Glory By Honor X preview

Remember last year’s Glory Honor IX? Broadcast on internet pay-per-view it was headlined by the memorable confrontation between Roderick Strong and departing champion Tyler Black, a match which saw Strong (the heel) roundly cheered for his loyalty to the promotion and Black (the face) get literally booed out of the building thanks to his recently inked WWE contract (and some inflammatory Cena-esque hand gestures). If that weren’t enough it boasted a superb undercard, the highlight of which was most definitely the contest between ROH tag team champions the Kings of Wrestling and the debuting Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. It was a stacked card and was easily one of the best wrestling shows of the year.

It looks unlikely that Ring of Honor will repeat that success with this year’s Glory By Honor X. There are no big debuts and it seems unlikely that the world title will changes hands. That’s not to say it won’t be good. It just stands less chance of being a classic.

The headline attraction is Davey Richards’ defence of the ROH world championship against El Generico. It’s not the freshest match ROH has to offer but that makes sense: GBHX is going to be a DVD release and fresh or highly anticipated matches need to be saved for pay-per-view or television so that the company can benefit from them financially. The two men will have an excellent bout and provide a fitting end to what is sure to be a solid night of action and that’s what the show will need from them.

Can ‘The Generic Luchador’ score a huge, not to mention surprising, upset and topple ‘The American Wolf’ for the gold? No. Richards winning is as close to a guarantee as you can get with Ring of Honor.

The man who will challenge the winner of Richards v Generico, ‘Die Hard’ Eddie Edwards, will be in action against Kyle O’Reilly. I’m predicting that O’Reilly will win the Survival of the Fittest tournament on Friday and I have a feeling he could score the upset over Edwards too. That will allow ROH to point back to this weekend in a year or two as the time he “broke out from the pack” (and they’ll probably use that phrasing).

The match that most interests me is the All Night Express v Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team for the ROH world tag team titles. ANX have been floating around at the top of ROH’s tag division all year and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until they win the gold. I have a feeling that this match will see the champions resort to underhanded tactics to keep hold of their belts, setting up a rematch sometime in the New Year. ANX winning the gold wouldn’t be a massive surprise and I’d love to see it but I think the beginning of a WGTT heel turn is more likely. ANX will likely get the titles on their next challenge, whenever that turns out to be.

Speaking of tag teams the Young Bucks will wrestle the Briscoe Brothers. There’s heavy potential for a style clash in this match. Hopefully the four men will work around that and put in a solid showing. It will be interesting to see who gets cheered. Ironically the Briscoes were turned heel because of fan apathy during their last face run and they are now far more popular than they have been in years. The Bucks have been working as heels since their return to ROH a few months ago and I suspect fans will side with ‘Dem Boys’ over the former Generation Me. I imagine Mark and Jay will get the win in this match.

The Jimmy Jacobs v Tommaso Ciampa match has one of the most predictable outcomes of the show. As I said in my Survival of the Fittest preview it seems very unlikely that ROH have spent months establishing a winning streak for ‘The Dominant Male’ only to end it at an untelevised show. Jacobs being a mid-card guy right now just makes it clearer. It will be a fun match (matches are always fun with the Embassy at ringside) but instantly forgettable.

Finally there’s the non-title match between TV champion Jay Lethal and the House of Truth’s Roderick Strong. This is being billed as a “proving ground” match. That’s not a term I care for. It’s something ROH are trying with their non-title matches: if the man without a title can last through the time limit or score the victory over the champion they’ll earn themselves a match for the title in the future. The thing is that’s how wrestling has always worked. It’s just that the matches have never been referred to by any special name. This strikes me as ROH being different just for the sake of being different. I also question why Strong, a former world champion, would be considered for a TV title shot at any point. It’s a personal thing, I dislike seeing former world champions in any promotion go back to holding mid-card titles. I feel those belts are better used building up future stars.

Anyway.

Strong v Lethal should be a fine match but I have a feeling it will go to a time limit draw. I’m not sure why but most of Lethal’s matches seem to be going the distance lately. It’s an odd creative direction for Ring of Honor to take with him as it makes Lethal look like he can’t win matches. Not the best thing to do with a champion (or anybody you’re considering as a future star for that matter). I’ll officially predict a time limit draw for this match (what does that say about ROH?) but should that not happen I imagine Strong will pick up the victory.

Glory By Honor X is not going to be the best ROH show of the year but it’s not going to be the worst either. When you get right down to it you can’t say fairer than that, can you?

Survival of the Fittest 2011 preview

ROH have experimented with their Survival of the Fittest format before, but never quite to the extent that we’ll see on Friday 18^th November. For those unfamiliar with Survival of the Fittest it used to go something like this: twelve men would wrestle in six one-on-one matches with the winners advancing into the evening’s six-way main event. The winner of that match, fought under elimination rules, would earn themselves a shot at the ROH world championship.

Where this year’s event differs is in the nature of the qualifying contests. Along with three one-on-one matches there’s a tag team match which will see both members of the winning team take spots in the final and a four-way match which will see only one man go through.

On top of all of that there will be the traditional non-tournament match. This year it’s a “champions challenge” tag team match pitting ROH world tag team champions Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas against TV champion Jay Lethal and world champion Davey Richards.

From the list of confirmed matches this is the one that stands out to me as the most likely to become match of the night. All four men are great wrestlers and considering the relatively low number of matches on the card they should get enough time to put on a decent show. As far as winners go I think Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team will go over, seeing as they’re the regular combo.

The Survival matches are an interesting mix. One of the most appealing to me is Kyle O’Reilly v Andy ‘Right Leg’ Ridge. Ridge may not have been featured too heavily in ROH in the past but he’s been talked up as someone who could “break out” over the last year. Both men work a style heavy on stiff kicks and I’m interested to see how competitive Ridge is allowed to look against his more high profile opponent. There’s no doubt in my mind O’Reilly will win (which probably means Ridge will get the surprise victory now) but if Ridge is allowed to enter a ten minute performance in which he gains plenty of near falls he could get enough of a reaction from fans in attendance to convince ROH to give him a similar opportunity to shine soon.

Rhett Titus v Roderick Strong should be a fun match. This time last year Titus was in the process of a face turn while Strong was the ROH champ. That doesn’t have any bearing on this match but I thought it was interesting to point out, to illustrate the paths both have taken in the past twelve months. Titus rarely thrills me in singles matches but I think he’s got a good chance at having a solid outing with an opponent like Strong. I’m predicting Strong will win in a close contest.

Titus’s tag team partner Kenny King will be one of the men vying for the sole spot in the finals during the four-way match. His opponents will be Michael Elgin, Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa. Cole and King are both capable of working some very athletic spots into their matches so it’s pretty much guaranteed we’ll see something impressive during this match. I’ll be interested to see how Ciampa and Elgin interact with one another: both have been built up as ruthless, physically imposing heels that batter their opponents. Will they turn their gaze on each other? If they do who will be booked to come off better in the confrontation?

