ROH 107 – Throwdown – 23rd June 2006


This gets my vote for possibly the dumbest name for an ROH show. Thankfully I don’t judge these releases on name, I judge them on the wrestling and, coming off the underrated and highly solid In Your Face show I’m ready to keep churning out the ROH reviews with this one. Main event is KENTA against Roderick Strong which has the potential to be a classic. Bryan Danielson defends the World Title in a three-way match and Homicide continues his own personal wars with CZW as he wrestles Claudio Castagnoli. There’s also the Briscoes, Nigel McGuiness and a star-studded four corner match as well. We’re in Detroit, MI. Hosts are Dave Prazak and Jared David. Incidentally, I bought this show (and Chi-Town Struggle) whilst attending the second show of ROH’s UK debut weekend (in Broxbourne). I was front row so you’re sure to see me on the DVD at some point…


ROH VIDEO RECAP (20/06/06) – Clips of the Whitmer/Jacobs non-finish which means both men are rewarded for their insanity with a title shot tonight.

-Hype for KENTA’s matches with Roderick Strong and Austin Aries this weekend.

- Colt Cabana (in the grungy New Yorker Hotel basement – seriously, who’d stay in this hotel?) talks about his ROH Title match with Danielson in FIP. Dragon pinned him whilst his feet were on the ropes in that match, but Cabana promises that in Chicago tomorrow night it’ll be his time to carry the belt.


Shane Hagadorn says he’s earned some promo time since he’s now Top Of The Class Trophy holder. Tonight he gets to pick a partner for a match…but he doesn’t think any of his fellow graduates are worthy of filling the spot.


Shane Hagadorn/Keith Walker vs Irish Airborne

So instead it appears Shane has found this guy. He’s goddamn huge – the words sh*thouse and brick come to mind. He’s had a few tours of NOAH, and that’s about all the information I can supply you with. Irish Airborne are getting better every time you see them and are excellent in the role of spotty lower-card tag team. I’d love to see Fast & Furious (Jerrelle Clark and Jay Fury) brought in for a few matches with them. I think it’d help both teams get over and on their way in the promotion.


Dave shows an ability to keep a hold of Hagadorn’s arm, so Shane ends up punching him in the face. He catapults Crist into the bottom rope, but Dave comes back with a springboard armdrag. Springboard flipping armdrag next, then a tag to Jake. Dave hits a quebrada press before he leaves and Jake gets 2. Walker in with the generic big powerful man spinebuster. ‘You take steroids’ – Detroit. He throws Jake across the ring with a belly to belly suplex then destroys him in the corner with a running forearm smash then a running hip attack. Jake has his head set up over the ring apron for Keith to give it a big boot. Hagadorn comes in again to be cocky now his opponent is beaten down and he gets 2 with his running stomp to the back of the head. Jake hits a neckbreaker to facilitate the hot tag. Dave with a SPRINGBOARD PLANCHAAAAAAAAA on Walker! DOUBLE STOMP DVD ON HAGADORN! Irish Airborne get the win in 07:03.


Rating - ** - Perhaps the rating is a tad generous but I’m not sure how much better that could have really been in 7 minutes. Good high-flying by Irish, Hagadorn was entertaining because he wasn’t boring the pants off everyone wrestling students, and Walker looked fine with his one cameo in the ring as the big musclehead. No beef with this one…


The Embassy prepare for four corner action tonight. Jimmy Rave cuts another surprisingly solid promo. He isn’t worried about Samoa Joe or Delirious, since he’s coming after Davey Richards.


Nigel McGuiness vs Conrad Kennedy III – ROH Pure Title Match

As Pure Champion, Nigel is on a mission to prove that he is the best champion in ROH. Like Bryan Danielson, he’s now sent out open contracts for Pure Title matches, and CK3 has got a hold of one and he challenges tonight. Nigel also needs a strong showing this weekend since he tapped out to Roderick Strong in a Tag Title match last week in New York.


