Welcome to Pulse Wrestling’s exclusive A Modest Response. In case you haven’t been paying attention, we at Pulse Wrestling are doing a ton of new and interesting things. We’ll have a special feature coming up, courtesy of the entire wrestling staff and the brainchild of the best writer on the IWC (arguably ever and that isn’t hyperbole, wait and see), Joshua Grutman. I’ll have a Wrestling Glossary coming up soon and have reviews of the DVDs for the ROH Fifth Year Festival tailored to newer fans out shortly. VS pits the best writers on the net against each other using wrestling’s hot topics as an impetus for debate. Last, but not least, we’re all excited and working hard to bring you coverage of almost ROH live show in America over the rest of the year.
News of Honor
Bryan Danielson’s shoulder was fine in NOAH and he’s negotiating to return
Like anything else could get the top spot. If you’ve ever wanted to see me jump around and scream like a little girl, be around when “Final Countdown†hits in NYC May 11.
Claudio Castagnoli to choose a partner to face the Briscoes for the tag titles
Speculation runs rampant on which wrestler this can be. There are only certain options because Claudio is so hated as the ROH traitor. The two most intriguing options are the trainers for the Chikara Wrestling Factory: Mike Quackenbush and Chris Hero.
Mike Quackenbush is probably the best and biggest name on the indies to not regularly appear on ROH shows. He’s the Chikara promoter and a fantastic wrestler, even if injuries have slowed him down. He’s also the very best match Claudio’s ever had, making their potential paring very fun to contemplate.
Chris Hero is Claudio’s former partner in the Kings of Wrestling. The Kings took home just about every major tag team and although there is an angle to having them broken up, it surely doesn’t seem to be going anywhere in a great hurry. The Kings are a draw together, so put them back together!
Last Week’s ROH Results and Commentary
In Other News
Austin Aries suspended from TNA for 90 days for having an opinion
Well, there goes one major TNA brightspot. At this rate there’ll be no reason at all for me to watch within a month or so.
WWE cut Deep South Wrestling as a developmental federation for numerous reasons
WWE should absolutely buy a medium sized indy fed to let their guys get seasoned against wrestlers who’ve lived on the road and paid their dues. That’s the proven way of becoming great.
The TNA Sacrifice Main Event will be NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage vs. Kurt Angle vs. Sting in a three-way title match
TNA is desperate to pop a buyrate. These are the three biggest names in the company from a casual fan’s standpoint. Putting them together on a non-major Pay Per View might draw short term, but without the storyline or a major PPV to back it up, popping a buy rate is all it will be able to accomplish.
HWA will run the Pillman Memorial Show again on Saturday April 5, 2008
The Pillman Memorial was always a great show for a great cause and this is one I’m really looking forward to. I’ll be attempting to make my way out to this for coverage as will former HWA intern, friend, regular reader and Tailgate Crashers columnist Allen Noah.
Commentary on the Televised
WWE: ECW
I watched to see how Punk’s heel turn was going. It looks like I was correct: the heel turn will not last. I’d love for this to lead to my much discussed third rival faction featuring former ROH Talent, but they really should slow the build to this and let it develop.
Lashley is terrible on the mic. I can’t imagine how anyone buys into him.
Best of Mike Quackenbush Vol. 2
Quack is among the more unique wrestlers anywhere. His matches just don’t look or feel like anyone else’s.
I can’t wait for a ROH Quack vs. Danielson match. They have great chemistry and for whatever reason ROH seems to get the best results.
This Week on Pulse Wrestling
Look, it’s a Broken Dial.
Mark Allen immediately passes his initiation into the site by covering War Games. Anyone who can still find fault with this man is a communist, I say! War Games is the best match concept around and needs to be brought back in full force. I want a War Games DVD as well. It’s the only match type to give us a higher average star rating than ladder matches. I just made that up, but damn War Games are great. Read the column and beg WWE to bring back the concept.
Andy Mac writes about the No Remorse Corps dominance. I think he misses an important object lesson about a dominant heel faction that runs from the Horsemen and New World Order to the NRC today. What is that lesson? That would be too easy and then you’ll never learn anything. Give Andy a read and e-mail me the lesson. As always, best response gets a posting.
Eric S. and the ECW Short Forum give me hope for a feud between two of my favorite writers and closest Pulse correspondents. The writing that would produce would be absolutely special. Eric also discusses his use of nicknames in Wrestling News, Opinions, Etc.
The ever in depth Brashear hits a Paul Bearer “death†and reminds me I still need to watch his shoot with Cornette.
Wheeler addresses my comments in last week’s column. I didn’t mean personal offense. It was attacking a point, not attacking you and figured the discussion would be good for both of us. It seems to have been and please feel free to do the same any time.
Keith discusses the Managers Special on WWE 24/7. I watched this (didn’t mention it above since I’d just mention it here) and really liked it. Check it out if you’re interested.
Blatt covers ECW, which should be of great interest, not only because he’s awesome, but because it’s got good insight on Punk and how that angle is developing.
If anyone on staff (myself and Andy not included) was made to be a ROHbot it’s Murray. Here’s what he said this week:
Honestly, I love any wrestler, especially a new one, that knows how to take the “pick one body part and destroy it” strategy, and actually follow it through. So, Elijah Burke is quickly gaining almost as much love from me as he gets from Eric.
Mr. Murray, meet Mr. Bryan Danielson. When we meet up at an upcoming show, (yes, this is a teaser, dear reader), I’m making a gift of Midnight Express Reunion. Besides being an amazing show, it has a main event of Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe that has some of the best body part psychology I’ve ever seen. You’ll love it.
VS is here! VS is here! VS is a sort of league where IP writers face each other about wrestling. We’ll be keeping track of records, points and rankings. Here’s reasons why this week’s is awesome:
1. Eric S. seems to fully care again. The most potent and vicious writer on the net is discussing wrestling as if the final product matters. He’s talking trash and the old swagger is back in full effect.
