ROH Live Event @ WrestleReunion 4 - Los Angeles, CA results 1.29.10
1. El Generico & Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana over "The Professional" Scott Lost & Scorpio Sky when Generico nailed Sky with a Yakuza in the corner and Colt hit the Colt 45 for the 'W'.
2. Anything Goes Match: The Necro Butcher over Erick Stevens when Joey Ryan hit Stevens with an errant shot from a Stop Sign and allowed Necro to get the 'W'; Embassy laid a beat down post-match.
3. Pick 6 Challenge Match: #5 Roderick Strong over Delirious following a Gibson Driver.
Attendance estimated now at 500-600.
4. Tyler Black over Joey Ryan when Black reversed The Moustache Ride into God's Last Gift for the 'W'.
5. Grudge Match: Jerry Lynn over Kenny King with an inside cradle; match was all over at times including a Lynn running dive over the guardrail onto King in the crowd. King nailed a cradle piledriver only to see Lynn get his foot on the ropes. King attacked Lynn post match. Lynn ducks a chair shot and Cradle Piledrives King on the chair!!! Todd Sinclair reverses the decision to give Kenny King the 'W'.
6. Wrestle Reunion 4 Special Attraction Match w/ Special Referee Jonny Fairplay: "Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko over Scotty 2 Hotty after a quick pinfall count by Fairplay. Post-match Scotty goes for the W-O-R-M on Fairplay, Colt is out, bulldogs Scotty and hits the W-O-R-M on Scotty himself. Follows up with a Stinkface on Fairplay!!!
7. "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen over The Human Tornado after a Package Piledriver; post-match Steen locks on a facelock and Cabana comes out for the save, but Steen releases it and walks off through the crowd.
8. Non-Title Challenge Match: ROH World Champion Austin Aries over Jushin "Thunder" Liger after a ref bump, low blow and Brainbuster.
9. Eight Man WAR Tag Team Match: The American Wolves of Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards & The Kings of Wrestling: "That Young Knock Out Kid" Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli over ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe & The Young Bucks of Nick & Matt Jackson when Eddie Edwards forced Nick Jackson to tap out to a single leg crab. Described as an awesome match.

You know what, I really feel bad for this show. It was ROH’s return to California, with a very solid card. But with everything going on, a lot of the hype was missing. As for the results, everything made sense except for one ending-King’s win. Okay, I understand when Bret Hart made Jerry Lawler submit in the Sharpshooter at Summerslam 1993; but Hart refused to relinquish the hold, forcing the referee’s hand through reversal of his decision in anger of Hart disrespecting the authority of WWF officials. That makes sense. To have Jerry Lynn lose his win because he was defending himself after the match is crazy. Lynn didn’t win, go outside, grab a chair, and use it against the referee’s orders. I understand that they want this feud to continue, but they could’ve easily come up with a better ending (Lynn’s rage overtakes him after the match. He grabs the chair and goes crazy, causing officials to restrain Jerry, and the ref reversing the decision due to Jerry’s lack of honor and disrespect of authority. Lynn screws himself, King goes out with a tainted win, and Lynn has a real reason to redeem himself).
Another match that could’ve had a better ending was Aries vs. Liger. That’s not to say I wanted Aries to go over Liger clean. I’m just saying that ref bumps are the epitome of lazy booking. I loathe ref bumps, and one of the things that always made ROH special was the avoidance of them. Once again, another, better, finish could’ve been implemented here with the same results (a battle of the Brain Busters leads to Aries cradling Liger, pinning Jushin with a pair of boots on the ropes out of the ref’s line of sight). I must commend Liger for taking a loss here. Liger is one of the few in the old guard that gets it. His legacy is in tact, and a loss to a top-level wrestler in America won’t hurt him the eyes of his fans in the least. He gives a little rub to Aries, makes a butt-load of money off of autographs and photos, and goes back home still revered.
When Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Larry Z was announced, I was a little upset. No disrespect to either man, but that match just doesn’t epitomize ROH in the least. While it was probably a time-waster, reading the post-match hijinks is enough for me to say it was a great post-intermission match to get the fans back into the show.
The main event had no choice but to be awesome. Look at the names involved. I really can’t wait to see this match when the DVD goes on sale. Another thing I’m looking forward to is Steen and Cabana’s interaction, which is just incredible sounding from the way its read. Hopefully this thing plays out like the epic I think it can. Hopefully ROH can make it to California on its own one day, and make a success out of it. Until then, leave them wanting more.

Human Tornado vs. Steve Corino has been added to the ROH 8th anniversary show on 2/13 at the Manhattan Center, as has a tag title bout with The Briscoes defending against the Dark City Fight Club.