I imagine the two will have a stare off at some point but will be interrupted by King and Cole (that’s Kenny and Adam, not Jerry and Michael) before anything can come of it. The four-way strikes me as a way of booking Elgin and Ciampa in the tournament without having either one take a pinfall loss, thus allowing their dominant pushes to continue. This is particularly important for Ciampa due to his undefeated streak. A win in this qualifier would mean he has to win the Survival match to stay undefeated. I don’t think ROH are going to have ‘The Dominant Male’ take his first loss in an untelevised environment so that means he’ll simply not get passed the opening round.

I think King will walk out the winner. The final will benefit from his athleticism and it keep him looking like a guy who could break out into the singles division some time. I’m sure that when the All Night Express go their separate ways King is going to become a headline talent very quickly.

The tag team qualifier will see the Briscoes take on the Bravados. The Bravados shocked me several months ago by getting a highly unlikely victory over the natives of Sandy Fork, Delaware. Can they do it again? Perhaps. It’s hard to say. Both Bravados in the final would create an interesting dynamic but I think the Briscoes are the likelier candidates. It’s not impossible to imagine a situation in which this match goes to some sort of non-finish or double disqualification and one man from each team is selected for the final. Bear that in mind, but my official prediction is that Mark and Jay will be in the Survival match.

The final two men in the tournament are Mike Bennett and ROH’s first Triple Crown champion Eddie Edwards. Does Edwards really need to go to the main event and win this match? No. He’s already established at the top of the card and doesn’t need to win this in order to earn a title match. A win here will do far more for Bennett than it will for Edwards, and I think ‘The Prodigy’ will gain a tainted victory, probably with the help of ‘Brutal’ Bob, and advance to the finals.

So that leaves us with a predicted final of Mark Briscoe v Jay Briscoe v Kenny King v Mike Bennett v Roderick Strong v Kyle O’Reilly. Of those six there are two men I’d like to see face Davey Richards: Kyle O’Reilly and Kenny King. As I think King is heading towards a run with the tag team titles alongside Rhett Titus I’m going to predict that Kyle O’Reilly will be the 2011 Survival of the Fittest winner. That will allow for a student versus pupil type match sometime early next year.

 Will this be the sight ROH fans see at Survival of the Fittest 2011?

On paper this event looks a little average, but with an ROH title shot on the line there’s still a very good reason to watch the show. It should be a good indicator of where the promotion’s going for Final Battle and the early months of 2012.

The Return of Mr Wrestling

He's wrestled no matches and made only three in-ring appearances for Ring of Honor in 2011 yet 'Mr Wrestling' Kevin Steen is one of biggest names associated with the promotion. At Final Battle on December 23^rd ROH will finally capitalise on this popularity by putting Steen in a match. His opponent will be his former mentor Steve Corino.
 
The story of how this match came about spans two years so I'll try for the truncated explanation...
 
At Final Battle 2009 a babyface Kevin Steen shockingly turned on his long time tag team partner El Generico following a loss to the Young Bucks. Steen would eventually reveal that he believed 'The Generic Luchador' was holding him back and wanted to break out on his own. The man credited for helping Steen realise he felt this way was Steve Corino.
 
After several months of resistance Generico eventually fought back against the two evildoers. Colt Cabana joined the party to keep the feud balanced and the four men had some exceptionally bloody, passionate and well received gimmick matches in the latter half of 2010.
 
Fittingly Steen and Generico had their feud ending Fight Without Honor at Final Battle 2010, one year after Steen’s initial treachery. Corino and Cabana weren't at ringside for that one: Cabana said it was something Generico needed to do alone while 'The King of Old School' had begun to express doubts at the path he'd set Steen on after witnessing his intense hatred for Generico.
 
The masked man won that battle, retaining his mask and banishing Steen from ROH forever (supposedly). Their feud was over but Steen's story was far from done.
 
As 2011 started Corino told fans he was a changed man. He sought retribution and wished to atone for the mistakes he'd made with 'Mr Wrestling'. For several months Corino worked hard to gain acceptance from the locker room and the fans (who actually accepted the new character direction very early on) and it made for an interestingly different, if sometimes odd, storyline.
 
The occurrences of Best in the World and Death Before Dishonor IX (which you can read about here and here) made it very clear what Steen thought of Corino's attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans. He wanted no part of Corino’s peaceful ways and had no intention of seeking forgiveness for anything he’d done in the previous eighteen months. Fans embraced Steen's wild, unpredictable persona and he became one of the biggest names connected to ROH... despite not ever actually appearing for the promotion.
 
At the ROH TV taping on Saturday November 5^th Steen made his third appearance for the promotion this year. With a lawyer by his side Steen agreed to wrestle a specially stipulated match at Final Battle: he will face his former mentor Steve Corino, with a win gaining him a Ring of Honor contract and a loss meaning he leaves forever (and ROH, like, totally mean it this time!). Cornette assigned Jimmy Jacobs as the special referee (to stack the odds in ROH’s favour) and acquiesced to Steen’s request that he be at ringside to watch the bout. Steen wants Cornette to see him get his job back, you see.
 
Yep, it's all come back to Final Battle again.

My immediate reaction is that there will be a heel turn by someone during this match. The fact that the storyline has revolved more around promos and twists more than quality matches is a good indication of this, as is the presence of Jacobs and Cornette at ringside.

A heel turn by Cornette himself would probably make the least sense right now, but that’s not to say a reason couldn’t be conjured up. A little more likely is a turn by Jimmy Jacobs: he’s been “recovering” from his heelish past for several months now and it would make storyline sense for Steen to have gotten into his ear before the match to convince him to give up on his quest and embrace his heel tendencies. The prospect of a Corino v Jacobs (which a Jacobs turn would lead to) match holds such little appeal that I can’t imagine Jacobs being turned unless substantial developments are made or there are big creative plans in place for early 2012.

The possibility of a Corino heel turn shouldn’t be discounted completely. The man does his best work as a heel and once he’s wrestled Steen in December there will be little need for a rematch. Corino is best used in a ringside role in the Steen storyline, and he can contribute just as much by being allied with him again as he can facing him.

 The final thought I’ll submit is a heel turn by Colby Corino, Steve’s son. This storyline has been going for a long time and has helped several men become bigger stars. It reminds me, as I think I’ve said before, of the Sandman versus Raven feud in ECW. One of the most shocking moments of that rivalry was when Sandman’s son sided with Raven against his own father. With Colby being a wrestler his career could benefit greatly from getting more involved in ROH’s lead feud and it would be the perfect way to introduce him as a permanent member of the roster.

Whether someone goes to the dark side or not I’m convinced that ‘Mr Wrestling’ will leave Final Battle victorious. He’s too talented and over for ROH not to have him under contract. I’m expecting this feud to run for a good chunk of 2012 before Steen turns his attention to Ring of Honor world champion Davey Richards. Don’t be surprised if we see a title match between those two next year. Probably at Final Battle considering Steen’s growing connection with the event.

