Ring of Honor: From the beginning

[Matt]

Ring of Honor Presents...

Honor Invades Boston

Wakefield, MA 7/27/02

Some continuation on the Nana front, that's good, nice to see Tobin pick up a win.

Hopefully these two get a strong push and can be a strong force in the tag ranks.

A possible split between the two already? Not liking it, even teasing it isn't a good idea, because they've only just formed.

Yeah, it's clean but it's still a dodgy win for these two, they didn't work hard for the win, they just snuck in and took it. Though I do like the idea of them being scheming heels.

I'd have liked this match to have been half an hour, because it would've been quite a spectacle, and if I'd have been in the audience, I'd have liked to see it run for more than 20 minutes. Hopefully a draw means you're keen on pushing both workers, which is good as I like both workers, particularly Red, I've always been a Red mark at heart.

The proverbial passing of the torch, I like it, gives a nice rub to to the Briscoes who'll no doubt do well in ROH.

Tag title tournament? As much as I like it, you've just had a Heavyweight title tournament. I'd either have waited a while or done something different.

Confused, why is the guy challenging for the title losing? If you want to push Danielson, that's fine, but he could've beaten Maritato instead.

Whipwreck and Corino were first beaten by Homicide on his own and then beaten down by Andrews and Ki, they look really weak now, it's going to take some work next month to get their rep back. Also, why was CW there? Why not just say it's a handicap match?

Seeing as the boss' son in law couldn't get the job done, I don't think his brother will be able to, a nice touch at the end though.

Show Rating: 71%

Attendance: 2817

Ring of Honor Presents...

Honor Invades Boston II

Wakefield, MA 8/24/02

Nice way to take Nana, and I guess it sets an example about breaking rules in Ring of Honor, which is good and realistic.

This would've probably been a good 3 way, and it makes sense that the new team go over, unfortunately, you made it sound like the other two teams pretty much jobbed out all match.

Squash match by the sounds of it, strange though that Tobin is getting a push and Drake is being fed to HC Loc.

DHS needed a win to even the numbers up in terms of battles and you made it sound like CSC put up a good fight, which is always good.

Didn't he say this last week? I'd have liked to have found out something new from Homicide's promo.

As much as it appears you're pushing Mike Tobin, it wouldn't have hurt to give Homicide a victory here to keep his momentum going.

Although, I've read on and know where this is going, it would've intrigued me had I been there that night watching it unravel. I take it Low-Ki was suspended, shame, but I suppose this match would still be rather decent.

Not entirely sure why there's the whole Danielson/Corino/Daniels thing going on; obviously something that I can't quite remember, but it is enjoyable to read.

So Daniels is setting up an Old Guard vs. New Guard war, it's interesting and should be good, but nothing overly original.

I'd have probably waited until the next week for their debut, not only because Daniels has hogged the back half of this show, but also 2 complete no-bodies with Daniels beating Guerrero and the Briscoes. Not sure I like that.

No surprise here, I'll be interested to see who Shane's first real defence is against, hopefully Eddie, because neither of these have seemed to be serious threats to his title.

Show Rating: 70%

Attendance: 2880

Good work all in all, but I'd proofread your shows and updates because there are a few grammar and spelling errors, nothing big though.

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

In The Name of Honor

Philadelphia, PA 9/21/02

The Ring of Honor return to Philadelphia started with The Spanish Aerial Team earning their place in the ROH Tag Team Championships Semi-Finals by beating Divine Storm and the team of Bryan Danielson and the Ring of Honor Champion, Michael Shane. Despite losing Ring of Honor Championship matches in the previous two months, Jose and Joel Maximo proved their strengths lie with each other as they came through a very close match. Danielson and Shane, who have previously looked like a decent team were a little out of their depth against the experienced teams of SAT and Divine Storm but the pair still tried their hardest but didn’t have enough in the tank to take the match as Joel Maximo thumped Chris Divine with the Maximo Velocity to advance to the semi-finals at Glory By Honor.

And that was followed by the fast-paced encounter between HC Loc and Paul London that saw London landing the London Calling from the top rope to the outside of the ring before winning the match with the Leg-sweep DDT in the centre of the ring. Loc did what he could but the “Excellence of Innovation” was just too good.

The Spanish Aerial Team will face Christian York and Joey Matthews on night one of the Glory By Honor for the chance to be the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions after York and Matthews came through another close affair against Da Hit Squad and The Briscoe Brothers. Mark and Jay put up the most resistance in the match with Daniel Mafia and Monsta Mack struggling to keep up with the four smaller, faster men.

The fourth match of the night saw three men making their debuts in the Ring of Honor as “Shark Boy” Rolo Baldwin over came Johnny Kashmere and Josh Prohibition in what was an eye opener for the ROH fans. The Philadelphia crowd were getting their first taste of the three, and no-one disappointed as they flew through the air, battled on the mat and threw stiff right hands at each other in an exciting opening to their Ring of Honor careers with Shark Boy taking the victory. "The Finn Master" planted Prohibition with his Finn Splash before scoring the pinfall on Kashmere following his Deep Sea Drop to start his ROH tenure in the best possible fashion.

The third team through to the semi-finals of the ROH Tag Team Championship Tournament became Mike Tobin and Danny Drake as the rookie tag team overcame The Christopher Street Connection and Squire Brian. The artist formerly known as Brian XL was left alone in the match as Prince Nana confirmed rumours that Knight Boogie was injured and Brian was unable to repeat the feat of Steve Corino during the June show and win the scramble match alone as Tobin and Drake pulled it out against the rapidly improving Christopher Street Connection. Buff E and Mase looked like viable winners for much of the match but Mike Tobin is on somewhat of a hot streak at the minute and his Shining Wizard once again proved the difference as he planted all three opponents with the move in a forty-five second spell to gift Danny Drake with the pinfall for the victory and the advancement into the semi-finals.

Raymond Rougeau was back for more in the match after he helped his brother retire the month previous as he looked to take on “The Latin Terror” in singles action. However, Raymond picked the wrong day to embark on a singles career without his brother as Homicide picked the veteran Canadian apart from the opening bell eventually hitting Rougeau with the Cop Killa so hard that Rougeau fell from the ring on impact and was unable to answer the ten count. Following the decision however, Homicide showed the true spirit of the Ring of Honor as he immediately went to check on his defeated opponent unlike any other federation in the world.

The final team to advance was decided in the semi-main event as Greg Quinn and Carl Cash surprised everyone by helping themselves to victory over the much fancied team of Amazing Red and Spanky and the veteran team of Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Corino. The New School of Wrestling were accompanied by “The Man of Honor” Christopher Daniels and he was shouting out directions to his two young protégés constantly as they battled with the more experienced teams and somehow they came off better despite never really controlling the match; they sort of just appeared out of no-where before hitting Steve Corino with a vicious looking Double Tiger Driver ‘91 much to the delight of Christopher Daniels. “The Man of Honor” stood with his young hopefuls in the centre of the ring as Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Corino made their way gingerly backstage, furious with the match result.

And the surprise victory was followed by another one in the main event as CW Anderson somehow pulled off a shock against Eddie Guerrero to earn himself a shot at Michael Shane on Night One of the Glory By Honor weekend. The match was sheer technical brilliance from both men as they matched each other for a good fifteen minutes before a rare mistake by Guerrero allowed Anderson the chance to pounce; grabbing Eddie into the Spinning Spinebuster and really making it count CW practically knocked Eddie out with the impact and secured himself the pinfall. Needless to say, Anderson was overjoyed with the result and leapt into the air as the show finished celebrating the surprise win and a great opportunity to put himself on top of the Ring of Honor pile.

Show Rating: 64%

Attendance: 2609

[Matt]

Ring of Honor Presents...

In The Name of Honor

Philadelphia, PA 9/21/02

I hope the Maximos take this thing down, however, I'm not sure about the idea of the singles champion being involved, and certainly not being eliminated at the first time of asking.

I hope Paul London recieves a push, I don't know if I've mentioned how much I mark for him yet, but I do. Glad to see him pick up the win, even if it is only over HC Loc.

I'd have thought you'd have gone for the Briscoes to pick up the win here, but York and Matthews could work, I suppose, wouldn't really like to see them go any further than SAT though.

I like the idea of a Newcomer Showdown, and I hope you push Shark Boy as a serious character after this win, otherwise it was the wrong choice.

Glad that you didn't have Squire Brian win on his own, that'd have made everyone else look weak, though I suspect you might have wanted them to win had Knight Boogie been fit. Mike Tobin's monster push worries me, he's beating everyone left, right and centre, I think you should build him up more first.

Wait, is Homicide is face? I know it's ROH, but I was under the impression that Homicide was heel, and even in ROH heels shouldn't check on faces they've just beaten up. Unless he's face.

Don't like this at all, especially seeing as it was a clean win, again like with Tobin, you seem to be jumping into their push far too quickly. I'd have preferred to see Spanky and Red go over here, but certainly not the rookies.

CW getting the win, eh, not too fussed, but I'd prefer for him to not win the title next month, I want Eddie to take the strap, whenever that may be.

Show Rating: 64%

Attendance: 2609

[FireDoughnut]

Wrestling Newswire - October 2002

- Toryumon have added Izzy, Sean Casey and Shannon Moore to their touring roster for the next year.

- Vince McMahon has retired from the World Wrestling Federation. Carlos Colon and Headhunter B joined Vince in announcing their retirement from wrestling as well.

- XWF have got a third television show on the USA Network on Saturday nights.

