ROH 006 – Honor Invades Boston – 24th August 2002
This is a historic show because it’s the first time ROH ventured out of the Murphy Rec and moved to a new market, debuting in the Boston area tonight. The card isn’t exactly jaw-dropping, but it’s certainly packed. My listings have a whopping 14 matches set for this 3 hour event. Expect lots of classic early ROH inane filler I’d suggest. However, there’s some good matches on tap as well. The main event sees Low Ki make the first ever defence of the ROH Title, in a rematch from show 3 against AJ Styles. Mark and Jay Briscoe go head to head in Mark’s debut match. There’s a grudge match between Michael Shane and Paul London, more hardcore stuff with Da Hit Squad vs Carnage Crew in a Boston Massacre Match. Sinners vs FBI and Dragon vs Morgan look good too. We’re in Wakefield, MA with the largest crowd so far. Hosts for the final time (thankfully in Donnie’s case) are Steve Corino and Donnie B.
Low Ki talks about how much pro-wrestling, and being the ROH Champion mean to him. He tells AJ Styles he didn’t work so hard just to lose it on his first night.
Izzy, Dixie and Elax goof around outside because they’re stupid punk kids.
Quiet Storm vs Amazing Red
If you had to pick your favourite two out of all the Mikey Whipwreck trained spot-merchants (and Brian XL) these two would definitely be mine. Red is really good with the right opponents and was missed at the last show. Storm is highly amusing because he wants to work like Misawa, Kobashi or Kawada so much, but at oompa loompa height he always winds up looking retarded.
After a few strike attempts they quickly go to the fast paced pseudo-lucha stuff which is all fairly crisp. Storm sent to the floor after a corkscrew enzi, and Red brings the crowd to their feet with a RUNNING SENTON! He hits an awesome stepping dropkick in the corner and just doesn’t stop kicking Storm as he drops to the mat. Storm fires up with puro elbow strikes so Red kicks him in the face. Storm Cradle Driver blocked but he still hits a neckbreaker, and ROLLS THROUGH INTO SPINAL SHOCK! CANADIAN DESTROYER gets 2! Storm goes for a swandive headbutt but Red counters with a mid-air Ace crusher. INFRA-RED…RED STAR PRESS! It’s over at 06:06.
Rating - ** - Short, effective, crowd-popping opener. I could’ve lived with this going longer, so I guess that means it was pretty good. Definitely Storm’s best match so far.
Brian XL, Izzy, Dixie and Elax hit the ring – the official debut of Special K. They put a beating on Red and Storm into Chris Divine and the SAT make the save. Which gives us a match…
Special K vs SAT/Chris Divine – Scramble Match
Representing Special K is XL, Izzy and Dixie. The group was formed because Brian XL got pissed off hanging out with Divine Storm, the Maximos and co. He was treated like a bad relative, but then again, he acted like a jerk so. He’s found a new crew so lets see how they do. Another bit of history as this is the first ever ROH Tag Team Scramble Match. They like to call it ‘lucha rules’. What it actually means is a tag team environment where all the fraggles can hit all their highspots without maintaining any semblance of an actual wrestling match – like the need for tags or pinning the legal man. Some love them, some hate them. Either way, the legacy begins here.
Chunky Joel starts with Izzy and almost kills him with a NECK DROP blue thunder bomb. Dixie and Divine screw something up like idiots, but Divine winds up dropping Dixie on his head using a brainbuster. Jose hits the worst ever hurricanrana on Brian XL. SPRINGBOARD TWISTING MOONSAULT by Izzy! Dixie climbs for a SWANTON TO THE FLOOR! RUNNING MOONSAULT BY XL! Elax isn’t even in the match but he drags his ass to the top rope for tumbling senton onto pretty much his own team. The worst dragonrana ever gets Brian a 2 on Joel. SAT fold up XL and Dixie in what Donnie B dubs the Human Taffy Machine. Izzy hits a moonsault kick on Divine then gets powerbombed on his face by Jose. XL rips off Jonny Storm’s Rewind Rana but can’t do it very well. MAXIMO EXPLOSION for Brian! Jose feeds Izzy and Dixie to Joel on the top rope…DOUBLE SUPERBOMB! Elax is interfering again…where’s the DQ? TOP ROPE REAL DEAL on him by Divine. SPANISH FLY ON XL! SAT win at 09:12.
