Sundown

What a catastrophic weekend for Ring of Honor.

I was unable to watch Night One of Showdown in the Sun myself but I’m informed by friends who did purchase the event, as well as various reliable websites, that technical difficulties made the show practically unwatchable. It’s a terrible pity that this happened on the biggest wrestling weekend of the year, when some people were bound to be checking out the ROH product for the first time. They will have been left with a negative view of the promotion and aren’t likely to shell out their money for any events in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised if some long-time fans hadn’t been driven away too.

Night Two should have opened with an apologetic statement from either Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness in the ring or a pre-recorded message from Jim Cornette. That would have gone some way to assuring fans that ROH were aware of the disappointing events of the previous evening and regretted short-changing fans. No such announcement was made… and then later on in the show the stream went dead.

Two nights ruined by technical difficulties. They are either the fault of ROH or GFL. At this point ROH ought to be looking for compensation from GFL and a new home for their internet pay-per-views. GFL have ruined far too many ROH events and clearly cannot be relied upon for smooth and uninterrupted broadcasts. If Ring of Honor is to expand as a company fans need to be able to trust that when they buy an event they will get to watch it in its entirety at the advertised time of broadcast.

Thankfully what was shown of Night Two (for the reasonable-if-the-technical-difficulties-hadn’t-occurred price of fifteen dollars) was very enjoyable. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness provided insightful commentary that enhanced the matches and the wrestlers, which is exactly what a commentary team should do. There are certain other companies that don’t seem to be aware of this.

An unadvertised match between El Generico and the newly-heel Jimmy Jacobs started the show. Jacobs (who’s ludicrous outfit reminded me of Peter Pan) had switched to the dark side the previous evening when he’d interfered in the Generico v Steen match, causing ‘The Generic Luchadore’ to lose. He revealed in a brief pre-match promo on Night Two that when he had stuck a railroad spike into Kevin Steen at the Tenth Anniversary that he had had his first “orgasm” in a year. I hope he was speaking figuratively.

It’s typical that the heel turn happened once I’d stopped predicting it.

Generico v Jacobs was a decent bout that was a little slow in places but was ultimately enjoyable. The most entertaining thing about it for me was the crowd chanting “Little Jimmy” and “Huss” at Jimmy Jacobs. Generico lost after the two men tussled over a railroad spike and Jacobs snuck in a rollup for the cheeky win.

Match two was Cedric Alexander v Tommaso Ciampa. Alexander had his tag partner Caprice Coleman at ringside while Ciampa had Prince Nana, Ernesto Osiris and RD Evans. I originally thought the match would be a quick victory for Ciampa but Alexander was allowed to look competitive and have an enjoyable match before his inevitable loss. ‘The Dominant Male’s’ winning streak continued after he hit the C&C member with two running knees into the turnbuckle.

After the match Nana performed his ridiculous dance and was accosted by Coleman. Ciampa made the save with an iffy-looking Project Ciampa. The heels went backstage as C&C sold. It was a nice heat-building addition to the show for Ciampa to leave both men battered.

The first several minutes of ROH’s TJ Perkins versus Chikara’s Fire Ant were great stuff. The two men engaged in some very fast counter wrestling that reminded me of Jody Fleisch and Johnny Storm. If they can ROH should look into bringing in Fire Ant as a regular. Sadly this match was where the stream cut out, meaning that Kyle O’Reilly defeating Adam Cole and the Young Bucks dropping the All Night Express in a street fight were missed. The stream was restored in time to catch the closing moments of Mike Bennett gloating about besting Lance Storm the previous evening. He then made out with real life girlfriend Maria Kanellis, which the crowd started out indifferent to then booed. They then entertained themselves with Daniel Bryan-esque chants of “Yes!”

The next match we were treated to was the Briscoes v Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team for the former team’s ROH tag team championship. It was an enjoyable enough match but another one that suffered slightly from pacing problems. It never seemed to reach the speed it should have done. ‘Dem Boys’ retained the gold when Jay countered the Leap of Faith (he was being held in position by Haas) and got a rollup for the win.

The former WWE employees were not happy about that and attacked the champions after the bell. Mark was disposed of and then Jay was crotched against the turnbuckle three times. That got Benjamin and Haas some healthy heat. They then posed with the belts as fans chanted “You got fired!” at them, before arrogantly strolling to the back as the champs sold at ringside.

Eddie Edwards and Kevin Steen were both met by cheers when they came out for their singles match. Steen did a hilarious job of tearing into a picture of Jim Cornette as he paced around the ring before the match, savagely whacking it against a turnbuckle and then standing on it to tear it apart. It was yet another laugh out loud moment from ‘Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare’.

Showdown in the Sun saw more memorable performances from Kevin Steen

The crowd started out split down the middle, with duelling chants of “Mr Wrestling” and “Eddie Edwards” filling the arena. The crowd’s allegiance gradually shifted throughout the course of the match with more people getting behind Edwards than Steen. ‘Mr Wrestling won them back around gradually with some impressive offence: notably a powerbomb on the ring apron and a cannonball to a seated Edwards on the stage. His crowd working abilities came in handy there too, a personal highlight being his “I have till five!” line, which prompted another “Yes!” chant.

