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Ring of Honor returns this weekend with shows in Detroit and Chicago, with the Chicago show being taped as the third pay-per-view. This is going to be a big weekend, and the pay-per-view is going to see the culmination of the feud of the year. Here's what to look for this weekend:

Friday, September 14th- Detroit, MI "Motor City Madness 2007"

This show is going to see some good action, but it's really just a filler show with the pay-per-view taping the next night.

Early in the show will see a four corner survival match between Roderick Strong, Delirious, Erick Stevens, and Kevin Steen, with the winner getting a shot at the ROH World Championship against Takeshi Morishima in the main event. It's going to be very interesting to see which wrestler gets the win and the title shot here, and I have a feeling it's highly possible that Kevin Steen gets his first title shot tomorrow night.

Nigel McGuinness will team up with Claudio Castagnoli to face B.J. Whitmer and Brent Albright. With Whitmer's recent association with Albright and Pearce, there's a bit more intrigue with this match. Nigel and Claudio teaming up should also be a good combination, and I suspect this match will provide some pretty good in ring action.

Jimmy Jacobs will return in his first meaningful match against Chris Hero in a special challenge affair. The story here will be how his interaction with Lacey plays out as Hero will have Sweet & Sour, Inc. in his corner. I hope to see Jimmy Jacobs in a similar role with Lacey as he had at "Fight at the Roxbury," as opposed to the happy go lucky mood he was in at the last set of shows. Again, this one should be good.

The faction wars storyline will continue along with a grudge match between the NRC's Rocky Romero and the captain of the newly formed Vulture Squad, Jack Evans. Romero has gotten the best of Jack through most of this year, so this has the make of a good grudge match for Evans, and it should be a good singles match with these two.

Another singles match will be a first time ever meeting between Naomichi Marufuji and El Generico. This one is going to be all action, and I think the styles of both wrestlers should mesh well. It'll be intriguing to see the reaction Generico gets from the crowd in this singles match with his big Tag Title match coming up the next night. This will also be Marufuji's debut in Detroit.

The match of the night could very well be the Tag Title match with the Briscoe's defending against the Resilience of Austin Aries and Matt Cross. Aries has had a fire lit under him since leaving TNA and signing an ROH contract, and I expect him to give a great showing in what should be an action packed semi main event.

Morishima will retain against whomever he faces on this night, there should be no doubt about that, as he faces Bryan Danielson for the pay-per-view in Chicago. That said, I think it could be Kevin Steen, so I'm excited at the prospect of that match.

Saturday, September 15th- Chicago Ridge, IL, PPV Taping

This is going to be a huge night, and the matches that end up on the ppv are going to be something special that I believe will have a chance to bring in a few buys from previews alone.

There will be a SHIMMER tag match pitting the team of Daizee Haze and the debuting Amazing Kong against Sara Del Rey and Lacey. Given enough time, this has the chance to be the best women's match that ROH has presented. I don't believe this one will be taped for the ppv, though.

Also not being taped for the ppv is Matt Sydal's final ROH match. Sydal is set to sign with WWE and is going to face his long time rival in Delirious. These two have put on some amazing matches in the past, and with this being Sydal's final ROH appearance, I think he'll go out with a bang. This will be a great match.

Also on the undercard with possibilities for the taping will be a series of singles matches between the members of the NRC and the Resilience. The actual match ups won't be announced until Saturday, so there's no telling who's facing who, but any of the potential match ups could be good. I think they'll probably do some sort of promo segment for the ppv to set up these matches.

There are other wrestlers signed to appear in Chicago, so there is still much that isn't announced, but that now brings us to the main events.

Bryan Danielson is making his return to the ring, only three weeks after suffering a scary eye injury at the hands of Morishima in Manhattan. ROH officials have claimed that they've taken due diligence with this injury and that Danielson is cleared to wrestle, and he will take on the man who injured him in Takeshi Morishima in a rematch for the ROH World Title. Their last contest is already being touted as a Match of the Year Contender, and you can expect this to be nothing other than their best as it will be taped for the pay-per-view.

Finally, the feud of the year should come to a close in the main event. Kevin Steen and El Generico have risen fast in ROH this year, all because of Steen's relentless pursuit of the Briscoe's and the Tag Titles that they hold. Steen has been the star of this feud, and due to his actions in Manhattan on 8/25, this match has been made. The first ever Ladder War will take place in the Frontier Fieldhouse when Steen and Generico face the Briscoe's one last time for the ROH Tag Team Titles. This is going to be a violent, exciting, brutal spectacle of a match, and I have high expectations for what these guys can pull out on Saturday. The pay-per-view portion of this show is going to be some of the very best ROH has pulled out, and I think it has the potential to be the best of the pay-per-views when it makes its way to television.

I have one last thing to mention for this weekend. Be on the lookout for people donned in black ski masks and black bandanas, as project 161 has revealed their name, and they have recruited people to wear these colors. The Age of the Fall is coming to Detroit and Chicago.

IF YOU ATTEND EITHER OF THESE SHOWS, PLEASE SEND US A REPORT. We at PWTorch.com are upping our commitment to covering ROH, including in-depth weekend VIP Audio Updates covering a new ROH DVD releases and discussing news and happenings in ROH. Justin Parker has launched our new ROH Blog which I'll be updating along with Justin and Sean during the week. Sean continues to review most every ROH DVD release with in-depth match reports and star ratings for VIP members. Also, VIP members get to read our ROH Roundtable featuring a collection of reviews from a number of PWTorch's contributors and columnists. Help us out by sending us results of ROH events you attend to the Match Results email link on our Contact Us page. Thanks.

If you have any questions or comments for future installments, you can reach me at
peni0005@d.umn.edu

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