?Reported by Ben Bauer of WrestleView.com

On Saturday, August 13, 2005 at 12:37 AM EST

Ring of Honor returns to Chicago tonight, on a show that will feature CM Punk's final match with the company (we think for real this time). The following is the current card according to ROHWrestling.com, but matches could very well be changed or added following the happenings in Dayton last night.

CM Punk vs Colt Cabana. This one will definately happen. I don't think I can write any preview of this match that is as good as what they wrote about each other this week on ROHWrestling.com:

CM Punk, on Colt Cabana:

"I never thought it'd be me saying goodbye to Cabana. Not like I'm dying or anything, but I always KNEW in my heart that he'd be in the WWE long before me. So I guess that right there is the one time I've ever been wrong in my life. He started with the look, the size, the right attitude, and developed into what I thought was the best all around wrestler and he did it very quickly. People on the outside looking in can never know how much he helped me become who I am today and get to where I am. I'm not sure Cabana knows how much he's helped me.


I can count on one hand the things and people that matter to me. Cabana is one of them. I've given up a lot, ruined some good things, and been a big prick, but he never faulted me for any of it. He was always standing right beside me, shaking his head, going along for the ride. That's what friends do I suppose. At least that's what they should do, and that's what he always did.


I can remember wrestling him in every state, in about any type of match you can think of, on any given holiday. We've wrestled each other on our birthdays. Suplexed each other off of pop machines, wrestled each other when we didn't feel like ever wrestling each other again, etc., etc. So now I'm leaving, and it kills me to think that this might be the last time I get to wrestle somebody who over the course of the last six years has become my brother. However, we're in Chicago. It's like it was meant to be. If I go out, I can't think of a better way. Two home town kids. Two best friends. Doing what they dreamed about doing since they were little kids. It's going to be emotional in Chicago Saturday night, and ya know, sometimes part of me gets nervous and thinks, "what if I screw up, what if it's a bad match?"


Then I smile, because it can't be a bad match....Colt Fucking Cabana is in it. I hope Saturday night never ends..."

-CM Punk

Colt Cabana, on CM Punk

"I always looked forward to training with Punk. I looked forward to our very first match together in Milwaukee for MAW. I looked forward to our matches with Eddie Guererro, with Harley Race as our ref, our 60 minute match, our iron man matches, our four minute TNA match, our 2/3 falls match and everything in between. I so looked forward to debuting in ROH against Punk. Never in my life though have I looked forward and anticipated a match like I do for Punk's last hurrah this Saturday in Chicago.

In a sport and a business that has many "I I I" attitudes, the knowledge of CM Punk signing with WWE was one of the happiest moments of my wrestling career and my everyday life. I remember watching Punk at a MAW show, holding up a case of Pepsi with Dave Prazak and ripping the crowd apart. Even though we were close back then, I still stepped back and said "damn this kid is a star." Everyone always said he had that "it" factor. He does and he did.

Punk and I have spent probably years worth of our lives together inside and outside of the ring. It was rare to find someone who loved wrestling as much as I did and for that we clicked very well together and were rarely separated. Thanksgivings, Xmas's, Hanukkah's, birthdays were all spent together wrestling with each other and the boys.

Now Punk is off to become the huge star we all knew he'd become. To me, he's an inspiration. He got himself that job without breaking his beliefs and way of life. Since day one, Punk knew his passion and has gone for it. There's been many hurdles for both of us. We don't stop though. He broke his skull and was back two months later. I know wrestlers who chipped a nail and gave it up. I hope when I have kids that they follow his work ethic, morals and beliefs.

It's hard to write about Punk and Cabana without mentioning myself, but that's not what this is about. This is Punks night. I couldn't be happier and more proud to be in this match, but at the end of the day, this is CM Punk's story. The story of a man who knocked and knocked and wouldn't stop knocking until someone took notice. It was only a matter of time because the cream will always rise to the top.

On August 13 in Chicago, IL, Punk and Cabana will go one more time. I can't wait to give the people all we have and more. In turn, I can't wait for the people of Chicago, our hometown, to give us all they have."

All i can add is that this one will be worth the price of admission alone.

Matt Hardy vs Roderick Strong. Hardy has been on a roll in ROH, taking down top stars Christopher Daniels and Homicide. Strong has really gained a healthy following in recent months, as people seem to really enjoy his hard-hitting style. This is likely the end of Matt Hardy in ROH in the short term at least, but Strong, win or lose, will be a major player in the company before long.

Samoa Joe & Jay Lethal vs Low Ki & Homicide. These four had a major showdown at Manhattan Mayhem, which ended with Lethal taking a Double Stomp/Cop Killa combination. Joe and Homicide have a long and storied past, including six singles matches in ROH. Lethal and Ki have met three times, with Ki picking up the win in the only one that had a decision. Plus, when Ki and Joe square off, it's bound to be epic.

Austin Aries vs Jimmy Rave. Generation Next and The Embassy are represented in this one, thus continuing their feud. Aries scored the win in last night's Embassy/GN six man tag. This will be the first time former ROH Champ Aries and Embassy Crown Jewel Jimmy Rave meet one on one in ROH.

BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs vs Spanky & James Gibson- ROH Tag Team Title Match. Heres a match that could be shuffled. Gibson won the ROH World Title last night from CM Punk in the four way elimination. He and Spanky were awarded this match against two-time champs Whitmer & Jacobs before Gibson won the ROH World Title. We'll have to see how this one plays out.

Nigel McGuinness vs Matt Sydal vs Alex Shelley vs Delirious- Four Corner Survival. Sydal became a member of Generation Next last night in Dayton when GN defeated The Embassy in the six man tag. That puts instant heat between he and Shelley, who joined The Embassy last month. Billy Idol look-alike Nigel McGuinness has been feuding with Colt Cabana in recent months, and has been winning more often than not through the summer. Combine that with the wacky antics of Delirious, and this should be an interesting match.

Ace Steel vs Chad Collyer. Not much to this. Steel is a hometown boy tonight, but will be rightfully overshadowed by the main event featuring the other two hometown heroes. Collyer has made infrequent apprearances in ROH of late, and doesn't have a very impressive win/loss record in his recent appearances.

August 13th, 2005
Frontier Fieldhouse
9807 S. Sayre
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415
7:30pm belltime

Credit: ROHWrestling.com