BANKIE'S HOT TAKE #102 - The Roughest Power Bomb Ever
I've been watching a lot of old school Ring Of Honor as of late.
As I've mentioned repeatedly on Hardway HQ, the "glory days" of ROH from 2002-2008 was my favorite time to be a wrestling fan. Gabe Sapolsky's booking, combined with the future of wrestling, such as Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Tyler Black, Austin Aries, Nigel McGuinness, the Briscoes, and so on, made my independent wrestling fandom fun.
ROH revolutionized the industry into what we see today. In fact, I can honestly say that, from a style standpoint, this era's fingerprints are all over the modern wrestling scene.
There are certain moments that, to this day, I can still vividly recall. Jack Evans' double moonsaults off the top of the cage at Main Event Spectacles in 2003 and Steel Cage Warfare in 2005 respectively, BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs nearly killing themselves off the top rope in 2006 at Dragon Gate Challenge, and Delirious spiking Daizee Haze at Glory By Honor VII in 2008 are just imprinted in my memories as classic memories.
However, the one moment I will truly never forget seeing on DVD was the night that Shane Hagadorn took a vicious Awesome Bomb from Brent Albright through a table at A New Level on May 10, 2008.
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To get to this moment, we have to go back to the start of it.
Shane Hagadorn, a product from the inaugural class of the ROH Wrestling Academy in Bristol, PA, began his journey into professional wrestling in October 2004. Learning the business from inside and outside the squared circle, Hagadorn slowly became one of the more despised members of the ROH roster, most definitely the most hated student by a country mile. At one point, he held the Top of the Class Trophy, a title given to ROH's top student from the academy, for nearly a year.
The animosity from the crowd only grew when Hagadorn linked up with "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce at Glory By Honor V Night 2 on September 16, 2006, in the Manhattan Center. Familiar with each other from work in Full Impact Pro, ROH's sister promotion, Pearce officially made Shane his personal "manservant", and a tandem was born.
Over the next year, Pearce and Hagadorn were among the dastardliest villains in the company, bringing a taste of the old school to the modern day Ring of Honor style. Hagadorn frequently found himself integrated into rivalries with Homicide, Pelle Primeau, and Colt Cabana.
Then, in August 2007, after months of cryptic promos from "Scrap Iron", beginning at the Respect Is Earned pay-per-view on May 12, 2007, Pearce founded the Hangmen 3 on August 24, 2007 at Caged Rage alongside BJ Whitmer, a man who Pearce had been trying to help get back on the winning ways after a long losing streak, and Brent Albright, who was ROH's resident "Gun For Hire" missionary, taking out wrestlers for money. Hagadorn subsequently became the "manservant" for the entire faction.
Following a lengthy rivalry with Delirious, El Generico, and Kevin Steen, the Hangmen 3, as per Pearce, sold their contracts and "merged" into Sweet And Sour Inc, an agency run by evil "super-agent" Larry Sweeney, at the Take No Prisoners on March 16, 2008. Whitmer, who outright rejected it, found himself attacked and outside of Ring Of Honor. Pearce and Hagadorn completely embraced the opportunity and became loyal soldiers to Sweeney's cause for more money.
That left Albright, who wasn't for the move, but begrudgingly continued onward to continue performing for ROH.
The Albright/Pearce/Sweet and Sour relationship slowly began to disintegrate, and by May 10, 2008, "the Gun For Hire" was more than disgruntled with the situation.
The Tag Team Scramble match at A New Level caused a full implosion.
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Ring Of Honor made its Hammerstein Ballroom debut on May 10, 2008. It was a consistent evolution of the company's impact in Midtown Manhattan, beginning with the New Yorker Hotel for Manhattan Mayhem on May 7, 2005, and, after a year of successful events, moved to the Manhattan Center on September 16, 2006, for Glory By Honor V Night 2. Following seven consecutive sellouts, including the 6th Anniversary Show in February 2008, ROH made the move to Hammerstein for their next New York event, simply titled A New Level.
