Hawk 34

If Beefcake doesn't come out tonight, this is all a sham.

Kevin Nash's planned profanity laced promo in an attempt to look edgy.

Night two of the Festival/Tour continues in Philadelphia, the birth city of ROH. Last night saw the shocking upset of Joe choking out Morishima along with Homicide pulling off the victory in his home town while NYC also witnessed the stunning betrayal of Roderick Strong turning on long time partner, Austin Aries alongside Davey Richards to form the NO REMORSE CORPS. Due to Richards minor injury, he was taken off the show and his match with Samoa Joe originally scheduled for tonight has been pushed back to Dayton next week allowing Rave to get his shot at Joe tonight instead. Here's the full card for tonight's show ROH World Title Homicide Vs Takeshi Morishima Samoa Joe Vs Jimmy Rave ROH World Tag Team Title Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal Vs Jack Evans and Shingo FIP Heavyweight Title Roderick Strong Vs Delirious Tag Team Attraction Jay and Mark Briscoe Vs El Generico and Kevin Steen Grudge Match Austin Aries Vs Claudio Castagnoli Six Person Street Fight Colt Cabana, BJ Whitmer and Daizee Haze Vs Adam Pearce, Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey ROHVideos.com Match Nigel McGuinness Vs TJ Perkins (Puma)

Like it matters. FOX will scoop him up anyways.

What mess? Yes, they lost Joe. They lost London, Punk, Gibson, Daniels, Styles and Low Ki. The strength of ROH is the fanbase and the consistant ability to create new stars. ROH is at a high right now and their past indicates they aren't about to drop especially given the relationship with NOAH and DG. ROH really only has 3 regular TNA wrestlers now playing any important role within that company (Aries, Daniels and Cide). The rest don't belong to TNA or play important roles with them. They have already prepared for the distant possibility that TNA will pull talent for good. That's why the emphasis on Strong, Nigel, Whitmer, Rave Colt, Sydal, Delirious, Richards among Danielson and KENTA over the past year. ROH isn't going to fall apart because Joe is gone. Fact is, it might actually thrive without him in the long run. You take an already strong american fanbase, mix that with two healthy fanbases in UK and Japan with talent spread out along with great booking, great wrestling and great personalities, you're going to improve even greater then the already lofty status they have put themselves into. 2 1/2 months in and they already have their first international champion, a tour in Japan on the horizon, tons of new fresh talent that just make the product better, a wider base and most importantly, making money. It's hardly a mess.

Homicide wasn't meant for a long title reign, it wouldn't suit him anyways. In ROH, he has reached that Tommy Dreamer status as in he had so many shots but couldn't get it done but finally won the title but couldn't hold onto it long enough to really enjoy the ride. A long title reign with Homicide really wasn't right especially after Danielson's 15 month reign. The comparison between HHH/Hogan to 'Cide/Morishima is atretch given that the situation is totally different. Hogan got the title reign because HHH was bombing and because Vince was a pop mark and thought he could strike with nostalgia. This present situation is far different. To make the connection that Gabe was paranoid that TNA would strike is scurrilous. The shift to put the title on Morishima is a good booking move as in it truly shakes things up not just for Ring of Honor but NOAH as well. It actually does more for all the involved characters with the title change. ROH is a strong enough brand name that it can support it's world champion not being at every show. In fact, it raises their international profile meaning in the long run, it will conclude with a bigger payoff with the NOAH/ROH joint show this summer. The obvious favorites to march over to NOAH and take the belt back are Nigel and Danielson but it's too early to starting pondering where the title shift next. Sapolsky is a meticulous booker, this isn't done on a whim. He doesn't book like Vince Russo, Jim Cornette, Gerwirtz and pretty much every other booker/writer in the business. He planned on Homicide winning the title world in NYC before Danielson had even won the title from Gibson. He had that event planned 18 months in advance. He intended for Homicide to have a brief reign. Did he expect to put the title on Morishima that far in advance? No but he knew Homicide wasn't getting a long reign. He wasn't booking to capitalize on Morishima's appeal nor out of fear regarding TNA. Many people doubted that a angle between ROH/CZW could work but it worked far greater then anything else did in 2006. This title change may prove to be the best move the company has made and given their track record, that's a tough thing to do.

If only they would spend as much time with meticulous details as they do with that on their actual product.

I have a good feeling they'll add to this group with a third man and that guy will likely be the chief promo machine. I'd say Claudio but he's turned to many times but there's always Sweeny and Hero would could be a promising group.

ROH is kicking off it's huge 5 Year Anniversary Festival (NYC, Philly, Dayton, Chicago, Liverpool) tomorrow night in NYC at the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center with a pair of huge main events. It's also the start of the Samoa Joe Farewell Tour and it starts off with the long awaited showdown between Joe and NOAH's Takeshi Morishima. Here's the card ROH World Title Match Homicide Vs Jimmy Rave Takeshi Morishima Vs Samoa Joe ROH World Tag Team Title Match Austin Aries and Roderick Strong Vs Matt Sydal and Christopher Daniels Tables Are Legal Brent Albright Vs BJ Whitmer Delirious Vs Adam Pearce Four Way Fray Shingo Vs Davey Richards Vs Jimmy Jacobs Vs Jack Evans Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana Vs Jay and Mark Briscoe

Seems as if it might actually be No Remorse Corps. It's just gonna be called the NRC anyways which sounds like an old school terrorist group. Really good booking here tonight especially regarding Morishima after all the build about Morishima being a shamed man in Japan if he loses. Now he lost the man that slapped NOAH in the face. So many ways to go now. Morishima taking a loss doesn't hurt anything and him taking the title isn't even neccesary but it's likely just because it'd be huge not just for Morishima but for each company.

