ROH's Road to the Top Tournament

Congratulations to Claudio Castagnoli for winning the ROad To The Top tournament. Despite nearly being signed by WWE, Claudio is back in ROH and set for an MVP year in 2007. He has the size and the charisma to be something really special for ROH and by giving this big win in the inaugural tournament they given Claudio some much-needed momentum going into his title match with Morishima at Death beofre Dishonor weekend.

ROH Battle of St Paul

One of the key's to success in ROH has always been the way they cycle in and cycle out talent. (A matter of neccessity for a company that is low on the food chain in the wrestling world.) It helps give the company a very old school, territorial feel to it as a mix of new guys and established indie names can be brought into ROH whenever is neccessary and they can occupy a number of different places on the card. It also means that the roster is kept fresh and the same feuds are not recycled ad infinitum.

A case in point is this show from St Paul Minnesota, which sees the ROH debuts of 4 talents from the Chikara promotion, most notably indie legend Mike Quackenbush. Quack is one of those 'indie darlings' who the ROH faithful have been clamouring to be brought in for years. Along with Chris Hero, Super Dragon and Necro Butcher he is probably the biggest name out there not to be used in ROH, however just as those 3 all appeared as part of the ROH vs. CZW feud last year, so it has finally come for Quack to make his debut - not bad for a guy who's over 30!

Alas the debut of Quack is one of the few highlights in yet another average ROH show. The stable feud between the NRC and Resilience continues, as does Morishima's dominant reign as world champ - this time taking on former world champ Austin Aries. Roderick Strong has a very solid FIP title match with Chris Daniels, the Briscoes dominate a tag team 'Ultimate Endurnace match', but the rest of the card is very forgettable.

Overall verdict: C+
"Nothing particularly bad with the show, however nothing that stands out enough to say 'you must buy this DVD'."

ROH Fighting Spirit

OK, it's time I make a confession. I just don't get what the appeal of Takeshi Morishima is. I've seen a handful of his match now (both in ROH and NOAH) and he is just a fat guy with girl's hair who hits people quite hard. Perhaps it's because I don't get puro, or perhaps it's just that I've been watching too much WWE this month, but I am not enjoying his world title reign and I am not enjoying ROH as a result. For a while now, his match against Nigel McGuinness has been seen as his best match in ROH to date, however I think this did nothing for either men and, despite having that 'big match feel' did very little to make this who into anything more than another average ROH outing.

ROH This Means War 2 DVD

The ROH World champion is of vital importance for Ring of Honor wrestling. Not only is he the figurehead for the company, but also the focal point for whatever style of wrestling the promotion wishes to showcase. For example when Samoa Joe and Low-ki were champs, it was all about great workrate and stiff kicks. When Bryan Danielson help the belt it was all about long, technical matches. Now we have Takeshi Morishima as ROH Champ then we see the Puro influences begin to come through in the ROH product and nothing could be more evident of this than that dream partner tag match which main events this show.

The British duo of Nigel McGuinnes and Doug Williams (both Pro Wrestling NOAH regulars) take on the ROH champ Takeshi Morishima and NOAH new boy, Chris Hero. As is so often the case, this match was about continuing issues from previous shows (McGuinnes vs. Hero) but also preparing for the next night's show and the world title match of Morishima vs. McGuinness. Unfortunately, this also gives the show a feeling of treading water. Although the match itself was a lot of fun (featuring some incredibly smarky moments where Hero would use the siuganture moves of NOAH stars like Misawa, Marufuji and Kenta), it never really got out of 2nd gear as all 4 men were clearly saving themselves for the next night's show.

Unfortunately the under-card did not offer the kind of blow-away match which often saves a show like this. Although Delirious and Colt Cabana have a rematch of their FYF:Finale comedy and Claudio and Jay Briscoe have a surprisingly enjoyable match (which sets up a future tag title shot for DOuble CC), there is very little that stands out on this show and makes it a must-see. The major angle coming out of this show involves the continuation of the faction warfare rivalry between Austin Aries new group The Resilliance (named at this show) and Roderick Strong's No Remorse Corps. This is the show that sees FIP stand-out Erick Stevens join Aries and M-Dogg Matt Cross, however it does make the group any more succesful as this storyline continues to be remarkably one-sided thus far. The 6-man tag which comes on before the main event is another fine match, but again feels like a step along the road of a longer journey rather than an essential moment to savour.

Overall verdict: C+"Nothing wrongf with this show, but nothing must-see either. Perhaps best recommended for completists only, however there are some good matches on here for those who want to take a chance on it"

ROH Supercard of Honor 2

Last year's Supercard of Honor featured the infamous, Dragon Gate 6 man tag between the groups of Do Fixer and Blood Generation. These 6 guys put on the kind of match that no-one in the US had ever seen live before and iIt was rightly hailed as the match of the year. Therefore, it made a lot of sense for ROH to attempt to capitalize on that show's success (as well as the fact that they were running Wrestlemania weekend in Detroit) and give the fans the rematch to this classic bout. Unfortunately, things in Dragon Gate have moved on the past 12 months and neither faction is still around (indeed, the match the year before was something on an anachronism seeing as the groups were not feuding at the time anyhow). As a result, the match lost something of it's magic and became an above average, Dragon Gate spot-fest. Not a patch on the 8 man Dragon Gate vs. ROH All-star match from the night before.

Fortunately the undercard more than made up for this lack of must-see action with an absolutely awesome, blood soaked cage match between Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer as well as a strong match between Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Whitmer and Jacobs have had a year long feud that has featured some brutal matches, however this took things to a new level and both men upped their stock in ROH with this effort - Jacobs especially must now be considered a main eventer in the making. As for Aries and Strong, this match and feud still feels like it has yet to hit top gear. Like Aries and Shelley in 2004, this felt like the first chapter of something bigger. I guess we'll have to wait and see where things go with this feud, however I was expecting much more fire and passion from both men (again the Evans vss Strong match from the night before was vastly superior).

The rest of the show is filled out with the usual high quality ROH action, including a great tag match between Jack Evans and Naruki Doi vs. the No Remorse Corps and a Nigel McGuinness vs. Chris Hero match with a very surprising special guest star.

Overall verdict: B+
"Some excellent action, but the main event lacks that intangible x-factor that made the first Supercard of Honor so memorable. Having said that, Whitmer and Jacobs have the most brutal match of their career and steal the show away from the Japanese talent with an incredible, must-see cage match."

ROH to debut on PPV in July - TNA talent pulled

ROH owner, Cary Silkin anounced today that ROH is set to debut on PPV in July which is fantastic news for all involved with ROH (fans and wrestlers alike). After more than 5 years in existence, ROH has carved itself a niche that is somewhere above the average independent show and has become a byword for great in-ring action and a consistent wrestling product that often puts the likes of WWE and TNA to shame. However it has not come without a price.

As a result of ROH anouncing this debut, it is looking like TNA talents like Homicide and Chris Daniels will be pulled immediately from up coming shows. ROH fans knew this was inevitable, however unlike his compatriots CM Punk and Samoa Joe, this means Homicide and Daniels won't get a chance to thank the fans for all their support and say goodbye properly. Fortunately ROH has always been very forward thinking about planning for the future with their talent, not relying on them always being there. However to lose guys like Homicide and Daniels so quickly (guys who have been with the company since the first show) will certainly leave a hole that has to be filled.

One final point is that it will be interesting to see what happens to Austin Aries. Currently suspended from TNA, Aries will be unable to work for ROH because of his TNA deal, yet won't be working for TNA any time soon either. Aries is perhaps even more important than Homicide and Daniels as he is currently in the middle of a faction warfare story involving his new group, the Resillience feuding with former tag partner Roderick Strong's group, the No Remorse Corps.

ROH in Liverpool Night 2

To sum up Samoa Joe's importance to ROH is nigh on impossible. For 3 years he has been the heart and soul of Ring of Honor, a true ROH icon and the man who has carried the company on his shoulders and made it into the force that it is become today. However all great journeys must come to an end and the fans of Liverpool were fortunate enough to witness the final steps of Joe's ROH journey this past weekend and it more than lived up to expectations and will hopefully leave a lasting memory for all fans of ROH as the original ROH icon moves on to pastures new.

It is certainly testament to ROH's perceived importance of the UK market that they not only gave us the final night of their 5 Year Anniversary Celebrations, but also the final appearance from one of their company's biggest stars. As a result, the usually fanatical UK crowds managed to step it up another gear not wanting to ruin the occasion by showing any British reserve. Despite a phenomenal show on Saturday this one topped the previous night if only for sheer emotion and ROH put on one of the best cards in company history and you could not ask for a better epitaph for Joe's ROH career.

The evening began on a lighter note with Colt Cabana taking on Delirious in what was always guaranteed to be a comedy classic. Cabana, playing up to his UK fan base, came to the ring dressed as UK wrestling legend 'Big Daddy' complete with his 'We shall not be moved' entrance theme. Big Daddy Colt even emulated Big Daddy's trademark of carrying a young fan to the ring by bringing out a plastic baby before attempting to pick up various members of the front row crowd and attempt to carry them into the ring. Delirious was his usual crazy self, but Cabana had something up his sleeve for every one of the masked man's mad-capped moments. Whether it was freaking out at the sound of the bell, turning Delirious' mask around so he could not see or just the usual Colt Cabana European style shenanigans. This was simply a fantastic opening match which will fast become a firm fan favourite when it comes out on DVD I am sure and really set the tone for the evening and got the crowd into the ROH spirit from the offset.