Conrad is big on the Michigan indy scene which explains why he’s surprisingly over with the crowd tonight. McGuiness tries to be arrogant but CK3 proves himself more than able to hang with the Pure Champion. A hammerlock DDT drops Kennedy, and McGuiness keeps a hold of the hammerlock to work that arm some more. Conrad rolls through into standing stranglehold, then ties his legs up into a sharpshooter instead. Nigel has to take a ropebreak there. He headstands, and Conrad is foolish enough to walk into the spine kick final cut for 2. McGuiness cobra clutches Conrad, then lands the wristlock suplex. ‘BBC sucks’ – Detroit. They’re 2 for 2 on amusing chants tonight. Kennedy with a HAMMERLOCK LUNGBLOWER! That would look a lot cooler if it didn’t take so long to set up. He counters the rebound lariat with CHUMP CHANGE 2000! McGuiness kicks out at 2. The champ gets up and headbutts Conrad, and gets 2 with the rebound lariat which is nailed this time. CK3 uses a running chop to stop Nigel using the headstand for a second time. He makes the mistake of going to the top rope though, and McGuiness drags him off with the TOWER OF LONDON! That’s it at 09:40.


Rating - ** - Meh, there was some good stuff in there but it was so damn slow for a short match and came off as slightly boring. Both men look like, and are, good wrestlers. This just wasn’t a very good match. Incidentally, I hate the way it takes CK3 so long to arrange his opponents to hit his big moves. They look cool but he takes an eternity setting up the hammerlock and stranglehold to hit them. It looks a little too fake for me to suspend my disbelief…


Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Colt Cabana/Ace Steel

Remember the Second City Saints? It’s cool to see Colt and Ace team together. They should do it on a more regular basis…although that might mean getting Ace on more shows, which I’m not entirely sure I want to see. The Briscoes are working their way up to another Tag Title shot. They eased past James Keenan and Jason Blade last week, and this should provide a much sterner test. Cabana has experience wrestling tags against Jay and Mark. Together with CM Punk he put on perhaps the best series of tag team matches Ring Of Honor has seen against them. He could also use the momentum given that tomorrow night he gets a World Title match.


Cabana and Steel jump the gun with the Briscoes and promptly launch Jay over the top rope. Steel hits a springboard dropkick from behind on Mark which gets 2. Inverted crab/camel clutch combo applied but Jay is in quickly to break it up. Mark manages to hit a jumping forearm and gets a tag. Jay nails a running rana on Cabana then a beautiful fisherman suplex for 2. A blind tag allows Mark to fly in with a springboard dropkick much like he got hit with previously. Jay trades forearm shots with Steel and loses. He does succeed in sweeping Cabana over the middle rope allowing Mark to knee him in the head then land a slingshot double stomp. Second rope rocker dropper gets Jay a 2. Cabana eventually simply avoids a clothesline and gets a tag to his partner. The Briscoes go to the floor but the Saints follow with a DUELLING tope suicida/pescado combo! Steel hits a springboard knee drop then goes straight to the top again for a tumbling senton. Mark drops him with the urinage then throws him into Jay’s big boot. Ace ducks the springboard doomsday device and gets the tag. Double quebrada from Colt on both Briscoes. He gets 2 with a nice tornado fisherman suplex. Ace comes from the top with a super bulldog, then appears to mess up a powerbomb. JAY DRILLER gets 2 before Colt saves. The Briscoes throw him to the floor. SPIKE JAY DRILLER! This time Ace is done. 13:21 is the time.


