ROH 25 – Beating The Odds – 6th September 2003
After months at each others throat, the CM Punk/Raven feud ends tonight as they meet in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun Steel Cage Match…meaning a cage match with weapons. It was originally going to be Hair vs Hair, but TNA pulled rank and had Raven do a Hair vs Hair angle with Shane Douglas on their ppv’s instead. Anyway, both promise brutality the likes of which we haven’t seen in ROH before. They’ll have to go a long way to top Homicide vs Steve Corino from last month, but I’m sure they’ll give it a shot. Also tonight, it’s the return of the Briscoes. Granted I hadn’t really realised they’d gone anywhere, but turns out they’ve been juggling college and wrestling commitments and have decided to commit fully to ROH and wrestling now. The Field Of Honor kicks off tonight as well, and that’s been made out as a big deal so we’ll see what becomes of it. We’re back in Wakefield, MA for the first time since Scramble Madness, different building though. ROH really does shift about venues in the Boston area. Anyway, hosts will be Chris Lovey and Ray Murrow.
Top 5 Rankings –
Christopher Daniels
Homicide
Dan Maff
Matt Stryker
CM Punk
We open with a serious looking CM Punk and Colt Cabana. Punk promises he’ll X out his hands in Raven’s blood. Cabana says he’s being serious as well because it’s the Field Of Honor tonight, so he’s becoming a superstar.
Raven next, and unsurprisingly he spouts odd gibberish. He says he’s going to kill Punk…then laughs like a maniac. What an odd chap.
AJ Styles is coaching Jimmy Rave and giving him some pointers on the Field Of Honor and his match with Colt Cabana.
New feature for the FOH as we get shots of the two guys in the upcoming match warming up backstage, complete with fact sheet about them. That’s cool, I can use that as an introduction rather than having to come up with my own gibberish.
Footage of the Backseat Boyz arriving at the arena is shown, and they were late so they get yelled at by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. Fans look completely confused during all this. Homicide gets Trent’s face for being disrespectful, and Acid laughs because he keeps beating him. The Backseatz, Smokes and Homicide brawl, and Gabe gets right in the mix trying to pull them apart…priceless.
Jimmy Rave vs Colt Cabana – Field Of Honor Block B
Colt Cabana – Chicaco, IL – debuted vs CM Punk 07/12/2002 – FOH Record 0-0
Jimmy Rave – Atlanta, GA – debuted vs AJ Styles 07/12/2002 – FOH Record 0-0
Cabana has about 8 layers on tonight for some reason. To clarify, the FOH has two blocks of 4 wrestlers, the winners of the two blocks meet in the final. Armdrags traded and we go to the Backseat Boyz/Homicide footage from earlier. Back to the action with Rave still working an armbar. They go nearfall for nearfall, before Rave goes back to the armbar. Rave looks for a shoulder tackle, which Cabana finds hilarious. He begs Rave to go for it again THEN TRIPS THE LEG! That was hilarious. Surfboard on Rave, who sells it like a girl. Back body drop from Colt prevents Rave launching a comeback. Cabana gets pissed at the crowd for yelling ‘TWOOOOO’ at every nearfall. ‘Nice socks’ – fan. ‘They ARE nice socks’ – Cabana. Rave looks for some chops, but takes a gutwrench powerbomb for another 2. Bearhug slapped on Rave, but Jimmy fights free and hits an enziguri. Reverse rocker dropper from Cabana. He goes to the top rope but MISSES corkscrew legdrop. Running knee from Rave, and both men are down. Rave gets a couple of nearfalls, then gets a DDT in after Cabana blocks a hurricanrana attempt. Cabana springboards off the ropes…and Rave looks for the Crossface. Colt rolls through – OVER THE SHOULDER BACKBREAKER! He continues hammering away on the back...until Rave locks in the Satellite Crossface. Cabana powers out of that…COLT 45 WINS IT AT 09:56.
Rating - ** - Fun stuff. Nothing amazing but it was a solid opener, with enough comedy and decent wrestling blended together for the fans to enjoy it. Colt goes to 1-0.
Backstage, Rave says it was an honour to compete in the FOH. Styles turns up to tell Rave he should’ve worked the neck. Cabana has chicken pox or something, which is why he had like 8 layers on.