Fave Five

ROH needs to work on expanding its roster. Since debuting on the Sinclair stations TJ Perkins, Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander have been signed to contracts by the promotion, but things are still light at the top of the card. There are currently only a handful of men who could be seen as legitimate threats to Davey Richards’ ROH world championship, and all of them are former champions.

The quality of match between Perkins and Richards would be perfectly fine, but nobody would believe for a moment that TJP could topple ‘The American Wolf’. If ROH is to grow and continue to be seen as a company which promotes competitive action more people need to be signed from the early days of ROH or who have existing star power from previous employment (i.e. WWE).

This isn’t a popular view with many Ring of Honor fans, but to think the company can prosper without an immediate injection of star power is naive. Main event talent in ROH is thin on the ground and Richards needs a healthy number of challengers to plough through before his inevitable program with Kevin Steen begins sometime next year.  

The success of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas demonstrates how well former WWE stars can do in the promotion if they’re capable of working the style and are used correctly.

I’ve come up with a list of five men currently under contract to WWE that I feel would improve the Ring of Honor product by providing new characters and feuds for fans and wrestlers alike. I’ve avoided picking guys like CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Bryan Danielson because listing former ROH wrestlers would make the exercise a little pointless: they’re already a proven success in the organisation. It’s not intended as a list of guys could sign now, more as ideas for how former WWE stars could slot into the company and improve things in both the short and long term.

So, without further ado...

Windham Rotunda – Husky Harris

Rotunda looks like a Ring of Honor champion to me. He has a physique not unlike Takeshi Morishima and Samoa Joe that would allow him to convincingly take a beating from kick specialists such as Davey Richards, and he’s big enough to be credible as a powerhouse in ROH. His status as a third generation star would help to set him apart in a company that has never been heavy on such competitors.

Give the guy a lariat or superkick as a signature move, an impressive power move as his finisher and book him consistently and I think he could get over pretty quickly. I think he would work very well in a powerful babyface role and could have very enjoyable matches against smaller men such as Andy Ridge, Kyle O’Reilly, Grizzly Redwood and, of course, Davey Richards.

Naofumi Yamamoto – Yoshi Tatsu

A mid-card division is clearly something ROH is trying to build to stand alongside its main event and tag divisions and I think Yoshi Tatsu would be a great addition. He would bring an international flavour to the company (which it has been keen on in the past) and could produce some exciting matches against stars on the rise Adam Cole, TJ Perkins and Andy Ridge as well as TV champion Jay Lethal.

Even little things such as the design of his tights indicate that Tatsu would fit in well in Ring of Honor. The federation needs all the naturally charismatic babyfaces it can get so if this guy ever gets released (not an impossibility) they should seriously consider bringing him in. He’s wasted on Superstars (but then isn’t everyone?).

Kofi Sarkodie Mensah – Kofi Kingston

I think it’s safe to say we’re wandering into fantasy booking territory with this suggestion. Kofi Kingston is a current WWE tag champion (alongside former ROH tag champion Matt Sydal/Evan Bourne funnily enough), a key part of WWE’s mid-card scene (such as it is), and one of the few genuine babyfaces the company has, Kofi would have to do something very silly to wind up in a position where ROH could hire him.

That said he’d make a strong addition to the Ring of Honor roster. He wrestles a quick style that would serve him well against the faster guys on the roster and would work perfectly in an underdog babyface role against larger guys such as Rhino, Michael Elgin and Tommaso Ciampa. I’d personally love to see him face Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards too: those are two matches that I think could be highly enjoyable.

Nic Nemeth – Dolph Ziggler

As with Yoshi Tatsu this is firmly fantasy booking territory because Ziggler has a very safe spot on the WWE roster. His matches against Bryan Danielson and Low Ki (as Daniel Bryan and Kaval respectively) late last year show that he can work enjoyable matches against Ring of Honor guys, but it would be his charisma and verbal skills that would be of most benefit to ROH.

Ziggler has improved drastically over the last few years when it comes to promos, to the point where he would likely be considered the number one talker if he were to join ROH tomorrow (his only real competition would be Corino). While it’s a company that’s never placed microphone skills over in-ring ability it’s undeniable that the ability to cut a passionate, logical promo is an advantage to any modern wrestler. Ziggler would be capable of carrying a feud with anyone in the promotion as far as non-wrestling segments are concerned, and is talented enough to produce great matches with ROH’s existing main event crew. He also knows how to carry himself as a top talent and would be able to elevate guys lower down the card.

Also he’d have to drop the Dolph Ziggler name and could use his superior real life name of Nic Nemeth. That’s a plus point in anyone’s book!

John Hennigan – John Morrison

Fantasy booking or searing insight? We’ll see in a few months when it’s revealed whether or not Morrison is re-signing with WWE.

‘The Monday Night Delight’ has something in common with Shelton Benjamin: both are ultra-athletic workers who have failed to rise above the mid-card scene in WWE due to the feeling that WWE champions should work a more ground-based, punch-kick style. Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy may have made it to the top with styles comparable to Morrison’s but they made it based on their charisma as much as their wrestling skills.

In Ring of Honor Morrison would be not be hindered by his lack of verbal skills and would be permitted to get on with what he’s good at: working exciting matches with men of all experience levels. If he reverted to being a narcissistic heel, complete with elaborate robes and sparkly tights, he would have a gimmick different to anyone else on the roster and be effective as a top heel. JoMo would be more than capable of carrying his weight in top line feuds against the Strongs, Edwards and Richards of the company, aand perhaps the world would finally get the Shelton Benjamin v John Morrison match that does both men justice.

Is it likely we’ll see these five men in Ring of Honor in the near future? No. Even seeing one of them there would seem unlikely at this point. But it’s not impossible to imagine we’ll see Tatsu and Rotunda there at some point in the future. It’s even possible Morrison will elect to leave WWE when his contract expires and turn down the inevitable TNA offer.

Whether it’s one of these men or someone else, Ring of Honor should give a little thought to bringing in one or two former WWE guys to see if they can get a ratings boost and entice more people to buy their next internet-pay-per-view. Signing someone to a six month contract as an experiment seems like a good idea to me.

Ki to Success

Homicide returned to Ring of Honor during the closing moments of last year’s Glory By Honor IX. ‘The Notorious 187’ had a staredown with then-world champion Roderick Strong, setting up what looked as though it could be an intense, long-running rivalry.

Sadly that long-running rivalry didn’t materialise. Homicide was kept waiting for a world title shot until February’s 9^th Anniversary Show where he lost a forgettable match to Strong.

Since then Homicide has been involved in an uninspiring program with the Embassy. Six months in and it’s still not entirely clear what the dispute is about. It seems to hinge on Prince Nana thinking of Homicide as a commoner. There’s been no indication that there’s more to the feud than that. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: plenty of good Embassy feuds have been based around that simple premise over the years. But with Homicide, a former ROH world champion, involved it does feel a little underwhelming.

