WHAT WRESTLING SHOULD BE

I had stayed away from live wrestling shows for years. Past experiences had left me sour. Yes, I was able to see Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and various other superstars in person, but the action was no better than watching on television. For almost five years I watched from my home...

...then Ring of Honor came to Maryland.

For those who have never seen or even heard of Ring of Honor, its philosophy is simple. Provide excellent wrestlers and excellent matches. Little to no bizarre storylines in which wrestling fans have been accostomed for years. Focus on pure wrestling with no screwy finishes or massive big men who are all talk and no walk.

Thursday night, what is arguably the greatest independent wrestling promotion made its debut in my home state in a show they called "The Tradition Continues." Months before, I ordered my front row ticket. If I was going, I was going to dive head-long into it. I arrived a half hour before bell time and soaked in the awe of the smallish arena. It may have been little, but I was sitting in the center of the first row. In fact, everyone was sitting not far from the action. At a Ring of Honor show, everyone has a good seat.

The evening was jump-started with an impromptu match between Ring of Honor Champion Samoa Joe vs. Prince Nana. It was more an exhibition than a match, as it ended quickly. Jay Briscoe, Joe's real opponent for the evening, ran into the ring after the match to better hype the main event between the two.

Then, the true card began. The Rottwielers of Slugger & Grim Reefer vs. Ring Crew Express vs. Sonjay Dutt & Slyk Wagner Brown vs. Danny Doring & Josh Daniels. The crowd went absolutely nuts for Dutt. Yes, a complete unknown in the main stream was cheered heavily. Why? Because the men and women in attendence were not casual fans. How could they be? Ring of Honor isn't on free television. It's not on television at all. One can only watch Ring of Honor live or through tapes and DVDs.

Yet, the people knew Dutt. They were real fans who loved wrestling enough to look past the monopolizing entitiy on cable and UPN and search for alternatives. Sonjay Dutt wrestles the independents. A few days before "The Tradition Continues," I had seen Dutt wrestle Jimmy Yang in a beautiful cruiserweight match for Major League Wrestling. For those unfamiliar with Dutt, he is a man of both in-ring ability and charisma. The way he walks. His facial expressions. He didn't win the match, but he stole the show. Slugger and Grim Reefer won.

I decided right there that I would come back to Ring of Honor when they returned to my state next year. Later in the night, I decided I would travel to see at least half a dozen shows in 2004. It was infectious.

Next was Matt Stryker vs. Chris Sabin. In the only disappointment of the night, when Stryker botched a powerslam, a handful of rowdy fans cried "You fucked up!" Something I was hoping would not occur in a Ring of Honor show. With that aside, the rest of the match was excellent. Back and forth. Two superior athletes who likely work for a small paycheck but gave us high-risk manuevers and fast-paced action. With said unfortunate chant out of the way, the fans cried "Hail Sabin!" throughout much of the contest. Sabin, the more well-known of the two, often wrestles for NWA-TNA. Stryker won via pinfall.

Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer. Despite Ring of Honor usually being a serious show with little to no over-the-top schenanigans we've come to know (and usually not love) from mainstream wrestling, Cabana is the exception to the rule. I cracked up watching Cabana mince his way to the ring while hearing "Copa Cabana" by Barry Manilow boom through the house.

During the match, Cabana would keep us laughing while he tried to remember how to reverse a waistlock and implemented his "deadly" claw finishing move. Funny business aside, they both put on a hell of an entertaining match. Solid working by both men. Cabana picked up the victory.

Later, Izzy & Dixie of Special K defeated The Backseat Boyz of Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere to become the new ROH tag team champions. Izzy and Dixie are not large men by any standards. In fact, someone in the crowd cried out that "Zach Gowen has grown his leg back!" Yet, they performed innovative and challenging moves seemingly with no difficulty. They flew high and far onto the floor. Not mats. Floor. Hard floor. Talk about sufferring for your art.

In the best one-on-one bout of the night, NWA Champion AJ Styles faced CM Punk in what can only be called a classic. It featured technical wrestling, strong style kicks, and more than a couple top-rope moves that kept the crowd on its feet. It was easily one of the best one-on-one matches I have seen this year. AJ Styles won by pinfall.

The Ring of Honor crowd could not be contained. They cheered both Styles and Punk, despite the latter being the obvious heel. Before the match, Punk talked down to us about the evils of Prozac. His gimmick, for those who haven't heard of this sensational young man, is that of Straight Edge lifestyle. No alcohol. No drugs. Yet, for a man who preaches clean living, he certainly has a lot of tattoos. This triggered the best chant of the night. Punk has a Pepsi tattoo on his shoulder. So, everyone in my section began to scream "Caffeeine's a drug!"

The fans seemed to battle each other for who could cheer for their favorite the loudest. Sometimes CM Punk's following had the upper hand and sometimes AJ Styles' name echoed throughout the house. The people didn't care much for who was the babyface and who was the heel. They loved these grapplers because of their talent, and they cheered accordingly.

Dan Maff defeated Jimmy Rave a brutal match. Maff thew Rave into all four corners of the steel security railing when the fans seemed to insist upon it after the first collision. The people who screamed the loudest for it all wore t-shirts mocking Billy Gunn. One of them, I recognized, is the fellow who works at my local video store.

Sadly, the only disappointing match of the night was performed by two veterans: Raven and Justin Credible. It wasn't bad by any means, but it seemed as if they had spent too much time working for you-know-who and forgot how to be innovative. I was also not happy to see a referee bump in a Ring of Honor show. Credible rolled out of the ring at one point and hung over the guard rail to catch his breath. He was a mere few inches away from my face. I could smell the sweat, and it was surprisingly unoffensive.

The learned fans, who knew Credible had wrestled under a mask as Aldo Montoya, cried out "Go back to Portugal!" in a playful joke not really meant to insult. Raven, who is huge when seen in person, won by pinfall.

In what may have been the best match of the night, Xavier won a four corner survival over John Walters, Homicide, and Mark Briscoe. All four men went absolutely crazy, and the fans followed suit. Incredible high-flying manuever after another. Solid (and sometimes a bit stiff) takedowns. Homicide's manager, Julius Smokes, was a hoot. He drew the crowd into what was already a stellar match. The former owner of Maryland Championship Wrestling was in attendence. After the match, he walked up to a fan sitting next to me and conversed for a moment. He was massively impressed with the competition, and judging by his former position, he has seen it all.

In the main event, Samoa Joe retained his ROH Championship belt against challenger Jay Briscoe. For a big man of 270 pounds (much of it fat and not muscle), Joe could go. He moved around with great speed for a man his size. No sluggish marching about. To be honest, though, he's not talented enough to be the champion. I was hoping Briscoe would take it. Joe seemed to be playing the face, but the crowd was solidly against him, especially towards the end. They knew he was good, but Briscoe was better and deserved the title more.

Ring of Honor fans love wrestling for wrestling. Throughout the show (which lasted a whopping three and a half hours), that's all I thought. This is what wrestling should be.

Wrestling should be...wrestling.