ROH 129 – The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 – 9th December 2006
Here’s where I’m at right now. I’m still way behind on ROH reviews (I’m now expecting the first 8 shows of 2007 and I’ve still got this and the last 2 shows of 2006 to complete yet), I haven’t done any work catching up my lost backlog of ROH reviews in months, and there’s so much stuff I want to review that I’ll probably never get the chance. I also still suck at the bass guitar. Oh, and I keep getting tonsillitis (3 times in the last two months) which is driving me absolutely mental. For those reasons this is pretty much the extent of the intro for this show. I want to get cracking. The first night of the Chicago Spectacular wasn’t overly…spectacular. Tonight will hopefully be different, assuming you didn’t have your heart set on the scheduled main events of Homicide/Pearce in a Strap Match, the Lords Of The Ring defending the Tag belts against Aries and Strong or Team Danielson vs Team Delirious in a 6-man tag. None of them actually take place. We’re still in Chicago Ridge, IL of course. Commentary comes from Dave Prazak and Jimmy Bower.
ROH VIDEO WIRE (01/12/06) – See Chicago Spectacular Night 1 (ROH128).
Shane Hagadorn gives Adam Pearce props for his awesome promo on Homicide last night. In response Pearce asks Shane what he’s going to do about Pelle Primeau. Both guys seem set on teaching their respective enemies a lesson tonight.
Shingo promises that a friend from Dragon Gate is coming soon. Lacey comes in and offers to pay him if he puts a beating on Colt Cabana in their match tonight.
Cabana himself comes to the ring, still pissed off about his nutsack getting stomped last night. Apparently his sexual activity is ok, but he’s having problems pissing. He calls out Jimmy Jacobs, and Jimmy obliges him. Lacey tries to stick her nose in again, only to be attacked by Daizee Haze. Jacobs looks set to attack Haze but that brings BJ Whitmer out. This is a cracking start to the show. Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave and Shingo all run out to help attack BJ and Colt, but that brings Delirious and Nigel McGuinness to make the save. The big ruck ends with the 6-man tag being changed to an 8-man elimination tag with Shingo added to Dragon’s team and Cabana sliding into the Delirious line-up.
Tank Toland vs Ace Steel
This match is actually more significant than it first appears, since it turned out to be Ace’s last ROH appearance before he signed with the WWE. I’ve never been his biggest fan but he’s been a part of some hot angles and some good matches due to his association with the Second City Saints. Good luck to him there. His final appearance is against a recent WWE release in Tank Toland. He’s yet to really catch on with the Ring Of Honor fans, but I thought he did ok with Kikutaro yesterday. This on the other hand, as the potential to be incredibly ugly.
Ace tries to headlock Toland, but the former Dick eventually uses his power to escape. There’s a few sloppy moments but by and large these two go through some adequate chain sequences. They run through a strike duel which draws the crowd into it. Toland’s power eventually sees him get the advantage. He needs to work on his striking too. His shots seem shockingly weak when compared to Ace’s. Steel hits a neckbreaker then takes to the air for a springboard knee then a corkscrew senton for 2. Hurricane DDT by Tank gets him a 2 count as well. Steel goes for a submission win with a horse collar then randomly lets the hold go. He guillotines Tank on the top rope but goes to the ropes once too often. Toland tries that fireman’s carry powerbomb he beat Kikutaro with yesterday, but Steel counters it into a roll-up to win at 08:25.
Rating - * - That was rather weak. I said last night that Toland has some potential in ROH if he can work on a few things. He can be an effective heel since he is such an antithesis of what the traditional Ring Of Honor competitor should be. But he needs any kind of credible offence since the WWE stuff won’t cut it. Yesterday he had the comedy of Kikutaro to hide his faults. Although the fans were arguably more into this (perhaps due to the hometown appeal of Ace), the match was a little more than two guys going through the motions. It’s a disappointing farewell for Steel since he’s done some good things. Check out the Chicago Street Fight from Death Before Dishonor 2 Part 2, the 6-man tags from Battle Lines Are Drawn or Gold or Cage Of Death at Death Before Dishonor 4 for something to remember him by.
Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal are backstage. The Fallen Angel is disappointed that they can’t defend the tag belts tonight. Sydal, on the other hand, is cocky about the whole thing. He says he’s a star and needs to protect his body. Daniels has selected Matt Cross as Sydal’s replacement.
Trik Davis vs CJ Otis vs Pelle Primeau vs Jake Crist vs Dave Crist vs Kikutaro
Look…it’s a jobber parade. Irish Airborne have been losing for months. Trik Davis is nothing but a guy ROH brings in when they run Chicago to job to their main roster talent (such as Brent Albright at Irresistible Forces). Kikutaro is popular but he’s nothing more than a joke. This is Otis’ main show debut – he’s a young guy trained by Sabu who’s been on the pre-show a few times. When Pelle Primeau is the biggest star (in terms of recent won/loss records) you’ve got real problems. He was supposed to be facing Shane Hagadorn tonight but has been added to this as a replacement for Matt Cross who is now teaming with Chris Daniels. This is a fresh match and all six guys will be looking to impress so I’m not writing it off quite yet.
Kikutaro tries to work wristlocks with Dave Crist but as we’ve seen before with the Irish guys, that rarely works and he falls victim to some flippy armdrags. Kik responds with some comedy kicking in the corner then goes to the top rope Ric Flair-style. After the press slam Primeau and Jake come into the match. Pelle actually does some nice stuff with Crist before Otis and Davis knock them out and get their own time to shine. CJ knocks Trik out of the ring with a nice strike flurry. The Crists double team him then hit STEREO PLANCHAS out to the floor. Kiku press slams Pelle onto the four guys on the floor then teases a dive himself before stepping through the ropes for a BACK CHOP OF DOOM! Trik attacks him so Kikutaro whips the referee at Davis. SHINING WIZARD gets 2 on Davis. He tries a Shinzaki ropewalk and gets crotched. POWERBOMB LUNGBLOWER on Davis by Irish Airborne. Primeau knocks Dave out with a stunner then gets DUMPED by an Otis German suplex. CJ tries a gutwrench suplex on Jake who lifts him up. IRISH AIR RAID ON OTIS! Jake pins CJ at 08:18 whilst Dave stands guard to make sure nobody interrupts.
Rating - ** - Fine for what it was, which was essentially part comedy, part exhibition, part spotfest. Kikutaro was obviously the star of the match with his comedy stuff which made him miles more over than anyone else. Primeau and Otis looked decent for their experience level too. I thought Trik had an off night out there though. I’ve seen some of his IWA-MS stuff and he’s much better than we saw here. The finish was crap though. I hated the idea of Dave just standing by and letting someone else get the ring – it was totally stupid. I also thought Primeau should’ve got the win. I’ve been complaining about him for months but obviously ROH is high on him as a lovable underdog, so why not let him win this total nothing match? It’s not like the Crists have any credibility left and were in desperate need of a victory anyway.
Shane Hagadorn comes out and runs down Pelle Primeau. Adam Pearce then comes from behind and whips Pelle with the leather strap. Pearce then calls out Homicide to get their strap match underway. But when Cide comes out Adam sneaks off and leaves Hagadorn to take the beating. Homicide demands the referee rings the bell so this is an official match.
Homicide vs Shane Hagadorn
The Road Of Homicide deal is about Homicide overcoming all the enemies that have stood in his way since July and Death Before Dishonor 4 and marching into New York for Final Battle and his World Championship opportunity. I suppose Hagadorn is technically a guy who has got in his way over the past few months, so it’s only fitting Homicide get to beat him up in an official match too.
Hagadorn somewhat botches taking a belly to belly suplex, but recovers in time to save himself from the ghetto fork of Homicide. He does that Ogawa boot strike in the corner but Homicide is soon back on offence with an Ace crusher. COP KILLA! Homicide wins at 01:42.
Rating – DUD – Nothing but a rudimentary squash match. Hagadorn looked pretty green in there though. He’ll be disappointed in himself since he’s become better than that in 2006.
Adam Pearce tries to attack Homicide again after the match but quickly runs off. Homicide says strap matches are weak and says that since ROH’s cage is in the truck he demands their match tonight is made a Steel Cage match.