Next up it was SHIMMER Women's Athletes action as the Dangerous Angels of Sara Del Ray and Allison Danger took on the British pairing of Jetta and Jezebel who had challenged them to a match the night before. After the previous night's awkward crowd reactions to Del Ray and Danger, tonight there was much more defined heel/face dynamic and the crowd could boo and cheer accordingly. The two Brits looked very ordinary and 'girl next door' when in the ring (especially next to the Amazon that is Sara Del Ray) but they worked a decent match and took some stiff hits from Del Ray who picked up the win with the same reverse sleeper suplex that she beat Danger with the night before.

Not wanting the crowd to catch their breath, the show hurtled along with BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs beginning their Falls Count Anywhere match in the balcony. The two had brawled out into the arena before the show had even started, so it wasn't a huge surprise to see them decide to not bother with a ring entrance. As they brawled up and down the stairs the spotlight tried it's hardest to follow the action, but from the other side of the building it was hard to know what the hell was going on. At one point Jacobs appeared to dive on Whitmer from the balcony and earlier he appeared to hit him with a hurricanrana from the stairs, however the ringside crowd were left guessing for much of the early part of the match which lead to the infamous 'we can't see s**t" chant which was followed by a 'BJ's winning' reply from those fans in the know. (Any reports of the ringside fans replying with a thank you chant may well be an urban myth as I can't recall hearing anything like that!).

As the match reached the ring, Jimmy would produce his trademark metal spike and bust Whitmer wide open before smearing his blood all over his body. The two would continue laying into each other before brawling up the entrance ramp and BJ teased throwing Jimmy into the crowd as he had in New York at a previous show. Instead, Whitmer relied on a sick brainbuster to the ramp to get the pin and the bloody BJ was victorious, leaving the battered Jacobs in a heap on the ramp way to be carried out by referees.

After this blood letting, it was time for a change of pace as Matt Sydal took on UK high-flyer PAC. After wowing the crowd the night before against Roderick Strong, PAC had another superb performance against Sydal and certainly earned the admiration of his home crowd. Once again busting out all kinds of crazy highflying moves like corkscrew moonsaults and even a spiral tap to the floor, PAC balanced this out with some stiff kicks and forearms which elevated him above being just another flippy guy. Sydal was heeling it up again superbly and although things did not gel quite as well with PAC as he had against Roderick Strong the night before it was still a really enjoyable match and this guy looks like he could be a really interesting addition to the ROH roster in the coming months

Already this show was better than the previous nights, as was evident by the lack of high pitched chants from the now infamous 'Liverpool balcony kids' however it was set to step up yet another notch as Jay and Mark Briscoe took each other on in a one night only challenge match. After stealing the show with the tag match the night before, these two crazy redneck brothers set out to take the spotlight once again with an absolutely brutal, stiff, crazy match that is without a shadow of a doubt an early match of the year candidate. It has been 4 years since the Briscoe’s last faced each other in an ROH ring (and it was pretty darn good back then). But they have improved so much in that time period. Their arsenal of moves is so diverse that it feels like they never hit the same move twice in a weekend. They built the match slowly but surely, putting in just enough crazy high spots to keep the crowd simmering, but not so many that they would boil over and so by then end when they resorted to simply punching each other in the face the crowd was at fever pitch chanting for both men. Although some may criticize the double knockout ending, it made perfect sense. The way these two unloaded all their offensive moves on each other it felt like neither man was going to give an inch and so by having a draw (but not a time limit draw) it meant both men could leave with their heads held high having given their all. They would also be safe in the knowledge that neither man was better or worse off than they were before the match (in fact they managed to raise their stock which was already sky-high) and teased the fans with just how exciting a Briscoe vs. Briscoe feud could end up being.

By this point intermission could not come soon enough as this show was hurtling along at 1000 miles an hour and we needed a breather. We had had everything from comedy to blood to high flying to hard hitting wrestling of the highest calibre and there was still a little matter of a Fight Without Honor and Farewell to Joe to get to before this show was over.

Before we got to those though it was time for tag team action. The shock win by Doi and Shingo the night before had sent the crowd into frenzy and coming after the amazing Briscoe vs. Briscoe match it was always going to be a tough act to follow. The challengers, Strong and Richards seem to be relishing their new heel personas and the crowd turned a complete 180 from the previous night and were firmly behind the new tag champs going against the No Remorse Corps. Unfortunately the match did not quite have the same fast paced dynamic as the previous match and, although Strong and Richards are gelling well as a team (and both suit tag work better than singles work in my opinion), it lacked the thrill ride of the night before. I don't think it's any disrespect to say Davey and Roddy aren't as good as the Briscoes, (because very few are) and as such this match lacked the polish of the previous night's match, but n DVD this will probably be a much better match. That being said, the fact that they didn't move the tag straps straight to Richards and Strong was a pleasant surprise and meant that Doi and Shingo left the UK as ROH Tag Champs which makes life very interesting now that both major ROH titles are held by Japanese talent.

Next up was the weekend's superstar performer Nigel McGuinness in a Fight Without Honor against Jimmy Rave. After last year's Unified show Nigel had been made a star with his match with Bryan Danielson, however this weekend was all bout making him a superstar in front of his home crowd. In the same way that ROH always booked CM Punk and Colt Cabana strong in their home town of Chicago, Nigel has been give the task of headlining the UK shows and now was his time to deliver. Coming off an amazing match with Samoa Joe the night before, his feud with Jimmy Rave felt like it could have been a let down compared to other Fight Without Honor s- especially with it being so high on an already stacked card. Many of the UK fans had also not seen the matches leading up to this feud closing match due to the [relatively] slow turn around of shows to DVD and so some of the heat for the match seemed like it was missing. This match though will be seen as a career high for both men involved as they put it all on the line here and put on a fantastic match. Instead of relying on the usual collection of weapons, they simply used a chair and a guardrail and did more with them than they ever could have with a bucket full of plunder both men worked a painfully stiff style which was even more amazing considering the heavy strapping on Nigel's hamstring and the shoulder injury he was carrying before last night's match. Brawling all over the ringside area, Nigel hit Rave with stiff clotheslines and forearms while Rave hit back with stiff chop after chop as well as working over the injured leg of McGuinness. The finish came after Nigel had kicked out of the Greetings From Ghana and Jimmy from the Tower of London DDT when Nigel arranged the already bent guardrail at ringside (bent as a result of both men having gone through it previously in the evening) and hit Rave with a deadly looking Tower of London through the guardrail which looked dangerously close to doing both men permanent injury. One more viciously stiff lariat for good measure and the match was over and Nigel's position as a bonafide ROH main eventer was secure (as was Rave's!). Forget the result though; both came out of this like superstars and a rightfully earned a standing ovation from the fans (including a 'thank you Jimmy' chant for the fallen Rave). Rave has come a long way from his Embassy days and his new serious persona has done more for his career than any amount of toilet paper could have and he is set to be an important part of the ROH roster (alongside McGuinness) over the next year and beyond.

After this amazing evening of wrestling drama it was time for the part of the evening we had all been waiting for. When it came to the decision of who Joe would face in his final ROH match it was no surprise when it was announced as Homicide. These two had a storied rivalry in 2003/4 and have been linked together in ROH legend perhaps even more than even Joe and Punk (they certainly had more matches). It is always a bit unfair to critique matches when the occasion over shadows them - certainly Punk vs. Cabana at Punk: The Final Chapter was not a patch on some of their previous encounters but the overall atmosphere of the match makes it a must-see. The same is true of this match as it is far from their best match (mostly because of the lack of heat involved) but it was a really good main event and a more than worthy bout to bring Joe's ROH career to a close.

As soon as the opening chords of Joe's music hit, the Liverpool crowd were on their feet and chanting Joe's name, which was soon eclipsed by the bellowing of 'the champ is here'. Instead of the tearful CM Punk style entrance, which was milked forever, Joe, was his usual fired up self, saluting the crowd before being barraged with streamers once he hit the ring. It was then that the emotion seemed to hit him as the crowd chanted his name and he was once again greeted with yet more streamers for his ring announcement. The match that followed featured some early fooling around (Joe bailing from the ring to go to the bar at the back, much to the chagrin of Homicide) but soon settled into your 'average' Joe/Homicide match (which is still a pretty good match in anyone's book!) Julius Smokes interfered (as you'd expect) and Joe hit the ole ole kicks on him on the outside. Spot of the match came as Joe lined Smokes up for second ole ole kick only to be countered mid-run by Homicide's top con helo (which he hit as much by luck as he did by judgment!). Joe would eventually get the win (something of a shock, but he had lost to Homicide in January) and the ROH career of Samoa Joe was over. As Joe made his speech in the ring, the locker-room gathered on the entrance ramp. Thanking the fans and putting the company and the roster over, Joe was treated to more adoring chants from the Liverpool fans than I can even remember. He was then greeted on the entrance ramp by the Briscoes, BJ Whitmer, Allison Danger and even booker Gabe Sapolsky (who's head had been poking out of the curtain all night long!), he saluted the crowd along with the roster and then he was gone. An emotional, but fitting end to the career of an ROH legend and icon. We will miss you Joe.

Overall verdict: A+
"One of the best shows ROH has ever put on. The emotional farewell of Joe was backed up with some fantastic wrestling and some star making performances (particularly from Nigel and Rave). This show will be remembered forever as Joe's last night, but it so much more than that. A must-see for the main event, but the rest of the show will make it worth getting on DVD to be watched from start to finish, not just the final match."