When it was announced that Human Tornado was coming back to ROH, I expected his first match to be with someone that could match the sheer hilarity he brings with him; maybe someone like Rhett Titus. Now that’s not to say Corino isn’t a funny guy. He’s just funny in his own way, usually in the form of his fabulous promos. They should have a good match, but the hope of Tornado getting some wins under his belt in ROH is looking slimmer than Tornado is.

As for the Tag title match, this was a dream match for me when the Dark City Fight Club proved what kind of force they are after a series of impressive squashes and competitive matches on HDNet. Then ROH went off, and had a match between the two teams when nothing was on the line, ending with an HDNet no contest, then a Briscoes win in December. While this is still a first time encounter between The Briscoes and DCFC over the belts, it’s not the incredible first time battle between the two teams that I was hoping ROH would save for an occasion like this. I guess I’m just nitpicking, because like Tornado and Corino, it should be a real good match between two of ROH’s premier teams.

Ring of Honor's debut in Charlotte, NC at the Grady Cole Center on April 3rd will be the company's second internet PPV . "The Big Bang!" explodes as Ring of Honor debuts in the Carolinas on April 3, 2010 at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, and we're proud to announce a working relationship with Ruben Zamora of Masked Republic. Zamora's extensive history with the stars of Lucha Libre has proven a valuable commodity to many on the American pro wrestling scene, and it is this partnership that will bring many freelance stars of the Lucha world to Charlotte in April. The legendary Blue Demon, Jr. has already been announced, and we're proud to announce that the "La Reina del Ring", "El Exotico" Cassandro will also be on hand for "The Big Bang"! Cassandro has dazzled audiences all over the globe with his one-of-a-kind stylings, and he will bring that and more to ROH! What will the "Queen of the Ring" unleash on the Queen City? No stranger to the world of Lucha Libre, Super Parka has signed on to compete in Charlotte! Tickets go on sale for this huge event on February 15th! For more, visit http://rohwrestling.com/news/Article.aspx?id=3191

I honestly didn’t realize until I read this that “The Big Bang” is happening one week after Wrestlemania. Now I know a lot of people will be questioning why ROH would have a pay-per-view-no matter the price-the week after Wrestlemania. In all honesty, I don’t think that’s a problem. The problem is the ROH’s schedule structure for those couple of weeks. Wrestlemania weekend is obviously a huge weekend for wrestling fans; that’s a forgone conclusion. But Ring of Honor has built up a great reputation of putting on some of the best shows of company’s year during the very same weekend-usually under the “Supercard of Honor” banner. But with a pay-per-view happening just seven days later, you have to wonder if ROH will hold back for the bigger show? Will the huge imports, feud finales, and historic title changes that have become synonymous with the Wrestlemania weekend shows happen in 2010? The hope from yours truly is that Ring of Honor pulls off a series of excellent shows like we haven’t seen since 2006’s Milestone Series. If everything works out right, this could turn into one of the most memorable weeks in recent ROH memory not involving the exit of a huge name.
Speaking of huge names, Blue Demon Jr. is making his return to Ring of Honor competition. While Blue Demon is worthy of the praise thrown upon him by many, the Blue Demon that showed up last year for ROH’s Wrestlemania shows wasn’t very impressive. It could be easily blamed on the matches they stuck him in. He was touted as a big deal, but was given a raw deal during those events. I mean, the guy didn’t even get an entrance during the “Take No Prisoners” PPV taping, and only wrestled for five minutes in a losing effort. Hopefully he’ll get a better chance to showcase the skills that have made him very popular in Mexico and the NWA instead of looking like an over-the-hill luchador who shouldn’t be in the ring in a one on one situation.
Super Parka is another veteran of lucha libre making his way to Charlotte for the show. For those who know the last name, know that Super Parka is the uncle to luchador standout and former WCW cruiserweight, La Parka (L.A. Parka). So if you know what to expect from La Parka, you know what to expect from his Superman logo-wearing uncle.
As for Cassandro, I really don’t know how well his gimmick will go over in Ring of Honor. For those who don’t know, Cassandro does a gimmick that would make the late “Adorable” Adrian Adonis blush. Actually, his gimmick makes Goldust in 1996 look tame. That’s not to say that ROHbots are homophobes. Hey, we loved BxB Hulk’s dancing. But Hulk made you forget about his pageantry when the bell sounded. Cassandro won’t let you forget his gimmick in the least. Who knows, against the right opponent (maybe Rhett Titus), it could be one of those hilarious ROH moments that I’ll definitely be watching years from now. The sad thing is, like with most imports for ROH shows, these three men will probably be clumped together so they can be in a more controlled environment of a match.