 It doesn’t look as if the feud is going to be settled anytime soon so ROH need to find a way to spice things up a bit. The simplest way of doing that would be rehiring Jimmy Rave and Low Ki.

Rave was always a very effective heel for ROH and was at the peak of his career when paired with Prince Nana as ‘The Crown Jewel of the Embassy’. Bringing him back to the promotion would give the faction a figurehead and some legitimate star power. Tommaso Ciampa is good but he’s not ready to play the centrepiece of a heel group, while Rhino is best in his current role of enforcer.

I’m surprised Low Ki hasn’t returned to ROH already. He’s a talented in-ring performer with decent verbal skills who has always been popular with the Ring of Honor fans. He could have exciting matches with existing Embassy members Rhino and Ciampa as well as fellow proposed returnee Rave and is a logical choice for someone to support ‘The Notorious 187’.

The return of these two men would immediately create several new singles matches to keep the Embassy v Homicide feud running, as well as various tag team combinations for TV and house shows.

Not only would bringing these men back help elevate a current mid-card feud into something more meaningful it would help the promotion’s long-term prospects too. The ROH world title scene currently involves only champion Davey Richards and former champions Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong. Once the Embassy v Rottweilers feud was concluded Homicide, Low Ki and Rave would be a welcome addition to the list of contenders.

The tag ranks would also benefit from these comebacks. Rhino and Ciampa could be placed together as a regular combo and Low Ki and Homicide could reunite as the Rottweilers to go after the tag team championships (before, after or during their individual challenges for the singles gold). Either of those teams would be interesting opponents for Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and could likely produce something interesting with the Briscoes and Future Shock too.

I’d like the return of these two men to begin with Nana announcing that he has a new star who will debut at the next TV tapings to defeat Homicide. At the tapings the Embassy would come out to cut a promo against Homicide before hyping up the new man. Parade of Charioteers would play and Rave would make his way to the ring, hopefully to his customary intense heat and chants of “die, Jimmy, die.”

Rave would win the match with interference from other Embassy members, prompting Homicide to demand a tag match at Final Battle with Rave and any member of the Embassy he chooses facing Homicide and “a mystery partner.” The feud could continue on videowire updates, at house shows and in TV segments until the December pay-per-view, where Homicide’s mystery partner would naturally be revealed as Low Ki and they would exact revenge with a win over the heels (preferably Rave and Rhino to keep Ciampa’s winning streak intact).

Whether this method for the returns is used or another is devised doesn’t matter, ROH needs to bring these guys back in. It would spice up a fairly tedious feud and give the company some much needed star power while it grooms other acts for top spots. Rave and Low Ki are too good not to use.

Honorary Mentions 01.10.11

The second episode of the new ROH TV show was always going to struggle to better the first. The debut episode had featured the Kings of Wrestling versus Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (one of the company’s hottest matchups) and the ever impressive Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly beating the underrated Bravado Brothers. No matter how good episode was it was always going to be tough to top the first.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The first episode of the new ROH TV show needed to provide a strong introduction to the ROH product. Those two tag matches were all about action and showed people what they could expect from Ring of Honor.

The October 1^st entry would not have been anywhere near as effective as a debut show. The first match pitted Mike Bennett against Jimmy Jacobs, who was accompanied by Steve Corino. It was the standard Bennett affair: a match that featured about three minutes of action but ran for around ten. ‘The Prodigy’ has an impressive look and can talk well (especially by the standards of his ROH contemporaries) but wrestles a very slow sports entertainment style of match. Had this contest been the introductory match for SBG viewers ROH would have made a very bad first impression.

On the plus side there was a nice video package introducing viewers to Mike Bennett and his manager ‘Brutal’ Bob. The gimmick, which was established when Bennett debuted earlier this year, is that Bob put Bennett through a very tough training regime and subjected him to incredibly painful submission holds. The character puts me in mind of Stu Hart with less of a moral conscience.

Bennett’s Hollywood aspirations were also mentioned. This is clearly a gimmick patterned on the career paths of several wrestlers (most notably The Rock) who have left the business to become film stars. We’re supposed to hate Bennett because he’s openly planning to use ROH as a stepping stone to what he considers bigger and better things. The trouble is that his style and character fit ROH so poorly that most fans wouldn’t care if he left to make movies. The heel film star schtick only works if the wrestler in question has had genuine success outside of wrestling and was at one point a popular babyface. Right now Bennett has achieved neither of those things and so the gimmick means little.

There was also an in-ring interview conducted by Jim Cornette with ROH World tag team champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. It was announced that the Briscoes have refused to agree to wrestle the champions again unless the belts are on the line. Haas and Benjamin said they were happy to defend the gold against ‘Dem Boys’ but Cornette said ROH wouldn’t make the match because of Mark and Jay’s heelish antics.

Segments like this are fairly counterproductive. The fans want the match, the champions want the match and the Briscoes want the match, but Cornette won’t make the match. I understand it’s being done to build anticipation for the inevitable championship encounter between the twosomes but it makes Cornette look like an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing.

El Generico’s main event TV championship defence against Jay Lethal was predictably great, the only negative aspect being that the title change outcome has been common knowledge for several weeks. The bout was excellent and the crowd were into the action. They became even louder during the final moments of overtime the match was allocated which translated well to the TV audience and made enhanced the match greatly.

Frankly the overtime is something I could have done without. Extra time had also been granted to Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong in their Death Before Dishonor IX match two weeks before. Two matches getting overtime allocated to them in as many weeks encourages the belief that non-decisions and restarts happen all the time, which they don’t. ROH may think it’s dramatic and shows that they’ll always strive to have a clear winner in their matches (and they’re right, it does), but it kills the drama when done so frequently. Less is more, yes?

The show wasn’t without its faults but overall it was a good show. There were no swerve turns, no run-ins and no lengthy promos about who has booking power, a refreshing change from a US wrestling show. Bring on week three.



Honorary Mentions 24.09.11

Saturday night saw the debut of the new Ring of Honor TV show. The promotion hasn’t had a weekly television presence since the final episode of its HDNet run aired on April 4^th this year, after ROH had decided to end the partnership. It seemed an odd decision at the time but things became clearer a month and a half later when it was revealed the Sinclair Broadcast Group (essentially a television network) had purchased Ring of Honor.

Since that purchase was announced ROH has kept a low profile. Only a handful of house shows were presented over the summer, accompanied by one internet pay-per-view, presumably to give the new owners and the existing management a chance to structure the company’s future in detail. Several shows have been announced for the next few months and it looks as if ROH will be on the road far more than it has been for the last year or so. That’s very much a good thing.

One of the biggest changes introduced under the new ownership (besides a new TV show) is a revamped website. Visually the site is slick and impressive and adds to the unofficial relaunch Ring of Honor has gone through with the new show starting. I was briefly worried that the list of every title defence ever made by a Ring of Honor champion had been dropped but thankfully that’s not the case (it’s now in the Champions section under Wrestlers). That’s something that that helps set ROH apart from its competitors and I’m pleased it’s been retained. There’s even a nice little countdown to the promotion’s next pay-per-view event, which I think is a nice touch.