Getting back into the ring they went back and forth for a few minutes before Steen attempted to lock in a Sharpshooter. Exhausted, he couldn’t turn Edwards into the hold, which allowed ‘Die Hard’ to reverse into his signature Achilles Lock. Steen sold that before countering with a small package for the surprise victory. He taunted Edwards as he headed backstage.

The penultimate match was TV champion Jay Lethal v Roderick Strong. This was originally scheduled to be a non-title match, but Tommaso Ciampa appeared at ringside before the contest began and said he would only return the television championship belt (which he’d been in possession of for a few weeks) if Lethal agreed to put the title on the line against Strong. Lethal agreed and the match began.

This was another match that seemed slow in places. In hindsight I think that may have been a deliberate decision designed to allow the crowd to rest up before the excitement of the main event. It was a competent match that came alive in the final two minutes: Ciampa walloped Lethal on the outside and then tossed him back into the ring where Strong his a backbreaker variant for the pinfall victory and the TV gold.

Ciampa tossed the belt into the ring before he left, causing McGuinness and Kelly to wonder what his motives were. Something tells me we’ll find out in the coming weeks.

That title change means that Roderick Strong is now the second ever ROH triple crown champion (the first being Eddie Edwards). Personally I’m never a fan of former world champions winning mid-card titles but Jim Cornette disagrees. It’s a nice accolade for the House of Truth member to have.

Fittingly it was the main event that earned Match of the Night honours. ROH champion Davey Richards defended the gold against ‘Unbreakable’ Michael Elgin in what I am convinced is the greatest match of 2012 so far. The two men put on a fantastic back-and-forth display stuffed with near falls and stiff exchanges that did a fantastic job of elevating Elgin. Richards sold perfectly, enough to make Elgin look like the dominant monster he should always appear to be whilst being careful not to harm his own image. It was a textbook display.

Elgin kicked out of some insane moves (including a super quick Shining Wizard and a top rope German suplex) and refused to tap when trapped in the Ankle Lock submission hold. He eventually went down to a kick to the head after the champ had weathered a flurry of kicks, punches, powerbombs and a series of knees to the jaw that managed to win over the fans and stir some “Elgin” chants.

After the match Richards cut a promo putting over ROH and Elgin himself, giving the younger man a high compliment by saying that he would one day be the world champion. In Ring of Honor that’s a statement that means something. He ended his speech by telling Elgin that it’s the support of the fans that gets you to the top in ROH, not the management of men like Truth Martini. Presumably that will lead to an Elgin face turn sometime in the future. I doubt it’ll be immediate though.

The matches that were on offer made Showdown in the Sun Night Two well worth watching. It’s just a shame that ROH and GFL let down their fans by not ensuring that everything that was advertised made it to air. Those failings marred two of the company’s biggest events of the year and cannot afford to happen again.

Showdown in the Sun preview

As has become tradition Ring of Honor will present shows this weekend in the host town of WrestleMania. I always think it’s a smart thing to do. Thousands of wrestling fans will be in town for ‘Mania and a large number of them will never have seen ROH live before. Many won’t even have heard of the promotion. This weekend’s shows make it easy for established fans and newcomers to check the promotion out. The pay-per-view audience is available for them too: for the two nights before WrestleMania people are going to be hungry for wrestling action and ROH is going to take advantage of that.

I’ve said before that I don’t understand why TNA doesn’t emulate this approach. I think that even more this year with WrestleMania being held just a few hours south of their Orlando base.

I’ll start this preview in the logical place: Night One.

One of the most notable matches of the weekend is Kevin Steen v El Geneirco. This will be the first time the two men have faced each other in Ring of Honor since Final Battle 2010 fifteen months ago. That match saw ‘The Generic Luchadore’ get the win in a wild and bloody mask versus career match. Steen earned his job back at Final Battle 2011. A rematch with Generico has been inevitable ever since.

I don’t expect this match to top the insane display both men put on at Final Battle 2010. I expect there to be blood and brawling but they’re unlikely to be in the main event slot this time around and the match isn’t as highly anticipated as their 2010 clash so there’s no need for the combatants to half kill themselves for fan approval. That’s a good thing because both men would, and it’s not healthy.

I’m going to predict a win for Steen here. Generico won last time around and ‘Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare’ is heading into a feud with ROH champ Davey Richards so he needs the win more.

Of all the people ROH could pit against the tremendous technical wrestler that is Lance Storm they’ve chosen Mike “Sports Entertainment” Bennett. It’s not that I dislike Bennett, I think he’s got a good look, talks well, and has a nicely rounded heel act with ‘Brutal’ Bob and Maria at ringside. It’s just that his matches typically look like they belong more on an episode of Superstars than in ROH. Couldn’t Storm have faced Edwards, Richards, or Strong instead? Storm v Steen would have been a particularly nice match too.