- Christian has sensationally left the WWF and joined the Ring of Honor. Rumours are flying left, right and centre around the internet about what fuelled Christian to leave, but his deal expired and the former WWF Intercontinental Champion decided not to renew his deal and has joined ROH. Under the moniker "Kristian;" the former WWF star will debut at the Glory By Honor weekend.

- Ring of Honor returned to Philadelphia for the first show in the three shows that will help crown the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. The results were as follows:

• The Spanish Aerial Team (Jose Maximo & Joel Maximo) defeated Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm) and Michael Shane & Bryan Danielson to advance in the hunt for the ROH Tag Team Gold
• Paul London pinned HC Loc
• York & Matthews (Christian York & Joey Matthews) defeated The Briscoe Brothers (Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe) and Da Hit Squad (Daniel Mafia and Monsta Mack) to continue in the ROH Tag Team Tournament
• Shark Boy pinned Johnny Kashmere in the debutant's triple threat, which also featured Josh Prohibition
• Mike Tobin & Danny Drake defeated The Christopher Street Connection (Buff E & Mase) and Squire Brian w/Prince Nana to secure progession towards the ROH Tag Team Championships
• Homicide defeated Raymond Rougeau by count-out
• The New School of Wrestling (Carl Cash & Greg Quinn w/Christopher Daniels) defeated Amazing Red & Spanky and Mikey Whipwreck & Steve Corino to become the fourth team into the ROH Tag Team Championships Semi-Finals
• CW Anderson defeated Eddie Guerrero to earn a Ring of Honor Championship match at Glory By Honor

- Xtreme Professional Wrestling has issued a bankruptcy warning, while a new federation, Springfield Grappling Company has announced it’s first show for later in the month.

-ROH and NJPW released the full team line-ups for the All-Star Challenge event as well. Rey Misterio and Super Crazy will be facing the new ROH Tag Team Champions in their first defence while Spanky & The Amazing Red will take on Japanese legends Jinsei Shinzaki & Jushin "Thunder" Lyger in a dream tag team match. Eddie Guerrero is the fifth Ring of Honor wrestler, as he will battle Ultimo Dragon in the singles bout.

Ring of Honor Presents...

Glory By Honor Night #1 - Philadelphia, PA 10/25/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Championship: Michael Shane © vs. CW Anderson

Johnny Kashmere vs. Paul London

The Christopher Street Connection vs. Divine Storm vs. Da Hit Squad

Amazing Red vs. Low Ki

Scoot Andrews vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Spanky

Kristian vs. Homicide vs. Shark Boy vs. Bryan Danielson - Winner receives a ROH title shot on Night #2

ROH Tag Team Match E: The Spanish Aerial Team vs. York & Matthews

ROH Tag Team Match F: Mike Tobin & Danny Drake vs. The New School of Wrestling

Glory By Honor Night #2 - Philadelphia, PA 10/26/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: SAT/York&Matthews vs. Tobin&Drake/NewSchool

Ring of Honor Championship: Shane/Anderson © vs. Kristian/AmDrag/Homicide/Sharky

Mikey Whipwreck & Steve Corino vs. Scoot Andrews & Low Ki

Paul London & Spanky vs. The Christopher Street Connection

James Maritato vs. Daniel Mafia

All-Star Challenge (ROH vs. NJPW) - Wakefield, MA 11/30/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: NJPW vs. ROH: Rey Misterio Jr. & Super Crazy vs. ROH Tag Team Champions ©

NJPW vs. ROH: Ultimo Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero

NJPW vs. ROH: Jinsei Shinzaki & Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. The Amazing Red & Spanky

Frozen Battle - Philadelphia, PA, 12/07/02

ROH Showdown - West Mifflin, PA, 01/19/03

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03 - 01/23/03

Edited July 3, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

Glory By Honor Night 1

Philadelphia, PA 10/25/02

The first night of the first Ring of Honor weekender began with The Christopher Street Connection getting the better of the Da Hit Squad again as Buff E pinned Quiet Storm in a three-way Scramble Tag match. Mase and Daniel Mafia started the match with some really powerful right hands being delivered on each other before Chris Divine and Quiet Storm tried to get involved but the two smaller men struggled to match the sheer force of their opponents and were pretty much non-factors for long periods of the match; but that didn’t seem to deter them as they tried their best anyway with Storm finding himself isolated in the ring at the end of the match as Chris Divine was dumped over the top rope by Mase. That allowed Buff E and Mase to collectively hit running lariats on Storm, practically taking his head off in the process as the Christopher Street Connection claimed victory.

And that was followed by Johnny Kashmere bouncing back from defeat in his first Ring of Honor match to derail the Paul London train. London has been building up a bit of momentum in the past months but that was halted as he and Kashmere exchanged some daring moves with London spring boarding out of the ring off the top rope with a London Calling at one point. Sadly it was in vain as Johnny pounced in the ring following a brief lapse of concentration from the “Excellence of Innovator” to hit the Cradle Breaker for the pinfall.

As Kashmere celebrated to the back, the crowd prepared themselves for the first of the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship Semi-Finals as The Spanish Aerial Team of Jose Maximo and Joel Maximo headed to the ring followed by Christian York and Joey Matthews; and the match started just how it planned to continue as all four men threw everything but the kitchen sink at each other as they tried to book themselves into the match for the Gold tomorrow night. York took control with a picture perfect dropkick and that saw York and Matthews isolating Jose Maximo for long periods of the match with Joel was deprived to a few minimal pot-shots at anyone that passed close to his corner but after ducking a Matthews clothesline, Jose was able to knee Joey in his groin and reach out for his brother. Joel Maximo sprang immediately into the ring as he flew across the top rope with a foot stomp on the grounded Joey Matthews before going to work on his shoulder and neck. Christian York could get no where near the action and after Joel “missed” a dropkick and knocked York off the ring apron, The SAT clinched the only opportunity they needed. Joey’s already hurting neck was thumped to the mat by Joel’s Maximo Velocity to secure the place in the ROH Tag Team Showdown tomorrow night.

The Ring of Honor welcomed back Scoot Andrews after his brief stint in rehab for the fourth match of the night as “The Black Nature Boy” was able to secure a victory over Eddie Guerrero and Spanky in a triple threat match. Andrews hit Eddie with the Natural Disaster after the American-Mexican wrestler had dominated much of the match, working over the two smaller men in the match until Scoot pounced out of nowhere, to hit his trademark neckbreaker for a return victory.

And Scoot’s victory was followed by the second showdown between The Amazing Red and Low Ki as the men went at it once again. As the match was announced the Ring of Honor fans were promised that the match would continue to a fall with no time limit and it almost seemed as though the match would continue for hours as it went the same way as their first encounter. The two men tried everything in their repertoire to claim victory as Low Ki produced some of the most sickening kicks you will ever in professional wrestling only for The Amazing Red to refuse to give in, kicking out of the Ki Krusher after roughly thirty minutes. However that is not to say that Low Ki had it all his own way. The Amazing Red got in his fair share of offence as he blasted Low Ki with a Satellite DDT while he stood on the ring apron, taking both men to the outside before using the metal ROH railing to springboard into a back-flip DDT when both had recovered. The match edged closer to the one hour mark and Low Ki began to show signs of fatigue s he struggled to lift Amazing Red up for the second Ki Krusher of the match. Red was able to rally, pushing Low Ki away before bouncing off the ropes with the diving Red alert. Low Ki couldn't get out of the way as The Amazing Red flew onto him from the top rope with the Infrared. The Ring of Honor crowd absolutely exploded as The Amazing Red's arm was raised in victory. Fifty-one minutes and twenty-three seconds was all that he needed to secure a mammoth victory over Low Ki and the Philadelphia crowd gave both men a standing ovation as they shook hands and embraced in the centre of the ring.

Joel Maximo and Jose Maximo were back out to the ring next as the Spanish Aerial Team joined the crowd to watch the second semi-final in the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship Tournament as Mike Tobin and Danny Drake headed to the ring followed by Christopher Daniels and his two young students. The New School of Wrestling looked totally pumped for the match as they headed for the ring and despite “Red Hot” Mike Tobin starting the match, it was the New School who started brightest as Greg Quinn totally schooled Tobin in the opening exchanges. Tobin rolled away from the holds in disgust to be greeted by the grinning Quinn who high-fived Carl Cash to give him a chance in the ring and as Tobin attacked Cash, he struggled again with the new School having obviously done their homework, having every possible answer for Tobin’s offence. Mike refused to give up but for much of the opening few minutes Tobin was made to look stupid by Cash and Quinn, much to the delight of their leader Christopher Daniels who applauded everything they did outside the ring. Eventually, Tobin gave in and tagged in Danny Drake and Drake was firing on all cylinders as he hit the ring. Regarded as the weaker of tag team, Drake had much more success against The New School as it was clear the cocky youngsters had simply done their research on Tobin and not his partner and the match wore on with Drake proving himself to be a more than adequate wrestlers, albeit to the displeasure of Daniels and his own partner, Tobin. And with Drake dominating there could only be one winner… Mike Tobin. With Greg Quinn struggling, Tobin tagged himself in on Drake’s back and thumped Quinn with the Shining Wizard for the pinfall as Mike Tobin and Danny Drake secured themselves a shock place in the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship match, but as they did The Spanish Aerial Team pounced. Knocking Tobin from the ring after the match, Danny Drake was helpless as he was dragged onto the top rope and planted with the Spanish Fly by his opponents for the following night as Christopher Daniels encouraged the Maximo brothers in their actions, as he retreated backstage with his defeated youngsters.

