Huss, Huss, Huss… You may be thinking that I’m referencing The Berzerker of WWF fame, but instead I’m referring to Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs made his debut in 1999 but didn’t become a known name really until 2002 or so. Jacobs was a skilled worker who was often presented as an underdog and usually came across as a comedy character, perhaps even goofy with his constant Huss mannerisms. For the sake of this article, I’ll be focusing mostly on his career in Ring Of Honor and afterward.
Jacobs made his debut for ROH in 2003 where he would feud with Alex Shelley, whom he had a series of matches with in IWA-MS. Following the conclusion of that feud, Jacobs formed a team with BJ Whitmer where the duo would win the ROH World Tag Team Championships in 2005. Jacobs and Whitmer were known as Lacey’s Angels in reference to their manager, Lacey. The team wouldn’t continue on for long as they would split because Jacobs was far more concerned with winning the love of Lacey than he was in winning matches for the team. As a result, Jacobs and Whitmer would have several incredibly brutal matches over the next year, but that’s an article for another day.
While Jacobs was determined to win the love of Lacey, it was revealed that Lacey had been sleeping with Colt Cabana and eventually Jacobs would attack Cabana after teaming with him. After an incredible steel cage match with BJ Whitmer, Jacobs would take time off due to a serious knee injury, but the angle involving himself and Lacey would continue with videos on YouTube. There are five videos below that are important to the angle and the career development of Jacobs.
The first video is a music video made by Jacobs to show his love for Lacey. The other four videos detail a Chicago trip that Jacobs and Lacey had where Jacobs attempted to finally get the girl he had chased after for over a year.
If you watched the videos, you could see how it was apparent that Jacobs was making progress in his quest. Especially in the final video where Jacobs gets Lacey in bed and finally wins her affection. However, if you watch closely at the video you can see that Jimmy’s reaction to the success isn’t one of a man with a lot of excitement or happiness, but rather a man who is dejected and seemingly still missing something from being happy. The person that he thought would bring him great happiness didn’t manage to bring that and he still feels empty inside. While he feels empty inside, Lacey appears to be the one who is head over heels for Jacobs. A complete role reversal of where the two had been prior.
Jacobs would return to action in ROH on August 24th at Caged Rage in Hartford. Jacobs would win his first three matches upon his return against Rhett Titus, Mitch Franklin and Chris Hero. His next appearance would be a vital turning point to his career.
For several months there had been messages on the ROH message board regarding a group named Project 161. The 161 was in reference to the show Man Up, which would be the 161st show in ROH history. The group proclaimed they would make a statement at the show, and they truly did just that.
September 15th, 2007 at ROH Man Up, the Briscoe Brothers had just defeated El Generico and Kevin Steen in a brutal Ladder War to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships. Following the victory, a scream is heard over the PA speakers and several people wearing black ski masks are seen and the arrival of Jimmy Jacobs and the debuting Tyler Black takes place. Oh, and Necro Butcher appears as well and promptly beats the shit out of the Briscoe Brothers with barbed wire punches. The group would hang Jay Briscoe upside down with the loop the tag titles were attached to for the match and in a controversial yet memorable moment, Jimmy Jacobs stood underneath the bloody Briscoe with his blood falling down onto him.
Jacobs cut a promo that described what he had been going through. He obtained the love that he wanted in Lacey but it didn’t change anything for him. He was bitter that guys like Butcher and Tyler Black couldn’t get stops in the company while drunk rednecks like the Briscoe Brothers were presented so highly in the promotion. Jacobs declared that the Age of the Fall, had begun.
Jimmy Jacobs is the leader of the group while Tyler Black, Necro Butcher and Lacey are the supporting acts for the stable. Black had been creating a buzz with his matches in the Midwest. Butcher had been developing a lot of interest with his hard hitting and death match style matches on the independents to go along with a rather unique look. There will be several other people who join the group throughout the existence.
At the October 5th show named Honor Nation, the Age of the Fall member Necro Butcher got a pin fall victory over Jay Briscoe in an anything goes match. Also, the group abducted Mark Briscoe during the show. They’d have a rematch the following night at Undeniable with Butcher winning again thanks to the distraction of seeing Mark Briscoe wrapped in barbed wire on the entrance way making it appear that Mark and been tortured.
The Briscoe Brothers would attempt to get some measure of revenge at Survival of the Fittest IV on October 19th when they took on Necro Butcher and Jimmy Jacobs in a non-title match. Jacobs would pin Mark following the End Times to cement the group as title contenders and the feud with the Briscoe Brothers continued to heat up.
Jacobs and Butcher would get their first title shot at Glory by Honor VI Night Two on November 3rd. The bout was contested under no disqualifications. After sixteen minutes of action the Briscoe Brothers prevailed over their new rivals after Jay hit the Jay Driller on Butcher to retain the titles.
At ROH Unscripted III on December 1st, the Age of the Fall would have a good night despite Tyler Black losing to Austin Aries and Lacey losing to Sarah Del Ray. Probably the biggest victory of his career, Jimmy Jacobs defeated Bryan Danielson after twenty-three minutes of action. There wasn’t any interference it was just Jacobs being better than Danielson on that night.
Final Battle 2007 on December 30th the biggest show of the year for Ring of Honor. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black get another shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championships held by the Briscoe Brothers. It’s been three months with these guys going at it since the Briscoe Brothers were the first targets of the Age of the Fall. After nearly nineteen minutes of action, Tyler Black manages to pin Mark Briscoe following the Phoenix Splash and gives the Age of the Fall their first championship reign.
Originally, I was going to make this one massive article, but I’m going to break it up into several different portions for an easier read. Thus, part two will start off in 2008 as the group have the tag team titles and continue to spread their messages to the audience.