ROH in Liverpool Night 1

Ring of Honor returned to the UK this weekend with a pair of phenomenal shows from the Liverpool Olympia. After last year's sold out shows in Liverpool and Broxbourne (which included 2 match of the year candidates), ROH returned to the UK to not only bring to a close it's 5th Anniversary Festival, but also to give the fans a real treat with the final two matches from ROH legend Samoa Joe.

With Takeshi Morishima capturing the belt and returning to Japan to defend it against Kenta in Pro Wrestling NOAH, this meant some shuffling of the advertised line-up was in order. Therefore, the show started with, what until a week or two before, was supposed to be one of the main events as former ROH champion Homicide took on Davey Richards in a special challenge match. Despite being humbled by the big man from Japan, Homicide was hugely over with the UK faithful and the fact he was accompanied by Julius Smokes (making his UK debut) only made the fan reaction even louder. Even if he hadn't turned heel and joined forces with Roderick Strong in the No Remorse Corps, Davey Richards would have been far from a fan favourite in this one, but fortunately his new cocky heel demeanour gave the fans a real good vs. evil encounter with the fans really getting on the case of Richards. As a monotone chant of 'Davey, Davey' filled the Olympia the two men in the ring could only look around in bemusement at the fans reaction to Richards - something must be working if he is getting this amount of heat already. As far as the match itself was concerned, it was fine for what it was, but Richards looked especially awkward at times nearly blowing several spots, however Homicide picked up the clean win in relatively quick fashion with a cop killer as he got ready for his match Joe the following night.

Next up was a SHIMMER showcase match featuring Allison Danger and Sara Del Ray. After a particularly heated opener, the fans weren't quite sure what to make of these 2 women but, despite a few disparaging comments from a few fans at the beginning, these two won the fans over with some great athletic wrestling. Del Ray looked especially impressive, kicking Danger around the ring with some vicious boots to the chest. Not to mention an impressive feat of strength where she lifted Danger up from the mat and into a reverse suplex for the pin.

Following this was tag team action featuring the Jimmys (Rave and Jacobs) taking on BJ Whitmer and UK favourite, Colt Cabana. With all 4 men being involved in more heated matches the following night, this match was probably the only real filler of the whole weekend, but it was still a lot of fun. Rave and Jacobs attacked Cabana and Whitmer before the bell, throwing them to the outside and brawling on the floor. Rave and Whitmer brawled up the stairs towards the balcony section and BJ teased throwing Jimmy off the stairs while Rave and Jacobs continued to brawl around the ring. Eventually the match would return to the ring and Team Jimmy would pick up the win with a contra code on BJ Whitmer. A decent match where everyone worked hard, but all 4 men would be in much better matches the next night.

It was then time for the UK debut of Delirious as he took on Matt Sydal in a 2/3 falls match. This feud has been simmering nicely in ROH with these two having some really strong matches towards the end of last year. However because this has not boiled down into a blood feud just yet, it was good to see a match-up based on good old-fashioned athletic competition and so made for a really great contest. I've never quite got the hype about Delirious, however from watching him this weekend I think I am beginning to understand. Everything he does is so well thought out and his 'gibberish' talking is balanced perfectly to include just enough real words to make you make sense of what he is saying. He and Sydal also work so well in the ring together and with Sydal debuting a new, cocky heel attitude, it made for a really fun match, which could well get lost in amongst the other great matches of this weekend. With Delirious claiming he would take the match 2 straight falls, Sydal would win the first with a low blow, before Delirious could tie it up at 1-1 by making Sydal tap to the Cobra Stretch. With Sydal beginning to heel it by pulling the strands off Delirious' mask this looked it could be the moment when Sydal went fully fledged heel, however he reigned it in and, despite winning the match with a ref bump into the ropes, hit Delirious with flux capacitor off the top rope to get the pin and win the match. Again, it was nice to see Sydal working as a heel without having to resort to a blood soaked heel turn to get that over. ROH fans are so anti-ref bumps and cheating that even a fan favourite like Sydal can get over as a heel just by going against the top babyfaces and bending the rules to his advantage. (One interesting this to note during this match was that Sydal came out carrying his Enter The Brave Gate title from Dragongate, and at some point in the journey over to the UK he managed to break it and so bits of the front of the belt kept falling off. Lets hope he isn't in too much trouble in Japan for breaking their title belt!!)

This led us to intermission and we were welcomed back by British female worker Jetta and Jezebel who challenged Sara Del Ray and Allison Danger to a match the following night. As I said earlier, the UK fans were unsure of what to make of the SHIMMER girls earlier in the night, however with these two British girls heeling it up, they were in much more familiar water and were quite willing to give the girls plenty of grief.

The theme of British talent continued from here as UK high-flyer PAC took on FIP champ Roderick Strong. This was a lot of fans first exposure to PAC and by god did he deliver. Roderick is really coming into his role as the bullying heel since he broke off from tagging with Austin Aries. The story of the match was the bullying champ Strong taking on the plucky young up-and-comer PAC and it made for a great dynamic for the match Roddy is so great at working with lighter high flyers (see his match in FIP with Jack Evans) and so he was able to throw PAC around as well as work as a springboard for PAC's more athletic moves, some of which were just breath-taking! The highlight of which had to be a sick corkscrew shooting star press on to Roddy on the floor. However, unlike other British highfliers like Spud and Johnny Storm (who have also been give a chance in ROH) PAC works much more of an ROH style with some stiff offence worked into his arsenal and as such he was able to build a really fantastic match with Roddy and not just rely on a few crazy dives to get him over. By the time Roddy hit him with the Gibson driver for the pin, Pac was black and blue from the beating he had received, however his performance was enough to earn a 'Bring back PAC' chant from the UK fans. Now this may have seemed like a partisan crowd giving one of their own the thumbs up, but this was much more than just the Brits sticking up for one of their own. This was PAC winning over one of the most fickle wrestling crowds in the world and (hopefully) earning him more ROH bookings, because he sure as hell deserves it!

After a solid, but unspectacular opening half, the show really started kicking into high gear at this point as newly crowned ROH tag champs, the Briscoes, took on Shingo and Doi from the Dragon Gate promotion. The Briscoes had a classic against Roderick Strong and Austin Aries last year that I rated as my match of the year, and if such a thing is possible, I think they surpassed that here. In a simply outstanding tag team contest, Shingo and Doi defeated the Briscoes after 20+ minutes of some of the most high impact athletic wrestling I have ever seen. These guys just tore the roof off the Olympia with some jaw dropping double teams move as well as Mark Briscoe hitting a shooting star press off the top turnbuckle after running the ropes a la Kurt Angle which was just staggering. The shock of the title change after a 1-week reign for the Briscoes helped make a great match even more spectacular as no one in the crowd believed they would lose the belts so soon. However lose them they did and this open up a whole new chapter for the tag division. After the match, Jay got on the mic and it looked like we might be seeing a break up angle as he reminded his brother about their poor record of losing tag titles (bringing up their short run as NOAH Jr tag champs from last year). But instead of the break-up it was time for the brothers to 'Man Up' and so for one night only on Sunday, it would be Jay vs. Mark to try and get the Briscoe Brothers back to winning ways.

This left only one match to finish the show as ROH legend Samoa Joe (in his penultimate ROH match) went up against the UK's favourite son, Nigel McGuinness. If last year's Liverpool show was all about making McGuinness a star, tonight's show was about making him a superstar, as Nigel went toe-to-toe with Joe and put on a fantastic match. Despite both men being such crowd favourites, the match turned on one moment of pure emotional drama as Joe hit Nigel with a muscle buster on to the ring apron and it looked like Nigel was out of the match. As Joe got on the mic and explained to the crowd the dangers of being a pro-wrestler, the referees carried out Nigel, however Joe would not let him leave without a handshake. At this point Joe went full-on heel calling Nigel a 'pussy' for not shaking his hand and the crowd turned on Joe for his actions. Holding his head and neck, Nigel limped to the ring to shake shoes hand but slapped Joe full in the face as the crowd erupted. Joe unloaded all his offence on Nigel, including a vicious lariat and a muscle buster, however Nigel continued to kick out. Ultimately Joe would get Nigel in the choke for the win, however Nigel was the real winner in this match. After the victory Joe got on the mic and put over ROH and Nigel as being one of the guys who could carry the torch when he leaves. As the crowd chanted for Joe, Nigel and ROH, the two left together and a fantastic night of wrestling drew to a close.

Overall verdict: A-
"A much stronger show top to bottom than Unified with the top 4 matches all being very good to excellent. The tag match and main event were off the charts with great work and phenomenal drama made even more intense by a red-hot crowd!"

New ROH World Champion

And so ends the reign of Homicide as Pro Wrestling NOAH's Takeshi Morishima wins the ROH world title. Now there really is no arguing about whether this is a world title or not!

In a weekend that has seen some major shake-ups in ROH (including the setting up of 3 potential new factions) perhaps the most shocking news has been the title win by the big man from Japan. While many did not expect Morishima to be beaten by Joe in New York on his debut, almost no-one reallistically thought that Morishima would beat Homicide for the title in Philly (espceially when Morishima is heading back to Japan after next weekend's show!) However ROH kept it's fans second-guessing with this huge upset. The potential ramifications of what will happen if their champion were to take the belt and return to his homeland for unkown period of time has got the message boards buzzing and it will be interesting to see just what affect this has on future ROH shows, especially the shows in the UK where Morishima is allready booked to appear for NOAH in Japan while ROH is in the UK.