Diablo Santiago vs Slyk Wagner Brown
Oh boy. Santiago is part of the Outcast Killaz (his partner Oman Tortuga is out there with him) and they are even bigger jobbers than Dunn & Marcos…with less comedy and less overness. I don’t think he’s even come close to getting a win yet in ROH. Slyk has been in the company for a couple of months now, and had a sucky fourway at Wrath Of the Racket, before having a better one at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies, despite his best efforts to ruin it. He’s really not very good…but for some reason is getting continued opportunities.
Big pop for Slyk since he’s a hometown boy…guess that explains his presence on the card. Oman tries to hit on April Hunter so he gets speared by Brown before the match even starts. Santiago jumps Slyk out of the handshake then hammers away at him in the corner. Slyk goes to the top and hits a missile dropkick. Press slam into a moonsault splash from Brown and Diablo rolls to the outside. Baseball slide from Brown before he brings him back in. Swinging fishermans suplex from Santiago gets 2. Superkick knocks Slyk down again. Ribbreaker into a fallaway slam from Diablo…and look at him busting out some moves. To the top rope, but he misses a diving headbutt. Jumping crotch to the face knocks Diablo down. Catatonic almost secures Slyk the win. Bridging T-bone suplex from Santiago. Slyk rolls through another suplex attempt, and powerbombs Santiago for the win at 04:19. April decks Oman after the match for good measure.
Rating – DUD – Complete nothing match, and one in which Diablo Santiago looked way more talented than Slyk Wagner Brown. At least it was quick and it’s over now. Also, what’s the deal with April Hunter…she is uuuuuuugly.
Dunn & Marcos vs Special K vs SAT vs Backseat Boyz – Scramble Match
Special K is Izzy and Dixie again, and they’ll have the SAT and the Backseatz right on their tails tonight after they stole another Scramble Match win last month at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies. K are on quite the run in Scrambles at the moment…I seriously think Dunn & Marcos should be the team to end the run.
Kashmere and Jose Maximo start, and they run a load of nearmisses…UNTIL KASHMERE SPEARS JOSE INTO THE GUARDRAIL! That was a unique start. Dixie and Dunn next and Dixie gets the better of him with a jumping heel kick. They fight to the floor and we have Joel and Izzy in the ring now. Joel takes a kick to the head. Izzy looks for a tarantula, but gets Alabamaslammed for that. Satellite headscissors on Joel and that sends him onto the apron. Izzy goes up again and flying headscissors him to the floor! Acid and Marcos now and Marcos gets a couple of nearfalls in before Acid just beats the crap out of him. Marcos avoids the Yakuza kick though. Swinging unprettier from Marcos, which sends Acid out and Dixie comes back in. Diving elbow into a backbreaker from Dunn & Marcos. Izzy in with a moonsault kick on both of them. Hiptoss facebuster from Izzy and Dixie. Izzy looks to hit a springboard dropkick on the SAT…but he gets the Washing Machine. Kashmere knocks Joel out of the ring, then spears Jose. Acid in to hit the Dream Sequence. Izzy and Marcos now, and Marcos takes Izzy headfirst into the turnbuckles with a headscissors. Double underhook atomic drop from Izzy. Northern lights brainbuster from Joel to Izzy. Dunn in with the Gory Driver on Joel. Dixie gives Dunn the kryptonite neckbreaker. Dixie looks for a dive, but gets cut off by Kashmere…CRADLEBREAKER ON THE APRON! Everyone on the floor leaving Joel and Izzy on the apron. Izzy keeps looking for dives and Joel keeps cutting him off…SOLO SPANISH FLY TO THE FLOOR! T-Gimmick on Dunn but Joel breaks it up. MAXIMO EXPLOSION ON MARCOS. Acid hits a running knee on Joel, and the Backseats win at 08:44.