Mark Briscoe vs Samoa Joe
The score between the Briscoes and Joe was essentially settled at Dethroned in their Elimination Street Fight, but since we haven’t seen these two together in a singles match since Final Battle 2003 it’s no trouble to get one last loose end tied up here. Joe will be disappointed after losing out in his World Title match last night so Mark could be in trouble.
Mark goes for speed and immediately grounds Joe and goes after the leg. Good strategy but it doesn’t last and Joe is soon on his feet again. He stretches Briscoe and pulls on his face to add to his problems. They botch a pretty horrible leapfrog spot as Mark gets caught on Joe’s shoulder and ricochets off the ropes, almost landing on his head. He runs into the STJoe as we continue the theme of Briscoe’s speed against Joe’s power. The Samoan stays in control for the next couple of minutes with bootscrapes then his rapid-fire powerslam for 2. In the end Joe kicks Briscoe so hard that he collapses through the ropes to the floor. Rather foolishly Mark tries to make it a striking match. But that turns into a smart idea as he hits an axe kick with Joe trapped against the ropes then gets 2 with his urinage suplex. A springboard body splash draws another nearfall too. But when he tries the axe kick against the ropes trick for a second time he gets caught out and slapped hard in the face. LARIATOOO nailed by Joe. Briscoe blocks Joe’s powerbomb but Joe still manages to roll into the STF that traditionally follows that move anyway. Back Drop Driver from Mark followed by a springboard double stomp. But he chases Joe into a corner and gets drilled with the MUSCLEBUSTER! That would be it but Joe isn’t done. He yells out ‘NOAH’ before KILLING Mark with another sick lariat to win at 09:59.
Rating - *** - Sloppy and slow in places, but it was a better match than Joe/Jay from Black Friday Fallout with a clearly defined story of Joe’s power against Mark’s speed which I dug. I also enjoyed the flashes of intelligence from Mark throughout the match. Things like rolling outside when Joe’s powerful offence was too much, or initiating a strike match simply so he could bait Joe against the ropes. He also had a couple of Joe’s trademark combos scouted too. It was never particularly exciting but there was some smart wrestling and it was fine for it’s spot on the card. The finish was clever in terms of the Joe/NOAH feud. Remember, Kenta Kobashi beat Joe in October 2005 with a lariat.
Nigel McGuinness comes out after the match and doesn’t seem particularly impressed with Joe’s ranting about NOAH. Nigel is proud to be one of NOAH’s gaijin and says that somewhere down the line he’ll represent them and fight Joe.
Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs Christopher Daniels/Matt Cross
This was originally scheduled to be the main event and a rematch from Gut Check, this time with Daniels and Sydal defending the tag straps against former champions Aries and Strong. But Sydal injured his knee during last night’s Aries/Strong vs Sydal/Shingo match and is unable to compete. That means the belts aren’t on the line tonight, but Daniels has selected Matt Cross to fill in as a temporary partner this evening. Cross has impressed Daniels with their singles match at The Bitter End and in last night’s exciting four corner survival and is being rewarded with this opportunity. Despite not getting a title shot, this is a real opportunity for the ex-champions to make a real statement this weekend. They pinned Matt Sydal last night and would love to beat both champions on consecutive nights.
