ROH 34 – The Last Stand – 29th January 2004
Last stop before the Second Anniversary show. Tonight it’s decided who faces Samoa Joe for the ROH Title, and we’ll also see if Samoa Joe can enter the 2nd Anniversary as ROH’s first ever double champion, as it’s his LAST STAND, and his last shot at the Briscoes and the Tag title. Jerry Lynn is his chosen partner tonight, but Jim Cornette is back in the Briscoes corner in the Main Event. Also on the menu is Homicide and CM Punk in a rematch of their great match at Round Robin Challenge II last year…and LIVE Good Times, Great Memories. We’re back in Glen Burnie, MD. Hosts are Chris Lovey and unfortunately, still Chris Nelson.
Top 5 Rankings
vacant
Matt Stryker
AJ Styles
Christopher Daniels
Jay Briscoe
GMC makes his first appearance in 2004, and he’s backstage with Julius Smokes and Homicide. Capetta introduces some guy called Shawn to Smokes…but Homicide gives him the finger AH HA. Capetta and Smokes want a promo, but Homicide says tonight is the biggest match of his ROH career, then walks off…odd.
SAMOA JOE’S RING – Michael’s 8th Avenue looks like my grandmother’s living room with the lights on. He’s not happy about Cornette screwing him at Main Event Spectacles, but shows us what he did at the end of MES that has kept Cornette out of ROH since then.
Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer are arguing, and Allison Danger has to mellow them out before they cut a promo. Basically, they’re pissed that Daniels has been taken out…but one of them is taking home the #1 Contenders Trophy and a title shot next month. Maff ends with a ‘YOU KNOW IT’…just for Chris Daniels. Whitmer actually manages to convey some emotion as he points out he should have the title shot, since he came closer to beating Joe (and he had a broken nose)…
John Walters vs Chad Collyer – Pure Wrestling Title Tournament Qualification Match
For the second time in ROH history, the 3 rope break rule is in effect, and that’ll be a good warm up for the winner of this match, as the winner progresses to join Chris Sabin, AJ Styles, Doug Williams, Matt Stryker and three other men in the Pure Wrestling Title tournament at the Second Anniversary Show. Walters ended 2003 by winning his feud with Xavier in a fantastic Fight Without Honor, then began 2004 with a decent performance in a four corner survival at ROH/JAPW Collision Course. Chad Collyer hasn’t been around since Wrestlerave 2003 I don’t think, but he did beat Matt Stryker for the third straight time in that match. Since this is a short intro, I want to point out here that I love Walters’ entrance music – ‘It Ain’t Like That’ – Alice In Chains.
The opening exchange is pretty even, so they test each other’s strength. That’s even too, so Collyer goes to an overhand wristlock. Walters grabs the rope instinctively, and that costs him his first rope break. Fireman’s carry from Collyer gets 2. Walters takes Chad down with the leg, and Collyer grabs the ropes out of habit as well, and both men have foolishly lost their first rope breaks. Mexican surfboard from Walters, with added dragon sleeper for extra torque on the knees. Collyer has to rake the eyes to escape that. Dropkick takes Walters down, both trade armdrags and we have a stand off. Russian legsweep from Collyer gets 2. Vertical suplex gets 2 as well, before Collyer takes a breather and puts Walters in a chinlock. Walters looks for a dropkick but Collyer avoids it – Texas Cloverleaf locked in! Walters crawls to the ropes and uses his second rope break to escape. Pumphandle backbreaker from Walters gets him some space. Camel clutch continues pressure on the back. Collyer escapes and drops Walters with a powerslam for 2. Capture stunner from Walters gets 2 right back. German suplex from Chad before he goes back to the Texas Cloverleaf. Walters rolls through into a Sharpshooter, and Collyer uses his second rope break to escape that. HURRICANE DDT…FOR 2! Walters rolls Collyer into the Sharpshooter again, but Collyer rolls to the floor. Walters brings him back in, but misses a crossbody off the top. Collyer goes to the top but gets MET with a dropkick to the stomach. Collyer uses his third rope break to avoid getting put into a sharpshooter, but Walters traps him in a Lion Tamer in the ropes. Collyer is out of rope breaks and taps at 14:06.
Rating - ** - The rope break rule definitely makes things interesting, but the guys wrestling the matches do need to crank up the intensity. Unlike the Stryker/Shelley match from the last show, the psychology just wasn’t there in this one, and hence with a lack of high impact stuff to compensate for that, it wasn’t as a good a match.