Rating - ** - Another fun little Scramble Match, and for once I have no reason to criticise the SAT. Hell, we even got to see something new with that solo Spanish Fly to the outside. The Backseat Boyz always look pretty good in this environment…I’m starting to think they might be capable of a little better. Dunn & Marcos were a little underused though…
We don’t get a funky little video package of these two with their FOH factsheet thing…but I’ll try and conjure one up using my own intellect…
Matt Stryker vs John Walters – Field Of Honor Block A
Matt Stryker – Cincinnati, OH – debuted vs Chad Collyer 11/01/2003 – FOH Record 0-0
John Walters – Boston, MA – debuted vs Andy Anderson 31/05/2003 – FOH Record 0-0
Nice sequence to start and it gets applause. Walters is another hometown favourite, and this is a real chance for him as he gets a decent one-on-one match for the first time in ROH. Test of strength which Stryker gets the better of. Stryker tries to drive knees into the abdomen, but Walters monkey flips him away then goes after Stryker’s arm. Walters catches Stryker in the ropes and gives him a hanging Cloverleaf, which causes Stryker to take a powder on the floor. Sweet nearfalls exchanged and we have another stand off to nice applause. Dragon screw from Stryker, as he goes right to the Strykerlock. Walters makes the ropes, but Stryker continues the work on the leg. Anklelock, then an STF applied. Kneebreaker from Stryker, as he is just unloading on Walters’ leg. Stryker looks for an Irish whip but Walters can’t run so just collapses. Leglock applied, but Walters doesn’t want to tap in front of his family and friends. Stryker looks for another kneebreaker…but Walters counters with the falling double knee to the back – which of course hurts his own injured knee. HURRICANE DDT FROM WALTERS…GETS 2! Rolling German suplexes from Stryker, but Walters blocks a third. Stryker tries to go back to the Strykerlock but Walters makes the ropes again. Stryker goes for another dragon screw, but Walters blocks that. WALTERS HITS A CHOKESLAM OVER THE KNEE! Followed up with a neckbreaker, but still he can’t put Stryker away. Stryker goes for the DVD but Walters escapes. Bridging German gets Stryker a 2. Walters looks for a powerbomb…but his leg gives out and Stryker pins him for the win at 12:38.
Rating - *** - So yeah…Walters is pretty damn good. His selling of the knee made the match, right down to selling all his trademark moves because they hurt the knee. I’d have liked to have seen a better finish, like the Strykerlock to round off the work on Walters’ leg all match, but I guess he is in front of his hometown fans. Excellent start to Block A…
Walters gets on the stick and he’s proud of stuff. He guarantees a win next time ROH are in Boston.
Feinstein is backstage and Homicide approaches him. He demands Trent Acid tonight, and takes himself out of the fourway to do it. Feinstein agrees…
Special K vs Carnage Crew
6 Man Tag action here, as it’s Loc, DeVito and Justin Credible representing the Crew, and Hydro, Deranged and Angedust representing Special K. This one has been coming for a long time, as Special K keep stealing wins over the Carnage Crew. At Wrath Of The Racket they cheated to pin Loc, then a week later they cheated to win another match the Crew were involved in. Now they’ve dealt with the TWA guys, the Carnage Crew are focused 100% on teaching the raving punks a lesson…
Loc and Hydro start and Loc takes him to school on the mat. Jumping heel kick from Loc. Sweet swinging bulldog out of the corner, and Hydro finally tags out to Angeldust. Credible will be in there with him, and Angeldust fares a little better. Credible goes to the outside and kisses Becky Bayless, then comes back in to take Angeldust over with rolling vertical suplexes. DeVito tagged in next and he and Credible hit a double back body drop. Deranged tagged in and he poses because he’s ripped. Poke to the eye gets Deranged the advantage, and he keeps it by choking him over the ropes. Hurricanrana scores, but DeVito starts smacking the sh*t out of him with SICK crossfaces. Dropkick from DeVito sends Deranged bouncing back to the Special K corner. Special K shove Slugger into the ring…and apparently he’s the legal man in this match now. Loc gets in a low blow, but Slugger just reverse chokeslams him. Angeldust in there with Loc now and he hits a springboard blockbuster. Hydro in to continue the assault. German suplex with a bridge gets 2. Deranged tagged in and gets a quebrada press for a 2 as well. Angeldust back in and he looks for a Code Red…but takes an inverted piledriver. Justin Credible tagged in and beats on all 3 guys. Hydro and Deranged thrown to the floor meaning he’s alone with Angeldust. Sitout powerbomb out of the corner almost puts him away. All the Crew guys hit trademark spots simultaneously. Deranged takes a splash mountain bomb/neckbreaker combo. Slugger makes the save from that, but Hydro and Angeldust accidentally nail him with a missile dropkick. Credible drags Becky onto the apron and lets Deranged run right into her. Deranged with a corkscrew enzi on Credible for 2. Carnageplex on Deranged as Julius Smokes is out there yelling at Slugger. Slugger leaves with Smokes as Hydro almost pins DeVito. Hydro hits a tope on Loc and DeVito. Angeldust goes upstairs and nails a moonsault to the floor. Deranged and Credible left in the ring…SUPER THAT’S INCREDIBLE!! Carnage Crew win it at 15:26.
