ROH 104 – Ring Of Homicide – 13th May 2006
Last night’s How We Roll event has the unfortunate honour of being the worst ROH show for sometime. Thankfully this is a double shot weekend so the promotion can rebound right away. The whole thing last night felt like a warm-up act for this release so hopefully we should see a marked improvement. The card is certainly so much better. It’s Joe vs Necro in the main event, as ROH tries to repeat one of the most controversial and talked about matches on the indy scene of 2005 (their IWA-MS ECW Arena clash). There’s also GeNext/Briscoes for the Tag belts, Danielson/Delirious II for the World, Daniels/Sydal III, Nigel defending the Pure Title, plus a Rave/Yang rematch to settle that issue. Oh, and as you could probably guess by the title – Homicide is here as well. He has a potential MOTYC against the Ring Crew Express. What…you mean this show ISN’T named after that match?? Read on guys. We’re back in Edison, NJ. Hosts are Dave Prazak and Jared David making his debut. Leonard is taking some time off to get surgery (following a “softball” injury) so he’s replaced by the guy who apparently commentates on FIP DVD’s with Prazak these days.
ROH VIDEO RECAP (04/05/06) – see (ROH 103) How We Roll review for information, or view for free at ROHVideos.com
BJ Whitmer talks about his clashes with Homicide in 2003 and tries again to enlist him to fight CZW.
Prince Nana tells Jimmy Rave to ‘beat the chicken fried rice’ out of Jimmy Yang tonight. Daizee (who looks high as a kite – although I suppose that’s her gimmick) tries to rebook the show so it’s her vs Yang. Instead Rave tells her to watch out for Yang’s ‘ninja friends’. These guys are comic gold…
Kikutaro vs Colt Cabana
I suppose this is a form of dream match. Cabana has made a career out of being ROH’s resident funny man. Kikutaro is one of the top comedy workers in the world. You’ll notice Colt is back down the card again after main eventing yesterday – he’s still working his way back up to a title shot.
Kikutaro gets upset because nobody chants for him. ‘They’d chant your name but you change it every week’ – Cabana. He keeps giving Kiku high fives instead of a clean break but eventually Kiku gives him the ‘too slow’ treatment. They start working a wristlock but end up dancing together instead. Cabana utilises his European skills, which Kikutaro tries to imitate hugely unsuccessfully. He baits Colt to the floor then uses the middle rope to crotch him when he tries to re-enter. He does it to the referee for kicks as well – since Mr Duke did cost him the match yesterday. ‘Are your balls ok?’ – Cabana. Kikutaro tries a rope-walking armdrag and crotches himself this time. Kikutaro eats flying asshole (figuratively) then takes a lariat which gets 2. He dragon screws Cabana though, which leaves him open for a shining wizard. He tries to whip the referee into Colt like last night, but Cabana dosey-do’s into a clothesline. The folding powerbomb gets Cabana the win at 06:57.
Rating - * - It was a better and funnier match than yesterday’s Kikutaro bout but meh. I’m still mostly bored of him now though, and the match was still mostly a comedy squash.
Dunn & Marcos vs Homicide/Ricky Reyes
This is your ROHVideos.com match of the evening. Now they’ve got regular jobs you hardly ever get to see the Ring Crew Express, so I guess it’s a nice treat when they make the cards. Back at Trios Tournament 2005 they actually had a fun opening round match (teaming with El Generico) against the Rottweilers so hopefully we should see more of the same here. For Homicide and Reyes this is pretty much a nothing match. Cide is getting pulled into the CZW feud whilst Reyes…isn’t really doing anything and is getting less and less over again. Maybe it’s time to bring back Rocky Romero (is he still big in New Japan?) or drop Reyes and the Rottweilers altogether and just use Homicide as a solo guy again.
Dunn & Marcos jump their opponents before the bell with stereo bulldogs. They prepare for an electric chair senton to the floor but Reyes comes from behind with a kick to the legs of Dunn. Cide crotches him against the ringpost for Ricky’s basement dropkick. Marcos lands some armdrags and dropkicks on Homicide but that doesn’t last long and he gets superplexed…and Cide ROLLS through that into a falcon arrow for 2. Dunn seems to attempt a lariat on Homicide but in the end settles for a superkick. Reyes kicks him from behind and tags in to start mauling him. He hits a running powerslam which leaves Dunn prone for a Homicide FROG SPLASH! Dunn is able to hit a neckbreaker on Reyes and gets the hot tag to Marcos. He swinging DDT’s Reyes, but the Rottweiler sidesteps Dunn’s attempted missile dropkick. LARIAT on Marcos! That’s him dead, and Reyes applies the dragon sleeper to bring it home at 06:13.
Rating - ** - A complete squash but the Rottweilers pulled out some neat stuff that made it more interesting than it could’ve been. I did like the finish. Whilst it completely and utterly squashed the RCE into the ground (their hot tag comeback lasted precisely one move) it made Homicide and Reyes look like killers – and since D&M are never around anymore anyway, it’s not like you need to keep them over as anymore than a novelty act anyway.
Adam Pearce comes from the back to ask Homicide for the 80 zillionth time if he’ll help them fight off Combat Zone. He says deep down inside Cide cares about ROH, and cares about his legacy here. This angle is awesome – if/when Homicide finally does side with ROH the place will literally go nuts and he’ll instantly become the most over babyface in the promotion. But – it’s not happening yet. Homicide walks off…
Jimmy Rave vs Jimmy Yang
This started at Best In The World when Yang beat Rave in an impromptu match – then his ‘ninja friend’ Bruce Leroy kicked Prince Nana in the face. They clashed again in a fourway at The 100th Show and their mini-issue must end tonight as Rave looks for revenge on the WWE-bound Korean.
As is his tradition these days in singles matches, Rave avoids actually wrestling his opponent for as long as is humanly possible – but he does nip in along the way to slap Yang in the face. They lock-up but again Rave runs for the sanctity of the floor before Yang can get in any offence. Rave slaps him in the back of the head and runs off again. Yang eventually hits some armdrags then drags Rave to the floor again, this time to throw him into the barriers. He hits a backflip kick in the corner then nails the mounted punches of GRUDGE MATCH doom! Yang dropkicks him outside again but this time Daizee gets in his face. INVERTED DDT BY THE HAZE! That skank! Rave capitalises with a neckbreaker for 2. He spears Yang in the corner then knocks him through the ropes with a brutal-looking low dropkick. Rave starts abdominal stretching Yang in the middle of the ring but eventually he’s able to escape and double boot him in the face. MOONSAULT PRESS gets 2. Nana comes in behind the ref’s back and tries to rake Yang’s eyes…but he gets hit in the balls instead. SUPERKICK ON RAVE! BUT DAIZEE CROTCHES HIM AS HE GOES FOR YANG TIME! GREETINGS FROM GHANA! Rave wins in an entertaining 12:29.
Rating - *** - It wasn’t a great wrestling match but Rave gave an excellent heel performance in what was an enormously WWE-styled contest. The outside interference was kept minimal, significant and largely entertaining (unlike Rotts/Embassy yesterday where it just didn’t stop) and in the end, the right man won. Daizee is awesome as the heel valet. I want to throttle her!
SIDENOTE - This was Yang’s last ROH match. Apparently he had a bit of a brainstorm after the match and broke script, challenging Rave and Nana to a match against him and Bruce Leroy. Obviously that doesn’t make the DVD and he’s gone now anyway. Although his in-ring work has sometimes been patchy I would like to give him a little credit for his ROH tenure. He maybe hasn’t always given 100% but he’s always wrestled like he’s having fun. He’s shown no qualms about putting people over (Gibson, Daniels, Strong twice, Sydal, Rave, Danielson etc) and the Yang/Gibson and Yang/Danielson matches are worth watching. He probably didn’t live up to his potential and his run in ROH wasn’t earth-shattering but it wasn’t bad and he ended up being a decent midcard addition. Back to being ridiculously mis-used by the WWE for you now Jimmy. Although hopefully we’ll get to see more Yang/London matches down the line. Their series on Velocity produced some great stuff.
Nigel McGuiness vs Jay Lethal – ROH Pure Title Match
It was supposed to be Nigel/Shelley for the Pure Title here, but Alex injured his knee in that scrappy tag match from last night (I’m guessing on that botched nip-up). Instead McGuiness comes out and issues a challenge to any former ROH Champion – and Lethal answers the call. He’s from New Jersey anyway so I’m guessing he was a last second replacement. Anyway, this is his first show since February when Samoa Joe beat him to end their feud – and end Lethal’s ROH tenure. He’s now a regular for TNA and with ROH scaling back on all but the essential TNA guys (Joe, Daniels, Homicide, Styles part-time etc) he was dropped. He’s back now and in babyface mode now after his semi-entertaining heel gimmick from the start of the year.
