Ring of Honor Reports
The ROHbot Report: Results, Fallout, and Thoughts about 6/27-28 Events, The Samoan Straight-Edge Era, and More
By James Bullock
Jul 7, 2008 - 9:05 AM

Hello once again from ROHbot land, with the news and the need to know for all you ROHbots out there. This week we’ll be looking at the results and fallout of last weekend’s shows (results courtesy of the ROH Forums). Everything else in italics is the news/headlines provided by rohwrestling.com (unless otherwise noted).

"Battle For Supremacy"
June 27th, 2008
Dayton, Ohio

Preshow
1) Pelle Primeau & Kyle Durden defeat The Soul Shooters in six minutes with a bridging school boy. Decent little match.
2) Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne & Ernie Osiris defeat two local talents in a fast paced match in four minutes with a modified code red.
3) Rhett Titus defeats Sam Callahan in six minutes with a crucifix bomb. OK match.

Main Show
1) Shane Hagadorn & Tank Tolland defeat Silas Young & Mitch Franklin. Tolland returned and replaced Bobby Dempsey in the match. Tolland pinned Franklin with a one armed slam. After the match Albright ran in and cleared the ring of SNS Inc.
2) Tyler Black defeats Delirious with a small package driver. Daizee Haze came down to ringside to even the odds with Allison Wonderland during the match. Allison Wonderland knocked Haze out with a purse, and Rhett Titus came down to check on Haze and carried her out.
3) Claudio Castagnoli defeats Brent Albright & Jay Briscoe when he pinned Jay with a running European Uppercut. Good action.
After the match SNS Inc. hit the ring and attack Albright. Brent gets the upperhand and clears the ring of them yet again.
4) Erick Stevens defeats Bryan Danielson with the Doctor Bomb.
5) Necro Butcher defeats Austin Aries with a chair shot in a short brawl. Aries said he didn't want to fight Necro since his problems were with Jacobs, and that Jimmy doesn't care about Necro. Aries tells Necro that he should leave Age of the Fall, but it didn't stop Necro from fighting. Aries stopped fighting back midway through and took the chair shot.
6) Kevin Steen & El Generico defeat Jimmy Jacobs & Joey Matthews when Steen pinned Jacobs following a Generico Yokuza Kick.
7) Chris Hero defeats Roderick Strong after a series of hard punches and roaring elbows. AWESOME, AWESOME match.
8) Nigel McGuinness defeats Adam Pearce following a strong lariat to retain the ROH World Championship, and become NEW NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
The call is reversed via (you guessed it) the over the top rope DQ rule. Both men keep their belts.
A huge brawl breaks out to end the night. Mark Briscoe returned, and Kevin Steen made a promise to be wearing gold by ROH's return to Dayton on the 21st of November.

Well, what did I tell you? I, like my fellow ROHbots, knew that there was no way we’d see a unification. Thankfully they didn’t go the sixty minute route, as a lot of people said the match was as average as you can get. I couldn’t imagine it going sixty. I really have a bad feeling that Mark Briscoe is coming back too soon. I don’t know what his doctor feels, or knows, so I could be just paranoid. But seeing Mark nearly kill himself so many times before, I can’t help but be paranoid for the man. Another correct prediction was Steenerico’s win. As I said in the last Report, this looks like the beginning of Steenerico’s long deserved Tag title win. A lot of people are going crazy over Danielson’s weekend. The first major loss was here against Erick Stevens. I’ll talk about it a little more after the next set of results. Last, but certainly not least is Necro vs. Aries. Aries, wanting to keep all of his anger for his match with Jacobs for the next night, simply gave up in his match. Like the Danielson situation, this played a major part of Vendetta 2.

"Vendetta II"
June 28th, 2008
Chicago Ridge, IL

Preshow

1) Josh Abercrombie & CJ Otis defeat Mitch Franklin & Kyle Durden when Otis pins Durden with a german suplex.
2) Trik Davis defeats Shane Hollister with a superkick.
3) Ernie Osiris defeats Egotistico Fantastico with a code red.

Main Show
The four corner survival becomes a tag match of Alex Payne & Silas Young vs. Rhett Titus & Delirious when Titus announces Daizee Haze as the manager of he and Delirious!
1) Delirious & Rhett Titus w/ Daizee Haze defeat Alex Payne & Silas Young when Rhett steals Delirious' pin on Payne.
2) Erick Stevens defeats Jay Briscoe with a Doctor Bomb.
3) Chris Hero defeats Pelle Primeau in a Lights Out Match. Albright interfered dumping Hero on his head, but Del Rey delivered a big shot to Pelle to keep him down for the count.
4) Tyler Black & The Necro Butcher defeat Kevin Steen & El Generico when Black hammered Steen with a chair shot allowing Necro to get the pin.
5) Claudio Castagnoli defeats American Dragon Bryan Danielson in what was described as an EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT match. Claudio dropped Dragon with the elevated European Uppercut.
6) Non-Title: Sara Del Ray defeats MsChif & Daizee Haze when Sara pinned Daizee.
Larry Sweeney is out with SNS Inc. Go Shiozaki is Pearce's mystery partner.
7) Roderick Strong & Brent Albright defeat Adam Pearce & Go Shiozaki via ref stoppage due to knees to the head of Pearce.
After the match Pearce threw a fireball at Albright and took him out.
8) Non-Title: ROH World Champion Nigel Mcguinness defeats Jerry Lynn with a variation of a roll up. Lynn got a ton of near falls and a huge "please come back" chant.
9) Austin Aries defeats Jimmy Jacobs with a 450 following FIVE consecutive running drop kicks in the corner. The match was freaking awesome. MsChif interfered at one point and misted Aries. The Briscoes and the AOTF brawled. As per the stipulations, Austin Aries gets to select the match for ROH's return to Chicago. He selects a No Disqualification match between Jimmy Jacobs and THE NECRO BUTCHER!