Rating - ** - I almost went 3* on this, and had there not been so many screw-ups and messy spots by people like Jose and Brian XL then it would’ve got this. It was needlessly spotty action but a lot of it was exciting stuff. Izzy was the pick of the Special K threesome. Elax looked terrible and he wasn’t even part of the match. The Scramble Match is a good gimmick to fit all these muppets onto the card.
Chris Divine takes the microphone and says he wants to test himself. He challenges Low Ki to a match so he can prove himself. ‘I want to know if I’m as good as I think I am’ – Divine. Are you kidding me?
Low Ki vs Chris Divine
Ki wastes no time in getting to the ring and accepting Divine’s challenge. Because one impromptu match wasn’t enough you understand. The title isn’t on the line here since Chris Divine doesn’t deserve one. He’ll do well to live with the awesomeness that is Low Ki.
Divine tries to take Ki off guard but quickly gets taken down for the KRUSH COMBO! KAWADA KICKS! TIDAL KRUSH! DRAGON CLUTCH B*TCH! Divine taps in 55 seconds. Haha…sucka.
Rating – DUD – I have no idea what the point of this was. Did we really need to see Chris Divine’s upward mobility/credibility on the roster killed? Did we need two Chris Divine matches to make the tape complete? I’m not going to lie to you, it was hilarious seeing Low Ki beat the sh*t out of him in less than a minute…but still.
Christopher Daniels cuts a promo from Japan. We are assured that members of The Prophecy are in attendance tonight though. He hasn’t forgotten how he was screwed out of the ROH Title and swears revenge on Low Ki and ROH when he returns in September.
Dunn & Marcos vs Christopher Street Connection
What do you really want me to say to hype this? I suppose the Ring Crew Express come in with some momentum on their side after coming up victorious in a 6-man at the last show.
Marcos has an awesome Poison shirt on. The Christopher Streets take control with their comedy offence. Mase grinds on Marcos on the mat but then does a mildly effective move – a brainbuster. Buff E. and Marcos botch an Irish whip to the corner. Nice work fellas. ‘These guys like it stiff’ – Corino. Dunn gets the tag and plants Mase with a Gory driver for 2. CSC make out in the middle of the ring, then finish Dunn off with the Gay Basher. Timed at a lengthy 03:43.
Rating – DUD – Lets see…it sucked AND it wasn’t funny. That’s quite a waste of my time.
Mike Tobin vs Scoot Andrews
Thankfully we’re almost at the end of the Boogie Knights’ run in ROH so if you’re a Tobin fan – enjoy him whilst you can. They added nothing more than bodies to be pinned – especially once the Natural Born Sinners had crushed them. That being said, I’m sure we’re set for another squash here. Scoot finally got a big win in ROH last month by pinning Xavier in a match that was clearly deemed too poor to be shown in anything more than a clipshow on the home release.
Andrews gives it the intense start by leg dropping Tobin in the ropes. Alabamaslam gets 2. Force Of Nature countered into the Stroke by Tobin. Springboard leg drop scores. Springboard swanton doesn’t. Force Of Nature wins it for Andrews in 02:03.
Rating – DUD – Rather amazingly, they managed two really noticeable and really poor communication errors in a match which barely made it to two minutes. Another squash. Tobin sucked. Andrews adds nothing. No wonder neither one of these guys went very far.
Xavier interrupts Scoot’s victory celebration. He wants revenge for bleeding and losing last month. That means we have ourselves impromptu match #3.
Xavier vs Scoot Andrews
These two have had a rivalry of sorts since the first show. Xavier pinned Andrews then, and Scoot didn’t get the pin when they clashed again in a triple threat at Night Of Appreciation. He put is ROH career on the line at Crowning A Champion and finally got a victory though. The only thing notable about their matches is how green Xavier is and how bland Andrews is.
