Ring of Honor looks to have the biggest day in the 22 month history of the promotion this Saturday 12/27 as they debut at the Pennsylvania National Guard Army with two events (2 PM, 7:30 PM) featuring a contingent of performers from All Japan Pro Wrestling including The Great Muta on the bill. Given the lineup and the tease of seeing six All Japan stars working in an environment where they can go all out, I would not be surprised to see the promotion back at their July Death Before Dishonor event in Elizabeth, New Jersey as well as break their attendance record of 1,200 set set merchandise records as well as they are set to release several new videos including their Glory by Honor 2 event and the acclaimed 11/1 show featuring the Scramble Cage Match that led to Teddy Hart’s demise in the company. You can find ticket and lineup information at www.ROHWrestling.com.
According to ROH management, the show is being designed to set up the first six months of 2004 for their storylines. One storyline that looks to be taken to the next level is the identity of Lucy’s attacker from their event in Dayton, Ohio several months back. The promotion has been doing a storyline “investigation” online to coincide with CM Punk questioning workers at recent ROH events. The latest online twist was a message from Lucy’s “attacker” taunting Punk. While most online angles simply don’t work because of audience apathy, ROH has had decent success with them as they are used as something extra for the fans and not the focus of storylines.
ROH has come to terms with Chad Collyer to return in 2004. There had been bad feelings when Collyer pulled out of a match with Matt Stryker over the summer that was to climax their storyline in order to take a tour with Michinoku Pro with only a few days’ notice. Collyer will be put into the promotion’s Pure Wrestling division. British star Doug Williams and Jack Evans will also be returning to the promotion in 2004.
The promotion has been hard at work trying to bring in a legend to help get over the legitimacy of their upcoming Pure Wrestling championship tournament. They have reached out to several names including Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Ricky Steamboat but had conflicts with the planned date (which has yet to be announced although I suspect it may be their second anniversary show on 2/14 in the Boston area.)
There is hope internally that The Amazing Red will be back from his knee surgery this summer.
