Moments Ago
The Final Month of 2006
December is always a big month in the Ring of Honor calendar. It is where the final steps of 2006 are carried through and the table is set for the forthcoming year. Past Decembers have seen Austin Aries win both the World and Tag Team titles, the invasion of All Japan Pro Wrestling, the debuts of KENTA and Marufugi and one of the biggest four corner survivals Ring of Honor had seen.
This December promises to be no different, we will see the end of the Road of Homicide, bid farewell to Claudio Castagnoli, and a huge weekend in Chicago to go along with Final Battle. All of this and a look ahead to 2007 in the triumphant return of Moments Ago”¦.
Results
I could give a detailed account of the results from this past weekend, but Pulse Glazer the self proclaimed RoH reviewer has done a fine job. You can check his reviews out here for 11/25 and here for 11/24
The biggest thing of note from the show is the new tag team champions the self proclaimed Lords of the Ring in Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels. They have been teaming up a lot recently and even main evented the peculiarly ordered card from November 24th. Wile Sydal and Daniels may look like a makeshift team they do have a dynamic similar to AJ and Daniels in TNA except with more of a mentor/rookie twist.
Also noteworthy was the dominance of Brent Albright and his German/Tazplex/Crowbar combo that has been leading to tapout victories. Albright earned a roster spot with his performance.
The Final Month of 2006
The biggest news in Ring of Honor right now is tied in with the topic for my column so I will cover it here. Next week, Ring of Honor will put on two shows at Chicago Ridge and are calling the double shot the “Chicago Spectacular.” The biggest event from the shows is the Steel Cage match between Samoa Joe and American Dragon for the Ring of Honor World Championship. This is the culmination of their feud of the past several months that saw two time limit draws and Joe achieve victory in a no holds barred match. Odds are Dragon will not drop the title in this match but the possibility of him losing looms larger in this match than any that he has competed in yet.
Joe and Dragon have put on some of the best matches that I have seen period. Joe is also responsible for the best cage match I have seen in Ring of Honor thus far. I have not seen Punk vs. Rave or Dragon vs. Homicide, but reports indicate that Joe vs. Jay Briscoe still was the best. The match will be unbelievable and would be a fitting way for Dragon to lose the title. It would also set up an interesting scenario with Homicide.
One of the most storied rivalries in Ring of Honor is Samoa Joe vs. Homicide from their match at the original Do or Die in May of 2003 to their battles in the summer of 2004 and their recent respect in 2006 they have told some of the best stories that Ring of Honor has had to tell. It would be fitting that Homicide end the reign of his constant nemesis and the only two time Ring of Honor World Champion by beating Samoa Joe at Final Battle.
Odds are though that Homicide will be facing American Dragon, a man who he had a grueling best of five series with at the beginning of 2005. Homicide lost that match and I am sure they will play upon the emotions from those matches when they inevitably step in the ring on December 23rd. This match will be one of the most interesting. Logic says that Homicide will win, but for some reason that just seems too obvious to me. Somehow Homicide will not win the title and still be a part of the Ring of Honor roster. One theory floating around was that Homicide would find a partner in Samoa Joe or perhaps a returning Low Ki to dethrone the Kings of Wrestling, but now that Claudio and Hero have no belts that idea is out the window.
Claudio’s departure for richer pastures and the WWE is an unfortunate blow to Ring of Honor as they only scratched the surface with what he and Chris Hero could have done with the tag titles. The interesting thing will be how Herr Castagnoli’s final matches play out. A face turn is probably in the cards so that he can get a positive send off for his contributions over the past 18 months or so. His last two opponents will most likely be Nigel McGuinness, arguably his best opponent during his run, and Chris Hero in a match that could steal the show at Final Battle. Either way Claudio will be missed, and I am sure he will succeed in the WWE.
The other thing that Final Battle always does is set up the next year. Usually a new champion is enough to set the table with a great feast of wrestling action. Austin Aries’ title win set up an RoH without Samoa Joe as champion and a new direction for Generation Next. Dragon’s win over Marufugi last year showed just how dominant a champion Dragon was going to be over the course of the year. Next year could see a Homicide-less Ring of Honor, but more likely is an RoH with Homicide as the standard bearer. The only downside of Homicide as champion is that he has wrestled basically everyone and other than Brent Albright no new challenges are on the horizon. The matches will be great with Homicide as champion, but new match-ups aren’t really there yet.
Just some things to think about”¦I’ll see you next time.