Rating - ** - It was pretty boring at the start but got more and more exciting as it went on. The Slugger stuff was kinda irritating as well, but this was still decent. Angeldust was shockingly boring…where was his trademark botching?
The Carnage Crew aren’t done for some reason. DeVito chairs every Special K member in sight, then he and Loc drag Becky into the ring. Credible sets up a table on the outside…BECKY TAKES A SPIKE PILEDRIVER THROUGH IT! DANGEROOOOUUUUS!! Poor poor hot girl…
INTERMISSION – GMC has some announcements. Low Ki is out indefinitely after suffering a fractured jaw in Japan. Red is having surgery on his knee so AJ and Red have been stripped of the titles. His guests are the Briscoes…and they didn’t get any more attractive whilst they were away. They’re dedicating their lives to ROH and the Tag Titles…but they’ve got big singles matches tonight. The SAT turn up to yell at them for going after Red’s knee at Death Before Dishonor. Silly Mexicans…it’s called wrestling…
Mark Briscoe vs BJ Whitmer
Not a lot of history here, at least none that I can remember. Have these two even touched each other in an ROH ring before? Interestingly enough, this was supposed to be Mark Briscoe vs Low Ki in a Dream Match for young Mark, but Ki’s injury put pay to that. Anyway, this is the big return of the Briscoe brothers tonight…let’s see what the younger brother can produce. This is only his third singles match in ROH, and his first match without Jay Briscoe involved in some fashion.
Whitmer goes after Mark’s arm to start. Briscoe comes back with a spinning heel kick. Whitmer gets some more offence in before Mark hits a nice double jump crossbody. BJ drops Mark over the ropes with a front suplex, then pins him for a 2 count. He follows this up with a gutbuster, then puts Mark in a surfboard. Whitmer throws Mark to the floor, then starts drilling his back into the canvas. Briscoe gets another front suplex, this time over the guardrail. Back inside and Whitmer gets another gutbuster in, and it seems Mark’s midsection is his chosen point of offence in this one. He applies an abdominal stretch, which Mark escapes. He promptly misses an elbow drop, and hands the advantage back to Whitmer. Hard kicks to the ribs, then a seated abdominal stretch, as Whitmer looks to make Briscoe suffer. Mark goes for a hiptoss but BJ stops that and counters with a hiptoss to the floor. BJ looks for a tope, but Mark cuts it off with a kick, then suplexes Whitmer on the floor. BJ is down so Mark goes to the top rope…SHOOTING STAR PRESS!! He wiped BJ out there, but had to hurt the ribs some more. Whitmer tastes guardrail a few times then gets tossed back in. Briscoe connects with a springboard dropkick for 2. He goes for the Cutthroat Driver, but Whitmer blocks. Urinage from Mark and that scores him another nearfall. BJ takes a big clothesline in the corner, before Mark goes upstairs. BJ catches him since Mark couldn’t climb quickly due to the ribs…superplex brings Whitmer right back into this. Whitmer gets a couple of kicks to the spine in, but Mark counters an attempted kick to the chest with a schoolboy for 2. Dragon suplex from Whitmer gets him a nearfall right back. EXPLODER SUPLEX FROM MARK! He dropped BJ on his head, but it’s still not enough to put Whitmer away. Mark heads to the top rope again, to miss a moonsault. He lands on his feet BUT TAKES AN EXPLODER ’98! Somehow Mark kicked out there, and now we have both men fighting on the top rope. Whitmer gets the advantage…until Mark drags him off the top with a running urinage. That’s enough to ensure Mark Briscoe “beat the odds” and gets the win at 13:50.
Rating - *** - Good match, nothing overly spectacular, but it was solid enough stuff. It was a shame Mark completely forgot about selling the ribs, since he’s shown previously he can sell injuries fantastically well, and the finish was a little scrappy, but there was no real harm done. Commentary was a little annoying as Lovey CONTINUALLY (and by continually I mean literally every other minute) referred to the Briscoes/AJ/Red series of matches…and the “beating the odds” spiel was corny…
Rob Feinstein talks like someone with special needs…and shouts his whole little speech asking for information about who attacked Lucy at Wrath Of The Racket.