Anyway... This first episode itself was somewhat of a mixed bag. The in-ring action was, predictably, tremendous. But there wasn’t enough of it. In an hour-long show (with ads it got around 45 minutes of air time in total) there were only two matches and a ton of video packages. In a way I can understand the decision: the video packages weren’t there for the sake of it, they were aimed at new viewers or people who have only sporadically followed Ring of Honor until now, designed to get them up to speed with the product and the wrestlers. Making the product as accessible as possible when a new weekly show launches is sensible but a third (quick) match could have been squeezed in. Despite the high quality two matches just didn’t seem enough.

The videos introduced viewers to ROH world champion Davey Richards (who droned about wanting to fight the best and ROH having the best and failed to put the promotion over as “prestigious”), the Briscoes (who referred to themselves as ‘Dem Boys’ and told anyone who’d forgotten that they’d been with ROH “since day one!”), and Jay Lethal (who came across as very down to earth and likeable, which is exactly what the company was aiming for). It was also nice to see and hear mentions made of main events for the next two weeks: El Generico will defend the TV title against Lethal next week (Lethal wins) and Davey Richards will defend the ROH world championship against Roderick Strong the week after. Hopefully this will be a regular aspect of the show as it gives viewers a reason to tune back in each week. It’s an approach other wrestling (or sports entertainment) companies could learn from.

The show was great in the ring and that’s where it matters. The first match saw Futureshock drop the Bravados. It was the perfect opening match: four young guys in a fast paced match with plenty of high spots and near falls. It made me think of the Hart Foundation v The Rockers matches from the WWF: four young guys, two of whom are related, being billed as the future of the business. I could certainly see O’Reilly and Cole holding singles belts in the future and wouldn’t be surprised if the Bravados go on to become one of the top teams in ROH.

The main event was the Kings of Wrestling v Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. Was this ever going to be a bad match? Haas and Benjamin got another clean win over the outgoing Castagnoli and Hero in a pay-per-view calibre match. All four men were on form and showed that they’re two of the best tag teams in wrestling, which makes it all the more irritating that the Kings have left the promotion.

The show’s play-by-play and video package hosting was ably handled by former Superstars, Metal and Jakked regular Kevin Kelly with former ROH world champion Nigel McGuinness taking care of colour commentary duties. Kelly was perfectly acceptable in his roles and Nigel was incredibly impressive. He’s been known as a great promo man for years but that skill doesn’t necessarily translate well to the commentary desk. McGuinness was lively, entertaining and offered a knowledgeable insight into both matches. In short he did his job perfectly. ROH made a good call in bringing him in for the role.

All in all Ring of Honor’s new show is off to a promising start. Once things settle down and they establish a routine for their tapings they can start working in more storylines (as they were doing during their HDNet run) to add meaning to the in-ring action. I encourage anyone who hasn’t already to track the episode down online, and look out for it on Ring of Honor’s website this Thursday. It’s nice for wrestling fans to have a wrestling show to watch again.

Prestigious

“So I know what you’re here for. You wanna hear about September 17^th. Who’s Davey Richards gonna defend the title against? Well I’ll be honest with you people, I won’t be there. I will be in Japan. You see I’m the only competitor in this company that works for the prestigious New Japan Pro Wrestling. All the great juniors, Koji Kanemoto, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Tiger Mask. [stabs a finger at his chest] I have beaten them all. You see I will go there representing Ring of Honor, I will go there as a representative of this great company, because I wear this belt and it means more than just a piece of metal around my waist. It is a passion, an essence in my heart. These two men in my absence [indicates the men flanking him, Kyle O’Reilly and Tony Kozina] will carry forth that passion and that essence, along with the rest of this roster, whether I like them, dislike them, love them, hate them... We all carry fighter’s spirit in this company. So I’m not needed in New York City, you’ll be just fine without me. But know this: you will all be with me, you will be within this company while I’m in Japan. [points at the camera and whispers] The hunt’s on” – ROH World champion Davey Richards, explaining why he wouldn’t be at ROH’s internet pay-per-view Death Before Dishonor

ROH world champion Davey Richards believes that tedious diatribe (which was even more boring to listen to than it was to read) suffices as an explanation as to why he chose to go on a routine tour of Japan rather than compete on a high profile ROH show. He’s wrong.

As the company’s world champion Davey’s priority should be Ring of Honor. By talking about how “prestigious” New Japan is and choosing to go there instead of defending his title on a pay-per-view being held one week before the launch of ROH’s new TV show he made Ring of Honor look ridiculous. What made it an even more selfish move was that ROH didn’t have access to Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, Chris Hero or Claudio Castagnoli to help attract more viewers. As the champion Davey should have felt responsible for improving this situation. That he was happy to leave the promotion in this hole shows he’s not the company-minded man fans see him as.

I’d also like to point out that New Japan Pro Wrestling, despite what Davey Richards says, is no more or less prestigious than any other Japanese wrestling outfit. Davey chose to describe the company as “prestigious” in the hope that people would believe he’d been headhunted to appear for a truly remarkable organisation, making him appear more successful and a bigger star than is actually the case. Unfortunately for him this wasn’t the case: Japanese companies routinely use foreign wrestlers of all sizes. There’s nothing special about a tour of Japan (for any promotion) in 2011.

It was a less than ideal situation, created by one individual’s selfishness. But, as is usually the case in professional wrestling, things can be turned to the company’s advantage...

 I’d like to see this state of affairs develop into a full heel turn for Davey Richards. The process could begin by having Richards come up with excuses as to why he can’t compete at ROH house shows between now and the end of the year. He should only be booked to appear at TV tapings and whatever internet pay-per-views are held between now and the end of the year.

Davey’s reason for missing the house shows would be tours of Japan (if he can’t be booked on real ones then ROH could just fictionalise some). He would appear on television to make it very clear that he’d love to work more dates for Ring of Honor, but that he sees it as part of the duty of being champion to spread the promotion’s name overseas, and the best way he can do that is by working for prestigious companies such as NJPW. He’d need to use the word “prestigious”. That’s a key part of the plan.

These excuses would go on indefinitely until fans begin to notice a trend. Once they twigged Richards would change his reasons for not appearing at ROH’s smaller shows: he would simply state that they’re not “prestigious” enough for an athlete of his calibre. That would hopefully encourage fan backlash, which could be played up further by Davey saying that he’s a huge international star and that he won’t compete unless the match is to be broadcast on TV or pay-per-view.

It’s a simple story for fans to follow and ROH (and Richards) to execute and would breathe a bit of personality into ‘The American Wolf’. What I like about it is that it’s an extension of his real life personality (something wrestlers always say helps people and angles to get over): he really does love competing in Japan and wouldn’t need to fabricate his feelings. Once he’s turned heel fully he could have an extended run with a top babyface who wants to protect the “prestige” of Ring of Honor by regaining the belt and defending it everywhere, not just on bigger shows. Davey is capable of realistically facing anyone in the company, and the story could progress with ROH granting a wider variety of wrestlers title shots in their desperate quest to take their title back.

