As there's an upcoming ROH PPV and seemingly no buzz on it, I thought I'd take on the (rather enjoyable) task of highlighting some of its biggest matches. I figure the audience for ROH around these parts is largely people who don't watch the product but have passing familiarity with it, so I'm going to try for these write ups to adequately summarize all the relevant moving pieces as well as a small showcase of each performer involved, if I can find a free clip on Youtube or some other easily accessible website. I hope I can spark both interest for newcomers and discussion among regular viewers of ROH for what has consistently been my favorite promotion in the world.
The first match confirmed for GLOBAL WARS in Chicago, Illinois is a shocking confrontation for the ROH World Championship. First, our performers.
Colt Cabana
Just who is Mr. Colt Cabana? Perhaps the most important thing to know about Colt Cabana is he is a Chicago native who is deeply proud of it. Longtime WWE fans probably know Colt as one of CM Punk's best friends as well as the host of the Art of Wrestling podcast where Mr. Punk told his side of the story of his leaving WWE. They may also recall one Scotty Goldman, a short lived comedy jobber (with his own web show on WWE.com), the alter ego of Colt while he was up north, as they say. But what of Colt before then, and since? Colt Cabana is one of Ring of Honor's oldest stars and broke into the promotion alongside CM Punk, where they rose to prominence as a tag team, the Second City Saints. After success as a tag team, the two began to veer apart - CM Punk started to show the signs of the serious straightedge superstar that became one of the best in the world, while Colt became an oft lighthearted singles competitor who mixed brawling and classic wrestling in equal measure - and despite his comedic ways, Colt knew how to be serious when it counted. Perhaps Colt's greatest moment in ROH came when he defeated CM Punk in Punk's farewell to ROH. That ultimately catapulted Colt to the upper echelons of ROH, becoming a frequent challenger for the world title, but never bringing it home. His quest was derailed by his trip to WWE, but he picked up right where he left off in his return in 2009. In December 2009, Colt challenged Austin Aries for the ROH World title in Chicago in what had practically become a tradition, but the twist, this time, was that Colt could never challenge for the belt again if he lost. He did, and it wasn't long before Colt in fact departed ROH in mid-2011, stemming largely from disagreements with Jim Cornette.
All this sets the stage for Colt's dramatic return earlier this month in Dallas, Texas (but we'll get there in a moment).
For those who've never seen Colt, I tracked down a recent match of his from Pro Wrestling NOAH, where he and Chris Hero have worked as a tag team. Please enjoy.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qes3j_chris-hero-colt-cabana-vs-naomichi-marufuji-katsuhiko-nakajima-noah_sport
Jay Lethal
On the other side of this contest, Jay Lethal. Jay may be best known to the wide wrestling audience from his work in TNA, but his ROH pedigree dates back further and is indeed much richer. The shockingly young Jay Lethal is but 30 years old and broke into ROH as part of a group called "Special K" at (if my calculations are correct) a mere 17 years old. He was quickly brought under the tutelage of Samoa Joe (the reigning NXT Champion these days), the ace of ROH at the time. He and Joe would become a powerful alliance in ROH, and under Joe's mentorship he would become the ROH Pure Champion (akin to the modern Television Championship). His relationship with Joe wasn't always smooth, though, as he would in fact lose that title to Joe himself, and after some time, he eventually turned on Joe. His feud with Joe would be cut short by a long tenure in TNA, where he worked until 2011. TNA decided to let him go and Lethal would resign with the promotion he once called home, ROH. He very rapidly become Television Champion as a plucky face and defender of the Code of Honor, though he would lose it to Roderick strong. Up until Supercard of Honor VIII in 2014, Lethal remained a solid hand and a reliable face in ROH. But something lurked beneath the surface in Jay Lethal - the same something that once caused him to betray Samoa Joe. He would capture the Television Championship at that event, but only with the help of the dastardly Truth Martini, the leader of Ring of Honor's most reviled stable, the House of Truth. Lethal would hold that title for longer than anyone in history, and after a year of holding it, he claimed he was the real world champion - and then proved it, capturing the ROH World Championship from Jay Briscoe in June 2015. This was the first time anyone had held both belts simultaneously, a tremendous feat, though continually marred by Lethal's dastardly ways at the side of Truth Martini. Jay has since lost the television title but retains a strangehold on the world title, having defeated all comers, including AJ Styles in an amazing match at the end of 2015 and Michael Elgin inside the Tokyo Dome. In the last month or so, Truth Martini has been injured and Jay's character has become more of the grizzled veteran, insistent that he is the best in the world, though he's still not above using his valet, Taeler Hendrix, to help him get the win.