Daniels acts quickly to avoid Strong’s chops, but in the end he gets tagged with one and he sells it like death. He goes to armdrags and grounds Roderick so Aries tags himself in. Austin blocks hiptosses so Daniels rolls into a sweet legsweep instead. He tries to put Aries in a front facelock but Austin escapes that headscissors-style meaning swift low dropkick meets Daniels’ face. Cross tags and has the speed to evade Aries for a while but eventually gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Both M-Dogg and Strong try to dropkick each other at the same time, but it appears Strong’s dropkick won. Cross hits a Death Valley neckbreaker anyway. Daniels gets 2 with the Arabian press as his team starts to isolate the FIP Heavyweight Champion. Satellite DDT by Cross, slightly botched like last night. He teases a dive on Strong but springs back off the ropes instead. In the end Aries and Strong drag him outside through the ropes and sling him into the guardrail. Back inside Strong comes up with an inverted fallaway slam which I thought was pretty cool. M-Dogg is stuck in the ring now, falling victim to the slingshot twisting elbow over the knee double team that the Aries/Strong duo have used so often. Jimmy Bower points out that Roddy in particular is tossing Cross around at will. But he finally tries one power move too many as Matt lands on his feet on a German suplex attempt and promptly flips into an enziguri. Daniels gets the hot tag this time and takes it to the former tag champions. ARABIAN PRESS TO STRONG ON THE FLOOR! HEAT SEEKING MISSILE FROM ARIES! M-Dogg thinks he can hit his own dive but Austin catches him on the top rope. Cross shoves him down again though. SHOOTING STAR PRESS FROM THE TOP TO THE FLOOR! Daniels gets 2 on Aries with a blue thunder driver before he holds Double A aloft for a suplex/springboard crossbody combo. Strong hits DEATH BY RODERICK on M-Dogg then the Gibson Driver for 2. SICK KICK sends Daniels to the floor and leaves Cross alone with him. Cross uses a hurricanrana to escape the Missile Dropkick Bomb and almost gets an improbable win with a DDT on Strong. ELEVATED KICK OF DEATH! Daniels tries to save but Roddy tosses him outside again. 450 SPLASH! Aries and Strong win at 18:48.
Rating - *** - I thought that was a better match than the DG Rules tag from yesterday. The heat segment on Cross was really fun due to the ease with which Strong and Aries could toss M-Dogg around, and as you’d expect there was a lot of excitement down the stretch. Aside from the occasional moment of sloppiness Cross really didn’t look out of place as a whipping boy for the other three guys in this match. His good performances this weekend have surely earned him a permanent spot on the roster. I know I want to see more of him. I also eagerly anticipate the eventual LOTR defence against Aries and Strong since it should be a corking match.
INTERMISSION – Jimmy Jacobs is bleeding from the eye after the brawl at the start of the show. Lacey doesn’t seem too sympathetic. Jacobs goes on to cut a pretty sweet little promo on Whitmer and Cabana. He is so spot on with this gimmick now that it’s frightening.
Adam Pearce vs Homicide – Steel Cage Match
Scrap Iron Adam Pearce is pretty much the only guy left standing as Homicide has torn through all the guys that sided with Jim Cornette after Death Before Dishonor 4. He beat Steve Corino at The Bitter End (the same night that saw Cornette fired), he beat the Briscoes at Dethroned, Shane Hagadorn took a pounding earlier as well. Pearce is a loyal Cornette follower – to the extent that he only fought on the side of ROH against CZW because he was so loyal to Ring Of Honor’s then-Commissioner. He helped Cornette and JJ Dillion whip Homicide inside the Cage Of Death in Philadelphia in July and Homicide is desperate for revenge. That’s WHY this match was scheduled to be a strap match, but Homicide has clearly decided he’d rather do it the cage way. Putting kayfabe aside I imagine Gabe hastily changed this one to a cage match to make up for not being able to run the scheduled Tag Title main event.
Somebody please tell Jimmy Bower that escape isn’t pronounced ‘exscape’. There’s actually a cameraman inside the cage which leads to some unique shots of the action. Just like last night the match starts as a battle to toss each other into the cage with neither man managing it. Homicide hits the Three Amigos and hunts around for his ghetto fork, but he dropped it earlier with Hagadorn. A fan tries to throw a fork into the ring but the referee throws it out. Hagadorn comes from the back with a leather strap, and he interferes further by slamming the cage door into Cide’s face. The Notorious 187 is bleeding pretty badly after that. He puts a sleeper hold on Pearce but with his strength sapping away Adam is able to lift him into a back suplex. Jumping piledriver blocked and Homicide catapults him into the cage, busting him open now. He uses it like a cheese grater on Pearce’s forehead so Adam gives up on that and decides to climb the cage. Unfortunately for him it just ends up with Cide crotching him on the top rope. The referee accidentally gets knocked down in the fight, and Homicide takes the opportunity to pick his pocket for the ghetto fork. SICK FORK HEAD STABBING ON PEARCE! But Pearce still gets up and POWERBOMBS CIDE INTO THE CAGE! Both men fight on the top rope again with Adam getting the better of it with a SUPER hiptoss for 2. He follows it up with a spinebuster then puts Cide in a Figure 4. The crowd is lapping this match up now, absolutely loving the inevitable Homicide rolling over spot. SUPERPLEX by Homicide gets 2. He lines up his Lariat only for Pearce to flapjack him into the cage. Now the Scrap Daddy wants to hit the Superfly Splash but Homicide pursues for the SUPER ACE CRUSHER! LARIATOOOOO! Homicide wins at 15:23.