Eddie Edwards would be ideal for the top babyface spot: he could credibly say that losing the title to Richards was a blow to his pride but he at least knew the title was with someone who cared about ROH. With that clearly not being the case anymore Eddie would have a motive for feuding with Richards.

The final touch would be Davey Richards being billed as ‘Prestigious’ Davey Richards. It would fit with his character, rile fans and make storyline sense. Effective heat just for the ring announcer saying one extra word? That can’t be a bad deal.

Sadly, I can’t see ROH using this storyline or anything close to it for a long time to come. They spent a year preparing Davey Richards for a run with the ROH world championship and they’re not going to turn him heel just because some people (myself included) feel Eddie Edwards was a better fit as babyface champion, or becayse Davey opted to go on one tour of Japan over appearing on a Ring of Honor pay-per-view. It’s a storyline that would work well, but too much time has been invested into making Richards the leading man of the company.

It’s not a question of ability. He makes a more than credible ROH champion. No, it’s more a question of prestige.

By the Numbers

After watching last night’s Death Before Dishonor IX event I’m of the opinion that Ring of Honor need to cut back on their running times a little. While the show was mostly enjoyable too many of the matches felt as though they were stalling for time, and the intermission seemed to go on forever.

I’ve never had a problem with ROH sticking an intermission in the middle of their pay-per-views until last night. While the show’s graphic being put on screen during the break was an improvement on the blank grey screen we were treated to at Best in the World it still wasn’t good enough. With ROH looking to expand into new markets and attract new audiences it cannot present another iPPV featuring twenty minutes of a blank screen.

Would it really have been that difficult to knock together some promos to play during the break? Even better would have been an advert for the debut of their new TV show. That nobody in Ring of Honor is thinking of the break as a good place to get across storylines, promote lower card talent or advertise upcoming shows is worrying. They’ve paid for the air time so they should use it.

The wrestling itself was, as always, top notch. The opening match of Rhino and Tommaso Ciampa v Homicide and Jay Lethal was the only match that I felt could have used more time rather than less. Considering it featured the popular Lethal, hometown boy Homicide, and Ciampa (whom ROH clearly has big plans for) a higher spot on the card and an extra three or four minutes could have been applied to the bout. It was solid as it was though.

Shelton Benjamin v Mike Bennett was easily the worst bout of the night. It’s a shame that Benjamin, one of the most athletic men on the ROH roster, was lumbered with the glacially-paced Bennett. Far too much stalling made this a chore to watch after a few minutes. As Benjamin went over a better approach would have been to put on a quick five minute match with an electric pace, thus saving time and giving the audience something more exciting.

The slowest match on the card was followed by the quickest: Future Shock v the Bravado Brothers v the Young Bucks was a massively enjoyable match with the sort of action ROH was associated with a few years ago. You know, before they decreased the attention on quick matches in favour of giving even more time to stiff guys like Davey Richards? The Bravados got an impressive amount of heat before they were eliminated from the contest, which will hopefully convince Ring of Honor to start using them more often (the Bravados have been underrated as a heel act throughout 2011). The second segment, in which the former TNA employees faced off with Ring of Honor’s favourite tag team-on-the- rise, was excellent. With the Young Bucks refusing to shake hands with Future Shock after their win (something they are notorious for if you believe Dave Prazak and Kevin Kelly, though I’d never heard of them doing this before) I would imagine these two teams will face one another again soon. That’s a good thing.

El Generico v Jimmy Jacobs went around ten minutes before the inevitable Kevin Steen run-in. Personally I think that was too long: after that length of time the audience were invested in the match so it was irritating that we didn’t get a clear winner. They should have been allowed to wrestle to a decision or been given less time so the no finish was less frustrating for fans. Presumably we’ll get a rematch on the new TV show or at another pay-per-view within the next few months.

Steen was as bombastic as ever. Grabbing a microphone at ringside he trash talked both Generico and Jacobs before ripping into Steve Corino (who was in Japan, a fact that ROH had cleverly used to advance his “redemption” storyline). The locker room emptied to help security tackle ‘Mr Wrestling’, only for him to break free numerous times. At various points he powerbombed Jacobs onto the ring apron, absorbed a senton dive from Generico (which he hilariously no-sold, laughing as he slid into the ring to the sound of cheers), attempted a package piledrive on ROH founder Cary Silkin, and took a feeble-looking punch from Jim Cornette (which got a monster pop from the crowd). The announcers were silent during this, revealing later that they’d been instructed to not even mention his name. It was wild and frantic and the crowd loved it.

If Glory By Honor X in Chicago is broadcast on pay-per-view I expect Steen will make an appearance there too. Whether that happens or not I’m convinced he’ll be in attendance at Final Battle. It’s a little early to say for sure but I don’t think it’s impossible Steen will wrestle on the card. That would necessitate a storyline in which Cornette is petitioned by fans, Jacobs, Corino and possibly El Generico to lift the ban on ‘Mr Wrestling’ but there’s more than enough time to set them up. A Steen v Corino match at the December show could be huge.

Following the aforementioned intermission Charlie Haas beat Michael Elgin in a fprgettable, overly long bout. I’d much rather have seen Benjamin and Haas defend their titles or go against opponents better suited to their styles. Either one of them would have been a good opponent for Jay Lethal, and that would have freed up a slot as Homicide’s tag partner for Low Ki (though at this point it looks like ROH isn’t interested in bringing back ‘The World Warrior’).

The Ringmaster Challenge between Eddie Edwards and the House of Truth’s Roderick Strong was the best wrestling match on the show. That said it did deflate slightly in places due to the odd rules of the match and the lengthy running time. The first fall (pinfall only) was won by Strong after a backbreaker variant (what else?) while the second fall (submission only) went to ‘Die Hard’ Eddie Edwards (it was the first time I’d heard ROH use this faintly ridiculous nickname for him) and his Achilles Lock.

The third fall was a fifteen minute Iron Man match that saw no falls until the last few minutes. I’d expected a decision-heavy segment but what we got inside was fine. The finish was anything but fine, however: as the clock ticked down each man gained a fall on the other and the match ended in a draw. This brought out Jim Cornette to announce sudden death overtime. That got a cheap pop but it was another example of the running time of the show being overly long. Unless the match was going to end on a draw there was no point doing the draw. Had Strong refused to the overtime it would have made sense as it would have infuriated the fans and allowed Strong to play the cowardly heel. As it was it was just a waste of time.

The overtime segment was highly enjoyable, but there was nothing in there that couldn’t have gone into the fifteen minute Iron Man fall. This was another match that could have been better by having a few minutes trimmed from it.