Chris Daniels is at home with his sleeping baby daughter. He says he underestimated the Saints, and thought it would be as easy to get rid of them as it was to get rid of The Group. He vows Maff or Whitmer will become #1 contender…and when he comes back, Punk will see a side of Daniels his daughter will never see. And that folks is the last ROH has seen of Chris Daniels to date (July 2004).
Caprice Coleman vs Jack Evans vs Slyk Wagner Brown vs Hydro vs Chris Sabin vs Sonjay Dutt
Winner gets a spot in the Top 5 Rankings. This is the debut of the Six Man Mayhem match, which is essentially a Scramble Match, but with six people…and in singles form. No tags necessary, when one man exits, another can enter, and the first fall wins it. Dutt, Coleman and Evans are all making only their second appearances (Dutt debuting at Tradition Continues, Evans at Main Event Spectacles and Coleman at Battle Lines Are Drawn), Hydro is one of the talented Special K guys, and Sabin is fresh of a decent match with Jimmy Jacobs. Slyk pretty much sucks, although his match with Dan Maff at Collision Course wasn’t that bad. Maybe the sports-entertainment style works for him…
Evans minces it around the ring like a loser…Slyk gets his Jade Goody-looking face in the camera too much, and Dutt and Sabin will start us off. Both men roll through hiptosses, before Dutt hits a double rotation satellite headscissors. Hurricanrana in response from Sabin. Dutt gets kicked in the face, and Hydro comes in from behind. Evans is in there with him, and Hydro sends him flipping through the air with a clothesline. Evans kicks Hydro to the floor, but gets sent flying through the air again with another clothesline. Coleman in with Slyk and he hits a springboard heel kick. Jump spinning axe kick from Coleman before he breaks out his boxing shiznit again. Brown misses a quebrada, but rolls through a Coleman crossbody attempt and drops him with a swinging sidewalk slam. Hydro hits Coleman with a tope, then Sabin stops Slyk getting a dive in with a springboard dropkick. SOMERSAULT PESCADO FROM SABIN! SOMERSAULT SUICIDE DIVE FROM SLYK! Coleman on the ropes…SPRINGBOARD PLANCHAAAAAA! Sonjay Dutt is next…TOP ROPE ASAI MOONSAULT INTO THE FIRST DAMN ROW! Only Jack Evans is left – SPRINGBOARD CORKSCREW MOONSAULT…EVANS IS NUTS! Spinebuster from Hydro on Evans, and everyone piles in for a SIX WAY SUBMISSION. Everyone wants a suplex…TRIPLE SUPLEX ON DUTT, SABIN AND EVANS! Standing Phoenix splash from Evans…BUT SONJAY THEN PLANTS HIM WITH A RUNNING MUSCLEBUSTER. Dutt to the top rope – HINDU PRESS! Press slam into a moonsault from Slyk for 2, before Coleman makes the save. Slyk takes AGES…but eventually hits a SPLASH MOUNTAIN FACEBUSTER out of the corner. Caprice gives him the swinging Edge-O-Matic. Hydro in with a DOUBLE UNDERHOOK BRAINBUSTER! Sabin takes Hydro – HEAD DROP DRAGON SUPLEX! THE FUTURESHOCK gets Sabin the win and the spot in the Top 5.
Rating - *** - WICKED spotfest from these six. The Six Man Mayhem concept is nothing more than a Scramble Match for singles, but if it means guys like Evans, Dutt and Coleman get to showcase all their breath-taking spots, I’m all for it. Evans and Dutt are wild with their flip-floppy moves, and I really like Caprice Coleman – everything he does looks so natural and fluent. Slyk being a dunce on the ropes probably cost this match a star…hopefully he won’t be in future Six Man’s. I wish I knew what Sabin’s Juvi Driver is called…
LIIIIIIVE GOOD TIMES, GREAT MEMORIES – Cabana breaks out some lame jokes in his ‘opening monologue’, but that doesn’t get over. He SERVES some guy in the crowd for wearing sunglasses, then brings out his guests – DUNN & MARCOS! Marcos’ first name is apparently Kirby…there’s a name that rocks like a hurricane. Cabana thinks Bert and Ernie and the Ghostbusters were great teams, but doesn’t think Dunn & Marcos are even a good team. Cabana rants at them…BUT DUNN & MARCOS ARE LAUNCHING THE ‘WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE’ TOUR 2004! Maff and Whitmer invade the show to attack Cabana, so Dunn & Marcos make the save with AIR GUITAR! That doesn’t get them very far – BURNING HAMMER FOR DUNN…WRIST CLUTCH EXPLODER FOR MARCOS!! I think The Prophecy made their point.