The semi-main event saw former World Wrestling Federation superstar Kristian claiming victory in his debut to secure a shot at the Ring of Honor Championship. Kristian was not greeted with the best of reactions by the Ring of Honor fans however managed to win some of them round slightly with a pure wrestling performance that few would have seen from him in the WWF. Shark Boy, Homicide and Bryan Danielson played perfect cameo roles in the match that saw the RoH putting over their biggest coup to date as Kristian recorded the fall over Shark Boy, planting him with the Canadian Roll, a new finisher for the match victory; although Homicide and Bryan Danielson can feel slightly aggrieved by the result as the pair were brawling with each other outside the ring as the fall occurred.

And it will be Kristian versus Michael Shane tomorrow night for the Ring of Honor Championship after “The Showstopper” came through another routine title defence against CW Anderson in pretty similar fashion to his victories over The Spanish Aerial Team. It seems Shane has a plan that he is going to stick to it in his Ring of Honor Championship matches as Anderson suffered the Sweet Shane Music before Michael went to the top rope for the Picture Perfect Elbow and the three count, much like he done in his first two defences of the belt; but then again it works.

Show Rating: 73%

Attendance: 2477

Edited July 3, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[Matt]

Ring of Honor Presents...

Glory By Honor Night 1

Philadelphia, PA 10/25/02

CSC getting a clean win and looking bad-ass, I like, I like very much.

Never cared much for Kashmere, so I can't say I was glad to see him go over here, I suppose it doesn't make too much difference and it stops Kashmere looking weak I guess. So long as London gets one bad-ass push sooner or later, I don't mind.

As I predicted, both teams looked strong, and hopefully SAT can take it all the way

Not keen on this at all, mainly because I've never seen why Scoot Andrews is the "Black Nature Boy", I'd have preferred for Spanky or Guerrero to go over.

Wasn't too bothered about who won this match, but if I was in the crowd I'd have been delighted with the match itself, I'd have probably had this as the semi-main event, or certainly above Kristian's debut.

Wasn't keen on either team getting this far, but to be fair, I think at least the right team won, as they've proven themselves slightly more than NSW have in ROH. Wouldn't want them to beat the Maximos, but I think they might, because it makes the Maximos look weak to have to beat them down to beat them, but it makes the Drake and Tobin look like supermen for coming back against the odds and winning. I don't think there's a right decision to make, either the wrong team win, or the teams look fairly weak.

I think the result was fairly obvious, and unless you plan on pushing Shark Boy, I wouldn't have included him in this match, simply because it's not a big win and it sort of gives away when you put in a debutant, a jobber and two other guys, that the debutant will beat the jobber. A midcarder/upper-midcarder not doing much would've been a better choice to lose.

Glad Shane won, but I hope he doesn't drop to Christian tomorrow, that'll be pushing him to the moon because he's Christian. Then again he probably shouldn't lose cleanly, outside interference or a draw would be the only ideal solution, maybe set up a 3-way the following month or something.

Show Rating: 73%

Attendance: 2477

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

Glory By Honor Night 2

Philadelphia, PA 10/26/02

The second night of the weekender got underway with Daniel Mafia battling James Maritato in his singles debut for the Ring of Honor. Mafia, had Monsta Mack at ringside for support and the Hit Squad member looked comfortable on his own as he powered over the smaller Maritato but seemed to lack the killer edge in his action as he allowed the Italian-American back into the match when it should have been over many, many time. And ultimately it cost him as Maritato hit his Sicilian Slice as Mafia bent over to take instructions from Monsta Mack to give “The Sicilian Stud” a crucial if not, unexpected victory.

And that was followed by Homicide getting his Ring of Honor Championship ambitions back on track with a victory over the man that was pinned by Kristian last night, Shark Boy. The match also featured CW Anderson and Raymond Rougeau who threatened at times but the two veterans didn’t seem to have the same fight and passion that Homicide possessed as he brawled his way through the three men before isolating Shark Boy and planting him with the Cop Killa for the match victory as CW Anderson and Rougeau recovered outside the ring after being dumped out by the domineering Homicide.

The third match of the night saw the strangest clash of styles in Ring of Honor history as arguably the two fastest men in the ROH took on two of the most powerful men as Spanky and Paul London combined to earn a hard-fought victory over Buff E and Mase. The Christopher Street Connection had a clear power advantage and after catching both Spanky and London, when trying running cross-bodies the CSC began to impose themselves on the match as the smaller men tried to think of ways to get around the mismatch and they did; as London and Spanky began to hit moves from the moves that Buff E and Mase were trying. So as Mase tried to toss London across the ring, Paul managed to land on his feet and in the momentum of it all take Mase down with a diving elbow and the change of tactics got to the Connection as they struggled with a reply and one London Calling was enough to give Spanky and Paul London their first victory each of the weekend.

As Scoot Andrews made his way to the ring for the next it was announced that the tag team bout with Low Ki would be “The Black Nature Boy’s” last in the Ring of Honor as he was checking himself back into rehab following the evening. The crowd gave Andrews a decent reception as Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Corino headed to the ring to finally settle the differences between the two teams and after much stiff brawling and even stiffer kicks from Low Ki, it was the old guard that saw themselves through as Whipwreck planted the obviously fatigued Low Ki with the Whipper-Snapper to end Andrews’ career in defeat, but at least he has the win from last night.

And following his heroic victory over Low Ki last night, The Amazing Red was at it again he pulled out the pinfall over Johnny Kashmere in a tricky triple threat that also featured Bryan Danielson. Red was clearly suffering a little bit from fatigue but somehow he had enough in the tank to pin Kashmere after he had planted Bryan Danielson with the Cradle Breaker. The Amazing Red pounced at the right time to finish Kashmere off in much the same he had done to Low Ki on night one as he hit the Red alert before finishing things off with the Infrared for the three count.

Kristian received another icy reaction from the Ring of Honor fans as he headed to the ring for his shot at Michael Shane, who was surprisingly received with a better reaction than he has received so far in ROH, obviously because of who his opponent was as the men met in the centre of the ring and began to exchange technical holds. However, after some brief resistance from the former World Wrestling Federation star, “The Showstopper” found his rhythm and got down to things hitting his usual sequence of moves to finish Kristian off with the Sweet Shane Music and subsequent Picture Perfect Elbow to complete his fourth successful defence of the Ring of Honor Championship.

However, after the defeat it was Kristian rather than Shane who was attacked by outside competitors as Greg Quinn and Carl Cash hopped across the guardrail and set themselves upon Kristian with heavy right hands and pounding boots to the back. The New School of Wrestling continued to beat down on the failed contender as “The Man of Honor” Christopher Daniels headed to the ring, applauding his two young students. But as Daniels attempted to join the attack Eddie Guerrero, Mark Briscoe and Jay Briscoe stormed to the ring to save Kristian. The rescuing trio dumped The New School of Wrestling out of the ring and a re-match from a month ago was on.

And the result was reserved as Eddie Guerrero and The Briscoe Brothers managed to overcame The New School of Wrestling in a fast-paced, tension-filled six man tag match that saw all six men showcasing their real abilities in the ring with the exchanges between Christopher Daniels and Eddie Guerrero a real delight for the fans. The finish came after Guerrero was given the hot tag after Jay Briscoe was isolated across the ring. “Latino Heat” erupted into the ring and knocked everyone out on their ass before planting Greg Quinn with a stalling suplex and a huge Frog Splash as the Ring of Honor fans chanted every count of the pinfall as Guerrero exerted his revenge on “The Man of Honor” for now.

And finally we came to the last match of the weekend, and the match to crown the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions as The Spanish Aerial Team, Jose Maximo and Joel Maximo headed for the ring first before being followed by Danny Drake and Mike Tobin. The match started in bright fashion as Joel Maximo tried to impose himself on Tobin but the action was even between the pair as they exchanged hip-tosses and shoulder barges with neither man holding a distinct advantage although they weren’t lacking in attempts as they tired anything they could to get an advantage. Their actions only seemed to spur their counterpart on as they retaliated with the exact same move. Eventually, Joel bite the bullet and tagged in his brother but Tobin did not follow suit, even glancing at Drake to shake his head at him before continuing with the fight. And it proved costly for Tobin as the fresh Maximo brother took the advantage with two lightning kicks moves that knocked the wind out of Tobin‘s sails for at least the time being as he dropped him to the mat with a toe hold before bouncing off the ropes with a baseball slide that granted the SAT the first real, decent control of the match. Mike really began to struggle as Joel and Jose employed their distinctive move-set and quick tags to keep the match in their control until Tobin somehow managed to reverse what was supposed to be a back-drop attempt into his crushing Shining Wizard; out of absolutely nowhere.

The devastating move left both Joel Maximo and Mike Tobin struggling on the mat and reaching for their partners with both getting there, at almost the exact same time as Danny Drake rushed towards Jose Maximo with both men meeting in the air trying jumping clotheslines and simply managing to take each other out. With their partners recovering in the corner, Drake and Jose exchanged holds and reversals; much like Joel and Mike had done at the beginning of the match except that this time Drake took the advantage of the match with a deliciously high hip-toss that nearly landed Jose onto his exposed neck. Danny continued from there as he tried to focus his attention of the neck and shoulders of the younger Maximo brother but failed to really capitalise after Jose rolled out of a triangle hold to apply the move on Drake. Drake tried to wriggle free but Jose was able to reach out, while still applying the move and tag in his brother who flew on top of Drake with a leg drop as he remained in the triangle hold; and again much like they had done with Tobin earlier in the match, The Spanish Aerial Team isolated Drake in their corner with some quick moves and even quicker tags. That lasted until Drake was able to earn himself some breathing room, by dodging a clothesline to plant Joel Maximo with a neckbreaker but as Danny slid towards his corner, he looked up to see no-one there.

Mike Tobin jumped off the ring apron and began to leave the ring area as the crowd jeered at him. Danny Drake was looking around in disbelief and for a few second thought he had the wrong corner until he spotted Tobin backing his way towards the backstage area. Needless to say, Drake was a sitting duck for Jose Maximo as he raced into the ring and without putting up much fight Drake was dropped to the mat by Jose with the Skull Driver as the Spanish Aerial Team were crowned the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. Mike Tobin laughed at his “partner” Danny Drake who lay motionless in the ring as Jose and Joel embraced in an emotional scene the centre of the ring clutching the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships together.

Show Rating: 64%

Attendance: 2481

Edited July 4, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

Wrestling Newswire - November 2002

- Michinoku Pro has signed up Crowbar, Sandy Whyle, Jamie Dundee and Tony Mamaluke to deals that will see them tour with them next year.

- Ring of Honor hosted it’s first ever double shot weekend that crowned the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions. The initial feedback is very positive. The weekend results are as follows:

• Night #1
  • The Christopher Street Connection (Buff E & Mase) defeated Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm), in a match that also featured Da Hit Squad (Daniel Mafia & Monsta Mack)
  • Johnny Kashmere pinned Paul London
  • The Spanish Aerial Team (Jose Maximo & Joel Maximo) defeated York & Matthews (Christian York & Joey Matthews) to advance into the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship match
  • Scoot Andrews pinned Eddie Guerrero, in a triple threat also featuring Spanky
  • The Amazing Red defeated Low Ki
  • Mike Tobin & Danny Drake defeated The New School of Wrestling (Greg Quinn & Carl Cash w/Christopher Daniels) to advance into the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship match
  • Kristian pinned Shark Boy to earn a shot at the Ring of Honor Championship in a match that also featured Homicide and Bryan Danielson
  • Michael Shane completed his third defence of the Ring of Honor Championship against CW Anderson
• Night #2
  • Daniel Mafiia w/Monsta Mack defeated James Maritato
  • Homicide pinned Shark Boy, in a four corner's match that also featured CW Anderson and Raymond Rougeau
  • Paul London and Spanky defeated The Christopher Street Connection (Buff E and Mase)
  • Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Corino defeated Low Ki and Scoot Andrews
  • The Amazing Red pinned Johnny Kashmere, in a triple threat also featuring Bryan Danielson
  • Michael Shane completed his fourth defence of the Ring of Honor Championship against Kristian
  • Eddie Guerrero and The Briscoe Brothers (Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe) defeated The New School of Wrestling (Christopher Daniels, Greg Quinn & Carl Cash)
  • The Spanish Aerial Team (Jose Maximo & Joel Maximo) defeated Mike Tobin & Danny Drake to become the first Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions

- Bam Bam Bigelow and Dusty Rhodes are set to leave the wrestling business at the turn of the year.

- A number of wrestlers have agreed new deals with the Ring of Honor that will keep them with the company for the next year. Everyone currently on the active roster plus a number of the Ring of Honor Wrestling School students have been offered one year deals. Xavier, James Maritato, HC Loc and Elax are the only known names to have not signed or been offered new deals.

- Xtreme Pro Wrestling have gone bankrupt and closed their doors.

- Dave Prazak and Andrew McManus have taken over PGHW and proceeded to sign up a number of women wrestlers, including Alexis Laree and Lizzie Borden.

Ring of Honor Presents...

All-Star Challenge (ROH vs. NJPW) - Wakefield, MA 11/30/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: NJPW vs. ROH: Rey Misterio Jr. & Super Crazy vs. The Spanish Aerial Team ©

NJPW vs. ROH: Ultimo Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero

NJPW vs. ROH: Jinsei Shinzaki & Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. Bryan Danielson & Spanky

Josh Prohibition & Low Ki vs. Divine Storm vs. The Briscoe Brothers

Mike Tobin vs. Danny Drake

The New School of Wrestling vs. Shark Boy and York & Matthews

Kristian vs. The Amazing Red vs. Mikey Whipwreck vs. Homicide

Ring of Honor Championship: Michael Shane © vs. Steve Corino

Frozen Battle - Philadelphia, PA, 12/07/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: SAT/Rey&Crazy © vs. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Eddie Guerrero & ???

The Amazing Red & Spanky vs. Johnny Kashmere & Mike Tobin

York & Matthews vs. HC Loc & Danny Drake

Low Ki & Homicide vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Bryan Danielson

If Corino is Champion; Ring of Honor Championship: Steve Corino © vs. Christopher Daniels

James Maritato & Raymond Rougeau vs. Hit Squad vs. Shark Boy & Paul London

If Shane is Champion; Ring of Honor Championship: Michael Shane © vs. Kristian

And the debut of the first Ring of Honor Wrestling School graduate!

ROH Showdown - West Mifflin, PA, 01/19/03

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03 - 01/23/03

Edited July 5, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

All-Star Challenge (Ring of Honor vs. New Japan Pro Wrestling)

Wakefield, MA 11/30/02

The eleventh show in the history of Ring of Honor got underway with Danny Drake heading to the ring. The man who was pinned by the Spanish Aerial Team in last month’s main event was all business as he headed into the ring and grabbed a microphone. Drake immediately called out Mike Tobin, expecting answers and if they were good enough, he wouldn’t kick his ass. However, when Tobin appeared he wasn’t alone as Prince Nana, Squire Brian and The Boogie Knight followed Tobin to the ring. Nana took the microphone and introduced the newest member of the Royal Court; “The Wizard” Mike Tobin.

Drake did not look happy and wasn’t in the mood to wait around for answers as he jumped on Tobin, starting the match without the usual handshake however few could blame him for his actions. Tobin pushed Drake off, and with The Royal Court taking one side of the ring each it was obvious that “The Wizard” was going to win the first “Match without Honor” as he finished Drake off with the Shining Wizard. Drake can feel pretty good about his performance but he was never going to compete with the numbers advantage of the Royal Court as they took advantage of the lack of honor involved in proceedings.

The second match of the night saw an action packed tag team match with the most unlikely of victors. Mark Briscoe and Jay Briscoe have been impressing everyone with their care-free array of moves however they have failed to turn their great fan reactions into match victories as they were beaten once again by the random pairing of Josh Prohibition and Low Ki as two Ki Krushers to Chris Divine and Jay Briscoe handed the team a double pin in the scramble match. Josh and Low Ki struggled with some team dynamics for the majority of the match but what they lacked was made up for by Low Ki’s devastating finishing manoeuvre as they pulled out the win.

The third match of the night was the first of the three international challenges as the team of Bryan Danielson and Spanky headed to the ring to await their opponents. The New Japan representatives of Jinsei Shinzaki and Jushin “Thunder” Lyger received buoyant reactions from the crowd as they headed for the ring; and the subsequent match was a real delight. All four men were on top of their games as they wooed the crowd with lightning quick sequences and amazing variations on some crushing moves. And it was the Ring of Honor who claimed the first victory of the night as Spanky hit Shinzaki with the Sliced Bread #2 for the pinfall as Bryan Danielson tied Lyger up in the Arms Across America. The four men joined together after the match, celebrating together and accepting the crowd’s warm applause.

Greg Quinn and Carl Cash continued to learn their way through the wrestling world in the fourth match of the night as they tagged with their teacher Christopher Daniels in a six man tag victory over Christian York, Joey Matthews and Shark Boy. The fan favourites were on the ball for much of the match but it was clear early on that Quinn and Cash are learning with every move they do as they orchestrated the victory for the New School of Wrestling, finishing Christian York off with an assisted Wheelbarrow Suplex for the match victory.

The second Ring of Honor versus New Japan match saw Eddie Guerrero clinch the three match series with a wrestling clinic against Ultimo Dragon. The two men spent much of the twenty-two minutes of the mat exchanging holds and tosses that were enough to keep the educated ROH fans interested until of course Eddie took to the air. Not to be outdone however, Dragon flew through the air as well, clocking Eddie with a sickening Missile Dropkick but it wasn’t enough for the Japanese star who had only just recovered from surgery earlier in the year as Guerrero flew from the top rope to land his Frog Splash for the match victory.

The jeers that Kristian has received since joining the Ring of Honor seemed to be deflated somewhat as he headed to the ring for his third match, although some of those boos will simply be because of his cocky mannerisms as the former World Wrestling Federation star secured his second victory of his Ring of Honor tenure in a hard-fought four-way that also featured Amazing Red, Mikey Whipwreck and Homicide. All four men entered the match on the back of good “Glory By Honor” weekends with all of them looking to secure that extra piece of momentum to carry them forward as Kristian hit his Canadian Roll finishing move on Whipwreck to secure the match victory as the other two struggled with the energy to break up the pinfall.

The semi-main event saw The Spanish Aerial Team rounding out a three-nil whitewash for the Ring of Honor team as Joel and Jose Maximo successfully negotiated the first defence of their Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships. Rey Misterio Jr and Super Crazy produced moves not ever seen by the Ring of Honor and the Spanish team followed that up by producing moves that few have seen from them as both teams really wanted to secure the Championship victory. But it was the ROH team that shone through as Joel managed to isolate Misterio before finishing him off with the Maximo Velocity to retain the Tag Team Belts for the first time.