Then came the Ladder War. Rhett Titus and both Briscoes were bleeding by the end of a match that featured so many chairs and tables it would have been more accurate to bill it as a TLC match. In the latest chapter in the storied relationship between the Briscoes and ‘The Big Apple’ a large portion of the audience decided to root for the natives of Sandy Fork, Delaware. When they’re faces New York doesn’t want to know, when they’re ruthless, aggressive heels shouting about soup they get cheers: typical wrestling fans.

As I predicted, the All Night Express finally gained a victory over the more experienced team when it counted, earning themselves a tag team title match against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team at Glory By Honor X and ending the pay-per-view on a high. This may not have been the most technical match ANX have ever participated in, but it is one of their most memorable and has prepared them for a tag title run in the near future. Will that reign start at GBH? I’ll make an early prediction and say yes.

Considering the promotion didn’t have Colt Cabana, the Kings of Wrestling, Chris Daniels, Steve Corino or ROH champion Davey Richards to use I think they put on a fine show. But if you don’t take into account their depleted roster it was merely average. I said in my preview of the show that I hope the company starts building some new stars to fill the spots outgoing stars are creating and having seen the show it’s become more apparent that they need to do that sooner rather than later.

Bringing back a few older names could give the promotion a boost too. Jimmy Rave would be a natural fit with the Embassy and would inject some much needed fresh blood into the title picture. TJ Perkins deserves a chance to wrestle for the company again. I mentioned Low Ki above, he and Homicide could spice up the tag scene and also work gripping title matches with Davey Richards. Sonjay Dutt and Kenny Omega could return to bulk out the mid-card too. The promotion has options, it just needs to make a few phone calls.

Death Before Dishonor IX was a pay-per-view by the numbers: two former champions in a singles bout, a gimmick match main event, and a mostly enjoyable but utterly forgettable undercard. WWE can afford this approach to its big shows but ROH can't. Hire some guys and build some new names: that needs to be Ring of Honor’s priority for the rest of the year.

The Life and Times of Blyler Tack

On September 11^th 2010 Colby ‘Tyler Black’ Lopez made his final appearance for Ring of Honor. Black had announced before that match that he had agreed to a WWE developmental deal and would be leaving the promotion, win or lose, after the September 11^th show. He had also declared his intention to retain the title and leave as champion. Naturally this didn’t sit well with the ROH faithful, who pelted the champion with chants of “NXT” and “FCW” as he defended the title against Roderick Strong in one of the best matches of the year.

As the outgoing heel champion Black naturally lost the match, but the biggest losers that night were the ROH fans. Black had proven himself to be a capable and adaptable performer. His promos may have needed a little work, but his wrestling was sound and he was good enough at reading an audience to know that using John Cena’s patented “You can’t see me!” hand gesture and the Five Knuckle Shuffle would get him huge heat during his bout with Strong. No doubt about it, Tyler Black was one of Ring of Honor’s most dependable all-rounders.

So what have WWE done with Black since he signed his developmental contract? What they do with practically all independent wrestlers: changed his ring name (to Seth Rollins), stuck him in Florida Championship Wrestling and left him there for a year. This isn’t anything new. It’s exactly what they did to CM Punk when he signed a developmental deal (after a storyline very similar to Black’s at the end of his ROH run coincidentally) in 2005. It’s what they’ve done to Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Bryan Kendrick and tons of other talented individuals over the years. Why do they do this? All together now...

To teach them how to work!

Yes, it’s WWE’s belief that you cannot succeed in “the big leagues” without having been taught to wrestle (or sports entertain) the ‘WWE style’. In the last five years or so only a handful of men and women have bypassed FCW and debuted straight onto the main roster. Bryan Danielson was told he would be debuting on the ECW replacement (which became NXT) when he re-signed with the promotion in late 2009, but ended up working a few FCW shows of his own volition, saying that he wanted to keep free of ring rust and stay in shape.

Kia ‘Awesome Kong/Kharma’ Stevens and Sin Cara (the original one, Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde a.k.a. Mistico) are the only other two names that spring to mind as those deemed ready for the bright lights of Monday Night RAW. In the case of Kharma WWE made the right decision: she had been ready for a spot in WWE for years. But they got it completely wrong with the former Mistico. His inability to speak English and unfamiliarity with the US style (Mexican wrestling works to a noticably different pace and logic to wrestling anywhere else in the world (it’s part of its charm)) made him the ideal candidate for FCW. That he was deemed ready despite these severe limitations puzzled most fans and time has proven that it was the wrong decision. In turn that has proven that FCW is a useful tool but not one that can be applied to every wrestler the same way.

On an edition of Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast that was recorded around the time of his exit from Ring of Honor Black joked that he would be called up to NXT and given the ring name ‘Blyler Tack’, in reference to the massively unimaginative ‘Daniel Bryan’ ring name Bryan Danielson had been given, or ‘Gaylord Hanski’, in reference to the idiotic names of NXT’s second season. He was joking but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s longing for a spot on NXT now, silly ring name and all.

Black wasn’t and isn’t the perfect worker. As I noted above his promos could be better and he is (or was when he signed) used to the more frantic pace of indy matches and the stiff style of Ring of Honor. He did need to make some changes before appearing on RAW or SmackDown but a year is overkill. That WWE have had Heath Slater, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, David Hart Smith, Tyler Reks, Trent Baretta and various other no-hopers on TV throughout 2011 without giving Tyler Black a try is both astounding and moronic... especially at a time when WWE desperately needs to create new stars for its paper thin roster. He’s a star-in-waiting, and the sooner WWE realises that the better.

Death Before Dishonor IX preview

Next Saturday Ring of Honor once again returns to New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom to promote Death Before Dishonor IX... but their world champion won’t be joining them. No, Davey Richards, who won the ROH world title at Best in the World in June, feels it’s more important that he go to Japan to compete for “the prestigious” (his words) New Japan Pro Wrestling. I can understand his desire to compete in Japan but it shouldn’t come at the expense of ROH. After all, Ring of Honor is the company that helped him make a name for himself and his decision to go to New Japan doesn’t leave ROH looking very “prestigious” does it?

Davey isn’t solely to blame for this situation. Ring of Honor were well aware of his love of Japan when they put the title on him, and they are the ones who have allowed him to go (Richards is under contract to ROH and if they told him they needed him for their iPPV he would have been contractually obliged to turn down the NJPW tour). It’s made a lot of fans wonder why ROH put the championship on him in the first place. I’m of the opinion that Eddie Edwards is a better all round performer than Richards, and he shows up to events Ring of Honor needs him at. Had Eddie successfully defended the title against Davey at Best in the World he would have made a fine centrepiece for the company and the option of a Richards heel turn would have stayed open, something I think would have worked better in the long run as it could have lead to a long, believable rivalry over the title.

But instead of showing faith in Edwards ROH cut his reign short and put the title on a man who cuts awful promos and flies to Japan at the drop of a hat.

