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THE pROHfile RETURNS, PREVIEWING ROH'S RETURN TO BOSTON AND NEW JERSEY THIS WEEKEND

Welcome back to The pROHfile, and today I'd like to preview this weekend's ROH shows, the first of 2008. Right off the bat, you'll notice that ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness is not appearing on either show because he's currently on a tour with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan. Obviously he committed to the tour long before the concussion in New York caused him to miss Final Battle, but him missing these shows is just going to give the Nigel haters more to point at, and even though I feel like it's unjustified, I can't think of any wrestler, much less champion, who has been the victim of worse timing than Nigel McGuinness. One guy who will be appearing on both shows is Tough Enough 4 Champion Daniel Puder, who will apparently be wrestling both nights against as-yet unnamed opponents. I know everybody's waiting to see what he can do, but I wouldn't expect too much out of Puder this weekend, because I think he'll probably be in short squash matches, probably against ROH school students. Friday, January 11: Boston, MA 

ROH kicks things off at Boston University, as their first show of the year will be headlined by the ULTIMATE Ultimate Endurance Match featuring Jay & Mark Briscoe, Jack Evans & Jigsaw, Brent Albright & BJ Whitmer, and ROH World Tag Team Champions Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black. ROH has had Ultimate Endurance matches before, but this is being called the ULTIMATE Ultimate Endurance match because there has never been one with this much top flight talent before. First fall is a tag team scramble, the second fall will be No DQ, and the final fall is for the ROH World Tag Team Title. With this many big guns in here, this does have the potential to be a great match, providing it can avoid some of the awkward booking of earlier Ultimate Endurance matches, where the stipulations seemed to be forgotten and/or underutilized, and the first two falls go too quickly. If they can give each fall enough time to actually mean something and so the guys can make use of the stipulations without making it seem forced because that fall only has two minutes, then this can be really good. Each team has a completely different style, and I think that will make for some interesting interactions. And by the way, what a rise of the ranks by Tyler Black, huh? Two months and some after making his debut in the company, he's winning the ROH World Tag Team Title in the main event of Final Battle and then main eventing more shows after that. That has to be some kind of ROH record. Now if only people had any idea who he is. Anyway, Age Of The Fall retains. 

The scheduled Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero match is off due to Hero suffering a knee injury last weekend, and his place will now be taken by Brent Albright, who it looks like will be pulling double duty Friday night. I never really thought about the possibility of this match before, but now that it's been announced, I'm really looking forward to it. Say what you will about ROH, but when something happens that causes a lineup change, they always more than make up for it, and usually do it that night. They realize that the fans paid to see their show, and when something unexpected happens, my experience has almost always been that they end up putting together an even more compelling lineup than the one that was originally scheduled. I think that ROH might be a little extra sensitive about these things right now considering the backlash against Nigel McGuinness being pulled from so many shows, but it's the right decision because you don't want guys getting hurt, and as entertaining as Danielson vs Hero would no doubt be, we've seen it a couple of times before, and as far as I know, Danielson vs Albright is a first time match anywhere and a compelling one at that. It has the potential to be a really good match between two guys who can flat out wrestle, though I expect Danielson to win and continue winning as he rolls into New York City on February 23rd for his title shot. 

FIP "World" Champion Erick Stevens defends the title against Austin Aries. On paper, this looks like a mismatch because Austin Aries is one of the top names in the history of the company, while Stevens is still kind of climbing the ranks, FIP Title notwithstanding. Like I've said before, Gabe Sapolsky really seems to see a lot in Stevens, and I doubt he'd kill him right out of the gate by having him lose the FIP Title to Aries right away. Also, it looks like they're building something where Aries is starting to get frustrated by falling behind where he wants to be, and I can't think of a better way to further that angle that by having him lose to a guy he used to lead around. Hey Gabe, any chance we could get Stevens to squash Matt Cross next? 

Kevin Steen will take on the Necro Butcher in the first part of what will be a very physical weekend for Steen. The angle here is that Jimmy Jacobs is sending Necro to take out Steen to prevent he and El Generico from potentially challenging for the ROH World Tag Team Title. This could be the sleeper match of the night because I expect these guys to beat the crap out of each other, and I'm cringing just thinking of the kinds of bumps Necro is going to take at the hands of Steen, though I'm sure Steen isn't walking out unscathed, either. I really don't know how to call this one, though I'm kind of leaning towards Steen because I'm expecting he and Generico to get another run at the title this year and probably win it. 

Steen's partner El Generico will take on Roderick Strong, and I seem to recall these guys working together a few years ago, but this was way before Generico meant anything in ROH, so I expect this to be a far more even contest now, and wouldn't be surprised to see Generico go over. Then again, Strong could use a good win after dropping the FIP Title. Either way, I think that putting Strong in there with a guy like Generico is a good idea because, to put it delicately, Strong has shown since breaking away from Austin Aries that he doesn't exactly have the kind of charisma that lights up the crowds, and it's easier to forget that when he's in there with a guy as entertaining as Generico. 