What we have is Storm v Bennett in a match billed as ‘Icon v Prodigy.’ I’d be interested in knowing what Sting thinks of that marketing. I’m predicting a win for Bennett in this one. As the younger star appearing for the company regularly he needs the win more than Storm does. I wouldn’t be surprised if an angle took place to set up a match sometime in the future between Storm and someone else on the roster. Perhaps that’ll be Steen and I’ll get the match I want after all.

Jay Lethal defending the ROH TV championship against Kyle O’Reilly should be a great match. O’Reilly is becoming one of the promotion’s go-to guys for upper mid-card matches, which is a good spot to be in in ROH because guys who reach that level typically crack the main event sooner or later. I think we’ll see a great match but I don’t think we’ll see a new champion. Lethal will hold onto the belt for a while longer and drop it over the summer, that’s my prediction.

The first night of the Dual Duel (the two teams will face off on both Night One and Night Two) between the Young Bucks and the All Night Express could go either way. Either each team will get one victory each, likely prompting a deciding contest at some point in the near future, or the Bucks will cheat on one or both evenings to get two victories. I think the former’s more likely so I’m going to pick a win for the Bucks on Night One and a win for ANX on Night Two.

ROH world tag team champions the Briscoes will be in a non-title match against non-entities Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste. That you’ve almost certainly never heard of Nicholls and Haste (I hadn’t either) should tell you who’s going to win. If the Briscoes lose I’ll be very surprised. This is likely to be a short match designed to allow ‘Dem Boys’ to stiff some youngsters and give the fans a nice, quick babyface victory to enjoy.

Under “Scheduled to appear” for Night One are Michael Elgin, Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole, WGTT and the C&C Wrestle Factory. From that list I can see two matches being made: WGTT v C&C and either Ciampa or Elgin facing Cole. Assuming those bouts take place I’ll predict a win for Benjamin and Haas (because they’re a very talented combo who ROH seem to like to keep looking strong) and a loss for Cole no matter which of the other two he faces (I could see him beating a random jabroni but think such a match is unlikely). Elgin and Ciampa are both getting such strong singles pushes that I just can’t see them losing. In the event of a three-way between them I’ll predict Cole getting a cheeky rollup elimination on ‘Unbreakable’ and then being hit immediately afterwards with a Project Ciampa for a ‘Dominant Male’ victory.

The main event of Night One will see Davey Richards defend his ROH World championship against ‘Die Hard’ Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong. That should be great with lots of stiff kicks and chain wrestling. These three men have been around the top of the card for around a year now and I’m surprised ROH have managed to hold off presenting a three-way for this long. I’m pleased they have though because it means there’s more history between the combatants now, making the match mean more.

I’ve said before that I think Richards is due to have a long reign as champion. He won the title nine months ago (from Edwards) at Best in the World 2011. By the standards of most wrestling companies that would be a long run but it’s about average for Ring of Honor. I expect ‘The American Wolf’ to become one of the longest reigning ROH champions ever and for that to happen he’ll need to keep hold of the belt for another six months at least.

I expect a great match but no title change.

Probably the best pure wrestling shows you'll see over WrestleMania weekend

Night Two is another strong card. The match that stands out as the most intriguing is ‘Technical Lightning’ TJ Perkins v Fire Ant. Fire Ant is a wrestler from Chikara, known for his quick pace. I’ve never seen a complete match of his before but I’m interested to see him face off with the equally speedy TJP. It should be a fun match. Expect the ROH regular to go over.

The battle between former partners Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly should be something special. There’s a YouTube match (that you can watch at this link) from a couple of years ago that gives an idea of how enjoyable their matches against one another can be. Having teamed for a while and progressed as performers I expect their match at Showdown in the Sun to be far more memorable.

It’s difficult to predict a winner because both men are linked to the Richards v Edwards rivalry that’s chugging along nicely at the top of the card. I’m going to pick O’Reilly because I think ROH has bigger plans for him in the future and I’ve predicted a loss for him in his announced match on Night One. I’d be surprised if he lost two advertised bouts in one weekend.

The Briscoes v Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team could go one of two ways. It could either be a solid pure wrestling match with the story being that ‘Dem Boys’ want to prove they can “rassle” or it could be a wild brawl with Hass and Benjamin attempting to beat Mark and Jay at their own game. Whichever way it goes I don’t think we’ll see new champions crowned: the Briscoes have found their niche after a couple of years treading water and I can’t see ROH being unwise enough to throw that away without a reason. I’d like to see the Briscoes either lose the belts to a team that have never won them before (such as ANX or the Bucks) or either Edwards and Cole or Team Richards as part of the main event feud between Edwards and Richards.

One of the final three matches announced for Night Two will be for the ROH World championship. Each match involves one of the participants of Night One’s three-way main event. Whoever enters Night Two with the gold will defend it in their match. I think that’s a neat little twist and a nice way of emphasising the “real sports” approach ROH takes with its booking.

The first potential world championship bout is Eddie Edwards v Kevin Steen. This is a match I find very hard to predict because it could go either way. Both men are important parts of the promotion’s main event picture and could realistically win this. It’s a tough call but I’ll go with Edwards as my prediction because I’ve predicted a loss for him on Night One while I have ‘Mr Wrestling’ winning his match against Generico. That seems the most logical way of approaching this match.