This had to be one of the worst weekends in Bryan Danielson’s ROH tenure in years. With Danielson losing two matches in a row (no matter how great they were, with his match with Claudio battling for match of the night), the fans have a sneaking suspicion that Danielson is putting over everyone in route of bowing out of ROH for “greener” pastures up north. I don’t think it’ll be happening as soon as most think, as I’m sticking with Danielson pulling a Samoa Joe circa late 2006. When Danielson faces Nigel for the title one more time, then I say get the streamers ready for “American Dragon’s” farewell.

Austin Aries showed that his hate was well bottled up in a brutal match with Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs seems at home in these type of matches, and reports state that it rivals (and surpasses some) his work with BJ Whitmer. Seemingly this thing isn’t over, as Aries will be taking on both Necro & Jacobs in the future. I don’t know how ROH plans to continue this saga, but this might be one of those times when one match is enough.

I was a little upset to see Steenerico not go 2-0 over the AOTF, but if they’re going to win the belts, they need to look a little vulnerable to give it some heat. That is if they are going to win the belts. Please let them win the belts.

The ROH World title match was said to be another great match, making this a must see show when it’s released. Hopefully WWI.com will be the first with the exclusive DVD review.

Let's start with 7/25 in Toronto. This is shaping up as the biggest debut show in ROH history as only 10th row ringside and general admission tickets remain. A huge rematch from last weekend has been signed. Last Saturday in Chicago saw Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli live up to its promise in a bout that Castagnoli won. Now Danielson wants a rematch. ROH didn't waste any time and it has been signed for 7/25 in Toronto. This card is just going to get better and better with McGuinness vs. Steen for the World Title, Age Of The Fall vs. Aries & Jay and now Danielson vs. Castagnoli!!!

Very rare do you see ROH doing great match-ups like Castagnoli and Danielson two shows in a row. Not that I’m complaining. I have a feeling this will be the upturn for Danielson as he gets back in the title hunt. I know Claudio is getting a shot the next night, but no one watching the pay-per-view months later will care Claudio lost the night before. McGuinness vs. Steen should be interesting with it being in Steen’s home country, and how Steen was screwed out of the belt a few months ago. I hate to keep stating that Steen looks to be going the Homicide 2006 route, with him being screwed by the champion throughout the year before finally winning the ROH World title by the end of the year. Now that would mean that he and El Generico probably won’t win the ROH Tag Team title. But think about this. What if Steenerico finally win the ROH Tag title, but Kevin Steen can’t forget getting screwed out of the ROH World title? Steen, even with gold now in his possession, is obsessed with proving that he’s better than Nigel. If it goes this way, this could be one of the most interesting chases since…Nigel’s title chase. AOTF are one of the busiest groups going with a three way feud between Austin Aries, The Briscoes, and Steenerico. Their stuff with The Briscoes are nearing a year, and I don’t know how much more they can do. I would love to see a Steel Cage match to end this feud.

ROH will tape PPV #8 in Detroit on July 26th. It will be the biggest night of Claudio Castagnoli's ROH career. He has a great singles record on PPV and now he will finally get a World Title shot in the main event of a PPV. It will be Castagnoli vs. the winner of McGuinness vs. Steen in Toronto in the PPV main event!!! Is this the night that Castagnoli finally realizes his potential?

In the previous PPVs, we’ve been built to believe Castagnoli will be the man to unseat Nigel. As a lot of you know, Claudio wasn’t able to at the Hammerstein Ballroom debut back in May, and I don’t see it happening in Detroit either.

We aren't done with news for the PPV taping in Detroit. In fact, a match has just been signed that doesn't need any hype. July 26th will see the third bout pitting Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black. Can Black finally defeat Danielson or is Danielson on his way to getting a World Title shot?

Black and Danielson have stolen the show at Breakout and Southern Navigation, with both ending with Danielson’s hand raised in victory. If you’ve noticed with all the ROH wrestlers, when a pay-per-view taping is among us, they step it up that much more. And no one has stepped it up better than Danielson and Black, with Black’s star making performance at the Take No Prisoners event still being talk about. Black not only has the weight of defeating Danielson for the first time, but living up to the performance he put on last time.    

