Harrison's Preview: ROH 9th Anniversary Show

"Happy Birthday Ring of Honor!"



Hello everyone Andre Harrison here and for this week's Weekly Analysis, I'm taking a look at Ring of Honor's 9th Anniversary Show this upcoming Saturday from New York City. Going to take a look at this rather stacked card and run down my thoughts and preview the big Internet Pay-Per-View. So, let's a take a look at Ring of Honor's 9th Anniversary!

Steve Corino vs Kyle O'Reilly vs Grizzly Redwood vs Mike Bennett (Four Corner Survival)

Not quite sure how I feel on this one. I'm a big fan of Kyle O'Reilly and how impressive he's been in ROH and other Indie firms in the last year, and Steve Corino's always entertaining and very experienced. As for Grizzly Redwood...No thanks, and many of my Weekly Wipe readers know that I'm not a major fan of Mike Bennett; who the company are trying really hard to push right now. For those who don't know, I just think he's got WWE written all over him. His matches tend to be very un-ROH like, in the sense that he plods around and is very methodical. As with Randall Keith Orton, it's fine, but not great entertainment.

Since this is a Four-Way, it'll be more hectic anyway, so maybe that'll help counter it, and Grizzly is pretty over when he wrestles, so I still think this could be pretty solid if done right and given a fair 8-12 minutes. Who wins? My money is on Mike Bennett, to continue his path to the Television Title and a feud with Daniels.

Michael Elgin vs El Generico (Special Challenge Match)

Ah, now this, I can dig. Michael Elgin, as you may, or may not though, is the latest member of Truth Martini's "House of Truth", and from what I've seen, he's impressive and I like him a lot; (Go buy their Fate of an Angel II DVD to see what I mean). Now, putting him in there with arguably, the best babyface in the business and a legit Main Event level talent like El Generico and you can't really go wrong now can you? This could be a very good undercard match if given time. Also, it'll be a real tester for Elgin, to see if he's the real deal, which I suspect he could be.

I think El Generico will win, to keep his momentum going after his Title Shot with Roderick Strong ended in defeat, but I'd have no complaints if Elgin got the win. Either way, I think he'll go over nicely with a solid performance; win, or lose. Looking forward to this one.

Sara Del Ray vs MsChif (Women of Honor)

Not so sure how I feel on this one either. On ability, again, it has promise to be a female MOTYC, but Ring of Honor have never really taken their women in the company seriously, with constant emphasis on Sara Del Ray, and Daizee Haze. They've faced each other a dozen times, and anyone else they bring in tends to get squashed...except MsChif, the former Shimmer Champion.

I really hope they put MsChif over and give her a win, but I have a feeling they'll over protect Del Ray with Hagadorn and/or The Kings of Wrestling and she'll win, just like with her mini-feud with Amazing Kong in 2010. Again, we'll see, but I can't see this going beyond 8 minutes, and I'm expecting Del Ray to win.

Davey Richards vs Colt Cabana (Special Attraction Match)

Slight mis-match this one isn't it? The uber serious American Wolf vs the Santino Marella of the Indies. As for Match Quality, I have NO IDEA how this will be. If they try to wrestle seriously for the most part, it'll be your standard Cabana formula match. Plenty of mat wrestling and occasional comedy. If it's done with Davey, it'll be hard-hitting, brutal and probably have a lack of selling. It's a coin toss, and I like that for a sense of unpredictability about it all. They're both great in their own way, so I'm not expecting this to be bad by any stretch.

Who wins? Easy, Davey Richards needs it. If you paid attention to Monday's go-home show, he talks about how he must earn another title shot, and become Champion, or else he'll never challenge for it again...Colt Cabana's the first stepping stone. Davey Richards to win on Saturday.

