– If you missed “Honor Takes Center Stage: Chapter 1 and 2†over the weekend you want to go out of your way to catch the replays. Each day provided the best wrestling action you will see anywhere in the world today. We always try to go above and beyond in an attempt to give our fans more then their moneys worth. You will not be disappointed! Get the replay of both shows for only $19.99 here: http://www.gfl.tv/Events/Fight/Wrestling/Honor_Takes_Center_Stage_Both_Shows/968!
As I said in my rewrite of these shows (and again in my HDNet recap), these are absolutely tremendous shows. You will feel like you ripped off ROH paying only $20 for them. Obviously, they get my highest recommendation.
– The American Wolves of ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards reunited once again on Saturday afternoon to face Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin in what was a stellar match worth going out of your way to see. The Wolves had not teamed since December in attempts to focus on their singles careers but when Haas & Benjamin issued the challenge for the Wolves to reunite, they gladly accepted. The match was back and forth and when it looked as if Haas & Benjamin were trapped in submissions, Eddie was pushed off into Davey leading to Richards getting pinned and being defeated for the first time since “Final Battle 2010.†After the bout it was clear that tension between Edwards & Richards was building and both men parted ways looking very frustrated. It will be interesting to see where this goes as earlier in the night Davey said he wanted to let Eddie have the spotlight and was not going to ask for a Title shot. Edwards felt indirectly slighted saying that it was not inevitable that Davey would win as the last time they faced to crown the first TV Champion, Edwards was victorious. Both men agreed to not worry about an ROH Championship singles match and only worry about Haas & Benjamin, but now after falling to the ROH World Tag Team Champions we may have a different story.
I have a lot of faith that the (presumed) slow burn here will be tremendous, and we may have our main event for Death Before Dishonor IX at earliest, with them possibly stretching it out to Glory By Honor X. The latter may be more likely, as with this being the tenth anniversary, I’m sure the company wants to do an enormous main event. Right now, there’s no bigger match for them than Eddie/Davey II.
– Congratulations to Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin who became the 30th team to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles last Friday night during “Honor Takes Center Stage: Chapter 1â€, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin ended the record setting World Tag Title reign of The Kings of Wrestling when Castagnoli was forced to tap to the Haas of Pain submission hold. Now Haas and Benjamin look to establish themselves as the champions and will start on that road May 6th & 7th when Ring of Honor returns to the Ford Community Center in Dearborn, MI and the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada! In addition to signing on for those two dates, Haas & Benjamin have also agreed to make the first defense of their newly on titles over the course of that weekend! Tickets are available now for ROH’s returns to Dearborn & Toronto: http://www.rohstore.com/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=3.
Since I’ll be present for the Dearborn show (front row with my best friend!), my obvious hope is that the defense will be there, but regardless, this and the other announced additions to the card (more on that later) have already got me excited. Congratulations are indeed in order for Haas and Benjamin, who look like they haven’t missed a beat, and indeed, have actually gotten better. My only worry now is that with all this re-exposure, WWE might come calling again. It would be great for them and their bank accounts, but a bummer for us as ROH fans who want to keep seeing them.
– Although unsuccessful over the weekend, both Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly were highly impressive and put up a great fight against both The Briscoe Brothers & The Kings of Wrestling. ROH officials are confident in putting both men in higher profile contests in the future.
There was actually a brief discussion going on amongst the dwellers of the ROH message board about who had more long term potential, and really, the community seems fairly divided. They’re two different, diverse talents, both of whom have significant long-term potential for Ring of Honor, and they definitely proved it this past weekend with tremendous showings.
– ROH World TV Champion Christopher Daniels shocked the world on Saturday when he joined Truth Martini’s House of Truth: http://www.rohwrestling.com/news/the-hot-gains-an-angel/. How soon will Christopher Daniels face the repercussions of his actions? Well “The Fallen Angel†has officially signed for Ring of Honor’s return to Dearborn, MI on May 6th and Toronto, Ontario on May 7th! Will he have to face down either the men he betrayed in Atlanta? Stay tuned to ROHWrestling.com for more!
Daniels joining the House of Truth is an interesting move, as there were some rumblings that given the discontent displayed after his loss to Eddie Edwards on Friday night, Daniels might re-form The Prophecy. That, plus it raises the obvious question of what to do with Roderick Strong. My personal thought? Team him with Michael Elgin to give Elgin a bit of a rub dominating the tag division, while Truth leads Daniels to the top. Regardless, Daniels always tends to deliver in the ring and I’m looking forward to seeing him in Dearborn.
– It goes without saying but The Kings of Wrestling were absolutely furious in the locker room after their title loss on Friday Night, and as Kevin Kelly suggested to Shane Hagadorn during the iPPV broadcast Saturday, there may be some tension within the “Royal Family†of Ring of Honor.
While I’m sure there’s a temptation to split the Kings, ROH did a Hero v. Claudio feud in (I believe) 2007, and it was a disaster. It seemed to go on forever, and saw minimal resolution. If they do go their separate ways, my personal thought is that they should do it American Wolves style, where it’s wholly amicable and allows for periodic reunions for either special matches, the Tag Titles, etc.
– The All Night Express and the Briscoe Brothers took it to the next level on Saturday afternoon with an incredibly intense match that saw both Rhett Titus and Jay Briscoe bleeding buckets. The Briscoe’s were able to get the victory but it is clear that the hatred amongst these teams continues to increase and there is a lot more to be settled. Expect both teams to collide again in the near future.
Start the countdown to the cage match. Or could we see what I believe would be the first ever tag team Fight Without Honor? Either way, there’s a lot of mileage here, and it’s getting ANX over big time as faces.
– Steve Corino recently decided to take the month of April off from ROH and travel to Australia to reflect on what he needs to do to redeem him self in the eyes of the wrestlers and fans. Corino has been on the road to recovery since January and since then it has been very hard for Corino to completely quit his evil ways, and even harder for him to gain support from his fellow wrestlers and fans. Corino is scheduled to return home soon and we hope to get words on how the trip went and what he plans to do going forward.
I personally love this angle, and while Corino’s matches aren’t always 5 star classics, he’s a great talker, and something about him just makes me pay attention to what he’s doing. I really like the concept behind this angle, though I’m a little concerned about how exactly it’s going to end. It doesn’t strike me as something with a traditionally satisfying resolution as the nature of what Corino is engaging in would be an ongoing thing that doesn’t lend itself to a tidy, timed resolution.
– ROH was very grateful to have Tomoka Nakagawa, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayumi Kurihara from S-Ovation in Japan compete for us at “Honor Takes Center Stage†in Atlanta. All three Joshi talents were a pleasure to watch and their positive attitudes brightened the atmosphere. Joshi will no doubt return to Ring of Honor!
If this past weekend’s matches were any indication, I would sincerely hope that Joshi would be back in ROH. To be fair, I don’t know much about their home promotion, and I’m not even in the ballpark of being a Joshi or a Puro guy, but I know good wrestling when I see it, and they definitely delivered it.
– We would like to thank HDNet for a great partnership over these last two years. There were many unforgettable moments and matches that aired exclusively on HDNet and we at ROH loved every minute of it!
I couldn’t have said it better myself. My review of the final episode is available here at InsidePulse, and below, please enjoy the video package featured in said episode:
