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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 23, 2022 1:06:55 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 23- 2006: Ring of Honor held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2006", in New York, NY. After four years of trying and seven failed attempts, Homicide defeated Bryan Danielson in front of his hometown crowd to finally become the ROH World Champion. The match was a must win situation for Homicide, as he had vowed to leave Ring of Honor if he failed to win the title by the end of the year. Following the loss, Danielson stepped away from ROH for several months for a much deserved break in order to heal his shoulder that he injured four months prior ["Gut Check" - 8/26/06]. Meanwhile, Rottweilers member Ricky Reyes faced off with Adam Pearce, who came to the show hoping to spoil Homicide's night and cost him the title as payback for getting Jim Cornette fired ["The Bitter End" - 11/4/06]. ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal split up for the night, with Daniels competing in a Four Corner Survival match against Davey Richards, El Generico and Jimmy Rave, while Sydal teamed with CIMA and Shingo to take on Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Delirious in a Six-Man Tag Team match held under Dragon Gate Rules. Jimmy Rave's win in the Four Corner Survival would be the first of two victories for him that night, as later he won in a grudge match against Nigel McGuinness. That match came about after Rave attacked McGuinness from behind when he was confronting Samoa Joe for once again calling out Pro Wrestling NOAH. Colt Cabana and BJ Whitmer teamed up to take on Jimmy Jacobs and Brent Albright in a grudge match. And after a tainted loss the night before, The Briscoes evened the score with the Kings of Wrestling when they met in a rematch. Originally the match was supposed to be Claudio Castagnoli's farewell as he had signed with WWE, but after the loss Castagnoli announced those plans had fallen through and he would be remaining in Ring of Honor. Castagnoli had hoped to continue on with the Kings of Wrestling in 2007, but new super agent Larry Sweeney quickly put the kibosh on that, saying he had big plans for Chris Hero as a singles wrestler, and they aren't changing now that's "Swiss-o" is suddenly sticking around. As a result, Sweeney inadvertently started a yearlong feud between the ex-Kings of Wrestling. Additionally, the show would also see the final appearance of Gary Michael Cappetta, who had been Ring of Honor's main backstage interviewer since 2002 ["Unscripted" - 9/21/02]. - 2011: ROH held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2011", in New York. NY. In the main event, The Americans Wolves faced off against each other in a rematch from "Best in the World 2011" [6/26/11], this time with Eddie Edwards challenging Davey Richards for the ROH World Championship. The match would see a special appearance by MMA legend Dan "The Beast" Severn, who seconded Edwards as his trainer. The match would also give birth to an infamous GIF of the two wrestling after they borrowed a page from the Samoa Joe/CM Punk Trilogy and repeated spot from the first match, but this time with the other one able to counter it. In the particular incident, Richards suplexed Edwards off the top rope, but when he immediately picked him up to give him a suplex into a Cross Armbreaker just as he'd done six months prior, Edwards countered by suplexing Richards over the top rope to the floor instead. The Briscoes won the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the seventh time, defeating Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team in a match that saw the two teams successfully pull off a double turn, with the Briscoes become babyfaces and WGTT becoming heels. Meanwhile The Young Bucks won a Tag Team Gauntlet match over The All-Night Express, the Bravado Brothers, C&C Wrestle Factory and Future Shock to become the number one contenders for the tag titles. Jay Lethal made another successful defense of the ROH World Television Championship, retaining against El Generico and Mike Bennett in a Three-Way Elimination match. One year after being fired from Ring of Honor ["Final Battle 2010" - 12/18/10], Kevin Steen earned his job back after defeating his former mentor Steve Corino in a No Disqualification match officiated by Corino's evil recovery sponsor Jimmy Jacobs. Immediately following his reinstatement, Steen's feud with El Generico was reignited when the Generic Luchador ran out and began brawling