Rating - ** - Kinda like McGuiness/CK3 to be honest. There was some fun stuff in there (in particular there was a really physical nature to this match that I enjoyed) but this just never seemed to get out of second gear, and there were some noticeable screw-ups too. Both teams did show some interesting cohesiveness and I definitely wouldn’t object to Colt and Ace teaming on a more regular basis. It could actually be a way of getting Steel onto more shows without sucking in singles matches like he normally does. Although all the dodgy moments in this match involved him…


Jimmy Rave vs Davey Richards vs Delirious vs Samoa Joe

I like these four way matches when they actually put four name guys together. It gives the fans an entertaining match without blowing lots of money singles matches like Joe/Richards or Joe/Delirious etc. Obviously the big issue in this one is between Rave and Richards. This is only Davey’s third ROH match, but in his first two he’s managed back to back wins over Jimmy, and is now determined to move quickly up the ranks. Delirious is in the midst of a break-out year but now needs a bit of direction as he continues to become a valuable member of the midcard. Joe needs the win because he’s trying to secure himself an ROH World Title shot. The former champion is desperate to get into the ring with American Dragon again and winning big matches like this are a sure-fire way to get him a shot.


Everyone kicks up a fuss about handshakes for some reason…except Delirious who crouches in the corner. Davey takes him down and immediately demands Joe. Clearly he’s up for testing himself against an ROH legend. Delirious refuses and demands to wrestle Richards. His weird head games get him an advantage, then they get him kicked in the shoulder. Joe tags…but Rave pisses everyone off by tagging him straight back out again. Richards goes straight for a cross armbreaker since he made him tap last week but Jimmy goes to the eyes. Tags all round, and this time Delirious gets right in Joe’s face. Joe does the wristlock headbutts (he hasn’t done them since like 2003) to stop the shenanigans. Delirious climbs the ropes and refuses to be crotched when Joe shakes the ropes. Joe baits him into attempting a crossbody instead. Davey tags and now we will get Richards/Joe. CHOP DUEL! Unfortunately Joe’s been chopped by Kobashi so he’s destined to win this. Rave tries to sneak attack Richards from behind but gets collared and quickly flees. Richards tries his kicks on Joe next but Joe catches the leg and B*TCH SLAPS! Rave jumps in for another sneaky right hand. JUMPING ENZIGURI from Joe! That’ll learn him! Richards tries to fire up and manages to knock the Samoan down with a tackle. He hits the ropes again only to run into the STO Slam. Jimmy tags now Davey is incapacitated and starts wearing him down in trademark Rave fashion.


Delirious comes in with a back suplex, then gets kicked in the head when he tries to roar whilst pinning Richards. Panic Attack gets 2 before Rave breaks the pin. Joe knees Davey in the corner then hits the ropes for the big facewash on his already bruised face. Rather comically Joe tags Rave back in by slapping him in the face. He grinds his forearm into Richards’ face and gets 2 with a suplex swinging neckbreaker. Rave takes too long climbing the ropes and Davey goes up after him with a headbutt flurry. He hits the Crown Jewel with a superplex and opens the window for a tag. Joe/Delirious now with Delirious punting Joe in the face. Clothesline flurry in the corner, and he still has enough to counter the STJoe too! Big boot/senton combo from Joe. Rave runs in to spear Delirious then pin him after the gutbuster/DDT sequence (despite not being legal). Richards in – HANDSPRING ENZIGURI! He sets up for a dive only to be grabbed by Joe. He takes Joe out with a springboard dropkick…TWISTING TOPE SUICIDA ON RAVE! He tries to give Rave a black eye with KAWADA KICKS! TAJIRI KICK OF DEATH! Delirious breaks the pin. Davey peppers Joe with more kicks then drops him with a GERMAN SUPLEX! Delirious breaks that as well! He takes both he and Richards outside with a crossbody. Joe is up…BIG BOOT ON NANA! CHOKE ON RAVE! DELIRIOUS BREAKS IT WITH SHADOWS OVER HELL! COBRA STRETCH! RAVE TAPS! Delirious wins in 22:28.


Rating - **** - That’s the best fourway we’ve seen in absolutely ages. Perhaps since Sign Of Dishonor and Aries/Joe/Gibson/Homicide last year. I dragged the rating down a bit for a lack of excitement (although it was all sound work) in the middle portion and the ref counting the pin for Rave when he wasn’t legal but there was tons to enjoy. Davey Richards provided the focus of the match. He wants to make a splash in ROH so naturally wants to fight the biggest dog in the yard. Meanwhile he has to deal with Jimmy Rave who gave him a black eye, and is pissed that he’s already beaten him twice. Amidst all this you’ve got Joe as the grand old man of ROH beating up those beneath him in pursuit of a World Title shot, and Delirious being his usual whacky self and getting in the way of all these serious guys wanting to kick the sh*t out of each other. A nice blend of comedy, solid wrestling, storyline and big spots. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot more said about this match. I’m also surprised they gave Delirious the win since he has the least to gain from it. Joe gains momentum towards a title shot. Rave gets his heat back after two straight losses to Richards. Davey keeps his undefeated streak going. What does Delirious gain? He’s over without winning – he spent 2+ years not winning to prove it!


INTERMISSION – Dave Prazak is joined by the Briscoes. Since they’re all hick it’s hard to understand anything they say except ‘man up’. I think they said something like they’re not finished tonight…


A shill for FIP gets cut short, as does intermission as Claudio Castagnoli and Necro Butcher come through the crowd. Adam Pearce cuts short a promo by Double C and he’s here for a fight.


Adam Pearce vs Necro Butcher – Falls Count Anywhere Match

You know the deal by now surely. It’s ROH, it’s CZW. The two promotions hate each other. They’ve been feuding since January. After this weekend the next show is July 15th, Death Before Dishonor 4 – featuring ROH vs CZW in the Cage Of Death. This weekend is an opportunity for both teams to get their last jabs in to wear their opponents down before the 12th and final round.


We don’t get an opening bell, and despite distraction from Castagnoli, Pearce gets the advantage on Necro with a HUGE tope suicida. The house lights are still on from intermission. He gets 2 on the floor after a chair shot, but Claudio breaks the pin. He whips Pearce into the railings, then into a back drop from Necro which sends the Scrap Daddy into the front row. Butcher gets 2 in the crowd after the chair slam. Adam tries to fight back until Necro STIFFS him with a left hook and he goes down. Figure 4 by Necro but Pearce grabs a chair and smacks him in the head. To the aisleway where Necro tries to use a chair, only for Adam to punch it right back into his face. Jumping piledriver blocked and Butcher back drops him on the cement floor. He folds a chair around Pearce’s neck and whips it into the ringpost. There’s a stack of chairs set up but it’s Pearce that is able to hoist Necro up and slam him over the railings into it. Inside the ring again with Necro dropping Scrap Iron on his head with a back drop driver. He looks for some revenge from the past few shows by turning two chairs back to back. Sadly Pearce is able to counter…SIDEWALK SLAM THROUGH THE BACK TO BACK CHAIRS! He lays a chair over Necro’s chest. SUPERFLY SPLASH ON A CHAIR! That would be it but Castagnoli breaks that pin as well. That’s the end of that match apparently…


Rating - ** - Another decent brawl featuring Adam Pearce, who’s proven himself to be surprisingly adept at little 10 minute filler matches like this to keep the feud going. Although I’d actually say Necro was the star of this match since it was him that was taking all the big bumps to keep it interesting. The lack of a finish keeps this from going higher. Since when has a Falls Count Anywhere match gone to a non-finish? Whassa point dude?


Double C and Necro stick it to Pearce…but Claudio is scheduled for a match too


Homicide vs Claudio Castagnoli

It took a while, but after joining the fight against CZW Homicide has been able to do what nobody else in ROH has been able to do – beat their best wrestlers by himself. He’s already beaten Necro Butcher and Chris Hero, and now turns his attention to another of Combat Zone’s key players.


