Moments Ago: The RoH vs. CZW war comes to a head

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Moments Ago

The RoH vs. CZW war comes to a head

This Saturday promises to be one of the biggest shows in the history of Ring of Honor. Not only is it the 100th show for Ring of Honor, a milestone that most independent wrestling federations never reach, but it could be the culmination of the recent war between Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling.

Since pretty much the New Year Ring of Honor has had problems with fellow Philadelphia independent Combat Zone Wrestling. When RoH world champion Brian Danielson sent out open contracts around the wrestling world they were answered by such luminaries as Steve Corino, Naomichi Marufugi, and Lance Storm. One of these contracts also fell into the hands of CZW “savior” Chris Hero.

Ring of Honor fans have always had mixed feelings about Hero, some were dying to see him in an RoH ring, and others were glad he never graced the top independent squared circle in America. Either way, Chris Hero made his Ring of Honor debut in February and the RoH/CZW war was underway. Hero failed to win the RoH title but the battle was underway. Chris Hero and Necro Butcher of CZW began making appearances at Ring of Honor shows in the Midwest. One led to a brawl that saw Ring of Honor commissioner lose his teeth.

An unlikely champion in Adam Pearce began leading the Ring of Honor charge. Although he had only compete in RoH a short time he became the rally point for the war on the garbage wrestling in CZW. CZW wrestlers led by Chris Hero then attempted to ruin RoH’s Fourth anniversary show, but to no avail, Ring of Honor still put on one of its best shows of 2006. Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling seemed to put some of their differences behind them and have a joint doubleshot at the former ECW arena. BJ Whitmer long time Ring of Honor wrestling became the scapegoat of the war and was savagely attacked by almost the entire CZW roster.

Two members of the RoH team were now in place. The face and standard bearer of Ring of Honor Samoa Joe has also refused to let the promotion that made him famous be defaced by the lesser CZW. Joe and Hero met at the Fourth Anniversary Show in a brief brawl, and Joe has taken the war personally ever since.

The Ring of Honor team was set as Adam Pearce, BJ Whitmer, and Samoa Joe. No one from CZW would answer Adam Pearce’s open challenge at The Best in the World in New York City. Chris Hero and Necro Butcher did answer the challenge of Jason Blade and Kid Mikaze demolishing them before Pearce and other members of the Ring of Honor locker room came out.

With the Ring of Hone team established a second open challenge was extended to CZW. For a long time it seemed that it would go unanswered. At nearly the last minute however, Chris Hero responded via his live journal that Super Dragon and Necro Butcher would be joining him.

This could certainly mean that Ring of Honor’s war with CZW could come to an end this Saturday. This will be one of the most violent matches in Ring of Honor history, and it seems fairly unlikely that a clear-cut winner will be declared. Ring of Honor has leveled the playing field by allowing CZW to furnish a ref to call the match with the RoH official, and giving CZW their own section of fans to cheer for their “heroes.”

This has been one of the most intriguing angles in independent wrestling so far this year. It has truly kept me guessing at what the next twist will be. The sides have remained relatively constant with only Claudio Castagnoli turning on his CZW allies. This could of course all be a ruse. The war may very well not end after this conflict, but it is very tough to predict where things could go from here.

In addition to the six man contest Jim Cornette will engage in a debate with John Zandig the owner of CZW. Ring of Honor is billing this as possibly the biggest squash in wrestling history, I have to agree. I have seen Jim Cornette stand toe to toe with wrestling legend Bobby Heenan, and he has managed more successful tag teams than anyone. John Zandig has run a successful indy for almost eight years. Advantage: Cornette. Cornette is a wrestling legend Zandig is a wrestling promoter, there is no contest.

This should be an extremely entertaining show and if you want more information you should go towww.rohwrestling.com

On to other matters tomorrow on Wrestle Radio we will have special guest Ring of Honor wrestler Colt Cabana. If you want to e-mail questions for this indy superstar please send all queries to wrestleradio@gmail.com

You can listen to this show live at 6pm eastern time via www.whrwfm.org

Before I go, I want to talk about what could be the next big thing in independent wrestling. That of course is Squared Circle Wrestling. 2CW is the latest independent wrestling federation to open in Central New York. 2CW has brought much needed pro wrestling to Syracuse, NY and has brought it in a big way. They sold out their very first show and entertained every single fan in attendance. While they’re line-up only boast a few big names as of yet (Matt “Spike Dudley” Hyson and indy standouts All Money is Legal) their core of talent will be big names before long. Wrestlers like Zaquary Springate III, the Killer Steves, JD Love, Isys Ephex, Strangler Steve King, and Gordy Wallace will all be making indy headlines before 2006 is out mark my words. Their shows are extremely entertaining and truly have something for every fan. If you live in the Central New York area, or even if you don’t you need to check out www.2cw.com. You won’t be disappointed.
That’s it for now…as always questions comments and concerns can be e-mailed to bigandymac@yahoo.com

I’ll see you next time