Trent Acid vs Homicide
What a time for this rematch, simply throwing it together on the night (I imagine to make up for the non-appearance of Low Ki etc). Anyway, this feud has been going for a long time, spanning numerous different companies, and finally spilling to ROH at Do Or Die. They had a completely insane MOTYC at Wrestlerave 2003 where Acid picked up the win with a stupid roll-up. Homicide is out to get a win back on him here. Acid has Johnny Kashmere with him (and already has one win under his belt tonight), whilst Homicide, of course, as Julius ‘more irritating than roll-up finishes’ Smokes. Homicide has new music…it’s Eminem, not the cool 50 Cent song…why Cide why? Right before the start we cut to Raven saying he’s gonna kill Punk tonight (again)…thanks for that.
Homicide and Acid start fast and stiff. Acid gets forearmed off the apron to the guardrail. Acid avoids a baseball slide, but has his pescado attempt stepped aside. Homicide looks for the tope con hilo, but Acid stops that with a kick. They fight on the apron…SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR! Homicide gets knocked out into the front row…FOR ACID TO HIT AN ASAI MOONSAULT INTO THE CROWD! Back to ringside with Acid on the apron. He looks for another Asai moonsault BUT GETS CAUGHT AND THROWN INTO THE GUARDRAIL! This is already brutal. Acid is set up on a chair – TOPE CON HILO NAILED! Finally they go back into the ring as Homicide kicks sh*t through Acid’s face. Acid is busted open around the eye unsurprisingly…do these two enjoy mutilating each other? Kashmere and Smokes argue to buy Acid some time, and Trent manages to drag himself up and back into the ring. Belly to belly throw from Homicide, but only for 2. Cide looks for a superplex, but Acid blocks, and gets a missile dropkick to the back of the head. Springboard swinging DDT from Acid and we’re even again. T-bone suplex from Homicide gets him another 2 count. Acid finally comes back in it with a low blow. Smokes complains and distracts the referee, which allows Kashmere to throw Acid a chair into the ring. HOMICIDE TAKES THE BACKSEAT DRIVER THROUGH IT – THAT WAS UGLY! Homicide got dumped on his face then…but incredibly still gets up in time to catch Acid on the top rope. Homicide scores with a super hurricanrana…before we have ourselves a war of Yakuza kicks. Acid wins that with a kick to the back of the head, then one to the face…ONE COUNT! Homicide up and gets one more of his own…ONE COUNT! SIMULTANEOUS YAKUZA KICKS! Dragon screw by Homicide – into the STF. Trent makes the ropes, but Homicide drops him with a dropkick to the knee, then goes back to the STF. Acid fights out again, and busts Homicide’s nose with a discus forearm. Acid goes to the top but gets caught again by Homicide…SUPER ACE CRUSHER! That would’ve been enough, but Johnny Kashmere pulls the referee to the floor. Smokes tries to chase Kashmere, but Johnny leads him right into the path of a clothesline from Trent – YES! Homicide tries to chase Kashmere now…AND HE GETS LED RIGHT INTO A YAKUZA KICK! Homicide somehow kicks out of that! Acid looks for another Backseat Driver, but Homicide escapes. Acid escapes the Cop Killa…but Homicide kicks out of the same roll-up that got it done at Wrestlerave. COP KILLA FROM HOMICIDE!! It’s over at 14:08 (shown - we might have missed something with the Raven unnecessities).
Rating - **** - WOOOO! Chalk up another fantastic match for Homicide. That was just stupidly violent. Both men were busted open hardway, and were just kicking the crap out of each other all match. Different from the first one in that they were somewhat less suicidal (that is a relative comment), but very good nonetheless. Homicide is on some streak at the moment.
Christopher Daniels promo time, and he discusses his destiny – which is winning the ROH Title. He’s not at the show tonight because he’s defending his ECWA Title. But next show he’s coming to get his shot…and it’s totally the biggest ROH Title Match ever. It’s not just the gospel according to the Fallen Angel, but the destiny of Christopher Daniels.
Chris Sabin vs Jay Briscoe vs AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe
What a (non-title) fourway this is, even without Homicide. There’s not a lot of heat between these guys, but there’s a lot at stake. Whoever wins the match gets a title shot in the future, whilst if Joe wins, the loser of the fall won’t get an ROH Title shot whilst Joe is Champion. Jay Briscoe makes his return to action here, and comes face to face with one of the men he put on a great series of matches with – AJ Styles (who’s probably pissed that after all those great matches, he just got stripped of the Tag Title). For some reason Joe is wearing a flowery skirt to wrestle tonight. ‘Why the hell are you wearing a skirt?’ – fan.
