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ROH YEAR THREE ARCHIVE: LOOKING BACK AT RING OF HONOR'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL YEAR

ROH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

RING OF HONOR SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST IN PHILADELPHIA, PA LIVE REPORT
by Josh Neimand

Ring of Honor debuted at the Ramada Inn in Essington, PA in front of an estimated 300-400 fans tonight. Complete results of the show saw:

Qualifying Matches for the Survival of the Fittest:

*Marc Briscoe pinned Alex Shelley

*Colt Cabana pinned Trent Acid

*Next was scheduled to be John Walters vs. Austin Aries but Generation Next came out and told Walters they had already beaten him on the last show, so get out of the ring. He refused and was beaten down and bloodied with a chair. They tried to announce Aries as the winner, but Gary Michael Cappetta told them that ROH had an alternate, Josh Daniels. They tried to intimidate Daniels and when he refused to back down. They attacked him. They were about to bust him open with a chain when a bloodied Walters made the save, setting up an impromptu tag. It ended up as Walters and Josh Daniels vs. Aries and Roderick Strong with the winner of the pinfall going on. Walters was pinned by Aries.

*Homicide pinned Jay Briscoe with a lariat. Homicide stood over Briscoe afterwards and was shoved off by Marc Briscoe as Jay was "hurt" from the lariat.

*American Dragon forced Jack Evans to submit. He just tied up Evans like a pretzel into some really scary positions before defeating him.

*Samoa Joe defeated Matt Stryker. The crowd turned on Stryker bigtime chanting "Die Stryker Die." CM Punk came out and asked Joe when he was going to get his rematch. As Joe was about to answer, the lights went out. Homicide was shown holding the stolen ROH World title belt at the hard camera position and challenged Joe. Joe and Homicide brawled, so Punk didn't get his answer.

*CM Punk & Colt Cabana defeated Special K, Dunn and Marcos and The Outkast Killaz in a Scramble Match. Punk sent Cabana to the back to work to prepare for the six-way and worked solo. He tried to get everyone else to fight each other. He ended up pinning Dunn.

*Punk said that no one was competition to him, so Hydro challenged Punk to a match. Punk refused but finally accepted after being insulted. This was really good with Punk finally getting the win. Punk was bleeding from the back at some point during his bouts.

*HC Loc cut a promo announcing the Carnage Crew challenged the New and Improved Carnage Crew to a Weapons Match on 7/17 at the Rexplex in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

*The Rockin' Rebel pinned Scott Cardinal with a legdrop. This was a really quick 2 minute match.

*Allison Danger announced she was putting a bounty on the heads of Danny Maff and BJ Whitmer for abandoning the Prophecy.

*American Dragon won the Survival of the Fittest Six-Way Elimination bout. Colt Cabana pinned Samoa Joe with a sunset flip. No kidding. Mark Briscoe pinned Cabana with a shooting star press. Briscoe and Homicide ended up eliminated in a double pin. Aries and Dragon went back and forth with some awesome stuff for over 20 minutes at the end. Aries busted open his chin. More blood! Dragon finally scored the pin.

Notes: Overall, this was a fun night. You can't go wrong for $5....They had all new packaging for their DVDs and no mention of RF Video, and nope, Rob Feinstein didn't show up either.

SECOND RING OF HONOR IN PHILADELPHIA, PA LIVE REPORT
by Ryan Pregler

I was at the Ring Of Honor show tonight at the Ramada Inn in Essington, PA. The building was decent, and I'm not good at judging crowds but it looked like about 300 people. Not too hot in there either, which is always good. My memory isn't the best, but here's what I remember..

Opener saw Mark Briscoe defeat Alex Shelley after working Shelley's knee for most of the match. A decent start.

Colt Cabana defeated Trent Acid in a good match. Alot of comedy to start things off, leading into some good mat work. Not too long.

John Walters came out for his match with Austin Aries next. Aries came out with all of Generation Next, who beat down Walters as Shelley proclaimed Aries the winner. Gary Cappetta came to the ring and said Ring Of Honor had a contingency plan, and said Josh Daniels would wrestle Aries. Gen Next beat up Daniels as well until a bloody Walters came back out and made the save. It became a tag match between Walters and Daniels and Aries and Roderick Strong, with the man getting the pinfall moving on in the tournament. A good match, with Aries getting the win over I believe John Walters.

Homicide defeated Jay Briscoe after a clothesline knocked Jay on his head. I didn't pay much attention to this match, as I, like many of the crowd, were too busy yelling obscenities at Julius Smokes. He plays to the crowd as good as anyone. Briscoe lay in the ring for a few minutes post match selling the head injury, and Homicide cut his usual anti-fan promo. Homicide and Mark Briscoe also almost got into it.

Bryan Danielson made Jack Evans submit in a brutal match that had Evans twisted up like a pretzel. Lots of "Dragon owned you" chants to Evans, since he really only got about 5 moves in total. I can't even describe some of the submissions Dragon used on Evans, but one involved Jack's leg going behind his head.

