Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, December 26, 2006 at 9:10 AM EST

It's been now close to 3 days since I left the Manhattan Center at the conclusion of Ring of Honor's Final Battle. A lot of emotions and thoughts had penetrated this thick mass on top of my neck called a cerebellum, and I'd like to share some of them with you.

First off, I don't give a damn if you're Nostradamus, Homicide's shoulder reports were no work. He was in agony at times during the match, and I cannot imagine it's going to get significantly better in 5 weeks time off from ROH, but having in the interim to deal with any other committments. The life of a TNA superstar is not a quiet one, you know. Homicide's committment to TNA as one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions, as well as his new found committment to ROH as its World Champion will be an ultimate test of his endurance and his will power over the coming months. It should be very entertaining to watch. I hope, for Julius Smokes' sake, that there is a large supply of sedatives handy.

Next, I'd like to commend, whole heartedly, American Dragon Bryan Danielson on a reign that was second to no one. As I think back to Danielson's reign, from his win in the chess match with James Gibson, to putting over Gibson following during the Glory By Honor IV show, knocking out the Fallen Angel cold, wreaking havoc with fans emotions across the country, a wonderfully condcuted tag team match with CM Punk at Unscripted II, showing off his ground and pound submission style at Time to Man Up vs. Jack Evans and now to Final Battle. I don't remember a bad egg throughout all the times I have seen Danielson compete live. He has the rare gift of being able to toy with the emotions of the fans at ringside at the drop of a hat, and make you love him or hate him almost at his will. He also is quite possibly the most talented technician inside the squared circle I have ever seen.

And speaking of Final Battle, throughout that entire match, he did not look injured one bit. From the three times he put cattle mutilation on, to the constant work on Homicide's arms and shoulders, to the amount of pounding that he took, he really did not show any sign of favoring his shoulder that I could witness. That proves one thing to me that I questioned on American Dragon. He is one tough son of a bitch.

What I was bothered with, and this is a knitpick, but Danielson should've received kudos from Homicide and the ROH locker room as he left Final Battle. I don't suspect we'll be seeing much of Danielson for the forseeable future, and a reign like his should not go in to the twilight without a fitting tribute. It may seem corny to your hardcore fans, but the fact remains, if Danielson had the class to give James Gibson the proper send off when he took the belt, if Danielson had the class to step away, and let Punk run the show at Unscripted II LIKE HE DID, he should've been returned that class, bygones be bygones by the ROH hierarchy. Perhaps a forthcoming Video Wire or something will handle the void that I sense is prevelant within the fabric of the World title, and place some nice closure on a near legendary reign of the American Dragon.

Moving forward, I have to again give kudos to the ROH faithful and its fanbase. I've had my share of experiences, from Giant football games to Met baseball games to Islander hockey games and the like. I've been to a couple of WWE shows, I've been to two other independent fed wrestling shows. Under none of those circumstances have I ever been able to walk out of a building with the rush of endorphines that I felt coming out of the Manhattan Center. It was an incredible feeling of enjoyment that I have not felt in quite some time. From bell to bell, the talent of Ring of Honor busted their collective asses back and forth across the Grand Ballroom to find out which is the better man, and who can get the better response. And frankly, they all won, regardless of who got their hands raised. From Rave's yeoman work to Whitmer and Jacobs' awesomebomb through a table to Homicide working with one arm to the six man tag that was supposed to be Dragon Gate rules, it was entertainment at near perfection from start to finish.

Since July of 2005, I have attended all Lake Grove ROH shows with one exception due to a blizzard. This show was my first journey outside of the Long Island area for ROH. While I may not be able to attend again for a multitude of reasons, I can say with certainty that Lake Grove has some pretty tall shoes to fill in a lot of different facets before I come out of Sports Plus feeling the way I did coming out of the Grand Ballroom.

Kudos to Ring of Honor, all around. Kudos for your Wrestlemania being a success. Kudos for a great 2006.

With this being the final week of 2006, I guess it's only fitting that I begin to wrap up the year that was in pro wrestling with either some form of a recap or awards or something to that extent. I can say a few things for starters.

I began the year at 94 chapters of Pro's from the Palace. I end the year over 150. I surpassed one piece a week for the entire year. Not bad for a guy who has his hands full and then some.

My autograph sessions have dwindled in the past few months, but my gallery remains large and in charge to my left as I type. From Lashley to Benoit, Cena to Kennedy, the talent of WWE have my respect, through and through, for what they deal with, day in day out, especially not only in the ring, but outside the ring and in the locker room, as well documented this past year.

I grow more fond of TNA and ROH wrestling as the days go by. And, with bringing these two feds in to one paragraph, I am reminded of another point I need to make. Not only does Ring of Honor celebrate a successful end to a banner year for its company, but it celebrates a renewed vigor in a partnership with TNA. TNA's X Division titlist is a ROH World tag team champion. TNA's World tag team champion is ROH's world champion. Samoa Joe continues to work his TNA schedule, primarily, around ROH dates. While some talent have jumped ship to Orlando, ala Jay Lethal, Abyss, Alex Shelley and the like, there is a core of ROH faithful that have kept the ball rolling, and the sky is the limit for their personal careers, the popularity of TNA, and the growth of ROH. I cannot wait to see where this partnership goes forward in the weeks and months to come. Lastly, with the departure of the UWF from promoting TNA house shows, the use of ROH/TNA possibilities increase dramatically. There could be some major independent wrestling news in the northeast/eastern seaboard in the upcoming year.

Anyway, back to my own point, ROH and TNA continue to entertain me virtually every time out. I am anxious to see where the journey will continue with both of these federations in the forthcoming months.

Although I have significant issues on WWE as a whole, the talent continues to work as best they can in the system they are dealt with, and perhaps the "gimmicks" seen in Unforgiven and Armageddon recently are a sign of the relaxation of some of the rules of the ring within the three brands of WWE. I believe that could liven the product up beautifully, and begin to bring some of the action back to a stale company in desperate need of a rebirth.

I will start compiling a "Palace Awards" style piece in the coming days. Anyone with ideas or thoughts or contributions to that endeavour can contact me via myspace or my email, which I will provide links for, right now.

Myspace.

Email.

I hope everyone had a very nice holiday. I look forward to the start of a new year, and hopefully, some peace in my world.

Who am I kidding?