1) Takeshi Morishima defeats Pelle Primaeu. Pelle came out to begin the show, issuing an open challenge. Samoa Joe's music hit, but Morishima came out. Morishima destroyed Pelle in seconds, getting the victory. Nigel McGuinness then comes out to calm Morishima down. 2) Delirious defeats Adam Pearce. Pearce had a foreign object, went to hit Delirious with it, but hit Shane instead. In the confusion, Delirious picked up the object, and put it in his mask. He then hit a headbutt on Pearce, knocking Pearce out. 3) Sara Del Ray & Allison Danger defeat Alexa Fisher & Daizee Haze. Del Ray pinned Fisher after a double underhook suplex. 4) Four Way Fray: Xavier vs Jack Evans vs Jimmy Jacobs vs SHINGO - Jack Evans eliminated Xavier after reverse hurricanrana. - SHINGO eliminates Jimmy Jacobs - Jack Evans pins SHINGO after a 630 splash from the top turnbuckle. - Samoa Joe came to the ring to thank the New York ROH fans. He called out Morishima, but Nigel came out instead. Nigel and Joe exchange words, then brawl. Refs and students break it up. 5) Tables Match: B.J. Whitmer defeats Brent Albright. BJ Whitmer took a Razor's Edge through two doublestacked tables...and kicked out! Match is still going, said to be brutal and intense. BJ Whitmer wins the match after an exploder from the top turnbuckle through two tables. - So far, ROHPhilly has said "great match" after both the Four Way and the Tables match. 6) ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels defeat Austin Aries & Roderick Strong. Roderick has a widely visable black eye, stemming from his PWG action last weekend. Midway through the match, Austin Aries suffers an ankle injury. Aries apparently went for a top rope springboard, missed the rope and landed badly. He can barely stand. Sydal hits the Shooting Star Press on Aries, following by Daniels hitting the Best Moonsault Ever. - After the match, Roderick Strong attacks Austin Aries, hitting a backbreaker. Davey Richards comes to the ring. Davey and Roderick are now a team known as the No Remorse Core. Jack Evans made the save for Aries, who was hurting badly. Intermission 7) Nigel McGuinness & Colt Cabana defeat Jay & Mark Briscoe. Nigel pinned Jay after a lariat.

Davey Richards has been pulled from the weekend thanks to a minor injury but will be on for the rest of the tour. His replacement for NYC will be named during the show (likely a local talent like Jay Lethal or Jason Blade). As for Saturday, Joe was booked against Richards. Now, Joe will face the loser of the Rave/Homicide match or the unbooked Nigel McGuinness. Most likely they will simply switch the Rave and Richards matches around.

Hunter, not honey. LOL. P.S. Isn't Rikishi dead? Um, no. He's quite alive. That reminds me of my childhood days Me: What happened to the Berzerker? Someone else: Heard he died Me: What happened to Demolition Smash? Someone else: Heard he died Me: What happened to Texas Tornado? Did he die? Someone else: No, he's the Ultimate Warrior now.

Jack Rousch would beg to differ. At my old job, we did a thing for that plant down in Kentucky. I didn't get to visit it but like your parents, the workers we sent there were completely glowing about it. Which is funny since the Ford Plant literally down the street from our building is a dumpster that looked as if it was stuck in 1985.

Isn't he the one that had "Skills"?

Here's something I never understood about "joke-stealing" and any clarification would be appreciated but why don't many comedians copywrite their material (I know the big guns do)? I understand ripping someone's act (which is virtually impossible not to) but as far specific material, why can't or don't comedians do more legal action rather then going on Stern and bitching?

What amazes me is that show with Morishima and Joe as well as Homicide in his home crowd against a top heel like Rave is possibly the softest card of the entire festival tour. It is understandable given that the two main events should be enough to carry the show and NYC is always a great crowd.

It pisses me off that Ron White was on that thing.

It's only a matter of time before we see corporate logos on the field itself.

It's more so that people made the decision they were going to order it in advance based off the strength of the card. You sell people on a match and take it away for no real explained reason.

For part of my valentine's present, I got a pair of tickets to this show. Pretty excited, haven't been to a UFC show before. I've been to the lesser promotions that run around here but I'm sure its safe to say that the UFC show will be worlds different.

If they had known what they were doing, then either: a) The Ladder Match wouldn't have been scheduled b) The Ladder Match would still be scheduled That they made a major booking change like that just days before the PPV with no injuries from the participants shows that they do not in fact know what they are doing. Not quite. We've seen countless schedule changes to PPV including taking off hyped matches before. If anything, this just indicates they decided to close shop on the Hardyz/MnM tag team feud and willl split it up across the respective brands. I honestly think WWE is stunned Jeff has lasted this long before breaking the wellness policy, killing himself with a botch or returning to his tardiness habit and since Vince has always loved Jeff, doesn't want him saddled with Matt again for any longer. They put the IC title on him instantly as a attempt to maximize his expected brief tenure and went for the money match of reuniting him with Matt but since he has reached the point of being a steady performer whom maintains his popularity with the fans, they had to take Matt out of the picture although I'm sure they'll slap another "reunion tour" this summer. If they wanted to keep RRKO busy while waiting to split them up when Hunter returns, RRKO-Hardyz would serve as a good placeholder feud for them.

They also always save the "13th" person (so to speak, as in the one people actually buy as a contender) to go in last. AI has so many patterns that it's almost a waste of time to bother worrying about who'll be voted off since they already told us who will.

These 24 seem as if they were picked in that "Which has Taylor "it" and who can we push out the door in the middle of the thing despite being the obvious winner, so we can have two big money makers" mode of thinking. None of the girls have Katharine levels of beauty, so these girls will have to get by on talent.

Landry needs his own spin off. Great stuff tonight.