I actually think Steen v Edwards could be the standout match of Night Two. I’m interested to see how the fans react to each man.

TV champion Jay Lethal will not defend his title (should he still have it) against Roderick Strong on March 31^st but Strong will defend the ROH world title should he win it on March 30^th. I can’t see that happening though. Lethal v Strong is an appealing match that I expect will get a decent amount of time and finish with Strong going over.

The match I’m expecting to see finish up the weekend is Davey Richards v ‘Unbreakable’ Michael Elgin for the ROH World championship. If you want a stiff contest featuring an underdog babyface champion battling against a ferocious monster this is the one for you. Richards may not be the most charismatic wrestling champion the world has ever seen but he’s very good in matches against larger opponents. Elgin, as the monster, will likely dominate a portion of the match before Richards comes back with a flurry of kicks and the ankle lock to finish him off.

Showdown in the Sun looks like a very good weekend of wrestling on paper. Each night has something every for everyone, which is always important when booking a show you want to appeal to newcomers. That’s what these shows are designed for and on that basis I’d say ROH have done a good job so far. I predict I’ll be saying the same thing on Sunday morning: these line-ups don’t look like they can disappoint.

Predictions summary:

Night One:
Davey Richards to defeat Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong
Mike Bennett to defeat Lance Storm
Jay Lethal to defeat Kyle O’Reilly
Kevin Steen to defeat El Generico
The Young Bucks to defeat The All Night Express
The Briscoes to defeat TMDK
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team to defeat The C&C Wrestle Factory

Night Two:

Davey Richards to defeat Michael Elgin
Eddie Edwards to defeat Kevin Steen
Roderick Strong to defeat Jay Lethal
The Briscoes to defeat Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team
The All Night Express to defeat The Young Bucks
Kyle O’Reilly to defeat Adam Cole
TJ Perkins to defeat Fire Ant

Year End Awards 2011

Wrestling attracts lists. Most fans, at one time or another, will make a list of favourite wrestlers, matches or cards. Wrestling lends itself to their creation. The end of a year is a particularly strong time for such an activity, and I thought I’d get in on the action. Below are top five lists for Character of the Year, Match of the Year, Show of the Year, Tag Team of the Year and Feud of the Year. I’ve pushed the boat out a little when it comes to the best wrestlers of the year and gone for twenty. Five seemed too slight when you consider how many wrestlers there are in the world.

I should mention my criteria before you begin reading. There was, broadly speaking, a criteria but there was nothing hard and fast set out. The way I’ve attempted to rank people in each of the six fields is by taking into consideration what the promotion they work for requires of them in their position on the card. Very different things are required from someone headlining a Ring of Honor show to someone working in a mid-card spot for WWE. I’ve tried to look at how well people are using their spots and how successful they are within the parameters of the company they work for.

I’ve also made my decisions based on the matches, personalities and shows that I’ve watched throughout the year. I enjoy what little Japanese wrestling I watch but I know nowhere near enough about it to try ranking any of it. Similarly I don’t watch much TNA so their shows and performers may seem underrepresented. I rationalise by saying that if TNA put on a better product I’d watch more regularly and would be likelier to look on them favourably when I did things like this.

I’ll kick off with the top five characters of the year. These are the most entertaining and consistent wrestling personae of the year. Wrestling ability does not play a factor here (which has helped at least one man get onto the list) as it’s all about how well the men in question have done establishing their character. All the other categories should be very self-explanatory.

Top Five Characters of the Year

5. Zack Ryder

‘Long Island Iced Z’ was given very little to do for the majority of the year but got himself over using YouTube and by fleshing out the basic gimmick WWE’s writing team had furnished him with. He went from being a nobody tagging with Primo on Superstars to United States champion on the power of his charisma and savvy use of YouTube.

4. Austin Aries

Aries is easily the most entertaining thing about TNA and a large part of the reason for that is his believable and relatable gimmick. ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ has carried charisma vacuums such as Brian Kendrick and Kid Kash to enjoyable in-ring promos and displayed so much charisma that fans have taken to cheering him. TNA are incredibly lucky to have secured the services of ‘A Double’.

3. CM Punk

Despite turning face halfway through the year Punk has been a consistent character for WWE. He joined the Nexus to try and bring change to WWE, which was later his reasoning behind his famous worked shoot promo on the June 27^th RAW. That’s the sort of approach that makes wrestling believable. Punk’s naturally kept the straight edge gimmick going too, another reason he deserves to be thought of as one of 2011’s best wrestling characters.

2. Mark Henry

Yes, flabby old Mark Henry has made it into a top five for something. His wrestling has been as awful as ever but when it comes to his character Henry has done a surprisingly good job. He is very easy to accept as a guy with a chip on his shoulder and the whole ‘Hall of Pain’ thing is inspired. There’s no way anybody would have predicted Mark Henry would be as over as he currently is as the year began. The booking team deserves a lot of the credit but it couldn’t have worked without Henry’s intense promos and threatening demeanour. Who’d have thought it?

It took fifteen years but Mark Henry is finally over as a monster heel.

