"See you in Ring Of Honor! ROH!" After these words were yelled by Matt Hardy during his first RAW reappearance, topics began appearing on message boards and forums, from fans asking 'What's ROH"' This column is for those people who haven't heard of ROH before, or have heard of it but don't really know much about it, but want to check it out. So it's newbies only! There will be spoilers of recent events, and those who are already hardened disciples of ROH don't really need to read on...this is meant in the nicest possible way, but you'll probably just find fault. So what IS Ring Of Honor"

SAMOA JOE is ROH's Pure Wrestling Champion, and is a legitimate phenom, having held the ROH Title for nearly two years. Joe is a very hard hitter with a devastating arsenal of moves, can have a great match with just about anyone, and despite his size, is as athletic as any other wrestler in ROH. BJ WHITMER is one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions. Referred to as Hillbilly Jesus by CM Punk, Whitmer is another hard-hitter, who was a part of Mick Foley's 'Ring Of Hardcore' movement. JIMMY JACOBS is the other half of the Tag Team Champions. A so-called 'comedy wrestler' for a while, his ring skills improved considerably after he became more serious and focused. Jacobs is also owner of the furriest boots in wrestling. HOMICIDE is the leader of the Rottweilers faction. ROH's MVP for 2003, Homicide, along with manager Julius Smokes, underwent a shocking heel turn in 2004. Homicide is an excellent wrestler, who can have a great match with anyone regardless of their wrestling style...if he plays by the rules.

LOW KI is another member of the Rottweilers. A beloved fan favourite from the first ROH show due to the many classic matches he participated in in 2002 (as well as his brutally stiff kicks and chops), during 2004 Ki turned his back on the fans. He now competes semi-regularly for ROH due to Japanese commitments.

GENERATION NEXT are a cocky faction of young wrestlers who believe themselves to be the big stars of the future. The current members are -

AUSTIN ARIES, the man who ended Samoa Joe's incredible ROH Title reign;
JACK EVANS, the gravity-defying, craziest high-flier in wrestling today;
and RODERICK STRONG, the master of the backbreaker.


THE EMBASSY is a heel group led by PRINCE NANA, a prince of Ghana in West Africa. Members include the 'Crown Jewel' JIMMY RAVE, the legally blind wrestler FAST EDDIE, and former Generation Next member and locker-room outcast ALEX SHELLEY. The Embassy respects nobody, and will do what they want, when they want, including interference, dirty tactics during matches, and physical and verbal abuse of women.

JAMES GIBSON a.k.a the former Jamie Noble, came to ROH in early 2005 with three words on his mind - 'Screw Sports Entertainment'. In ROH, Gibson is able to fully display his considerable wrestling ability.

SPANKY is the Showstopper of ROH, and has had great match after great match since its inception in 2002. Spanky now divides his time between ROH and Japan.

JAY LETHAL is a former member of rich-kid raver group Special K, but 'got serious' and became Samoa Joe's protégé. With Joe's tutelage, Lethal's star has risen in ROH, and he recently had a successful Pure Title reign. He, along with Joe, is currently embroiled in a war with the Rottweilers.

BRYAN DANIELSON is one of the world's finest young wrestlers, but recently walked out of Ring Of Honor after failing to win the ROH Title from Austin Aries.

COLT CABANA is not only one of the funniest wrestlers you'll ever see, he is also one of the ROH wrestlers currently using the old European style of wrestling, which he picked up after a trip to the UK last year. Another man who wrestles the European style is Cabana's nemesis, the British native NIGEL MCGUINNESS.

Ring Of Honor also used wrestlers from TNA, until the latter withdrew all their contracted talent from ROH in 2004 as the result of a messy situation which I won't get into here. The two promotions seem to have patched up their differences, as the likes of AJ STYLES, CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and ABYSS now wrestle for both companies.

Now you're hopefully more familiar with some of the major players in ROH, I'll move on to some wrestlers that have appeared in ROH that you may have already heard of.

EDDIE GUERRERO wrestled Super Crazy on the first ROH show, before he was re-signed by WWE. He returned a couple of shows later, as WWE Intercontinental Champion!

NUNZIO, wrestling as 'Sicilian Shooter' James Maritato, took now-former ROH Champion Xavier to the limit on an early show.

