A Night of Mayhem

A Night of Mayhem
Ring of Honor Wrestling

By Tara Cantore

Walking into the gymnasium, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who were waiting for the match to begin at Basketball City in New York City. There were over 1,000 fans in attendance at this Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) event on Saturday, March 25.
There were mostly guys in the audience. The girls that were there, looked like they were with their boyfriends or husbands. Every type of person was at the event. There were people of all ages and all different kinds of nationalities.
The fans that come to ROH events are very loyal to the promotion. Clad in t-shirts that say “Fiercely Independent, ROH Wrestling,” (ROH is an independent wrestling organization, that is why their fans are adorned in these t-shirts) many of the fans come from hours away and travel by multiple modes of transportation to attend the events. Unlike the popular World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, ROH does not have any of their shows televised, therefore, if the fans want to see the shows they need to either attend or purchase the DVD or VHS a few months after the actual event.

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Ring of Honor Wrestling is based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ROH wrestling is very different than the mainstream promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). ROH focuses on the techniques of wrestling. Their matches are very violent, but very real. The matches show off the skills of the wrestlers. WWE on the other hand, focuses on gimmicks, characters and storylines, rather than the actual wrestling. This has led ROH to have a very loyal and diverse fan base. Fans enjoy ROH because it really allows them to get involved with the characters and be involved verbally throughout the show.
ROH has been putting on shows since 2002. They hold a few shows each month throughout the Northeast and Midwest, with a variety of different and talented wrestlers from all over the United States, Japan and Great Britain.
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Dozens of rows of white and brown plastic folding chairs were lined up around the gym. The chairs surrounded a wrestling ring that was elevated above the ground in the center of the room. The ring was black with red words in the middle. It said Ring of Honor Wrestling.
I hurried to my seat as the clock ticked toward 7:30 p.m. I had to squeeze through the row of people who were already sitting. When I sat down the seats were so crammed I felt as if people were caving in on me.
As I looked towards the ring I realized just how close I was. My seat was about five feet away. All of the sudden, the lights turned off, plunging the room into darkness. Music blared out of the speakers that surrounded the crowd.
“Welcome to Basketball City and to Ring of Honor Wrestling,” the announcer shouted into a microphone from inside the ring. The announcer wore a black suit with a black bow tie. The spotlights that shone on him gave his dark hair a glaring look.
“I have two announcements to make before we begin. I would like to announce that we have martial artist Taimak Guarriello with us tonight.” Guarriello played Bruce Leroy in the movie “The Last Dragon.”
The crowd screamed and clapped as Guarriello waved to his fans in the audience. Then ring announcer said, “And the other announcement is that we know Chris Hero and Necro Butcher are here tonight. We are offering you both a free pass to face anyone in the ROH locker room tonight.”
* * *
Chris Hero and Necro Butcher are members of CZW, a wrestling promotion that is feuding with ROH. The feud started when both promotions booked shows on the same day in the same city – their home base of Philadelphia. This was in January 2006.
Another conflict occurred a couple of week prior to this event. CZW was annoyed that they were stuck with an afternoon show, while ROH got an evening show time-slot, a time that would get them better attendance.
* * *
The lights turned off and rock n’ roll music sounded. I had never heard this song before. It was very upbeat. Most of the 1,000 plus people in attendance rose from their plastic folding chairs to chant “ROH, ROH, ROH!” The black backstage curtain was pulled back. Smoke filled the air as someone appeared from behind the curtain.
“Entering the ring weighing in at 140 pounds is Pelle Primeau,” shouted the ring announcer.
As Primeau entered the room a spotlight illuminated him. He wore a black jacket and black wrestling shorts. His dark hair was slicked back. He also had a thin beard. He screamed with excitement while the fans cheered for him. He ran around the outside of the ring slapping the hands of the fans that were sitting in the front row.
The referee patted down Primeau after he entered the ring. He was checking for any weapons that Primeau might have had.