That Shawn guy is going to wait outside for news on Homicide ahead of his match with CM Punk…thanks there “Sugar Shawn”…
Special K vs Carnage Crew vs Backseat Boyz – No DQ Match
Obviously the Carnage Crew hate Special K, probably even more so after K recruited Abyss, and he laid Loc and DeVito out at Battle Lines Are Drawn. Meanwhile, the Backseatz are on a major role, going 3 matches undefeated, including Scramble Cage at Main Event Spectacles. They do, however, have heat with the Carnage Crew after they gave DeVito a T-Gimmick at Collision Course. They also have issues with Special K, given that Izzy and Dixie screwed them out of the Tag titles at Tradition Continues.
Crew jump Special K during their ring entrance, and I think Loc and Justin Credible are representing the Crew. Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere turn up and join the brawl as various K members take bumps on the floor. It takes an eternity for the sound guy to turn the Backseatz music off, which is irritating. Credible gets Angeldust in the corner of the ring and wails on him, as Kashmere wanders in, bringing Lit with him. Loc and Acid in as well…and we have four-way sitout powerbombs…unsurprisingly Angeldust’s is way out of sync. Fourway collision in the middle of the ring is even more badly timed. Kashmere with a cradlebreaker on Lit…and all four babyfaces get kiss the sluts. Moonsault kick from Izzy to Kashmere for 2. Acid THROWS Lit into a guardrail, as Loc gets 2 with a press slam into a brainbuster on Izzy. Springboard blockbuster from Angeldust, and Kashmere, Acid and Credible mis-time a triple superkick on Angeldust. Dream Sequence on Lit...SPIKE THAT’S INCREDIBLE ON DIXIE!! The Crew and the Backseatz celebrate, but as Angeldust drags Justin to the corner – T-GIMMICK ON LOC! The Backseatz steal it at 05:31.
Rating – DUD – Eurgh…what a horrible waste of time. Backseat Boyz get another win which would prove to be enough to get them a Tag title shot for the Second Anniversary Show, but aside from that, not a lot else to say. Not a single multi-man spot was timed correctly…Angeldust was back to his botch-errific best, and Justin Credible was barely any better. Carnage Crew are cheated out of another win over Special K.
BJ Whitmer vs Dan Maff vs Xavier vs Matt Stryker - #1 Contenders Trophy Match
Winner gets a title shot at the Second Anniversary Show. Lots of issues for a match seemingly thrown together out of nowhere. Maff and Whitmer are obviously fired up since Daniels was injured at the hands of the Second City Saints, but they don’t get along, so can they co-exist to make sure one of them gets the title shot? Meanwhile Stryker and Whitmer have heat over the Field Of Honor final, and BJ giving an unconscious Stryker the Wrist Clutch Exploder at War Of The Wire. Xavier and Maff don’t like each other because Xavier walked out on The Prophecy at Final Battle 2003.
Only Xavier and Stryker are shaking hands here, and it’ll be those two that start off. Nelson introduces this as if it’s a tag match because he’s not a very good commentator. Xavier backs Stryker to a corner and BJ tags in. Whitmer and Xavier square up for a test of strength, and that’s all well and good until Xavier stomps on BJ’s hands. To the corner, and Xavier hangs in the stiff-chops sakes with BJ. Rolling suplex from BJ – snap suplex into a bridging northern lights for 2. Maff tags in to get his hands on Xavier…and he rocks him with a big kick to the spine. Xavier stands no chance in chopping as hard as Maff but manages to club him down with a double axehandle. Knee strikes in the corner follow up. Maff drops a big senton then tags Stryker in with a chop. Stryker with a knucklelock on Xavier, rolled into a hammerlock. Xavier drags Stryker into a bow an arrow stretch, but Stryker escapes and puts him into a horse collar. Stryker tags out with a chop…and Xavier tags out as well. Maff and Whitmer are both legal, but they’re playing ball and they decide to take Xavier and Stryker to the floor rather than fight each other. Maff is on his own in the ring…AND HE SAILS TO THE FLOOR WITH A TOPE! Xavier on the apron – SPRINGBOARD CORKSCREW SENTON! Stryker hits the ring…SOMERSAULT PESCADO! He takes Whitmer into the ring – STRYKERLOCK! Maff doesn’t take that though, he puts Stryker in an armbar. XAVIER OFF THE TOP WITH A 450 TO MAFF! Xavier goes back to the top rope, but BJ rolls through his crossbody for a 2 count. Neckbreaker over the knee from Stryker, then a boot to the head. KISS YOUR X GOODBYE ON BJ! Maff from behind – HALF NELSON SUPLEX FOR XAVIER! Maff looks for the Burning Hammer on Xavier, but Stryker saves…DVD ON MAFF! Whitmer saves…but he takes an accidental forearm from Maff. Maff DROPS Stryker with a lariat – AND BJ SUPERKICKS HIM! Maff drops on top of Stryker, and Whitmer bundles on top as well. Both men pin Stryker at 14:08. So who gets a title shot now?