PAUL LONDON came to ROH an unknown in 2002, and left for WWE a year later an international star. If you've only seen London in WWE, you haven't seen him at all. In ROH, his actions prompted fans to chant "Please Don't Die" each time he went to the top rope for a move like the Shooting Star Press. From a forty-minute classic against Bryan Danielson to a death-defying Street Fight with Michael Shane to a Triple Threat vs. AJ Styles and Low Ki that is one of my personal favourite matches, London did amazing things in ROH. RAVEN appeared in ROH in 2003 as part of his worldwide feud with CM Punk, wrestling a series of bloody matches.

JEFF HARDY made an infamous appearance in 2003, as part of a Triple Threat also involving Joey Matthews (now Mercury) and Krazy K. Jeff was literally booed out of the building. Think the 'We Want Matt' chants only started this year" Think again.

RICKY STEAMBOAT became a part of ROH in 2004, first feuding with CM Punk, and then championing Pure Wrestling over the Ring Of Hardcore favoured by...

...MICK FOLEY. The Hardcore Legend appears semi-regularly for ROH in a non-wrestling role, which is just fine, as we all know how great Foley is on the mic.

JIM CORNETTE & BOBBY HEENAN. Perhaps the two greatest wrestling managers of all time have both been involved with ROH, managing talent and arguing with each other.

JYUSHIN THUNDER LIGER came to ROH for the 'Weekend Of Thunder' in late 2004.

MATT HARDY debuted in May of this year, wrestling Christopher Daniels. He is scheduled for further appearances in August, in matches against Homicide and Roderick Strong.

As for match types, many will be familiar to you (singles, tag, cage etc) but there are some trademark ROH matches that are worth mentioning.

The PURE WRESTLING MATCH is used only in Pure Title matches. Each wrestler is allowed three rope breaks, and once they are used to break up a pin or submission, they're gone. There is a strict twenty-count on the outside (count-outs are not usually used in ROH) and using a closed fist once results in a warning. A second closed fist loses the wrestler a rope break, and the third means a disqualification. The belt can change hands on a count-out!

The SCRAMBLE MATCH is normally a multi-team or large tag team match, with the rule that tags do not have to be made; a wrestler can enter the ring once another wrestler has left. Scramble Matches are usually fast-paced, blink-and-you'll-miss-something affairs.

The FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL and SIX MAN MAYHEM matches are the equivalent of the Four Corners and Six Pack Challenge matches from other companies.

The ULTIMATE ENDURANCE is a three-fall, multi-tag-team elimination match. Each fall can be a different kind of match...it varies.

The FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR is pretty much a No Holds Barred Match, where the Code of Honor is abandoned.

The SCRAMBLE CAGE is a multi-team contest inside a cage (with platforms in each corner for insane diving moves). The rules have changed slightly in each Scramble Cage match, but usually, two teams start, other teams enter later, and the first pinfall wins.

Finally, a couple of warnings.

1. If you're accustomed to watching WWE-style shows with longish promos and not so longish matches, you may find ROH a little different. On the whole, the promos are kept short, and matches are longer (and often better). For example, several main events have ended in sixty minute draws, and a 2-out-of-3 Falls match between Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson lasted seventy-five minutes. ROH shows may seem long at first too; it could be a slight shock if you're not used to events lasting longer than two and a half hours, as ROH events have been known to go four and a half hours!

2. If you're used to the high production quality of WWE, the likes of ROH may be a surprise in comparison. Being an independent promotion, Ring Of Honor cannot afford elaborate stages, perfect acoustics (sometimes it can be difficult to make out what a wrestler is saying on the mic) or a large amount of pyrotechnics, but this should not take away your enjoyment of the show, because with the quality of wrestling in the ring, such things become trivial, and you begin not to notice them at all. For example, CM Punk's entrance, with AFI's Miseria Cantare (the Beginning) playing in the background and fans banging the guardrail in time to the drum beat, does not have explosions, or fireworks, but it is incredibly atmospheric, and one of the few entrances that personally gives me goosebumps each time I see it.

It may take a little while to adjust to these factors, but it IS worth it.

And with that said, you should now (hopefully) know enough about Ring Of Honor to start experiencing it for yourself. And, believe me, you'll never look back.

(Major thanks to Alias from TWCF for his help with the rules of matches)

by Langdon Beck --- [View Langdon Beck's Column Index]..