And in the main event, “The Showstopper” once again proved himself as the top man in the Ring of Honor as he won through against Steve Corino despite the interruption of Christopher Daniels. Mid-way through the match, Daniels stormed to the ring and with blatant disregard for the rules, attacked Corino right in front of the referee who had no choice but to throw out the match as a no-contest. However, once Shane was able to chase Daniels off and help Corino to his feet, the two men agreed to restart the match as though “The Man of Honor” had never got involved. Sadly, Corino was forced to compete while feeling the effects of the attack from Daniels and that made him a sitting duck for Michael Shane who was able to finish the match with the Sweet Shane Music for his fifth defence.

Show Rating: 67%

Attendance: 2259

Edited July 5, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

Wrestling Newswire - December 2002

- Osaka Pro has signed Big Vito and Kaos up to join their tour for the next year.

- Ring of Honor welcomed five New Japan Pro Wrestling stars to Boston the past month for the "All-Star Challenge." The show was attended by 2259 people, with the results as follows:

• Mike Tobin w/Prince Nana, Squire Brian & The Boogie Knight defeated Danny Drake
• Josh Prohibition & Low Ki defeated Divine Storm (Chris Divine & Quiet Storm), in a match also featuring The Briscoe Brothers (Mark Briscoe & Jay Briscoe)
• Bryan Danielson & Spanky defeated Jinsei Shinzaki & Jushin "Thunder" Lyger to take a 1-0 lead for Ring of Honor
• The New School of Wrestling (Christopher Daniels, Carl Cash & Greg Quinn) defeated Shark Boy and York & Matthews (Christian York & Joey Matthews)
• Eddie Guerrero defeated Ultimo Dragon to take a 2-0 lead in the Ring of Honor
• Kristian pinned Mikey Whipwreck, in a Four-Corners match also featuring Homicide and The Amazing Red
• The Spanish Aerial Team (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) defeated Rey Misterio Jr and Super Crazy to complete a Ring of Honor whitewash and retain the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships in their first defence
• Ring of Honor Champion Michael Shane defeated Steve Corino to complete his fifth defence of the title

- Rey Misterio Jr. and Super Crazy have been kept on by Ring of Honor to do some future dates. Although, Super Crazy has recently picked up an injury joining Xavier on the medical table. Super Crazy is expected to return in time for the Anniversary Weekened while Xavier is set to see out the rest of his contract while injured.

Ring of Honor Presents...

Frozen Battle - Philadelphia, PA, 12/07/02

Confirmed Matches

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: The Spanish Aerial Team © vs. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Eddie Guerrero & ???

The Amazing Red & Spanky vs. Johnny Kashmere & Mike Tobin

York & Matthews vs. HC Loc & Danny Drake

Low Ki & Homicide vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Bryan Danielson

Steve Corino vs. Christopher Daniels

James Maritato & Raymond Rougeau vs. Hit Squad vs. Shark Boy & Paul London

Ring of Honor Championship: Michael Shane © vs. Kristian

And the debut of the first Ring of Honor Wrestling School graduate!

ROH Showdown - West Mifflin, PA, 01/19/03

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03 - 01/23/03

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

Frozen Battle

Philadelphia, PA, 12/07/02

The final show of the year seemed to be dominated by tag team action as the show got underway with Daniel Mafia and Monsta Mack proving the advantage of regularly teaming together as the Hit Squad overcame the slapdash teams of London and Shark Boy and the team of Raymond Rougeau and James Maritato. Paul London was obviously the fastest man in the match and used his speed to his advantage for the much of the match; until finally Mafia was able to clobber him with a vicious clothesline. Rougeau and Maritato were something of a non-factor in the match as they struggled to get to terms with each other and allowed Monsta Mack the chance to pin Maritato following a brutal running body slam that squashed Maritato between the canvas and the close-to-300 pound Mack. Maritato didn’t have a prayer as far as kicking out went and Mafia was on hand to make sure no-one broke up the pin as the Hit Squad ended the year victorious.

And they were joined in the winner’s circle by Christian York and Joey Matthews as they got themselves back on track with a comfortable victory over HC Loc and Danny Drake. Loc and Drake had a few teething problems early on, and things really weren’t helped by the appearance of “The Wizard” Mike Tobin and Prince Nana who distracted Drake as much as possible, leaving him an easy target for the Full Effect; and therefore giving York & Matthews the match victory.

The next theme song to hit the speakers was strange to the crowd as “Higher” by Creed played to welcome a new face to Ring of Honor. The man introduced himself as the first graduate of the Ring of Honor Wrestling School and “Your New Favourite Wrestler” Colt Cabana. The cocky youngster reminded everyone that he was a product of the finest wrestling school in the world and challenged anyone in the locker room to come out and take him on. The challenge was answered by Chris Divine of Divine Storm, who informed the crowd that he was looking to break into the single’s rankings, and beating Cabana would be his first step on the ladder.

Needless to say, that didn’t happen as Cabana dominated Divine from the moment the bell went, flipping him to the mat and reversing his every move. Divine grew more and more infuriated before Cabana hit him with a double under-hook Canadian backbreaker drop, that he called the Colt 45 for the victory.

But as Cabana celebrated, Quiet Storm appeared to the ring and challenged Cabana to his own singles match. But sadly for Divine Storm, the match went the same way as Cabana’s first encounter in the Ring of Honor as he dominated Storm from start to finish before finishing him off with the same Colt 45 Backbreaker for the pinfall and his second victory of the night as “Your New Favourite Wrestler” started his career with a bang.

It was yet another tag team match next as The Amazing Red and Spanky continued their generally successful run together against the ill-match Johnny Kashmere and Mike Tobin, who were really to blame for their defeat. Kashmere was interrupted by former CZW tag team partner Trent Acid who looked oddly hurt that Kashmere had found a new partner while Tobin was too occupied with the new cape that he was sporting, and refused to take it off, giving Red and Spanky about five feet of a lead for them to grab onto Tobin by. The end came as Trent Acid continued to bug Kashmere, and Johnny was caught off guard for a Red alert and Spanky finished him off with a 450 splash for the match victory.

The Ring of Honor Championship match was next as “The Showstopper” Michael Shane came up against a very different proposition in Kristian, than he was a couple of months ago. The former World Wrestling Federation star started the match brightest showcasing a range of moves that few people in America can ever lay claim to seeing and Shane was caught totally off guard as he struggled to keep up with a man who is increasing his reputation in Ring of Honor with match he competes in. Shane tried valiantly to secure the momentum in his favour and despite some brief moments of control Shane was on the back foot for the much of the match as the incredibly cocky Kristian thumped with no less than two Canadian Rolls in a row to become the new Ring of Honor Champion, much to the disgust of the crowd who jeered Kristian upon his victory.

Low Ki and Homicide are one of those strange pairings that on first glance don’t quite fit but when they were in the ring together against Mikey Whipwreck and Bryan Danielson, the two men punched and kicked the life out of their opponents on their way to victory. Whipwreck and Danielson are by no means easy people to defeat but with Homicide throwing some of his hardest right hands, while Low Ki kicked the breath out of Whipwreck’s chest, everyone in the arena knew that they were watching a slightly scary pairing as Low Ki finished Danielson off with the Ki Krusher for the pinfall victory, following a tough brawl.

And that was followed by “The King of Old School” finally getting one up on Christopher Daniels. “The Man of Honor” looked calm and assured as their brutal match got underway with neither man willing to give up even a breath to their opponent and they brawled for much of the early going before breaking into some more high-impact moves with Corino using the ropes for a jumping DDT before finishing Danielson off with the Old School Expulsion to the delight of the fans and Mikey Whipwreck who stuck around to watch the match. However, things were totally rosy as Greg Quinn and Carl Cash set themselves upon Whipwreck and Corino following the match, beating them down in the centre of the ring as Daniels recovered. The New School of Wrestling stood together in the centre of the ring over the beaten bodies of Whipwreck and Steve Corino, with Daniels adding insult to injury by spitting on the two veterans before they left.

And finally it was time for the main event as Eddie Guerrero appeared alone for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship match. He was followed by The Briscoe Brothers and then the Champions, Joel and Jose Maximo as the Scramble Tag got underway with Eddie managing to hold his own as he simply retreated out of the ring when the going got too tough as the Briscoes and The SAT proved that they know a lot about each other with both teams struggling to really get a clear advantage over their opponents while Eddie mounted any one man attack he could as the match wore on with none of the teams really controlling matters although Jose and Joel Maximo did have some joy isolating Jay Briscoe in their corner but when Jose blatantly kicked out at Jay’s crotch, all hell broke loose. Mark Briscoe was immediately into the ring, demanding a disqualification while The Spanish Aerial Team started to pound on Jay and Eddie until REY MISTERIO JR ran out from the back. The small Mexican wrestler caught Joel Maximo completely off-guard with the West Coast Pop and as everyone stood around in shock, Misterio recorded the three count over Joel Maximo.

But at the small wrestler celebrated, everyone looked really confused until Eddie rushed into the ring and embraced his friend. The two men were handed the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships as Rey was announced Eddie’s partner and the new Champions celebrated as the last Ring of Honor show of the year ended with both the Championships changing hands and the Spanish Aerial Team looking rather pissed.