Rating - *** - Quite the match of 2 halves there. They wrestled the first 7 or 8 minutes like this thing was going for 25+, which considering it wasn’t is pretty inexcusable, although in fairness, considering Maff and Whitmer couldn’t touch each other they were pretty limited in what they could do. Once they busted out the high spots later in the match though, this was a fun match, with the vast amount of little background stories coming into this match making it that little bit more interesting. The double pin sucked…because at the end of the day…Stryker, the FOH Champion, was pinned by a clothesline. Yep, winning that FOH sure did elevate him alright.
Jim Cornette is backstage with the Briscoes. He wants revenge on Samoa Joe for hospitalising him at Main Event Spectacles. He guarantees one of the Briscoes is gonna pin him in the match tonight and earn themselves a World title shot.
INTERMISSION – GMC walks into The Prophecy locker room, and Whitmer and Maff are in each other’s faces again. Capetta delivers the news that it’ll be Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer and Dan Maff in a triple threat match for the ROH Title in Boston next month. They have to pin Joe for the title though…if they pin each other, they just become #1 contender outright. BJ is happy at the news, although Maff and Danger look less than pleased.
Alex Shelley vs Jimmy Jacobs
Long time rivals Jacobs and Shelley bring their feud to ROH tonight for the first time. They’ve teamed together (at Wrath Of The Racket and Empire State Showdown) and they’ve wrestled each other as part of a fourways at Wrestlerave and Glory By Honor II’s convention card (when Jacobs pinned Shelley with a big boot). Now they go one-on-one as both look to continue their impressive streak in the company and get themselves a regular spot.
Both men are actually pretty popular, which can only be a good thing. Shelley goes after Jacobs’ arm to start, but Jacobs counters by rolling him into a bridging STF. NICE stalling vertical hammerlock from Shelley (well you come up with something better to call it), then goes to the legs before Jimmy makes the ropes. Near falls sequence…BORDER CITY STRETCH FROM SHELLEY! Jacobs has to quickly get to the ropes to escape that. Jacobs bridges out of a knucklelock, and even withstands kicks to the legs as he does so. He forces Shelley down over his knee…and this time it’s Shelley’s turn to bridge out of it despite kicks to the legs. Even on shoulder tackles – then both go for dropkicks at the same time. Shelley hits a dropkick right after…but takes the HUSS extra-rotation satellite headscissors. Knee drop gets Jacobs gets 2. Shelley steps through onto the apron BUT TAKES A NECKBREAKER OVER THE TOP ROPE! Jacobs looks for a plancha but Shelley meets him with a knee to the gut. Neckbreaker over the knee from Shelley, then the leg full nelson. He hits a running double knee in the corner then goes to the top rope TO DROP A KNEE OVER JACOBS’ NECK! Goku Raku neckbreaker, into a bridging Goku Raku stretch…Shelley’s work on the neck is just poetry to watch at the moment. Football charge from Shelley gets cut off…and Jacobs looks for a hurricanrana. Shelley catches him and SWINGS HIM into the turnbuckle. Shelley gets caught running in again and takes a NECKBREAKER OFF THE SECOND ROPE! E HONDA CHEST SLAPS…UNPRETTIER FOR 2! Jacobs looks for the big boot, but gets caught and BACK SUPLEXED! Jump swinging DDT from Shelley gets 2. Shelley to the top rope…CORKSCREW SPLASH MISSES! Sliced Bread #2 attempt from Jacobs gets escaped…but he gets the big boot in. He goes to the top rope…BUT SHELLEY KNEES HIM IN THE NECK TO COUNTER A SENTON! BORDER CITY STRETCH LOCKED IN! Jacobs taps at 12:20.
Rating - *** - I’m so disappointed these 2 didn’t get a few extra minutes to make this something really special. The sub-15 minute time limit meant they really had to rush out of the opening exchanges to the neck work, but once they got into their stride some of the stuff they were doing was awesome. Shelley is a joy to watch when he starts working over a body part, and it’s not surprising that he develops into a big star in 2004. Jacobs is hardly a shabby performer either.
CM Punk vs Homicide
A rematch from way back at Round Robin Challenge II. These two totally stole the show with the #1 Contenders Trophy on the line back then. They went on to really become top-flight players in ROH in the rest of 2003. Now they meet again at the very top. Punk is on a high after injuring Chris Daniels at Battle Lines Are Drawn, whilst Homicide comes in off three high profile losses in succession – to Corino at War Of The Wire, to Kojima at Final Battle 2003 and to Styles at Battle Lines Are Drawn. He was also acting strangely backstage earlier, refusing to give an interview and citing this match as the most important of his ROH career. Punk has Tracy Brooks and Colt Cabana in his corner. Homicide is bringing Smokes out with him unfortunately.
Punk opts to spend the first minute of the match on the floor, as Cabana and Smokes make faces at each other. Armdrags exchanged…then near falls. Satellite headscissors from Cide, but Punk moves away from a baseball slide attempt on the floor. We’ve hit the 5 minute mark and the majority of it has been stalling. Hammerlock from Homicide and Punk grabs the ropes to break it. Punk with a thumb to the eye, and he goes for some headlocks. Both miss dropkicks and we have another stand off. Break again to discuss strategy with their respective goofballs in opposite corners. Chopfest…then they both thumb each other in the eye…double clothesline and both go down. Cabana and Smokes again hit the apron to discuss strategy. Homicide to the top rope but he misses his stomp and Punk kicks him to the floor. Punk to the outside with a tope, before he SPEARS Cide into the guardrail. Back in the ring Punk gets a tilta-whirl backbreaker for 2. Bootscrapes for Homicide after he went to the wrong corner and took a couple of digs to the ribs by Cabana. Punk down in the other corner for Homicide to hit the running knee. Homicide takes Punk to the corner for a superplex which gets 2. Punk rolls through a Cop Killa attempt and puts Homicide in a sleeper. Homicide tries to break with a jawbreaker, but Punk still holds on. Back suplex finally breaks it. Dropkick sends Punk to the floor for the TOPE CON HILO! Inside the ring we have a MAFIA KICK DUEL! Homicide rolls through a German suplex attempt, but gets dropped with the hammerlock lariat for 2. Nelson makes his first funny comment in almost 5 hours of commentary as he talks about Smokes taking Ritalin. Homicide sidesteps a missile dropkick attempt and gets 2 with a piledriver. STF locked in, as Homicide goes for the submission. Punk again escapes a Cop Killa attempt then takes Homicide over with a cradle back suplex. Lariat from Homicide for 2. ACE CRUSHER…COP KILLA! Homicide wins at 20:01.
Rating - ** - That was a major disappointment, and didn’t hold a candle to the first match these two had. I don’t know what it was, but they didn’t click at all. It didn’t help that the first 10 minutes were all stalling, with Cabana and Smokes wrestling about as much as Homicide and Punk did. From there they stuttered through spot after spot with no real semblance of psychology or story-telling (despite a great effort from Chris Lovey to conjure one for them). It began, limped along for 20 minutes then ended. On the bright side, it was still Punk and Homicide, meaning for the large part everything was clean enough…and we still saw all Homicide’s cool spots. Competitive and watchable enough to make 3*, but definitely worthy of no more.
Maff and Whitmer jump Cabana after the match and drill him shoulder-first into the ring post, but can’t get to Punk because Smokes and Homicide stand over him.
Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Samoa Joe/Jerry Lynn – ROH Tag Title Match
Joe’s LAST STAND in his attempts to win the Tag titles from his enemies the Briscoes. He’s failed with AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson in great matches. Now he’s turned to somebody renowned for being one of the best wrestlers in the world, former ECW Champion, Jerry Lynn, who returns to ROH for the first time since June 2002. Jim Cornette is back in the corner of the Briscoes tonight, and he has promised that either Jay or Mark will pin Joe tonight and earn an ROH Title shot.