1. R-Truth

C’mon... can anybody else be considered as good a character as R-Truth? He’s been a revelation as a heel and made a name for himself as a paranoid schizophrenic convinced that WWE management are conspiring against him. His vast array of phrases (“Us’ta is a rooster from Brewster”, “You gonna get got”, and, of course, “Little Jimmy”) are memorable, quotable and ought to be available on T-shirts for people to buy. That they’re not could mean Truth was right about the conspiracy after all...

Top Five Feuds of the Year

5. R-Truth v John Cena
When you consider Cena's limitations (namely that he doesn't know how to make mid-card guys look like his equals or provide interviews that engage older fans) it's astonishing to think that R-Truth, a man who'd never been given a genuine chance to excel at the top, managed to engage him in a feud that interested people. But he did. Truth's schizophrenic gimmick proved a good match for Cena's valiant superhero routine and the two did a good job of preparing for their Capitol Punishment showdown. The rivalry was the launching pad for a popular character and got Cena to do some work. Very few feuds can make those boasts.
 
4. Randy Orton v Cody Rhodes
What I liked about this feud is that it was booked to capitalise on a real life occurrence: namely Randy Orton busting 'The Dashing One' open during a match on SmackDown. Rhodes cut believable promos against 'The Apex Predator', was granted victories over him and was generally permitted to look like a main event star. The two had a worthwhile clash at Hell in a Cell and tangled on various episodes of RAW and SmackDown, never producing anything less than entertaining.
 
3. Kevin Steen v Ring of Honor
ROH's lead storyline of the year was Kevin Steen's hatred of the promotion. He returned for "one night only" at Best in the World and teased a face turn, only to swerve turn on Steve Corino and get carted out of the building by security. From there he waged a one man war to get himself reinstated to the promotion, which he achieved at Final Battle.
 
It was an interesting, well planned feud that gave several people on the regular roster something to do and created a match people wanted to see in Corino v Steen. Steen's powerful mic work and convincing madman character were what made this feud succeed. The program has also allowed work to begin on a Steen v Richards feud, which ought to be a highlight of 2012.
 
2. Rey Mysterio v Cody Rhodes
Rhodes' second entry in the top five feuds of 2011. A logically booked, well-paced feud that saw a talented, established star do everything he could to get over his opponent. The promos and character development this feud gave us were superb and it provided us with several solid matches, most notably at WrestleMania and Extreme Rules.
 
1. Randy Orton v Christian
It's rare for WWE to allow two performers to go to the ring and tell a story through their match these days. It's rarer still for an entire feud to be based around competition. But that's exactly what WWE did with the Randy Orton v Christian feud. They were given the chance to produce classic wrestling matches and they did so many times. The feud eventually progressed to become more personal and took in various gimmick matches, all of which were equally as thrilling as the technical encounters between the two.
 
It was a believable and engaging feud that brought out the best in both men, portrayed them as equals and gave fans great matches and a reason to tune in. That's exactly what a headline feud should do. Orton v Christian may end being classed as a highlight of both men's careers.

Top Five Shows of the Year

5. WWE Elimination Chamber
This year's Chamber show was probably one of the most underrated cards of the year. It featured a cracking opener between Alberto Del Rio and Kofi Kingston (in which Kingston was allowed to look competitive before his inevitable loss), Edge's last great performance in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber, and an impressive RAW Chamber bout too. Even Miz v Jerry 'The King' Lawler exceeded expectations and provided something worthwhile.
 
4. ROH Best in the World
Best in the World is a boast that's thrown around a lot in wrestling these days. CM Punk, Davey Richards and Roderick Strong have all laid claim to the moniker this year while Ring of Honor went as far as to promote a show using the name.
 
It may not have been the best show of the year (it didn't rank number one did it?) but it was a solid card that didn't feature any matches that were less than enjoyable. Rhino v Homicide was a particular favourite for me, and it was great to see the promotion's top four tag teams (WGTT, KoW, the Briscoes and ANX) finally get to show what they could do in a four-way collision. Davey Richards' world title win over partner Eddie Edwards in the main event was not only the best match of the night but one of the best matches of the year, and showed why Ring of Honor has the reputation for great action that it does.
 
3. ROH Final Battle
Ring of Honor always gives its fans great action on its shows but is sometimes lacking when it comes to worthwhile storylines. When they get it right they get it very right, and Final Battle was a perfect example if that. Kevin Steen v Steve Corino and the return of both Chris Hero and Jimmy Rave gave fans something to get excited about in addition to the tremendous action provided in the ring. The highlights were the tag team gauntlet match, Strong v Hero, Elgin v Perkins and, predictably, Davey Richards v Eddie Edwards. A great show from top to bottom and definitely one worth checking out if you're unaware of ROH.
 
2. WWE TLC
Any show that sees Daniel Bryan win a WWE world championship is always going to be seen in a positive light. The cash-in took everbody by surprise and became one of those memorable moments that WWE does so well. Other highlights of the show included Dolph Ziggler v Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes v Booker T, and the CM Punk v Miz v Alberto Del Rio TLC match. The undercard matches such as Sheamus v Swagger and Orton v Barrett were kept short and sweet while the show's one dud (Big Show v Mark Henry) was more of an angle than a match. A great end to the year for WWE's PPV output.
 