Jay and Sabin run a nearfalls sequence, and end it with duelling dropkicks. Both guys tag out, and now we have the ROH and NWA Champions squaring off…except Sabin blind tags Joe to ruin that. He gets armdragged by AJ, then scampers to the corner to tag Joe in. AJ takes a couple of kicks to the leg and bails from those. Jay and Joe now, and Joe gets some kicks in on him as well. Jay fires back with a dropkick, but still Joe is in charge. He brings Styles back in, and AJ takes a back body drop and a powerslam. Perfect dropkick fires Styles back. Sabin tags in and he almost gets pinned with a schoolboy from Jay. Everyone piles in to break falls, then miss something, and we have a standoff…that was cool. Gourdbuster from Jay almost puts Sabin away, before Briscoe tags out to Styles. Pumphandle gutbuster from Styles, before he brings Joe back in to hit the chop/kick combo. Sabin takes a belly to belly suplex, and Joe tags out to Briscoe. Rear chinlock applied, but Sabin escapes and hits the swinging backbreaker. Joe tagged in, and he puts Jay into the Boston crab. AJ has to storm the ring to make the save. Back suplex backbreaker from Joe gets him 2. AJ tags in and applies a MutaLock on Jay. Sabin scampers in to break the hold. Styles tags Joe in again, and get a double reverse elbow on Jay who has well and truly been isolated. Facewash from Joe, then the running bootscrape…apparently he’s wearing a skirt because all his wrestling attire is at the laundry. He looks for a third running bootscrape, but AJ tags out by clotheslining Joe. Styles beats on Jay, but Sabin tags himself in again, and slaps some kind of submission. Goku Raku from Sabin as he’s just wearing Jay down now. Apparently Sabin was supposed to be wrestling Oman Tortuga tonight…he must be thankful for this one. Swinging fishermans suplex from Sabin, but Briscoe tries to fight back with forearms.
Briscoe misses a mafia kick, and Sabin grounds him again with an enziguri kick. He goes up top but misses a big splash. Briscoe finally manages to tag out and Styles comes in and clotheslines Sabin out. Joe-AJ now, and Joe sends AJ to the floor with an enzi kick of his own. Styles takes a seat next to the barrier, which can mean only one thing – OLE OLE KICK ON THE NWA CHAMPION! He looks for a second BUT SABIN COMES OUT OF NOWHERE TO SPEAR HIM INTO THE GUARDRAIL! Styles is up and he superkicks Sabin, before he goes into a slapfest with Joe. Sabin gets involved…THEN BRISCOE FLIES OVER THE TOP WITH A SOMERSAULT SENTON! Jay and Joe in the ring now, and Joe gets a big boot in the corner. Joe whipped across the ring, but Jay runs into the STO slam. Powerbomb-2 count-STF and Jay is desperately dragging himself towards the ropes. AJ comes back now, and he gets the quebrada inverted DDT on the ROH Champion. Sabin is back, and AJ has to escape the swinging backbreaker. Death Valley bomb from Sabin gets 2. Jay breaks that and nails Sabin with a splash mountain bomb. Jay looks for the Jay Driller on Joe, but doesn’t get it. Joe scores 2 with a rolling cradle before AJ makes the save. Discus lariat takes Joe down, and Styles goes upstairs…and slips off the top. He still landed on Joe though. AJ looks for the Styles Clash on Sabin…NAILED! Joe breaks that with a kick to the face, then he drills Sabin with a lariat. Briscoe drops both Styles and Joe with Mafia kicks. Sabin almost puts Jay away with a low blow then a small package. Joe and Styles knock each other out with enzi kicks…JAY DRILLER ON SABIN! Jay makes like his brother and beats the odds, winning himself an ROH Title shot in the process. He takes the win at 21:15.
Rating - *** - I’d say that was mildly disappointing. The last 7 or 8 minutes were great, but the opening 10 were a little dry. There was some nice stuff, but who’d expect less with the likes of these four in the ring? I couldn’t get used to Joe wrestling in a skirt either, lets hope that doesn’t become a regular thing.
Joe stares Briscoe down after the match to make a point. Jay faces the winner of the Samoa Joe/Chris Daniels Glory By Honor II match in ROH’s Baltimore debut – Tradition Continues.