The lights turned off again as the ring announcer’s voice blasted out, “Being accompanied by Prince Nana, weighing in at 200 pounds, representing the Embassy, Jimmmmmy Rave!” Music that was fit for a king trumpeted through the room while Prince Nana and Jimmy Rave entered the gym.
Prince Nana wore a black shirt and tan jacket with gray dress pants. He wore a crown embellished with gold.
Jimmy Rave followed closely behind his manager. Jimmy’s dirty blond hair was wet and slicked back. He wore a dark purple gown with a gold design. He snarled at the audience, while he circled the ring.
As Rave and Prince Nana entered the wrestling ring, the fans in the audience threw several full rolls of toilet paper at them. The ring turned white, as the rolls pilled up. The crowd chanted, “Die, Jimmy, Die!”
Angry with the audience, Rave and Prince Nana began throwing the toilet paper back into the crowd. Rave looked like an angry bull while he ran around the ring picking up all of the rolls. The rolls bounced off people’s heads and arms and fell onto the floor. Many fans ran to pickup the rolls that were thrown out. They appeared to be saving them for later in the evening.
The crowd continued to chant: “Die Jimmy Die.” They banged on the steel panels that surrounded the edge of the front row of seats.
The referee attempted to clean out the rest of the toilet paper, while Primeau re-entered the ring. There was paper left in the ring as the match was about to begin.
Prince Nana warned the referee before the match began, “If you mess this up you die.”
The two contenders met in the middle of the ring to shake hands before the match started.
The crowd continued to scream. Many people in the audience chanted continuously, “Jimmy likes balls.”
The ringside bell rang. The match had begun!
Rave grabbed Primeau and put him into a headlock, while he flipped him over his head and onto the ground. He sat on top of Primeau and punched him in the face several times, before the referee finally forced him off Primeau.
Primeau attempted to get up, but appeared to be dizzy, and his attempts were hopeless.
Rave pulled Primeau off of the floor and forced him to stand. He then proceeded to slap Primeau with the back of his hand across Primeau’s chest.
The slap echoed throughout the gym.
The crowd screamed: “Owwwwww!”
It was apparent from Primeau’s facial expressions that he was in pain.
Rave slapped him again, while Prince Nana screamed, “Jimmy, harder! Harder, Jimmy!”
Primeau pulled himself over to the ropes at the end of the ring. As he finally made it back up, Rave hit him again.
Rave then proceeded to grab Primeau by the head and slapped him across his chest. Primeau screamed in pain and he fell back toward the ground of the ring mat.
With energy that came out of nowhere, Primeau jumped out of the ring and stepped up to the top rope. He stood there and in a countermove jumped from the rope and landed on top of Rave.
Rave pulled Primeau’s head under his leg, as he got ready to perform his finishing move called a Pedigree. (This is where one wrestler takes the other wrestler’s head and puts it between his legs. He then drops him to the ground and sits on his head) Primeau’s head hit the floor and Rave pinned him down.
The referee dropped to his knees and counted down.
“One, two, three,” shouted the crowd.
The ref grabbed Rave’s hand and raised it in the air.
“Your winner, Jimmmmmy Rave,” shouted out the ring announcer over the screaming crowd.
After the match ended, Prince Nana grabbed the mic from the ring announcer who was sitting beside the ring at a folding table.
“Jimmmyy Rave should be the ROH champion,” shouted Nana into the mic in his Jamaican accent. He continued, “There is no one in this building tonight who could take Jimmy on.”
Prince Nana then turned around and looked at Taimak Guarriello. Pointing at Guarriello he said, “Not even you could take on Jimmy Rave!”
Guarriello grabbed a mic that was sitting beside the ring. “Oh I think I have someone who can take Jimmy on,” he said. “Jimmy YangâÂ?¦.come on out!”
The lights shut off in the gym. Many people in the audience turned in their seats to find out what was going on. A young man in a plaid flannel shirt, sitting in the front row, said, “Where’s Yang?”
The lights turned back on, and the crowd looked very surprised to see Yang standing inside the ring.
