Ever since posting the ROH $10 sale information and the comments I've made about Ring of Honor, I've gotten quite a few e-mails from people who want to know what Ring of Honor is.
Ring of Honor started back in 2002. This was after the closure of WCW & ECW and fans were looking for an alternative. No, I'm not talking about TNA.
ROH's first show was The Era of Honor Begins. Eddy Guerrero was on the card against Super Crazy and the main event was Bryan Danielson against Christopher Daniels, and Low Ki. After this, they became known as the Founding Fathers of Ring of Honor. ROH didn't do much touring except for Philadelphia, where the company was started, Boston, Pittsburgh, and New York City. The following year, ROH started doing shows in Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. They even went overseas to the UK.
ROH declined in the latter part of 2003 and the start of 2004. ROH brought in overseas wrestlers and became known as a place where you could find great matches between international stars.
Now, before I go any further, let's get out some championship reigns. The first ever ROH Champion was Low Ki, better known to some of you as Senshi in TNA. He defeated Christopher Daniels, Spanky (Brian Kendrick), and Doug Williams, a British wrestler. Low Ki won a 60-minute Iron Man match. The ROH title didn't gain "world" status until Samoa Joe defended it against international competition. Before Joe, Xavier, who is now doing some work with the WWE, became the ROH Champion. Xavier carried the title for 5 months before Samoa Joe defeated him at Night of Champions.
Joe would go on a tear. He defeated Zebra Kid at Frontiers of Honor in the United Kingdom. This gave the ROH title a "world" status. Joe would establish himself as the face of the company during his reign. He had the most memorable trilogy with CM Punk during this time, which brought ROH back up. The second match of the series was given a 5-star rating by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, the first 5-star match since 1997. Joe would hold the belt for 20 months before being defeated by Austin Aries at Final Battle 2004. Aries would hold the belt until June of 2005 at Death Before Dishonor III, where he was defeated by CM Punk. Now, Punk would turn heel and threaten to take the title to the WWE. He signed a developmental deal during this time. Punk had to drop the belt before he left for OVW. So, he lost to James Gibson, known to most of you as Jamie Noble, in a 4-way match between Punk, Gibson, Samoa Joe, & Christopher Daniels. Gibson would only hold the belt for a month before being defeated by the world's best professional wrestler, Bryan Danielson, at Glory by Honor IV.
Now, before Joe would lose the ROH World Championship, a new title was brought into ROH. The Pure Championship was a belt that was wrestled under "pure" rules. Pure rules consist of each wrestler getting 3 rope breaks from submission holds. After that, the ropes aren't in play. There are no punches to the face allowed. Only chops or open-handed slaps are allowed. Punches to other parts of the body are also allowed. Instead of a 10-count, a 20-count is in place if a wrestler goes to the floor. The championship can change hands on a DQ or a count out.
Now that I've explained the rules, it's time to get to the champions. The first champion was technically AJ Styles but after TNA pulled him from a show, the reign wasn't recognized by ROH. So, the first champion technically was Doug Williams, who won a tournament to crown a new champion. The next guy to hold it was John Walters, who hasn't done much after his ROH career. The guy after Walters was Jay Lethal. Lethal would hold the belt for 2 months before being defeated by Samoa Joe. Joe would hold the belt for a few months before being defeated by Nigel McGuinness in August of 2005. Now that the Pure title & the World title are up to speed, let's get the ROH Tag Titles explained.
The first team to be champions were "The Prophecy" which consisted of Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan. After them, it was Amazing Red & AJ Styles. The belts were then vacated due to an injury suffered by Amazing Red. The belts were then won by The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere). After the Backseat Boyz, the belts were one by the many renditions of the team, Special K. Moving on, one of the four reigns by the Briscoe Brothers, Jay & Mark, would begin in November of 2003. After the Briscoes won the belts, they would hold them for five months before being defeated by the Second City Saints, CM Punk & Colt Cabana. The Saints wouldn't hold the belts long before 3 different title changes occurred at Round Robin Challenge III, in May of 2004. The Prophecy, Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer this time, then the Briscoe Brothers would win them, before being defeated by the Second City Saints finally. The Saints would hold the belts until August of 2004. They would then be defeated by the Rottweilers, Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero. The tag belts would change hands to Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer. Maff ended up leaving ROH after having a falling out with Homicide. Whitmer would win the belts with Jimmy Jacobs. They would go on to lose the belts to the Carnage Crew before getting them right back a few weeks later. Tony Mamaluke & Sal Rinauro would go on to win the belts at Joe vs. Kobashi in October of 2005.