With ROH fans wondering just how booker Gabe Sapolsky could trump last year's incredible Milestone series of shows, it is looking like the 5 Year Festival has allready gotten off to a flying start. Whether it is the Samoa Joe farewell tour, the new factions based around Aries, Strong and Evans or this massive title change. Once again it shows that Sapolsky sure as hell knows how to keep the super-smart ROH fans guessing and long may it continue!

Samoa Joe to leave ROH in March

Legend and icon are words that get used far too often these days to refer to someone who is of merely above average importance. However when referring to Samoa Joe and his importance to Ring of Honor, then these terms seem to hardly do justice to a man who has been the heart of soul of the company for the past 3 years. It's fair to say that without Joe there might not have been a Ring of Honor in 2007. His near 2 year title reign in 2003/4 gave the company stability at a time when it was going through the kind of internal upheavals that have seen other company's fold. His 60 minute matches with CM Punk gave the company an identity and helped elevate it from being 'just another indie', while his 5 star match against Kenta Kobashi in 2004 helped establish ROH on the world stage and secured his position as one of the best wrestlers in the world today.

Despite a lacklustre 2006, where his role in TNA was becoming a constant bone of contention for ROH fans, Joe was gearing up for a much more significant 2007 as he began a feud with Pro Wrestling NOAH ahead of ROH's Japanese debut in July. However, just as that began to get going Joe has announced he is leaving ROH and the moment that all ROH fans dreaded has come to pass - Joe is leaving ROH.

Many will blame TNA and their drive to become a genuine number 2 company in America, and seeing as he is a contracted member of their roster then you cannot blame them for wanting to protect one of their most valuable commodities. However at the end of the day Joe has done everything and beaten everyone of any consequence in ROH, so perhaps it is time for him to move on before the fans get bored of him? If it is one thing that ROH prides itself on is stopping the product from getting stale and so perhaps now it is time for them to make the ultimate sacrifice and cut loose their biggest star before he becomes a liability rather than an asset.

For whatever reason Joe has made this decision he will leave behind him a body of work that is unparalleld in the company and he leaves a roster with too many superstar to name that have been made by working with him (Homicide, Austin Aries, the Briscoes, Bryan Danielson and more). Whatever happens in TNA he will always be an ROH legend and this will be Joe's legacy. Whatever happens to him down the road then he will always have the adoration of the ROH faitful to fall back on, because unlike any other member of that roster Joe is not just pro-wrestling, Joe is Ring of Honor.

We will miss you Joe!

ROH Unfied

Ring of Honor became a true international company in August when they held their first shows outside of the US right here in England. The opening night, held in the spectacular Olympia in Liverpool, was an evening based around classic ROH rivlaries being given one more chance in the spotlight and was held infront of a, then record, 1700 fans. The show was headined by a title unification match featuring World Champion Bryan Danielson taking on England's own Nigel McGuinness in a match where there must be a winner. Also on the card Jimmy Rave continued his feud with Davey Richards and the Briscoes were given one last chance to win the tag team titles away from Roderick Strong and Austin Aries. For anyone who doubted that ROH in the UK would not put on a full-strength ROH show, this line-up sure proved otherwise.

The show opened with a 4 corner survival that pitted Matt Sydal and Colt Cabana against the UK's own, Johnny Storm and Spud. From the minute Colt's music hits, the crowd is red-hot for this show and this really adds an edge to all the matches. Cabana is greeted like a returning hero (probably as a result of his extensive time spent wrking in the UK) and he welcomes the fans to Ring of Honor in the UK. The match itself was pretty standard for a 4 Corner Survival with nothing exceptional stadning out. perhaps the only thing hich was noticeable in this match is just how much better in the ring Sydal and Cabana are than the guys from the UK. Sydal especially, is head and shoulders above Spud and Storm and is making a very strong case for ROH's break-out star of the year. A fun opener, but nothing to write home about.

Next up was one of the few disappointments of the show as Jimmy Rave took on Davey Richards. Richards is clearly a star for the futue and his match the following night where he teamed with matt Sydal against the Briscoes proved that he is a real star for the future. However this, 4th meeting between the two was one match too far for this feud and it failed to ever get above 2nd gear. To be fair, it wasn;t helped by the prescence of a bunch of obnoxious Liverpool kids who were yelling stupid things which made the fans start chanting back in response to try and drown them out. Although the chant of 'past your bedtime' is guarunteed to bring a smile to your face, the fact the it disrupted the match really did not help.

Unofrtunately after this disruption, it took a while for the show to get back on track. BJ Whitmer and Claudio Castagnoli had an OK match, which featured some nice brawling in the crowd. This brought out Chris Hero who in turn had a match with Colt Cabana which was pretty good, but lacked any real heat. Robbie Brookside faced Chad Collyer in an FWA title match which was very forgettable and Doug Williams and Jodie Fleisch had a pretty decent match against Go Shiazaki and Suwa of Pro Wrestling NOAH. As is so often the case on ROH shows, none of these matchs were bad, however they were very forgettable and for the most part had very little meaning in the grand scheme of ROH storylines. The arrival of Chris Hero was a nice surprise though and the heat he got on both nights in the UK show what a useful addition to the ROH roster he is.

Thank goodness then for the main events. One of ROH's current trends is for each show to featur a double main event - something borrowed from wrestling shows in Japan. This system has lead to some fantastic combinations in recent months and allows the shows to have more depth by giving the fans 2 main reason to buy the shows, rather than have to decide on whether a show is worth getting for one great match and a handful of average ones. For Unified we had the double header of Danielson vs. McGuinness and the Briscoes vs. Aries/Strong, and what a double header it was!

Tag team wrestling in ROH has undergone a complete rennaissance in the last 12 months and to watch Aries and Strong as champions you can see why. These are two bonafide ROH main eventers, having cutting edge matches that are as good as anything else that ROH is putting on. This match could easily have swapped place with the World Title match and it is a testament to their ability that Strong and Aries have enabled this to happened. It's a good job then that the Briscoes are more than equal to Aries and Strong in terms of heart, skill and determination. Since returning in the Spring, the Briscoes have been in unbelievable form and have not had a poor match. Their initial outings with the champs were some what underwhelming by the high standards that their matches have set ove the years, however this match eclipsed those tentative first efforts and, if anything, set the bar even higher for the quality of their future matches. This was a full-on, flat out fantastic match from bell to bell. All four men gave 110% and then gave that little bit more and put on about as good a tag team match as you could ever want to see. There was hard-hitting, great wrestling, high flying, near falls, drama, excitement, the works. With the added stipulation that this would be the Briscoes last chance at taking back the tag title belts from Aries and Strong, it meant that every near fall was greeted with an expecatant crowd who genuinely believed this would be the night that new tag team champs would be crowned. But tonight was not to be the night, and as with all great matches, both sets of men came out of this match more over with the crowd than when they began the night. The Briscoes lost none of their lustre by putting on a fantastic effort and Strong and Aries solidifed their claim to be the best tag team in wrestling by having one of the macthes of their careers with one of the very best tandems in wrestling today.

After that, it was left to the world title match to round off a great evenings wrestling. The average mid card was forgotten and the focus of the show was back on great wrestling, not stupid kids in the crowd. By giving the UK the first title change of 2006 and adding the stipulation that there must be a winner, this really adds to the drama of the match. Not to mention the fact that McGuinnes in his home-country gave the match an atmosphere that was reminscent of Bret Hart in Canada in 1997. The heel McGuinnes was turned babyface in one night thanks to the UK fans, however it was the quality of the match that would cement this turn, as well as establish Nigel as genuine ROH main eventer for the first time in his career.

Although the match starts slowly, the wrestling on display here is first class. With subtle references back to their previous matches, Danielson and McGuinnes soon use their rope breaks up and the match is down to the wire. The use of the Pure title rules was clearly a way to help make Nigel seem like more of a legitimate threat, however in my view it is the one thing that holds this match back from being a true classic. The convoluted rules of the Pure title, works fine for a mid-card belt, but for a main event it makes it that much more complicated. In a lot of ways, the match itself does not get going until both men have used up their rope-breaks. However the constant possibility of there being a count-out certainly helps heighten the tension when both men are fighiting outside the ring.

Despite this minor complaint, both men go above and beyond the call of duty in this match. Knowing that this is a career defining moment for him, McGuinness pulls out all the stops, going so far as to bust himself open hardway on the ring post with a series of sick headbutts. Unlike WWE matches were bloodshed has become common place and relatively passe, the use of blood in ROH is held back only for exceptional circumstances and in this case helped take the match to an even greater level. The look of determination in Nigel's eyes accompanied by the rapidly swelling lump on the top of his head give this match a real feeling of something special. In many ways it makes it more 'real' and as such the final minutes of Dragon trying everything he can to put away Nigel really helps make the match seem even more special as the crowd are on their feet and firmly behind the Pure champ.

Although the finish is some what anti-climactic, with Dragon winning thanks to referee stoppage after hitting Nigel with his MMA-style elbows, it again makes it seem more 'real'. By removing the feeling of sanitised sports entertainment that the fans are so conditioned to see in professional wrestling it made a special match that capped off a very important night in ROH history. A true must-see event for any fan of Ring of Honor or just wrestling in general.

Overall verdict: A-
"A lacklustre undercard cannot spoil a truly fantastic show. the double main event of Danielson vs. McGuinness and the Briscoes vs. Aries/Strong is as good as anything ROH has put on this year and both are genuine match of the year contenders. An ideal starting point for any UK fan looking to get into ROH and proof that ROH will take their UK shows just as seriously as their US one."