Despite there not being an ROH world title defence (or any title defences, come to that) I think Death Before Dishonor has the potential to be a decent show. The main event is either going to be Eddie Edwards v Roderick Strong or Mark and Jay Briscoe v the All Night Express in the third ever ladder war (that’s a ladder match to you and me).

I suspect it will be the tag bout that goes on last. Part of the reason for thinking this is that the two teams have been feuding for a year now, and this is likely going to be their final collision for a while. Another part of the reason is that nothing, no matter how good and no matter who’s involved, is going to top those four men in a ladder bout. It’s going to be a hard-hitting, brutal contest that ought to provide a fitting end to the show. At least one of the men is going to take some sort of crazy bump (my money’s on Mark Briscoe) and there’s a fair chance everyone will bleed.

As the Briscoes seem to have picked up the majority of the wins in this rivalry I think it could be ANX’s turn to get a win here. A title shot at Glory By Honor X will be hanging above the ring and I think that title shot would benefit Titus and King far more than it would ‘Dem Boys’.

The Strong v Edwards match is an odd one, and given its rules it could make for a rather anti-climactic main event. What are those rules? Confusingly, it’s a two-out-of-three falls match that will incorporate a fifteen minute iron man match as its third fall, should a third fall be required (it will be). Billed as a Ringmaster Challenge, the first fall will be pinfall only and the second fall by submission only. I suspect this match will end up looking fairly odd as the first and second fall will likely get around twenty minutes combined, and then an iron man match will start and a bunch of falls will be squeezed into a quarter of an hour, ratchetting up the number of falls in the match as a whole. Both men are capable and enjoyable wrestlers but it strikes me as an odd format.

This match is to determine the number one contender to Davey Richards’ world championship. There’s an obvious problem with this: Eddie Edwards is the former champion and hasn’t been granted his rematch yet. Aren’t all champions entitled to one? Hasn’t that always been the case not just in Ring of Honor but in every wrestling company in the world? I don’t dislike the idea of these two men competing against one another for a title shot, but I don’t like the fact that Eddie’s rematch clause has been overlooked in a company that prides itself on presenting a realistic sportsmanlike product.

For that reason, and because I think Richards v Edwards is a more marketable match than Richards v Strong, I’m picking Eddie Edwards to win this match. Will he become a two time champion? It looks doubtful right now, but I’d have no problem if he did.

That brings us to the undercard of the show. The match that intrigues me most is the three-way tag match between The Young Bucks (formerly TNA’s Generation Me), the Bravado Brothers and Future Shock. Who are Future Shock? Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly. Yes! They finally have a team name! This match hasn’t been confirmed as an opener but I think it would work well as one as it’s almost guaranteed to feature loads of high spots and a quick pace. I’d like to see a Cole and O’Reilly (sorry... Future Shock) win here, to continue building the two as the promotion’s next big team.

ROH tag team champions Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas will be in singles matches on the show, against Mike Bennett and Michael Elgin respectively. Neither match is going to set the world on fire. I wish they’d been booked to defend their titles instead: Future Shock earned a title match by winning the Tag Team Lottery months ago and this would have been a perfectly adequate event to host that match. Or a foreign team (from a Japanese company, perhaps the “prestigious” NJPW) could have been flown in to challenge for the gold. Either would have been preferable to meaningless filler matches.

Haas and Benjamin could even have been worked into the Jay Lethal and Homicide v Tommaso Ciampa and Rhino match. But they weren’t and it should be a good match regardless. Homicide has been treading water for almost the entire year and his feud with the Embassy hasn’t really got the audience involved as I think ROH was probably hoping it would. That said the Rhino v Homicide match at Best in the World was an excellent brawl and indicates this tag bout could be another surprise hit.

Ciampa and Lethal are guys ROH clearly hopes will become big stars. Ciampa’s winning streak gimmick (far more convincing than TNA’s fudged attempt with Tommy ‘Crimson’ Mercer) has made him stand out and could indicate he’s being built as a world title contender for 2012. He’s got a good look and wrestles well. I think he’d have a great match with Richards. More immediately, I think this match could set up Ciampa as a TV title contender by adding a win over Jay Lethal to his winning streak.

Lethal returned to ROH in June at Best in the World and has been used effectively since. I expect he’s going to presented as one of the promotion’s top stars for the foreseeable future, with or without the TV title (which I don’t expect he’ll wear to the ring as his title victory hasn’t been aired yet and ROH is old school on things like that).

As far as a winner goes the Embassy team are my choice. In an ideal world Homicide would turn heel (not siding with the Embassy, just going nuts on Lethal after ‘Black Machismo’ is pinned) after this match: he’s so much better as a heel and it would allow him to be used against Richards and Edwards. I won’t hold my breath for that though.

Finally there’s El Generico v Jimmy Jacobs. The storyline here is that Corino was meant to face Generico but backed out of the match as he felt unable to do so due to the Steen v Generico feud Corino was heavily involved in throughout 2010. Jacobs has agreed to take his place in the match and ‘The King of Old School’ has flown over to Japan to tour with Zero1 (unlike the Richards tour this isn’t annoying because Corino isn’t the company’s champion).

This could be the surprise match of the night as both men are of a similar size and work rapid, spot-filled styles that always go down well with an audience. I’d be very surprised if Jacobs got the win as Generico is one of ROH’s most popular and loyal stars and they can’t afford to have him lose to a guy that’s just returned.

Unless, of course, that loss comes after interference from ‘Mr Wrestling’ Kevin Steen. Since his brief appearance at Best in the World Steen has announced his intention to wage war on Ring of Honor and has begun in earnest by hassling Jim Cornette and Davey Richards via Twitter (it’s not much, but it’s a start). I expect he’ll show up at DBD in some form, and before, during or after the Generico v Jacobs match seems like the ideal time. I personally hope he does show up: this is one of ROH’s most compelling current storylines and Steen is tremendous in the role of unpredictable psycho.

Overall it doesn’t look like a bad show but it doesn’t look like the greatest ROH show ever either. Notable by their absence are Davey Richards (discussed above), Colt Cabana (currently on a tour of NOAH... yep, he’s in Japan), Christopher Daniels and the Kings of Wrestling. With the exception of Davey it’s possible all of these absences are due to contractual issues. Daniels has been working for TNA and ROH simultaneously for a while now, and it’s possible his ROH deal has expired and he’s focusing exclusively on the Florida promotion.

There have been rumours going around for months that Cabana, Hero and Castagnoli are all headed to WWE. Cabana could be finishing up agreed upon dates in Japan before heading to Monday nights while Hero and Castagnoli may already be under contract. Even if they haven’t officially signed with Team McMahon it’s possible they’ve been “advised against appearing” for ROH. It’s even possible all three men are still under contract to Ring of Honor but the promotion’s simply decided not to use them. They’ve done it with their champion after all.

If this is the future of the Ring of Honor roster the company needs to put even more time and effort into creating new stars. The company is currently very thin on name talent and while everyone competing at Death Before Dishonor is capable of putting in a good performance the prospect of future shows (Final Battle in particular) missing big names concerns me.