So I really couldn’t have been more wrong in my predictions for the Survival of the Fittest weekend. I’d link to the old column but that is better left in the past. Not many people were correct as few predicted Delirious winning the whole shebang, but my extremely out there predictions didn’t come to pass. I think they would have made for interesting wrestling shows as we build towards Final Battle, but twas not to be.
In a completely unrelated note this column will become slightly more formatted with a section devoted to news, a section devoted to upcoming events, and a section devoted to my opinions on a current situation in the company.
Ring of Honor News
Shingo Takagi of Dragon Gate will be a near full time competitor for Ring of Honor. He will be competed solely as Shingo, although not all in caps. He impressed at Dragon Gate Invasion against Curry Man in his debut and wrestled a decent contest against Ricky Reyes not too long ago, so this seems to be a good addition to the slightly crowded mid-card scene in RoH.
The reign of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli seems to be a mild extension of the CZW vs. RoH feud. The pair defended their belt at a CZW event much to the chagrin of Ring of Honor officials. This angle is creative still without retreading what made up the dominant angle in RoH in the first two thirds of the year.
According to Pro-wrestling torch, Ring of Honor will not be returning to the Cleveland market in the foreseeable future due to poorly attended events. This is not huge news, and does not signify a chink in the armor of RoH, it is more just an unfortunate case of events for fans near Cleveland, Ohio.
Upcoming Events
The last two shows in October which will be a Dayton/Chicago Ridge double shot seem to be pretty much set. The big matches will be Samoa Joe and Homicide taking on Adam Pearce and Steve Corino in what is being billed as a TAG TEAM WAR!!!!! The next night Samoa Joe will take on Bryan Danielson in a no-time limit, no dq, no anything goes, must be a winner match. It is however non-title. Both matches should be phenomenal and it is an interesting direction that RoH is taking with Danielson only defending his title once a month. This is to give him time to relax from his injuries, but still is a brilliant cover-up. The tag team war should be unbelievable as Pearce has proven he can hang with top guys and Homicide and Corino always bring an ultra-violent sort of magic when they get into the ring together.
I will do a more in depth preview of the entire cards as the events draw near.
Road of Homicide
The big story in the last quarter of 2006 in Ring of Honor is possibly the culmination of Homicide’s tenure as one of the most consistently great performers in the company. He has come close to title gold on many occasions, always coming up just short. All signs point to Homicide finally winning the straps at Final Battle, so time will tell if he succeeds or not.
When Ring of Honor delivered its final show at the New Yorker Hotel Homicide gave himself six months to win gold in RoH or his career there would be over. He stated that if he was not a champion by Final Battle he would quit. Final battle is only about ten weeks away and Homicide has a title shot at the show which he must win. The strange part is, that as great as he is, and as great and deserving a champion as he would be, I just cannot see him winning the belt.
It seems too obvious that he will be winning the belt, and RoH has perfectly executed swerves like this in the past. Also to that end, I just can’t see Homicide as champion in RoH, not that he doesn’t deserve because he more than does.
Something will happen and Homicide will not win the world title at Final Battle. I could see it happening one of a few ways. Samoa Joe and Homicide have been quite the dominant tag team as of late. It would not be out of the realm of possibility that they could get a tag title shot either Thanksgiving weekend or the night before Final Battle in Connecticut. The downside of this is that it would devalue the match against American Dragon at Final Battle, but that has the potential to be an instant classic regardless. The other possibility is that RoH does yet another 60 minute draw and Homicide decides to stay for a rematch. This is unlikely because Homicide promised victory and a championship. The last possibility is that he loses the match and takes some time off. If he ends up losing, this is the most likely scenario.
The New York fans will be super upset if he lost and nothing was done of it. Ring of Honor, I think, will find a way to figure out a way to send the fans home happy regardless.
See you next time