Xavier elbows Andrews in the back then superkicks him to the mat. Scoot lands the tilta-whirl facebomb to stop his momentum. Xavier kicks Andrews…SPRINGBOARD ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR! Overhead belly to belly follow-up gets a 2, but Andrews clobbers Xavier with a clothesline. Last Rites gets 2 – Daniels will be pissed. Xavier hits a Razors Edge and gets the victory with a 450 splash. 04:05 is your match time there. The announcers shill Xavier as a title contender.
Rating – DUD – Another total squash. If they wanted to bury Andrews so much why didn’t they just have him do the job last time? At least Xavier broke out a couple of nifty top rope moves to make this one better than the preceding matches. This makes it FOUR dud matches in a row. This is ROH I’m watching right? Even Raw manages better than that!
Footage of Michael Shane and Bio-Hazard arriving. It seems like Hazard is Shane’s b*tch now, as he has to park the car then carry his bags.
Michael Shane vs Paul London
Tensions between these two boiled over at the last show. Michael Shane won a tag match and earned himself an ROH contract meaning no more long drives to shows. But his pin on Don Juan was counted whilst London got an uncounted 3 on Shane’s partner Bio-Hazard. They got into a fight after the match and had to be pulled apart, and Rudy Boy immediately got this singles encounter booked. Hazard is in Shane’s corner. Rudy Gonzalez is in London’s.
Shane is a cocky bastard as opposed to respectful wrestler now, and when London turns his back after the handshake he gets clobbered. London throws him over the top rope on top of his running buddy. TOPE SUICIDA on Shane and Hazard. Paul goes to the top rope but gets SHOVED OUT ONTO THE GUARDRAIL! He just crashed through a whole section of railing. Shane capitalises like a dick and starts throwing London into more sections of chainlink railing. Second rope Picture Perfect Elbow gets 2. London tries a tornado DDT but gets suplexed into the turnbuckles. Shane is working over the neck with a high gripped camel clutch and numerous strikes. Paul almost gets back into it but Shane ducks a spinning heel kick and enziguris him in the face. Picture Perfect Elbow attempt is cut off so Shane shoves London away for a JUMPING X-FACTOR! Haas Of Pain applied but it’s not cranked on high enough to work the neck enough for a win. Paul sends his opponent to the floor again. SPRINGBOARD TUMBLING SENTON! London just took another sick header into the railings, and Shane appears to have a broken ankle just like Chris Marvel. London tries to check he’s ok because he’s a nice guy. HEEL ROLL-UP PIN! Shane wins at 12:45. You’re a chump London!
Rating - *** - Seemed like a match of the year candidate after the utter crud that the last few matches have thrown up. This match is actually better than I remember it, with a great heel performance from Michael Shane stringing together the spotty antics of Paul London and getting a decent match out of it. He’s not quite Jimmy Rave in the asshole stakes but the effect of the match was very similar. The fans love Paul because of the whacky sh*t he can do, and Shane made that work for him. Ripping off the Marvel injury to his advantage is such a dickish thing to do!
Simply Luscious arrives to offer Michael Shane a spot in The Prophecy. Rudy Boy begs him not to accept it. Shane lays them both out with superkicks whilst Bio-Hazard drops London on his neck. PICTURE PERFECT ELBOW on London. Michael Shane leaves having royally cheesed off everyone.
American Dragon vs Donovan Morgan
Danielson is back, and has ‘Self Esteem’ back as his entrance theme. As you can see, this is not his scheduled 2/3 Falls Match with Spanky – since he’s off in Japan. Morgan makes his second appearance after beating Chris Daniels on debut – and then seemingly forming an alliance with him. Does that mean he’s in The Prophecy? That night he and Daniels got into a bit of a barney with Dragon and Ki in the locker rooms so there may be some heat on this.