Samoa Joe defeated Matt Stryker in a decent match, albeit a bit short. The fans were all over Stryker, calling him Macho Man and Ultimate Stryker. Stryker got in some offense, but Joe finished him with the Island Driver. Post match, CM Punk came out asking for his rematch against Joe for the title. Before Joe could answer, the lights went out again, and Homicide appeared in the crowd with the new title belt. Joe chased him and they brawled out of view. Intermission time.

After the intermission, Rockin Rebel squashed some guy whose name I honestly didnt catch. I think it was Scott Phoenix. Match lasted about 3 minutes.

The Tag Scramble was next, with the Outcast Killas coming out, accompanied by Prince Nana and Xavier. Xavier's shoulder was bandaged, but he looked good. Next out was Dunn and Marcos, then all of Special K. Hydro and Dixie were in the match. Next out was the Second City Saints. Punk ripped on the other competitors, and told Colt to go to the back and let Punk handle them on his own. Typical scramble spots, Punk dominated but dodged Hydro whenever he got in the ring. Punk won with a pin on either Dunn or Marcos, I couldnt see which.

Post match, Hydro called out Punk for dodging him, and after a heated argument, the two squared off. Long back and forth match. Big pops for Hydro. Punk had him beat a few times and lifted his shoulder on 2. Punk finally got the pin.

Next, HC Loc came to ringside and challanged Masada and Danny Daniels to a weapons match at the RexPlex on 7/17. Allison Danger then came out. She said Maff and Whitmer quit the Prophecy after their match in Dayton on 6/12, but the Prophecy would never die. She put a bounty on their heads, and said anyone can collect.

Our Main Event was Mark Briscoe v. Colt Cabana v. Austin Aries v. Homicide v. Bryan Danielson v. Samoa Joe. Match started off slow. Aries tried to avoid getting in the ring. Homicide avoided Samoa Joe. Some comedy from Colt Cabana. After a cluster at ringside, Joe and Cabana ended up in the ring, and Colt got a surprise victory roll and pinned Joe!!! Joe was shocked but left without incident. Homicide then pinned Cabana a few minutes later. Mark Briscoe and Homicide both got eliminated when both had their shoulders on the mat. Chaos insued for amonent between Homicide and Julius Smokes and the Briscoes.

Dragon and Aries had an incredible match with tons of false finishes. Crowd was back and forth the whole time. Dragon got cattle mutilation, but Aries reached the ropes. Aries missed the 450 Splash twice. Dragon eventually got Aries to tap after a long bout. Aries appeared to be cut hardway under his chin somewhere, possibly from a high chop, I couldnt tell. Standing ovation after the match, with Ring Of Honor and Thank You chants.

It was a really fun show to see live. I was surprised that they managed to pull everything off as smoothly as they did on such short notice, but they never cease to amaze me. Nothing else of importance (and no RF appearance that I was aware of.)

RING OF HONOR NOTES & NEWS ON THE SPLIT FINALIZING, DOUBLE CROWN, SAMOA JOE, COLT CABANA & MORE
by Mike Johnson
June 25, 2004

Stemming from angles ran last night in Philadelphia, expect Samoa Joe and The Briscoes vs. Homicide and The Havana Pitbulls to be announced for 7/17 in Elizabeth, New Jersey and ROH champion Samoa Joe vs. Colt Cabana on 7/24 in Chicago, IL. Cabana pinned Joe out of nowhere with a sunset flip style rollup to eliminate him for the Six-Way main event last night. We have a full detailed report from Josh Niemand elsewhere on the site.

According to sources on both sides, major strides were made since we last wrote about the negotiations to settle the split of Ring of Honor from RF Video, so the deal may be done as soon as today or Monday. I believe ROH may have backed off on the idea of purchasing wholesale DVDs of other companies that RF Video has standing deals to film at. There is expected to be a gag agreement as part of the settlement, so once all this is signed and done with, no one will be allowed to discuss the matter without voiding the deal from a legal standpoint. I know there are some staffers who work for this site who will be happy to hear that!

The situation with the two ROH championships is that the original ROH belt and the new ROH "World" title belt create a "Double Crown." Since Homicide has stolen the new belt, he will be claiming he's the true champion. The idea is that if and when Joe loses the championship, he will get to keep one of the belts (I believe that part is legitimate) as a gift for all he did to raise awareness of it, while the other will continue on as the ROH championship.

ROH announced at the Philadelphia show last night that The Code of Honor system that the promotion was built on will no longer be officially enforced, but will be more of a moral barometer for the wrestlers. According to material the promotion gave out to the fans, The Code, "will still measure what kind of character you possess. Those that follow the path of sportsmanship and respect will follow the Code. Arrogant, selfish individuals with low morales will break the Code." Handshakes are no longer required unless you respect your opponent and/or the match you just had.

The promotion also announced a new ranking system titled The Contender's Ring. The idea is based off of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame where someone, based on their work, will be voted into contendership by a voting committee. If they announce Bob Giegel is the head of the committee I give up.

ROH had a ton of new merchandise on sale yesterday in Philadelphia, without the RF Video label. For those of you who are looking for this information, ROH's new office number is (215) 781-2500. They will open their offices officially early next week. Their new mailing address is:

Ring of Honor Wrestling
PO Box 1127
Bristol, PA 19007

ROH Survival of the Fittest can be ordered at ROHWrestling.com.