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Welcome to this weeks AMR. Of course this will be a very Ring of Honor centric edition due to the big news. Since my job has become a swirling ball of hell lately with gun threats, bomb threats and tons of smaller scale insanity, I think I’ll get right into the good stuff and out of my own head for the time being.

News of Honor

Ring of Honor to get Pay Per View and On Demand

ROH, my beloved little company that puts out the best wrestling product on the market, is finally taking the huge leap onto television. They will be producing the first show at the May 12th NYC event, to air on Pay Per View on July first. The cost is $10-15 for the PPV, so I urge you, give it a try. This will obviously be a perfect jumping on point. For more information check the link above and click here for more.

Ring of Honor has signed around 12 talents to written contracts

This is fantastic news because now hopefully as ROH grows they can avoid losing major budding stars like they did with Samoa Joe and CM Punk. Here’s the list of those who are speculated as having been signed: Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, BJ Whitmer, Delirious, Claudio Castagnoli, Erick Stevens, Brent Albright, and Jay and Mark Briscoe. For more on each, well, see below in the links section.

Ring of Honor has a $10 DVD and Ticket Sale plus 10% off all order until Monday

Check ROHWrestling.com for details, but this is the perfect time to catch up on a lot of old great ROH shows from before the Pay Per View era. I’ll have a buyer’s guide below.

TNA has immediately pulled all talent from Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

Apparently, TNA is not happy for the competition or the lack of forewarning from ROH. Aries and Homicide are now gone from Ring of Honor effective immediately, and Joe won’t be back. Aries is suspended until his contract is up, but there is an option for two more years. It will be interesting to see if TNA picks that up to spite ROH or not. Homicide, along with the other Reborn Era stars, Joe and Punk, looks to be lost from ROH for good. Hopefully his success in TNA will continue.

Quackenbush will be on the June 9 Philadelphia show

Speculation abounds that this will be Claudio Castagnoli’s title shot and Quack will be his partner. Either way I greatly look forward to seeing one of the best wrestlers on the independent circuit live.

KENTA and Marufuji will both be at June 22 in Dayton and June 23 in Chicago. In Chicago KENTA will face Bryan Danielson in a re-match of last year’s Pulse Wrestling Match of the Year

This is absolutely must see. I’m looking into going to Chicago for this huge match right now. Danielson-KENTA one is one of my favorite matches ever.

Jimmy Rave has returned

He’s back early from a broken jaw suffered at Nigel McGuinness’s hands and was impressive in his return until he was banged up. Hopefully he can quickly regain the momentum he had prior to his injury.

Check out ROH’s weekend results for Friday and for Saturday.

Remember, Pulse Wrestling has the best ROH coverage on the net.

In Other News

The Undertaker tore his bicep and will miss 6 months

So much for that long title run. Look for Batista to take the belt off ‘Taker within a week or two.

RVD supposedly turned down the last WWE offer

It seems, and this is a rumor, but it’s a big and fairly reasonable-looking one, that on his way out, not only will RVD be jobbed out to Umaga, but also to Vince McMahon himself. Well, good luck to RVD in TNA or elsewhere. He’d be quite a coup for ROH, although I’m not sure they have the cash for him currently.

Lagana and Rhodes came up with the Punk turning storyline, which was supposed to move much more slowly

Well, at least we know why it was so well done. Dusty can clearly tell a good heel faction story, since he booked WCW a large part of the time during the heyday of the Horsemen and Wargames. It’s a shame too many hands involved ruined the pacing of the Punk-New Breed Storyline.

Arn Anderson buried Punk because he heard Triple H and Shawn Michaels do it

This is worded to make it seem like Arn isn’t really to blame and is usually a great guy, but he’s still a 50 year old man acting like a high school student trying to impress the cool kids. I have a lot less respect for Arn now.

