Reading Steve Corino’s blog, “Watch Me Pull A Rabbit Out Of My Hat," it has become apparent that the trend that began at the “Final Battle” iPPV will continue into 2012. ROH, a promotion that promotes itself on delivering a true wrestling alternative, has apparently set back the clock several years and is transforming into something different. Corino’s blog is an ominous sign of things to come in ROH.

By now, everyone in the wrestling injury should know about the long-term ramifications of blunt-force trauma to the head. Wrestlers assume enough risk performing “routine” maneuvers, but it’s unbelievable that any promotion would allow multiple unprotected chairshots to the head be performed under their watch.

Here’s what Corino stated about the unprotected chairshots to the head featured in his match against Kevin Steen and in the Briscoes vs. Haas & Benjamin match at “Final Battle:

“Fast forward to last Friday,” wrote Corino.” “Ring Of Honor's Final Battle 2011. I'm in the fight of my career vs. Kevin Steen. Each of us took a shot each to the head with a chair. But neither of us got a concussion. Why? How? Magic?

“Kind of.

“As much as I, along with Steen and I'm sure the Briscoes, wanted to put on a great match and show our toughness, there was no way we were going to put ourselves in danger. Without exposing the whole process, adjustments were made to make things safer.

“Could things have gone wrong? Of course. But they would have been accidents, not irresponsibility that myself and others displayed in ECW (and other companies).

“My match was brutal. There were chairs, tables, trash cans, and a rail. Looked dangerous. It could have been. But we are professionals. I think what we did more then anything was build drama. The story was so good going in. The suspension of disbelief was higher Friday then I have felt since the Chicago Street Fight in 2010.

“The most painful thing that I took at Final Battle was when I hit the post with my shoulder in the first minute of the match. It was a miscalculation on my part. I thought I had one step left and I ended up eating the post. My fault.”

Corino writing this blog shows that although ROH management was concerned with the amount of chairshots on the show, somehow that message didn’t get filtered through to Corino. Furthermore, it demonstrates the archaic and ignorant philosophy of Corino, who in trying to defend what he and other did, further sets the promotion back decades.

There is no magic to taking an unprotected blow to the head. Even “protected” chairshots where wrestlers get their hands up are dangerous and shouldn’t be used at all given the long-term ramifications that a jarring blow to the head can still occur from a “protected” chairshot.

It takes a lot of gumption on Corino’s part to tell ROH fans that everything he and the Briscoes did at “Final Battle” is fine because nobody suffered any concussions. It’s even worse for Corino to say that by making things look dangerous, it added to the suspension of disbelief.

I’m appalled by what I read in Corino’s blog on the chairshots at “Final Battle.” It wasn’t long ago that the ROH wrestlers banded together and decided that there wouldn’t be any unprotected chairshots performed at ROH house shows. Apparently that edict has been lifted because the current wrestlers are better magicians now.

Don’t be fooled by Corino. There is no “magic” to the art of taking unprotected chairshots to the head. ROH has featured a number of dangerous matches during its existence, but recently the company has seen a disturbing trend where wrestlers use dangerous maneuvers routinely to escalate certain feuds, but nothing topped the risks taken in the Corino-Steen and Briscoes-Haas & Benjamin matches.

This past week several former NFL players banded together to sue the NFL over severe and permanent brain damage they say is linked to the concussions that they suffered during their career. It would be interesting to see what happens if several ROH wrestlers get together in the future and sue Sinclair in a similar fashion.

You can read Corino’s Dec. 27 blog at http://www.worldofcorino.blogspot.com/

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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