By Pat McNeill, PWTorch columnist

Wake the pets and call the neighbors. It's time for our semi-monthly ROH internet pay-per-view preview column!

DISCLAIMER: Projections are made by myself and for myself with absolutely no assistance from James E. Cornette, Gary Juster or The Man With The Lizard Face. No one knows the contents of these projections, but I, in my divine and mystical way, will ascertain the finishes to these matches while being several months behind on my Ring of Honor DVD's. Some of our departing contestants will receive a supply of Havoline Motor Oil. Havoline is the only motor oils with Deposit Shield® that protects your engine against harmful deposits. And remember, four whammies brings tears to your eyes and puts you out of the game. Remember, this is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. Please, please, no wagering. This lineup is based on the best available information as of this writing.

As you know, Ring of Honor is currently in a State Of Emergency! This state of emergency comes from the fact that ROH booker Jim Cornette missed the Attitude Era and didn't understand that he booked himself as the heel in his feud with Kevin Steen, leaving the company unable to get fans to boo the current...No, wait, that's not it. The State of Emergency is because ROH is over budget and so dirt broke that they couldn't even pay trans to get Cornette to Charlotte last weekend for the...No, that's not it either.

Oh, right. The State of Emergency is because Kevin Steen is Ring of Honor Champion. Just like he has been for the past four months. Got it.

The big news going into Saturday night is...Oh, just watch the main event of last week's ROH television show. It's less typing for me. Here's Adam Cole defending the ROH Television Title against Michael Elgin. Check out announcer Kevin Kelly and which legendary Hall of Fame wrestler Kelly compares to Adam Cole.



And without further ado, let's roll right into this month's Wrestling History Lesson. Before Ring of Honor, the "number three promotion" in North America was the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling. The original ECW ran from 1993 through 2001. Among the many wrestlers who passed through ECW were Steve Austin, Mick Foley and the late Eddie Guerrero. A young Gabe Sapolsky worked for the company, as did ROH founder Rob Feinstein and legendary manager Jim Cornette.

Back in the original ECW, on September 5, 1997 in Waltham, Massachusetts, the IBEX Hall was packed to see a huge television taping. Shane Douglas defended the ECW World Title against the dreaded "mystery opponent," and we had the first ever match between two former ECW World Champions as The Sandman took on Sabu. Then Paul Heyman closes the show by creating one of the memorable phrases in professional wrestling history (at the 48:48 mark).



And, as your free gift for viewing this column, let's take you back to August 14, 2005 when Total Nonstop Action did its TNA Sacrifice show in Orlando. If you want to learn more about this "Rhino" fellow, here he is teaming with Jeff Jarrett against Raven and Sabu.



On with the projections!

I have no idea what the dark match will be for this show, but I hope Q.T. Marshall is involved.

Irish Airborne vs. The House of Truth: Irish Airborne is back. Yay? Projection Strong and Elgin don't get along, but Strong ends up hitting the Sick Kick and pinning Dave Crist.

Jay Lethal vs. Homicide: Jay Lethal wants to prove he's enough of a sick bastard to get in the ring with Kevin Steen (or Rhino) for the title. Let's see if he can handle the Notorious 187 first. Projection? Homicide gets a couple of shots in with the dreaded "ghetto fork," but Lethal hits Homicide with the ring bell and scores the pin. I can't wait for Jim Cornette to remember that Homicide's good for other things besides getting challengers over.

Tadarius Thomas vs. Silas Young (Survival of the Fittest Qualifier): No, really. Projection? Thomas gets knocked down, but he gets up again. You're never going to keep him down. Thomas pins Silas with the Sling Blade.

A.C.H. vs. Kyle O'Reilly: You're sure this is a pay-per-view, right? Projection? O'Reilly wins with the anklelock, all the better to set up matches with Adam Cole and/or Davey Richards.

Various announcements: Davey Richards will return and team with Eddie Edwards to go after the tag team titles. And Matt Hardy is there to challenge Silas Young. Okay, just kidding. Hardy will challenge the winner of the main event.

Adam Cole vs. Mike Mondo (ROH Television Title): If I know anything about ROH booking, the company is setting Cole up to win the ROH title about nine months from now. And if I guessed wrong, it's still not a bad idea. Projection? Cole pins Mondo with the Florida Key.

Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman vs. Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs (Tag Tournament Semifinals): Really? Caucasian, please. Projection? Alexander avoids the dreaded Thumb In The Bum, but Jacobs forces Cedric to tap out to the End Times.

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Charlie Haas & Rhett Titus At the very least, this should be interesting. Projection? Titus surprises Jay Briscoe with the Sex-Factor and the mismatched duo gets to the finals.

And in the finals, Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs win the tag belts after Haas and Titus have some sort of disagreement.

Kevin Steen vs. Rhino (ROH World Title): Gee, you don't suppose this will somehow turn into a brawl, do you? Projection? It's a Rhino match. Rhino tries to gore Steen through a table, and Corino and Jacobs pull Steen out of the way. Steen covers the former ECW champ and keeps the title.

Aftermath: Glory By Honor XI on October 13, where Steen defends against Michael Elgin and Corino & Jacobs against the American Wolves. Join us then.

***

Pat McNeill of Richmond, Va. has been a Torch columnist since February 2001. He likes Michigan State to beat Notre Dame tomorrow night in college football. Your mileage may vary.

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