Former Tough Enough Winner Matt Cappotelli had successful brain surgery to remove a tumor

Cappotelli was thought to be a sure thing star and here’s hoping he can make a great recovery, whether he ever wrestles again or not, but with his determination and the best doctors money can buy, I’d guess that he makes an amazing recovery.

Vince McMahon is taking more interest in Smackdown because he is close with Michael Hayes

Apparently, making new stars is Vince’s new hobby. Hopefully on Smackdown he picks a better wrestler than he did for ECW with Lashley.

Vince McMahon wants Masters pushed

So much for the hope of him pushing guys with more talent

This Week on Pulse Wrestling

Andy Mac discusses the guys ROH probably signed to contracts and those that it should. Since Andy discusses the rumored contract signees, I’ll do the same briefly here…

Bryan Danielson: The best wrestler in America today, almost inarguably. He’s 25 and still improving. Not having to watch him sign with WWE and job out to Khali is possibly my favorite thing about ROH on Pay Per View.

Nigel McGuinness: The fastest improving star and likely the next big thing were he not English, which makes the bigger companies remiss to sign and push him. He can talk, he’s a stiff worker who can brawl, a solid technical wrestler who can also work European style, and he’s picked up King’s Road (the AJPW style) as quickly as anyone I’ve ever seen. The Bart Simpson hair helps things too.

BJ Whitmer: He’s a bump-a-holic and a solid worker who makes everyone look great. He isn’t spectacular, but he’s a consummate glue man for the card.

Delirious: The masked madman will likely break out. He’s unlike anything on the WWE or TNA roster. He’s fun, insane, and a great worker. Locking him up is worthwhile since he could easily break out.

Roderick Strong: The Punk protégé may outstrip CM Punk in the ring soon. He’ll never have the look or charisma of Punk, but in ring, he’s golden. He’s easily the best heel turn in ROH history and continues to visibly improve.

Davey Richards: He was unimpressive in ROH, a good worker and stiff striker, but not living up to his ‘next big thing’ reputation. A heel turn changed that. He has charisma and is crisper now. He might just be the next big thing.

Jay and Mark Briscoe: The best and smoothest tag team in the world. That’s it. Next.

Brent Albright: Gunner Scott has come into his own. He’s not spectacular but has good charisma and might be set up for a big run to come. WWE could have scooped him up any time so he’s a good signing.

Rocky Romero: Well, Rocky is fast and crisp, but for now is regularly rather unmotivated.

Claudio Castagnoli: A better young Triple H in the ring, but without the promo skills. The WWE doesn’t know what they missed in him.

Erick Stevens: Choo Choo has a weird charisma and awesome power game. With some seasoning, he’s my pick for the next big thing. The Mohawk rocks.

Eric S has an awesome Short Form with two tons of ROH discussion over his Raw coverage. The best part of him covering ROH is how he can’t let it go to watch the clearly inferior Raw product. And yes, you’re a budding ROHbot Eric. It’s still great to see that fire back. ECW is less fun, but Punk might just be ECW Jesus.

Murray is insane. Edge and Orton are a MOTYC? For that? Murray, June 9, I’ll be there real early, find us a DVD player and I’ll show you a few MOTYCs.

Brashear talks about Lex Luger. I’ll be doing the same soon.

Allen speaks historically.

Column of Honor: The ROH Short Form in which Eric loves another ROH show. I can’t wait for him to get a hold of the Pay Per Views. Eric said this:

The merch table was typically loaded, with a Buy Three, Get One Free offer. The reason I didn’t pick up anything was simple: the Fifth Year Festival runs to six DVDs. If that’s the case, I’d get two free. I just couldn’t decide on the two freebies. I wish I had Glazer there with me; he’d have told me what to buy.

Well since I get so many questions about DVD recommendations, Andy and I decided to put together a little Ring of Honor guide.

