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Riren 100 By John Wiswell of www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com Section A: Introduction Welcome to my top 100 matches of the year. Today the Pulse is featuring matches 24 to 1. You can see the entire top hundred list in Section B. Section C features a countdown and review of matches 24-1; if youâ »»
Riren 100 By John Wiswell of www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com Section A: Introduction Welcome to my top 100 matches of the year. Today’s chapter covers matches 74-50. If you just want the list, skip to Section B. Section C is the meat, with countdown and review of today’s matches. M »»
It’s been a good couple of years, but this marks the end of Cult of ROH. Family problems have reduced my free time to where I can’t write here regularly, though I’ll hopefully pop up again. Before I go all Monty Brown on you, though, there’s the case of a final column, an »»
Everyone had a strong reaction when it came out that Nigel McGuinness was injured again. On Friday, July 24, Jerry Lynn held him too low on his Cradle Piledriver and put his head straight into the mat. McGuinness was concussed, and going on what rumors you believed, it was between his third and sixt »»
The 16 Carat Tournament was the surprise of 2008, boasting an insane roster of guests: Jonny Saint, Mike Quackenbush, Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Jacobs, El Generico, Chris Hero, Naomichi Marufuji and Taiji Ishimori, just to start. With 16 men fighting down to two over three nights, every round produced »»
You can follow John Wiswell’s blog at www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Wiswell Rumor has it that Jimmy Jacobs is off all future ROH shows following last weekend's angles. Friday night saw him send dozens of masked men to assault Tyler Black, but on Saturday »»
Today in Cult of ROH, Austin Aries is the first two-time World Champion in company history. This leaves us with two topics: what does this mean, and what’s next? I’m overjoyed with the title change. While I was neutral bordering on hopeful for Lynn, Aries’s is the best act in »»
Since October ROH has lost a lot of its credibility. More run-ins and unsatisfactory endings with fewer high-quality matches per weekend had people abandoning the company by the end of the 2008, ironic as they wound up missing one of ROH’s best shows of the year, Final Battle. A lot of people »»
First, our opening Raw Haiku, an artform I’ve creatively named “the Rawku.†The Brian Kendrick Orton’s entrance is longer than all his matches With that out of the way, ladies and gentlemen: there is no big ROH news this week. Yes, Ric Flair and Bret Hart are going »»
ROH brought just about the best show they could for the card they had. They were short Nigel McGuinness, Mark Briscoe, Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs, El Generico, the Dark City Fight Club, Mike Quackenbush, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. Between guys being unavailable and injured, that's quite a hand »»
Finally, a weekend not previewing ROH shows. I'd like to take this chance to give you a vision of what could be for Eddie Kingston, and in doing so, create a character ROH should have had a long time ago... It begins outside an arena. Kingston sits on the steps, looking at the door, and describes »»
In this episode of Cult of ROH we’ve got two nights in Canada. But first… DGUSA So Raw drafted HHH and Smackdown drafted Jericho, but the biggest draft news of the week: Dragon Gate drafts Gabe m-f’n Sapolsky! Yes folks. He’s got a job. He’s “Vice Presi »»
With Big Andy Mac covering ROH on HDNet, this Cult of ROH is all about their live events this weekend. This weekend ROH follows WWE to Houston, Texas in the hopes of catching all the Wrestlemania tourists. On Friday night they present Supercard of Honor 4, while the Saturday show will be in the afte »»
This is a weekend to go to Ring of Honor. KENTA, Mike Quackenbush and D-Lo Brown are all returning and both nights have dream matches. KENTA Vs. McGuinness, Danielson Vs. Quackenbush, Lynn Vs. Quackenbush, Aries Vs. Strong, title matches and gimmick matches promise that things will deliver in Philad »»
A Speculative Look at ROH’s First TV Taping I can be wrong, and sometimes I’m happy to be wrong. From every source I’ve spoken with the Philadelphia crowd was energetic for both nights of tapings. Thank you, Philadelphia. The house was packed to standing room only. However, »»
No More Music? ROH management should have started using public domain music a long time ago. They introduced it as PPV-only, but didn’t commit to DVD-only shows, allowing them to coast on licensed music they probably never should have had in the first place. No, public domain instrumentals a »»
Weekend Preview for ROH’s “Proving Ground†Florida Doubleshot ROH hits Florida this weekend for a doubleshot of top-heavy shows. Rumor reports that the upcoming TV tapings will have weak undercards with a more “classic†ROH main event, and these may be prototypes. T »»
On Saturday in Edison management used the “Card Subject to Change†rule to drastically re-book the show they’d advertised. Aries Vs. McGuinness for the World Title and Jacobs Vs. Black for the first time ever were both thrown out, with the only money match replacing them being a t »»
Things are changing at ROH and Pulse Wrestling. I’m taking over ROH coverage here on Fridays for Aaron Glazer, but don’t worry. You can still catch him in A Modest Response. Please let us know what you think of the new ROH Friday column in the Comments section below. One thing hasn »»
For the next few weeks we’ll take an in-depth look at ROH’s new DVD’s. The French Connection, Bound By Hate and Escalation are the first shows of the Adam Pearce era, surrounded in controversy over in-ring changes and booking qualms. They are all available on rohwrestling.com an »»
