ROH head booker Gabe Sapolsky posted the following on Ring of Honor’s official message boards:
I have never done this. I will now. The Dec. 29th & 30th Manhattan doubleshot shows started really coming together in the last few days. I have the adrenaline going two weeks out just thinking about them. Normally I don’t get this way until two or three days before the shows. I am so excited about how the cards are shaping up that for the first time I will give a personal guarantee right now that these will be two blowaway events. They are going to be that loaded.
I am also very pleased that the “Glory By Honor VI†DVDs are out. We are all really proud of both these shows. They really were a pinnacle this year. I still say that the Misawa & KENTA vs. Morishima & Marufuji match from Night 1 is slightly better on DVD than the Misawa vs. KENTA match from Night 2, although Night 2 was more dramatic live. It is really a pick ’em though. I’m still amazed at the matches that Misawa gave us. Trust me, he was in a lot of pain that weekend. I was expecting him to give his all in the singles match with KENTA, I just wasn’t sure how it would come together. The original plan was to have the GHC Heavyweight Title Match as the semi and the ROH World Title Match with Nigel vs. Aries as the main event. I thought Nigel and Aries had a great one in them and would end the show on the highest note possible. Now we all know about Nigel’s injury and it all works out as we’ll see Nigel vs. Aries on 12/29 back at the Manhattan Center. I really wanted to end 11/3 with a sure thing and ROH match on such a big show. The Briscoes, Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher got the call. Looking back they had an impossible task ahead of them as Misawa had his best singles match in a while in an emotional bout. Nothing could follow it. The fans were drained. To their credit, Jacobs, Necro and The Briscoes weren’t about to give up without trying. They went out there and killed each other. I felt so bad for putting them in such a difficult spot. This match is crazy on DVD.
Needless to say this is a very difficult time for everyone in the FIP family. We are keeping our heads up. Getting back to work on FIP will be good for everyone. We are going to re-launch on February 16th and we will shake things up and go in some new directions. I’m actually feeling really good about the new ideas for FIP and I think they will be interesting to watch take shape. Right now we are going to concentrate on just one show a month in Crystal River, which is a great town for us. This way to follow FIP you only have to get one DVD a month. There will also be some upgrades in production. There is one thing I’m really not looking forward to on February 16th. It is going to be really tough to stop by the ticket table or look at the concession stand and not see Tammie there.
On another FIP note I’m glad that “Attack Of The Masked Fippers†& “Evening The Odds†are finally out on DVD. Since these shows took place a while ago they are both on the same DVD so you get two shows for the price of one. FIP will also be releasing other older shows like this. Anyway, “Evening The Odds†features the most awesome heel team in ROH/FIP history with Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce & Jimmy Rave managed by underrated managerial great Dave Prazak and Mr. Milo Beasely. “Attack Of The Masked Fippers†is actually one of my favorite shows to book ever. I just really enjoyed how the stories on the show came together and it was one of those nights where all the matches just clicked. It was a fun show. I also want to thank those of you who bought “International Impact Phase Two†for giving it a chance. It seems to be getting a really positive response especially the main event Briscoes vs. Necro Butcher & Mad Man Pondo Bar Room Brawl. This is really the most underrated feud of the year just for pure violence if nothing else.
The “Blood Edit” of the debut of The Age Of The Fall on the “Man Up” bonus disc is so grotesque that I couldn’t watch it a second time after we edited it.
Production has finished on the “Undeniable†PPV, which will debut on January 18th. I will put the second hour that consists of Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries, Briscoes vs. Davey Richards & Rocky Romero and Nigel McGuinness vs. Takeshi Morishima up against any hour of TV or PPV from any company, including us, this year when it comes to quality wrestling. I’ll have much more on this PPV in the upcoming weeks. I’m also very happy with the free preview hosted by Larry Sweeney that is being put together now. We should have it on ROHvideos.com after Christmas.
In closing, THANK YOU to all of you from the entire company for all of your support this holiday season. Every bit of your support counts and we can’t tell you how much we appreciate it. Personally, it really does give me a good feeling to think that people will be unwrapping their gifts all excited early on Christmas morning and smiling when they see that they got new ROH DVDs. Thank you very much.
Pulse Wrestling will have full coverage from the final ROH live events of the year, and for more information on those shows, click here and here.
