Ring of Honor wrestling comes to Baltimore, is entertaining

A short while ago I received a phone call from my ol’ buddy Tom explaining that he’d be coming up to town for a Ring of Honor show at Duburns Arena, a wrestling group I had never heard of but apparently is gaining a lot of traction in recent history due to it getting picked up by Sinclair broadcasting (You can currently see it air on Saturdays at 1pm on Fox 45, 10pm on the CW), otherwise being shown internationally on various satellite television stations and relying mostly on DVD sales for its shows/pay per views to fund its operations. Unfortunately, Tom wound up not being able to make the trip but I noticed the GA tickets were only $20, so what the hell, I figured I’d check it out.

It actually wound up being a great deal of fun. I (like a lot of other guys I know) haven’t really watched or even had a passing interest in pro wrestling since college, so this was a great way to reintroduce myself to the sport as a form of entertainment. The setup, like a lot of indie wrestling operations, was pretty small; a ring surrounded on three sides by bleachers, with front row seating on three sides of the ring and one side reserved for color commentary. The entrance is a small ramp (shown) with a curtain, nothing crazy, no pyro or a lot of glitz, just good ol’ fashioned pro wrestling with a clean cut image.

The clean cut image being what I learned later to be RoH’s MO, as illustrated by its “Code of Honor,” a list of 5 requirements for each match that must be met which is fairly unique to American wrestling organizations:

  1. Wreslters must shake hands before and after every match.
  2. No outside interference: no interfering in others’ matches or having others interfere on your behalf.
  3. No sneak attacks.
  4. No harming the officials.
  5. Any action resulting in a disqualification violates the Code of Honor.

Granted, during the taping of their show – which went on for four hours – I didn’t notice whether all of these requirements were being met, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that RoH is coming back to Baltimore on February 4th, and it’s a lot of fun and you should go. The small show feel of RoH essentially means that you’re guaranteed to be sitting (or standing, as we were) only a few feet away from the entertainment, whereas your bigger venue show – for $20 – will guarantee you sitting at least 100 yards away and watching the whole thing through opera glasses. While the seating filled up very quickly around the ring, folks still sat in the bleachers provided by Duburns Arena and had a perfectly fine view of the action, and management has claimed that more seats will be available for the 2/4 show.

Even if you’re not a fan of wrestling and think it’s stupid, it’s easy to appreciate drinking some Budweisers and watching guys in crazy costumes doing backflips, frog splashes and power bombs while lamenting a ref’s blown calls after a close victory or loss, all while cameras capture the audience beating their hands against bleachers in an effort to get on camera. It’s pure Americana. From that prospective alone I’d recommend it, much like watching golden gloves boxing in Glen Burnie. And if you are a fan of wrestling, well, you probably already know that Ring of Honor is coming back to Baltimore on February 4th and you might even already have your tickets. But if you don’t and it’s been a long time since you’ve seen the unique entertainment that only pro wrestling can provide, you should check it out. And if you do, get their early if you want to sit, as the general admission seating goes quickly!

7 thoughts on “Ring of Honor wrestling comes to Baltimore, is entertaining

  1. No interfering in other matches? WTF? i heard Jim Cornette on 98 rock talking about this. He sounds EXACTLY the same.

  2. why not support our local guys, while you’re at it? http://www.marylandwrestling.com/mcw/ 

    sure, their shows might not have as much polish, but they work just as hard. 😉

    1. Actually I should have noted this in the post but I saw MCW “Superstar” Kelly Bell there and he was getting a lot of attention from the fans, it was pretty cool. All of the wrestlers from RoH were signing autographs and taking pictures during intermission and it was really pretty cool of them.

      1. All the local boys i’ve met have been downright nice guys.  I can’t say a bad thing about them, really.  Definitely support the heck out of them. 🙂

  3. Pro-fuggin’ wrasslin’ is back! 
    Man, I’m just like you, loved wrasslin’ but have been outta touch for awhile because of the cheeze factor got too much but I just discovered RoH over Christmas when my brother was telling me about a match he saw in DE.  Sounded pretty legit and then I heard they were coming to Bmore.  Righteous!  Scored 2 GA tix and ended up standing pretty close to where your pic was snapped.   This was some of the most fun I’ve had at a wrasslin’ match in a long time and it was very up close and personal.  Best $20 I spent all month.  I’ll be back.

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