Jay gets a decent reception from his home-state fans. Why the hell do fans have to be such f*cking idiots during the reading of the rules? It’s not funny at all. McGuiness goes straight after Lethal’s arm and tries to wind him up by slapping the head. He closed-fists Lethal behind the ref’s back, then avoids a series of chops to apply a chinlock. Jay keeps countering and does get to lay in some chops. He legsweeps Nigel then uses a leg-capture crossface to force the champion into using his first break. McGuiness headstands into the spine-kick final cut – and Lethal promptly uses his first break to kick out. Wristlock takedown nailed as Nigel goes back to the arm, and he gets 2 with a wristlock suplex. He half nelsons Lethal then lifts him into a hammerlock DDT. Lethal takes his second break as McGuiness repeatedly covers him after that. He blocks the Tower Of London and flies out of the corner with a second rope heel kick. He spinebusters McGuiness for 2. Both men get back to their feet and duel uppercuts. Lethal ducks the rebound lariat and hits a SUPERKICK for 2! Nigel crotches him on the top rope then LARIATS HIM OFF! Lethal needs his last break to break the pin. Jay hits his running suplex then goes upstairs for a diving headbutt. Dragon suplex countered with a RUNNING Euro uppercut. REBOUND LARIAT…Lethal kicks out! Jay climbs up for the diving headbutt again but Nigel crotches him and lands the TOWER OF LONDON! LETHAL KICKS OUT AGAIN! McGuiness is irate and lifts him into a FACE DROP TOWER OF LONDON! Lethal is done at 14:23.
Rating - *** - I think the hot crowd definitely helped this match because after a pretty basic start they really kicked things into a higher gear and put on an entertaining contest. It flirted with getting 4* for a while but Lethal comprehensively forgetting to sell the arm (in everything from his moves to his ‘lets go’ crowd working gestures) annoyed me. The finishing stretch was hot though, and gives Jay enough credibility that future bookings aren’t out of the question. I don’t think he’ll be a regular again as long as he’s with TNA, but his professionalism and performance in this match will earn him future bookings with the company where he put himself on the map. Unless you count JAPW…but I don’t want to.
Bryan Danielson vs Delirious – ROH World Title Match
At The 100th Show American Dragon offered Delirious a huge opportunity to challenge for the World Title. But he proceeded to disrespect him horrible – first by not taking him seriously, and then (after Delirious had shown he had the ability to potentially threaten Dragon) by busting him open and ripping his mask. Delirious has reacted angrily to his conduct in that match, and going undefeated since then (drawing with Jimmy Rave, beating Chris Sabin and Kikutaro/Nigel in a triple threat) has helped in his cause to get a grudge rematch. He’s cut promos, and he yelled at Danielson personally at the Weekend Of Champions Night 2, allowing McGuiness to lay the World Champion out. Can he upset the odds and walk away as the most unlikely World Champion ever?
Delirious says he’s going to kick Dragon’s ass then jumps him, levelling the champ with elbows and knee strikes. He looks for his running toe-punt kick but Danielson rolls out of the ring. There are CZW fans here tonight who get on Dragon’s case with ‘overrated’ chants. He goes after Delirious’ mask again then looks for Cattle Mutilation, but Delirious is able to counter it at every turn. He attacks the arms then tries the hold again but Delirious finds the ropes to block it once more. Delirious hits a headscissors then his leaping lariat. On the mat he uses the tassels from his mask to choke the champion, a great continuation of the anger he feels after his treatment at show 100. AmDrag responds to that by STANDING ON HIS FACE! Delirious stands up to the stiff chops of the World Champion then manages to duck a roaring elbow before hitting a back suplex. Danielson isn’t worn down enough for him to apply the Cobra Stretch though. RUNNING CROSSBODY sends both men tumbling over the ropes to the hard floor. Delirious gets a little hardcore out there, throwing a chair into his face but Danielson responds by lifting him throat-first over the guardrail. Now he picks up the chair and throws it even more brutally into his opponent’s head. The CZW fans start a ‘same old sh*t’ chant which provokes Danielson to utilise an extra violent Mexican surfboard on Delirious. Then he gets revenge for earlier by using the mask-tassels to choke Delirious.