ROH Fight of the Century

It's true, you can have too much of a good thing. And ROH fans are certainly spoiled by the quality of matches they get on each and every show. This year alone, we've allready had the epic ROH vs. CZW feud and it's Cage of Death finale, a 5 star Dragon Gate six man match as well as guest appearances from the aforementioned Dragon Gate stars, Kenta, Naomichi Marufuji and even Lance Storm has come out of retirement for one more match in ROH. But it is not the quality of matches that spoils ROH fans, it is the the length of those matches that ash become the main bone of contetnion. In WWE 8 - 12 minutes consituitues a long match and more often than not you are left frustrated that a decent match finishes before ti really gets going. Whereas in ROH, main events are on average 25-30 minutes long with some going as long as 40 or 50 minutes. This abundance of quality wrestling can help make matches more meaningful as they are given the adequate time to tell the stroy. However at the same time it also takes away from those matches which truly need to be given the time neccessary to get across their significance. In 2004 when CM Punk and Samoa Joe wrestled for 60 minutes twice over the summer it was an uncommon occurrence and it helped garner ROH plenty of publicity from the wrestling press at a time when the history of the company was in question. However since that epic match we have seen Bryan Danielson wrestle Austin Aries for 75 minutes, Punk and Chris Daniels go 60 minutes in the summer of 2005 and Danielson up- the length of his match to 40 or 50 minutes on a frequently regular basis, with 2 60 minute draws since his match with Joe in August. With all these epic matches to chose from it takes away from those matches which truly deserve the extra time and the accolades that accompany these longer matches and as such the match which was billed as the 'Fight of the Century' ended up feeling anything but that.

With this show being built around only the thrid encounter between Joe and Danielson, it was inevitable that the undercard would not eature anything that was intended to overshadow the main event, however it still featured some strong wrestling matches that helped make the show as a whole very enjoyable. The opening match between Colt Cabana saw the inevtibale comedy sheanigans between Cabana and Rinauro's Embassy cohorts and made for a fun opener. After a mercifully short ROH student match between Shane Hagadorn and Bobby Dempsey, we had a very good 4 corner survival match that pitted Nigel McGuinnes, Chris Daniels, Jay Lethal and Claudio Castagnoli against each other. One of the things ROH does so well with these undercard matches is to take seemingly 'filler' matches and give them meaning. The continued rivalry between Castagnoli and Daniels was developed while McGuinness was kept strong while building towards his title match in the UK on the next show.

The Ultimate Endurance match that followed was the second of this weekend's shows and saw tag champs Austin Aries and Roderick Strong take on the more high flying group of teams such as Irish Airbourne, teh Briscoes and their Generation Next temamates Matt Sydal and Jack Evans. Irish Airborne are being given the slow build in ROH and have replaced Dunn and Marcos as the underdog tag team du jour in ROH, however they seem to be much more able in the ring than the Ring Crew Express and thei shock win over the Briscoes in the opening fall will help open up a potentially great feud for them in the next few shows. The fan reaction to this upset tell you a lot about how much the ROH fans love the Briscoes and despite us not getting to see the Briscoes vs. Aries and Strong on this occassion, it helps whet the fan's appetite for the match that the two teams will be having in Liverpool at the next show. With the Airborne's elminated, we are left with the fromer Generation next in the ring, and wehile not as good as these four could probably do if given a proper two on two match with some heat behind it, this was a lot of fun and show just how good ROH's tag division is right now as well as proving that tag team wrestling can be good in 2006.

After that we had our only disappointing match of the evening as Homicide and BJ Whitmer took on Steve Corino and Adam Pearce. This was a continuation of the climax of the ROH vs. CZW feud which saw Pearce align himself with Jim Cornette and attack Homicide after Cage of Death. Whitmer, who had also been turned on by Pearce earlier in the show would come to the aid of Homicide against Pearce and nemesis Steve Corino who is back in ROH for one last match with Homicide as part of the 3 wishes which Homicde asked for in return for joining Team ROH in the cage. Alas, apart from some choice heling fo the crowd from Pearce and Corino at the beginning of the match, this was a very longwinded and uneventful match-up which was all about building the feud and not having a great match. Whitmer and Homicide both came out of the match looking very strong and Pearce and Corino worked really well as a couple of old-school heels, but this was definitely the biggest disappointment of the night in terms of in-ring action.

We then come to our first of 2 main events. After his disappointing match with AJ Styles at Death Before Dishonor 4 this was make or break for Davey Richards as he faced off against Kenta. Richards is clearly an ROH superstar for the future, however with the incredibly fickle nature of the ROH crowd he needs to be pushed slowly, but confidently and this was an important step for his run in ROH. After the Styles match he had lost a lot of his lustre and being put in with Kenta, a man who has only faced top ROH names in his run so far was a big test. Fortunately for Davey he passed with flying colours and had the match of his career against his 'Japanese mentor'. A brutally stiff affair with lots of really hard kicks and strikes that, for me, managed the almost impossible task of eclipsing Kenta's debut against Low-ki as his best solo outing in ROH to date. Davey also managhed to erase that temporary blip in his run so far and looks set for a slow but confident push to the top in ROH. Certainly the prospect of matches against ROH heavyweights like Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe or Roderick Strong and Austin Aries cannot be far off. However in the meantime the prospect of a feud with the Briscoes who he and Kenat had temed up to face the previous night should keep on the road to the top of ROH.

Which leaves us with the 'Fight of the Century' to go. Ever since Danielson won the belt back in September of 2005, this was the biggest match he would have to face. ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has wisely kept these two apart for as long as possible and as such the anticipation of these two icons of ROH meeting managed to create a genuine feeling of a marquee match-up. The fact that these three had only met twice before and that they had won one each helped build the anticipation, as did the running battles that the two had waged over the previous months -from Danielson's treachery in the Cage of Death to Joe's mindgames at the Destiny show this was a rivalry that has been given the slow build and is very reminiscent of Taz and Sabu in ECW, which is not surprisng given Sapolsky's links to Paul Heyman.

As I said earlier, this was a match that was expected to go long and deserved to go long. However the abudnance of long and important matches that had surrounded this meeting managed to take away from it and as such it made the 60 minute draw seem an ineviability and anti-clmax at best. Which is a shame, because both men worked incredibly hard and told a really great story that, if the match had happened at another show at another time could have been a true classic. I am sure that in the eyes of the ROH faithful this will become something of a cult-classic, much as the prvious match between Danielson and Joe at Midnight Express Reunion has become. Howewver, when you look a the big picture, this match was built up so well and match that followed it just did not match up to it. That is not to say that it is a disappooitnemtn, however you have to wonder whether this match will have the longevity that the Joe vs. Punk match had and that is a shame because these two men deserve to have a classic match-up that stays with them for the remainder of their careers.

Overall verdict: B+
"Although this show is built around the double main event, the undercard is still very strong and very entertaining. With only one average match on the undercard, it is unfortunaetly as a result of the predictable nature of the main event that stops this show becoming a true classic. Davey Richards has a career match against Kenat though and is probably a better reason to buy the show than the main event."

ROH Death Before Dishonor 4

There have been some surprising events in the world of professional wrestling over the years. Whether it's Eric Bischoff appearing on Raw, David Arquette winning the WCW World title or Mae Young giving birth to a plastic hand, you must never say never in the world of pro wrestling. And so it was, with a little surprise, that we found Ring of Honor promoting it's 4th Death Before Dishonor show, by main eventing it with a 'Cage of Death' match (the signature event of fierce rivals, Combat Zone Wrestling). Could this really be a sign of things to come for ROH?

Fortunately not. The ROH vs. CZW has revitalized Ring of Honor at a time when competition for a wrestling fan's hard earned dollar is getting more competitive than ever. However few could have predicted 12 months ago, that Chris Hero or Necro Butcher would be regular members of the ROH roster. Or that ROH would be embroiled in a violent feud with it's arch rival of CZW in the rings of the Philaphia wrestling arenas, not behind the scenes as they did in 2002/3. However where ROH has prospered, unfortunately CZW has not followed suit. Despite a number of reasonably high-profile appearances by ROH regulars, CZW has failed to capitalize on the buzz that has generated around this feud and as such it is at a Ring of Honor event (albeit one headlines by a CZW staple) that sees the climax of the feud, rather than at a CZW show.

It's is rare that a show can truly be called a one-match card, but alas DBD4 is one of those cases. It's not that the under card is bad, more that it is simply not as good as the main event. As is so often the case with an ROH show, the undercard features matches which are better than many other indie show's main events, but in this case, they all played second fiddle to the main event. In the matches of note Nigel McGuinness defeated Roderick Strong by count-out to retain his Pure Title, the Briscoes helped continue the development of new tag team Irish Airbourne by giving them a solid thrashing and AJ Styles and Davey Richards proved that great workers can still have average matches. Even the world title match that saw Bryan Danielson take on 'CZW's own' Sonjay Dutt was overshadowed by the main event. Despite a strong outing from both men, this match was cut short and was more memorable for the very partisan crowds rather than the in-ring action. (One clever touch ROH has added to these shows, is the precence of 'CZW bleachers' which allow the crowd to be much more vocal and unbiased and as such create a much more fervent atmosphere which you can still feel even on DVD.)