Donnie B confirms that Donovan Morgan is a part of The Prophecy. Dragon is psyched up but Morgan paces the floor taking his time. Dragon works the arm, as Corino works hard to get the product over by saying Danielson ‘bores the hell out of me’. Wristclutch suplex nailed as Corino continues to take away from the match by getting himself over. Morgan escapes an armbar but Dragon stomps his arm into the canvas to carry on his offensive focus. The dissection of the arm continues with a savage arm whip. Morgan hits a Saito suplex meaning both men are down. He takes it to the floor and throws AmDrag through the barriers in a rather heelish manner. Leg nelson applied on the canvas, but Danielson rolls it over into a surfboard. OVERHEAD URINAGE gets Donovan a 2, but Dragon comes back with a stepping enziguri to the side of the head. They run some standing switches before Morgan eats another enzi kick. Morgan jumps out of the corner with a second rope DDT using his bad arm. I hate it when people no-sell the main focal point of a match. Danielson runs into an overhead belly to belly as well. He quickly floors Morgan again with a roaring elbow which apparently splits his eyebrow. Judo DDT and the diving headbutt score. GOLDEN GATE SWING! Morgan goes for Sayonara but Dragon counters it to CATTLE MUTILATION! Unfortunately the 15 minute time limit expires so it’s a draw.
Rating - *** - Eh, not so bad, but it was probably the worst match they could’ve had. For 5-7 minutes Dragon’s working of the arm was awesome, but then his focus kind of fell away, and Donovan Morgan totally no sold it anyway. Indeed, in truth American Dragon looked twice the wrestler Morgan is during this match. He carried it from start to finish, and it generally descended into bland technical wrestling whenever it was Donovan in control. Still, I’d much rather watch these two do this than an SAT match. The commentary on this match absolutely appalling – Corino got selfish and talked about himself the whole time and Donnie B sucks on an almost constant basis so. Sucks they didn’t book a finish too.
The fans want five more minutes. Morgan vetoes that by laying Danielson out with the Sayonara. That’s basically to confirm that he is indeed part of The Prophecy.
Da Hit Squad warn the Carnage Crew that they’ve bitted off more than they can chew tonight. That leads us to clips after the end of the last Philly show where the Carnage Crew mess up more ring crew.
Carnage Crew vs Da Hit Squad – Boston Massacre Match
Boston Massacre Match means nothing more than a no holds barred match adjusted to flatter the fans in a new market. This one comes about because Da Hit Squad put the Carnage Crew through a table at Road To The Title, then interrupted the Crew in their attempts to dish out a post-match beating on the Natural Born Sinners. Something the Sinners weren’t too grateful for incidentally…
Mack gives Loc a belly to belly suplex as this one gets underway. DeVito dropkicks Mafia on the wooden floor. Luckily Mafia quickly recovers by German suplexing Loc on hi head. DeVito BARBED WIRE punches him around the ring. Mafia recovers with barbed wire bionic elbows, whilst Loc and a bleeding Monsta Mack rumble around ringside. DeVito and Mafia are bleeding too apparently – I notice as DeVito dropkicks a chair into his opposite number’s face. Mack wraps a strand of barbed wire around Loc’s forehead. DeVito is taking it to Mafia with a cowbell, and soon he gets into a position to suplex him into the turnbuckles. DHS get battered to the mat with repeated chair shots…so they walk out? Oh no, they’re back – WITH BARBED WIRE BOARDS! Monsta Mack misses the fatty frog splash…IRISH WHIP INTO THE BARBED WIRE! DeVito foolishly gets a little too close to the other board. MAFIA SPEARS HIM THROUGH IT! BURNING HAMMER on Loc! Da Hit Squad get the win at 11:04.
Rating - *** - Not as heated and hate-filled as the Sinners/Crew Bunkhouse Match in July, but the two barbed wire spots provided more out and out excitement than anything in that match so we’ll call it even and 3* this one as well. This was Da Hit Squad’s first match of any real significance in ROH and it wasn’t half bad. That’s the second show in a row where a hardcore match has spiced up the midcard.
Don Juan vs Bio-Hazard
More action from the TWA kids now. Hazard has looked ok for a guy of his size so far, although his hair cut is retaded. Don Juan is an idiot, and the only thing standing in the way of him and complete mediocrity is how hilariously easy he is to hate. Michael Shane is in Bio’s corner pretending to be hurt.