2. Andy Mac is the person in the world whose opinions on wrestling most mirror my own. That extends up to the discussion of Colt Cabana, at which point I agree with Eric. They discuss Colt. It’s as good as it should be.
3. I’m helping run the league and come up with questions. You can trust me to keep it good, right?
4. Rob Blatt is the judge. Longtime readers know how much respect I have for Blatt. Eric S., when he’s got that swagger, and Grut, when he’s in his full creative glory, are the only two better writers in this zone and neither can come close to Blatt’s recent consistency. Having Blatt judging is a major coup and makes the column better immediately.
5. It’s this week’s Column of Honor for the last question. Here it is:
How should we cover ROH in the future? Due to its size does it deserve more coverage since we can make a difference or less because less people have heard about it and care?
I won’t tell you what Eric S and Andy Mac’s answers were, you have to read the column for that. It’s worth it and will remain so, I assure you. I will give you my top 10 reasons you should care if we cover ROH more thoroughly.
A Modest Response: The Top 10 Reasons to give ROH a shot
10. As Andy says, the wrestling zone should cover the smaller feds, just like music covers indy music, not just the top 40 pop songs and the Comic Nexus covers smaller publishers, we should, for the expanding of the horizons of our readers and providing a critical outlook, if nothing else, cover Ring of Honor. To not do so is to deliver our fans a disservice.
9. Wrestling fans spend a lot of time discussing and looking for the next big thing. WWE seems to insist that be a homegrown talent, but in actuality it usually isn’t. A decade ago, Mick Foley, a man who would become one of the most popular superstars ever, was working random indy federations and making a name for himself on his way to becoming a star. More recently, in both major federations, a major indy star has emerged and threatens to break out. CM Punk in WWE and Samoa Joe in TNA are both already special performers and are on the cusp of letting the world know their great talents. ROH fans? We’ve known for years. Who knows who else you’d miss if we didn’t provide the in depth coverage we do.
8. It isn’t just for smarks. People often consider indy wrestling for just the educated or hardcore audience. It’s true to a certain level, which the more you know about wrestling, the more you can enjoy the nuances certain wrestlers present. But it’s a very limited view. I introduce complete marks and new fans to ROH all the time. The emotion and story presented in the ring is so compelling that even a person with an extremely limited knowledge of the inner workings of wrestling will enjoy it. Last weekend, a friend who knows absolutely nothing about wrestling was cheering wildly for the Briscoes because the story was so compelling. Don’t believe me? Ask our self-proclaimed most mark like writer, PK, now a ROH fan.
7. A lot of the wrestling fans, the Internet Wrestling Community, and even our staff are embittered by the current televised product. Ring of Honor is a refreshing and nourishing change from the same old stuff we always get on television. It allows for a reminder of why we love wrestling and dedicate so much time to its coverage.
6. WWE believes all its wrestlers should wrestle the same style and maintain a similar look. Wrestling is simulated fighting and different styles help keep things fresh and not seeming like the same basic match over and over again. Great wrestlers come in all shapes and sizes, not just big, muscular, brawling men. Steve Austin didn’t have the classic look, he wasn’t nearly built enough. Mick Foley is even further down that path. If you want great wrestling in different styles from varies performers on a regular basis, you have to go to a company smaller than WWE.
5. That company can’t be TNA, unfortunately. TNA has amazing talent, but they have decided their smaller wrestlers should forgo things like pacing, selling, psychology, and storytelling and be like videogames. This isn’t wrestling and fast paced spot-fests can be a fun change of pace, but to build a division of great wrestlers around that lacks vision and wastes talent. Want to see that talent used to it’s full potential? Try Ring of Honor.
4. Storylines are readily present and easy to follow without spending a ton of money. They are never dropped, muddled, or confusing. They are presented in clear terms. Certain nuances are for the better versed fan, but rarely is there anything that can’t be explained in 3 sentences. Watch this: Austin Aries lead Generation Next. Roderick Strong, his longtime partner became jealous and attacked Aries in order to lead his own stable. Aries decided to form a new stable to counter that and they are feuding. Clicking the newswire and watching a video wire once a week are all that is needed. Buy DVDs when the sale and time is right. Keep an eye on us for which are worth purchase. You’ll be able to follow everything for less than 5 WWE PPV’s a year. If you’re smart with sales, it’s less than 4.
3. The writers on the site that actually like wrestling don’t even know enough about it, nor do the readers. This is a groundswell movement. We found something worthwhile and we need to build it up, to educate and spread the word. The only way to learn more and spread the word more effectively is to talk about it more. This is a chance to educate yourselves about something you already like and just don’t know enough about.
2. Talk to wrestling fans. Everyone wishes they were a part of the ECW revolution. Something special happened with that promotion back then and well all still know it. Why not get in on the ground floor for this revolution? The company has the same feel, but isn’t trying to grow too quickly and rush themselves to compete when they aren’t ready, so should last a lot longer. You get the power and relevance of the ECW revolution while being able to follow the growth of a company built on your support that likely won’t die anytime soon because of solid decision making. Sounds like win-win to me.
1. We’ve got the largest collection of disparate viewpoints from quality writers that you will find on any wrestling site on the net. If you aren’t sure if you’d like ROH, we can present you with more educated viewpoints on the subject than any other website. This allows us to stand apart. You can likely get news tidbits from WWE anywhere. Every site has 3 writers discussing Raw. We can bring you the very best who do this discussing the best product in the most educated manner from very different viewpoints. You can’t get that anywhere else.
This weekend you get the Fifth Year Festival: NYC review with Meltzer’s early Match of the Year. Stay tuned.