In other matches, Claudio Castagnoli will take on Ruckus of the Vulture Squad. Ruckus has been kind of protected since coming to ROH in that he hasn't lost or really been made to look weak at all, but Claudio's on a roll and is a top guy in ROH right now, so I think Ruckus's streak is coming to an end. Daizee Haze will take on Alexa Thatcher in a SHIMMER match, and of course you should expect Daizee to go over. Daizee's definitely talented, but she's kind of like Rey Mysterio in that she's too small to really be taken seriously against most of her opponents, yet she consistently wins. Finally, the YRR of Sal Rinauro and FIP Tag Team Champions Jason Blade & Kenny King are making their ROH debut as a group. Rinauro, a former ROH Tag Team Champion, will have hist first match in the company in over a year as he takes on Delirious. I've seen Rinauro and Blade enough to have an idea of what they're about, but don't know anything about King and have never seen them perform as a group outside of their brief interaction with Bryan Danielson last year that saw Danielson basically trash them. I don't expect the YRR to come in and immediately make themselves the center of the tag team division, but I do think they're going to get at least a mild push. Still, Delirious beats Rinauro. Pelle Primeau and Top Of The Class Trophy Holder Ernie Osiris will also be appearing. 

Saturday, January 12: Edison, NJ 

The next night, ROH will return to the Inman Sports Club where Age Of The Fall will once again headline, as Tyler Black and Necro Butcher take on Jay & Mark Briscoe in an Anything Goes match. This is looking like it will be the latest in a string of brutal matches between the two teams. Last time in New Jersey saw Mark wrapped in barbed wire and Jay take a sick side suplex bump on two chairs which were placed back to back, so who knows what they have planned to top that? I'm going to go ahead and say the Briscoes go over so that they don't get totally killed off by AOTF. 

FIP "World" Champion Erick Stevens will defend the title against Bryan Danielson, providing he gets past Austin Aries the night before. Like I said earlier, I expect Stevens to make it through the weekend with the FIP Title, but I'm going to be really interested to see how he's put over both these guys, because they're pushing that Stevens doesn't want countout victories, but can they really have a guy who's, bluntly speaking, been a lower midcarder for the last year beat both Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson in one weekend? Also, consider that Danielson is heading toward an ROH World Title shot in February. Are they really going to have him job out to Stevens leading into that match? Considering all the other guys Danielson has beaten, having him lose to Stevens might not come off as totally believable, though if there's anyone who can make it look believable, it would be Danielson. I don't see Stevens pinning Danielson or making him submit, I expect him to retain the title on a countout. 

Speaking of Austin Aries, he's going to be looking across the ring at Claudio Castagnoli on Saturday night. These guys have wrestled a few times in the past, most notably when the Kings Of Wrestling beat Aries & Roderick Strong for the ROH World Tag Team Title in 2006. Claudio's on his way up the card and Aries, for the time being at least, is on his way down. I'll say Claudio wins and Aries once again refuses to shake hands afterward, building to whatever turning point his character is heading toward. 

In his second hard hitting match of the weekend, Kevin Steen will be facing Brent Albright in the latest chapter of the Steen/Generico vs Hangmen Three feud. I don't expect that this will turn into an out of control hardcore-style brawl like the match with Necro is liable to, but I do think this will see less wrestling and more brawling, which is too bad because a straight up match between these two would probably be good. But these guys can also brawl well, so we may not be disappointed. Albright will probably go over due to interference from the other Hangmen Three. Speaking of which, BJ Whitmer and Shane Hagadorn going over Eddie Edwards and Bobby Fish is a foregone conclusion. 

The Vulture Squad is going to be involved in two singles matches, as Jack Evans takes on Jimmy Jacobs and Jigsaw faces Roderick Strong. I'm predicting a rough night for the Vulture Squad as I don't see either of them going over their opponents. Mike Quackenbush makes his return from a concussion to team with Delirious and El Generico to take on the YRR of Sal Rinauro, Jason Blade, and Kenny King. I really don't see the YRR getting a win over these guys, and can actually see this following up on Rinauro's expected loss to Delirious the night before to build the YRR as big mouths who can't get it done. 

Finally, Larry Sweeney has a special announcement concerning Chris Hero & Sara Del Rey that he will be making in Edison. I've thought about what it could be, but other than a romance angle (which I hope they don't do) I really have no idea what it could be. A year ago I wouldn't have taken him seriously, but Sweeney has really developed into a top notch, old-school manager who makes a great mouthpiece for Chris Hero. I feel like a big announcement from him, especially on the first weekend of the year (a time at which storylines traditionally begin in ROH) will be something to keep an eye on. 

So there we have it. I'll be in attendance in Edison, and will be back afterward with my thoughts on the shows and any fallout resulting. Thanks for reading, and as always feedback can be sent to stuwrestling@hotmail.com. See you soon.