Castagnoli tries to get a jump start but Homicide sends him outside with a satellite headscissors. CC shunts him into the railings but the Notorious 187 doesn’t let that stop him, and cracks Claudio in the head with a chair. He props up a segment of guardrail up in the corner of the ringside area, then whips Castagnoli so hard he rolls right off it into the crowd. Cide gets 2 with a swish-looking belly to belly suplex. Neckbreaker then the STF next as Homicide continues to dominate his opponent. Both men pull out some flippy counters before Homicide nails the ultimate flip with a TOPE CON HILO! A top rope crossbody gets 2. Double C scores with the knee driver out of the corner then starts choking Cide in the ropes to slow him down. He catches Homicide in a tilta-whirl backbreaker for 2. Cide feels more pain as he gets drilled sternum-first over the ring apron then strapped into a rear chinlock. He tries to apply a sleeper of his own only for Claudio to almost kill him with the back body drop from hell. Crab-walk elbow from gets CC another 2 at 10 minutes. He tries it from the top but gets crotched and dragged off with a top rope rana. Homicide comes off the top this time with a super facecrusher. Castagnoli tries a superplex but instead eats a SUPER DDT! That’s only good for 2 though. Despite his best attempts to counter Homicide drops Claudio again with the Ace crusher. Claudio catches Cide on top with a running Euro uppercut then a jumping enziguri. ICONOCLASM for 2! He looks for the Alfa Mari Water Slide but Homicide kicks out again! Castagnoli thinks Riccola Bomb but it’s blocked. THREE AMIGOS…except Claudio blocks the third. Hiptoss driver on Castagnoli…FROG SPLASH gets 2. LARIAT NAILED! Homicide wins in 15:53.


Rating - *** - Meh, I really wasn’t feeling it all that much, and it definitely wasn’t as good as Homicide/Hero from last week (proof that had they shaved 5+ minutes of the match last week it would’ve been even better), however, it’s better than anything we’ve seen tonight bar the fourway so I felt it justified the extra star. I was hating this at first but it got better as it went along and at the end it actually got mildly exciting. I like where this angle has gone now though. Homicide has cleanly beaten all 3 of CZW’s top names. He has been built up as the CZW killer now that Combat Zone have found a weakness on the original occupant of that role (the knee of Samoa Joe).


Bryan Danielson vs BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs – ROH World Title Elimination Match

BJ and Jimmy did battle last week to determine a #1 contender, but instead all they succeeded in doing was almost killing each other again, as Whitmer ended up powerbombing Jacobs from the top rope into the crowd. Meanwhile Danielson got knocked the f*ck out in three-way action in losing to KENTA’s Go 2 Sleep. The elimination rules were added at Dragon’s insistence so he can’t lose the belt without being pinned. Last time the ROH title was defended under such circumstances was the debacle that became Night Of The Grudges 2. Hopefully this one doesn’t end up the same way.


Dragon does his best to take down both men but can’t keep them both down at once and the spare man is always there to put him in a hold of some kind. Jacobs and Whitmer don’t take long to get into it with each other, BJ laying Jacobs out with his big forearms shots. Jacobs tries his multiple revolution headscissors on Danielson who just hoists him into the AIRPLANE SPIN instead. Whitmer throws some strikes at the champ who rakes him in the eyes to stop it. He gets put in the Mexican surfboard, and Jimmy returns to the ring to make it worse with a series of chops. AmDrag/Jacobs now, with Danielson dropping the challenger with a backbreaker. Jacobs comes off the top with a big missile dropkick but his respite is brief because Whitmer is back in the ring. He goes for an exploder and Danielson grabs him at the same time…EXPLODER ON JACOBS/GERMAN ON BJ! Jacobs falls to the floor but Whitmer gets up and plants Dragon with a Saito suplex. ‘Show your tits’ – Detroit to Lacey. Danielson gets 2 with a dragon suplex then forces Whitmer into CATTLE MUTILATION! JACOBS BREAKS IT WITH A SENTON BOMB! He powers BJ into a jumping DVD for 2. Contra Code blocked…but BJ gets Danielson on his shoulders. DOOMSDAY RANA ON THE CHAMP! HE KICKS OUT AT 2! Whitmer tries to decapitate Jacobs with a lariat but that’s not good enough for an elimination either. He takes Jimmy to corner for another murderbomb but this time he fights it. Danielson is back too…POWERBOMB/ CONTRA CODE COMBO! Whitmer is eliminated at 13:25.


It’s down to Danielson/Jacobs for the World Title! Dragon fakes a handshake of friendship only to start chopping away on Jimmy. He hangs him over the top rope then hits a running dropkick which launches him to the floor. Out there Jacobs has a chair stomped into his head as the World Champion starts getting mean. He’s doing his best to bully Jacobs, palm-striking him across the nose then trying to pull it from his face. Having succeeded in making the nose bleed he does the Hardcore Holly punt to the stomach with the opponent hanging from the ropes. Cattle Mutilation applied but Jacobs gets to the ropes. Danielson goes for the roaring elbow only for Jimmy to duck it and run through him with a spear. GOLDEN GATE SWING for 2! Dragon dives from the second rope and gets drilled with a second spear. Contra Code countered with a slap! REGALPLEX…ONLY 2! Jacobs finds the ropes on the Crossface Chickenwing as well. Jacobs blocks the back superplex…SUPER CONTRA CODE BLOCKED! Danielson goes for a diving sunset flip…BUT JACOBS ROLLS HIM UP FOR 2! CONTRA COOOOOOOOOODE! DANIELSON KICKS OUT! CATTLE MUTILATION ON DRAGON! But he knows how to counter his own move and he rocks Jacobs with a roaring elbow. MMA ELBOWS…CROSSFACE CHICKENWING! That’s it in 24:48.


Rating - **** - It wasn’t the perfect match by any stretch of the imagination but there were two really awesome closing sequences (leading to the Whitmer elimination then the Jacobs defeat), the whole match was generally quite well done and Jacobs put in one of the best performances of his career as the comedy goof trying to shock the world. When he landed the Contra Code you could literally feel the crowd start to wonder if they were about to see an enormous upset. Until the finishing stretch I didn’t like the three-way portion so much. Lots of throw one guy to the floor, other guys fight with no real explanation as to why they’re out there for so long (as opposed to KENTA/Dragon/Joe last week when they were killing each other) but Danielson/Jacobs was another great example of how good Dragon is at working with the smaller guys and making them credible underdogs. I wasn’t expecting to like this one anywhere near as much as I did in the end.


KENTA vs Roderick Strong

Or if you prefer…KICKS vs Chops (see how I capitalised kicks like KENTA? I’m all about the cool wordplay). KENTA continues his summer tour with ROH this weekend as he faces both Tag Champions in singles matches. Hey, if he beats them he could get himself a Tag Title match, although surely his main priority is getting the World Title shot with Bryan Danielson he demanded last week in New York. Roderick Strong is having a great year, but mostly in tag matches. This is a chance to add another impressive singles performance to his CV. His last singles match (against Mark Briscoe) blew so he’s due a good one.


Roderick starts by backing Kenta against the ropes and marking an ‘X’ on his chest, showing exactly where he intends to chop him. Kenta does the same with a nice sarcastic ‘way to go tiger’ pat to the cheek. He grounds Strong using the leg then for the first time tries to utilise his kicks. KICKS VS CHOPS DUEL! Chops win and Kenta goes down. Rod goes for a leapfrog only for Kenta to catch and powerslam him. He’s already worked in a few stretches but it’s at this point that Strong lands his first backbreaker and quickly follows it up with a back suplex as he starts to target his favourite area. Leg full nelson applied after a couple more fierce chops…and he rolls it into a camel clutch. Kenta escapes and suplexes Strong over the top rope which leaves him prone for a flurry of kicks. STRIKE DUEL ON THE FLOOR! Kenta has had enough of that and makes use of the ROH guardrails. There’s a nice moment here as Kenta returns to the ring and sits on the top rope fanning his chest. HARD kicks rattle Strong’s spine then Kenta locks in a camel clutch of his own. Roderick is rather strong (wink wink) though and he’s able to literally stand up out of it. He enziguris Kenta in the side of the head to cement a comeback charge. He looks for a springboard crossbody but Kenta catches him with an Ace crusher. He kicks Strong into the corner then hangs him prone for a RUNNING KICK to the face! FACELIFT DROPKICK!