Column of Honor: A Guide to ROH Chapters and What Shows to Buy

Ring of Honor runs series of shows in “chapters.” Every six months to a year, a chapter ends and new major storylines kick off. Here are the chapters according to a post made by ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky over at the ROH message boards:

  • Chapter 1: 2/23/02 “Era Of Honor Begins” to 2/8/03 “First Anniversary Show”
  • Chapter 2: 3/15/03 “Expect The Unexpected” to 3/12/04 “At Our Best”
  • Chapter 3: 4/23/04 “Reborn: Stage One” to 12/26/04 “Final Battle 2004”
  • Chapter 4: 1/15/05 “It All Begins” to 6/12/05 “The Future Is Now”
  • Chapter 5: 6/18/05 “Death Before Dishonor III” to 8/12/05 “Redemption”
  • Chapter 6: 8/13/05 “Punk: The Final Chapter” to 2/11/06 “Unscripted II”
  • Chapter 7: 2/25/06 “Fourth Anniversary Show” to 4/22/06 “The 100th Show”
  • Chapter 8: 4/28/06 “Weekend Of Champions: Night One” to 12/23/06 “Final Battle 2006”
  • Chapter 9: 1/26/07 “Dedicated” to 4/28/07 “Good Times, Great Memories”

    You don’t need every show in each chapter at all, but the main storylines and characters of each chapter are as follows…

    Chapter 1: This is Low Ki’s title run and Christopher Daniels’ Prophecy trying to secure the titles to take over ROH.

    Recommended shows:

    Era of Honor Begins – The show that started it all. Most of it is mediocre, especially by Ring of Honor’s lofty standards. The main event triple threat match between Christopher Daniels, Low Ki, and Bryan Danielson holds up and is required viewing for any RoH fan.

    Round Robin Challenge – While the first show had them in one match. This show has them in three… All deliver. Low Ki and Danielson put on a ***** match.

    Crowning a Champion – A four-way iron man match with confusing rules pits Low Ki against Christopher Daniels, Spanky and Doug Williams. Again, these are mostly one-match shows.

    Glory by Honor – Samoa Joe’s debut against Low Ki is awesome. They stiff the hell out of each other and Joe is a star from day one.

    1st Anniversary Show – The infamous “Riot” is good viewing for historical purposes, and the triple threat match on this show is awesome. This time the participants are Low Ki, Paul London, and AJ Styles. Want to watch London and AJ become stars?

    Chapter 2: This is Samoa Joe’s early title Run. London, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, and Homicide all come into their own in this run of shows. This also features the CM Punk vs. Raven feud that helped make RoH known in the wrestling community.

    Epic Encounter – The classic two-out-of-three-falls match between American Dragon and Paul London… Best in the World vs. Least Utilized in the World ‘Nuff said.

    Death before Dishonor – This was RoH’s biggest and arguably best show to date. It featured a dog collar match between Punk and Raven that really got the feud going, and Paul London’s emotional RoH farewell. London vs. Joe is severely underrated.

    Main Event Spectacles – The debut of the Scramble Cage and the controversial appearance of Teddy Hart. A classic match between AJ Styles and American Dragon and a surprise show-stealing match featuring BJ Whitmer and Homicice in a “Fighting Spirit” match.

    Final Battle ’03 – The show that really put Ring of Honor on the map. RoH succeeded where many other independent promotions had failed. They booked the Great Muta and a host of other All Japan Pro Wrestling Stars and put on a hell of a show while they were at it. See Kojima KO Homicide.

    At Our Best – Ring of Honor’s first foray into being the appetizer for WWE’s biggest show of the year (come on, you’ve got to know what it is). The show had a classic cage match between Samoa Joe and Jay Briscoe that’s among the bloodiest spectacles ever and the second ever Scramble Cage with one of the most insane finishes of any match ever.

    Chapter 3: Samoa Joe, Punk and Homicide emerge into ROH icons. Generation Next (Aries, Shelley, Strong, Evans) form and begin to take over. This has the classic Joe vs. Cide and Joe vs. Punk matches, as well as the Punk and Steamboat confrontations.