Yang wore black leather pants and was shirtless. He appeared to be of Japanese decent, and had short dark hair.
Yang started to beat on Rave while a bell rang for the start of a new match.
Yang gracefully threw Rave around the ring.
The match ended quickly. Rave didn’t seem to have much energy in him after just finishing his other match.
After Yang defeated Rave, Prince Nana entered the ring. Nana, along with Jimmy Rave, kicked Yang with their boots. Then Guarriello jumped into the ring.
The crowd screamed!
“ROH, ROH, ROH!” could be heard throughout the room.
Guarriello kicked Rave. Scared that he was going to be next Prince Nana ran out of the ring. Both men ran backstage behind the black curtain to avoid any further confrontations.
Yang and Guarriello celebrated by giving each other high-fives.
“LeroyâÂ?¦LeroyâÂ?¦Leroy,” echoed across the gym as the crowd chanted.
Yang asked the announcer sitting ringside to hand him his mic.
“Who is the Master?” asked Yang.
The crowd chanted again, “Leroy!”
The theme song from Guarriello’s movie “The Last Dragon” rang from the speakers as the two made their way out of the ring.
The crowd kept clapping until the ring announcer walked back into the ring.
“Next we will have a SHIMMER, four-corner survival match,” proclaimed the ring announcer.
Music blared through the speakers while the crowd clapped. “First entering the ring, weighing in at 147 lbs is Mercedes Martinez.”
Martinez looked very manly as she strutted around the outside of the ring. Her long blonde hair fell below her shoulders. Her hair looked mangled, as if it had not been brushed for days. She stood about six feet tall and slouched a bit as she pulled her way up into the ring. She wore pleather silver pants and a shiny purple tank top.
“Representing the Embasy, weighing 110 pounds is Daizee Haze!” said the announcer. Haze wore a short light purple tank top with darker purple polka dots. She had on a matching skirt and headband that held back her long bleach blond locks of hair.
Haze pranced around the outside of the ring looking for approval from the crowd while she pulled herself up into the ring.
“Next to enter the ring, at 133 pounds is Allison Dannnnnger!” shouted out the announcer.
The crowd got up and clapped as Danger entered the room. Somewhere in the background I could hear a fan screaming, “Hot nun!” Danger had dressed up as a nun at ROH’s Halloween-themed show back in October 2005.
“Last to enter the ring, weighing 139 pounds, is Lacey!”
Most of the people in the audience stood up and hollered and screamed for Lacey as she walked into the room. Lacey is popular with the ROH crowd. She regularly appears with the promotion, most recently as wrestler B.J. Whitmer’s manager.
Lacey wore a black sports bra with tight black shorts. She had long dirty blond hair pulled back in a ponytail.
The women shook each other’s hands before the match began.
Martinez started off well. She was taller, and appeared to be stronger.
Martinez hit Danger across the face. Danger appeared to be tired early on in the match. She slapped the hand of Haze to exit the ring.
Martinez stayed in for a short time longer and tagged in Lacey. Lacey grabbed Haze’s hands and twisted her wrists around.
In a surprise move to the crowd, Lacey bounced off of the ropes surrounding one side of the ring and slapped Martinez across the chest, tagging her back into the match.
Lacey laughed while she jumped outside of the ring.
The crowd cheered, “Lacey, Lacey Lacey!”
Lacey was quickly tagged back into the match. Martinez, who was looking to get revenge, hit Lacey furiously.
Danger came out of nowhere, and blind tagged Martinez, to get back into the match. Lacey, who was already pretty beaten up was an easy mark for Danger.
Danger rolled Lacey up into a pinning combination.
“One, two, three!” shouted the referee!
“Here is your winner, Allison Dannnnggger!” shouted out the announcer.
Danger beamed with pride as she took in the applause from the audience.
One guy who was sitting near me shook his head. “That was an awesome match! I can’t believe that a girl’s match could be so exciting!”
For more information about Ring of Honor Wrestling visit www.rohwrestling.com