1. WWE Money in the Bank
Mark Henry v Big Show took place on the best two wrestling shows of the year. How on Earth did that happen?! 

This show will always be remembered for its Punk v Cena WWE title main event but it had a solid undercard too. Two impactful multi-man ladder matches, both of which set up title wins for new stars later in the year and another excellent entry into the Orton v Christian Feud of the Year ensured this wasn't a one match show. On July 17th everything cane together for WWE and they put on their most entertaining show of 2011.

Top Five Matches of the Year

(There’s no analysis here. If you want to know why these matches are in the top five just go and watch them...)

5. Christian v Randy Orton – WWE Over the Limit (22.05.11)

4. Undertaker v Triple H – WWE WrestleMania (03.04.11)

3. Davey Richards v Eddie Edwards – ROH Final Battle (23.12.11)

2. CM Punk v John Cena – WWE Money in the Bank (17.07.11)

1. Davey Richards v Eddie Edwards – ROH Best in the World (26.06.11)

Top Five Tag Teams of the Year

5. Awesome Truth
They may not have won many matches but they won enough and were massively entertaining doing it. The pairing of Miz and R-Truth showed that acts can gain fresh life by being used as part of a team. Were WWE to take this approach with more of their established (and un-established, for that matter) stars they could get a good doubles division going and get more people over.
 
4. Air Boom
Air Boom have made it onto this list for achieving the Herculean task of making WWE's tag team scene relevant after years of downtrodden obscurity. Evan Bourne's Wellness suspension meant that it didn't last long but while it did 'The Legion of Boom' had solid matches against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger, Awesome Truth, and (surprisingly) the Usos. If WWE were smart they'd renew the push Kingston and Bourne were getting back in the autumn and build a new tag division around them.
 
3. The Briscoe Brothers
Mark and Jay had a year of ups and downs. At times it didn't seem as though ROH knew what to do with them and they were left treading water. Things picked up for them in a grizzly feud with the All-Night Express, which took in a multitude of bloody gimmick matches, and with a win over WGTT at Final Battle, providing 'Dem Boys' with their seventh run as ROH tag champs.
 
Character-wise they have been one of the most enjoyable acts in ROH. Hopefully that won't change as we move into 2012 because ROH needs all the characters it can get.
 
2. Kings of Wrestling
Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli started 2011 as the reigning ROH world tag team champions and brought their epic, year-long run at the top to a close in April when they dropped the gold to Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team. Haas and Benjamin proved to be the only tandem the Kings didn't enjoy success against as they beat everyone else in their path, taking in awesome matches against the American Wolves at Revolution: USA and Future Shock at Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter 2.
 
With Castagnoli having joined WWE and Hero recently having returned to Ring of Honor at Final Battle we're unlikely to see the Kings together in 2012. It's a real shame because over the last couple of years they've been one of the most consistent teams in the business.
 
1. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team
Ring of Honor was easily the best promotion for fans of tag team wrestling in 2011 and Haas and Benjamin were the standout team there. They enjoyed wins over many impressive duos, including the Kings of Wrestling, the American Wolves, the Briscoes, the House of Truth and the All-Night Express. They gave the young teams of Future Shock and the Bravado Brothers some of the best matches of their young careers. They held the ROH tag team titles for eight months, one of the longest reigns in the near ten year history of the belts, before dropping them to 'Dem Boy's in a great match at Final Battle. 

Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin have finally found the success they deserve thanks to Ring of Honor.

Haas and Benjamin have slotted into Ring of Honor incredibly well. They've finally found the success in wrestling that they've deserved for many years and I hope it continues throughout 2012.

Top Twenty Wrestlers of the Year

20. Jay Lethal
After wasting the first half of the year in TNA Lethal returned to ROH and received a healthy push that saw him capture the TV title from El Generico and drag Mike Bennett to his most enjoyable outings of the year. If he keeps hold of the gold for a while he could make it a meaningful championship. Expect to see him at the top of the card throughout 2012, but don't look for a world title win from 'Black Machismo' any time soon.

19. Kenny Omega
He worked brilliant matches against a nine-year-old girl and a sex doll. What more do you need?!

18. Tommasso Ciampa
The Embassy's new 'Crown Jewel' is undefeated in Ring of Honor. That's a streak (there's a somewhat overused wrestling term) that includes victories over Colt Cabana, former world champion Homicide and former Embassy centrepiece Jimmy Rave. Pairing Ciampa with heat magnet Prince Nana is a great move by ROH: it allows him to become a prominent heel in the organisation without exposing his inexperience.

17. Michael Elgin

The House of Truth’s resident monster has had an impressive first year on the Ring of Honor main roster. He’s been a part of impressive matches against the likes of Chris Daniels, El Generico, Andy Ridge and ROH world champion Davey Richards. He’s been particularly impressive in tag bouts alongside stablemate Roderick Strong, facing the likes of WGTT and the American Wolves. As the winner of the 2011 Survival of the Fittest tournament Elgin will challenge Richards for the world championship at some point during 2012. He’s not likely to win but it’ll be another chance to elevate Elgin towards the top of the card.