Rating - **** - This may be a tad generous because the match started a little slow but I wanted to give credit to a really decent cage match that went down an absolute storm with the live crowd. Adam Pearce has a lot of critics and people claiming he doesn’t deserve a spot on the roster. To them I say watch this match (and his promo from last night). If his performances in the CZW feud hadn’t proved it, then I think this outing totally demonstrates his usefulness and worth as a member of the Ring Of Honor roster. He gets so much natural heel heat from a live crowd and the atmosphere as these two beat the crap out of each other was really good. The story told in last night’s Danielson/Joe cage match may have been much better, but for heated violence and a good old fashioned, feud settling brawl this was far superior – and ultimately those are the qualities one generally tends to expect from a steel cage match. A surprisingly good match, one of the more underrated bouts of 2006 in my opinion.
Jay Briscoe vs Davey Richards
Rematch from Suffocation, and one I’m happy about seeing since that one was really good. Richards has had his share of problems with the Briscoes over the course of the year. He’s also been bemoaning his lack of direction in ROH recently. After failing to get the win in a four corner match yesterday he guaranteed victory tonight. He already holds one singles victory over Jay, and this year has shown that if there’s one area where the Briscoes struggle it’s when they wrestle solo.
The heat between these two is immediately evident with the intensity of the initial exchanges. Briscoe hits a hurricanrana and a big spinning heel kick to send Richards out of the ring. He tries a pescado and misses, allowing Davey to pound on him with kicks. Gorgeous flying crossbody gets Richards a 2 as the action returns to the ring. He hits a Kawada-style running kick to the face but Jay finds a way to get the shoulder up again. Stretch Plum on Richards as Jay looks to take control of the contest. He’s successful with that and starts to wear Davey down with a methodical offensive style. Richards manages to avoid being suplexed, then grabs Jay and suplexes him OVER THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! That’s a pretty crazy spot. He scores with a springboard missile dropkick then a flurry of KENTA-style kicks. BACK DROP DRIVER then a German suplex get 2. It’s way too early for the DR Driver though. Jay avoids a running elbow smash then catches Richards in a SNAP DVD for 2. ALARM CLOCK KICK on Jay then a HAMMERLOCK DDT! These guys are just dumping offence on each other. Briscoe blocks a superplex with a TOP ROPE GOURDBUSTER but Richards kicks out of the pin. Jay Driller blocked with a double arm DDT, and Richards floats into the Kimura that he beat Aries with at Dethroned. Jay starts no selling kicks so Richards SLAPS THE HELL OUT OF HIM! SPRINGBOARD ENZI…NO SOLD! BRISCOE WITH A YAKUZA KICK! Mark Briscoe is out there now to cheer his brother on. He tries to take Davey upstairs for a Super Jay Driller but that’s blocked. RICHARDS STAR PRESS…INTO JAY’S KNEES! SCREWDRIVER GETS 2! JAY DRILLAAAAAA! Briscoe finally does win at 15:12.
Rating - **** - I know there’ll be smarks out there that hated this match. It was basically 15 minutes of two guys being really stiff and dropping each other on their heads. But you know what, I like that kind of thing. The reaction of the live crowd should tell you that MOST fans enjoy that type of thing. You can sit there and over-analyse it all you want but this was a thrilling, fast-paced wrestling match that I really liked. Jay Briscoe has had a few really excellent singles matches this year (vs Aries at How We Roll, vs Sydal at Irresistible Forces etc) and he pulled another one out of the bag against an opponent he clearly has excellent chemistry with. I’ve also been complaining about Richards’ lack of creative direction but he’s always remained solid once he steps through the ropes, and in the last month or so he’s been turning in some good performances. Hopefully he gets a push in 2007.