He hangs him on the top rope then F*CKING KILLS him with a running elbow shot. ‘TNA reject’ – CZW fans. ‘I rejected TNA…so f*ck off’ – Dragon. Cross armbreaker applied but Delirious still has enough to hit the ropes, so Danielson uses an abdominal stretch instead. But Delirious has counters for that and throws him through the ropes. TOPE SUICIDA NAILED! Apparently that’s called a Suicide Flip. He throws out some chops only for Dragon to cut off this latest fightback with a cravat suplex. He hits the judo DDT then scales the ropes for the diving headbutt…only for Delirious to counter with a MID-AIR ACE CRUSHER! He crucifixes into the COBRA STRETCH! It’s too close to the ropes though. A diving uppercut gives Dragon the advantage again as we approach 20 minutes. Running elbow strikes and a lariat get the champion 2. Delirious blocks the dragon suplex only to eat roaring elbow instead. DRAGON SUPLEX for 2! Crossface Chickenwing locked in…BUT DELIRIOUS GETS THE ROPES! He tries the back superplex but Delirious counters with a crossbody. PANIC ATTACK! SHADOWS OVER HELL! TWO COUNT! COBRA STRETCH! Dragon finds the ropes so Delirious goes for Shadows again. COUNTERED TO CATTLE MUTILATION! DELIRIOUS STILL DOESN’T TAP!!! MMA ELBOWS…DELIRIOUS COUNTERS THEM AS WELL! FACE KICKS…and out of nowhere Dragon ends the match with a small package. Chalk up another defence at 24:55.
Rating - **** - It was better than the 100th show match, and if I gave ¼ stars this would definitely get an extra mark. However, I don’t think this was good enough to enter MOTY territory so I can’t go higher. It was again an underdog story, but told in a different way to their first match. Then it was the unlikely challenger FORCING the cocky champion to take him seriously. This time it was a pissed off underdog challenger doing everything in his power to upset the dominant incumbent champion – and it worked just as well. It wasn’t quite the showcase for Danielson’s heel powers that their prior encounter was, but Delirious made up for it by putting in perhaps the performance of his career so far. Terrific charisma, particularly in the way he sold Danielson’s finishing holds like death, so every time he escaped them it made it more dramatic. Tremendous finish as well that does much for both men. Delirious is made to look like a thousand dollars by surviving all of Dragon’s finishers. Danielson meanwhile retains his claim to be the best wrestler in the world by ending it in three simple seconds with a flash pin. Really good match that you definitely should want to see.
INTERMISSION – GMC is joined by Julius Smokes. He asks why Homicide should bother defending ROH when they’ve screwed him out of title shots down the years. Samoa Joe turns up to call them pussies.
Matt Sydal vs Christopher Daniels
This is Matt’s last match before he jets off to join Jack Evans in Dragon Gate. He’d obviously like to leave with a victory over a man he’s struggled to overcome in two previous singles matches and numerous triple threats too. At Dissension in January he came close. On the second night of the Weekend Of Champions he came closer, but both times it was the Fallen Angel who walked out victorious. Third time could he a charm. The third match could also be the time where they finally work a whole match without getting injured.
Sydal makes his intentions perfectly clear from the bell by practically mugging Daniels. He looks for repeated quick pins but comes up short every time. He starts choking the Fallen Angel in the corner as he continues his aggressive start to the match. Daniels finally gets himself some distance by back dropping Sydal over the top then diving out after him with a tope suicida. He starts driving Sydal into the railings, getting as aggressive as his opponent was earlier. That opens up a back injury and Daniels follows up with a backbreaker then kicks and knees to the spine. He brings out something new with a press slam into the turnbuckles and that’s followed with a Samoan drop that gets 2. Matt spin kicks Daniels to the floor for a RUNNING MOONSAULT! He kicks Daniels off the apron again…TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! Sydal is going all-out for victory here. He gets 2 with the climbing wizard, then tries to wear Daniels down with a grounded abdominal stretch. Daniels escapes from the hold only for Matt to synch it again with even more crank this time. He tries a moonsault off the second rope, and sees his opponent’s attempt to avoid it in time to stop and boot Daniels in the face. Butterfly lock applied but way too close to the ropes. Daniels is eventually able to halt Sydal’s progress with a tilta-whirl backbreaker. Arabian press ACROSS THE BACK then the blue thunder driver for 2. He goes for the tilta-whirl again but Sydal blocks it with a flatliner. KOJI CLUTCH ON DANIELS! Both commentators miss that by the way. Fallen Angel fights unconsciousness and reaches the bottom rope. Sydal eats a couple of palm strikes on the top but pushes Daniels’ super rana attempt away to nail a FLYING headscissors for 2. He BACKFLIPS out of Daniels urinage slam and attempts to steal Angel’s Wings. Daniels counters that with a roll-up to win another one in 14:52.
Rating - *** - It lacked the crowd heat and was a tad less exciting than the second match in their series, but there was probably more clean and crisp work in this one than they’ve ever managed previously. After losing to Daniels repeatedly Sydal brought the aggression in the hope of securing a big win before going to Japan. He used strikes, submissions, crazy dives, stole Daniels’ moves, the lot – but this time it was the Fallen Angel’s experience and cunning that got him the win. He used Sydal’s aggressive attitude to his advantage by countering his own move to win. Not a whole lot of back selling in evidence from young Matthew here, but he’s had a great 2006 so far and will be missed for the couple of months he’s in DG.
Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe – ROH Tag Title Match
Until Aries and Strong came along, it was probably fair to say that the Briscoes were the best ROH Tag Champions ever. They stabilised the division in late 2003/early 2004 with their run with the belts then, and in their series of matches with AJ/Red, Samoa Joe or the Second City Saints they’ve put on some of the most memorable Tag Title matches ever. But now GeNext have emerged as the most dominant champions ever, beating off challenge after challenge in classic matches that have put tag team wrestling back on the map. It’s only natural that when the Briscoes return to ROH in February they’d enter the queue for a chance to get their belts back. They’ve jumped Aries, Strong (and even Evans and Sydal) throughout the Milestone Series and now they’ve got their shot. Remember last night at How We Roll both scored high profile singles victories over the reigning champions.
Jay and Mark exude confidence throughout their entrance and seem quite sure they’re bringing the belts home. Rod and Jay start with a real mat-scrap as both look to establish their dominance. Briscoe hits a hurricanrana and gets Mark in. Strong holds out his arm and tags Aries to work it over with knee strikes. Jay tries to work on Roderick’s leg in turn with a spinning toehold. He also tries to headscissor Aries which is, as always, a mistake so he takes a dropkick. Mark hits a springboard dropkick on Strong as the back and forth nature of the match goes on. Strong and Aries elbow him in the head then use the top rope to slingshot him outside. HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Consider that advantage GeNext as they begin to isolate Mark. Hart Attack gets 2. Aries appears to be selling the arm injury from the match against Jay last night. Psy-f*ckin’-chology. Roddy chinlocks Mark with a knee deep in the back for extra punishment. He holds him over the knees for Aries to hit a slingshot hilo then the frog elbow. Austin prepares for the slow-mo replay knee drop but Jay simply clubs him from behind and uses that to get a tag. He chokes Aries in the corner, then uses Roddy’s distraction of the ref to utilise his brother and the ropes as well. Abdominal stretch next, and again Strong complains allowing Mark to get in some cheating from the apron. Jay dumps Austin to the floor but the champion is able to counter the attempted offence of Mark by whipping him to the barrier. He quickly gets decapitated by a Jay Briscoe clothesline though. Mark drags Aries back from a tag by grabbing his tights and Jay delivers a Yakuza kick from the apron. Austin scores with a missile dropkick and gets the tag to Roddy. Swinging gutbuster on Mark into a BIG BOOT for 2. He whips Aries into the RUNNING DROPKICK then hits the urinage backbreaker for 2 again. Mark looks for a northern lights and when Strong kicks out of that Jay soars from the corner with a GUILLOTINE LEG DROP! Backbreaker/springboard knee drop combo by the Briscoes forces Aries into save. He shinbreak back suplexes Jay INTO Mark! Double backbreaker…CHOP BRAINBUSTER! JAY SAVES! FIREMAN GUTBUSTER ON HIM! Mark shoves Aries to the floor…SPIKE JAY DRILLER ON STRONG! Jay makes the pin…but Aries is legal and he rolls up Mark at the same time – and since they’re legal the champions get the win and retain the belts at 19:31.
Rating - **** - A totally solid match that I feel is a little underrated. Much like the GeNext/Embassy tag from the Weekend Of Champions I feel like they held a TON back for future rematches, but they still put together an intense, physical match here. It was much more of a grounded match than I was expecting (I was thinking more like Strong/Evans vs Briscoes from Best In The World) but it worked. Both teams come in super-confident and the opening five minutes of back and forth wrestling was a nice way to demonstrate how even they were. Kudos to Aries for selling the arm from the previous night. He didn’t hit anywhere near as much offence as he usually does, and really put the injury over during his big dive to the floor. I think somewhat weak isolation segments killed this for the crowd a little. Whilst there was some nice heel stuff by the Briscoes, neither Aries or Mark never looked in especially grave peril and it took away from the contest somewhat. Following that there wasn’t as much heat on the home straight as there could’ve been, and given that they were saving things for the rematch, there wasn’t the mass of near-falls and false-finishers needed to bring the fans back. Still, bags of effort from all four and I look forward to seeing them go at it again – next show incidentally.
SIDENOTE – DP and Jared sign off here meaning there’s no commentary on Joe/Necro. Jared David wasn’t exactly a bad commentary, he just doesn’t add anything – and considering how smooth a duo Dave and Lenny had become, it’s a disappointing step backward. He also sounds VERY bored during every match, which somewhat kills the matches I’m watching. Think Mark Nulty only with a few less obscure references. I’d have preferred to have Jimmy Bower return to commentary for Lenny Leonard’s absence – but clearly JD has impressed enough on FIP releases to warrant a shot. He’s in for a few shows so he has ample opportunity to settle.
Lacey cuts another pointless promo about Jimmy Jacobs. Apparently she has a new clothing line too.
Samoa Joe vs Necro Butcher
These two are already famous rivals on the indy scene after Necro worked a little too rough with the ROH students on a show somewhere. They had a couple of disturbingly violent matches in IWA-MS (Joe/Necro 1 is more brutal, Joe/Necro 2 is a better wrestling match), and now they’re bringing it to ROH against the backdrop of the inter-promotional warfare we’ve got going on. Joe comes into this with a bad knee. He has a demanding schedule that’s been made worse by CZW attacking his leg whenever they get a shot. CZW recognise him as a big threat to them in this war – and at the Weekend Of Champions they did all they could to keep him from taking part. Can Necro take him out altogether?
Necro Butcher lays out Bobby Cruise before Joe even gets out here. When he does arrive Necro lays out the ref too. Joe retorts by almost killing CZW ref Bryce Remsburg. FOREARM DUEL! Joe wins that and slaps Butcher down. KAWADA KICKS! Necro headlocks Joe and starts punching, so Joe drops him with a BACK DROP DRIVAH! STIFF STIFF right hands on the floor from both men, but it’s Joe who comes out on top again with E Honda slappage. He asks the fans to hold Necro down so he can give him an OLE OLE KICK! Chris Hero runs in to end this as a match but Joe bundles him into the railings too. All three brawl into the aisle but unfortunately for Joe, Claudio Castagnoli is lying in wait behind the curtain with a chair. He lays the Samoan out with that – and struts around looking like a used car salesman. BJ Whitmer and Adam Pearce turn up for their inevitable brawling segment. Pearce turns chairs back to back in the ring…AND TOGETHER THEY F*CKING DROP NECRO ON HIS HEAD THROUGH THEM! That was FUGLY! Out in the crowd now where Scrap Iron suplexes Castagnoli through a few chairs then whips him into the hockey hoardings out there. JUMPING PILEDRIVER ON THE CONCRETE! In the background you can see Necro in the ring hitting HIMSELF in the head with a chair. That mofo is insane. Hero and BJ try to throw each other through a table but in the end Whitmer settles for an exploder. Samoa Joe has completely vanished by now. Hero has a chair but pisses the ROH fans off by dropping it and applying the dreaded cravat instead. It’s a 3-on-2 beating and by now the ROH faithful have launched into a full on ‘Homicide’ chant. DOUBLE HERO’S WELCOME on Pearce! The clock is still ticking for Joe/Necro…and at 12:19…HOMICIDE’S MUSIC HITS!!
Rating - N/A – Definitely a rare occasion where I have to pull out the N/A rating. I do feel a little ripped off of Joe/Necro. I know Joe’s injured but he still wrestles in TNA, and he isn’t constantly protected there. This is the third show in a row where he’s been wrapped in cotton wool to protect the knee and protect TNA’s investment. Previously it didn’t matter – but why advertise Joe/Necro as your main event when you KNOW he needs shielding. Thankfully BJ and Adam showed up and launched themselves into another absorbing brawl sequence with gusto. More crazy violence ensues, and once again this collection of workers put the lengthy Homicide/Danielson crowd-brawls of 2005 to shame. Speaking of Homicide he’s coming to ringside getting an absolutely CRAZY pop…
Homicide has a choice to make…AND HE PICKS ROH! THE CROWD GOES BALLISTIC! Pearce and BJ clear the ring of the Kings Of Wrestling…leaving Homicide and Necro alone. We have another main event!
Homicide vs Necro Butcher
The name ROH fans were chanting as CZW cheated their way to victory during the epic 6-man at the 100th Show was Homicide. After 2 years of being one of the biggest villains in ROH – the man who through fireballs, the man who ran with the Rottweilers, the man who tried to kill Colt Cabana was now the man ROH needed to help them against CZW. He’s been here since the very first show and now it seems that, in the promotion’s hour of need he is willing to stand up and fight.
Homicide lays in the right hands and immediately pitches Necro to the floor for some guardrail fun. The crowd by this point is absolutely electric. Butcher grabs a chair and scoops Cide up for the CHAIR SLAM! He goes into the crowd and just starts lobbing chairs into Homicide’s face. The Notorious 187’s response is to muscle him up and suplexes him through about THREE ROWS of chairs! Homicide throws him into the ring…AND HE F*CKING TELLS THE FANS TO THROW CHAIRS! CHAIR RIIIIIOOOOOOOOT! AND NECRO IS UNDER THEM! Homicide actually has to get on the microphone to stop the crazy New Jersey fans before he charges into the ring to dig Butcher out. PILEDRIVER IN THE CHAIRS! NECRO KICKS OUT! He gets up…TIGER DRIVER IN THE CHAIRS! HOMICIDE KICKS OUT! For some insane reason Butcher thinks he’ll climb to the top rope which means he gets PRESS SLAMMED…INTO THE CHAIRS! Still he gets up for more and gives Homicide a swinging neckbreaker. There are people around ringside trying to clear some of the chairs now. Necro takes Cide to the apron…SUPLEX INTO THE CHAIRS ON THE FLOOR FROM CIDE! What’s worse is I think they were actually aiming for a table there and simply missed! He puts Butcher on the table then climbs to the top rope. FROG SPLASH THROUGH THE F*CKING TABLE! NECRO STILL WON’T STOP KICKING OUT! He comes up swinging right hands again…LARIATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! HOMICIDE WINS! 10:23 is your time.
Rating - **** - There are no words to describe the sheer craziness of that match. It started off with an unbelievable atmosphere thanks to the Cide babyface turn (especially considering this is New Jersey – where he never gets boo’d properly anyway) then came a chair riot…then came some of the most sickening bumps you’ll ever see. These men need their heads examined. Believe it or not this actually did as much for Necro Butcher as it did for Homicide. He comes out of this match looking practically indestructible, and in the past 25 minutes he’s taken a series of career-shortening bumps that you can’t help but respect him for. Homicide damn near had to kill him to get the win. Awesome main event…
Homicide says he didn’t win for ROH, he did it for himself. Then he welcomes everyone to the RING…OF…HOMICIDE!
Tape Rating - **** - After struggling a little post-Milestone Series ROH finally returns to putting out stellar shows. Admittedly the first two matches are barely worth watching, but from Rave/Yang everything is at worst, good stuff. The main event sequence, from Joe and Necro stiffing each other, the wild brawl with BJ and Pearce, Homicide’s face turn to Cide/Necro is what tips this into the MUST-SEE territory. From a storyline progression point of view it’s obviously significant, as it’s Homicide’s entry into the ROH/CZW war…but the match itself is absolutely wild. Danielson/Delirious and GeNext/Briscoes are also worth checking out. I’d suggest skipping last night’s poor show and adding this one to your ROH collection today.
Top 3 Matches
3) Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (****)
2) Bryan Danielson vs Delirious (****)
1) Homicide vs Necro Butcher (****)
Top 5 Ring Of Homicide Weekend Matches
5) Christian Cage/Colt Cabana vs Bryan Danielson/Christopher Daniels (*** - How We Roll)
4) Jay Briscoe vs Austin Aries (**** - How We Roll)
3) Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (**** - Ring Of Homicide)
2) Bryan Danielson vs Delirious (**** - Ring Of Homicide)
1) Homicide vs Necro Butcher (**** - Ring Of Homicide)