with his former friend. The night would see two more returns in addition to Steen, albeit more briefly. The Embassy's Tommaso Ciampa took on the former "Crown Jewel" Jimmy Rave, who was making a special one night return after a two year absence ["Final Countdown Tour: Chicago" - 9/19/09]. That match marked the first time Rave was a face in ROH since mid-2004 ["World Title Classic" - 6/12/04], the only time Rave and Prince Nana were on opposing sides in Ring of Honor, and for once he got streamers instead of toilet paper from the fans. Roderick Strong picked up a win for The House of Truth by besting the returning Chris Hero, whose transition from ROH to WWE was taking much longer than expected (Hero had left Ring of Honor with Claudio Castagnoli after the inaugural Sinclair television taping [Ep. #01 - taped 8/13/11]). The House of Truth went 2-0 for the evening, with Michael Elgin also winning his singles match against TJ Perkins. - 2021: ROH streamed what is to date Delirious' last match in Ring of Honor, taking on World Famous CB in a Pure Rules match. Following the match, Delirious took his mask off and presented it to CB. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 24, 2022 1:10:25 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 24- 2021: Ring of Honor aired their last episode of television from Baltimore, MD. With ROH on hiatus following "Final Battle 2021: End of an Era" [12/11/21], the show was the final episode to contain new matches, with the remainder of the episodes on Sinclair featuring classic matches from past Ring of Honor shows (with the exception of the two episodes dedicated to new ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham, which included title defenses he made in other promotions). As such, with one exception, the episode would mark the final appearances of everyone in the pre-Tony Khan Ring of Honor (or, in some cases, ROH altogether). Rok-C defended the ROH Women's World Championship against Holidead, while in the main event ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods led ROH World Champion Bandido, Matt Taven, Silas Young and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes to victory in a "Christmas Surprise" 12-Man Tag Team match against Brian Johnson's team of Flip Gordon, Homicide, Kenny King, Rey Horus and ROH World Television Champion Rhett Titus. |
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Post by DSR on Dec 24, 2022 2:20:38 GMT -5
I remember getting a little emotional at the end of the show, with everybody hugging after the 12-man tag, and the future of the company being completely up in the air.
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 25, 2022 1:49:29 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 25- 2020: Ring of Honor aired their last episode of television for the year from Baltimore, MD. Joe Keys and Dante Caballero teamed up against Ken Dixon and Eric Martin, while in the main event Jay Briscoe captained Brian Milonas, Flip Gordon, John Walters and PCO in a "Christmas Surprise" 10-Man Tag Team match against his brother Mark Briscoe's team of Beer City Brusier Dak Draper, Dalton Castle and Tracy Williams. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 26, 2022 1:14:58 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 26- 2004: Ring of Honor held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2004", in Philadelphia, PA. After 645 days and 22 vanquished challengers, Samoa Joe's reign as ROH World Champion finally came to an end when he was defeated by Austin Aries. Joe would start a new tradition in ROH after the loss, personally presenting the belt to the new champion. The title would not be the only thing Aries claimed that night, as he also assumed leadership of Generation Next. After Alex Shelley and Roderick Strong came up short in their grudge match against CM Punk and the returning Steve Corino (his first match since "War of the Wire" [11/29/03]), Aries and Strong attacked Shelley and kicked him out of the group for being focused on "more important business" (TNA). Generation Next and Shelley would feud with each other for the next year ["Steel Cage Warfare" - 12/3/05]. While one feud was starting, another was ending as Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer came out on top against the Carnage Crew in a Fight Without Honor to prove themselves the face of "Ring of Hardcore". Following the match, Mick Foley, the instigator of their feud, settled his own issues with Ricky Steamboat, who was making his final appearance. After coming up short at "All-Star Extravaganza 