Show Rating: 72%

Attendance: 2218

Edited July 5, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

2002 - State of the Wrestling Industry

World Wrestling Federation

Owned by Linda McMahon - 100% Global

Al Snow #69, Big Show, Billy Gunn, Booker T #92, Bradshaw, Bret Hart #53, Brock Lesnar #48, Bubba Ray Dudley, Chavo Guerrero Jr #21, Chris Benoit #5, Chris Kanyon #59, Chris Jericho #3, Chuck Palumbo, Diamond Dallas Page, D'Lo Brown #51, D-Von Dudley, Edge #20, EZ Money #33, Faarooq, Funaki #98, Godfather, Hulk Hogan, Hurricane #12, Jamie Noble #29, Jeff Hardy #58, Jeff Jarrett #64, Jerry Lynn #34, Kane, Kurt Angle #1, Lance Storm #19, Lita, Matt Hardy #24, Maven, Mike Awesome, Mike Sanders #91, Molly Holly #88, Paul Bearer, Paul Heyman, Perry Saturn #70, Randy Orton #100, Raven, Rhyno, Rico Constantino #73, Rikishi, Rob Van Dam #7, Roddy Piper, Scott Hall, Scotty 2 Hotty #42, Sean O'Haire #99, Shane McMahon, Shawn Michaels #26, Stacy Keibler, Stephanie McMahon, Steve Austin #36, Sting, Tajiri #30, TAKA Michinoku #27, Tazz, Terry Funk, Test, The Rock #28, Tommy Dreamer, Torrie Wilson, Triple H, Trish Stratus, Undertaker, Val Venis, William Regal, X-Pac

X Wrestling Federation

Owned by Jimmy Hart - 67% National

AJ Styles #17, Alex Wright #93, Big Vito, Billy Fives, Brian Knobbs, Buff Bagwell, Chris Candido #37, Christopher Daniels #4, Dawn Marie, Donovan Morgan #35, Drezden, Greg Valentine, Harry Smith #97, Ian Harrison, Jerry Saggs, Jim Duggan, Jimmy Snuka Jr, Johnny Grunge, Josh Matthews, Juventud Guerrera #14, Kaz Hayashi #74, Ken Shamrock #62, Kid Krash #40, Konnan, Marty Jannetty, Michael Modest #77, Norman Smiley, Prince Iaukea, Psicosis #32, Rey Misterio Jr #11, Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk, Roadkill, Rocco Rock, Sandy Whyle, Scorpio #63, Simon Diamond #66, Spanky #15, Super Crazy #16, The Wall, Tito Ortiz #10, Ultimo Dragon #23, Vader, Vampiro

>>> Ring of Honor <<<

Owned by Rob Feinstein - 48% Cult

Adam Jacobs, Amazing Red #18, Bryan Danielson #13, Buff E, Carl Cash, Chris Divine, Christian York, Christopher Daniels #4, Colt Cabana, CW Anderson, Daniel Mafia, Danny Drake, Eddie Guerrero #2, Elax, Greg Quinn, HC Loc, Homicide, James Maritato #60, Jay Briscoe #57, Jeremy Lopez, Joel Maximo #54, Joey Matthews, Johnny Kashmere #52, Jose Maximo #38, Josh Prohibition, Kristian #9, Low Ki #22, Mark Briscoe #82, Mase, Michael Shane #41, Mike Tobin, Mikey Whipwreck #43, Monsta Mack, Nicky Cena #56, Paul London #45, Prince Nana, Quiet Storm, Raymond Rougeau, Rey Misterio Jr #11, Scoot Andrews #6, Shark Boy #76, Spanky #15, Squire Brian, Steve Corino #8, Super Crazy #16, The Boogie Knight, Trent Acid #49, Xavier

Ring of Honor Wrestling School

Alexis Laree, Athena, Austin Lee #85, Billy Reil #44, Chad Collyer #65, Charlie Haas #39, Chris Harvard, Chris Hero, Chris Sabin, Daffney, Derek Frazier, Derrick King #67, Gail Kim, J.R. Ryder #80, Jayson Reign, Joel Gertner, Joey Ryan, Johnny Jeter, Kid Romeo #68, Kory Williams, Lex Lovett, Matt Stryker #71, Orlando Jordan, Queen Victoria, Race Steele, Ronald Killings #46, Sharmell Sullivan, Shelton Benjamin #25, Sonjay Dutt, Tommy Drake, Trinity

Pride Glory Honor Wrestling

Owned by Andrew McManus - 46% Small

Ace Steel, Anni King, Belladonna, Cassidy O'Reilly, Chase Stevens, CM Punk #83, Danny Dominion, Ian Knoxx, Jessica Darlin, Kim Nielson, Lizzy Borden, Looney Lane, Tommy Suede

Diamond Dust Wrestling

Owned by John Collins - 72% Backyard

Alex Arion, Brother Clay, Five Star Flash, Greg Pawluk, Juantastico, Jun Kasai, Super Anderson

Springfield Grappling Company

Owned by Todd Gordon - 49% Backyard

Big Dave, Don Juan, Flyin' Mercy, John Hope, Raphael Muhammed, Trash

Japanese Promotions

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Dan Severn, Jimmy Yang #75, Mitsuharu Misawa, PJ Friedman, Samoa Joe, Simon Diamond #66, Taiyo Kea, Vader, Yuji Nagata

BattlArts

Jonny Storm, Tony Jones

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

Chris Stylez, CM Punk #83, Ikuto Hidaka, Messiah

Michinoku Pro

Crowbar #47, Jamie Dundee #72, Sandy Whyle, Satoru Sayama, Tony Mamaluke

New Japan Pro Wrestling

AJ Styles #17, Chris Candido #37, Christopher Daniels #4, Eddie Guerrero #2, Frank Shamrock, Jinsei Shinzaki #50, Jushin Thunder Liger #31, Juventud Guerrera #14, Kid Krash #40, M-Dogg 20 #95, Rey Misterio Jr #11, Ruckus #78, Spanky #15, Super Crazy #16, Ultimo Dragon #23

Osaka Pro

Big Vito, Kaos

PRIDE

Pro Wrestling NOAH

Blitzkrieg, Brother Yashiini, Damien, Donovan Morgan #35, Doug Williams, Elix Skipper, Harry Smith #97, Jody Fleisch #81, Kaz Hayashi #74, Psicosis #32, Reckless Youth, Shinjiro Otani, Super Dragon, Tommy Suede, Trent Acid #49

Toryumon

Izzy, Nosawa, Sean Casey, Shannon Moore

World Japan Pro Wrestling

Dustin Rhodes, Johnny Smith, Keiji Mutoh #87, Ken Shamrock #62, Masato Tanaka #90, Sabu #61, Satoshi Kojima #79, Tito Ortiz #10

Wrestling Marvelous Future

Billy Kidman, Chris Chetti #86, Chris Michaels, Danny Rose, Scorpio #63, Tiger Mask IV

Zero-One

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Newswire

January 2003

- Disaster struck for Eddie Guerrero while touring with New Japan Pro Wrestling as he ruptured ligaments in his left knee while defending the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships with Rey Misterio Jr. Sensing the injury, the teams made up the ending with the team of Cross-Fire, Matt Cross and Ruckus claiming the belts and contracts with the Ring of Honor. Guerrero is not expected to return until April 2004 but the Ring of Honor as always will see out his contract.

- Ring of Honor are going to hold back on adopting the "World" name for the Tag Team Championships despite their appearance on Japanese soil. It is believed that all going well in April when in England, the name may be changed. The same treatment will of course be required of the Ring of Honor Championship before it becomes a World title although Kristian has no plans to tour in Japan at present.

- Guerrero joins Xavier and Super Crazy on the injured list. Scoot Andrews continues to battle his cocaine habit in rehab.

- The Ring of Honor dates for the first six months of the year have been announced. The dates and venues can be found below, although a lot of attention has been focused on “The Gauntlet;” the first Ring of Honor show in New York in June, and of course the "Great British Honor" weekend in April.

- Trent Acid has signed a deal with the Ring of Honor following his appearance at Frozen Battle, and will join Matt Cross and Ruckus in debuting at the ROH Showdown event.

- James Maritato, HC Loc, Elax and Xavier are all set to leave ROH at the end of the month after once again refusing new deals. It is believed that officials are happy to keep the four men on but they are all ready to move to pastures new.

- “The Prototype” Nicolas Cena, “All That” Adam Jacobs and Jeremy Lopez are all set for debuts at ROH Showdown although they have not been announced for the card, which can be found below. The three men are set to follow Colt Cabana as the next three graduates of the ROH Wrestling School.

Ring of Honor Presents...

ROH Showdown - West Mifflin, PA, 01/19/03

Confirmed Matches

The Backseat Boyz vs. The Christopher Street Connection vs. York & Matthews vs. Divine Storm

Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships: Ruckus & Matt Cross © vs. The Hit Squad

Christopher Daniels vs. Raymond Rougeau

Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

Amazing Red vs. Michael Shane vs. Low Ki

Ring of Honor Championship: Kristian © vs. Rey Misterio Jr.

The Spanish Aerial Team vs. The Briscoe Brothers

Steve Corino vs. Shark Boy vs. Mike Tobin vs. Homicide

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/22/03

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend - Philadelphia, PA 02/23/03

The Round Robin Challenge II - West Mifflin, PA 03/30/03

Great British Honor Night #1 - Manchester, England 04/19/03

Great British Honor Night #2 - Liverpool, England 04/20/03

Epic Evening - Philadelphia, PA 05/17/03

The Gauntlet - Queens, NY 06/22/03

Edited July 6, 2007 by FlatDavey Richards

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

ROH Showdown

West Mifflin, PA, 01/19/03

The first Ring of Honor show of 2003 got underway in the same manner as the very first Ring of Honor show with a victory for Christian York and Joey Matthews. The experienced team came through a brutal four way tag team match that saw Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid establish themselves within the Ring of Honor style. The Backseat Boyz were combining for the first time in the ROH and really showcased their talents as they gave York and Matthews a run for their money as well as outclassing the Christopher Street Connection and the poorly-performing Divine Storm. Kashmere and Acid looked positive throughout but it seemed to be a real lack of knowledge of the ROH Scramble Rules that cost them as York and Matthews pounced to hit The Full Effect on Trent to secure the opening victory.