According to Pwinsider.com, Ring of Honor has filed a lawsuit against Ric Flair, alleging that Flair owes the company over $40,000. The suit was filed this past Thursday in Bucks County, PA.
ROH says that Ric Flair was signed to make five appearances for the company, at $10,000 per appearance. Flair did not make the appearance in Montreal in July of 2009, and failed to repay the $10,000 that was paid to him for the event. Also, the suit alleges that Flair came to terms with the company to appear in an authority figure role on the ROH TV show. Flair was paid $35,000 for the TV appearances and only made one appearance. The second taping is when Flair showed up, and made a brief announcement to the crowd that he was resigning due to his relationship with WWE.
The belief was that Flair was going to use his relationship with ROH so that his son Reid could work there and continue his pro wrestling education. Those plans never happened, due to Reid being arrested on several drug charges last year. At this time, ROH has made no official comment on the deal.

I have a ton of respect for Ric Flair as a wrestler. I can’t say I’ve lost respect for him as a human being because I don’t personally know Flair. But as a businessman, I don’t have much love for Ric. The man has shortchanged many a person since his WWE in-ring retirement, and ROH is just one of those people/companies that have tasted the raw deal known as “Ric Flair.” As much as I blame Flair for being a shoddy businessman, I can’t help but wag my finger at ROH for thinking that Flair would choose ROH over WWE, even if he had been paid. With a TV show, they had to know that WWE would come calling sooner than later to bring him back to the fold. And when Flair left, ROH should’ve known that Flair wasn’t giving that money back. By the time it entered his hands, it was probably already gone to something, or someone else. I have a bad feeling that this is the first of many suits for “The Nature Boy”. And unfortunately, the money he’s getting from TNA has no chance of making him safe to live the life he used to know.

Ring of Honor is proud to announce that Davey Richards has signed a contract renewal. Davey Richards is the first talent announced a gigantic weekend of action for Ring of Honor in Phoenix, AZ on March 26th and 27th. Richards will also be appearing in Philadelphia on February 5th and 6th, New York City on February 13th, Dearborn, MI on March 19th, and Mississauga, Ontario on March 20th, and will be a part of our debut in Charlotte, NC on April 3rd.

A lot of controversy hit when Davey Richards had been pulled from both future Dragon Gate: USA and EVOLVE events. Even weirder is the fact Richards is part owner of EVOLVE with Gabe Sapolsky. Then the news came out that Davey Richards has signed a new contract with ROH. Unlike many of the contracts attached to Ring of Honor wrestlers, it seems this one is pretty much company exclusive as you can get this side of WWE or TNA. When the announcement of EVOLVE’s creation came forth, I stated that Davey would be stretching himself thin by working as a top level performer in ROH, EVOLVE, and Dragon Gate: USA; forcing him to choose one company over the other eventually-as was the case with him going with Dragon Gate over ROH for Wrestlemania weekend. I didn’t have a problem with Davey doing whatever he felt would make him a bigger, more respected wrestler. I also didn’t have a problem with Davey making as much money as possible by working all three companies. Well, ROH decided to drop the money hammer seemingly, and now all the work Dragon Gate and EVOLVE did to set Davey up as one of their top stars has gone down the drain. Unlike the Flair fiasco, I can’t put any blame on ROH for this. They know how valuable Davey is now (and will become if he continues down the path he set over the course of his career), and they want to make sure that anything big that’s coming to or from Davey Richards is happening under a Ring of Honor banner.

Ring of Honor will be holding a special training seminar and tryout camp on Sunday, March 7th, 2010, from 10AM to 7PM. It will take place at ROH's headquarters and training center in suburban Philadelphia. The seminar is being spearheaded by new ROH on HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette, to serve a variety of purposes.

Just wanted to give a heads up to any of you ROH hopefuls. Make sure you check out the ROH site for all the information to apply, but do it fast because I’ve heard not too many spots are left.