Joe gets the streamer treatment which is night. Corny gets on the stick and says he wants a clean match with the best team winning…then talks about the ‘fish eating, coconut breaking Samoan’ behind Joe’s back. Jay and Joe start, with Joe locking in a cross armbreaker. Fans want Lynn – Joe obliges. Mark in as well, and he takes a monkey flip, then an armbar. ‘It’s called wrestling, and WWF fired me for it’ – Lynn 1-0 Cornette. Joe in again and Mark backs off to the corner for a team talk. Lynn tagged back as Cornette evens the verbal score. He works a chinlock, and Joe is tagged back in to bust out some stiff chops. Joe with a running knee in the corner. Jerry clotheslines Mark down for 2. Jay tagged in and he walks right into a front facelock from Lynn. Standing switches, before Jerry takes Jay down with an inverted DDT. Joe in…THEN OUT AGAIN WITH THE ELBOW SUICIDA! Jay gets dumped in a chair BUT MARK CUTS OF THE OLE OLE KICK WITH A SPRINGBOARD SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Lynn in the ring with Cornette but Mark jumps him from behind. He jerks Lynn down by the hair then tags Jay in for the leg drop/sidewalk slam combo. Jay keeps Lynn down in the Briscoe corner with a rear chinlock. Jerry to the floor where he sweeps Jay’s legs, then hits the leg drop over the middle rope. He attempts a slingshot splash but Mark gets the knees up. Jay in and Cornette distracts the ref whilst the Briscoes wail on Lynn. Mark in with the springboard knee drop/backbreaker for 2 before Joe saves. Lynn is down and Mark puts him in a surfboard. Brisco roll up on the Briscoe gets 2. Mark hotshots Jerry over the top rope. Lynn catches Mark on the top rope but gets dumped off…SHOOTING STAR PRESS MISSES! Lynn makes the tag to Joe and he is on fire. E HONDA SLAPS ON JAY. STF applied but somehow Jay makes the ropes. Jay escapes an Island Driver attempt, but then gets dropped with a lariat. Lynn hurricanrana’s Mark to the floor and the ref goes to check on them. Cornette tries to racket Joe but gets caught and forearmed. Jay grabs the racket and clubs the ROH Champion to take the victory at 15:59…with Samoa Joe kicking out well before 16:00…
Rating - *** - Much like the rest of the show really – not bad, solid, and pretty fun, but not all that great either. Definitely a long way behind the other Briscoe/Joe tag matches. Samoa Joe again spent the majority of the match on the outside, with Lynn taking a pasting, then tagging in Joe who lost the match a couple of minutes later. Cool way to block the Ole Ole Kick though..
Joe is pissed off since he thinks he kicked out. He did bust Corny’s nose with that forearm though. He lays out the referee with the Island Driver, then tosses him to Jerry to give him a Cradle Piledriver…poor ref.
Backstage later, and Joe is still furious. He was screwed tonight, but challenges Jay Briscoe to a steel cage match with the title on the line (if he makes it through the Second Anniversary Show with the belt). He’s not sweating The Prophecy, and the fact that he faces both of them next month. He beat both of them one-on-one, and will do it again in a triple threat. Maff and Whitmer lay him out…
In The Prophecy’s locker room, they celebrate laying out Joe…but argue about who’s going to be the Champion at the anniversary.
Shawn Price is whining and irritating and generally being the Todd Grisham of ROH. Homicide tells him he’s going away and doesn’t know when he’ll be back. Why does that chode Price get to close out the show?
Tape Rating - ** - I’ve rated this show harshly, not because it’s bad, but because it’s nowhere near as good as other shows. Plenty of solid action, but there’s just nothing to make this tape stand up and say ‘MUST HAVE’. When a spotfest and a match between two unestablished midcarders are your best matches, you know it wasn’t a top night for ROH. Punk/Homicide and Briscoes/Joe/Lynn were both disappointing. If you’re looking to catch up on 2004 ROH and want to know which shows to skip – you could definitely miss this one.
Top 3 Matches
3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Samoa Joe/Jerry Lynn (***)
2) Chris Sabin vs Jack Evans vs Slyk Wagner Brown vs Hydro vs Caprice Coleman vs Sonjay Dutt (***)
1) Alex Shelley vs Jimmy Jacobs (***)