The second match of the night saw Michael Shane competing in his first match since losing the Ring of Honor Championship and the former looked as good as before, except of course he wasn’t carrying around a Championship but “The Showstopper” just wasn’t able to compete with the numbers disadvantage as Low Ki exploited matters to win. Shane looked in control for parts of the match and seemed to perform as well as, if not better than Low Ki and Amazing Red for long periods of the match until he was dumped from the ring as Low Ki planted Amazing Red with the Ki Krusher for a vital victory as Michael Shane looked less than happy outside the ring.

“Higher” by Creed echoed around the arena next as “Your New Favourite Wrestler” Colt Cabana headed to the ring. Cabana once again, preceded his match with a little bit of microphone time as the cocky rookie questioned why some of the Ring of Honor fans weren’t believing the hype. Cabana tried to convince by adding that if he wasn’t as good as he said he was, the Ring of Honor officials wouldn’t have put him against Bryan Danielson. Cabana said he was going to take pleasure in jumping straight up the rankings with his next victory but as he did, “Self-Esteem” by The Offspring hit the speakers to welcome Bryan Danielson to the ring, and the following match was a wrestling clinic as Colt Cabana was able to match anything that Bryan Danielson literally threw at him as he tried some ferocious right hands only for Colt to block the moves, or duck away from them and take Danielson to the mat with his outstretched arm in an arm lock. Cabana looked impressive throughout the match and matched Danielson every step of the way, until a simple rookie mistake saw him locked into the Arms Across America. Cabana dived into a forearm, and missed, handing the match to “The American Dragon” who was more than happy to secure the victory with his unbreakable hold.

Steve Corino captured victory in the fourth match of the night despite The New School of Wrestling being at ringside with seemingly their newest acquisitions. “The King of Old School” was able to secure victory by pinning Mike Tobin in a Four Corners match that also featured Shark Boy and Homicide. Homicide looked strong throughout although, Corino may have been more of a force had it not been for Christopher Daniels and his band of youngsters surrounding the ring and as soon as the match was finished The New School of Wrestling pounced. Daniels, Carl Cash, Greg Quinn and two other men jumped straight into the ring and started to attack Corino. Sensing danger, Homicide and Mike Tobin quickly fled from the ring but Shark Boy refused to back down. “The King of the Deep Seas” tried to help Corino out but he could fight off the five men as The New School got one over “The King of Old School” before Daniels took a microphone.

“The Man of Honor” introduced the fans to Jeremy Lopez and “All That” Adam Jacobs as the brand new members of The New School of Wrestling. Daniels then went on to announce that one member of the New School of Wrestling was missing. Christopher explained that the sixth member of The New School was the epitome of the next wave of wrestlers and will be a future legend of the ring. Daniels finished the introduction by adding that the new member would replace him in his scheduled match with Raymond Rougeau to prove his dominance as Christopher Daniels welcomed “Version One” Nicolas Cena to the Ring of Honor.

And Cena proved to be a more than capable replacement for Christopher Daniels in his match-up as he picked Raymond Rougeau apart from limb-to-limb finishing his off with a terrifyingly stiff T-Bone Suplex to start his Ring of Honor career in victory before The New School of Wrestling left to deafening jeers from the crowd, much to their own personal pleasure.

The sixth match on the card saw the new Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions Ruckus and Matt Cross showing off their talents to the ROH faithful. Both men were completely new to Ring of Honor as they headed to the ring and such didn’t receive the greatest of reactions but after defeating the Hit Squad pairing of Daniel Mafia and Monsta Mack, they had some fans in attendance. Cross and Ruckus showed a real ability to work together and a familiarity with each other some teams in the Ring of Honor lack which helped them to what was quite a comfortable, if not stiff defence against the Ring of Honor originals.

And there next opponents will be the Spanish Aerial Team after Joel and Jose Maximo wriggled their way to victory over Mark and Jay Briscoe in a tense tag team affiar. The two teams were aware that their showdown was basically a contenders match and both team were out all out for victory as they showcased the ROH tag team division at it’s finest with some amazing moves and brilliant understanding between the four workers until Jose and Joel Maximo were able to isolate Mark Briscoe on the top rope and plant him with a crushing Spanish Fly for the victory.

Finally we got to the main event as Kristian took on Rey Misterio Jr. for his Ring of Honor Championship, and it was Kristian that came away victorious in the match as he once again proved his wrestling skills were equal if not, better than the obvious charisma that he possesses as he did unleashed new weapons to his array of wrestling moves to finish Misterio off, and once again it was the fluent Canadian Roll that did the trick as Kristian proved himself to be the top man in the Ring of Honor once again.

Show Rating: 61%

Attendance: 1877

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Newswire

February 2003

- “All That” Adam Jacobs was fired following the ROH Showdown show. The youngster admitted to a cocaine habit, and citing that he had only been with the company officially less than a month, the Ring of Honor officials decided to get rid of him as they had no loyalty towards him. ROH wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavours.

- Colt Cabana picked up an eye injury while working elsewhere and will sit out the next two months, joining Eddie Guerrero on the treatment table.

- Super Crazy has returned from injury and is joined in a clean bill of health by Scoot Andrews who many believe will return to the Ring of Honor as he is still under contract. Rob Feinstein has been in constant contact with Andrews’ clinic and will consider the decision a lot before allowing Scoot back in the federation.

- A number of voices backstage are said to be very impressed with Ruckus and Matt Cross. They were never going to lose the Tag Team Championships straight away and some have suggested their contracts have been extended.

- Austin Lee, Ronald Killings and Derek Frazier have received no word on their debut in the Ring of Honor despite graduating from the ROH Wrestling School.

- Wrestling School students Kid Romeo, Joey Ryan, Chris Hero and Billy Reil have signed new deals to keep them with Ring of Honor for the next year while Derrick King has turned down the initial deal offered to him. Few trainers are bothered about King as he is not turning into the wrestler many expected he would be.

- James Maritato, Xavier, HC Loc and Elax have left the Ring of Honor after their contracts expired. The ROH wishes them the best for the future.

- The full three cards for the Anniversary weekend have been announced with the double main event on the Sunday show featuring Kristian defending the ROH Championship against Bryan Danielson, while Christopher Daniels will go one-on-one with Mikey Whipwreck. The complete cards can be found below.

- More information has been announced out the “Great British Honor” weekend and “The Gauntlet” show in New York. The GBH weekend will feature a six match series between the ROH and an Great Britain invitational team, while “The Gauntlet” will feature a ten man match gauntlet with the winner being crowned the number one contender to the Ring of Honor Championship.

Ring of Honor Presents...

The Anniversary Night #1 - Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03

Confirmed Matches

Divine Storm vs. The Royal Court vs. Hit Squad

Paul London vs. Josh Prohibition

Kristian & The Spanish Aerial Team vs. Bryan Danielson, Matt Cross & Ruckus

The Amazing Red vs. Scoot Andrews

The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Christopher Street Connection

Raymond Rougeau & CW Anderson vs. Nicolas Cena & Jeremy Lopez

The Anniversary Night #2 - Philadelphia, PA 02/22/03

Confirmed Matches

York & Matthews vs. Divine Storm

The New School vs. Steve Corino & Mikey Whipwreck

Rey Misterio Jr. & Super Crazy vs. The Backseat Boyz

Danny Drake vs. Low Ki

Michael Shane vs. Christopher Daniels

Spanky vs. Homicide

The Anniversary Night #3 - Philadelphia, PA 02/23/03

Confirmed Matches

York & Matthews vs. The Christopher Street Connection vs. Hit Squad

Mikey Whipwreck vs. Christopher Daniels

Ring of Honor Championship: Kristian © vs. Bryan Danielson

Rey Misterio Jr. & Super Crazy vs. Low Ki & Scoot Andrews

The Amazing Red vs. Mike Tobin

ROH Tag Team Championships: Ruckus & Matt Cross © vs. The Spanish Aerial Team

Paul London vs. Homicide

Michael Shane & The Briscoe Brothers vs. Josh Prohibition & The Backseat Boyz

The Round Robin Challenge II - West Mifflin, PA 03/30/03

Confirmed Matches

Round Robin Challenge: The Amazing Red, ???, ??? & Kristian

Great British Honor Night #1 - Manchester, England 04/19/03

Confirmed Matches

ROH vs. GBR: ??? & ??? vs. ??? & ???

ROH vs. GBR: ??? vs. ???

ROH vs. GBR: ??? vs. ???

Great British Honor Night #2 - Liverpool, England 04/20/03

Confirmed Matches

ROH vs. GBR: ??? & ??? vs. ??? & ???

ROH vs. GBR: ??? & ??? vs. ??? & ???

ROH vs. GBR: ??? vs. ???

Epic Evening - Philadelphia, PA 05/17/03

The Gauntlet - Queens, NY 06/22/03

Confirmed Matches

The Gauntlet: 10 Spaces Remaining!