Ring of Honor Wrestling is proud to announce the addition of a new secondary singles title – The ROH World Television Championship – into active competition. Beginning February 5, 2010 as part of the next HDNet National Television tapings in Philadelphia, Ring of Honor will host an 8-Man Championship Tournament to crown the inaugural champion.
The matches will take place during the next set of TV taping, which will be held on February 5th and 6th.
* Kevin Steen vs. Rhett Titus
* Colt Cabana vs. Eddie Edwards
* Davey Richards vs. Delirious
* El Generico vs. Kenny King

First off, this is a great move by ROH. I’ve been saying for years that the company needed a secondary title for the vast number of singles competitors to fight for after the Pure title was absorbed into the World title in 2006. Pride can only go so far when it comes to wrestling. And big, gold shiny presents are usually more important to any wrestler/fighter than pride. Or that’s how it’s supposed to be. As I said, ROH needed a secondary singles title, and being on TV now, a TV title is most logical choice. Almost a year ago, I wrote about how back in the days of old, the World title was never defended on free television. From that mindset came the birth of the Television championship so TV taping attendees wouldn’t feel ripped off in never being able to experience a title match even though they are some of the most important fans a company could have. But this title can be different. Yes, it can be the reward to those fans that aren’t able to see the big events or big title matches in other states. Yes, it can make World title matches on TV uncommon, thus making the defenses come off as bigger deals than just some random title match against some random challenger(s). The most important thing this title can do is propel someone to a position that they look like a credible World title contender.
When I first read the announcement, I instantly thought about Kenny King. Very few of people have excelled in ROH since the company got a TV deal as well as King; and him becoming the new TV champion would be perfect to put him over the top. Then the tournament field came out. With Davey Richards on the same end as King, King’s chances of coming out a champion seem bleaker than his King’s usual tag partner, Rhett Titus. Now there’s a possibility that King could cheat his way to a victory, but with The American Wolves losing the Tag title, and the signs of a breakup between the former champs (Richards vs. Edwards final, maybe), everything is looking good in Davey’s favor to get him ready for the ROH World champion.
Earlier, I talked about ROH saving moments from its Wrestlemania weekend shows for “The Big Bang”. Well, one huge moment could be a new version of Gabe Sapolsky’s dream of a champion versus champion match between two of the biggest names currently in ROH. While it’s no Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles, it would be a pretty interesting sight to see TV champion Davey Richards facing the ROH World champion. With Aries screwing Davey a few months ago out of the World title, and Davey taking the hearts of ROHbots everywhere like Black did in 2008, no matter the World champion, ROH would certainly have a big bang of a main event in Charlotte.
Or I could be dead wrong. There are two names sitting opposite of each other on the brackets that could make for an epic finale. And those names are Kevin Steen and El Generico. Neither man seems to be forcing a match with the other yet, and the tournament could put them in a position where the former partners will finally clash. All in all, I’m really digging the richness of possibilities for not only a champion, but also an incredible tournament end. Who knows, it could be Delirious walking out of this thing with the belt.

From Erik and Pwinsider.com: Ring Of Honor has just signed a deal with Dahlia TV here in Italy and, approximately in February, the channel (which is a pay-TV available on Digital Terrestrial) will start broadcasting ROH on HDNet plus a series of specials about the best of 2009 from Ring of Honor.

Any growth is good growth, especially when it comes to TV. Its hard to say if ROH will ever travel abroad to do a show again, but you know if ROH gets a big enough reception via the TV show, it might be wise to look in to going overseas. ROH has done Europe and Japan, and Italy can be just as prosperous as those international events (maybe even more so when it comes to the pro-wrestling starved country).
Well, that’s not the only thing about ROH TV being covered here today. Lets see what happened on this week’s edition of ROH on HDNet.

ROH on HDNet 1/25/10 Quick Results:
The Briscoes defeated Up In Smoke
Skullkrusher Rasche Brown defeated Bobby Shields
Kenny King defeated El Generico