Now, the current champions at this point are Danielson as the ROH World Champion, McGuinness as the Pure Champion, and Mamaluke & Rinauro as the ROH Tag Team Champions. This may seem confusing but it's a lot easier to follow when you follow ROH.
As we go forward, Bryan Danielson held the ROH World Championship for 14 months. I won't get into the opponents he faced but it's a long list. Both he & Samoa Joe faced competition from all over the world. Danielson would hold the belt until he would be defeated by Homicide in one of the most intense matches I've seen at Final Battle 2006. Homicide would hold the belt for about 3 months before TNA decided to not let their talent do ROH shows. 'Cide would drop the belt to the current champion Takeshi Morishima, who's held the belt for six months so far. He had a match about a week ago against Bryan Danielson, which is considered to some as the best match in the United States this year.
Moving on, the Pure Championship didn't last much longer. McGuinness carried the belt for almost a year. He was 15 days short of a full year. ROH went to Liverpool, England and had a show called Unified. It was the Pure Championship against the World Championship. It was Danielson against McGuinness. It was in McGuinness' home country. It was one of the best matches ever. Danielson would prevail and the Pure Championship would be set aside.
The tag titles would be won by Austin Aries & Roderick Strong, who were one of the best teams ever, in December of 2005. They held the belts before being defeated by the Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli in September of 2006. They would hold the belts for a little over a month before Claudio signed a short-lived developmental deal with the WWE. They lost the belts to Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal. Daniels & Sydal would reign with the belts for 3 months before losing them to the Briscoe Brothers. The Briscoes wouldn't hold them long before losing them, in an interpromotional tour with Pro Wrestling NOAH. NOAH stars Naruki Doi & Shingo won the belts in England but didn't hold them for long. The Briscoe Brothers would regain the belts at the end of March of 2007. The Briscoes have held the belts for five months so far.
Wheww! That's a lot to digest. I suggest you go back and re-read everything before moving forward in the "ROH Rundown." I don't mention the "Top of the Class" trophy because it's between the ROH Wrestling School students.
Man, I'm somewhat exhausted from telling you guys all that. But, the show must go on.
Like the WWE, ROH has their big events. But, unlike the WWE, they actually deliver on their big events. The Anniversary Show usually takes place in February. This year, they had the Five Year Festival, which was like a month long. Their anniversary shows blow Slammiversary out of the water. They have some big matches during the anniversary shows.
Moving on, ROH does their Death Before Dishonor show in June, which to some, is the Wrestlemania of ROH. Following that is the Survivor Series of ROH, which is Glory by Honor. They usually do that one sometime around September. The next big event is Survival of the Fittest, which could be considered the Summerslam of ROH. Survival of the Fittest is held around October of each year. The last event of the year is Final Battle. Final Battle is in the end of December and is considered the Starrcade of ROH.
Now, Ring of Honor does a lot of other shows, like Manhattan Mayhem, or Enter the Dragon, or Reborn, etc. Those big 5 I mentioned are the big events each year that ROH does. They put all of their shows on DVD and have a newswire video on their website.
ROH has some of the most intense feuds in wrestling. There was a big feud between Homicide & Samoa Joe. There was a big feud between Raven & CM Punk. They go big or they go home. They've developed a following in the northern part of the United States. They have a sister promotion in Florida called Full Impact Pro. Most of the events rotate. So, if they're doing an ROH event one weekend, chances are they'll be doing FIP the next.
ROH also does a series of interviews called "Straight Shootin'." They interview different combinations of guys about many different topics. I've seen a few of the videos and they're quite entertaining. I've currently got copies of the interviews with CM Punk & Colt Cabana, CM Punk & Samoa Joe, Ron Killings, and AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels. They're many other versions of the interviews. I suggest you check them out.
The big feud of 2006 was a cross-promotion between Ring of Honor and Combat Zone Wrestling. It all started with Chris Hero invading an ROH event in New York City. This feud continued for a long time and ended up with ROH winning. The whole deal was the ROH guys were considered wrestlers while the CZW guys were considered glorified stuntmen. The feud continued for a long time until the Cage of Death match at Death Before Dishonor IV.
Now, I know this is a lot to take in and it's probably made some of your heads spin. So, relax. Come down and read it over a few times. Ring of Honor doesn't need a US TV deal to be successful. They're kicking ass right now.
You can e-mail me at
yellow_jackets2000@mgoblue.com. If you send me spam, I will knock your block off. Just kidding, but seriously, I will.
Wrestling AutismRing of Honor Wrestling
