Some relevant news regarding the Danielson/Black vs. Aries/Jacobs tag team match was posted today on the ROH Newswire:
It has been close to two weeks since the main event World Championship Match in Edison, NJ between Tyler Black and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. Ring of Honor Officials have been conducting interviews in an attempt to determine what, if any, foul play was involved in the 60-Minute Time Limit Stoppage as investigation has determined that the match did indeed end approximately 10 minutes prior to what would have been a legitimate 60 minutes. The assigned timekeeper, Giuseppe di Lorento, was among the first to be interviewed, and as he’s stated publicly, he vehemently believes that his timepiece was registering the allotted 60 minutes when he rang the bell to signal the end of regulation time.
ROH Officials can not find any significant evidence to suggest that Mr. di Lorento participated in any collusion or conspired with any entity to undermine the conclusion of the match in any way. Furthermore, despite rumors to the contrary and seemingly circumstantial evidence, ROH Officials are not able to find any solid connection between Nigel McGuinness himself and the timing mishap. Interviews with David Prazak and Lenny Leonard yielded some interesting information that was ultimately deemed coincidental. McGuinness gave full cooperation to ROH and willingly answered every question posed to him in reference to the event, and regardless of potential motive, ROH Officials can not place blame on McGuinness for what happened. Tyler Black also submitted complete statements to ROH Officials, and while rightfully upset at the outcome of the contest, he could not provide any information that would lead ROH Officials to order a restart of the match, or order a rematch altogether.
ROH Officials realize that these findings will not sit particularly well with those in attendance in Edison that night, or to fans of Tyler Black in general. And while the ROH Booking Committee is not satisfied with the findings of the investigation, they must respect them. That fact, however, does not mean that Ring of Honor will not take action.
The one undeniable piece that contributed to the unfortunate conclusion of that great match in Edison is the melee that ensued with several members of the ROH roster, each of whom has also been interviewed at length. And while ROH Officials find it excessive to penalize each and every person involved in the fracas, they have decided to levy a measure of punishment against the man that started it to begin with. Jimmy Jacobs appeared on the rampway during the contest, which worked as an obvious distraction to Tyler Black & the referee. That action, however, was not of a direct physical nature, that is, Jacobs did not at that point come into physical contact with Black. The man responsible for taking the initial physical action and thereby starting the chaos that ensued was Austin Aries.
As a result of Aries’ actions, ROH Officials have decided to strip him of the ROH World Championship match he earned by virtue of defeating Tyler Black at Final Battle. Furthermore, ROH Officials have decided that the Tag Team match scheduled for this Saturday at “Caged Collision” in Chicago will take on an interesting twist.
The match will still take place; Tyler Black will team with Bryan Danielson to face Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries.
The newly added stipulation is this: Whoever secures victory for their team will earn the ROH Title shot stripped from Aries, and they will be able to exercise that shot at the belt at any time or any place of their choosing, with or without prior authorization from ROH Officials.
This means that while each twosome will have to work as a team during the contest, they’re also in essence working for themselves to secure their own personal future. The winner of the match will essentially hold a wild card to “call their shot” at a future ROH Event.
ROH Officials apologize for the unfortunate outcome of what was otherwise a fabulous match in Edison, and hope that in some small way this ruling will right the wrongs of that night. Thank you.