Bio gets an advantage by back suplexing Juan then hitting his second rope neck snap. He nails a double underhook suplex for 2. Juan scores with a DDT, but goes for a second and takes a northern lights. That crotch-lift head drop suplex that Hazard did to London earlier wins it in 02:12.
Rating – DUD – Two short and indifferent to really get anything higher. Bio looks easily the more talented of the two. Plus seems to make his opponents neck-bump all his suplexes.
Alex Arion vs Maverick Wild – Local Indy Promotion Title Match
Arion is your champion, Wild is the challenger. I’d love to tell you what the name of the promotion is but I don’t catch it during the ring intros and nobody tells me so. These guys are both local so they’re being given a shot. Alex doesn’t even have a belt with him.
Arion traps Wild in a cross armbreaker but it’s quickly countered. Maverick lifts him into a sidewalk slam but Arion stays focused on the arm. He hits a slingshot headscissors, and after every move he goes back to an armdrag. A big spinebuster gets the champion 2. Wild hits back with a Russian legsweep and a vertical suplex. He comes up with a nice rebound senton bomb for 2. He tries it for a second time but misses and Alex hits the jaw with a superkick. Maverick replies with a spinning heel kick and both are down. INVERTED Alabamaslam puts Wild on the canvas. Arion gets knees on a body splash but still rolls Mav up at 05:49.
Rating - * - A step up from all the other meaningless filler crap at least. Neither man set the world on fire but they both looked to be pretty solid talents. Arion has a little more presence about him, and I assume that’s what got him a couple of future bookings over forthcoming events.
Natural Born Sinners vs James Maritato/Tony Mamaluke
Homicide and Boogalou wanted to talk to Maritato about shoot fighting at Crowning A Champion but got pissed off when Tony Mamaluke insulted them – leading to this match. Maritato isn’t happy about teaming with Tony because he won’t let the FBI gimmick die, whilst the former Little Guido wants to forget about it and move on. This is four years ago. Now in 2006 the WWE has reformed a bastardised ECW, and James Maritato is STILL doing the tired FBI gimmick with Tony Mamaluke.
Maritato has to yell at Mamaluke to shake hands. Boogalou and Tony are the first to show off their amateur wrestling skills, and they’re more evenly matched than I gave Mamaluke credit for. Homicide and Maritato tag to show what they can do. Cide sweeps the legs and applies a figure 4 then switches it into an STF. Maritato grabs a leg to counter a Michinoku Driver. All four men in – the Sinners take control with a camel clutch on Mamaluke, and a Fujiwara on Nunzio. POWERBOMB BACKBREAKER on Tony gets 2. Mamaluke throws Homicide through the ropes then starts choking him on them. SICILIAN SLICE by Maritato. The FBI are going after Cide’s leg, with Mamaluke locking in a horse collar, then turning it to a half crab. ‘Where’s my pizza’ – Boston. Homicide starts throwing Tony around with T-bone suplexes. Mamaluke goes for an elbow but ends up connecting with his own partner instead. Maritato counters an ocean cyclone suplex with a Fujiwara armbar. Kiss Of Death attempted but Homicide saves with an Ace crusher. FRONT CHOKE SUPERPLEX by Mamaluke, but Boogalou breaks the hold. COP KILLA ON MAMALUKE! Sinners win at 12:32.
Rating - ** - There was some really impressive wresting technique on display, but that’s about it. It felt like they were going for a much longer match, then the transition from exchanging holds to the go-home stretch was very sudden and clumsy. This is Boogalou’s last appearance, which is a real shame because the Natural Born Sinners team had so much potential. They’re both great wrestlers and, as last month demonstrated, they’re awesome brawlers too. Obviously Homicide went on to have a great singles career anyway, but it would’ve been nice to see this combination do more first. It’s also a shame we couldn’t get rid of all the inane jobber matches and given this match 15-20 minutes instead.