16. Austin Aries

‘A Double’ spent the first half of the year working for a handful of independent promotions and contemplating his future in the wrestling business. In June he resurfaced in TNA as part of their short-lived attempt to reenergise the X Division. While Bischoff and company quickly lost interest in that venture Aries secured himself a job with impressive showings on IMPACT Wrestling and at Destination X. He’s been the X Division champ for the past four months and would be the ideal candidate to spearhead a resurgence of the Division should TNA decide to give it another shot.

15. Claudio Castagnoli

The man now wrestling as Antonio Cesaro in Florida Championship Wrestling was one half of the longest ROH tag team title reign ever. That came to an end on April 1^st, 364 days after the Kings had beaten the Briscoes to become two time champions. In addition to that prestigious accolade Claudio worked multiple matches against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and the American Wolves, and had memorable singles clashes with Davey Richards (at Defy or Deny) and Shelton Benjamin (at Supercard of Honor VI).

Claudio Castagnoli, currently uppercutting his way through the FCW roster as Antonio Cesaro.

It would be great to see him on WWE television in 2012 but the treatment of Tyler Black makes that look unlikely.

14. Chris Hero

In addition to the Kings of Wrestling’s accomplishments listed for above the duo also beat Homicide and Hernandez in an action packed battle at Manhattan Mayhem IV and successfully retained their gold against the All-Night Express at the 9^th Anniversary Show. As a singles wrestler Hero’s biggest matches were both losses: he was the first man to challenge Eddie Edwards for the world title at Revolution: Canada and he came up short in his return bout opposite Roderick Strong at Final Battle.

The rumoured move to WWE appears to be off the cards for now, but that’s not all bad. At least we still get to see ‘That Young Knockout Kid’ in ROH.

13. Kofi Kingston
Kofi accomplished a deceptive amount this year. Not only did he capture the tag team titles alongside Air Boom partner Evan Bourne but he also beat Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental strap, Sheamus for the United States gold and had a memorable clash with Alberto Del Rio at Elimination Chamber.

12. Roderick Strong

‘The Messiah of the Backbreaker’ begun 2011 as the ROH world champion, embroiled in a forgettable feud with Homicide. He held the belt until dropping it to Eddie Edwards in an amazing match on March 19^th, having defended it against Jay Briscoe and El Generico during the spring. He was involved in very good matches with Edwards and Davey Richards throughout the rest of the year, sometimes alongside Michael Elgin in tag matches. After a few unfocused months Strong ended the year on a high by picking up a win over the returning Chris Hero at Final Battle.

11. El Generico
'The Generic Luchador' was one of Ring of Honor's most reliable stars throughout 2011. He was called on to put over Roderick Strong in energetic clashes early in the year, which ultimately led to a feud with the House of Truth. He toppled Christopher Daniels at Best in the World to become the Television champion and dropped the belt in a great match to Jay Lethal a few months later. With 'Mr Wrestling' Kevin Steen back in ROH 2012 should provide Generico with a renewed focus and perhaps a renewed rivalry.

10. Kurt Angle

Angle’s professionalism and ability shone through during 2011 despite TNA’s utterly inept booking. He did a solid job of elevating both members of Beer Money Inc. into the main event scene, worked entertaining matches with fellow veterans Sting and Jeff Jarrett and was generally TNA’s most dependable worker.

9. Eddie Edwards

In my opinion the title reign of ‘Die Hard’ Eddie Edwards should have lasted far longer than it did. He has far more personality than Davey Richards and fans seemed genuinely happy to see him as champion, whereas I think some feel that they should support the Richards title run because ROH did such a good job preparing for it. ROH wants to build around Richards though. I can understand that, I just don’t agree with it.

Edwards wrestled superior singles matches against the likes of Chris Daniels, Roderick Strong and Chris Hero, as well as excellent tag matches against the Kings of Wrestling, House of Truth and Future Shock as the American Wolves. His best matches of the year were against Davey Richards at Best in the World and Final Battle. If there were any justice in ROH Edwards would be a two time world champion right now. But there’s not.

8. Daniel Bryan

The originator of the ‘Best in the World’ moniker started the year with a top notch showing in the Royal Rumble match and then... disappeared. Between January and July Bryan didn’t do much worthy of note besides drop the US title to Sheamus and get bumped from the WrestleMania card into a pre-show battle royal.

When July rolled around Bryan made a triumphant return to pay-per-view by snatching the dangling briefcase in the SmackDown Money in the Bank match. He wrestled a good but ultimately pointless match against Wade Barrett at SummerSlam and then disappeared again, resurfacing a couple of months later to become a part of the Big Show v Mark Henry feud. At TLC he cashed in his title shot and beat Big Show for the World Heavyweight title under a minute after the ‘World’s Largest Athlete’ had won it.

Did anyone ever think we’d see a year ending with both Bryan Danielson and CM Punk wearing WWE world titles?