A springboard dropkick also finds the mark and the Tag champion is reeling until he lifts Kenta to the apron. HANGING DOUBLE UNDERHOOK BACKBREAKER! URINAGE BACKBREAKER! GIBSON DRIVER for 2! He looks for the firemans carry gutbuster but Kenta almost counters it into Go 2 Sleep. SLAP WAR! STRONG CHOPS! BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX NO SOLD! FISHERMAN SUPLEX NO SOLD! DUELLING CLOTHESLINES! Both men go down – that was awesome! Kenta blocks the half nelson backbreaker with a German suplex. Kenta strike combo nailed, and he blocks the firemans carry gutbuster again into the KENTA CLOVERLEAF! Roddy gets to the ropes and throws him out. BACK SUPLEX BACKBREAKER ON THE DAMN APRON! Strong takes Kenta to the top rope and scores with a big superplex to f*ck up his back even more. STRONGHOLD APPLIED! Kenta fights it and gets the ropes. To the second rope again…but Kenta blocks an attempted super firemans carry gutbuster. Strong smacks Kenta in the face as he goes for his jumping top rope falcon arrow and hits a JUMPING BIG BOOT for 2! Kenta is still in the fight and gets 2 with a fisherman superplex. Super Go 2 Sleep countered…SUPER DEATH BY RODERICK GUTBUSTER! KENTA KICKS OUT! STRONGHOLD AGAIN! Kenta swivels into a pin. SAMOAN NECKBREAKER! STRIKE COMBO! BUSAIKU KNEE! GO 2 SLEEP! Kenta wins with that flurry at 21:31. He remains undefeated in Ring Of Honor competition.


Rating - **** - Not a candidate for MOTY but it scoops MOTN honours no problem – that was a great match. I can’t believe so many people actually come out and say this was a disappointment. I’ll admit it took a while to get going – but if they had gone as hot as the last 10 minutes of this match we’d be talking an easy MOTYC. It was just such a man-fest of a match, with both guys ferociously going at each other with their trademark strikes and offensive flurries. I loved the battles over the two firemans carry moves (Go 2 Sleep and Death By Roderick), and in the end it was KENTA’s that was the more devastating and he got himself the win. It may not have been as obviously exciting, but I much preferred this to the NYC triple threat last week if you’re looking for some perspective.


The Briscoes do a run in and attempt to put more of a hurting on Roderick but KENTA fights them off and sends them running up the aisle. Oh PLEASE say that’s set up for Briscoes vs KENTA/Marufuji. That’s a dream match in the leagues of Joe/Kobashi, KENTA/Ki, Danielson/Benoit etc.


Colt Cabana is psyched for his title shot tomorrow night. He’s coming to Chicago for the gold.


Tape Rating - *** - It’s not a blow-away show, and certainly the worst Detroit event…but compared to what most wrestling companies throw out there on a weekly basis this is pretty damn impressive. The three big matches deliver and enter very good territory. Homicide/Claudio was ok and everything else isn’t bad, it’s just not particularly memorable. Don’t get me wrong, this probably isn’t one for the selective ROH viewer. KENTA has had better matches before and since, the World Title three-way and four corner survival are great matches, but not so great that I’d recommend buying the DVD for them alone. It’s a good show so if you buy everyone you won’t be disappointed. If you’re expecting something of Milestone Series quality you may be a tad peeved though.


Top 3 Matches

3) Bryan Danielson vs Jimmy Jacobs vs BJ Whitmer (****)

2) Delirious vs Jimmy Rave vs Davey Richards vs Samoa Joe (****)

1) KENTA vs Roderick Strong (****)


 

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