Prior to the main event, Jim Cornette continued one of the main angles coming into this show and discussed his request of Homicide to be the 5th member of Team ROH. Homicide had said he would only be in Team ROH if he was granted 3 wishes, which Cornette said would give him too much power in ROH. This brought out ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson who said he would join Samoa Joe, Ace Steel, Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer in the cage and would not ask for any wishes from Cornette.

With all these elements in place, as well as the mysterious 5th member of team CZW and the presence of former 4 Horsemen manager JJ Dillon guarding the gate door our main event was on. ROH would win the coin toss and have the man advantage which meant that you know things would not be going ROH's way. The arrival of Samoa Joe to be the first man in the cage was somewhat of a surprise given the regard in which Joe is held by ROH fans however this was not his match and so it made sense for him to be first in. As a result of what would happen later in the match it led to many speculating that this 'easy ride' that Joe was given in Cage of Death was because of his commitments to TNA. Whether this was the case or not, is not a matter for debate here, however ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has maintained there was no pre-meditated plan to keep Joe 'safe' during the first part of this match. Certainly the way that Joe's summer has panned out in regards to his feud with Bryan Danielson would back that argument up, however on intial viewing it does seem strange for such a prominent member of the ROH roster to play such a minor role in this major match.

It's a good thing then that the performances of the other men involved in the match more than makes up for the lack of Samoa Joe. Once Danielson takes Joe out of the match by clipping his knee, ROH is left with the numbers disadvantage that few would have foreseen when they saw ROH win the coin toss and as such sets up the arrival of Homicide to the match perfectly. The fact that prior to this, CZW revealed it's 5th member to be Eddie Kingston, a man who has nothing but bad words to say about ROH, made this matter even more dramatic as the story of Cage of Death unfolded perfectly before the fan's eyes. With both this surprise entrant and the (albeit obvious) arrival of Homicide to save the day, ROH proved that no matter how smart your fanbase, good story telling can outdo great workrate and technical perfection any day. The fans were taken along on a fantastic journey with this match and the climax of Homicide pinning Nate Webb after a a copkiller into a barbed wire board perfectly captured the whole essence of the ROH vs. CZW feud and provided yet another highlight reel moment from the brief history of ROH.

The angle which followed the climax of Cage of Death saw Jim Cornette grant 2 out of 3 of Homicide's wishes (a world title match in New York and a rematch with long term rival Steve Corino) but he would stop short of allowing Low-ki to return. This led to an heel turn which saw Cornette, Pearce and Dillon seal Homicide in the cage and put the boots to him, setting up a Homicide vs. Cornette feud for the remainder of the year. In a lot of ways this felt like an angle too far after the emotionally draining show that had come before it. However this was the perfect time to do it as it was fresh in the people's minds and helped retain the momentum that ROH so desperately needs in order to keep itself relevant in the modern wrestling world.

Overall verdict: A+
"As good a Ring of Honor show as you'll see and a prime example of how even the smartest of smart fans can still enjoy a good old fashioned brawl between good guys and bad guys."

ROH in Broxbourne (8/13), Live report

Ring of Honor concluded it’s UK debut with a sold out show in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire last night (Sunday August 13th). Following on from the previous night’s ‘traditional’ ROH show in Liverpool, this show was built around the idea of a series of international dream matches featuring talent from the UK, Japan and the US.

The show began with tag champ Austin Aries coming to the ring accompanied by tag partner Roderick Strong. With heavily taped ribs, an emotional Aries had to announce to the crowd that he would be unable to compete that evening as a result of broken ribs sustained in the match with the Briscoe Brothers the previous night. As the fans chanted Aries’ name, ROH champion (and Pure champion) Bryan Danielson came to the ring and berated Aries for not having the heart to compete and defend his championship for the UK fans. This led to Roderick Strong standing up to Danielson and challenging him to a match later that evening. After much stalling and crowd abuse, Danielson accepted his challenge and we were set for Danielson vs. Strong IV. While leaving, Danielson was attacked with a kendo stick by Pro Wrestling NOAH star SUWA, laying Danielson out on the floor.

The show officially started with the first ‘International Showcase’ match pitting Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Go Shiosaki against ROH’s BJ Whitmer. Taking a while to get going, this was the stiff, striking contest that you would expect from both men. The crowd was initially subdued, not because the match was dull, more that the UK fans were soaking up their first experience of a live ROH show. Chants were split between Whitmer - who the fans have taken to during the recent ROH vs. CZW feud – and Shiosaki, who I think got most of his chants because the fans enjoyed shouting “Let’s go Go”. After several vicious chops, forearms and head-drop suplexes, Shiosaki got the pin with a moosault, but both men were given strong ovations for a strong opening contest.

Next up was a 3-way pitting the talents of the UK’s best high-flyers. Spud, Johnny Storm and Jody Fleisch all got a strong reception from the fans, many of whom will have seen these three cut their teeth in the UK’s FWA promotion. After the usual high-flying, spot-based action, Storm got the pin on Spud with his wonderwhirl finisher. Although this was a slightly underwhelming match by ROH standards, props must go to Spud for taking a vicious looking powerbomb into the guardrail from Johnny Storm, which earned Storm a “you killed Spud” chant.

With all three men laid out in the ring exhausted, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and Chad Collyer rushed the ring and began attacking the Brits. Most of the fans were unaware that Hero would be present at the shows and as such he got a very heated reaction with fans throwing toilet roll and rubbish at the invading threesome. Coming to the defence of the British fans that Hero had been mocking on the mic came former Pure Champ Nigel McGuinness and UK legend Robbie Brookside. Challenging the Kings of Wrestling to a tag match, the subsequent 3-on-2 beat down on the Brits was halted by Colt Cabana who sided with McGuinness and Brookside to take on Hero who he had wrestled the night before. The resulting 6-man tag match was one of the highlights of the night, if only for the crowd and the heel’s reaction to it. Several new derogatory chants (far too rude to print here) were introduced to ROH fresh from the local football terraces and Hero, Collyer and Castagnoli over-reacted to every one. After a great back and forth match which saw the heels focus on the veteran Brookside, Nigel McGuinnes secured the pin after a Tower of London DDT and lariat on Chad Collyer. The Brits celebrated in the ring while the Kings of Wrestling, snuck out through the back door. With many fans regarding the ROH vs. CZW feud as over after Cage of Death last month, this was a great way to bring in the Kings of Wrestling to ROH as the tag division could desperately do with some top tier heels now that the Embassy team of Alex Shelley and Jimmy Rave has been put on hold.

Before we could reach intermission, ROH champ Bryan Danielson returned to the ring and challenged SUWA to a match so he could get his revenge for the earlier attack. SUWA charged Danielson and the two brawled around the ring and out into the crowd. At some point here, Danielson’s head was cut open and this led to a much more bloody than usual ROH title match. With two heels battling away, the crowd were split between the two, however Dragon secured the win with a small package in a short, but very hard-hitting encounter. The main point of interest, other than Dragon’s head wound, was the amount of abuse Danielson was taking to his back from SUWA. Would this be an issue in the later title match against the ‘Messiah of the Backbreaker’ Roderick Strong?

Coming back from intermission, it was time for Prince Nana of the Embassy to address the crowd. After making several insulting comments about the ladies of Liverpool who he had spent the previous night partying with (which earned him more cheers than boos) it was time for the UK debut of the ‘Crown Jewel’ Jimmy Rave. Despite Nana’s threats on ROHvideos.com that the throwing of toilet paper would not be accepted, Rave was not going to be given a free ride by the UK fans. Streams of toilet roll, many of them a nice shade of pink pelted the ring and Rave and Nana sold any direct hits like they had been hit by a thunderbolt. Rave’s opponent was the UK’s own Doug Williams, who got a great reception for his ROH return. The subsequent match featured the usual Rave/Nana cheating, combined with Williams’ excruciating looking submission holds. The crowd was also all over Rave and Nana with the Ghanian dictator hamming it up at ringside. Williams earned the pin with a chaos theory and the Embassy were seranaded out of the building with a rendition of ‘na-na-na-na, hey, goodbye’.

With Aries and Strong out of action it was left to the Briscoes, Matt Sydal and Davey Richards to steal the show with their pre-main event tag match – and steal the show they did. If there is a better tag team in wrestling today than the Briscoe Borthers, than I have not seen them. They are so polished and their moves are so well executed that they should be huge stars in this business. It is such a shame that tag team wrestling has become such a dirty word in 2006 because these are two of the best in the world at tag team wrestling. Matt Sydal and Davey Roichards on the other hand are no slouches, with Sydal fresh off a tour of Japan with Dragon Gate and Richards coming of a highly praised match against KENTA at the last ROH show. Another slow-burner, this match was not as high flying as the Briscoes’ match with Sydal and AJ Styles and was not as hard hitting as their encounters with Strong and Aries, however this was as good an example of tag team wrestling as you could ask to see. By uniting Richards and Sydal, it allowed them to use their offence in short bursts, which made them all the more effective. The highlights of the match were an awesome corkscrew suicide dive from Richards and a Matt Sydal moonsault, both to the floor. After numerous near-falls that saw the crowd on their feet for every near three count, the Briscoes’ secured the pinfall on Sydal with a cutthroat suplex/leg drop combination (after eliminating Richards with a Jay driller), however all 4 men earned a standing ovation from the crowd. This is a match that, if put on in front of a US crowd, would earn rave reviews for it’s hard-hitting excellence, so let’s hope that either ROH repeat this match stateside or that, upon the show’s DVD release, it gets the admiration it’s due for being a quite fantastic tag team contest.