    Reborn: Stages One and Two – This takes place after some scandals nearly shook the foundation of Ring of Honor. It starts Homicide’s heel run as the leader of the Rottweilers, and some debuts of future top stars.

    Generation Next – Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong, Austin Aries and Jack Evans make their names in a big way, forming a faction to take the top spots in the company.

    World Title Classic – Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk, one hour draw, instant classic. It’s Glazer’s favorite of the series because it’s such a perfect set up for what is to follow.

    Glory by Honor 3 – Mick Foley makes his RoH debut and a bunch of other good matches. This might not have a stand out match, but is a top-notch card.

    Midnight Express Reunion – One of the best shows Ring of Honor has ever put forth, this one often gets lost in the shuffle. A classic between Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson which remains their best match ever, a great 8 man elimination tag between Generation Next and a team put together by Ricky Steamboat comprised of John Walters, Jimmy Jacobs, Ace Steel and CM Punk, and some other surprise great matches too.

    Joe vs. Punk 2 – 5 stars from Meltzer, nothing more needs to be said.

    All Star Extravaganza 2 – Samoa Joe and CM Punk conclude their trilogy in a no time limit match. Danielson vs. Homicide, Low Ki vs. Austin Aries, and the first ever interaction between Jim Cornette and Bobby Heenan round out this show. It’s as good as it sounds, as unbelievable as that is.

    Final Battle 2004 – The end of an era as Samoa Joe loses the RoH world title to Austin Aries, Generation Next replaces Alex Shelley as their leader, and Ring of Honor closes its doors on one of the most rocky and successful years ever.

    Chapter 4: This is the Aries title run. It has the Homicide-Danielson best of 5, plus a lot of the stable wars and the ROH returns of James Gibson and Spanky (Brian Kendrick).

    Third Anniversary Part 1 – If you’re a Cabana fan, this show – where he faces Aries in a cage – is where he becomes a serious talent. Jimmy Jacobs has a surprisingly good match with Alex Shelley, a Scramble cage match, and Danielson vs. Homicide in their best of 5 series.

    Third Anniversary Part 2 – Once upon a time James Gibson (Jamie Knoble) and Spanky (Brian Kendrick) were released from WWE. This is their reply to that, the “Screw Sports Entertainment” match is on this show and it is great. The rest of the card is very good with Punk facing Shelley and Danielson and Joe vs. Aries and Evans, but that one match is something special.

    Manhattan Mayhem – Ring of Honor’s best show to date has four **** matches and is an absolute must-buy.

    Nowhere to Run – Often overlooked, this show is fantastic. Jimmy Rave and CM Punk conclude their feud in a memorable cage match here, while Austin Aries defends the ROH World Title against Bryan Danielson. If that wasn’t enough you also get Cabana vs. McGuinness at a pivotal point in both men’s development. Severely underrated and very good.

    Chapter 5: This is the Summer of Punk where CM Punk is leaving ROH and has his farewell shows. AJ and Daniels return here, so it’s fun to see how TNA has changed each.

    Death Before Dishonor III – Austin Aries and CM Punk have a great match with the most heat on every single move of any match in ROH to this point.

    Escape from New York – Punk battles Strong in an underrated match where you can really see how far Strong has come in a short time, while Joe faces Aries for the Pure Title and ‘Cide beats the piss out of Jay Lethal. Good fun all around. Punk’s heel act at this point is a site to behold.

    Redemption – This show sees the end of Punk’s run as a champion in a match with Gibson, Joe and Chris Daniels. This also has Matt Hardy in ROH, during a particularly hot phase for him right after he was fired for Lita leaving him for Edge. This is a great show.

    Chapter 6: This has the entire Gibson title run and the beginning of the Danielson title run. Possibly my least favorite chapter. It has the beginning of the CZW feud. Roderick Strong emerges during this time.

    Dragon Gate Invasion – The first appearances of Dragon Gate wrestlers and James Gibson’s best successful title defense against Cabana of all people.