Mark Briscoe vs Jay Briscoe
As we’ve seen through the course of the video series so far, Mark has continually raised the ire of his older brother, despite the fact he hasn’t even had an official match yet. He got on Jay’s back when he was on a losing streak. He still criticised him when he did win, then at Crowning A Champion he walked out halfway through Jay’s match with James Maritato – causing him to lose. Now we’re outside of Pennsylvania Mark can wrestle despite only being 17 so Jay challenged him to a singles match.
It doesn’t take long for the b*tch-slapping to begin. They start some incredible chaining on the ground. They trade anklelocks but Mark counters out into a deathlock. Back to their feet and they demonstrate their awesome standing switches. Mark gets 2 with a northern lights then cockily takes a rest on the turnbuckle. Jay Yakuza kicks Mark through the ropes and his younger brother tries to chill out there. Jay goes after him and Mark throws him into the ringpost a couple of times, making him bleed. Mark smiles at the blood and starts punching the cut to open it up. He headscissors’ the neck to squeeze the blood out then spinning heel kicks his brother right on the forehead. A DDT drops Jay on his head again but he still kicks out. Jay dropkicks the knee to gain some distance, then drops Mark with a gourdbuster. He goes to the top rope…MARK WITH A SPRINGBOARD ACE CRUSHER! Knee drops to the bloody head follow. GUTWRENCH TOMBSTONE…and he doesn’t even pin! He misses a top rope knee drop, and Jay goes right after it with a dragon screw. Mark tries a springboard but flies straight into a second dragon screw. Jay almost breaks his brother in half with a torture wrack backbreaker, but Mark pops up with the urinage and sends his brother to the floor. Springboard move…NO HE STOPS TO SELL THE KNEE! The fans applaud, and when Mark eventually does change up to a pescado he lands leg-first on the floor. MID-AIR SELLING SPRINGBOARD DROPKICK by Mark! Jay Driller blocked so Jay plants his brother with a nasty side-on powerbomb. Mark tries suplexes to get the win but Jay finds it easier to kick out because of the injured knee. A fisherman buster lays Jay out again but Mark misses a moonsault and EATS lariat. Jay gets 2 with a neck-drop DVD. Cut-Throat Driver blocked…JAY WITH A F*CKING SCREWDRIVER! SENTON BOMB MISSES! Climbing Wizard in the ropes by Mark…CUT-THROAT DRIVER! It’s over with Mark Briscoe winning on debut at 16:54. He wastes no time in bragging about his 1-0 record either.
Rating - **** - That’s an amazing match right there. I don’t think time has been kind to it but it still holds up as a really special bout between two kids with a bright future. Everyone raves about the sell-job on the knee by Mark, but in truth he kinda forgets about it in the stretch – especially that shining wizard in he ropes at the end. It’s the initial heat segment (with Mark working the head) and the incredible fluidity of these two youngsters that always impresses me. Lets face it, they’re so young that they shouldn’t be THIS good yet. Is it a tad head-droppy? Yeah, it is – but if you’ve seen their CZW Best Of The Best 2001 match you’ll know that they actually toned it down. That shows that they’re improving all the time. They should be pausing to sell the devastation of some of those bigger moves but, it’ll come with age.
Low Ki vs AJ Styles – ROH Title Match
A rematch from Night Of Appreciation, where Ki beat Styles, but it was with a controversial roll-up. Both men now come looking for a definitive victory, and this time Low Ki’s Ring Of Honor Championship is on the line. This is the very first defence of the belt, and Ki would have to consider it an embarrassment if he lost the belt he worked so hard to get on his first night as champion.