7. Cody Rhodes
This was 'The Dashing One's' breakout year. He started with a memorable feud against Rey Mysterio, which provided him with a more serious gimmick and a chance to show what he could do with the spotlight. Later in the year he captured the IC title from charisma vacuum Ezekiel Jackson in a surprisingly good encounter. As 2011 draws to a close WWE management clearly see a bright future for Rhodes. He was booked strongly in his program with Randy Orton (see Feuds of the Year) and has recently wrestled great matches with the semi-retired Booker T. Still the reigning Intercontinental champ 2012 is expected to be a huge year for Rhodes.

6. Alberto Del Rio
ADR had one of the strongest years of any WWE wrestler ever. He was consistently good all year and wrestled in the main event of multiple pay-per-views. He won the Royal Rumble (the biggest ever, if such things mean anything to you) and RAW's Money in the Bank. He wrestled for the World Heavyweight championship at WrestleMania XXVII. He won the WWE title. Twice. Imagine how good his year would have been if WWE hadn't taken the stop-start approach with his push.

5. Davey Richards
The current Ring of Honor world champion is lucky he isn't relied upon to produce sterling promos. His intense diatribes about prestige and the importance of training fit right in in ROH but would be out of place in either of North America's other major promotions. Davey Richards is good at one thing: wrestling. 

The man Ring of Honor will be built around throughout 2012.

 ‘The American Wolf’ has enjoyed cracking matches all year long. From his bouts against Colt Cabana, Claudio Castagnoli, Roderick Strong, Christopher Daniels and the Kings of Wrestling (alongside American Wolves partner Eddie Edwards) in the spring to his matches later in the year against Michael Elgin, Future Shock (again alongside Eddie Edwards) and the House of Truth. That's without mentioning his two amazing outings opposing Edwards for the ROH world championship. Each match was phenomenal and has cemented Richards as the most dominant ROH champ since Nigel McGuinness.

4. CM Punk
2011 was a year of two very distinct halves for 'The Second City Saint'.
 
Up until the end of June Punk was killing time as a mid-card heel and leading the forgettable New Nexus faction. Aside from a memorable performance in the Royal Rumble match and above average pay-per-view showings against Randy Orton he did little of note.
 
Then he cut his famous worked shoot promo on the June 26^th RAW and quickly morphed into a babyface. From there he won the WWE championship from John Cena in an electrifying match at Money in the Bank, briefly left the company (supposedly), returned to beat Cena in a slightly-less-impressive SummerSlam outing and bombarded us with promos about how he wanted change for the better while behaving like every other WWE headliner of the past decade. He got it done where it matters though: in the ring. He wrestled enjoyable bouts against Triple H, Alberto Del Rio, Miz, Dolph Ziggler and R-Truth and established himself as one of the company's most reliable main event stars.

3. Christian

Christian returned from an injury in February and became World Heavyweight champion in May. Would that have happened if his childhood friend Edge hadn’t retired? We’ll never know but I have my doubts. I suspect the original plan was to have ‘The Rated R Superstar’ drop the title to Alberto Del Rio at Extreme Rules or Over the Limit after interference from ‘Captain Charisma’, which would have set up an Edge v Christian feud. That feud never got the run it deserved.

Instead Christian was chosen as the lead heel of SmackDown for the summer and enjoyed an epic run against mega-face Randy Orton. ‘The Viper’ and ‘The Instant Classic’ provided WWE fans with some of the best matches of the year during their rivalry and told a great tale during their four months working with one another. Christian’s follow-up program with Sheamus was never going to top the title feud but it was enjoyable enough for what it was.

Sadly the year will end with Christian benched due to another injury but he should be back in early 2012. Maybe he’ll get “one more match” then.

2. Randy Orton
2011 has probably been the best year of 'The Viper's' in ring career. He's had enjoyable feuds with CM Punk, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett as well as a scorching Feud of the Year with Christian. He even dragged two passable matches out of Mark 'The Shark' Henry. You know someone's good if they can do that.
 
'The Apex Predator' has also displayed the ability to beat wrestlers lower down the card without making them look weak. It's a rare skill in WWE and something Orton deserves much praise for. It could be said that his promos aren't what they could be. It's a fair point: for a main event talent in WWE Orton doesn't talk much. But that's part of his gimmick and when he is required to cut a promo he can handle himself well enough.

1. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler started the year strong with a World Heavyweight championship victory over Edge and improved as the year progressed. He captured the US title from Kofi Kingston in one of the highlights of the otherwise dull Capitol Punishment in June and held it for an impressive (by modern WWE standards) six months before dropping it to Zack Ryder in the red hot opener of TLC. 

Best in the World. Ziggler is the best wrestler of 2011.

  
Over the last several months Ziggler has become one of the company's premier workers, making a success of every opportunity sent his way. His verbal skills are fine for his spot on the roster, he takes the best bumps in the promotion and he can work an enjoyable match just as easily against super workers Randy Orton and CM Punk as he can against lumps like Mason Ryan. Having become number one contender to CM Punk’s WWE title on the final RAW of the year it looks as though Ziggler could to start off 2012 in the same way he did 2011. That would be no bad thing.

Forget Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan, right now it's Dolph Ziggler who's 'Best in the World'.

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?

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.