elizabeth, NJ and so it is only appropriate that we begin our column there.
Third Anniversary Celebration Show #1 Results
Steve Corino defeated Roderick Strong
Jay Lethal defeated Jimmy Rave to earn a shot at the RoH Pure Title
John Walters defeated Jay Lethal to retain the RoH Pure Title
Ebessan defeated Billy Ken Kid
Alex Shelly defeated Jimmy Jacobs
Spanky defeated CM Punk
Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer defeated Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero to become the new RoH Tag Team Champions
Samoa Joe defeated Vordell Walker (Mick Foley’s first mystery man)
Samoa Joe defeated Ebessan Jack (Mick Foley’s second mystery man)
Homicide defeated Bryan Danielson in a Taped Fist Match, earning him a 2 – 0 lead in their Best of 5 series.
Austin Aries defeated Colt Cabana in a steel cage match to retain the RoH World Championship
Dunn & Marcos defeated Loc & Devito, Izzy & Deranged, Azriel & Dixie, and Roderick Strong & Jack Evans in a Scramble Cage Match.
Quick Thoughts: Well from everything I heard this was a very solid show, just as I thought it would be. While there was no blow away MOTY candidate, there was no really weak link to the show with the possible exception of the Samoa Joe/Mick Foley segment, (and how you perceived that segment was probably based off what your expectations were going in). Personally I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by Foley’s mystery men, but I did like that they had ended up having Aries aligning himself with Foley and thus adding another lair to his feud with the former champ.
The two matches that really surprised me in their outcome were Homicide pulling out another victory (albeit by outside interference), over Bryan Danielson and The Ring Crew Express winning the Scramble Cage Match. Out of these two surprises I really don’t understand the logic behind giving Dunn & Marcos the victory here. After all, despite this victory they will most likely still be viewed as nothing more than jobbers and they probably wont have any chances to build on the momentum earned by their win. If I was booking the match I would have given Strong & Evans the victory as both are working in the upper card area right now, and a victory would have given them more credibility at an important time, (especially for Strong since he lost earlier in the night).
Finally from all that I heard Aries and Cabana put on a very good match that probably earned Match of the Night honors. All in all it looks like RoH did another very sound show, and as usual I can’t wait to add this show to my DVD collection.
And now on to the Tidbits
Tidbit: RoH announced that at the “Do or Die IV” show this past Saturday that Kevin Steen, El Generico, and Vordell Walker all made good impressions and have earned the right to be heavily involved in future RoH events.
-Well it doesn’t surprise me in the least that these three made favorable impressions, but the news here might be who didn’t make the list. From what I have heard I am a little surprised that B-Boy did not make the “final cut.” Out of the three that did both Kevin Steen and Vordell Walker have recently fought Aries for the RoH World Championship in outside of RoH giving both of them some credibility coming in. As for El Generico, I have only heard positives about him, but based off of his gimmick I see him at least starting off his RoH career entrenched in the lower mid-card area.
Tidbit: Jay Lethal has been booked in a rematch against John Walters for the Pure Title at the 3/05 show in Philadelphia. Because of this he has been pulled from the tag team with Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe and replaced with Vordell Walker.
-Well from being the favorites to take it all to having what would seem to be an obvious fall guy. I’m guessing that Walker will end up costing his team the tournament and that either Generation Next (Aries, Strong, and Evans) or the Indy Dream Team (Spanky, James Gibson, and Nigel McGuinness) will end up winning it all. Also with the transitioning Lethal out of the tournament I am getting the feeling that Walter’s reign as the Pure Champion is coming to an end at this show.
Tidbit: With the Carnage Crew taking the losing fall in the Scramble Cage Match they will not participate in RoH for 90 days. As a result they will no longer be a part of the 6 Man Tag Tournament.
-Well the Carnage Crew have been on of RoH’s staples in its brief existence, but I do like the idea of giving them 90 days off. This allows for them to come back even more angry than usual (if that is possible), and as a result I foresee a monster size beating for Dunn & Marcos in about three months time.
Tidbit: With Joey Matthews signing with the WWE Matt Sydal will now tag with Fast Eddie instead.
-While I like the idea of Sydal & Eddie more that Sydal & Matthews, I am disappointed that it looks like they will be known as the Air Devils. I understand that this was the name picked by the fans, but it just seems like a really generic name to me. Oh well, to each their own.
Tidbit: Prince Nana is stating that The Embassy will debut a new member this Saturday.
-Well this announcement should give Rave at least a believable chance of defeating AJ Styles through outside interference now. However I am thinking that Styles still wins the match to keep the fans happy, but then the newest member of the Embassy comes out to join his new stable for a post-match beat down.
Tidbit: Homicide and Bryan Daniels will continue their Best of 5 series on the 2/26 show in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Homicide has a 2-0 lead.
-Well they just have to give the win to Danielson here, as it would quite possibly be one of the worst blow-offs to a feud ever if Homicide shuts out Danielson here. I think one of the more important questions going into this match is what do they do with Julius Smokes. The fact that it is a falls count anywhere match would seem to beg for some outside interference from Smokes, so I am thinking that Danielson is going to find himself some back-up to guarantee that this match stays a one on one encounter.
Tidbit: The surpris announcement that carried “international ramifications” mentioned in last weeks News Report was the RoH will hold a 8 Man Tournament as a qualifier for New Japan’s Super Juniors tournament this year.
-See, I told you that RoH would end up doing something that I hadn’t guessed with this announcement. As for the announcement itself I am very happy as for some odd reason I have always been a fan of one night tournaments (please exclude almost every King of the Ring tournament ever from this statement), and I could make the next in Elizabeth a memorable one.
The Third Anniversary Celebration Week continues”¦
Well the second and third show of the celebration will be occurring this weekend and the following matches have been announced so far:
2-25-05 from Dayton, OH
Tracey Brooks vs. Lacey vs. Daizee Haze vs. Allison Danger
Homicide vs. Puma
Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness
James Gibson (aka Jamie Knoble) vs. Spanky
Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious
AJ Styles (in a one night return) vs. Jimmy Rave
CM Punk vs. Alex Shelley
Austin Aries & Jack Evans vs. Samoa Joe & Bryan Danielson
2-26-05 from Chicago, IL
James Gibson vs. Puma
Spanky vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Alex Shelley vs. Jack Evans
CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe for the RoH World Title
Also announced for the show: Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Jim Cornette in a managerial confrontation and appearances by Fast Eddie & Matt Sydal, Dunn & Marcos, Delirious, Nigel McGuinness, Lacey, Daizee Haze, Allison Danger, Tracey Brooks.
Well that’s it for another week. And just to let all you faithful readers know that based off of the unprecedented success that was last weeks report I have actually been granted a working e-mail account by the higher ups. As a result any and all feedback/inquiries will be welcome, and hey maybe you can earn yourself a spot as the e-mailer of the week in the next column! Now how is that for extra incentive?
Credit: All italicized tidbits were gathered from ringofhonor.com.
