Ring of Honor ON-Site (January 11)

[Guest TSMAdmin]

From JHawk's Beak: Ring of Honor ON-SITE (January 11, 2003)

by Jared "JHawk" Hawkins

 

Yes, you read that right. This past Saturday, Ring of Honor made their Pittsburgh area debut at the Community College of Allegheny County (South Campus) Event Hall in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. That's right, your favorite Raw reporter finally got fed up with roided posedowns and excessive ref bumps, so he decided to travel about two hours to probably his least favorite city anywhere to watch real wrestling. Nothing against those of you who live in Pittsburgh, but I have issues with any city where you can follow the road signs to the letter and still get lost.

 

For the record, if you're looking for star ratings here, you're not getting any. When I attend a show, I'm going there to be entertained, and as long as they're giving me that, I generally don't complain a whole lot. Plus, I don't take any notes other than writing down who was in the match and what the finish was. Now, should I review the video once it becomes available (it's titled "Revenge on the Prophecy"), then I'll do the full in-depth review with star ratings.

 

For those of you unfamilar with Ring of Honor, it is run by the crew of RF Video as an alternative to World Wrestling Entertainment. Unless there's some sort of no DQ stipulation to the match, the focus is on clean wrestling, and you must shake hands before and after your matches. In other words, the focus is largely on what goes on in the ring, not on the microphone or in some "funeral parlor" or "honeymoon suite".

 

Anyway, myself, my brother, and my friend John made the trip from northeast Ohio and got to the building around 6:50, 10 minutes before the doors were supposed to open. In reality, the doors opened around 7:30 instead. Luckily, there was enough room between the front door and the gym that we could wait inside the building and stay somewhat warm. It was a nice change of pace to hear people talking about wrestling instead of how cool the People's Elbow is. Our first brush with greatness came while waiting for the doors to open, when Low-Ki came out to check on the crowd, then went to the people waiting closest to the front door and went "What are you waiting all the way out here for?"

 

The doors open around 7:30, and next time I'm going to have to bring less money with me so I don't spend so much. Between the three of us, we walked out of there with eight tapes and a couple of T-shirts. Damn my hobby of collecting wrestling videos. During this time, Allison Danger and Simply Luscious are signing autographs across from each other. And the whole time they're signing, they're being playfully catty with each other. "At least I don'tget over by showing my tits to everybody." "Well, at least I like guys."

 

Just before 8:00, they announce that the Steelers-Titans game is tied at 31-31 with about three minutes left, so they're delaying belltime until around 8:15. Eh, whatever, I'm not a Steelers fan, but it was a pretty nice gesture for the locals. Almost immediately, Danger and Luscious are no longer being playfully catty, and are instead engaging in a pull-apart catfight.

 

The show starts at 8:12 with the ring announcer welcoming us to the show, when out comes the group of Special K. I don't know any of these guys' names, but they do a stoned raver gimmick. "It's great to be here tonight in Cleveland!" Huge pop for that. They get the city wrong a couple more times (with Buffalo also getting a nice pop) before getting to the point of their promo...drugs and partying are cool. They dance, but all it does is bring out Da Hit Squad and the SAT. A Burning Hammer and the Spanish Fly later, and Special K hightails it and hides behind some big black guy who, as one fan pointed out, is a dead ringer for Lennox Lewis.

 

One fall: Matt Stryker vs. Chad Collyer

 

Two members of the Heartland Wrestling Association opened the show by engaging in what was billed as a "pure wrestling clininc", and they certainly didn't disappoint. Holds and reversals galore early, with the crowd responding to nearly everything. One fan described it as something you'd see in those tapes from the 1950s, except not as boring. Collyer played the closest thing to a heel by targeting Stryker's knee, but outside of a few kicks to the knee, there wasn't one illegal move in the entire contest. In the end, Collyer locked in a Texas cloverleaf for the submission victory in 10:46. Good opener, and one of my three favorite matches tonight.

 

Between matches, the ring announcer tells us the return date to Pittsburgh is April 8 (a Tuesday?) and that tickets will be available at intermission.

 

One fall: Mega vs. Super Hentei

 

Super Hentei works for the Pittsburgh-based International Wrestling Cartel, and I'd assume Mega does as well. Mega is about 6'6" and 350 pounds, and got heat for telling us the Titans put away the Steelers. Problem is, at least half the crowd was from outside of Pittsburgh, so he got cheered for it. Hentei, in contrast, is a masked worker who, when standing, was barely taller than I am when I'm sitting down. Short and uneventful match, as Mega dominated with power stuff before Hentei hit an enzuigiri and used the ropes for the pin at 3:15.

 

One fall: CM Punk vs. Michael Shane

 

Shane won their previous meeting on November 9 after using the ropes for leverage. This was a pretty decent match. If you didn't already know Shane was related to Shawn Michaels, one look at his superkick would certainly make you wonder. This is the first time I've seen Punk work a match of any substance, and I definitely see what the hype is about. Punk got the pin in 11:07 with what wasn't really an Oklahoma roll, not really a 3/4 nelson, but something in between.

 

Lucha Libre Six Man Tag Team Match scheduled for one fall: The SAT (Joel and Jose Maximo) and Ghost Shadow vs. Konnan and Divine Storm (Chris Divine and Quiet Storm) w/Trinity

 

Allow to me say that I'm in the smart mark minority in liking Konnan, but I might be biased because he autographed a ticket stub for me the night he won the WCW U.S. Title. I'm not familiar with Ghost Shadow, so drop me a line if you know anything about him. This was a combination of traditional lucha libre and the Americanized version, with A vs. A and B vs. B early, then breaking into the train wreck of spots. And of course, Trinity came off the top with the moonsault to the floor onto everybody. One scary moment came late in the match, as Joel was taking a bump to the floor and went to use the timekeeper's table to break his fall...and the idiotic ring announcer/timekeeper tried to move the table out of his way. Joel wound up hitting head on the table, then kicked the table to send the ring announcer running. The finish came with Konnan getting the Tequila Sunrise on Shadow for the submission win (and a round of boos) at 16:40.