Right:
The Opening, Talky, Thingy Bit: After recapping the main event of Final Battle 2009 over again, we were greeted by Executive VP Jim Cornette. Cornette brought out Tyler Black and ROH World champion Austin Aries to talk about how each felt about their match. Black put over the fact that he had been robbed while nicely addressing the fans turning on him after choking so many times in World title matches. Instead of looking like a whinny baby, Black turned it up, proclaiming that if given a real fight against Aries instead of being forced to chase Austin, he would win the belt. Aries followed up by telling Black that Tyler had the chance, and couldn’t take advantage of it, so that meant no rematch. Well, Aries didn’t have the final say, with Cornette announcing that at the 8th Anniversary Show on 2/13, Aries and Black will fight again. But this time, judges will be at ringside if this one goes to a draw to decide a winner. All three men talking would have the chance to pick a judge by the end of the evening. Ring of Honor rarely opens up its shows with a promo segment, but when they do, they attempt to do it very well. This was a great example of that as all three men got their points across in a timely fashion, while giving us something to look forward to before the night’s end. Another thing I can’t help but point out is Black’s growth on the microphone. For the first time since I can remember, Black didn’t stumble over his words or come off as awkward at all. Nor did Black give us one of those babyface promos that make you want to slap him on the back of head like he cut after Final Battle. For a great main event feud, you need two people who can carry themselves in the ring, and on the mic. Black’s work here really helped redeem the poor image left on him since Final Battle.
The Briscoes vs. Up In Smoke: Our first match of the evening showcased the ROH Tag Team champions in action against perennial jobbers, Cheech and Cloudy. Well, you wouldn’t know Up In Smoke are jobbers by watching this match. Through some great teamwork, former Special K members actually had the champs reeling. While I’ve condemned ROH for giving ROH jobbers back and forth matches with established stars, The Briscoes-while being taken to the limit-didn’t come off as weaklings. They were ready for a match, but weren’t ready for their “easy” opposition to turn it up like they did. When it was all said and done, The Briscoes won. Up In Smoke had a memorable match that could get them a real spot on the ROH roster. And we got a real good match to kick off the sixth reign of The Briscoes as Tag champs. After the match, The Briscoes attempted to cut a promo on the Kings of Wrestling. Instead of getting Hero and Castagnoli, The Briscoes were confronted by the former champs, The American Wolves. When it appeared that we were about to get a fight, Dark City Fight Club hit the ring, getting in the champions’ faces. All three teams argued until the locker room separated them. The ROH tag team division is as stacked as ever, and if this was a preview of what to expect for the division in 2010, this could be the best year of tag team wrestling since 2000.
SLAP THE PORPOISE (Rasche Brown vs. Bobby Shields): Honestly, this would be in the Wrong if not for one thing: Prince Nana. Brown killed poor Shields while Nana and Osiris watched with glee over the prospect of Brown being a part of The Embassy. Brown is an incredibly charismatic guy, and a monster-looking ogre to boot. The charisma could easily appeal to the masses if he has a worthy foil. And who’s better to get heat off of than Prince Nana? But that’s if he does turn down an offer from Nana. The future for Skullkrusher could be very bright in ROH if he can move from jobber killer duty to something worthwhile. And a feud with Nana and The Embassy can definitely be worthwhile for Brown.
Kenny King vs. El Generico: Midway through the show, El Generico was interviewed by Kyle Durden. While the masked man didn’t utter a word, his body language told the tale. That depression seen in his interview flowed through Generico as he entered the arena for his match with Kenny King. King knew Generico wasn’t mentally there, and used that to his advantage. A great moment for Generico was him practically slapping himself into understanding that if he didn’t get his head in the game, he’s going to be hurting a lot worse later than he is now. And that’s exactly what Generico did, giving us a surprisingly good back and forth battle. King was just oozing charisma here as he used every shortcut and mental advantage he could before putting Generico’s shoulders to the mat after the Coronation. King is looking to make 2010 his year, while Generico has never looked more multifaceted during his whole ROH tenure.
The Main Event, Talky, Thingy Bit: Once again, Aries, Black, and Cornette stood in the ring to announce the judges for Aries/Black in NYC II. Aries told a few jokes about calling judges named Judy and Joe Brown before bringing out his “royal” judge-Kenny King. King promised to call the match down the middle, but knew the match favored the champ no matter what. Nice subtly there, Kenny. Black had a man he had waged war with as his pick-Roderick Strong. Strong entered the ring, admitting the only reason he accepted the judge position is because Black promised him the first title shot when Tyler wins. So, we have two biased judges? What about the third? Well, that man is none other than Jim Cornette. With the match going to a draw, there’s the huge probability that Cornette will play tiebreaker. But Cornette made sure both men understood that letting the match go to the judges’ hands wouldn’t be a wise thing. Like the opening, this was short, and straight to the point, making the announcements effective, as well as adding some much needed heat to a feud that has lost a ton of fire since Final Battle. Once again, all the participants played their parts well, and the Final Battle 2009 rematch regained the feel of finality that we all believed the original had.

Wrong:None

Overall:Another solid show from ROH with nothing overtly wrong. Both promo segments were great in getting the heat and energy for the 8th Anniversary Show main event that it has been really lacking. We also got two surprisingly good matches with The Briscoes and Up In Smoke almost stealing the show until Kenny King and El Generico had a match that got me happy to see how their careers turn out in 2010. The biggest thumbs up about this show is the way it was formatted. ROH is finally understanding the point of TV: to draw paying costumers for your big events.

Well, that’s it for this week. Before I close, I’d like to send my condolences to the family of the great wrestling writer Georgiann Markpolous, who passed away this week. JG wrote up a wonderful piece on the site: Georgiann Markpolous Passes Away.   So just take a moment of your time to check it out and say a little word of prayer for her and hers. God bless.

Till Then.