Following is from various ROH Newswires and updates over the course April 15 through April 17, 2008 at ROHwrestling.com…
The biggest news coming out of Ring of Honor over the past few days are the three announced matches for Hammerstein. Ring of Honor Booker Gabe Sapolsky had been hyping the three matches since last week and finally disclosed what we were in store for on May 10th on the April 17th Newswire. The heavily looked forward to Fight Without Honor between Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima has been all but pushed back due to Ring of Honor and NOAH officials agreeing that, “This is not the kind of match Morishima should have while he is GHC Heavyweight Champion”, and all that it may imply.
Instead Danielson and Morishima were allowed by the Ring of Honor office to pick each others opponent for New York City. In the first announced match for Hammerstein, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson will face Naomichi Marufuji as chosen by Takeshi Morishima. The last time these two met each other, it was at Final Battle 2005. Now years later, both have exponentially improved. What will they be able to put together for the New York City crowd?
The second announced match for Hammerstein is a FIP Triple Threat Title match between Roderick Strong, Erick Stevens, and Go Shiozaki. The last time a FIP Triple Threat Title match took place in New York City, Roderick Strong, Erick Stevens, and Necro Butcher stole the show with an absolutely brutal brawl. Roderick Strong has shined in 2008 in making the FIP Title finally mean something and alongside Erick Stevens, has brought so much value to the FIP Title in Ring of Honor. I can’t wait. This is going to be my most anticipated match for the night.
In the final announced match for Hammerstein, Bryan Danielson announced to the Ring of Honor office that he would be picking The Necro Butcher to face Takeshi Morishima in a non-Title GHC Championship match. This was a dream match that a lot of Ring of Honor faithful have been hoping for and it looks like it will finally happen on May 10 in New York City. There is some fear that this match may turn out to be a bit of a trainwreck, but I suspect Morshima and Necro will do their best to make it entertaining.
But that’s not all. Sweet & Sour Incorporated Agent to the Stars, Larry Sweeney has announced that he will be bringing Johnny Fairplay to New York City on May 10, along with other Survivor Reality TV Stars. Why? Who cares?! We’re getting Fairplay!
In other news for Hammerstein weekend, Manassas, VA has had its first two matches announced. The first will have “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson going up against Tyler Black. The last time these two met, there was a lot of “Match of The Year” talk being thrown around. Will the same happen again? The second match announced is an epic Ring of Honor vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH main event that feature Takeshi Morishima, Naomichi Marufuji, and Go Shiozaki going up against the underdog team of The No Remorse Corps, ala Roderick Strong, Rocky Romero, and Davey Richards.
As for the forthcoming Detroit show this Friday, Nigel McGuinness has asked Claudio Castagnoli to team with him in defeating Kevin Steen and El Generico. Should they win, Nigel McGuinness will consider facing Castagnoli at Hammerstein on May 10. This was established in the latest Ring of Honor videowire that you can see at www.rohvideos.com.
Also announced because of the events in Edison, Kevin Steen will face Nigel McGuinness for the Ring of Honor World Title in Chicago. Steen almost got himself fired after going after ROH Owner Cary Silkin when he discovered that Nigel McGuinness had his feet on the ropes during their Edison World Title. However Silkin holds no hard feeling and Kevin Steen will get his rematch effect immediate!
Booker Gabe Sapolsky has also gone a writing spree on the ROH Forums, hyping up everything from Steen making sure that he will overcome Nigel McGuinness in Detroit, MI to the ever growing Sweet & Sour Incorporated and how the fun times are now over. You can read all of these articles below.
Keven Steen: A Weekend of Retribution
Sweet & Sour Incorporated: It’s Gotten Ugly.
The Briscoes vs. The Murder City Machine Guns – Who Do You Think Is Going To Win?
I expect the wrestlers to deliver. I can’t say the same thing about the booking, since I just don’t understand why you would set up a feud between two people (Morishima and Danielson) when you know they wouldn’t be able to act on it and run it through to its conclusive end. Instead it gets put on pause for over 6 months for no good reason other than you’re at NOAH’s beck and call. At least even the WWE does that much. John Cena has feud. John Cena wins feud. John Cena faces next challenger. Randy Orton has feud. Built to PPV. Randy Orton wins feud. Randy Orton faces next challenger. It isn’t that hard. Why would you even begin it if you couldn’t finish it? That said, Necro is going to kill himself for Morishima. I will be attending his funeral on Monday.
