January 29th: Ring of Honor kicks off another big weekend tomorrow (Friday) night with “Motor City Madness 2009” in Detroit MI at the Michigan State Fairgrounds & Expo Center “Michigan Mart”, 1120 W. State Fair Avenue, Detroit, MI 48203. Bell time is 8:00pm. This event will feature Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The American Wolves for the World Tag Team Titles; ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe in a Non Title Match; Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn; Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright; Bryan Danielson vs. Rhett Titus; Necro Butcher vs. Brodie Lee; Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious; plus more. Tickets will be available to purchase at the door on the night of the show.
January 29th: On Saturday night we return to the Chicago area with a Pay-Per-View taping titled “Caged Collision”. This event takes place at the Frontier Fieldhouse, 9807 Sayre Avenue, Chicago Ridge, IL 60415. Bell time is 7:30pm. This show will feature Sweet N Sour Inc vs. Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, Jay Briscoe, Erick Stevens, & a partner in a Steel Cage War; Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico for the ROH World Title; Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries & Jimmy Jacobs in a Grudge Tag Team Match; Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli; Jerry Lynn & The Necro Butcher vs. Delirious & Brodie Lee; plus more. Tickets will be available to purchase at the door on the night of the show.
January 29: We received a special bulletin from the ROH Booking Committee late last night as it pertains to the huge tag team grudge match coming up on Saturday in Chicago. The bulletin, in its entirety, is printed below.
“It has been close to two weeks since the main event World Championship Match in Edison, NJ between Tyler Black and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. Ring of Honor Officials have been conducting interviews in an attempt to determine what, if any, foul play was involved in the 60-Minute Time Limit Stoppage as investigation has determined that the match did indeed end approximately 10 minutes prior to what would have been a legitimate 60 minutes. The assigned timekeeper, Giuseppe di Lorento, was among the first to be interviewed, and as he’s stated publicly, he vehemently believes that his timepiece was registering the allotted 60 minutes when he rang the bell to signal the end of regulation time.
ROH Officials can not find any significant evidence to suggest that Mr. di Lorento participated in any collusion or conspired with any entity to undermine the conclusion of the match in any way. Furthermore, despite rumors to the contrary and seemingly circumstantial evidence, ROH Officials are not able to find any solid connection between Nigel McGuinness himself and the timing mishap. Interviews with David Prazak and Lenny Leonard yielded some interesting information that was ultimately deemed coincidental. McGuinness gave full cooperation to ROH and willingly answered every question posed to him in reference to the event, and regardless of potential motive, ROH Officials can not place blame on McGuinness for what happened. Tyler Black also submitted complete statements to ROH Officials, and while rightfully upset at the outcome of the contest, he could not provide any information that would lead ROH Officials to order a restart of the match, or order a rematch altogether.
ROH Officials realize that these findings will not sit particularly well with those in attendance in Edison that night, or to fans of Tyler Black in general. And while the ROH Booking Committee is not satisfied with the findings of the investigation, they must respect them. That fact, however, does not mean that Ring of Honor will not take action.
The one undeniable piece that contributed to the unfortunate conclusion of that great match in Edison is the melee that ensued with several members of the ROH roster, each of whom has also been interviewed at length. And while ROH Officials find it excessive to penalize each and every person involved in the fracas, they have decided to levy a measure of punishment against the man that started it to begin with. Jimmy Jacobs appeared on the rampway during the contest, which worked as an obvious distraction to Tyler Black & the referee. That action, however, was not of a direct physical nature, that is, Jacobs did not at that point come into physical contact with Black. The man responsible for taking the initial physical action and thereby starting the chaos that ensued was Austin Aries.
As a result of Aries’ actions, ROH Officials have decided to strip him of the ROH World Championship match he earned by virtue of defeating Tyler Black at Final Battle. Furthermore, ROH Officials have decided that the Tag Team match scheduled for this Saturday at “Caged Collision” in Chicago will take on an interesting twist.
The match will still take place; Tyler Black will team with Bryan Danielson to face Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries.
The newly added stipulation is this: Whoever secures victory for their team will earn the ROH Title shot stripped from Aries, and they will be able to exercise that shot at the belt at any time or any place of their choosing, with or without prior authorization from ROH Officials.
This means that while each twosome will have to work as a team during the contest, they’re also in essence working for themselves to secure their own personal future. The winner of the match will essentially hold a wild card to “call their shot” at a future ROH Event.
ROH Officials apologize for the unfortunate outcome of what was otherwise a fabulous match in Edison, and hope that in some small way this ruling will right the wrongs of that night. Thank you.”
January 29th: The Buy 3, Get 1 Free ROH DVD Sale will be in effect this weekend at live events in Detroit & Chicago. The BIG TEN SALE will return exclusively at www.rohwrestling.com. This sale features over 100 DVD’s sale priced at $10 each, general admission tickets for all February events on sale for $10 each, plus save 10% off your order. Look for complete details Thursday afternoon on the main page at ROHWrestling.com.
January 29th: Looking for some new DVD’s??? Well this is the weekend. The following DVD’s will be available to order at www.rohwrestling.com on Thursday afternoon. “All Star Extravaganza IV” from 12/26/08 features Bryan Danielson vs. Jerry Lynn; Austin Aries vs. Naomichi Marufuji; Takeshi Morishima vs. Go Shiozaki; Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Brent Albright & Roderick Strong; Age of the Fall vs. Kevin Steen, El Generico, & Necro Butcher; plus more. “Final Battle 2008” features Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima in a Fight Without Honor; Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji for the ROH World Title; Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries; Sasaki & Nakajima vs. The Briscoes; a Six Man NYC Street Fight; plus more. “Shimmer Vol. 21” features MsChif vs. Daizee Haze for the SHIMMER Title; Cheerleader Melissa vs. Amazing Kong vs. Mercedez Martinez vs. Portuguese Princess Ariel in a Four Corner Survival; a SHIMMER Tag Team Championship Gauntlet to crown new champions; plus more. “Shimmer Vol. 22” features Sara Del Rey vs. Serena Deeb; MsChif vs. Portuguese Princess Ariel for the SHIMMER Title; Wesna Busic vs. LuFisto; Ashley Lane & Nevaeh vs. Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews for the SHIMMER Tag Titles; plus more.
January 29: Nigel McGuinness will be in action when ROH returns to Florida for “Proving Ground ‘09” on February 6 in Coral Springs. “I have been begging ROH to find me some fresh challengers for some time now”, McGuinness quipped. “I’ve been on record as stating the obvious – I’ve beaten everyone over and over. But, you know, there’s someone I haven’t beaten to a pulp. In fact I don’t know that I’ve even faced him. If I did, he surely didn’t make any kind of impression or I’d remember. That man is Brent Albright. Sure, he’s been a World Champion in our sport, and sure, he’s been at the top of the ladder. But you know, mate, he’s never faced me. Never been in there with a real champion like me. I think I’d like to have a go with ol’ Albrecht – Albright – whatever. Of course I won’t put the belt up against him straight away, but at least those heathens in Coral Springs will be graced by my presence.” When the possibility was brought up that he may not have the title come 2/6 and 2/7, Nigel laughed, “Are you serious, love? That masked Generico hasn’t been able to get it done before, and he won’t in Chicago either.” Before he left, Nigel offered up one last statement. “And I’ve been paying attention to the news”, said McGuinness. “I follow the industry, mate. So I’ve also got my eye on a certain somebody else I’ve never faced, and I think I’ve got an idea for him.”