The Steel Cage

First off, I have to apologize for the infrequent posts as of late. I’ve been quite busy, as evidenced in pages A6 and A7 of your Newsday.

This may be a bit late, but I wanted to ring in about what I thought was the most intriguing moment of last Monday’s Raw. Even more intriguing – none of us saw it on television.

I’m speaking about the 12-minute dark match that took place before the show went on the air. In one corner was Lance Cade – the five-year WWE veteran who seemed poised to get a decent push as a mid-card heel after breaking up with his tag team partner Trevor Murdoch.

In the other corner was a pale, plain, light heavyweight – likely unrecognizable to the majority of the fans. Yet somehow, this relative unknown made Cade tap out.

The mystery man’s name – Bryan Danielson.

There’s been a lot of discussion here over the last few days on what constitutes a quality professional wrestling product. Some WWE loyalists have defended the company to the hilt against criticisms that the product has been lackluster as of late. They say there’s nothing wrong with what we’re getting from WWE.

So how good can wrestling be? I’d direct your attention to exhibit A, Ring of Honor’s sixth pay per, Take No Prisoners, which debuts tonight on In Demand at 10 p.m., and has several replays over the weekend.

You know that feeling of complete and utter satisfaction that you get a few times a year from a particularly well executed, dramatic and exciting WWE match? Well, imagine getting that at nearly every show, and very often several times on a single card. That's usually my ROH experience.

Now, I don’t at all profess that ROH is “better” than WWE, nor that WWE should be emulating ROH’s wrestling style. They are two distinctly different products, and both are good at what they do. But if you ever wanted to have your faith restored that you don't need leprechauns, million dollar giveaways, and diva watergun fights to put on a wrestling show, then I implore you to check out an ROH pay per view, which are usually priced in the $15 range.

There’s a big misconception out there that an ROH show is a two-hour high spot fest with of the psychology, storylines, and starpower that separate it from the major leagues. On the contrary, some of the best developed wrestling characters, compelling storylines, hilarious humor and epic showdowns I have seen in the last several years have come from ROH.

And from what I heard, ROH is at its best at Take No Prisoners, which features an ROH dream match between two of Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries, as well as ROH heavyweight champion Nigel McGuinness defending his title against the winner of a four-corner survival match earlier in the night. I won’t give away any spoilers from the show, which was taped several weeks ago, but I heard the title match was a star-making performance for the challenger and a legitimate match of the year candidate.

I enjoy WWE as much as the next person, but I don’t think it’s going out on much of a limb to predict that the best wrestling pay per view this weekend will be ROH’s Take No Prisoners. So spend your money wisely.

Here’s a preview of the show:

I sure hope ROH's hyped "huge announcement" on its web site today did not refer to the "Spring of Honor" 33%-off-your-next-order sale. The only thing "huge" about that would be the level of exaggeration.

I like a good sale as much as the next guy, but with lots of fans eagerly awaiting news on a TV deal for a while now, ROH officials should really choose their words more wisely.

Your life isn't complete until you've been licked by a Bushwhacker.

I caught up with the Briscoe Brothers after ROH's first night in Orlando over WrestleMania weekend.
If you're not a fan of ROH and have never seen Mark and Jay in action, I can honestly tell you that it is not an exaggeration to say that they are the best tag team in country right now, and have been for a while. Of all the acts that TNA and WWE are overlooking, the biggest may be the Briscoes, who would almost immediately add new depth and legitimacy to any tag team division they joined.
The Briscoes are not only tremendous wrestlers, but, more importantly, they have a polished, cohesive act.
Proving that, if done right, a tag team division can be a focal point of a wrestling promotion and a major draw, the Briscoes have long been one of ROH' very top acts. They even headlined ROH's third pay per view, "Man UP" - which was named after the team's motto. If you haven't seen that match - in which they took on Kevin Steen and El Generico - I can't encourage you enough to seek it out.

Remember Linda Miles? She played the forgettable role of the Bashams’ dominatrix/manager Shaniqua. She disappeared off the face of the wrestling world in 2004. Few fans noticed.

Jackie Gayda stuck around a little bit longer most recently in TNA - but her impact was almost equally negligible. Her biggest claim to fame in wrestling was marrying Charlie Haas.

If the forgettable wrestling careers of those two women are not enough evidence that the wrong person won the second season of WWE’s Tough Enough six years ago, I would refer you to look up whatever happened to the first runner up.

Some of you might recall that “Kenny,” as he was simply known at the time, showed tremendous athleticism and heart during the MTV reality series, and was considered a lock to win one of the two WWE contracts. But, instead both of the spots went to the ladies.

Well, while attending a Ring of Honor show in Orlando over WrestleMania weekend, I noticed a familiar face walking into the ring as a member of the stable of flashy, arrogant heels, "Young, Rich and Ready for Action." I later recognized “Kenny King,” as he is now known, as the former WWE hopeful. King, a regular in ROH’s Florida-based sister promotion Full Impact Pro wrestling, really shone on this night, and did not at all look out of place among the elite athletes of ROH.

Even after being dealt a pretty big blow six years ago, it was nice to see Kenny was still at it - if only for love of the game.

After the show, King was kind enough to talk to me for a few minutes. Check it out.