Return of the Notorious 187: Homicide Comes Back To Ring of Honor

Last weekend at “Glory By Honor IX,” a founding father returned to Ring of Honor.

The main event ended with Roderick Strong becoming the ROH World Heavyweight Champion by defeating the departing Tyler Black. After the match, Black refused to shake Strong’s hand, instead choosing to flip off his opponent and the fans in the Manhattan Center who were chanting “Thank You Tyler” as Black’s final live appearance for the company came to an end.

Once Black stormed off to the back, it was Strong’s time to shine. After fifteen failed attempts, Strong had finally captured the ROH World Heavyweight Championship, capping off a nearly seven year long quest to attain that gold belt.

It was supposed to be Strong’s time. Someone must have forgotten to tell Homicide.

After Black left the arena, the lights went out and Quincy Jones’ familiar “Ironside” intro began to blare throughout the Grand Ballroom. The crowed exploded as the song transitioned into Beanie Sigal’s “The Truth” and the lights came back on to reveal “The Notorious 187” making his way down the aisle.

It was just about one month ago when Homicide received his release from TNA wrestling. Numerous sources reported that he was unhappy with his direction with the promotion and had wanted out for sometime.

Since the Hogan/Bischoff regime took control on January 4, the “Strong Style Thug” had not been a very prominent part of Impact. In fact, he was barely seen during his last several months with the promotion.

Despite the way his tenure with TNA ended, Homicide achieved a great deal of success during his time there. He formed the Latin American Xchange (or L.A.X.) stable with Konnan and Hernandez and went on to have several reigns with the NWA and then TNA World Tag Team titles with Hernandez over the years.

He also had a brief run as the X Division Champion last summer, which essentially became his last true success with the company.

While Homicide made his mark on the mainstream wrestling scene with TNA, it was in ROH where he first established himself as a name to watch in professional wrestling.

He competed on the very first ROH card and is also one of only thirteen men to hold the ROH World Heavweight Championship. He became the champion by ending Bryan Danielson’s nearly year-and-a-half long reign at “Final Battle 2006.”

His brutal and bloody battles with Steve Corino during the early days of the promotion are the stuff of legend amongst longtime fans. His feuds with the likes of Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal and Colt Cabana proved that Homicide was willing to do just about anything to get whatever he wanted.

A blatant disregard for the rulebook and thuggish attitude only helped make Homicide one of the most popular performers to ever set foot in an ROH ring. His actions were not very honorable but he turned into a top star for the company before departing in 2007 due to TNA’s refusal to allow their wrestlers to continue competing for ROH.

Homicide has now come full circle as he prepares to begin his latest stint with ROH. His departure from TNA and his return to ROH on iPPV are very similar to the path taken by another founding father of ROH, “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels.

Both men were released from TNA after Hogan and Bischoff came into power and decided the next best step for their career would be a return to the place where they established themselves.

Strong, as the new champion, already has challengers breathing down his neck. Homicide and Daniels are now both firmly a part of the championship picture in ROH.

‘Cide has already said that he is coming for the title and wants Strong at the next ROH iPPV, “Final Battle 2010.”

There is one problem with that though, as Davey Richards has already been given the championship opportunity at ROH’s last big show of the calendar year.

Daniels also laid out a challenge to Strong during the latest video wire on ROHwrestling.com. It is unclear as to when, or if, Strong will accept, but Daniels high spot in the “Pick Six” rankings almost guarantees that he will get his title match sooner than later.

Homicide has come back to ROH with a lot to prove after a less than stellar final year with TNA. A second run with the ROH championship would once again establish “The Notorious 187” as a big time threat in the wrestling business.

Given the level of competition at the top of the roster in ROH these days, winning back that belt will not be an easy task for Homicide. He will have to fight hard to prove he still has what it takes.

Then again, after spending months under the radar in TNA, it’d be safe to assume that a good hard fight might be exactly what Homicide wants.