Here is a nice little match featuring Jay Lethal teaming with (current) IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito versus YOSHI-HASHI and (then) IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3t8njy_chaos-kazuchika-okada-yoshi-hashi-w-gedo-vs-jay-lethal-tetsuya-naito-w-bushi-evil-truth-martini_sport
The Match
So, how did we get here? It was Supercard of Honor Night 1 in Dallas, Texas. Jay Lethal faced Lio Rush and defeated him to retain the ROH World Championship. He got on the mic and claimed he had no challengers left, and indeed, he was right - he had defeated the best of Ring of Honor over and over until there was no one left. In classic wrestling tradition, when no one's left, someone has a way of coming back - and this time, it was none other than Colt Cabana. Colt cut a heartfelt promo about how he had been fired and rejected before - from ROH and from the WWE - and how he knew Lethal had been before - from TNA - but that they were both ROH originals going all the way back, and that he knew in his heart he would never be able to live with himself if he didn't become ROH World Champion. Jay would walk away in disgust, but on Night 2, Colt would shock Jay with an impromptu non title challenge, which Colt won with a roll up! This win over the champion entitled Colt to a world title match in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, the first time in six and a half years he would challenge for the Ring of Honor title.
It's a classic story - on the one side, Jay Lethal seeks to prove once again he is the greatest wrestler in the world by laying claim to the world title yet again. On the other, Colt Cabana seeks ultimate redemption by claiming the title he never could and live the impossible dream of being crowned in his home town. But there's an undercurrent of both of these guys with a chip on their shoulder - as they were both fired from companies that now, perhaps, would want them more than ever - as if in this match, win or lose, they'll send a message to the wider wrestling world that they're the best at what they do, and they're doing it in ROH.
With the stage set, what do you all think? Who's going to bring this one home? My personal opinion is that Lethal's reign has been excellent, but that he has begun to wear just a bit thin as his character is really one that demands comeuppance and it just isn't coming. It feels like we've been watching the same story with Lethal for months now, and I, for one, really feel it's time to put a face over and enter the next era of the main event of ROH. Lethal is a made man and dropping his title won't change that - crowning Colt in Chicago complete a story fourteen years in the making and immediately enter the chronology of all time greatest moments in ROH history. The story's right there for them to take, and I hope and believe that Colt is the next Ring of Honor World Champion.
The first match confirmed for GLOBAL WARS in Chicago, Illinois is a shocking confrontation for the ROH World Championship. First, our performers.
Colt Cabana
Just who is Mr. Colt Cabana? Perhaps the most important thing to know about Colt Cabana is he is a Chicago native who is deeply proud of it. Longtime WWE fans probably know Colt as one of CM Punk's best friends as well as the host of the Art of Wrestling podcast where Mr. Punk told his side of the story of his leaving WWE. They may also recall one Scotty Goldman, a short lived comedy jobber (with his own web show on WWE.com), the alter ego of Colt while he was up north, as they say. But what of Colt before then, and since? Colt Cabana is one of Ring of Honor's oldest stars and broke into the promotion alongside CM Punk, where they rose to prominence as a tag team, the Second City Saints. After success as a tag team, the two began to veer apart - CM Punk started to show the signs of the serious straightedge superstar that became one of the best in the world, while Colt became an oft lighthearted singles competitor who mixed brawling and classic wrestling in equal measure - and despite his comedic ways, Colt knew how to be serious when it counted. Perhaps Colt's greatest moment in ROH came when he defeated CM Punk in Punk's farewell to ROH. That ultimately catapulted Colt to the upper echelons of ROH, becoming a frequent challenger for the world title, but never bringing it home. His quest was derailed by his trip to WWE, but he picked up right where he left off in his return in 2009. In December 2009, Colt challenged Austin Aries for the ROH World title in Chicago in what had practically become a tradition, but the twist, this time, was that Colt could never challenge for the belt again if he lost. He did, and it wasn't long before Colt in fact departed ROH in mid-2011, stemming largely from disagreements with Jim Cornette.
All this sets the stage for Colt's dramatic return earlier this month in Dallas, Texas (but we'll get there in a moment).