Delirious/BJ Whitmer/Nigel McGuinness/Colt Cabana vs Bryan Danielson/Jimmy Rave/Jimmy Jacobs/Shingo
Think Survivor Series rules for this as a pin leads to an elimination and a victory is only assured when all members of the opposition team have been eliminated. We know the history between Danielson and Delirious, as the Lizard-man has taken the World Champion close on three separate occasions, and now gets the opportunity to captain a team against him. There’s also plenty of other issues too. Nigel McGuinness has heat with Jimmy Rave following their matches last night and at Dethroned. He’s also had a few classics against Danielson this year too. Both Whitmer and Cabana are after Jimmy Jacobs for his numerous attacks on them on the command of Lacey. And we also know Lacey will pay Shingo if he helps them take Cabana and/or Whitmer out tonight. It was also Colt who first injured Dragon’s shoulder during their 60-minute draw at Gut Check. Need more heat? Well, Lacey and Daizee Haze are both at ringside, and they don’t like each other either.
Cabana demands the referee check Shingo’s mullet for hidden weapons. Shingo struggles to come to terms with Colt’s shenanigans as they start the match together. In the end Takagi just hauls Colt into his team’s corner and lets his team-mates help him out. Danielson comes in and the babyface team take it in turns to wrench his arm. Rave comes in for a cheap pop at McGuinness which aids his captain. Jacobs gets in with BJ and those two just swing wild punches at each other. Whitmer manages an exploder suplex on Rave and all eight men spill into the ring and start brawling. Jacobs tries to use a spike on Whitmer but Cabana saves. Lacey and Daizee Haze are fighting on the apron…AND WHITMER ACCIDENTALLY SPIKES LACEY! He was aiming for Jacobs, but that’s pretty crazy. Jacobs carries Lacey to the back so it’s 4-on-3 as the brawl continues. BJ plasters Rave with a spinebuster but Jacobs is back. CHAIR SHOT TO BJ’S ANKLE! He’s eliminated by DQ at 08:53 but he doesn’t really care. He does a number on the surgically repaired ankle. Rave is still legal though - HEEL HOOK! WHITMER TAPS at 09:31 so he’s gone too. Nigel slides in and gets his hands on Rave at last. Shingo saves Jimmy from the Tower Of London and the heels start attacking McGuinness’ leg which Rave injured in their match yesterday.
Shingo, Danielson and Rave are a surprisingly fluid trio as they use rapid tags and continue to focus on the bad wheel. They even cooperate to prevent Cabana’s illegal interference allowing Nigel to tag out. Eventually McGuinness does manage a Spinal Cut on Rave…only to find that Danielson and Shingo have dragged his partners off the apron! McGuinness has no choice but to start fighting all three of his opponents. McGuinness winds up for the Rebound Lariat but Danielson SACRIFICES HIMSELF! Rave is the legal man and he locks the HEEL HOOK again! Nigel taps at 15:31! That was a great sequence showing off Dragon’s intelligence. Shingo and Cabana go at it again and it’s Shingo connecting with a big lariat for 2. Delirious gives Dragon a leaping lariat then teams up with Colt for a DOUBLE NEVER ENDING STORY! SUICIDE FLIP BY DELIRIOUS! Meanwhile Cabana rolls Shingo up to eliminate him at 17:58. Billy Goat’s Curse on Rave as Delirious catches Danielson in the Cobra Stretch…but Jimmy refuses to tap. Dragon saves Jimmy from the Colt 45 with ANOTHER LOW BLOW! Shades of Gut Check, and Rave capitalises to eliminate Cabana as the clock ticks past 19 minutes. Delirious is left in the unenviable position of competing in a handicap match now. The cockiness of the heels is demonstrated as they both enjoy a brief sexy party moment.