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend; Night One

Philadelphia, PA 02/21/03

The Ring of Honor crowd were totally buzzing as the Anniversary Weekend got underway with the Friday night show that saw Kristian heading to the ring. “The Top Draw” had a microphone with him, and despite a frosty welcome from the fans, Kristian persevered as he explained the difference between Ring of Honor and any other wrestling promotion available. He slated the World Wrestling Federation for lacking the sight to push some of it’s talented WRESTLERS, rather than the big ‘roid freaks. Kristian’s promo was quite emotional and seemed very truthful as he explained that coming to Ring of Honor meant he could be the wrestler he always knew he was; and winning the belt, well that was just gravy. Kristian explained that he was extremely proud to be apart of Ring of Honor in only it’s first year before promising to be around for the many years of success that were to come. The Ring of Honor Champion left to huge cheers from the Ring of Honor crowd, and although usually hated by the fans he took his time to soak up the cheers of the crowd before allowing the matches to get underway.

And the first match of the night saw Daniel Mafia and Monsta Mack proving that just hanging around a match can get you the victory. The Divine Storm pairing of Chris Divine and Quiet Storm were accompanied by Danny Drake and his appearance seemed to annoy “The Wizard” Mike Tobin who had accompanied his Royal Court buddies, Squire Brian and The Boogie Knight. The distinct tension between the two teams meant they all but forgot about the Hit Squad for long periods of the match and this was a blessing for Mafia and Mack as they were able to pick and choose their time in the ring, keeping themselves fresh and ultimately taking the match as Daniel put Squire Brian on Death Row for the submission victory. But even after the match, The Royal Court only had eyes on Divine Storm, as Prince Nana and his three clients attacked Divine, Storm and Drake until Shark Boy made the unlikely save, chasing The Royal Court off with a steel chair to the delight of the ROH fans.

However, the cheers didn’t last once the ring was cleared as The New School of Wrestling headed for the ring. The slightly leaner group who were without the fired Adam Jacobs, headed to the ring and soaked up the abuse of being associated with the most hated man in the Ring of Honor. Christopher Daniels lead his troops to the ring and all four men stood with Daniels as he addressed the ROH fans. Daniels said he wanted to apologise to the fans of Ring of Honor. “The Man of Honor” said that since ROH began he has been fighting to rid it of the old guard who are only there for the pay cheque, and well so far he has failed. But before the crowd could get on top of Daniels, he announced that he knew the reasoning for his failures; The New School of Wrestling were spreading themselves too thin. Rather than focusing on one wrestler and doing everything to drive them out of the ROH, Daniels was instead allowing everyone to fight their own battles and that was sheer lunacy. Take for example this weekend where the New School of Wrestling were off fighting who ever they liked and so Daniels announced that his band of students were turning over a new leaf. From now on, there were going to focus on one wrestler and drive them out of Ring of Honor; starting with Raymond Rougeau.

And Rougeau was in action in the next match as he and CW Anderson suffered an ill-tempered defeat to Jeremy Lopez and “Version One” Nicolas Cena. Rougeau and Anderson ended up getting infuriated with each other despite the fact that it was Carl Cash, Greg Quinn and Christopher Daniels’ constant interruptions that were costing them the match. In the end, Rougeau was left stranded as Anderson refused to go into the ring and break up the pin after “Version One” hit his crushing Cena-Nuff Suplex for the victory.

The next match of the night saw Josh Prohibition putting himself on the Ring of Honor ladder with victory over Paul London in a well-fought, exciting match. While London is the more adventurous flyer of the pair, Josh was not out done as he dived left, right and centre in a match that spilled to the outside on more than one occasion with Prohibition ultimately coming out the victor after hitting London with his own Shooting Star Press for a vital victory in the fledging career of Prohibition.

It’s strange to think that it took The Christopher Street Connection and The Briscoe Brothers exactly a year before they met in the ring when they did in the fourth match of the night, it was an explosive affair as Mark and Jay utilised their bags of pace to keep Buff E and Mase off-balance for long periods but it wasn’t enough as the CSC proved that their stock within the Ring of Honor is growing as quickly as ever as they were able to secure the victory by isolating Mark Briscoe and nailing him with two rather powerful lariats that knocked all the fight out of the younger Briscoe as Buff E completed the pinfall for their biggest victory in ROH so far.

Back in October at Glory By Honor, we were told that Scoot Andrews was done with the Ring of Honor but as he appeared for his match with The Amazing Red, “The Black Nature Boy” said that he was back to repay the faith shown in him by the Ring of Honor officials for a few months but he found himself lacking in his return match as The Amazing Red showed him a few things that he may not have seen on his last visit. Red has been on somewhat of a roll in recent months and it continued on the opening of the third night weekend as he finished Andrews off with the Code Red for the victory as he edged one step closer to a shot at Kristian and the Ring of Honor Championship.

The main event for the evening was a clash of Champions and challengers as Kristian tagged with the Spanish Aerial Team to take on their collection Sunday night opponents, Bryan Daniels, Ruckus and Matt Cross in a six-man tag match. The action was quite-well paced and saw him interesting exchanges from the opponents as they tried to feel one another out before they showdown for the Ring of Honor Championships on Sunday and it was Bryan Danielson that eventually picked up the fall as he was able to take Kristian to the mat with the Arms Across America and the ROH Champion was unable to avoid tapping out as “The American Dragon” took a huge towards becoming Champion by causing the current Champion to submit. The delight on Bryan’s face was clear as he headed backstage, celebrating his mammoth victory.

Show Rating: 69%

Attendance: 2281

[FireDoughnut]

Ring of Honor Presents...

The Anniversary Triple Shot Weekend; Night Two

Philadelphia, PA 02/22/03

The second show of three got underway with Shark Boy upsetting “The Wizard” Mike Tobin despite The Royal Court all being in attendance around the ring. “The Master of the Deep Sea” shown through in the match as he had to deal with Prince Nana, Squire Brian and The Boogie Knight on the outside of the ring, and he performed well as he shocked Tobin with the Deep Sea Drop for the victory. However, his celebrations were cut short as The Royal Court hit the ring and started to brutalise Shark Boy but he was quickly saved as Danny Drake lead Divine Storm to the ring to make the save; and the first match for the Epic Evening in May was announced as the two groups of four agreed to meet in an elimination match.

The team brawl was followed by Steve Corino and Mikey Whipwreck heading to the ring ahead of their tag team match with The New School of Wrestling members, Carl Cash and Greg Quinn. The two veterans said they had arrived to ring to explain to the New School that they weren’t in the Ring of Honor for a pay cheque but they are here to wrestle. The speech obviously got a huge cheer from the crowd but The New School of Wrestling weren’t as impressed.

The five men swarmed out of the back and what was supposed to a tag team match turned into a mass beating as Christopher Daniels ordered his four young students around the ring and basically orchestrated the destruction of tow of wrestling’s finest veterans. Whipwreck was laid out by a Spiked Cena-Nuff Suplex while Steve Corino was treated to a neckbreaker-German suplex combination from Cash and Quinn as The New School of Wrestling showed their distain for what was quite an honest admission by Corino and Whipwreck.

And the gang beat-downs seemed to be a theme throughout the night as Danny Drake was subjected to another attack by The Royal Court for the second successive night. Drake had just lost in singles action to Low Ki when Tobin, Brian and Boogie hit the ring followed by Prince Nana. Wielding chairs, they decimated Drake before hot-tailing as soon as the cavalry arrived. Shark Boy and Divine Storm arrived to the ring too late to help Drake and could stand over their bloody friend as The Royal Court celebrated all the way backstage.

The beat-down seemed to play on the minds of Chris Divine and Quiet Storm in the following match as they were on another planet as Christian York and Joey Matthews went through the motions for a comfortable victory in the tag team match. Storm and Divine were always looking over their shoulder towards the entrance ramp and that played directly into the hands of York & Matthews who hit Quiet Storm with the Full Effect while Divine stared at the entranceway expecting someone to appear.

The fourth match of the night was the first to not feature any interference or distractions of any kind and what a match it was. Spanky and Homicide threw everything they could at each other in the thirty minutes they were given but neither man could secure anything close to a victory. Spanky tried to exploit his speed advantage early on as he kept Homicide grounded with an array of high-risk attacks but the harsh Homicide soon connected with a outrageously hard forearm that seemed to knock all of the wind out of the Spanky sails and the match stayed grounded on the mat for long periods after that but sadly no pulled off the win as the two men fought for exactly thirty minutes until the bell rang to announce the draw, which saw both men embrace and the crowd standing to applaud their effort.

The semi-main event saw the tag team of Rey Misterio Jr. and Super Crazy picking up a surprising win over the well-oiled machine that is the Backseat Boyz. While Rey and Crazy are no pushovers they seemed to be one step behind the experienced tag team in the early action as Johnny Kashmere and Trent Acid simply did what comes naturally to them as they controlled the match until Rey finally found his stride. The masked Mexican was unstoppable once he got into his groove and bounced off the ropes, flew through the air and won the match before Kashmere or Acid knew exactly what he was up to, as he finished Acid off with the West Coast Pop as Super Crazy dumped Kashmere off the ring apron to give the Mexican pair what could be a major victory.

The main event ended in a massive brawl after Christopher Daniels defeated Michael Shane. The first ROH Champion and “The Man of Honor” put on a clinic in the main event that saw both men trying everything within their power to claim the victory and it was Daniels that won after Greg Quinn caused a distraction from smacking the ring apron, but following the match everything kicked off. The New School of Wrestling were all out to the ring after CW Anderson, Raymond Rougeau, Kristian, Steve Corino and Mikey Whipwreck had attacked Christopher Daniels. The two sides brawled for a good five minutes before Rob Feinstein came out with security to break things up. The ROH owner confirmed that that the two teams of five would meet at the Epic Evening and the winning team would get to choose three entrants in the Gauntlet, a month later as the second show of the weekend drew to a close.

Show Rating: 65%

Attendance: 2238

[JStarr]

Closed and moved to the deep Web.