With wrestling that good, the main event had a lot to live up to, however the two men involved were more than capable of putting on an awesome main event. With the Strong vs. Danielson matches getting longer and more vicious the more times they face each other, the fans were expecting something special here and with the bell-time for the main event being a surprisingly early 9.00 could it be that we would see a 60 minute draw out of these two?

With Danielson having already wrestled once that evening and sporting a still bleeding head, the two started off at full-pace right from the bell. Whether it was Strong chasing Dragon for slapping him during the early exchanges in the corner or the flurry of chops and forearms that built in ferocity as the match went on, this was every bit as hard-hitting as their previous encounters. It was therefore, something of a surprise to see the match stopped at just over 20 minutes after a flurry of vicious MMA-style elbows from Danielson who subsequently locked in the cattle mutilation to the now unconscious Strong. Although not a classic as the previous three have been, this was certainly a worthy main event and continues the story of Danielson and Strong’s hard-hitting rivalry. The final image of a bloody Danielson (now beelding from his mouth as well as his head) standing over the equally bloodied Strong (who had been cut open above his eye) will surely add another level of competitiveness to this match-up, as well as a level of sporting realism that WWE simply cannot (or perhaps will not) match up to.

Overall verdict: B+
“A fantastic show, albeit slightly short in time and number of matches. Having said that, there was not a poor match on the show and it really showed off to the UK fans just what ROH is all about. Whether it is the hard-hitting action, innovative high-flying and tag team action, or simple good old-fashioned fun wrestling with heels you love to boo and babyfaces you want to cheer, it had the lot. Whether the matches will pass the test of time is unsure, however the two tag matches will certainly warrant another viewing on DVD. In short, ROH did everything they needed to do to send the fans home happy and the news that they will be returning to the UK in March next year will certainly help make up for any short comings this show might have had.”

Looking back at Generation Next

This weekend saw the final match of one of Ring of Honor's most succesful stables, Generation Next as they teamed against the new generation of Davey Richards, Jerelle Clark and Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist).

Generation Next was formed in the Spring of 2004 and originally comprised Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Jack Evans. These four had all worked together on various east coast indies, as well as making a name for themsleves in CZW, IWA Mid South and on ROH undercards. However they had yet to breakthrough on to the main ROH roster, but that was until 5/22/04 and the the Generation Next show in Philadephia.


With TNA prohibiting many of it's big name stars like AJ Styles and Chris Daniels from working ROH after the 'Feinstein scandal' earlier in the year, ROH needed to create new stars and so booked a show based on the idea of allowing the next generation of ROH superstars to get a foot on the ladder. The original plan for the Generation Next show was to have 4 singles matches featuring young up and coming talent, which the fans could then vote on to decide which match they liked best. However, Shelly, Aries and co. decided to hijack the show and take their spots by force rather than rely on earning the fans approval. In the course of their first show, GenNext would target the Christopher Street Connection, Izzy, Dixie and Hydro of Special K as well as John Walters, Jimmy Rave and the Briscoes. The match which resulted from them taking on this final foursome would go for 40+ minutes and would go down as one of the very best multi-person tag matches in the company history and is still regarded as an all-time classic ROH match. GenNext had arrived and no-one was safe.

As ROH re-established itself following the departure of the TNA talent, GenNext would become the backbone of the company and the building blocks which booker Gabe Sapolsky would use to re-build ROH as a force in independent wrestling. As the first new generation of talent to come through ROH's doors since it's inception in 2002, it was up to GenNext to take on the mantle of those early ROH mainstays like AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, Low-ki and Bryan Danielson and keep the company going. While it was Samoa Joe and CM Punk who were gaining all the plaudits for their 60 minute matches, it was GenNext who were keeping the undercard from going stale by having great match after great match. In their first year they feuded with everyone from ROH Pure Champion Doug Williams, to the Second City Saints of CM Punk and Colt Cabana, to legendary figures such as Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat. Despite being arrogant heels, GenNext would earn the respect of the ROH fans thanks to their phenomenal matches and it would only be a matter of time before they would become crowd favourites.

As 2004 drew to a close, it would be a crucial time for the group. From the beginning their mantra had been that they would stick together as a group, only until they had secured the top spots in the company and with it, the championship gold that would give them the power they craved. So, as Austin Aries earned himself a world title shot against Samoa Joe at Final Battle 2004 it was make or break time for GenNext. Despite Shelley achieving strong support from the ROH fans, it was Aries who had risen to the top thanks to his epic matches with Bryan Danielson, including a 75+minute 2/3 falls match in August. With a world title match which he believed was his for the winning, Aries turned on Shelley at Final Battle and ejected him from the group. He would go on that evening to get the upset win over Samoa Joe and end the longest championship reign in ROH history. With the gold and the power secured, Aries persuaded Strong and Evans to join him and the second phase of GenNext's existance would begin.

As a result of Shelley's behaviour towards the ROH roster during his time in GeNext, he struggled to find any allies for his pursuit of Aries and the World Title and so would have to go it alone. Building to a world title match at Manhatten Mayhem, Shelley would struggle in vein to compete with the group he had started. As Shelley persued the world title, Aries would undergo a gruelling schedule of title defences as he tried to establish himself as a champion in his own right and get out from under the shadow of Samoa Joe's epic championship reign. Despite strong title matches against Colt Cabana, Homicide,Bryan Danielson and James Gibson, Aries would ultimately lose the belt to CM Punk and be faced with a much more potent opposition for the remainder of 2005.

Having failed to earn the repect of the ROH lockeroom, Shelley decided to go back to what made him succesful in the first place and joined up with the Embassy of Jimmy Rave and Price Nana. Proclaiming that he hadn't 'sold out' he had in fact 'bought in', Shelley aligned himself with a group who were on the rise after many months of being a mid-card comedy act. Thanks to Rave's feuds with AJ Styles and CM Punk, the Embassy were close to over hauling GenNext's position as the top heel faction in ROH and so Shelley saw his oppurunity to get his revenge. The ensuing matches between the two factions would see both sides recruit new additions to the group to sustain the increasingly violent and bloody encounters between the two factions. For GenNext they would recruit up and comer Matt Sydal as well as form a short term alliance with AJ Styles, while Prince Nana would recruit the monster Abyss as his enforcer as well as bring in part-time members like Spanky. The feud would culminate in a bloody Steelcage Warfare match in December of 2005 and would see the members of both sides secure their positions as genuine top players in ROH as a result of this match and feud - as well as Generation Next becoming the top babyface stable now that the Second City Saints had gone on hiatus with the departure of CM Punk to WWE.

As 2005 became 2006, new ROH commissioner Jim Cornette would look to put a greater emphasis on the tag division in ROH and so, despite Evans and Strong being the tag team of choice for GenNext, it would be the team of Aries and Strong who would finally secure tag team gold for the group. Roderick Strong had been the break out star for ROH in 2005 as a result of some phenomenal singles matches against AJ Styles, CM Punk, Matt Hardy and Bryan Danielson (as well as winning the 2005 Survival of the Fittest, deafeating Aries in the final). However it was his teaming with Aries that would cap-off his phenomenal run and cement his spot at the top of the card once and for all. At the time of writing this, the pairing of Aries and Strong have become the longest reigning tag champs in ROH history, putting on some outstanding matches against the likes of the Briscoes, old rivals the Embassy, the Rottwielers as well as Cima and Doi of the Dragongate promotion in Japan. However, perhaps the most unlikely opponent they would have to face would be their own stablemate, Matt Sydal. Despite earning his GenNext stripes in the war with the Embassy, Sydal was persuaded to side against his teammates by his mentor AJ Styles which would lead to an outstanding tag team contest that would headline the Fourth Anniversary show in March of 2006.


Despite the possibility of a GenNext split developing as a result of Sydal's desire for gold, (he would also go on to team with Samoa Joe against Aries and Strong) the group approaches this weekend's final match as strong as ever. All four members have been courted by the DragonGate promotion in Japan, while Strong and Aries have also worked for TNA alongside Alex Shelley. As all 4 current members of GenNext return for one last match it will be interesting to see what will happen to these guys now that they are no longer grouped together under the GenNext banner. Will Sydal and Evans attempt to set up a rival group or will another band of young up and comers rise take on their title of the new generation? Certainly their final opposition of Davey Richards, the Crist Brothers and Jerelle Clark could more than take on the mantle. However would they have the success that the original four members have gone on to achieve? Who knows. Certainly, when GenNext was formed in 2004, no-one knew just how succesful these four would go on to be. As the spectre of TNA and other promotions such as Dragon Gate pulling talent away from ROH looms once more, this time it is the likes of Shelley, Aries and Strong who will be the ones making way for the new generation. Lets hope that the next generation of talent who comes along and takes their spots will achieve the kind of long lasting legacy that the original four have. If they do, then ROH is in a very strong position in the months and years to come. And you know this..................man!

ROH Supercard of Honor

Forget the ridculous title, this show could not have been called anything else but a supercard. Featuring one of the most loaded line-ups ROH has ever put together this show was the centre piece of the Wrestlemania triple shot weekend and features 3 matches that, come the end of the year, will be very high on every ROH fans match of the year list.

The match everyone is talking about is the Dragon Gate 6 man featuring members of the Blood Generation faction facing off against long time rivals Do Fixer. This is the match that Dave Meltzer gave 5 stars to, the match Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com referred to as a wrestling orgasm and as such, who am I to disagree. A match with this much hype rarely lives up it, but every now and again an exception to that rule comes along and this is just such an occasion. Featuring some of the most high flying, innovative wrestling the US will ever see, this is a phenomenal match. ROH fans are notriously fickle, but anytime you have so many spectacular spots that fans begin a 'please don't stop' chant, you know this has to be something special. Not even the now all too common 'this is awesome' chant could truly get started as the fans were constantly being dazzled by spectacular combination after spectacular combination.