2" [12/4/04], Jimmy Rave received another shot at John Walters for the ROH Pure Championship, but once again failed to win the title. Despite the loss, The Embassy still walked out with the championship after Walters sold out and joined Prince Nana. Meanwhile Nana brought in the generic wrestler The Weapon of Mask Destruction #2 to destroy Jay Lethal, but just like the original WMD he couldn't get the job done ["All-Star Extravaganza 2"]. Bryan Danielson's issues with The Rottweilers led to him taking on Low Ki in a singles match, which would end with Danielson once again on the receiving end of a Rottweiler beatdown. As a result, Danielson and Homicide would enter into a heated Best of Five Series, while Low Ki was suspended indefinitely for attacking the referee after he refused to name him the winner. For his part on the show, Homicide got a victory over Josh Daniels. The schism in Special K found Lacey making her ROH in-ring debut as a wrestler, teaming with Deranged against Angel Dust and Becky Bayless. And Jimmy Jacobs scored the biggest win to date, walking away the winner in a singles match against former ROH Tag Team Champion Trent Acid. The loss would be the breaking point for Acid, who abruptly quit Ring of Honor after the match. - 2008: ROH began their last weekend of the year with "All-Star Extravaganza IV" in Philadelphia, PA. The main event saw a dream match as Bryan Danielson and Jerry Lynn faced each other for the first time since their match in WWE's developmental promotion in June 2001. Former ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji made the trip over from Pro Wrestling NOAH, with Morishima squaring off with fellow NOAH wrestler Go Shiozaki while Marufuji wrestled his one and only match against Austin Aries. They would not be the only ones to travel over from Japan, as Kensuke Office's Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajim took on the duo of Roderick Strong and Brent Albright. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black teamed together for the final time ROH, partnering with their Age of the Fall teammate Delirious in a Six-Man Tag against Necro Butcher and ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen and El Generico. Meanwhile Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards teamed together for the first time as The American Wolves, competing in a Three-Way Elimination Tag Team match against The Briscoes and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli. Erick Stevens took on Sweet n' Sour, Inc.'s Chris Hero in a grudge match, Kenny Omega faced Rhett Titus, and a destitute Prince Nana was still begging for a job. - 2020: Former Ring of Honor wrestler and Age of the Fall member Brodie Lee passed away at the age of 41. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 27, 2022 1:20:11 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 27- 2003: Ring of Honor held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2003", in Philadelphia, PA. The show was split in two, with the first half dedicated solely to ROH. ROH Tag Team Champion Jay Briscoe wrestled his only singles match against Bryan Danielson, while his brother Mark Briscoe received his first shot at the ROH World Championship, challenging Samoa Joe. It would nine years before he received another shot at the title ["War" - 3/30/13]. John Walters won his feud against former ROH Champion Xavier, defeating him in a Fight Without Honor. That match would see Prince Nana transition from wrestler to manager, with him introducing Xavier as the first member of his new faction The Embassy. And Matt Stryker scored the biggest win of his Ring of Honor career, besting BJ Whitmer to win the Field of Honor Tournament. Despite the loss, Whitmer would have a bigger impact on the show, being revealed as both the newest member of The Prophecy and the person who attacked CM Punk's girlfriend Lucy Furr at "Wrath of the Racket" [8/9/03]. As a result, the long simmering tension between The Prophecy and the Second City Saints exploded into a full blown feud. The second half of the show was a showdown between Ring of Honor and All Japan Pro Wrestling, with wrestlers from both companies meeting in four inter-promotional matches. The night would end in a draw, with ROH's CM Punk and Colt Cabana winning over Tumeric Storm and AJ Styles coming out on top against Kaz Hayashi, while All Japan's The Great Muta and Arashi defeated The Prophecy and Satoshi Kojima beat Homicide. And Jerry Lynn appeared via a taped promo, stating he was returning to Ring of Honor to compete for the newly announced