Riren 100 By John Wiswell of www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com Section A: Introduction Welcome to my top 100 matches of the year. Today the Pulse is featuring matches 49 to 25. If you just want the list, skip to Section B. Section C features a countdown and review of today’s matches; review »»
Riren 100 By John Wiswell of www.johnwiswell.blogspot.com Section A: Introduction Welcome to my top 100 matches of the year. This is the first of a four-day feature, beginning with matches 100-75. 75-1 will appear later this week. Section B is just the match list. Section C features a countdo »»
Everyone had a strong reaction when it came out that Nigel McGuinness was injured again. On Friday, July 24, Jerry Lynn held him too low on his Cradle Piledriver and put his head straight into the mat. McGuinness was concussed, and going on what rumors you believed, it was between his third and sixt »»
First, I have a short story in the new Flash 40 Anthology over at Smashwords. It actually involves pro wrestling, so it’s relevant to the Pulse for once. It’s about two boys who grew up on the same street, ran away the same year, but never met. It includes jazz, trampolines, and culmin »»
There is only one weekend of shows between now and mid-August. It’s the annual ROH summer breather, where they inexplicably choose to run fewer events specifically when fans have the most free time on their hands. On the plus side, when ROH does come to your area you won’t have to sit »»
The big news of the weekend is that Bryan Danielson is out with a staph infection. ROH is blaming it on the conditions at Team Couture’s MMA camp, which may be petty, or a real concern. Danielson wrestles around the indies for good money, so he could have contracted it anywhere. Apparently th »»
Friday is ROH’s final G-Funk Pay Per View, Take No Prisoners 2009, featuring the highly praised tag of Tyler Black & KENTA Vs. Austin Aries & Katsuhiko Nakajima. In true ROH tradition, they’re running a live show against that PPV. So here is your ROH Weekend Preview. Friday »»
This week ROH announced Nigel McGuinness will wrestle June 26th against Claudio Castagnoli. The doubleshot is supposed to mark his return to regular competition, and it elicits some awkward feelings for fans. McGuinness was suffering from a torn right bicep and severe hematoma and separated AC joint »»
Sitting in Boston’s Case Gym for the main event last Friday, I was bemused with Chris Hero taunting the venerable champion that he had “sixty minutes.†As they went through basic wrestling holds for ten minutes, Hero made even more comments about the time limit. When Lynn gave the »»
This week we look at ROH's injury woes and a doubleshot in Boston and Edison. But first, a haiku about Raw. Chavo Guerrero son of fame, helped Legacy. Why would he do that? A Plague of Injuries There is no news as huge as the injuries in Ring of Honor. We all expected Mark Briscoe to hurt »»
But first, Umaga is returning from his most recent injuries and his working CM Punk on house shows. A program on television may follow. To celebrate this occasion, a haiku: Kicks on a fat man, they do nothing! Look out Punk, Giant uses thumb! Haiku may have to become a regular feature on her »»
Monday morning ROH congratulated their new World Champion, Jerry Lynn. The Newswire broached the topic with: “April 6th: History was made this past Friday night in Houston at “Supercard of Honor IV†as the venerable Jerry Lynn was able to overcome all odds and defeat Nigel McGui »»
In classic ROH fashion, the company competed with itself last week by having a supershow in New York City the same night as their HDNet debut. Last week’s column dealt with the anniversary shows, so this one is about their TV debut. You can check them out every Saturday night on HDNet, if you »»
Nobody will blame you if you look past this weekend to next weekend when KENTA, Mike Quackenbush and D-Lo Brown all return to ROH. Danielson Vs. Quackenbush, KENTA Vs. McGuinness, Aries Vs. Strong, the American Wolves challenge for the tag titles in a No DQ match… yeah. It’s easy to for »»
“There’s a show on Friday?†Danbury’s Friday night show is an afterthought. This roster will be wrestling on Saturday and Sunday for television. All the emphasis is on the TV Taping, and Friday card looks stacked to disappoint. Nigel McGuinness defends vs. Jerry Lynn vs. T »»
Last weekend ROH did a doubleshot in Florida to the best reviews of any two consecutive nights since Adam Pearce took over. Shenanigans in main events were down and more matches impressed than usual, giving the impression that they’re out of “transition period.†Richards Vs. Black »»
A poll for the readership: next week would you rather have detailed match-by-match previews of the two Florida shows, or an in-depth look at Gabe Sapolsky’s “Book of Secrets†DVD detailing his plans for the company? Both will be addressed, but reader interest will dictate which is »»
We're trying something new with this review. The following is written in paragraphs rather than broken down into headings. If you like the format, please say so in our Comments section at the bottom of the page. First up: the new production. There are only two camera angles that are noticeably ne »»
Welcome to the final Wednesday Cult of ROH. We’re moving to Friday as of this week, so come back in two days for a preview of this weekend’s ROH shows. We’ve got a lot in store for Cult of ROH: an in-depth look at the Pearce Era DVD’s, PPV reviews, and handling the glorio »»
Section A: Why Write This? The end! Parts 100-75, 74-50 and 49-25 are already up on this site. I hope it’s helped you relive the better parts of the year in wrestling, though there are still a few more to go. You know the drill by now. Section B contains the entire top 100 list. Section »»