 

Here we get a correction on the date of their next West Mifflin show, which will be Saturday, April 19. That makes more sense. They also announce an IWC TV taping for February.

 

Weapons Match scheduled for one fall: The Carnage Crew (H.C. Loc and Tony DeVito) vs. Da Hit Squad (Monsta Mack and Mafia)

 

There's a backstory for this one dating back to June 22, when Loc was power bombed through a table that DeVito was on. Actually some pretty innovative spots here, as one of DHS attempted a tope and was met with what appeared to be the door of a steel cage. A ladder spot went awry as well, as the ladder snapped. Not just the hinges either, I mean the bottom four rungs of the ladder broke off during the jump. The finish came when Loc was lying on a table and DeVito was super bombed through it for the pin at 11:41.

 

Intermission was here, and we were able to get the exact same front row seats for the April 19 show, so expect me another one of these dandy things then.

 

8-Man Scramble Match scheduled for one fall: The Ring Crew Express (Dunn and Marcos) and The Outcast Killers vs. Special K

 

I didn't understand any of the names the ring announcer gave here other than Dunn and Marcos, so if anybody can tell me about these guys, drop me a line. A scramble match is essentially a Texas Tornado tag team match where everybody is allowed in the ring at once. A decent match, but eventually Special K's Lennox Lewis lookalike bodyguard ran in and choke slammed everybody before taking Marcos down with a form of an Ace crusher that led to the pin at 7:08. My chants of "911" went ignored though. *sigh*

 

Four Way Match scheduled for one fall: BJ Whitmer vs. Colt Cabana vs. Paul London vs. Homicide

 

Originally it was scheduled to be Homicide vs. Jay Briscoe, with Bobby Rude being the fourth in this match, but Briscoe has a personal conflict and Rude was in a car accident a few days prior, so we get this instead, and in my opinion this gets match of the night honors. Cabana wins the crowd over early, as Whitmer and London decide to start and Cabana goes, "What about me? I want to wrestle, why am I being singled out?" The story here is that Cabana and Whitmer take turns beating the hell out of London, while Homicide begins to complain about not being tagged in by anybody. Eventually Homicide does tag in, but the match quickly turns into everybody trying to gain the pin. Homicide actually showed some high flying ability that I haven't seen from him previously. Excellent finish here, as Whitmer takes Cabana down with rolling dragon suplexes and holds the bridge, but before the end of the count, London breaks the pin by hitting the Shooting Star Press on Whitmer and pinning him at 19:30. The crowd showed their approval with a several minute long standing ovation. Great stuff. London is a future superstar, as he looks like Ricky Steamboat and has almost as much talent.

 

Strong Style Challenge scheduled for one fall: Samoa Joe vs. "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson

 

This match had a combination of some very good mat wrestling and some very stiff chops. Dragon's chest was turning beet red very early in the contest. Samoa Joe gets what I consider to be a surprising win with his version of the Rikishi Driver in 13:20.

 

No Holds Barred Main Event scheduled for one fall: Christopher Daniels (ROH Tag Team Champion and Frontier Wrestling Alliance British Empire Champion) w/Allison Danger and Xavier (ROH Heavyweight Champion) vs. A.J. Styles and Low-Ki

 

I could never go through the complete backstory here, as it spans all the way back to The Era of Honor Begins in February, but the short version: Daniels is the head of the Prophecy, which has been defying the Code of Honor since day one, while Low-Ki and Styles are defending the Code. Simple and logical, unlike what we normally get on Monday nights. This was an excellent contest, with the no holds barred stipulation being enforced early, as Daniels reaches the ropes on a submission hold and the referee refuses to count for a break. Hot finish, as Daniels set a table up on the concrete floor. He tried to take Styles through it with the Angel Wings, but Styles blocked it and took Daniels down with the Styles Clash through the table. Xavier went through the ropes to check on his fallen partner, but Low-Ki caught him with a Dragon Clutch in the ropes that forced Xavier to submit at 28:40. If anything topped the four way, this was it. A scary moment to close the show though, as several people ran to the ring to check on Daniels, and he was carried from the ring...with two people holding his legs as he was carted off. I haven't heard any status on him yet (with no stretcher, I assume it might be an angle), but I'm praying he's alright.

 

Low-Ki and Styles soak up the ovation, and the show lets out at 11:38.

 

If you're in range to see Ring of Honor and haven't yet, what in the bloody hell are you waiting for? This was, quite simply, the best live show I've ever seen. Ever. Only one match flat out sucked, a couple were mildly entertaining, but five or six are worth putting up there with anything WWE has offered since before the Invasion angle, particularly the final three. Seriously, I don't remember any promotion holding a show within driving distance who pulled off a three and a half hour show that flew by the way this one did. Ring of Honor puts WWE to shame and is really the only true alternative for those of you who are completely fed up with having your intelligence insulted.

 

So if you're in Queens, hit the February 8 show. If you're in Philly, hit the March show! If you're out of those areas, check their website and find a show to make a road trip to. Just go see this fed, dammit!

 

Back tomorrow for Raw. In the meantime, send me some feedback.