ROH Pure Wrestling Championship. Before the main show, Ring of Honor held a bonus card during that afternoon's fan convention, with half of the matches later released as part of the "ROH Uncensored: Volume One" DVD. The SAT challenged the Briscoe Brothers for the ROH Tag Team Championship, their second and final shot at the titles. Future deathmatch wrestling icon Nick Gage wrestled his one and only match in ROH, competing in a Four Corner Survival match against Hydro, Oman Tortuga and Slyk Wagner Brown. That match would be Hydro, Tortuga and Brown's second matches that day, as Hydro earlier teamed with fellow Special K member Angel Dust against The Ring Crew Express, Tortuga teamed with his Outcast Killaz partner Diablo Santiago against Special K's Lit and Cloudy, and Brown teamed with Grim Reefer also against The Ring Crew Express. Allison Danger also pulled double duty on the afternoon card, first facing Sarah Stock, and later taking on the returning Sumie Sakai. 19-year-old TJ Perkins wrestled his first match in ROH, competing as Puma against Josh Daniels. CM Punk won a squash match over Mace of the Christopher Street Connection, Trent Acid took on Sonjay Dutt, and the Carnage Crew's Loc, DeVito and Justin Credible faced Special K's Izzy, Dixie and Angel Dust in a grudge match. - 2008: ROH held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2008", in New York, NY. The main event saw the conclusion of a feud from 2007, as Bryan Danielson took on Takeshi Morishima in a Fight Without Honor. The night would mark the final ROH appearances of Morishima and his Pro Wrestling NOAH cohorts Naomichi Marufuji and Go Shiozaki. For their part on the show, Marufuji challenged Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Championship in a rematch from "Glory by Honor V: Night 2" [9/16/06], while Shiozaki teamed with fellow Sweet n' Sour, Inc. members The American Wolves in a Street Fight against Roderick Strong, Brent Albright and Erick Stevens. Thd Wolves would also use the night to start pissing other teams off, attacking The Briscoes after their match against Kensuke Office. The attack would take Mark Briscoe out of action for six months with a knee injury. One year after winning the ROH World Tag Team Championship at "Final Battle 2007" [12/30/07], The Age of the Fall's Jimmy Jacobs tried to repeat the feat by teaming with Delirious to challenge Kevin Steen and El Generico for the belts, but he was unsuccessful. Also unsuccessful was Tyler Black, who came up short against Austin Aries in a rematch from "Wrestling at the Gateway" [12/5/08] with a shot at the ROH World Championship on the line. After winning, Aries would turn heel and attack Black with Jimmy Jacobs, who kicked him out of The Age of the Fall. In the most newsworthy part of the evening, as Aries was heading back to the locker room after the attack, he would get into a physical altercation with a fan, leading to referee Paul Turner running into the crowd to ejecting the fan (which earned him a "Next World Champ" chant from the fans). Jerry Lynn won a Four Corner Survival match over Chris Hero, Necro Butcher and Rhett Titus, and Kenny Omega and Claudio Castagnoli faced off for the first time. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 28, 2022 1:06:04 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 28- 2002: Ring of Honor closed out their first year with "Final Battle 2002" in Philadelphia, PA. As with "All-Star Extravaganza" [11/9/02], the match to determine the new number one contender for the ROH Championship took priority over the actual ROH Championship match. Paul London received his first shot at the ROH title but came up short against Xavier, while in the main event Bryan Danielson, Low Ki, Samoa Joe and Steve Corino wrestled to a 45-minute time limit draw in a Four-Way match for the Number One Contender's Trophy. Originally Homicide was scheduled to be in the match, but Corino brutally attacked him during his entrance and took his place. The SAT received their first shot at the ROH Tag Team Championship, but fell to Christopher Daniels and Donovan Morgan in a Two out of Three Falls match. Despite retaining both the ROH and Tag titles, the night was a bad one for The Prophecy, as Christopher Daniels' friend Steve Corino announced he was forming his own elite Group to combat The Prophecy and take all of their titles. Simply Luscious would become the first member of The Group, defecting from The Prophecy to be with her boyfriend Corino. British high flyer Jody Fleisch made his return to ROH, facing The Amazing Red. After making