ROH, while continuing its evolution as a company, took it a bit old school for one of its matches on the card: a Tag Team Scramble match. Three teams face off in a traditional tag match, but no tags are needed to enter the ring. Once one of the performers leave the confines of the ring, another competitor can take over. It's a Lucha-influenced match.
Three teams entered the Tag Team Scramble with an objective to pull off a big win for the Hammerstein debut: Jack Evans and Jigsaw of the Vulture Squad, Delirious and Pelle Primeau, and Chris Hero and Brent Albright of Sweet And Sour Inc.
Sweet and Sour brought ALL the bells and whistles on this night. Not only were all representatives in attendance, including Sara Del Rey, Eddie Edwards, Bobby Dempsey, and Mr. Hagadorn, but Larry Sweeney's Hollywood liaison Jonny Fairplay, who was a popular (and hated) reality TV star, best known for his time on Survivor, was at ringside to celebrate Sweet and Sour's impending victory.
Things did not happen according to plan.
After a fast-paced battle, including an absolute dominant performance from Albright and a newly refocused Hero, via his vicious Rolling Elbow, it looked as if Sweet And Sour Inc were en-route to a victory. However, Delirious, when trapped by "the Gun For Hire" for a suplex, raked the eyes of Albright, temporarily blinded him. The masked man then did the same to Hero and left him prone for his partner.
Albright, not sure on who he grabbed, tossed Hero over with a half-nelson suplex. Albright was then taken out, leaving "That Young Knockout Kid" open for a Chemical Imbalance II and a pinfall loss. Delirious and Primeau picked up the win in front of a packed house in Hammerstein.
Larry Sweeney was INCENSED.
"Sweet and Sour" immediately entered the ring, microphone, and began screaming "UNACCEPTABLE!" Then, without a moment's hesitation, he began browbeating Albright, trying to break him down and humiliate him in front of his group and the fans inside the Ballroom. After threatening his job, Sweeney told him that the only way he'd be able to save his spot in the fold would be to destroy Bobby Dempsey. The big man with a heart of gold served to be the whipping boy of the agency.
One-by-one, all of Sweet And Sour Inc chopped and disrespected Bobby, it was all left for Brent to do the same. "The Gun For Hire" decided to rebel and unleash his clip to all of the members of the agency.
Following tossing around Hero and Edwards like yesterday's news, Albright grabbed Hagadorn and scooped him for a power bomb. However, instead of dumping him in the ring, Brent launched Hagadorn outside of the ring and through a table.
My words cannot do it justice. Hagadorn was not just launched, he was dumped onto his head, barely breaking through the table. The visual of the power bomb to the outside was absolutely incredible. The fans reacted with absolute shock and followed up with a roar. Hagadorn was OUT COLD.
After Albright took the remaining members of Sweet And Sour out, including Del Rey, he let out a ferocious yell, and left the ring. The ROH Students, acting as security and ring attendants, cautiously picked up a barely conscious Hagadorn and carried him to the back, all the while the ROH fans made fun of him.
A truly hated heel Hagadorn was.
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I know it's been more than sixteen years later, but to me, this was the Roughest Power Bomb I've ever seen. To me, as a fan, it really seemed as if a reckless liberty was taken with Shane Hagadorn. I might be clueless, but it felt a wee bit personal.
For comparison, Mike Awesome's Awesome Bombs from ECW, which had performers taking a similar move through a table outside of the ring, were not as reckless. In fact, it was done as safely as possible, at least from my fan's perspective.
Back when Hagadorn was doing An Honorable Mention with Jeff "JSWO" Schwartz, you could tell that there were some hard feelings still bumbling under the surface whenever Albright was mentioned on the program. I believe the term "Captain Safety" was used as it came to "the Gun for Hire", and, in this writer's opinion, justifiably so.
To me, it was the roughest power bomb I've ever seen in pro wrestling, and thankfully, Shane Hagadorn is healthy to tell the tale. However, I will never forget it. That memory will never leave my mind.
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