Last Saturday in Chicago saw a shocking series of events. Brent Albright won a fall over NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce in a tag team match setting him up as the #1 contender. However, Albright's celebration was short lived as Adam Pearce threw a fireball right into his face. As a result, Albright will be forced to miss the 7/25 & 26 events. NWA officials have suggested that Pearce be suspended as punishment. ROH officials agree and Pearce will be off the 7/25 & 26 shows. However, they will both return to action on 8/1 in Manassas and then on 8/2 in Manhattan a huge match has been signed. ROH's return to the Hammerstein Ballroom will see Adam Pearce defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Brent Albright!!!

Nice to see this relationship between NWA and ROH working out well so far. Hopefully this cohesion will bring in some more tag teams, as ROH’s had gotten a little stale. As for the NWA title being defended in ROH, I have no problems with it. I know a lot of people are stating that it’s taking the place of the FIP title, but what’s bad about seeing some big time title matches in ROH? As long as they make sure the ROH title doesn’t become a second thought, then all’s good.

Brent Albright will get another shot at Sweet & Sour Inc. on 8/1 in Manassas. ROH's return to Virginia will have Chris Hero with Larry Sweeney vs. Brent Albright. This one should be very interesting.

What happened to Hero? Now that Pearce is the golden boy of S & S Inc., it seems all Hero is doing is spinning his wheels, and playing fodder to Pearce’s opponents. Hopefully this is only temporary as Hero has so much to offer, and so far it hasn’t been used to its fullest.

Another bout has been signed for the 8/1 return to Virginia. It will pit Roderick Strong vs. Ruckus!!! This brings a fresh match up to the card.

Interesting match up to say the least as we have backbreaking Strong going against flippy Ruckus. Plus a No Remorse Corps versus Vulture Squad battle. Have to say no matter how fresh of a match this is, you know that Ruckus doesn’t have a chance against Strong, who is seemingly going back to his babyface ways after Davey Richards exit of the NRC.

But the biggest news of the week didn’t involve a Ring of Honor competitor, but an ROH legend. As many (most likely all) of you know, CM Punk became the World Heavyweight champion of WWE. The big gold belt now sits around the waist of a man who helped make ROH what it is today. With this, two of the biggest stars in ROH history are world champions in the biggest companies in the U.S. Samoa Joe won the TNA World title in April from Kurt Angle to start this already memorable event. So what does this mean? ROH already posted a column on their website, stating that this was a great day for Ring of Honor as they helped two of the top wrestlers in the business become recognizable indy superstars. ROH can be looked up as a breeding ground for champions. As much credit ROH can take for helping make Punk and Joe indy superstars, there are several other people that need to be thanked. You know those twenty people that sat in some abandoned armory in the staggering California heat to witness a man named Samoa Joe attempt to make a name for himself? What about those men and women who drove through the snow to watch a young tattooed kid called CM Punk? Those people, the people who supported Punk and Joe from the beginning, the middle, and the current, who are truly the ones to be recognized as star makers. If it wasn’t for the praise of a certain friend of mine, I might not have gone out of my way to spend my hard-earned Christmas spending money on ROH tapes back in 2003. If she didn’t insist that CM Punk and Samoa Joe was the greatest thing on the indy circuit, I’d probably write them off as unworthy of my dollars. But I gave them a chance, just like the rest of you. And now we can be proud because it was our voices that pushed them to give it their all. Yes, Punk and Joe sacrificed for their own goals, but without our support, maybe their sacrifices would’ve gone in vain. Maybe our support of them got into Mick Foley’s ear to cause him to check out ROH, going up to Vince McMahon in hopes of acquiring these men. One went to Florida, the other Connecticut. But the results were the same, and we are witnessing a great moment for all of us indy fans. Similar to Wrestlemania 20, where two of the very best this business had to offer stood in the ring holding belts that we always hoped, but never saw them winning, we are staring at a moment that we’ll never see again. From a personal standpoint, I watched Benoit and Eddie Guerrero rise from the tyranny of WCW to become (officially) the best wrestlers in the world. I’ve watched Punk and Joe rise from the (then) small pond of Ring of Honor to become (officially) two of the best wrestlers in the world.

John Cena was right when he said that one day we’ll look back and remember the moment CM Punk won the World title with a fondness in our hearts. The same goes for Samoa Joe. But for the people who watched Samoa Joe when he was struggling to find his identity. For the people who believed that no matter how he looked, CM Punk was a man second to none in that ring. To those people who believed, who supported, who pushed for the money players in this business to give these men, and so many like them, a chance at a big time, thank you. I thank you as a fan, because before I knew about them, you were going out of your way to cheer or boo them. For you people who walked in the snowy streets of Chicago and the Midwest, and you people who wiped the sweat from your brow up and down the California coast, stand up and pat yourself on the back like your name is Barry Horowitz because you helped make World champions, and a memory, a moment, that will last forever.    

Well, that’s all for this edition of the ROHbot Report. Go to rohwrestling.com to check out the latest Video Wire, showcasing the events between Rhett Titus, Delirious, and Daizee Haze, as well as the reason Kevin Steen is getting a title shot, and how Davey Richards left the NRC.

For more information on James Bullock, a.k.a. Me, visit the WWI Forums (I’m under the name “jakeb”), or my myspace at myspace.com/jakeab