their debut as representatives of Combat Zone Wrestling at "Glory by Honor" [10/5/02], The Backseat Boyz began fulltime with Ring of Honor and competed in a Three-Way Tag Team Scramble match against Da Hit Squad and Deranged and Angel Dust of Special K. CM Punk defeated Colt Cabana in a rematch from "Night of the Butcher" [12/28/02] to win an ROH contract. The Carnage Crew took on The New Christopher Street Connection. And the legendary Konnan competed in a Gauntlet match against Divine Storm that was so awful, it was cut from the home release of the show. Additionally ROH taped several matches for High Impact TV, but the series was cancelled before they aired. Among the matches taped, future two-time ROH World Champion Jay Lethal made his Ring of Honor debut taking on Homicide, while Ace Steel made his debut against Jay Briscoe. Lethal would make his main show debut later that night, appearing as the newest Special K member "Hydro". - 2021: ROH streamed the final episode of Week by Week. As such, the show marked the final appearance of host Quinn McKay in Ring of Honor. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 29, 2022 1:41:12 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 29- 2007: Ring of Honor taped "Rising Above" for pay-per-view in New York, NY. After not competing at "Glory by Honor VI: Night Two" [11/3/07] due to his torn bicep, Nigel McGuinness wrestled his first match in front of the New York City fans since winning the ROH World Championship, defending the title against Austin Aries. Despite putting on an instant classic (which was impressive due to the circumstances), the match did little to win over the fans who had already started to turn on him, as just a few minutes into the match he suffered a concussion after having his head slammed hard into the guardrail, which would put him back on the injured list and forced him to withdraw from his title match at "Final Battle 2007" the following night. The Briscoes made their nineteenth successful defense of the ROH World Tag Team Championship, retaining it in a Two out of Three Falls match against Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero of the No Remorse Corps. Though they retained, the Briscoes were jinxed by the commentators in the match, as instead of pointing out the already impressive feat of the brothers winning 2-0 in their four previous Two out of Three Falls matches in 2007, the commentators instead built them up by pointing out the technically true but very misleading fact that they hadn't lost a fall in a Two out of Three Falls match since 2004 ["Death Before Dishonor 2: Night One" - 7/23/04] (until 2007 the Briscoes hadn't competed in a Two out of Three Falls match since that match). Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishima met in a grudge match, which Danielson would win by disqualification after Morishima's anger led to him attacking several referees. As a result, Morishima would be suspended from Ring of Honor (which was convenient as he was already returning to Pro Wrestling NOAH). Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero ended their feud in one last singles match, which was once again won by Castagnoli. The loss would be bad news for Hero's manager Larry Sweeney, as he now had to face Castagnoli in a match at "Final Battle 2007". Had Hero won, Sweeney would've been able to get rid of Castagnoli for good as he would've taken control of Castagnoli's contract and sold him up the river to WWE. It wasn't all bad news for Sweeney that night, though, as he signed a new client: $1,000,000 Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder. Puder made his presence known earlier in the night when he attended the show merely as a fan, before becoming a distraction for Erick Stevens and costing him his grudge match against Davey Richards. In another grudge match, the repeated attacks by The Hangmen 3 appeared to have taken their toll, as fans witnessed the debut "Red Poison" Delirious, who took on Brent Albright. The Hangmen 3 would go 0-2 for the evening, as Adam Pearce and BJ Whitmer came up short in a Tag Team Scramble match against winners Kevin Steen and El Generico, The Age of the Fall's Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black, and The Vulture Squads Jack Evans and Ruckus. The Hangmen 3 had the match won at one point, but would be foiled by The Vulture Squad, leading to them search out the Squad during a huge faction warfare brawl backstage at the end of the night. Daizee Haze won a non-title Three-Way match over Lacey and SHIMMER Champion Sara Del Rey, Necro Butcher won a bonus Four-Way Fray over Jigsaw, Matt Cross and Mitch Franklin, and Claudio Castagnoli closed out the show by pulling double duty and facing Naomichi Marufuji in a bonus rematch from "Glory by Honor VI: Night Two". Additionally Bushwhaker Luke (who got on the bad side of The Hangmen 3) and Tammy Sytch (who got on the bad side of Lacey) made their respective ROH debuts, appearing before the pay-per-view taping. - 2020: On Week by Week, the Soldiers of Savagery squared off with Dante Caballero and Joe Keys. - 2021: ROH streamed the final episode of Women's Division Wednesday, which saw Chelsea Green take on Janai Kai. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 30, 2022 1:03:40 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: December 30- 2007: Ring of Honor held their last show of the year, "Final Battle 2007", in New York, NY. After 275 days and 19 successful title defenses, including a Ladder War, a Steel Cage match, a Street Fight, and multiple Two out of Three Falls matches, The Briscoes' fourth and arguably greatest reign as ROH World Tag Team Champions came to an end when they were finally defeated by Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black of The Age of the Fall. Bryan Danielson won a title shot for the ROH World Championship by outlasting Austin Aries, Chris Hero and Takeshi Morishima in a Four-Way Elimination match. Aries was a replacement for Nigel McGuinness, who was originally scheduled to defend the ROH World Championship, but was pulled from the match after being injured by Aries in their match the night before. While most fans in attendance were sympathetic and supportive of McGuinness, a sizeable and very vocal minority were upset that he was once again missing a scheduled title defense due to injury, and called for him to drop the belt. The criticism would extend beyond the actual show itself, most notably with a fan having a lengthy email posted on the front page of the Wrestling Observer website stating he was boycotting Ring of Honor until they took the belt away from McGuinness due to his reckless style (the fan was all over the place in his email, praising ROH for pulling McGuinness from the match due to his injury then turning around and criticizing them for not delivering the match as advertised, and criticizing the "reckless" McGuinness who removed him from performing after suffering a concussion the night before but not saying anything about Bryan Danielson who decided to compete in the match despite it having been reported he also suffering a concussion the night before). There would be a second title change that night in addition to the Tag belts, as the feud between The Resilience and No Remorse Corps morphed into a feud between Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong after Stevens defeated him to became the new FIP World Heavyweight Champion. Delirious' new "Red Poison" attire matched Kevin Steen and El Generico's gear when they teamed together in a "Tables Are Legal" match against The Hangmen 3, but color coordination and the support of Bushwhacker Luke wouldn't be enough for them to get the win. As a result of Chris Hero losing the night before, Larry Sweeney had to step into the ring as a wrestler to face Claudio Castagnoli, and ended up walking away the victor thanks to the help of Sweet n' Sour, Inc. and its newest hire Daniel Puder. The Vulture Squad with 2-0 for the night, with Jack Evans winning a No Disqualification match against The Age of the Fall's Necro Butcher, and Ruckus and Jigsaw besting Matt Cross and Bobby Fish. Additionally The Vulture Squad would also gain a new member with the addition of future ROH Women's World Champion Mercedes Martinez. Davey Richards and Naomichi Marufuji squared off in an exhibition match, and Rocky Romero won a squash match over Ernie Osiris. |
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Jan 1, 2023 2:36:45 GMT -5
 Today in Ring of Honor History: January 1- 2022: For New Year's Day, Ring of Honor released what would be the final match from the Sinclair Era: ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Brian Johnson. |
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Post by DSR on Jan 1, 2023 2:56:01 GMT -5
Hey man, thank you SO MUCH for doing these posts. I eagerly awaited every one. Such an incredible trip down memory lane.
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Post by Balesirion on Jan 1, 2023 20:53:14 GMT -5
Thank you. This has been my favorite thread on the board for the last year.
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