For those who've never seen Colt, I tracked down a recent match of his from Pro Wrestling NOAH, where he and Chris Hero have worked as a tag team. Please enjoy.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qes3j_chris-hero-colt-cabana-vs-naomichi-marufuji-katsuhiko-nakajima-noah_sport
Jay Lethal
On the other side of this contest, Jay Lethal. Jay may be best known to the wide wrestling audience from his work in TNA, but his ROH pedigree dates back further and is indeed much richer. The shockingly young Jay Lethal is but 30 years old and broke into ROH as part of a group called "Special K" at (if my calculations are correct) a mere 17 years old. He was quickly brought under the tutelage of Samoa Joe (the reigning NXT Champion these days), the ace of ROH at the time. He and Joe would become a powerful alliance in ROH, and under Joe's mentorship he would become the ROH Pure Champion (akin to the modern Television Championship). His relationship with Joe wasn't always smooth, though, as he would in fact lose that title to Joe himself, and after some time, he eventually turned on Joe. His feud with Joe would be cut short by a long tenure in TNA, where he worked until 2011. TNA decided to let him go and Lethal would resign with the promotion he once called home, ROH. He very rapidly become Television Champion as a plucky face and defender of the Code of Honor, though he would lose it to Roderick strong. Up until Supercard of Honor VIII in 2014, Lethal remained a solid hand and a reliable face in ROH. But something lurked beneath the surface in Jay Lethal - the same something that once caused him to betray Samoa Joe. He would capture the Television Championship at that event, but only with the help of the dastardly Truth Martini, the leader of Ring of Honor's most reviled stable, the House of Truth. Lethal would hold that title for longer than anyone in history, and after a year of holding it, he claimed he was the real world champion - and then proved it, capturing the ROH World Championship from Jay Briscoe in June 2015. This was the first time anyone had held both belts simultaneously, a tremendous feat, though continually marred by Lethal's dastardly ways at the side of Truth Martini. Jay has since lost the television title but retains a strangehold on the world title, having defeated all comers, including AJ Styles in an amazing match at the end of 2015 and Michael Elgin inside the Tokyo Dome. In the last month or so, Truth Martini has been injured and Jay's character has become more of the grizzled veteran, insistent that he is the best in the world, though he's still not above using his valet, Taeler Hendrix, to help him get the win.
Here is a nice little match featuring Jay Lethal teaming with (current) IWGP Champion Tetsuya Naito versus YOSHI-HASHI and (then) IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3t8njy_chaos-kazuchika-okada-yoshi-hashi-w-gedo-vs-jay-lethal-tetsuya-naito-w-bushi-evil-truth-martini_sport
The Match
So, how did we get here? It was Supercard of Honor Night 1 in Dallas, Texas. Jay Lethal faced Lio Rush and defeated him to retain the ROH World Championship. He got on the mic and claimed he had no challengers left, and indeed, he was right - he had defeated the best of Ring of Honor over and over until there was no one left. In classic wrestling tradition, when no one's left, someone has a way of coming back - and this time, it was none other than Colt Cabana. Colt cut a heartfelt promo about how he had been fired and rejected before - from ROH and from the WWE - and how he knew Lethal had been before - from TNA - but that they were both ROH originals going all the way back, and that he knew in his heart he would never be able to live with himself if he didn't become ROH World Champion. Jay would walk away in disgust, but on Night 2, Colt would shock Jay with an impromptu non title challenge, which Colt won with a roll up! This win over the champion entitled Colt to a world title match in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, the first time in six and a half years he would challenge for the Ring of Honor title.
It's a classic story - on the one side, Jay Lethal seeks to prove once again he is the greatest wrestler in the world by laying claim to the world title yet again. On the other, Colt Cabana seeks ultimate redemption by claiming the title he never could and live the impossible dream of being crowned in his home town. But there's an undercurrent of both of these guys with a chip on their shoulder - as they were both fired from companies that now, perhaps, would want them more than ever - as if in this match, win or lose, they'll send a message to the wider wrestling world that they're the best at what they do, and they're doing it in ROH.
With the stage set, what do you all think? Who's going to bring this one home? My personal opinion is that Lethal's reign has been excellent, but that he has begun to wear just a bit thin as his character is really one that demands comeuppance and it just isn't coming. It feels like we've been watching the same story with Lethal for months now, and I, for one, really feel it's time to put a face over and enter the next era of the main event of ROH. Lethal is a made man and dropping his title won't change that - crowning Colt in Chicago complete a story fourteen years in the making and immediately enter the chronology of all time greatest moments in ROH history. The story's right there for them to take, and I hope and believe that Colt is the next Ring of Honor World Champion.