Delirious somehow manages to get in some offence, then tips Rave into a spear on his own captain. Jimmy comes back by spearing Delirious as well though. Team Danielson get 2 with a double superplex at 25 minutes. Jimmy tries the Heel Hook again but this time Delirious is in the ropes. CHEMICAL IMBALANCE II! Rave is eliminated in a flash at 26:00. Danielson was distracted yelling at the fans which is a cool explanation for why he didn’t interfere. He comes into the ring and almost pins Delirious with a dragon suplex. CROSSFACE CHICKENWING! Delirious crawls to the ropes again. He also manages to reverse a back superplex into a crossbody. Remember he knows Danielson inside out after wrestling him three times this year. But Danielson has the same knowledge and he counters the leaping lariat into CATTLE MUTILATION! Delirious gets to the ropes again! MMA ELBOWS! BUT DELIRIOUS COUNTERS TO DELI-ELBOWS! Danielson tries the back superplex and NAILS it second time. MORE MMA ELBOWS but Delirious gets the ropes for a third time. Danielson can’t win with a tiger suplex either so tries Cattle Mutilation once more…BUT NOTHING WORKS! CHEMICAL IMBALANCE II…FOR 2! COBRA STRETCH! DANIELSON FIGHTS IT…BUT DELIRIOUS BLOCKS THE ROLL-UP FINISH FROM HONOR RECLAIMS BOSTON! COBRA CLUTCH SUPLEX…ONLY GETS 2! COBRA STREEEEEETCH! DANIELSON TAPS! 33:01 is your time!
Rating - **** - I’d like to clarify that this is nowhere near some of the matches that will be in MOTYC running this year, but from a booking and storyline perspective this is absolutely immense. It got off to a hot start with the Whitmer/Lacey incident leading to the eliminations of Jacobs and BJ. Jimmy Rave and his new finisher got over huge since he eliminated three people from the opposition team – including making his new nemesis Nigel McGuinness tap out for the second consecutive night. Then Bryan Danielson brought the awesome too. I loved the way he kicked Cabana in the nuts to eliminate him, just as he did to score a last gasp pinfall and save his World Title at Gut Check. Then the last 5+ minutes with Danielson and Delirious were awesome. They’ve already had three great singles matches this year and know each other so well. It was tremendous pay-off to see Delirious finally beat Dragon too. The series with AmDrag has made him a star in 2006, and he told a terrific story by knowing how to counter ALL of Dragon’s finishers, and even going a step further and being prepared for the way he lost at Honor Reclaims Boston too. The sheer amount of depth that this match possesses is enough to bump it up past the 4* mark. It’s over 30 minutes long but simply flies by.
Davey Richards looks pretty messed up after his match with Jay Briscoe. After seeing Mark Briscoe fire up his brother right before Jay beat him tonight, he has learned that maybe he needs to find people to watch his back. I know people tend to criticise Davey’s promo skills but I thought this was good.
The show fades out with shots of Delirious celebrating with the fans after his big win.
Tape Rating - *** - After a low key event yesterday which had top to bottom consistency but very little to get overly excited about, this was a great show. The 8-man brawl was a hot start and set up the main event well. Then once we’d got the jobber matches aside (anything before Joe/Mark) it was all pretty good. Post-intermission was exceptionally strong with Adam Pearce’s best ROH performance to date in his cage match with Homicide. Davey Richards and Jay Briscoe tore it up in an exciting offence-fest, whilst the main event was psychologically all kinds of cool. The climax with Delirious finally beating Danielson was a memorable moment too. Big thumbs up for this one.
Top 3 Matches
3) Homicide vs Adam Pearce (****)
2) Jay Briscoe vs Davey Richards (****)
1) Team Delirious vs Team Danielson (****)
Top 5 Chicago Spectacular Weekend Matches
5) Austin Aries/Roderick Strong vs Christopher Daniels/Matt Cross (*** - Night 2)
4) Bryan Danielson vs Samoa Joe (*** - Night 1)
3) Homicide vs Adam Pearce (**** - Night 2)
2) Jay Briscoe vs Davey Richards (**** - Night 2)
1) Team Delirious vs Team Danielson (**** – Night 2)
Top 3 Chicago Shows in 2006
3) The Chicago Spectacular Night 2 (9th December 2006)
2) Better Than Our Best (1st April 2006)
1) Supercard Of Honor (31st March 2006)