The bell rings and straight away they give us ULTRA-INTENSE mat-wrestling. My favourite counter is Ki escaping a hamstring stretch by ducking into a horse collar. AJ’s highlight is rolling through a bridging leglock into the MutaLock. Ki escapes that by kicking him in the face naturally. They kick each other, going slightly higher each time. Low Ki rounds that off with a JUMPING ENZIGURI! Ki does the Inoki/Ali mat kicking so AJ KICKS HIM IN THE HEAD! Styles tries to work the mat again but eats another kick and has to release it. He tries the nip-up rana but Ki blocks it and PELTS him in the spine. Awesome, I love it when trademark spots are countered. AJ plays possum after another kick THAT nails the nip-up hurricanrana – clever. Ki kicks out the knee and attempts the Krush Combo. AJ sweeps out the legs before the kick of death finale. Low Ki tries AJ’s nip-up rana and almost falls victim to the Styles Clash. Styles tries a tope but gets ENZI KICKED IN THE ROPES! Kawada kick flurry softens up AJ, but avoids the springboard enzi to hit the German suplex/rear gourdbuster combo.
Those kicks have messed up AJ’s nose. Low Ki hurricanrana’s out of the Clash for 2. They battle on the top rope where Ki breaks out the HANGING DRAGON! He thinks it’s time for the Phoenix Splash but AJ pulls him out of the corner. THUNDERFIRE DDT! SPIRAL TAP but nobody’s home. DRAGON CLUTCH too close to the ropes. They’re down to their knees but still keep hitting each other. LOW ENZIGURI out of nowhere by Ki. He tries the Ki Krusha but instead switches to a BRAINBUSTER FOR 2! PHOENIX SPLASH INTO THE KNEES! Styles capitalises with his own pumping brainbuster. He looks for a dropkick in the corner and lands on his head. KAWADA KICKS…BUT AJ POWERS UP INTO A PSYCHOTIC STRIKE BARRAGE! KI WITH A FOLDING POWERBOMB FOR 2! DRAGON CLUTCH AGAIN! AJ fights it…KI KRUSHAAAAAAA! Ki retains the title at 19:48.
Rating - ****1/2 - Outside shout for MOTY right there. That was a quality bout and I loved it. It wasn’t so much a mat-classic as a gruelling fight between two wrestlers who went out there to prove who was the better man by clobbering the crap out of each other. In between some really great sequences they absolutely plastered each other with some beautiful strike exchanges. There wasn’t so much of the you work a body part, I’ll work a body part as much as I’ll kick you in the head then you try to forearm my face in. People remember this show for Briscoe/Briscoe but to me, this is the MOTN.
Xavier pesters Low Ki right as he comes through the curtain for the title shot he requested last month. What a little b*tch. Anyway, Ki agrees so that’s set for next month back at the Murphy Rec.
Michael Shane gloats about his nights activities. He says Rudy Boy was riding his coat-tails, and he didn’t want to join The Prophecy because he likes using the Code Of Honor to force his defeated opponents to shake his hands. Next he’s coming for Spanky.
The Carnage Crew vent their frustration by assaulting more ring crew guys as Dunn & Marcos claim that they are the top tag team in ROH and they rock…LIKE A HURRICANE!
Tape Rating - *** - You know what, in some ways this is the strongest all round card ROH has put on outside of the awesome Road To The Title show. Despite having a shocking 5 dud’s (including four consecutively) all the “marquee” matches delivered. The flippedy floppedy opening matches were fun. The middle of the card had a few good matches (London/Shane, Dragon/Morgan, DHS/Carnage Crew) and the two main events were awesome. Had RFVideo exercised the functions of the ‘edit’ button a little bit I think the card could’ve been a lot better. Lets face it – did we really need to see RCE/CSC, or Bio/Juan, or Arion/Wild? Hell, even Scoot/Tobin could’ve been cut as well. I’ll concede that the Ki/Divine and Scoot/Xavier squashes at least served a purpose but still. If you watch this show with your remote and can fast forward/skip all the crap, this is the 2nd best top-to-bottom show to date. The two main events are definitely must-see matches. On a brief final note, there’s no hard camera for this show, which I really don’t enjoy. I dislike “fancam” type shoots no matter what the promotion. It just comes off as sort of disorientating. Hopefully it’s a problem resolved when ROH returns in November.
Top 3 Matches
3) American Dragon vs Donovan Morgan (***)
2) Mark Briscoe vs Jay Briscoe (****)
1) Low Ki vs AJ Styles (****1/2)