Christopher Daniels vs Eddie Edwards (Two out of Three Falls Match for the ROH Television Championship)

You know what's funny? I'm more excited for this match, than anything else on the card, for several reasons. They've hyped this up for a little while, and have had very good promo segments on the HDnet shows, especially from Christopher Daniels, who I think is the best mic worker in the company now. Then they had that amazing 20 minute classic on HDnet which I rated 4 Stars, in what will eventually be a TV Match of the Year contender 3 weeks ago. So yeah, with that in mind, a Two out of Three Falls match with a 30 Minute Time Limit should be mouth-watering to the fans.

This could easily go very close to that 30 minutes, and if it does, it could be a legit Match of the Year contender if their HDnet match is anything to go by. Daniels is the MVP of the company (Most Valuable Player, not an American Wrestler in Japan), and Eddie Edwards, I think is one of the most underrated wrestlers on the planet, with a World Title shot waiting in the wings. I think 2011 will be the year of Eddie Edwards, which is why I think he'll lose. Don't look at me like that, he'll get pushed up the card, and Daniels will be used well to put over guys over. It's the best situation all round. Christopher Daniels to retain. Match of the night?

The Briscoe Brothers vs Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin (Dream Match)

Dream Match? Oh god yes. These four performers are immense at their best, and if the previous match isn't the match of the night, then this probably will be it. The Briscoes are great for high intense action, and Haas and Benjamin are in their primes, producing wrestling at the highest standard, now they've been unshackled in Ring of Honor. The Kings had a superb match with Haas and Benjamin at Glory By Honor IX, so there's big potential here as well.

To be honest, I'm a little tired of The Briscoes act, as it does get stale after a little while, but this is a first time ever match up...So that always adds an element of surprise and on paper, this could be brilliant. Who wins? Have to say Haas and Benjamin here. I do believe they'll be the ones to dethrone The Kings of Wrestling in their massive Rubber Match down the line, so they'll get the win here. Haas and Benjamin vs The Kings at Supercard of Honor VI? Yes please!

The Kings of Wrestling vs The All Night Express (World Tag Team Championship)

Isn't ROH's Tag Team Division superb? Four amazing teams, and you can chop and change between them, and any pair could deliver a four star level match. Just like with these two. The Kings of Wrestling are the best Tag Team in all of Professional Wrestling right now, and The All Night Express have improved SO much in the last 12 Months that I'd rather see Kenny King and Rhett Titus as a duo, than as singles wrestlers now. They're ready, and Delirious has done a good job as booker in making me believe they have a chance.

Will they win? Sadly, I don't think so just yet. The Kings are such a massive asset, they can split and still be successful, but The All Night Express just aren't at that level yet, but they can certainly deliver a very good match, if given the chance, I just don't believe they'll beat The Kings...yet. The Kings to retain here.

Roderick Strong vs Homicide (No Holds Barred Match for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship)

Interesting match up this. The whole thing came about when Homicide made his return at the ewnd of Glory By Honor 9, interrupting Roderick Strong's World Title win. Apparently, Strong's been upset ever since. D'aww, poor baby. Anywho, I'm not THAT excited for this match. The reason for this being is that while Roderick is a superb fighting champion (see Strong/Richards from Final Battle 2010), Homicide has failed to impress me since his return. He hasn't had a great match, despite great opposition from Jay Briscoe, Claudio Castagnoli, Kevin Steen and others, and his mic work's been poor.

...Don't believe me? Why do you think it's a No Holds Barred match? It's been done so that Homicide's weaknesses in the ring are hidden. I'm not saying this won't be good, it could still be great, the stipulation definitely helps, but going by track records, I'm not sure. And Roderick Strong should retain here. Still can't believe the company would end his reign so soon.

Harrison's Final Analysis

If all guns are firing, this could be on the level of Final Battle from December, there's a lot of potential here and I'm excited for the show on Saturday. I'll be back on Sunday for the Instant Analysis, but I'd definitely say to order this show for just $15 at http://www.gofightlive.tv. I've been Andre Harrison, follow me on twitter @Harrison_101, thanks very much for reading, and Sayonara!

Harrison Hype Rating: 9/10