Ring of Honor Glory By Honor VIII
Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, New York, N.Y.
Report by Dot Net reader Jules Mercuri

1. Colt Cabana made Rhett Titus submit.

2. The Dark City Fight Club beat Cheech and Cloudy.

Prince Nana introduced Claudio Castagnoli.

3. Claudio Castagnoli pinned Kenny Omega after an uppercut.

Bret Hart came out and thanked the fans. He entered to his classic WWF music and massive "thank you Bret" chants.

4. Roderick Strong beat Sonjay Dutt, Grizzly Redwood, and Delirious in a Four Corners Survival match. Strong pinned Dutt after a powerbomb.

5. The American Wolves (w/Shane Hagadorn) beat Kevin Steen and El Generico in a Ladder War for the ROH Tag Team titles. A healthy amount of huge ladder spots and a couple unprotected chairshots but overall not as extreme as the first Ladder War at Man Up. Steen was bleeding from his arm and forehead and Generico had to be helped to the back. Edwards had his entire forearm heavily taped up and seemed to be favoring the other arm. A good showing from all competitors all things considered.

Intermission,

6. Chris Hero beat Eddie Kingston. Hero using a loaded armband.

ROH World Champion Austin Aries came out to announce the winner of the Lucky Lottery, Bret Hart. He didn't show and Petey Williams came to the ring and defended Hart, challenging Aries for the belt in the process. Aries reluctantly accepted and the match was on.

7. Austin Aries fought Petey Williams to a countout to retain the ROH World Championship. The crowd seemed more interested in yelling "twinkies!" after ref Todd Sinclair counted any number than the match. A depressing lack of heat for some very good in-ring action including Petey applying the Sharpshooter twice and hitting two Canadian Destroyers, one from the top rope.

Jim Cornette redebuted in ROH. He said he had been fired from TNA for not being 100 percent behind the creative direction, not for any outburst at Vince Russo. He buried WWE and "sports entertainment" and announced he had signed on as executive producer of ROH TV on HDNet. Austin Aries interrupted and started trouble with Cornette, who claimed he had been weaseling out of tough competition for the title with his lottery, and said if he had anything to do with it, Aries would have to face harder opponents.

8. The Young Bucks defeated Jay and Mark Briscoe after a 450 splash and a moonsault. The Bucks look eerily similar to Matt and Jeff Hardy on Raw circa 1995. I feel this was the best match on the card so far.

9. Bryan Danielson made Nigel McGuinness submit. Nigel tapped after more than 20 elbow strikes in a 35 minute match. Amazing to say the least. Nigel and Bryan gave farewell speeches and asked fans to continue supporting ROH. Everyone in the back came out and stood around the ring, including Cary Silkin. The show ended with "The Final Countdown."

The place was packed and had been sold out for more than a week in advance. ROH doesn't sell out the Manhattan Center every time so I chalk it up to Danielson/McGuinness. An HDNet cameraman was at ringside getting footage. The atmosphere for the main event and post-match speeches was amazing.

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