    Joe vs. Kobashi – The title says it all. An easy *****.

    Unforgettable – This show has Low Ki and Samoa Joe against Homicide and Kenta Kobashi in a match Scott Keith gives *****. That isn’t all though, because this is James Gibson’s last ROH show in a great match against Roderick Strong.

    Vendetta – This has my favorite in the Daneilson vs. Strong series along with Gen Next vs. The Embassy in an 8-man tag, and an early big Cabana vs. Homicide match.

    Final Battle 2005 – Low Ki vs. KENTA and American Dragon vs. Naomichi Marufugi. Oh come on, do I really need more? America’s best Juniors vs. NOAH’s best Juniors. The Aries and Strong tag title run kicks off here as well.

    Chapter 7: The chapter currently being added to the $10 Sale is the Milestone Series. This is the best ROH series of shows to date and has the majority of the awesome ROH vs. CZW Feud. This is also where the Danielson title run kicks into high gear.

    Fourth Anniversary Show – The Fourth Anniversary has the return of the Briscoes, Aries and Strong vs. Styles and Sydal in a very underrated match, and a top 5 Danielson title defense against Jimmy Rave. This is often called a weak show, but that doesn’t make any sense to any who’ve seen it.

    Dragon Gate Challenge, Supercard of Honor, and Better than Our Best – This is the Wrestlemania triple shot. Every show is fantastic, among the top 10 ROH shows ever. Every show has at least two amazing matches and the Dragon Gate Challenge puts on a ***** match on Supercard, while Better than our Best has four **** matches.

    The 100th Show – This is the major turning point in the ROH vs. CZW feud with a major 6-man tag that makes the whole show. Jim Cornette, the ROH spokesperson and Jim Zandig, the CZW spokesperson have a verbal debate, while AJ and Sydal face the Briscoes. If it weren’t such an amazing period, this would get much more praise.

    Chapter 8: This includes all of Homicide’s road to the title. Samoa Joe-Bryan Danielson, Danielson-Nigel, and Danielson-Strong are all featured in this run of shows. The really good stuff here is the emergence of Nigel as a main eventer, the continued evolution of the Briscoes, Aries and Strong, and Jimmy Jacobs. The first half of this is great, then the shows falter badly before picking up again with a hot finish.

    Destiny – Homicide and Danielson’s first meeting since the best of five series is a major draw, as is the awesome Briscoes vs. Aries and Strong match. The rest of the card is good, but these two matches carry it.

    Death before Dishonor IV – This is the Cage of Death match (think War Games with weapons) that concluded the ROH vs. CZW feud. It’s amazing and *****.

    Unified – This is ROH’s first England show. Danielson vs. McGuiness and Aries and Strong vs. The Briscoes are the best in each amazing series and completely make this card must buy.

    Glory by Honor V Night 2 – Marufuji defends the GHC World Title against Nigel McGuinness in a very good match, but the draw is one of my favorite matches ever: KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title. You must see this match.

    Final Battle ‘06 – Danielson and Homicide go at it for the last time as the Road of Homicide concludes and the show is nearly stolen as The Kings of Wrestling battle the Briscoes in an amazing dream match. The Dragon Gate and Sydal vs. Aries, Strong, and Delirious match doesn’t hurt this show either. The Manhattan Center remains the place to catch ROH.

    Chapter 9: This has been the era of Morishima. The first 2 shows of the year were crap, but everything else has been amazing. This has the conclusion of the two main Jimmy Jacobs feuds, the farewell of Cabana and Samoa Joe, and the re-emergence of the Face-Heel dynamic dominating most matches and feuds in ROH. Great stuff.

    This is the recent chapter. Every show from the Fifth Year Festival: NYC to the very end of the series besides the recent St. Paul show has been entirely blow-away great. Morishima’s matches are great on DVD.

    We’re now onto Chapter 10, the Pay Per View Era. This should be fun. Welcome to ROH America; I hope you enjoy the experience.

  • Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.