However for many ROH fans, that was not even the best match of the night. Amongst the hardcore of ROH fans, the main event, pitching Bryan Danielson against Roderick Strong is being talked about as one of the best main events in company history. The third part of their hard-hitting series, the previous two matches have seen Strong elevated from tag team specialist to bonafide main eventer, as well as becoming one of the company's top babyface. These compliment each other perfectly as the arrogant heel champion is taken on by the ultra-white mean babyface challenger who is inevtably underestimated by the champ. However, adding an extra dimension to this feud is the arsenal of hard hitting moves that Roderick Strong brings to the table. In a lot of ways Strong is a traditional babyface in pursuit of a belt, however he also has some of the most intense chops and backbreakers in the business which gives him a real edge and creates for a fantastic dynamic. Despite going on at well past midnight, this match lasts almost to the full 60 minute time limit draw and in a lot of ways ROH were very sensible not to go the full 60 minutes with this match. The appeal is in Roderick taking Dragon to the limit, however he has to win at the end for the feud to work. Unlike Joe vs Punk a draw is noe considered precitable, but ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has managed to keep this feud fresh and interesting despite Strong losing all their one on one encounters to date.

So there you have the media's choice and the fan's choice, however there is one other sleeper match which was almost lost in the mix on this weekend of stellar matches. That match is AJ Styles and Matt Sydal vs. Austin Aries and Jack Evans. On paper this looked a filler match as both teams treded water between Dragon Gate matches. However with the calibre of talent on offer and the new found resurgance of tag team wrestling in ROH, this match could well be as good, if not better than the Dragon Gate match. Managing to eclipse the Aries/Strong vs. Styles/Sydal match from the Fourth Anniversary and putting together a phenomenal match involving 4 of ROH's most exciting and innovative talents. The climax of the match with Styles clashing Evans on the floor, only to have Aries hit a suicide dive on Styles before Sydal hits a beautiful shooting star press on Jack Evans who had been dumped in the ring by Styles was one of the most electric finishes to a match I have ever seen proves once and for all that ROH does not need to rely on wrestlers from overseras to provide the spectacle for their shows. They allready have the talent to put on the kind of matches that personify Dragon Gate's style and as such nit is no surprise that guys like Strong, Evans, Sydal and Aries are in demand in the Orient.

Compared to these three matches, the remainder of the card could be seen as weak, however that would be unfair. There's a fun opener with the Embassy of Alex Shelley and Jimmy Rave taking on Caludio Castagnoli and Jimmy Yang. The ROH vs. CZW feud continues with Adam Pearce vs. Necro Butcher which is the inevitable brawl. Also there is a fantastic Shimmer women's match and a very 3 way match pitting Chris Daniels, Samoa Joe and Jimmy Jacobs who was deputising for the injured BJ Whitmer which doesn't make perfect sense in terms of storlyine continuity, however Jacobs excels himself and makes the most of his oppurtunity .

Overall verdict: A-
"A few weak matches and a lengthy 3+hours running stops this from being the first ROH show to get an A+ from me, however it is a darn fine call. The Dragon Gate 6 man, the world title match and the tag match are three of the best matches you will ever see and as such eclipse the rest of the card (which in itself is not poor). A lot of new ROH fans will watch this show as a result of the hype and I cannot think of a better place for them to start. This show features everything that is great about independent pro wrestling and is the perfect calling card for the ROH product."

ROH Dragon Gate Challenge

With the wrestling business being so competitive right now, Ring of Honor has managed to differentiate itself by bringing in some of the top talent from Japan. Whether it is the like of Kenta Kobashi or KENTA from Pro Wrestling NOAH or in the case of this show, the stars of the Dragon Gate promotion like Cima and Dragon Kid, it helps add to ROH shows and makes them feel more important than being just another average indie show.

So with 3 shows in 3 days over Wrestlemania weekend this March, ROH brought in 6 of the stars from Dragon Gate and put on possibly the best run of shows that the company has ever run and so quite rightly this comprises the core of the Milestone Series. Dragon Gate developed from the ashes of Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon promotion and is in many ways the Japanese equivalent of ROH. Based around high impact tag matches between rival stables, Dragon Gate fuses the best of the junior style of Japan with the lucha style of Mexico, and prides itself on being the cutting edge of wrestling in Japan, just as ROH is fast becoming in the US.

The weekend started with Dragon Gate Challenge in Detroit on the Friday and was headlined by a series of matches featuring ROH stars taking on the stars of Dragon Gate. Jimmy Yang started the show for ROH taking on Ryo Saito, while later in the evening AJ Styles and Matt Sydal took on Dragon Kid and Genki Horiguchi of the Do Fixer faction. Then, in the rubber match Generation Next of Jack Evans, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries took on the Blood Generation faction comprising Cima, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino. All 3 of these matches really showed the fans what to expect from these Dragon Gate stars and, perhaps with the exception of the Yang vs. Saito match, would exemplify the high impact, innovative wrestling that the Dragon Gate stars would bring to ROH. Fortunately fo the health of ROH as ao company in it's own right, the ROH guys more than held their own against the stars from the Orient and produced the kind of matches that on any other show would have been matches of the year. (Not to mention earning themselves future bookings for Dragon Gate in Japan) So good were these matches over this weekend, that everytime one ended and the crowd had finished chanting 'this is awesome' another match would eclipse it and create yet another gold standard for the ROH fans to judge future matches by.

As well as the Dragon Gate stars, there were a number of important matches for current ROH stars. Samoa Joe and Chris Daniels faced off for what was billed as their final series of matches in ROH and the Friday saw the pair face off one on one for 'the last time'. Unfortunately because this feud was delayed from earlier in the year when Joe was out with a staph infection, this lacked a lot of the drama that 2 ROH legends who have been feuding for over 2 years should have garnered. I also think the Dragon Gate tag matches as well as Joe and Daniels' work in TNA also over shadowed them and, despite having some technically very strong matches, they failed to deliver the kind of matches you would expect from men of their ability.

The other major feud that would develop through the weekend would be Colt Cabana vs. Homicide. Another feud which was delayed in reaching it's climax by an injury, however by having Colt Cabana taking on Homicide in his own home territory of the mid west, it made for a real slow boiling feud that would culminate in a fantastic match at the end of the weekend. For this opening night though, a falls count anywhere match was the opening chapter of this weekend long feud and so perhaps it is unfair to say it was a dissapoint becasue looking at the bigger picture it was just the start of something really strong. However as match on it's own it didn't really go anywhere and lacked a strong finish.

In other matches the Embassy of Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelley took on ROH champion Bryan Danielson and a partner of his choice. Danielson arrogantly chose Delirious, believing he could win with any partner, even someone who has never won in ROH and this set-up an interesting story for future shows between Dragon and Delirious when the masked man lost the match for his team. The show also saw BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs escape serious injury when they fell from the top rope attempting a power bomb in a real must see/car crash type moment and the ROH vs. CZW feud also continued with appearances from Chris Hero and Necro Butcher who confronted Hero's former best friend Claudio Castagnoli.

Overall verdict: B+
"Running three shows in three days was a huge gamble for ROH and this debut show would set the tone for the weekend. Featuring a great mix of strong wrestling, some crazy brawling and some truly staggering, innovative wrestling from the Dragon Gate stars. This is often the forgotten show of the trio because of the two that would follow it, however that is perhaps unfair, as this is just as strong a show from top to bottom as any show of that weekend and in fact any show in ROH's history. A perfect place to start for any new fan looking to get into ROH and a must have for any true ROH fan."

Random ROH thoughts

1. Although everyone has been raving about the Dragon Gate 6 Man match at Supercard of Honor, some of the tag team matches involving ROH guys are just as good if not better. On any other weekend Strong/Aries vs. Blood Generation, Styles/Sydal vs. Do Fixer, Aries/Evans vs. the Briscoes and Styles/Sydal vs. The Brsicoes would be raved about as matches of the year.

2. Despite being a disappointing champion, Austin Aries might be the top babyface in ROH right now. The fans just love him and his work is more than keeping up with his popularity.

3. Does anyone hit a hot tag better than Roderick Strong?

4. There will never be another Samoa Joe in ROH. He truly is the heart and soul of the company. Having him involved in the ROH vs. CZW feud really shows that it is something the fans should care about and not just a mid card feud.

5. Bryan Danielson might just be the perfect world champion. You love to hate him because of his supreme arrogance, but also love to watch him wrestle (whether it be him stretching someone like Jack Evans or getting a beating from Roderick Strong).

6. Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson will be all kinds of fantastic when it happens. The slow build is just whetting the fans appetitie right now.

7. Colt Cabana vs. Bryan Danielson going for 2/3 falls in Chicago in August could well see the first title switch of 2006. Cabana has been on such a roll this past year, he deserves to be champ.

8. Who thought BJ Whitmer would become a top level guy? Whether it's his sacrificial lamb role in the ROH vs. CZW feud or his crazy rivalry with Jimmy Jacobs, a BJ Whitmer match is no longer a reason to hit the fast forward button.

9. Davey Richards is the next big ROH star.

10. Now that TNA have their X Division rankings system which concepts will they steal from ROH next? Let's hope it's not a talent raid and a ban on TNA guys working ROH.