The Ring of Honor Reviewer– 11/24 Long Island and 11/25 Edison Previews
-Pulse Glazer
BigAndyMac is a bit under the weather, but on a regular basis we’ll be posting these together so you’ll have multiple perspectives on whether or not these shows look to be worth your time and money.
Long Island 11/24/06
No DQ RoH World Tag Team Title Match
Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
The King’s of Wrestling look to defend the title successfully against the team they beat for them. Last time they met Aries used Claudio’s briefcase to earn his team a DQ and now the former champs now are looking for revenge.
This looks to be a great match. Claudio is going to want to up on an amazing match in one of his last several Independent appearances, while Hero will want to make sure The King’s of Wrestling are remembered. Aries and Strong are an amazing team, but Aries ribs are still busted up and he’s receiving a TNA push, while Strong is defending his newly won FIP Championship in Ring of Honor now. Because of the challengers distractions I see this one being a bloody battle, but ultimately a win for the Kings of Wrestling.
Grudge Match
Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe
This one is set up by Joe’s helping of Homicide in his wars with the Briscoes. These two’s 2004 Cage Match at At Our Best is one of the best Ring of Honor matches to date so I’m really looking forward to this one. Jay has been focusing on tag matches of late, while Joe is notoriously hard to pin so I don’t see a rare Joe loss here. There is a chance, however, since Jay is smoking hot since the Briscoes return and could immediately become a main event player with a win over Joe, especially if Joe gets the title in the cage from Daniels early next month. I’m calling the upset here and a Jay win.
Tag Team Challenge Match
Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels with Allison Danger vs. Delirious and Davey Richards
Delirious is smoking hot right now, having won the recent Survival of the Fittest tournament over Matt Sydal in the finals, while Davey has won several other tournaments this year in other promotions. Both are hot young wrestlers who seemingly improve every time out, but their teaming has yet to bear any victories. The team of Daniels and Sydal has, however, looked great together. Both are former partners of AJ Styles, with Sydal sharing much of his style with The Phenomenal One has lead to a quick transition into a great new team this year. With Daniels and Sydal receiving a title shot the next night there would usually be the worry of overlooking their opponents this night, but since Sydal and Delirous have a long standing rivalry, I don’t see that playing an issue. I’ll give this one to the more accomplished team of Sydal and Daniels.
Gauntlet Series- This is a series of consecutive singles matches. When someone is defeated, they are eliminated. This continues until there is only one winner. The order is to be determined by a random drawing. The participants are:
Nigel McGuinness
BJ Whitmer
Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey
Brent Albright
Pelle Primeau
Jason Blade
First off, Blade has no chance of victory because he is receiving no push whatsoever. Nigel is a main eventer at this point and would gain nothing from the win, though he is sure to be looking for it since this is his return from a NOAH tour. Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer have a huge grudge with one another and will likely eliminate each other in some fashion. They have a huge Grudge Match on the Saturday show. Pelle will likely get a big win as he’s been a hot underdog of late, but I don’t see him winning the whole thing. He’s yet to show that kind of focus. Albright is still looking for his first big win in RoH and a match with this kind of talent certainly fits the bill, so there’s my pick: Brent Albright.
Special Attraction Match
Homicide vs. Jimmy Rave
Rave has really been floundering since the end of the Embassy, but he’s always a dangerous wrestler. Unfortunately for Jimmy, Homicide has been on a huge tear leading up to his Final Battle title match and there is no way he will lose heading into his big main event lest the booking committee take his title shot away.
Bonus Match
Shingo vs. Mark Briscoe
Shingo is the latest Dragon’s Gate star to take RoH by storm. Mark Briscoe is struggling in singles matches of late. Just like the previous match, I don’t see the trend breaking tonight.
Summary– This is the weakest show RoH has put on in some time. There are still several potential 4* matches, with Joe and Jay Briscoe the most likely candidate. The real problem with this card should not be the match quality, but rather the predictability of the winners. Noting that I went out on a limb and predicted a Jay Briscoe win, but that’s quite the long shot on what looks to be a good card that will be quickly forgotten.
Edison, NJ 11/25/06
Elimination Falls Count Anywhere Streetfight
Samoa Joe and Homicide vs. The Briscoes
This feud started when The Briscoes decided to help Jim Cornette with his war against Homicide. Since then it has become decidedly personal as Joe has come to the aid of Homicide who had been in need of a regular tag team partner. Joe and Homicide are quite the force, but they fell to The Briscoes in their most recent match up. The elimination nature of this match adds interest. Whoever is eliminated first leaves his team at a huge disadvantage. I see Mark being eliminated first as Joe extracts revenge for his loss the night before on Jay.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Sydal and Chris Daniels
The Kings of Wrestling have been torturing the other tag teams of Ring of Honor, but lost singles matches to both Sydal and Daniels despite that. Sydal and Daniels will be hard pressed to manage another win after their big match with Sydal’s rival Delirious the night before. The Kings of Wrestling are also focusing on their legacy before Claudio leaves for WWE and should be near unbeatable for this weekend unless they are too weakened from their No DQ match on Friday.
Grudge Match
BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs with Lacey
Here we go! A match up with real hatred! I see Jimmy taking out BJ who is bound to have ring rust after his leg injury, suffered at the hands of Jimmy. BJ will also be so emotional that he’s likely to make some mistake here. I see Jimmy winning but this being only the first match in a series, unless we get some interference of some kind from Colt Cabana, whom was just viciously attacked by Jimmy as well.
FIP Heavyweight Title Match
Roderick Strong vs. Shingo
Shingo has been hot and looked great of late, but Roderick is the FIP golden boy and there is no way he loses this belt on his first defense. He’s been looking for the belt since FIP’s inception and looks to be a great fighting champion who will be very tough to beat.
Special Challenge Match 1
Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards
This is a rematch from their Glory by Honor V Night 1 match, which was won by Aries. Davey gave Aries a great match, but ultimately didn’t look as good as the former ROH Champ. I don’t see two months being enough to change that and Aries should win another hard fought battle.
Special Challenge Match 2
Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave
Poor, poor Jimmy Rave! First he gets Homicide on the Road of Homicide, while he’s the hottest wrestler in the company, and now the returning Main Eventer, Nigel McGuinness. Nigel has improved so much this year that there’s next to no way he loses to the ice cold Rave.
Special Attraction Match
Delirious vs. Jason Blade
Jason Blade’s spot on the roster has to be at risk if he keeps getting scheduled for matches like this. Delirious has been hot, taking ROH Champion Bryan Danielson to the limit and winning the Survival of the Fittest tournament. This should be a good comedy match, but Delirious is going to win.
Do or Die Match
Brent Albright vs. El Generico
Poor Generico’s shot in ROH is against the hottest new wrestler on the roster. Brent Albright will likely beat the generic one as the comedy gimmick is taken care of by Delirious. Go get Super Dragon, RoH!
Top of the Class Trophy
Shane Hagadorn vs. Bobby Dempsey
This looks like an Adam Pearce sighting where he will help his manservant, Hagadorn retain the Top of the Class Trophy.
Summary– This looks to be a better show than the first night, although nothing on the card has the potential of Jay Briscoe vs. Joe from Night One. This card is much less predictable with far more variable outcomes, which should lend to excitement for the live crowd.
I’ll be sure to let you know about the crowd and everything else. I’ll be attending both nights and have a report up here at Insidepulse.com by the end of the night! Thanks for the time and hope you enjoyed the previews. Until next time, I remain a ROHbot (it’s cool, we took it back).
-Pulse Glazer