Q&A with Justin Credible whilst the cage for the Main Event is being set up. Something gets asked about Steve Corino and ECW (this stuff is really hard to make out). Someone else asks if Bret Hart really f*cked Sunny. Credible is pretty comical with this, but says he doesn’t know. Special K turn up beat on Justin as a fan hilariously screams ‘I didn’t get to ask my question’. Loc and DeVito rush to his aid, but get overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of K members. This feud is getting real personal now. Deranged’s hair is huge. ‘Can I ask you a question’ – the same fan who was complaining earlier to Loc.
CM Punk vs Raven – Clockwork Orange House Of Fun Steel Cage Match
This the debut of the steel cage in ROH, and to clarify, the only difference between a COHOF Cage Match and a regular cage match is that the cage is filled with weapons for this one. This is supposed to bring to an end the violent war between Punk and Raven. They’ve been feuding since Raven’s debut at Expect The Unexpected, but still haven’t come close to touching the match they had on that night. This match is especially personal to Punk, as he is still furious about having beer poured down his throat by Raven and Tommy Dreamer at Death Before Dishonor. This feud is finally settled tonight…or not.
Intense lock up to start, as we skip to Cabana at ringside cheering Punk on. Cut back and it turns out there’s some clippage here (well, I knew there was…but I gotta keep up with the suspense here). Punk is mysteriously busted open and Raven it’s shades of Wrestlerave as Raven chokes Punk with a chain. Punk gets crotched on a chair. Punk tastes the cage a few times, before we go to Colt Cabana meaning we’ve clipped out more of the match. Raven tastes cage now, as Punk manages to throw him into it. Since we’re seeing Cabana so much, he really does look ill, as he said earlier. Punk handcuffs Raven to the cage, then uses assorted weaponry to beat him with. Punk taunts Raven with the keys, then uses them to add more impact to a series of right hands. Raven takes trash can shots a few more times, before fighting back despite being handcuffed. Raven takes the keys from Punk and frees himself…RAVEN EFFECT NAILED! That would’ve been it, but Cabana stops the count by throwing a chair at the ref. Raven tries to go after Cabana, but he gets the cage door slammed in his face. Punk nails a Raven Effect of his own, but Raven still manages to kick out. Steel chair opened up in the centre of the ring, but Raven rides a drop toehold attempt, then throws the chair into Punk’s face. He prepares to chair Punk again and hits the weakest chair shot ever. Cabana gets a chair shot as he tries to enter the cage, but that buys Punk enough time to kick out. Raven goes to a table and sets it up in the corner. Punk is back and he lays Raven out on it, before going to the top rope…then to the top of the cage! Raven recovers and climbs up there with him. Raven gets Punk back down to the top rope then throws him through the table. Raven sets up another table in the opposite corner, then starts punching away at Punk. Raven takes Punk to the turnbuckles…RAVEN EFFECT THROUGH THE TABLE! It’s over at 11:45 (shown).
Rating - ** - This was cut down from approaching 30 minutes, apparently because it was so dull and the fans crapped all over it. This is actually quite an effective editing job, because what we’re left with is a pretty decent little match. However, even with only the decent stuff left in, this is a disappointing end to the feud, and I imagine the reason why they continued it, to give these two another chance to end up on the right note.
The lights go out post-match and when they come back on Punk immediately has his heat back, as he has Raven crucified on a Straight Edge ‘X’.
To a Samoa Joe promo, and like Daniels, he discusses destiny, since Daniels is so interested in it right now. He says he made Glory By Honor with his match with Low Ki. He says Daniels’ destiny isn’t to win, but to be choked out. ‘Destiny’s a b*tch Chris’.
Tape Rating - *** - Not an outstanding show, but it’s hard not to recommend something which has so much good stuff. Ignore the disappointment of the headlining match (which due to clippage is still perfectly watchable) and the quick Slyk Wagner Brown match and everything is decent stuff. Homicide and Trent Acid steal the show again, as Homicide’s long streak of awesome matches continues. Mark Briscoe, BJ Whitmer, Matt Stryker, John Walters, Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Jay Briscoe and Samoa Joe all contributed as well. ROH have put on better shows, but if you’re looking for something beyond the must-have events, this is money well spent.
Top 3 Matches
3) Matt Stryker vs John Walters (***)
2) Jay Briscoe vs Chris Sabin vs AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe (***)
1) Homicide vs Trent Acid (****)